Ilia Ivanovich Mashkov

Born July 17 (29), 1881, in the stanitsa (large cossack village) of Mikhailovskaia, in present-day Volgograd Oblast; died Mar. 20, 1944, in Moscow. Soviet painter. Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR (1928).

From 1900 to 1909, Mashkov studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture under K. A. Korovin and V. A. Serov. He was a member of the Jack of Diamonds (from 1910), the World of Art (from 1916), the Society of Moscow Artists (1927-28), and the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia (from 1924).

Between 1910 and 1920, Mashkov was influenced by P. Cezanne and cubism and drew upon the tradition of the lubok (inexpensive popular print). His works of this period, consisting of still lifes, landscapes, and portraits, contain deliberate distortion yet at the same time convey the sensory quality of images; they are marked by expressive, coarse contours and rich impasto brushstrokes (Fruit on a Dish, 1910; Camellia, 1913; Portrait of N. M. Usova, 1915—all in the Tret’iakov Gallery).

In the early 1920’s, Mashkov abandoned the principles of the Jack of Diamonds group and sought for greater representational truthfulness. He strove to convey more directly the material essence of the world and the richness of existence (Moscow Food: Meat, Game, 1924; ZAGES [Zemo-Avchaly Hydroelectric Power Plant], 1927; Still Life: Pineapples and Bananas, 1938— all in the Tret’iakov Gallery).

From 1902 to 1917, Mashkov taught at his own studio. He was an instructor at Vkhutemas-Vkhutein (State Higher Arts and Technical Studios-Higher Art and Technical Institute) from 1918 to 1930.