Sergey Solomko
Only due to to the ancient postcards, that had been published before the russian revolutionof 1917, we know about the paintings & the art of Sergey Solomko. There is noany other artist in all the history of russian art, that call so different opinions of his critics in such radical way. Their opinions vere devided into very negative & very positive.There were a lot of hot appeciators of his original manner. Their opinions were so pollar ....One can like or not to like his style , but his original manner is irrefutable. Solomko - the artist started his professional life at the very difficult period of russian history & also the russian art. All thre traditional russian artists were still popular amon the people, but the people started to be tired from their absolute realism. That arosed the new ideas. The artists of the new trends were called decadents. Very soon the word "decadent" started to be negative.The decadents thought that the real creativeart can cxist only in the pices of art , thet does not deel with social & political life of teir time. The real masterpieces in art (on their oppinion) have to be far from the illustration of any peple's problems. Grabar - the prominent artist & the art critic called Solomko the "decadence & misticism general". Nobody of his negative critics could influence the style of Solomko's art & also on the great love of people to his pictures. The bright rapresentatives of the new artistic trend - Sergey Solomko & Elisabeth Bem started to be very popular. They got their large popularity with the beginning of mgazine publishing in the end of 19 century. It was the new event of that time - numerous illustrated magazines, thet brought the new kind of art - the journal illustration. Solomko's drawings & aquarel paintings were published in "Niva" - the magazine for family reading. The some pictures were also published on the postcards. These postcards were intended for the common people, that bought & liked them, their simple & beautiful scens.For these people Solomko created the pictures of ancient russian life & fairy tales. These are the historical illusrtrations with beautiful tradiyional folk clothes.
Another important feature of Solomko's art is a symbolik alegory. So familier for the western culture, it was very unusual for russians with their absolute realism, which was considered to avery important in art. It was the main reason of that great disapproval of critics the "Dream World" of Solomko.
The social revolutions of 1905, 1917 & World War 1 created an opsticle to real appriciation & approvement of this new trend, because the time demanded to reflect the social changes in the art. Alongside with high popularity of Solomko"s art, nobody studied seriously his creative activity.
In 1910 Solomko moved to Paris, where he workod & created pictures for french publishers & for russian publisher of postcards Lapin.. In 1921 Solomko took part in the exhibition "The Artists of the Imperial Accademy of arts of Petrigrad" in Magellan Gallery.
Solomko died in france & also buried there on Ruusian cemetory.