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There is Something of
the Saints in Smirnov's Art
Sergey Smirnov's subjects
look out from the picture plane with serene and liquid eyes.
Their features are delicate, pale, and fine. They seem pensive,
or perhaps they simply remain aloof from the comings and goings
of the world around them. In every case, their eyes dominate
the canvas of their face. If, indeed, the eyes are the windows
to the soul, then the souls Sergey Smirnov reveals are deep
and profound, and in their simplicity, reminiscent of the haunting
and beautiful images found in old Russian church iconography.
There is something of the saints in Sergey Smirnov's art, something
of the world and its joys and sorrows is in his eloquent and
mute figures. To know the steps Smirnov has taken on his journey
as an artist is to understand the evolution of his sentiment
and style.
Master of the Art of
Painting Icons
Sergey Smirnov was born in 1953,
in an area of Russia bordering the Pacific Ocean known as the
Kamchatka Peninsula. His father was an army officer who moved
his family from base to base throughout Russia. In his late
teen years, Smirnov and his family settled in Moscow, where
he went to work for the Ministry of Agriculture.
In 1979, Sergey Smirnov began
to take classes at the Moscow City Art College. He graduated
from the art college in 1983 as class valedictorian, with a
master's degree in art. His remarkable skill in church and cathedral
renovation, led to a prestigious position as a restorer of aging
and antique church icons and frescoes. Two years later, he began
painting icons--a long-standing tradition among Russia's artists--and
his work now graces several major churches throughout the country.
Free to Paint
Starting in 1991, Sergey Smirnov
designed and developed logos and graphics for a wide variety
of Russian corporations, winning countless national and international
awards for his work. He also served as chief editor for the
Advertising and Image Creation Corporation of the Russian government's
International Trade Corporation. But in 1994 this spirit moved
him to devote himself entirely to painting.
The Old Argument for
Oil on Canvas
Sergey Smirnov set up his atelier,
choosing oil on canvas as his preferred medium. Oil paint is
more "natural" than acrylic in tone and saturation.
Oils have a translucent quality, that allows the artist to achieve
subtler variations in hue through mixing and layering. Also,
oil paint takes much to dry than acrylic paint, and there is
greater malleability with the medium. The layers and the colors
can be blended and manipulated over a much longer period of
time.
Painting "Persona"
or Masks
Sergey Smirnov's works
have a subtle, jewel-like quality in both line and tone. There
is a precision to each silhouette and to every feature of the
faces he depicts that is reminiscent of the sharpness of the
facets of a cut gemstone. The colors Smirnov uses bring to mind
semiprecious stones: carnelian reds, moss agate greens, the
browns of smoky quartz, the yellows of topaz and citrine, the
purples of amethyst and tanzanite. The backgrounds Smirnov selects
for his portraits are rich and textured, rippling with minute
variations in hue and saturation.
In looking at Sergey Smirnov's
art, one can easily appreciate that Smirnov ranks Gustav Klimt,
the Austrian painter whose images were a cornerstone of the
art nouveau movement, as an important influence. He also cites
Modigliani and Rembrandt as major influences, as well as Andrei
Rublev and Pheophan Grek, who were celebrated masters of Slavic
icon painting. Smirnov's style has echoes of his favorite period
of Russian art, known as "parsuna," which bridged
the worlds of religious and personal portraiture, as Russian
painters began adopting the portrait painting styles of Western
European salons. "Parsuna," which is derived from
the Latin persona, means mask, and the hybrid imagery, first
used in the 17th century, remains in play to this day in the
art of Sergey Smirnov.
A Modern Day Russian
Icon
In 1997, Sergey Smirnov was honored
as only the third living artist to have a personal exhibit in
the Kremlin's Manezh, which ranks as one of the most prestigious
art galleries in the world. For three weeks, people from across
Russia lined up at the gallery to catch a glimpse of Smirnov's
haunting, elegant art. In the same year, Smirnov exhibited at
the Orlean House in London, dazzling both critics and the public
with his work. Smirnov has been avidly collected throughout
the world, and his art is included in several noteworthy Russian
collections, including those of former Russian president Boris
Yeltsin, former prime minister Victor Chernomirdin, leading
business leader and presidential adviser Boris Berezovsky, Minister
of Transportation Sergey Frank, and Minister of Defense Marshall
Shaposhnicov
Sergey Smirnov passed
away November 8, 2006 while in the United States for an exhibition
at Fingerhut Galleries. |
SERGEY
SMIRNOV - 1953-2006 - BIO