Victor koulbak exhibiting at didier aaron london 2 by bérengère

KOULBAK

pa in tin gs d ra w i n g s

KO U L B A K pa in tin g s d ra w i n g s

KO U L B A K paintings drawings

November 26 - December 18

DIDIER AARON LONDON

The Nature of All Things, the Art of Victor Koulbak Born in 1946, the artist Victor Koulbak grew up in a congested apartment in Moscow where he took solace from his stressful living situation by focusing on drawing. At the age of 12, he began his formal art training which continued throughout his teen years at the Art school attached to the Russian Academy of Arts where the Old Masters were a primary focus and a huge inspiration to the young artist. He worked as a draughtsman and illustrator to support himself while a student. After taking part in a number of exhibitions in Moscow that the Communist Party Officials shut down, he immigrated to Paris in 1976. He now lives in Malta. Within a short time of arriving in Paris, Koulbak was participating in both one-man and group exhibitions on an international scale. For almost five decades his work has been included in presentations held in France, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Japan, Italy, Great Britain, Germany, Malta, Canada and the United States. In a 2013 catalogue introduction, HRH The Prince of Wales noted, «His abiding belief that beauty is a manifestation of God confers on his work an almost sacred dimension that renders it beyond fashion and beyond the confines of time.»1

The selection of art for this exhibition celebrates two distinct bodies of work : Koulbak’s nature studies and his portraiture. The nature studies are deliberate, objective renderings that focus on the act of seeing and interpreting the subject with both clarity and precision through the artist’s utilization of his tour de force technique. Where one might expect visceral characteristics of animation and vibrancy, Koulbak draws likenesses of a horse, an eagle and a lemur, among other animals, in what seem like pensive poses of awareness of the viewer.

His human portraits, especially those in silverpoint, are both evocative and ephemeral. In the three portraits done in acrylic, the artist’s choice of colour does not so much define or describe but further articulates the ethereal nature of each subject. These three, because of their costumes, settings and accompanying animate and inanimate objects, seem to be part of a strange and magical existence, resisting the very measured realism of Koulbak’s expression that makes them all the more fascinating, delightful and curious.

Koulbak’s careful consideration of the appearance and techniques of the Old Masters makes us think we are actually looking at the work of an artist who lived at another time, someone who had walked the earth with Leonardo da Vinci, Hans Holbein or Albrecht Dürer. Possibly Koulbak’s preference for silverpoint drawing on prepared paper harkens back to those artists, who used it widely in their times, or perhaps it is because his work 1

HRH The Prince of Wales, «Forward», Koulbak, paintings, drawings, Didier Aaron, inc., 2013.

recalls the same profound sense of austerity and exactitude that pervades the work of these Old Masters. Even though the work at first elicits these references to an earlier time, it becomes clear upon further observation that they are of our time. The drawing of Model, 2013, of a young girl with her clear blue-eyed gaze directed at the viewer, is not a demure child of the Renaissance but rather is a self-assured young woman of the modern era.

Koulbak’s technical mastery of silverpoint is breathtaking. This early Renaissance method of drawing entails dragging a silver (or other metal) stylus over a gessoed surface or ground. The slight tooth (irregular surface) of the ground preparation causes a little of the silver to remain behind, which creates the line. Preparing the support paper can be difficult. Historically artists used a mixture of bone ash, chalk or lead white, with rabbit skin glue as the binder to coat the paper. Today artists often use an acrylic gesso, gouache or commercially prepared clay-coated paper, but Victor Koulbak still prepares a traditional ground. Another problem is how unforgiving silverpoint is. The artist must command complete control since these drawings cannot be erased or altered once a mark has been made. For these reasons, the process became all but obsolete in the 18th century with the introduction of improved drawing materials like graphite.

In silverpoint, what begins as a grey line, over time transforms in tone to a warm, mellow brown through natural oxidization from exposure to the environment. Koulbak has characterized the change in colour as the «self-developing of the drawing»2. His silverpoint drawings emanate a sense of temporality. They seem in the process of evaporating off the page: those enhanced with a wash of watercolour magically solidify. Whether the subject is human or animal, these works demonstrate the artist’s ability to uncover and describe the distinctive and most revealing qualities that define his subjects. It is clear that Victor Koulbak discerns the nature of all things and through his singular genius of art making he presents them for our delight. Marilyn Laufer, PhD Director of Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art Auburn University, Alabama, USA

Bruce Weber, «Silverpoint Drawing», American Artist, March 1986.

