Geese. 1911

From the Collection of the Research Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts

The canvas “Geese” is an example of a “mood painting,” where the artist poeticizes a simple subject. Most prominently featured are the iridescent colors of the summer twilight. Kostandi was an innate colorist, acutely feeling the nuances of colour tones. Not coincidentally, Ilya Repin called his work “diamonds.”

This painting for many years belonged to the famous Soviet Realist Painter Brodsky. In his life, he assembled an excellent collection of Russian and European art. Education at the Odessa School was a big step towards admission into the Academy of Painters in Saint Petersburg, and he later spoke highly of his teacher Kostadni. Brodsky clearly surpassed in prominence his teacher, becoming one of the most important representatives of Realism in the Soviet period. Brodsky’s painting was different from Kostadni’s restrained, even monochrome, color scheme, where fine drawing and line play a paramount role. Brodsky himself called his style “open” and found his style early, while still in his student years.