The immense Palace Square in St. Petersburg cannot be captured with a glance, it simply does not fit into the eyes.
Yet the artist Yefim Deshalyt managed to do this in a 20×35 cm format while maintaining all sizes and perspectives, everything is here, all the architectural symbols of the Empire of the Russian Tsars: the Winter Palace, now the Hermitage Museum, the Alexandrian Pillar and the Golden Spire of the Admiralty.
It succeeded thanks to the professional specialization of the artist, since Yefim Deshalyt (1921-1996) was the creator of historical diorama-panoramic projects.
In the mid-50s the artist worked on the creation of the revolutionary diorama ‘Storming of the Winter Palace, 1917’ it was a big honorable state order, but this etude he made only for himself.
This oil etude (painted in 1957) is framed as a precious artifact in a box-shaped frame and protected by the finest museum glass.

Just as Rembrandt’s “Titus at his Desk” keeps reading and daydreaming, reading again and dreaming further in the continuous present tense, so Natalya Zaloznaya’s girl with a fork eats and enjoys, eats and enjoys in the grammatical form of Present Continuous – in a continuously continuing action.

The painting “With a Fork”, in my opinion, is the artistic peak of the Delight series, in which the author’s concept, with a bit of luck, is happily combined with brilliant expressive execution.
With what luck?! Because the artist experimented with the latest material – fluid acrylic ink, which, even with masterful application, flows where it wants to. But probably because of this, the movement of the girl’s face is so disarming and makes you remember the old word – savoring…

Yeah, but what does Rembrandt and his son have to do with it? Master Natalya Zaloznaya will probably be surprised by my association.

But wait! What about her series My Dutch Heroes: Vermeer, Van Gogh and Rembrandt, which Natalya commented on as follows: “regarding the light… I only remember that my idea was this – Van Gogh is an artist of sunlight, Vermeer – of daylight, Rembrandt – of spiritual light. But this is very monosyllabic, and maybe in this brevity there is a reason for reflection…”

In both canvases, with their frontal composition, lighting, dark background, hands and even sizes, a precious moment of self-contemplation is conveyed. A rarity, in our time, to look inside oneself and be surprised that there is life there, you just need to stop scrolling through Instagram.

The Cape of Vasilyevsky Island is an unchanging view from the halls of the Hermitage.

Those who have ever stood at the high windows of the Winter Palace remember this cinematographic overwhelming impression: on your right side is Leonardo’s Madonna Litti, behind the glass is the architectural ensemble, and under your nose the ice shelves of the Neva are floating at impressive speed.

This is how it was seen in 1957 by Yefim Deshalit, a painter and master-creator of historical dioramas. In the mid-50s the artist worked on the creation of the revolutionary diorama ‘Storming of the Winter Palace, 1917’ it was a big honorable state order, but this etude he made only for himself. ‘Vasilyevsky Island’ is now flying to New York to a new owner, and I am sad and happy that my collection of Social Realism has decreased by one work.

And now I cherish my five remaining works by this great artist!


♡SOLD♡
Yefim Deshalit
“Vasilyevsky Island”, 1957, 19x35cm, oil on board, framed

A petit souvenir of the unique event in the halls of Great Expectation in Heusden last Saturday. Artefacts from antiquity and sculptures of all Praxiteles BC and AD, presented by Cavagnis Lacerenza Fine Art, Milan, paintings from the Dutch Golden Age period, photographs by Raoef Mamedov and musical arrangements by Arthur and Lonia Rusanovsky created an extraordinary atmosphere! We left this hospitable house deeply inspired!

🌹 SOLD!🌹

If her harvest is so delightful, why is her face so sad?

But at first, standing in Anwar’s studio in front of this artwork, my eyes didn’t know what to focus on. The living, breathing grey-white background of either a street wall or a field under snow was blinding. (I once watched in a daze as Anwar applied ground whitewash to the canvas – his brush moved very quickly – up and down, left to right, then cross strokes, as if he was hurriedly preparing wet plaster for a mural).

And why is this touching female figure so angular? One arm is at a right angle upward, the other diagonally downward… And what’s that vibrating «geometry» in the lower left corner? Ha! There it is, the mysterious «repentir», the artist’s act of regret and the desire to do better! It’s a repainted oilpainting! And what’s on the back? Well, of course, the previous name Plums is crossed out.

“Plums”… I remember, I remember. In the left corner the rectangle of the artist’s native house shimmers through, and the female figure mirrors these lines (well, and refracts a little, of course). We see the former muralist and, in his painting, he does not forget the compositional law of monumental art – the outlines of the human figure and the surrounding space are connected and move together.

Don’t even get me started on the color: this red is redder than blood!

Once I yanked this canvas off Anwar Abdoullaev’s easel and took it to Heusden. The paint had not dried yet, and the work had already found a new home. Miraculously, the other day this “Harvest” returned to the gallery… who will step up in admiration of her face and become its new owner? My dearest collectors and Anwar Abdoullaev admirers, a rare opportunity presents itself….I look forward to hearing from you, warm regards, Lilja Zakirova