Pavel Filonov (Russian, 1883-1941)
Untitled (The Town)

watercolour and mixed media on paper
Executed circa 1920s

Unframed: 20.4 x 21 cm. (8 1/8 x 8 1/4 in.) Framed: 35 x 36 cm. (13 3/4 x 14 1/4 in.)

Please note there is a further sketch verso

The artist, St. Petersburg, thence by descent to
Evdokia Nikolaevna Glebova, the artist’s sister, circa 1988
With Galerie Gmurzynska, Cologne, 7 May 1992
With Galerie Piltzer, Paris
Private Collection, Geneva
James Butterwick, London
Private Collection, London, from whom acquired by the present owner

Exhibited:
Cologne, Galerie Gmurzynska, The Physiology of Painting - Pavel Filonov in the 1920s, Apr-May 1992; the exhibition was in association with the State Russian Museum
Paris, Galerie Gerard Pilzer, Malevich & Filnov, 1992; the exhibition was in association with the State Russian Museum

Literature:
Krystyna Gmurzynska, Chrysanthi Kotrouzinis, and Mathias Rastorfer (eds.), The Physiology of Painting - Pavel Filonov in the 1920s, 1992, p.69, cat.no.17, illustrated.
Exhibition Catalogue, Galerie Gerard Pilzer, Paris, Malevich & Filnov, pp.104-5, cat.no.104, illustrated.

Pavel Filonov was born in 1882 into a large, impoverished family in Moscow, and by the age of 14, he was orphaned. These formative years of poverty and tragedy informed his artistic career and, in many ways, defined much of his life. He served during World War I, became deeply involved in revolutionary movements within the army, and tragically died of starvation in 1941 during the Siege of Leningrad.

Pavel Filonov and his art have been less regarded internationally than his contemporaries, such as Wassily Kandinsky and Kazimir Malevich. While Kandinsky left Russia for Germany and France, and Malevich was able to leave many of his works behind in Warsaw and Berlin in 1927, Filonov never left Russia. Like many others, he welcomed the 1917 Revolution, and his art mirrored that ambition and excitement. Filonov’s philosophy of Sdelannost, defined as "made-ness" or craftsmanship, mirrored the physical label of the "worker" that was so heavily emphasised by the revolutionary rhetoric of the years following 1917. The sheer detail and construction of his works in many ways aligned with the principles of the revolution.

Filonov is widely known as the founding father of Analytical Realism. The movement departed from others like Cubism and Impressionism that embraced purely stylistic methods; for Filonov, art was a scientific method for comprehending the world around him. Despite remaining in Russia, he transitioned from a respected leader of the avant-garde to an outsider as Soviet art shifted from the experimental to the rigid style of Socialist Realism. Filonov’s art was considered too detailed, intellectual, and philosophical for the masses.

After his death, his sister, Evdokia Glebova, hid his collection from the authorities. It wasn’t until the 1970s, after she had preserved the collection, that she donated it to the State Russian Museum, maintaining her brother's philosophy that his work had always belonged to the people.

The Town is no exception; the work was shown in two major exhibitions in Paris and Cologne in 1992 that were held in association with the State Russian Museum. Ultimately, Pavel Filonov’s work provides audiences with an alternative view of the Russian avant-garde: rather than following Malevich and Lissitzky’s move towards pure, empty, geometric abstraction, it demonstrates that avant-garde art could also be incredibly dense, microscopic, and biologically complex.