Natalia Kurguzova-Miroshnik. Patriarch St Tikhon. 1997

Patriarch St Tikhon (Natalia Kurguzova-Miroshnik, 1997)

This week, my “artist of the week” is actually a married couple, Konstantin Miroshnik and Natalia Kurguzova-Miroshnik.

Unfortunately, I was unable to find biographical detail on them, but, their art speaks for itself, I believe.

This painting is appropriate for this week in the Church. Patriarch St Tikhon Bellavin was Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia in the confused period immediately following the Bolshevik Revolution. In fact, many believe that his death was hastened by the pressures of the times, and he is considered one of the first of the Russian New Martyrs of the Bolshevik Yoke.

St Tikhon was ruling bishop of the unified Orthodox diocese in North America before his election as Patriarch. He had a special love for the Church in Alaska and the current bad treatment of the Alaska faithful and clergy by the OCA Holy Synod must distress him deeply. You see, we believe that the saints are very much alive, although they are not on this earth.

I request my Orthodox readers to ask the intercessions of Patriarch St Tikhon the New Martyr to come to the aid of the clergy and people of Alaska. They need it.

Lavrenty Bruni. (Unititled 4). 1992

Untitled 4) (Lavrenty Bruni, 1992)

Lavrenty Bruni. (Unititled 3). 1991

(Untitled 3) (Lavrenty Bruni, 1991)

Lavrenty Bruni. (Untitled 2). 1993

(Untitled 2) (Lavrenty Bruni, 1993)

Meet the Artist: Lavrenty Vasilevich Bruni

Lavrenty Bruni 

Born: 1961, Moscow

Lavrenty Bruni studied at the Surikov Art College in Moscow from 1983 to 1984. Then, he studied classical drawing with Professor Karimov from 1986 to 1989. Mr Bruni was admitted to the Moscow Union of Artists in 1994.

Flowers Blooming in a Garden of Kitsch

An exhibition of the paintings of Lavrenty Bruni opened at the Moscow Fine Art Gallery in Old Arbat Street. The young artist‘s ancestry, which includes Fyodor Bruni, a famous Academy master painter from the last century, and his diploma from the prestigious Surikov Art College promise an impressive show, even though it is at a modest venue. the exhibition‘s grand title, Gala-Time Bouquet, rivals the gala look of the presented canvasses, which ought to delight the visitors from the older generation while possibly somewhat alarming them too.

It shall delight them with the familiar type of still life in the Konchalovsky-Gerasimov style remembered so well from Soviet times… all those Lilacs, Roses, and Peonies reproduced in large prints that adorn the walls of their communal flats, with rich and garish colours, and bold and untidy brushwork (described as “pedigree lush” by Professor Sidorov). Alarming to them may be the artist‘s mania for giant size.

One sees huge poppies and lilies, as if grown with nitrate fertilisers, spread over the canvasses, almost dripping their excess of colour to the floor. The tender girls’ names used for titles, Ksyusha, Lenka, Snezhana, suit the leviathan paintings just as much as Katyusha did the artillery rocket launchers of World War II. The more sophisticated visitor will remember Poppies by Warhol and class it as Russian pop-art, the critic will drop the foreign term “simulacrum”, and the experts buying for a corporate collection may define it as “decorative”. The artist may well agree, though probably not with all of them.

15 March 1995

M. Bode

Kommersant-Daily

From Russia with Art

http://www.artinfo.ru/artbank/scripts/english/author_base.idc?author_id=541 (in English)

Lavrenty Bruni. (Untitled 1). 1994

(Untitled 1) (Lavrenty Bruni, 1994)

A very interesting conception, I would say. It is on the edge of both representational and abstract, at the same time.

Lavrenty Bruni. The Art of Dying. 1994

The Art of Dying (Lavrenty Bruni, 1994)

My Artist of the Week is going to be the contemporary Russian Lavrenty Bruni.

This work is appropriate in the context of the recent death of Metropolitan Laurus Skurla of the ROCOR. The representation is that of an ending, but, it does not appear to show a violent end. Likewise, Vladyki Laurus passed quietly in his sleep, without notice, without pain. That is how we all should go when our time comes, as it inevitably does.

Happy Easter to all my Western Friends!

A Vision of the Mother of God with the Christ-Child Amongst the Angels (Vladimir Borovikovsky, 1823)

My best wishes to all of you who are celebrating Easter today on the Catholic calendar. I wish you nothing but joy, happiness, and good will on this festal day. Shall you come to my Easter party on 27 April? There shall be a place set aside just for you…

Please, pray for this busy sinner…

This week has seen a paucity of posts on this site. It is for three reasons. One is that my work week has been slightly more hectic. A second is that my shoulder is healing a bit slower than I thought, so I find find myself getting tired more easily (a natural part of the healing process). Thirdly, the beloved Vladyki Laurus of Jordanville died this week, and I did overwork myself getting the news out earlier. Nicky and I are going to the funeral on Friday, and we expect to have some photos of our otpust on the site. Therefore, something had to give, and my time on this site (my favourite, actually) has suffered.

Pray for this busy and tired sinner.

Vara Drezhlo 

Isaak Levitan. A Church in Plyos. 1888

A Church in Plyos [Isaak Levitan, 1888]

I find this an appropriate Lenten image. It is stark, minimalistic, and stripped of all extraneous detail. It is the same with our attitude to the Lent. There are those who memorise long lists of forbidden foods, and are quick to jump on those not following their particular fancy in holding the Lent. They also enjoy openly criticsing those who are not imitating their Calvinistic and Jansenist interpretation of Orthodox life.

Such sorts are PHARISEES. We should not be doing such. If one does this, you throw away all the benefits of your fasting, and, besides that, you invite Lucifer into your parlour, and, believe me, he shall come in and make himself at home! There is nothing that pleases Satan more than to have someone keep every last regulation with a joyless and constipated intensity.

The Lent was made for us, to strengthen us, and to prepare us for the joy of Easter. I do not care if someone is “not keeping the fast”. That is their affair. I shall pray for them, certainly, but, to say something openly… why, that is a breach of good manners, let alone Christianity. My task is to see that the Lent benefits me and those around me. Scolding others for “deviations” certainly does NOT help that, does it?

Something to think about…