The Rainbow, a painting by Konstantin Somov, achieved an auction record for a Russian work of art in 2007 when it sold at Christie's London for 3.716 million British pounds. This result cemented his standing as a significant figure of the Modernist period, whose intricate visual language transcended the traditional boundaries of early 20th-century Russian aesthetic production.
Formative Years and Academy Training
Born in Saint Petersburg in 1869 to an art historian father, Somov grew up surrounded by a private collection of prints and drawings. He attended the Karl May School before enrolling in the Imperial Academy of Arts in 1888, where he studied under Ilya Repin for nine years. His travel to Italy and winters in Paris during the late 1890s informed his later practice, leading him to further studies at the Académie Colarossi.
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Somov served as a founding member of the Mir iskusstva society in 1898, contributing to the movement’s influential magazine through design and illustration. During this time, he executed his early masterpiece, Lady in Blue, completed between 1897 and 1900. His versatility extended to small plastic arts, where he crafted porcelain compositions alongside his established reputation as a painter, watercolorist, and draftsperson.
Erotic Illustration and Le Livre de la Marquise
Between 1907 and 1919, Somov produced over 120 ink drawings for editions of Le Livre de la Marquise, an anthology of 18th-century French erotic literature. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, the removal of censorship allowed him to publish a more explicit edition through the R. Golike & A. Vilborg & Company printing house. His dedication to these themes led peers to characterize his work as having an essential erotic basis.
International Recognition and Exile
By 1903, Somov’s work received international exposure in Hamburg, Berlin, and Paris. His style, influenced by Pre-Raphaelites, Aubrey Beardsley, and French rococo masters, gained significant traction in Germany, resulting in a monograph by Oskar Bie in 1907. Following the Russian Revolution, he emigrated to Paris. He worked across diverse locations including Italy, Great Britain, and the United States before his death in 1939. He is buried at the Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery.
Fast facts
- Born: 1869, Saint Petersburg
- Died: 1939, Paris
- Movement: Modernism
- Notable Works: Lady in Blue, The Boxer
- Education: Imperial Academy of Arts, Académie Colarossi
- Burial Site: Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois Russian Cemetery
- Primary Occupations: Painter, illustrator, printmaker
Questions readers ask
What was the significance of Le Livre de la Marquise?
It was an anthology of 18th-century French erotic poetry and prose for which Somov created over 120 illustrations, later expanding to include explicit material after 1917.
Where did Somov spend his career?
He worked in several countries, including Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, and the United States.
Achievements
- Notable work: Lady in Blue
- Notable work: The Boxer
- Movement: modernism
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