Viktoriia Devdariani
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
Paul Sourikoff belongs to the generation of Soviet painters whose professional carrier started in the 20–30s of the 20th century in the USSR. He was a member of the circle of the young and talented people whose painting wasn’t acknowledged by the official authority and that is why it has been forgotten and unclaimed for many years. During their not very long life many of the painters of this so-called Pleiad were able to create brilliant works of art, which amaze us with their mastery, real sincerity and lyric. The main part of their works suffered a tragic fate: sometimes they destroyed their works themselves, sometimes their relatives being not able to value the painting disposed of it and some of their works vanished during World War II. Very often just a few works of a painter have survived till now. And in this case each finding like a photo of some of their works or a review of their exhibition in old newspapers let alone the chance to find their canvas enables us to view their creative activity in a new light.
I am going to present a picture called “The children’s party” (1928) by Paul Sourikoff in my report. The picture was considered to have disappeared many years ago. But I happened to find it in one of the regional museums of the Urals in June 2015. I am planning to speak about the picture within the framework of the whole creative activity of Paul Sourikoff as well.