practice, he had the opportunity of decorating a large room at some friends house. He amused himself by painting on these walls the portraits of four friends and a genealogical tree. A little later, in collaboration with his friend M. Vassili Choukaieff, he was commissioned to decorate the ceiling of a large concert hall at Moscow; and the work was carried out in an adaptation of the Directory style.
However, M. Iacovleff went to Italy, where he was to have the opportunity of studying in situ the works of the Old Masters and of working according to their example. It is not surprising that he should have been attracted by Mantegna and his school. In my earlier article I
developed that theory of the triumph of will over instinct which dominates M. Iacovleff s art: and were not the master
of Mantua’s severity of style and power of expressing character by sheer power of drawing exactly calculated to confirm the young artist in the way in which his ideas were leading him?
He devoted much study to the work of the founders of the School of Ferrara, imitators of Mantegna, Cosimo Tura, and Francesco del Cossa, whose fresco in the Schifanoia Palace, happily preserved,
enchanted him as much by the firmness of its drawing as by its charm and grace. But in Piero della Francesca he found his ideal: and it is doubtless relevant to remark that this Master, who distinguished
himself in the study of mathematics, would. naturally, through his rationalistic side, make a strong impression on M. Iacovleff, with his cult of the will triumphing over instinct.
The war took M. Iacovleff back to Russia. It was suggested that he should decorate the Moscow-Kazan Railway
Station at Moscow, and he was also commissioned to decorate the nave of the Orthodox Church at Bari, an Italian port on the Adriatic. The Revolution shattered all these plans. But, settled in France after two years stay in China and Japan, it
MURAL DECORATION IN A CON- CERT-ROOM IN A PRIVATE HOUSE BY ALEXANDER IACOVLEFF
MURAL DECORATION IN THE
RESTAURANT LA BICHE” BY ALEXANDER IACOVLEFF
However, M. Iacovleff went to Italy, where he was to have the opportunity of studying in situ the works of the Old Masters and of working according to their example. It is not surprising that he should have been attracted by Mantegna and his school. In my earlier article I
developed that theory of the triumph of will over instinct which dominates M. Iacovleff s art: and were not the master
of Mantua’s severity of style and power of expressing character by sheer power of drawing exactly calculated to confirm the young artist in the way in which his ideas were leading him?
He devoted much study to the work of the founders of the School of Ferrara, imitators of Mantegna, Cosimo Tura, and Francesco del Cossa, whose fresco in the Schifanoia Palace, happily preserved,
enchanted him as much by the firmness of its drawing as by its charm and grace. But in Piero della Francesca he found his ideal: and it is doubtless relevant to remark that this Master, who distinguished
himself in the study of mathematics, would. naturally, through his rationalistic side, make a strong impression on M. Iacovleff, with his cult of the will triumphing over instinct.
The war took M. Iacovleff back to Russia. It was suggested that he should decorate the Moscow-Kazan Railway
Station at Moscow, and he was also commissioned to decorate the nave of the Orthodox Church at Bari, an Italian port on the Adriatic. The Revolution shattered all these plans. But, settled in France after two years stay in China and Japan, it
MURAL DECORATION IN A CON- CERT-ROOM IN A PRIVATE HOUSE BY ALEXANDER IACOVLEFF
MURAL DECORATION IN THE
RESTAURANT LA BICHE” BY ALEXANDER IACOVLEFF