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The Artist's Hand: The Art of Nicolai Fechin

October 5 - December 29, 2007

 

Over 30 works by Russian-American artist Nicolai Fechin (1881-1955) are on display at the Stark Museum of Art October 5 through December 29, 2007. The Artist's Hand: The Art of Nicolai Fechin will include charcoal drawings, oil paintings, and carved wooden sculptures depicting portraiture, landscapes, still lifes, and scenes of Indian life. The collection is an expanded version of Fechin: A Taos Homecoming that was recently on loan to the Taos Art Museum and Fechin House in Taos, New Mexico.

Best known for his paintings, Fechin developed a style with an expressionistic application of paint and bold colors that was nevertheless grounded in realism. His charcoal drawings show his mastery of the line and his ability to create a sense of form and three dimensions through contours and shading. His simple sculptural forms echo the elemental nature of his drawings; however, the surfaces retain the evidence of the artist's expressionistic hand in direct carving.

Museum director Sarah Boehme says the exhibition is a wonderful opportunity to see the range of Fechin's work. "I think people can identify with the deep emotion he expresses in his works of art from his wood carvings to his exuberant studies of landscape such as the beautiful Cactus," said Boehme.

Born in Russia in 1881, Fechin studied at the Kazan Art School and then the prestigious Imperial Art Academy in St. Petersburg. He returned to Kazan to teach but immigrated to the United States in 1923 following the Russian revolution. Although he made a home in New York, his ailing health prompted him to seek a healthier climate. He discovered and relocated to Taos, New Mexico, his inspiration for the works featured in the Stark Museum of Art.

Having the largest collection of Fechin pieces in the world, the Stark Museum of Art recently loaned a portion of the current exhibition to the Taos Art Museum and Fechin house to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the artist's birth. Said Boehme, "We were pleased to be able to share this exhibition, so the works could be seen in the environment in which Fechin created them. After its successful showing in Taos, we are delighted to bring it back and show it in Orange with additional works."

The exhibition catalog: Fechin: A Taos Homecoming is available for purchase at the Museum Store. The publication served as the catalog for this exhibition in Taos, New Mexico, and contains reproductions of most of the works featured.

 

Selected Bibliography

Ainsworth, Ed. Painters of the Desert. Palm Springs, CA: Desert Magazine, 1960.
 
Balcomb, Mary N. Nicolai Fechin. Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Press, 1975, Principal biography of Fechin, with foreword by his daughter Eya. Many illustrations in color.
 
Fechin, Alexandra. March of the Past. Santa Fe: Writers' Editions, Rydal Press, 1937. The wife of Nicolai Fechin tells of her experiences during the Russian Revolution.
Fechin, Eya. Fechin: The Builder. Santa Fe: Blue Feather Press, 1982. Publication by Nicolai Fechin's daughter on his home in Taos, his carved furniture and his wood sculpture.
 
Fechin, Eya. 1987. Interview by Rodger Rak (Curator, Stark Museum of Art) at Taos, NM. August 26-27, 1987. Partial transcript. Archives, Stark Museum of Art, Orange, TX.
 
Fechin, Eya. "Teenage Memories of Taos: Artist's daughter recollects the 'real' America," American West, November/December, 1984.
Fenn, Forrest. The Genius of Nicolai Fechin: Recollections by Forrest Fenn. Santa Fe: One Horse Land & Cattle Company, 2001. Photographs from Fechin's Mexico trip with general essay on the artist.
 
Good, Stephen L. "The Works of N. Fechin," Gilcrease Magazine, [special issue] February, 1986.
 
Hunt, David C. "Nicolai Fechin's Portraits from Life," American Art Review, April, 2004.
 
Essay on Fechin's portraiture by former Stark Museum of Art Director. Illustrated with works from the Stark Museum of Art collection.
 
Hunter, Richard. "Nicolai Fechin: A Look at Life," Fine Art Connoisseur, May, 2006. Essay on Fechin's life by former Collections Manager of the Stark Museum of Art. Illustrated with works from the Stark Museum of Art collection.
 
Jellico, John. "Master of Emotion and Intellect," Southwest Art, November, 1991.
 
-- "N.F. Nicolai Fechin," Southwestern Art V (1976): 19-31.
 
-- "N. Fechin," Artists of the Rockies and the Golden West, Summer, 1981.
 
-- "Nicolai Fechin" American Artist, March, 1959.
 
McCracken, Harold. Nicolai Fechin. New York: The Hammer Galleries, 1961.
 
