Early Munich sketches by Mstislav Dobuzhinsky

Abstract

The article examines two studies of the early period of Mstislav Dobuzhinsky's work, relating to the time of his life and studies in Germany (Munich): "A Street in Munich" (circa 1899-1901) and "Workshop of the Anton Ashbe School" (1899). The author of the article, based on the artistic and critical literature devoted to Dobuzhinsky's work, as well as correspondence and memoirs of the artist and his contemporaries, examines the urban pastel landscape and interior sketch of the late 90s. In the context of the tasks that the artist set himself during his studies abroad at the schools of Anton Ashbe and Shimon Holloshi, as well as in line with the conceptual searches of the artist both in the early and mature periods of creativity. In the analysis of the works under consideration, the author of the article uses formal stylistic, descriptive methods, the study of the features of artistic manner, the nature of the figurative and plastic language of the works, emotional and aesthetic assessment. The author of the article discovers an unconditional coincidence of artistic images, mood and texture of the early sketches of the artist's Munich period with verbal descriptions of the atmosphere of Munich in the late 1890s and the school of Anton Ashbe and his method, left by the artist and his contemporaries in letters, memoirs, art-critical and historical notes. Summing up the analysis of the "Streets of Munich" and the "Workshop of the Anton Ashbe School" by Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, the author of the article concludes that the special, subtle poetic mood of the two works under consideration, a gloomy autumn landscape and a bright sunny interior sketch, representing the early stage of the evolution of the artistic manner of the master, thoughtfully and figuratively reflect the concept "quiet poetry", characteristic of the artist's mature graphics and paintings, consistently developed by him in his further work.