Konstantin Nikolaevich Istomin is a Russian avant-garde artist who had his own unique style, but remained unknown for many decades. Konstantin Istomin painted still lifes and landscapes, everyday scenes, sketches of costumes and scenery for theatrical performances. He took every work very seriously, carefully thinking over the details from finding the main color and tonality to the arrangement of objects. His paintings are complete, complete and emotional.
Over the long years of creativity, Istomin has repeatedly tried to write on the “right” topics types of factories, factories, working life of miners but after that he again returned to creativity “for himself.” His works were not banned, they were simply not popular. For many years Istomin was known only for his successful teaching activities.
Biography of Konstantin Istomin
Father, Nikolai Vladimirovich, was an officer, second lieutenant in an infantry battalion. The boy spent his early childhood in Kursk, later, due to his father’s transfer to the service, he moved to Vladivostok, and in 1904, after the start of the Russo-Japanese War, the family settled in Kharkov.
At the age of 18, Konstantin Istomin spent several months in prison due to participation in workers’ demonstrations in 1905. When he was released, he packed his things and immediately left for Bavaria. For three years he studied with the famous painter Shimon Holloshi (Hollosy Simon), after which he returned to Russia and entered the Moscow State University. Istomin himself argued that this training was no longer interesting to him as an opportunity to gain knowledge, but in a simple way to avoid military service.
Since the 1920s, the artist taught a lot at the Higher Artistic and Technical Institute, at the Moscow Polygraphic Institute. He was an excellent teacher, often helped poor students with materials, helped out in difficult life situations. It was thanks to his students that after many years Istomin finally became famous.
In 1941, with the outbreak of World War II, the artist was evacuated to Samarkand.
There he died a year later, on August 28, 1942, a natural death. The painter has never been married. The paintings of Konstantin Istomin were opened to the general public only in 1961, when, through the efforts of former students, a personal exhibition of the author was held.
Paintings
