As a painter, he was frankly bad. And the 16 paintings were brought to the exhibition of Latvia, is a convincing show. His "Seven Princesses" (1908-1910) - a bad version of art "Blue Rose". His "Reapers" (1910) - second-rate variation of the plot Millet. And the strange name of the exhibition - "In search of art of the future" - not adequately material: in their own canvases Matvejs clearly followed the already obsolete styles. If it were not for one "but" ...
Matvejs - undoubtedly apologist "poor art". The brightest feature of it - is its mediocrity. In the literal sense: gray paint on a gray background, he wrote his "Madonna" (1910). And to write it, traveled to the island of Gotland, where he studied medieval provincial sculpture. As an imitator epigones, he found something in his gradual liberation from the bright colors and multiple lines. And in this he did not understand his contemporaries and did not appreciate descendants. Although Matvejs go out into the daylight from the tomb somewhere in Moscow thirties, it would wear on the hands.
Major work Matvejs - it is his articles and books. Therefore, a small exhibition at MLK - more bibliographic than fiction. For example, a sample dembelskogo album - women's writing "Ensign Svyatoslav Alexandrovich Nagubnikovu, carefully pasted in a notebook with risunochkami. Ensign, incidentally, also had artistic inclinations. It can be expected in the Pushkin exhibition Nagubnikova. So to mice ...
But the main thing - it negros. For Markov that African sculpture, that the Goths, that Tver gingerbread horse - all may be one of interest as art "primitive." He studied it, and that following the French taste. Traveling through Europe, Markov photographed African statues in ethnographic museums. The new prints from old negatives, leave the most vivid impression of the exhibition: without knowing, Markov was a good photographer.
2002-09-19 /Michael Sidlin
http://www.ng.ru/culture/2002-09-19/6_exhibitions.html