ILYA IVANOVICH MASHKOV

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The vivid colours of Mashkov's canvases, his delight in the infinite variety of the sur­rounding world, his pronounced feeling of social reality — all conspire to make his work one of the great achievements of Russian art. Igor Grabar was to distinguish in the work of Mashkov "a profoundly independent and individual interpretation of nature, refracted through an exceptionally pictorial mind and imagination". Creating canvases of an "arch-concrete and realistic" kind, Mashkov never ceased to admire the form, texture and colour of what he was painting. He shares with the onlooker his own love of nature and life, his spirit of joy, courage and optimism.