Victor Koulbak was born in 1946 in Moscow, where he studied at the Art School from 1958 to 1964. He then spent two years working as a draughtsman for various publishing houses. In 1966, he was admitted to the Polygraphic Institute of Moscow, where he studied for three years. He then continued to work as an illustrator to earn his living. Three exhibitions in which he tried to show his work were closed down within hours of their opening. In 1975, he left Russia and is presently living in Malta. His work has been shown in France, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Japan, Italy, England, Austria, Germany, Malta, Canada and the United States.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Magasiner . Aftenposten Enköpings-Posten Enköpings-Posten Aftenposten Morgenbladet Dagbladet Morgenbladet Arbeiderbladet Aftenposten Svenska Dagbladet Kvälls Posten Svenska Dagbladet Le Quotidien de Paris L’Express Tempo The New York Times Oggi Herald Tribune Le Figaro The Times Elle Morning Star Daily Telegraph Time Out Le Monde Le Figaro Le Point

12.10.1974 19.12.1975 22.12.1975 20.02.1976 20.02.1976 23.02.1976 03.03.1976 09.03.1976 18.03.1976 27.03.1976 03.04.1976 04.04.1976 19.06.1976 15.11.1976 21.11.1976 24.11.1976 06.12.1976 09.12.1976 05.01.1977 09.01.1977 10.01.1977 19.01.1977 22.01.1977 28.01.1977 12.12.1977 02.01.1978 02.01.1978

Art News 03.03.1978 Le Point 01.09.1980 Le Point 15.09.1980 Le Figaro 30.09.1981 Pensées Russes 17.01.1985 The Sunday Republican 12.01.1986 Secolo d’Italia 02.03.1986 Corriere della Sera 05.03.1986 Europeo 17.03.1986 Il Giornale 18.03.1986 Secolo d’Italia 23.03.1986 Republica 18.04.1986 Rome Daily 27.04.1986 The New York Times 31.10.1986 Art & Antiques 09.11.1988 The New York Times 23.12.1988 Figaro-Magazine 31.03.1990 Pensées Russes 01.05.1992 La Croix 16.02.1997 Daily News 12.05.2000 Côté Est 09.01.2001 Le Journal du Dimanche 04.11.2001 Jours de Chasse Autumn 2001 Elle 05.11.2001 The Sciences Spring 2001 La Gazette Drouot 28.01.2011 Le Figaro Magazine 25.05.2012

BOOKS René Huyghe, Les signes du temps et l’Art moderne, Flammarion. Gérard Xuriguera, Les Figurations, Editions Mayer. Blandine Verlet, L’Offrande Musicale, Desclée de Brouwer, Paris 2002. Nicolas Bokov, Or d’Automne et Pointe d’Argent. Conversation avec Victor Koulbak, Les Editions Noir sur Blanc, Lausanne 2005. Rudolf Kober u. a., Fünf Plus Eins. Reflexionen der Zeit, Panorama Museum, Bad Frankenhausen 2006.

CATALOGUES Valentine Marcadé, Galerie Etienne de Causans, Paris, France Michel Gibson, Takeichi Gallery, Tokyo, Japan Michel Lancelot, Galerie Isy Brachot, Paris, France Leonide Korabelnikov, Galerie Isy Brachot, Paris, France Antonello Tronbadori, Luci del Sottosuolo, Studio S, Rome, Italy Victor Koulbak, Leslie Cecil Gallery, New York, USA Theodore F. Wolff, The Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, USA Townsend Wolff, The Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, USA Gerard Haggerty, Beadleston Gallery, New York, USA Franklin W. Robinson, Beadleston Gallery, New York, USA Victor Koulbak, W.M. Brady & Co, New York, USA Theodore F. Wolff, Portland Gallery, London, Great Britain Nicolas Bokov, W.M. Brady & Co, New York, USA Nicolas Bokov, Portland Gallery, London, Great Britain Nathalie Laue, Galerie & Edition, Frankfurt am Main, Deutschland HRH The Prince of Wales, Didier Aaron Gallery, New York, USA Marilyn Laufer, Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn, Alabama, USA Marilyn Laufer, Didier Aaron Gallery, London, Great Britain

1977 1980 1981 1984 1986 1988 1999 1999 2000 2002 2004 2005 2007 2008 2009 2013 2015 2015

ONE MAN SHOWS 1975 Sweden, Helsinborg, Briiska Galleriet. 1976 Sweden, Stockholm, Grafikhuset Futura. Sweden, Malmö, Galerie Leger. Norway, Oslo, Galerie 27. 1977 France, Paris, Galerie Etienne de Causans. 1980 Japan, Tokyo, Galerie Takeishi. 1981 France, Paris, Galerie Isy Brachot. 1982 Canada, Toronto, Lavrov-Tanenbaum Gallery. 1983 Belgium, Brussels, Galerie Isy Brachot. 1984 France, Paris, Galerie Isy Brachot. 1985 Japan, Tokyo, Isetan Gallery. 1986 Italy, Rome, Studio S. USA, New York, Leslie Cecil Gallery. 1987 Japan, Tokyo, Isetan Gallery. 1988 USA, New York, Leslie Cecil Gallery. 1997 France, Paris, Cité des Arts. 1999 USA, Arkansas, Little Rock, Arkansas Arts Center.

