Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova

(Russian, 1881-1962)

The Star of Bethlehem, circa 1913

Footnotes

Provenance
Private collection, UK

The work is accompanied by a letter of expertise by Zgukova E. M and Iluhina E. A. from the State Tretyakov Gallery, dated 12.07.1996.


"Religious art, which can glorify the state, is a beautiful and magical manifestation of art itself " (Nicoletta Misler, Apocalypse and the Russian Peasantry: The Great War in Natalia Goncharova's Primitivist Paintings, in Experiment: A Journal of Russian Culture 4, 1998, pp. 76.)
Goncharova drew inspiration from the Russian icon, folk lubok pictures and new art from the West. She was deeply inspired by the primitive aspects of Russian folk art and attempted to emulate it in her own work while incorporating elements of Fauvism and Cubism. Although often preoccupied with costume and set design for theatre productions in Russia and beyond, she is praised as being one of the leading artists in Russia's pre-revolutionary avant-garde movement and the co-founder of Rayonism, along with her husband Mikhail Larionov.
Natalia Goncharova was born in 1881 in the Russian village of Negaevo near Tula. Although she studied sculpture in Moscow, she soon turned her attention to painting and drawing with the help of her husband Mikhail Larionov. Here began the diverse and fluctuating approach that was to characterise the style and subject matter of Goncharova's oeuvre. It was Larionov who advised Goncharova to paint. "You have eyes that are catching colour, but you are busy with form. Open your eyes to your own eyes!" he said. In 1910 they took part in the founding of the Jack of Diamonds group and in 1912 they participated in a historical exhibition of the more radical artists which broke away from the larger Jack of Diamonds group. The Donkey's Tail was conceived as an intentional break from influence of European art and the establishment of an independent Russian school of modern art It was there that Goncharova first exhibited the four-part cycle "Evangelists".

Between 1910 and 1914, Natalia Goncharova created several important works with strong religious connotations. The present drawing is a perfect example of the brightly coloured and stylised paintings that Goncharova produced during this period. It underscored the deep interest that she had in Russian folk and Orthodox traditions. The work's painted frame underlines its connection to the Russian tradition of icon painting. We see a scene from the Gospel of Matthew: the three wise men (magi) from the East are standing in front of King Herod, enquiring about the birth of Jesus, as they were following the star (beautifully illustrated by Goncharova, shooting above their heads). King Herod's expression, looking at the above star, perfectly portrays the unpleasantness that is conveyed in the Bible. In the gospel the magi came to King Herod and had asked for directions to where the star led to as they wanted to pay homage to the new-born king of the Jews. King Herod was alarmed at the prospect of a usurper. He let the wise men go to Bethlehem and instructed to report back to him on the whereabouts of the child, but the magi were warned in the dream to abstain from giving information, as Herod intended to kill him. In the end it culminated in the Massacre of the Innocents, where all boys of the age of two were killed in the Bethlehem vicinity.

Stylistically the drawing possibly dates to 1913, a time when Goncharova held the exhibition "Icon Originals and Lubok Pictures", organised with Mikhail Larionov. The images were censored as the exhibition created an uproar of the unorthodox portrayal of religious subjects by a woman. The present painting is likely from the Gospel series. Goncharova's exhibitions were considered blasphemous and there were petitions to remove her work, however this view was not shared by everyone. The Archimandrite of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra appreciated Goncharova's work precisely for the revival of a style close to ancient icon painting. Goncharova even received an offer to paint the Trinity Church in the village of Kugureshti (Bessarabia) from its architect, the famous Alexei Shchusev. Goncharova said "If I have clashes with society, it is only because of the latter's lack of understanding of the basics of art in general, and not because of my individual characteristics, which no one is obliged to understand" (cited in Irina Osipova, "An Authentic Amazon", in Expert, 2013, no. 45, pp. 65-67).