“I was drawn into the distance ... everything there seemed good and pleasant” – this youthful proclivity for distant travels to new places can be clearly read in the early version of Alexander Gerasimov’s painting. Over time, however, the theme changed. The artist often painted frontline roads surrounded by ravaged fields awaiting rejuvenation. The empty road and the endless chain of telegraph poles strike similar notes in the hearts of all those at least remotely familiar with Russian culture. The endless expanses and emptiness turn the thoughts to the past and, at the same time, to the eternal.

Gerasimov Alexander

Gerasimov, Alexander Mikhailovich
1881, Kozlov — 1963, Moscow
Painter, graphic artist, theatrical designer, architect. Studied painting (1903-10) and architecture (1910-15) at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and worked at Konstantin Korovin's studio. Contributed to exhibitions (from 1906).