2000 USA, New York, Beadleston Gallery. 2000 USA, Los Angeles, Jan Baum Gallery. 2001 France, Paris, Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature. 2002 USA, New York, Beadleston Gallery. Malta, National Museum of Fine Arts. 2004 USA, New York, W.M. Brady & Co. 2005 Great Britain, London, Portland Gallery. 2007 USA, New York, W.M. Brady & Co. 2008 Great Britain, London, Portland Gallery. 2009 Malta, Valetta, National Museum of Fine Arts. Nathalia Laue, Galerie & Edition, Frankfurt am Main 2013 USA, New York, Didier Aaron Gallery. 2015 USA, Auburn, Alabama, Jule Collins Museum of Fine Art. 2015 Great Britain, London, Didier Aaron Gallery.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS 1976 France, Paris, Salon des Réalités Nouvelles. RFA Esslingen a. N., Kunstverein, “Nonkonformistische russische Maler”. France, Paris, Palais des Congrès, “La peinture russe contemporaine”. 1977 Great Britain, London Institute of Contemporary Art, “Unofficial Russian Painters”. Austria, Vienna, “Février russe”. USA, Washington, “Washington International Art Fair”. Great Britain, London, Fischer Fine Art Limited, “The Figurative Approach 2”. Italy, Venice, “La Biennale di Venezia”. 1978 Japan, Tokyo, Musée d’Art Moderne. 1979 Belgium, Brussels, Galerie Isy Brachot. Germany, Munich, “Grafeling”. France, Paris, Galerie Bellint, “Les Russes à Paris”. 1980 Switzerland, Lausanne, “Peintres russes”. 1977-1984 France, Paris, Grand Palais, “Grands et Jeunes d’aujourd’hui”.

1982 USA, New York, “Bilan de l’Art Contemporain”. USA, Florida, Palm Beach, Norton Gallery. USA, Florida, Pensacola, Pensacola Museum of Art, “Silver Point in America”. USA, Arkansas, Little Rock, Arkansas Arts Center. USA, Massachusetts, Springfield, Museum of Fine Arts. 1984 Canada, Québec, “Bilan de l’Art Contemporain”. 1988 USA, Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University. 2000 USA, Los Angeles, Jan Baum Gallery. 2006 Germany, Bad Frankenhausen, Panorama Museum. USA, Savannah, Georgia, Telfair Museum of Art. 2008 Great Britain, London, Art London. 2014 USA, Arkansas, Little Rock, Arkansas Arts Center. 2015 USA, Naples Florida, Baker Museum.

INDEX OF PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS

Venice Trip - 2015 - Acrylic on wood, 60 x 60 cm

Page 1

Still Life N째 1 - 2013 - Acrylic on canvas, 70 x 70 cm

Promenade - 2014 - Acrylic on wood, 60 x 60 cm

Joung Girl - 2011 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 32 x 25 cm

Horse - 2010 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 32 x 25 cm

Blue Bird - 2013 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 32 x 25 cm

Bird N째 1 - 2007 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 28 x 25 cm

Model - 2013 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 32 x 24 cm

Emotion - 2009 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 32 x 24 cm

Young Chicken - 2005 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 32 x 24 cm

Chicken - 2009 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 32 x 26 cm

Young Woman - 2011 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 32 x 24 cm

Male Model - 2012 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 32 x 24 cm

Woman with a Hat - 2008 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 32 x 24 cm

Vision - 2014 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 32 x 25 cm

Eagle - 2002 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 32 x 25 cm

Bird N째 2 - 2012 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 32 x 25 cm

Still Life N째 2 - 2013 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 31 x 25 cm

Still Life with Candle - 2015 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 32 x 24 cm

Page 19

Portrait - 2011 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 33 x 25 cm

Musician - 2015 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 31 x 24 cm

Lemur - 2014 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 32 x 24 cm

Leopard - 2013 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 31 x 25 cm

Profile N째 1 - 2009 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 32 x 25 cm

Profile N째 2 - 2002 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 32 x 25 cm

Nude N째 1 - 2012 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 32 x 25 cm

Nude N째 2 - 2012 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 32 x 25 cm

Italian Girl - 2013 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 31 x 25 cm

Young Model - 2004 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 32 x 25 cm

Pigeon - 2007 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 31 x 25 cm

Cat - 2012 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 51 x 38 cm

Bird on a Wall - 2002 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 52 x 39 cm

Swan - 2006 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 66 x 51 cm

Yak - 2013 - Silverpoint, watercolour, 33 x 25 cm

Cover: Portrait with a Red Hat - 2015 - Acrylic on canvas, 70 x 70 cm