National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center. "Nicolai Fechin," Persimmon Hill, [special issue] Summer, 1978. Entire issue dedicated to Fechin, includes Autobiography: the Russian Years, and Fechin on Art by Nicolai Fechin as well as other articles by his daughter and four Fechin critics.
 
Nelda C. & H. J. Lutcher Stark Foundation. Nicolai Fechin: For the Love of Art. Orange, TX: Nelda C. & H. J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, 1987.
 
Nordmann, Joseph B. "N Fechin a Personal Memory," Western Art Digest, Summer, 1985.
 
Paladin, Vivian A. "From the Volga to the Pacific," Art West, September/October,1981.
Samuels, Peggy and Harold. Techniques of the Artists of the American West. Secaucus, NJ: The Wellfleet Press, 1990. Includes an examination of a Fechin painting for technique and style.
 
Schriever, George. "Nicolai Fechin: Russian Artist in the American West," American West, May/June, 1982.
 
Scott, Amy. Nicolai Fechin: Across Two Continents. Santa Fe: Gerald Peters Gallery, 1997. Includes interview with Fechin's daughter, Eya.
 
Taos Art Museum. Fechin: A Taos Homecoming, Taos, NM: Taos Art Museum, 2006. Exhibition catalog. All works are from the Stark Museum of Art collection.
 
Tuluzakova, Galina. "The Art of Nicolai Fechin," El Palacio, Summer, 2004.
 
Van Deventer, M.J. "Nicolai Fechin," Southwest Art, November, 1991.
 
Waters, Frank. "Nicolai Fechin," Arizona Highways, February, 1952.
 

Selected titles may be available for purchase in the Museum Store, the holdings of your local library, or can often be borrowed through inter-library loan.

 

Wall texts for the exhibition

Works of art by Nicolai Fechin (1881-1955) reveal vividly the personal touch of and stylistic mastery of the artist in several media. Best known for his paintings, Fechin developed a style with an expressionistic application of paint and bold colors that was nevertheless grounded in realism. His charcoal drawings show his mastery of the use of line and his ability to create a sense of form and three dimensions through contours and shading. In his sculptures he created simple forms that echo the elemental nature of his drawings. The surfaces, however, retain the evidence of the artist's expressionistic hand in direct carving.
 
Nicolai Fechin
 
Nicolai Fechin (1881-1955) developed his art from the dual influences of his native Russian and immigrant American experiences. Fechin (generally accepted pronunciation: fay SHIN) was born in Kazan, Russia, in 1881. He received his early encouragement from his father, a wood carver and metal worker. Fechin studied at the Kazan Art School, then the rigorous Imperial Art Academy in St. Petersburg. He traveled to view art, including the works of the French Impressionists and the German Expressionists. The artist returned to Kazan to teach. Fechin married Alexandra Belkovich in 1913, and the following year their daughter Eya was born. Several years after the Russian revolution, the Fechins immigrated to the United States in 1923.
 
Searching for a healthy climate, Fechin and family visited Taos, New Mexico in 1926. Fechin found inspiring subjects in the people and landscape of New Mexico, and the family moved there the following year. After a divorce from Alexandra, Nicolai left Taos in 1933. He undertook several important trips to locales such as Mexico and Bali and settled in southern California. He taught art and continued to paint until his death in Santa Monica, California, in 1955.

 

Checklist

 
Head Of Black Man
1930
Carved pine
14" High X 21" Cir. (35.6 X 53.3 Cm
21.3/1
 
Head Of Woman
1929
Carved pine
25" High X 27" Cir.(63.5 X 68.6 Cm
21.3/2
 
The Madonna
n.d.
Carved pine
12 3/4" High X 20 1/2" Cir.
21.3/5
 
Head Of Young Girl
n.d.
Carved pine
14 1/2" High X 25 1/2" Cir.
21.3/6
 
Head Of Young Girl
n.d.
Carved pine
13" High X 25 1/2" Cir.(33.0 X 64.8
21.3/7
 
Head Of Small Girl
n.d.
Carved pine
8" High X 17 1/2" Cir.(20.3 X 44.4)
21.3/8
 
Taos, Flowers In Henry Sharp'S Yard
n.d.
Oil on canvas
20 X 24 1/8 (50.8 X 61.3 Cm)
31.28/4
 
