Geese

Kyriak Kostandi was a prominent Ukrainian painter of Greek descent and an art scholar. A member of the Russian Realist artistic movement Peredvizhniki (literally, Itinerants), he also created several Impressionist paintings; today's Geese are a good example. Kostandi was a representative of the Society of South-Russian Artists founded by Odesa painters in 1890. In that year he abandoned the monochrome color gamut of the Peredvizhniki in favor of the bright painterly idiom in which the sunlight with its rich color reflexes became the determinative factor.

Most of Kostandi's life and work is connected with the city of Odesa (now in Ukraine) in the southwest of the Russian Empire where he lived most of his life. In 1972 the local newspaper described Kostandi's legacy for Odesa: "Kostandi [...] is the color of Odesa, the charm of its lilac, sun, and gardens, the appeal of its elusive spirit. The paintings of Odesa begin with Kostandi. The paintings depicting Odesa continue — and there is not a single artist in whom Kostandi's sprout has died." 

Now (in June, when I write this) Odesa, the Ukraine's most valuable port, is suffocating under a Russian naval blockade that has unleashed economic catastrophe in Ukraine and threatens famine worldwide if Odesa’s bountiful stocks of grain remain landlocked. 

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P.S. Meet Lyubov Panchenko, an important Ukrainian folk artist who unfortunately died during the invasion of Ukraine. Let's celebrate her life through her art.