Russian Or Ukrainian Artist – Still Life With Onions – Monogrammed And Named On The Back

Unidentified Russian or Ukrainian artist (name in Cyrillic on the reverse)
1997
Oil on canvas board
Monogrammed “A” and dated “97” lower right
24 × 18 cm

This still life testifies to the persistence of the Russian realist tradition at the end of the 20th century. The artist, deliberately placing himself within the legacy of the Slavic school of the first half of the century, reconnects with an academic aesthetic and sensibility that characterized pre-war Eastern European painting.

The rigorously constructed composition presents an arrangement of everyday objects treated in a decidedly classical spirit. In the upper left of the scene, a cluster of hanging onions catches the golden light, their finely modeled translucent bulbs creating a subtle play of shadows on the wall. In the center, a covered jar hangs. Other kitchen utensils are also visible on the wall. This vertical arrangement structures the space according to the principles of traditional still life.

The foreground reveals a collection of evocative objects: a pewter tankard with a matte sheen, a crumpled newspaper bearing a partially legible inscription, and an abandoned pipe. These elements, rendered in a limited palette of browns, ochres, and gray-greens, recreate the modest atmosphere of a working-class interior as it might have been depicted in the 1920s-1950s.

The technical mastery, sensitive touch, and deliberate choice of a timeless aesthetic make this work a sincere homage to the great Russian pictorial tradition.

The work is in very good condition. It is presented in a beautiful, modern carved and stained wooden frame, also in very good condition.

The work can be viewed at the gallery (07240).
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