Juan
n.d.
Oil on canvas
16 X 11 7/8 (40.6 X 30.2 Cm)
31.28/6
 
Girl
n.d.
Oil on canvas
19 1/4 X 15 3/8 (48.9 X 39.0 Cm)
31.28/7
 
Russian Landscape, Village Of Hope, Kazan Province
n.d.
Oil on canvas
9 1/2 X 17 1/4" (24.1 X 43.8 Cm)
31.28/8
 
The Chicken House
n.d.
Oil on canvas
12 3/4 X 18" (32.4 X 45.7 Cm)
31.28/10
 
Cactus
1925
Oil on canvas
24 X 20" (61.0 C 50.8 Cm)
31.28/11
 
Head Of Mexican Man
n.d.
Oil on canvas
20 1/4 X 16 1/4" (51.4 X 41.3 Cm)
31.28/12
 
Nikki Rupert
n.d.
Oil on canvas
10 X 8 3/8" (25.4 X 21.3 Cm)
31.28/16
 
La Abuela (The Grandmother)
n.d.
Oil on canvas
18 3/8 X 14 5/8" (46.7 X 37.1 Cm)
31.28/18
 
Girl In Green Blouse
n.d.
Oil on wood panel
13 X 9 3/4" (33.0 X 24.8 Cm)
31.28/19
 
Russian Lady
n.d.
Oil on canvas
19 X 15" (48.3 X 38.1 Cm)
31.28/20
 
Girl
n.d.
Tempera and oil on pressed wood
12 X 9 1/2" (30.5 X 24.1 Cm)
31.28/22
 
Indian Boy In Blue
n.d.
Oil on canvas
16 1/8 X 13" (41.1 X 33.0 Cm)
31.28/25
 
Indian Boy In Blue (Frame Carved By The Artist)
n.d.
Charcoal on paper
17 1/16 X 12 1/4" (43.3 X 31.1 Cm)
31.28/26
 
Mother And Child (Alexandra Belkovitch Fechin & Eya Fechin Branham)
c. 1917
Oil on canvas
24 X 20" (61.0 X 50.8 Cm)
31.28/27
 
Mexican Boy
n.d.
Oil on canvas
15 1/4 X 7 7/8" (38.7 X 20.0 Cm)
31.28/28
 
Winter Scene (Snow Fell On The Mountains At Taos)
n.d.
Oil on canvas
15 X 25" (38.1 X 63.5 Cm)
31.28/32
 
Girl With Orange Shawl
n.d.
Oil on canvas
14 X 10 1/4" (35.6 X 26.0 Cm)
31.28/34
 
Eya, My Daughter
1924
Oil on canvas
16 7/8 X 12 7/8" (42.9 X 32.7 Cm)
31.28/36
 
Lola (Mrs. Triano), Spanish Dancer
n.d.
Oil on canvas
30 1/8 X 20 1/8" (76.5 X 51.1 Cm)
31.28/37
 
Daffodils
n.d.
Oil on canvas
24 X 20" (61.0 X 50.8 Cm)
31.28/38
 
Joe With Drum
n.d.
Oil on canvas
24 X 20" (61.0 X 50.8 Cm)
31.28/39
 
Adobe House
1926
Oil on canvas on panel
15 _ X 17 _" (40.0 X 45.1 Cm)
31.28/40
 
Wood Carriers (Two Donkeys In Forest)
n.d.
Oil on canvas
24 X 20" (61.0 X 50.8 Cm)
31.28/42
 
Indian Corn
n.d.
Oil on canvas on panel
20 X 24" (50.8 X 61.0 Cm)
31.28/45
 
The Indian Dancers
c. 1945
Oil on canvas on panel
12 3/4 X 19 1/2" (32.4 X 49.5 Cm)
31.28/46
 
Black And White Cow
n.d.
Oil on canvas
8 1/2 X 41 3/4 " (21.6 X 37.5 Cm)
31.28/47
 
Old Adobe And Chickens
n.d.
Oil on canvas
10 3/4 X 17 1/4" (27.3 X 43.8 Cm)
31.28/49
 
Cow And Calf
n.d.
Oil on canvas
8 3/8 X 15" (21.3 X 38.1 Cm)
31.28/52
Fechin's Father
1952
Charcoal on paper
18 3/8 X 14 5/8" (46.7 X 37.1 Cm)
31.28/53
 
Eya
n.d.
Charcoal on paper
18 X 13 1/4" (45.7 X 33.7 Cm)
31.28/54
 
Self-Portrait
n.d.
Charcoal on paper
16 7/8 X 13" (42.9 X 33.0 Cm)
31.28/55


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