An exhibition of Boris Kasatkin organized by In artibus Foundation is the second part of a project devoted to Moscow school of painting. The first in this series was a jubilee exhibition of Vladimir Weisberg (2014); the third one will be focused on Ilya Mashkov’s art.
Boris Kasatkin (b. 1944) is a Moscow artist. Technically, his professional education started at the Moscow School of Arts (1958–61) and continued at the Stroganov Academy of Arts (1962). The year 1966 became a turning in his life, when he began to study with Vladimir Weisberg and has formed as a professional under his guidance. Currently he lives and works in Moscow. The upcoming exhibition includes works directly from the artist’s studio as well as from private collections and Russian museums (State Tretyakov Gallery, Arkhangelsk Museum of Arts, Volgograd Museum of Fine Arts, Vologda State Museum-Preserve, Perm State Art Gallery).
For the viewer, this exhibition is a rare and, to some extent, unique opportunity to get a complete picture of Boris Kasatkin’s painting. Though he is well known among professionals — colleagues, art historians, collectors — until now he remained dramatically undiscovered by a wider audience. The exposition has been designed by the artist humself, which makes this show an exhibition from the first-person perspective.
One hundered paintings demonstrate all periods of Kasatkin’s artistic life. Quite a few of them are Moscow landscapes of 1960-80s. Courtyards, embankments, park alcoves, the sky and the clouds: no place is represented “literally”, but each one of Kasatkin’s landscapes is easily recognizeable. The light and the air which come from the painterly surface of his works undoubtedly belong to Moscow. By the end of 1980s, the bright plein-air gives way to a sort of a “white period” — which is totally logical for a student of Weisberg. Late 1980s and 90s are the years of analytical work in the studio. Famous “Weisberg” shelves, plaster figures, recognizeable from the works of the great master of painting, continue their exhistance in Kasatkin’s studio. Today, he keeps painting them.
