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Boris Grigoriev - Ball - 1912
At the Ball epitomizes not only Grigoriev's early experimental style, but also the focus on dance within his repertoire from 1912-1914. Dancers were popular subjects in Western Europe at the time, especially among such masters as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Kees van Dongen. Like these giants of Post-Impressionism, Grigoriev infused his dance-related images with a profound psychological tension: a dark range of colors, dominated by a brooding tone of red, permeate this scene, while provocative women move with exaggerated gestures, their faces painted with garish makeup. Though Grigoriev's figures are dressed elegantly, his technique strips them of their elegance. He thereby underscores the theatricality of their performance, and meanwhile portrays the starker layer of beauty that he finds beneath the surface. It is through this important, early work that we see Grigoriev's innate talent—and lifelong fascination with the human soul—take shape against the backdrop of the best-known artistic movements of the time - Sotheby's Catalogue Notes
Size: 2880px × 2480px
Photo credit: © steeve-x-art / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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