ROBERT FA LK (1886-1958)
ote o t e l e a d ork o el a ek roto a It was on a professional basis that I had the good fortune of meeting Angelina Vasilyevna Shchekin-Krotova, but let me give you some context. Р.Р. ФАЛЬК → Автопортрет. 1936 Холст, масло. 65 × 53 © Архангельский музей изобразительных искусств
Robert FALK → Self-portrait. 1936 Oil on canvas 65 × 53 cm © Arkhangelsk Museum of Fine Arts
1.
Dmitri Sarabianov (19232013) - outstanding art historian, pedagogue, poet. Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1992), corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Arts (1997).
2.
Vladimir Lapshin (1925– 2000) - art researcher, editor, Doctor of Arts.
3.
Tatiana Guryeva-Gurevich (1922–2014) – art researcher, editor.
4.
Aleksander Kamensky (1922 – 1992) – art critic, art researcher.
5.
Elena Murina (born 1925) – art researcher, wife of Dmitri Sarabianov.
66
The Soviet Artist publishing house received a request from D.V. Sarabianov1 to publish a monograph on the works of Robert Falk. Dmitri Vladimirovich Sarabianov was an idol among students, especially for those who, like myself, had studied with him directly. With him, we visited many interesting places inaccessible to the public, such as the Tretyakov Gallery repository or the apartment of George Costakis, with its collection of Russian avant-garde art. One of the secret places we visited with the professor was Falk’s studio-apartment in the Pertsov House, in front of the Kremlin. What really stuck in my memory, as in that of many others, was the gloomy, tent-roofed room with rows of benches and an easel illuminated by the light falling from a small attic window. The paintings were presented to us by the artist’s widow, Angelina Shchekin-Krotova, who brought them out and put them on the easel one after another. Sarabianov was a great fan of Falk: he called his piece titled “Potatoes” (1955, oil on canvas) the best Russian still-life painting of the 20th century, as precious as the works of Rembrandt. After graduation from Moscow State University, I worked at the editorial board of the Soviet Artist publishing house, subordinate to the Artists’ Union of the USSR. The news of the monograph was inspiring, but the feeling did not last long. The top management of the Artists’ Union turned out to be totally against the monograph: for the generals of socialist realism, the name of Falk – and, indeed that of Sarabianov himself – was unacceptable. The monograph was rejected.
The Tretyakov Gallery Magazine #4 (69) / 2020
By that time, upon the initiative of Vladimir Lapshin2 , the head of the editorial board, the publishing house had begun a new periodical, a collection of documentary materials, letters, and memoirs dedicated to the lives of artists and art historians. It’s clear that, after a meeting between Lapshin, Shchekin-Krotova and Sarabianov, the publishing house received a new request: the artist's widow suggested publishing a collection of letters and articles written by Falk in different years, as well as the reminiscences of his colleagues, students, and allies. The request was accepted. Tatiana Guryeva-Gurevich was the editor-in-chief and the leading art expert of the editorial board 3: she was personally involved in the art life that began after the “Krushchev Thaw period”. Guryeva-Gurevich was married to the outstanding art critic Aleksander Kamensky4 and the Kamenskys were close friends of Sarabianov and Elena Murina 5 . All of them used to know Falk and visit his attic in the Pertsov House. The book about Falk was to be edited by Guryeva-Gurevich, but, as she was overloaded with urgent tasks, it was decided there was no time to waste and so the book was entrusted to me, before the generals of the Artists’ Union got a grip on it. In dark clothes, with her silver-streaked hair tied in a bun, Shchekin-Krotova wore heavy orthopaedic boots and moved slowly and cautiously. She amazed me with the permanent friendly expression on her serene and open face. If I could put it this way, Falk’s widow had an aura of spiritual power around her, and, after the months we spent working together, this impression grew stronger. Robert Falk (1886-1958)