“Sea coast in Dieppe”, Konstantin Korovin – description of the painting
Description of the picture:
Marine saved in Dieppe – Konstantin Alekseevich Korovin. 1890. Oil on canvas.
This study is a colorful expression of the impact of French impressionism on the work of a Russian artist. It seems that the picture was painted in a burst of inspiration, in almost a couple of minutes. This is indicated by wide free strokes, expressive stratification of paints, the introduction of unsullied, but restrained colors.
The canvas depicts part of the Normandy coast with its corresponding steep banks and vast sandy beaches. The leaden northern sky is not able to make the landscape very dark – light yellow and purple overflows of clouds and a breathtakingly juicy, transparent color of greenish turquoise, in which the sea is painted, interfere with this.
On one side of the picture, a piece of cliff is depicted, exposing layers of rocks. They are almost plain, very light, crowned with a black stripe of hot soil on top with a fringe of the freshest greenish vegetation. Only in the distance, where the cliff is washed by the waves of the cool sea, the soil acquires a warm apricot color, profitably highlighting the overall cold color palette of the picture.
In the distance, the landscape becomes more vague, foggy, which is also typical of impressionism. The steep banks are buried in lilac haze and smoothly run into the same colors of the formidable northern sky. Only a strip of the sea with its indescribable “summer” color contrasts with cool colors without entering into pronounced dissonance with them. Two rather juicy color spots significantly transform and revive the general memory of the landscape.
On the spacious beach, you can see individual colored dots. These are people walking along the beach. Although they are not spelled out in details, nevertheless, their outlines are guessed, you can realize where the men are depicted and where the ladies are. Notice even a tiny umbrella – a mandatory device I will give from society, appropriate for those times.
With all the seeming negligence of writing, the picture has a completed look and amazingly conveys the atmosphere of the Normandy sea coast.
This painting emphasizes the indisputable artistic gift and talent of the artist, testifies that the impressionistic style of writing was not something alien to him, brought from the outside. Korovin was able to combine French airiness with Russian passion. The result of such an unusual symbiosis became beautiful paintings, which became a significant contribution to Russian and world painting."