Pokhitonov

IN 1875, TWO YEARS BEFORE IVAN POKHITONOV'S ARRIVAL IN PARIS, A VENTURE CALLED THE “PARIS CERAMICS WORKSHOP OF RUSSIAN ARTISTS" WAS SET UP; IT WAS ESTABLISHED ON THE INITIATIVE OF ALEXEI BOGOLYUBOV IN A SPACE RENTED FROM AN INDUSTRIALIST CALLED GILLOT, AND IT WOULD CONTINUE TO OPERATE UNTIL THE EARLY 1880s. PARTICIPANTS INCLUDED MANY RUSSIAN ARTISTS LIVING IN PARIS, FOR WHOM THE WORKSHOP WAS ONE OF THEIR SOURCES OF INCOME OUTSIDE RUSSIA (THEIR STIPENDS FROM THE ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS WERE INSUFFICIENT TO COVER ALL NECESSARY LIVING EXPENSES). THE ARTISTS IN ONE SITTING APPLIED IMAGES TO FINISHED PLATES AND DISHES WHICH WERE THEN HEATED IN A KILN AND SOLD. THE VENTURE ATTRACTED THE ARTISTS FOR ITS NEW CREATIVE OPPORTUNITIES.

THE SOLO SHOW OF IVAN PAVLOVICH POKHITONOV, TITLED “THE ARTIST-SORCERER”, DEDICATED TO THE ARTIST’S 160th ANNIVERSARY, IS BEING HELD AT THE TRETYAKOV GALLERY IN THE “YEAR OF FRANCE IN RUSSIA”, AND ITS MIRROR EVENT, “RUSSIA IN FRANCE”. ALTHOUGH UNPLANNED, THIS OVERLAP IS EXTREMELY NATURAL. IT WOULD BE HARD TO FIND ANOTHER ARTIST OF THE SECOND HALF OF THE 19th-EARLY 20th CENTURIES WHOSE OEUVRE REFLECTS RUSSO-FRENCH CONNECTIONS AS NATURALLY AS POKHITONOV.