Ilya Mashkov was a leading member of the Knave of Diamonds. At the beginning of his artistic career, he followed the practices of Cézanne, and by the late 1900s and early 1910s, more and more, he turned to old Russian traditions. It is in this period that he painted City Landscape, with its narrow Moscow streets and the churches that dominated the image.

Mashkov Ilya

Mashkov, Ilya Ivanovich (1881, Mikhailovskaya (Don Region) - 1944, Abramtsevo (outside Moscow))
Painter, graphic artist, teacher, portraitist, genre artist. Studied under Abram Arkhipov, Konstantin Korovin and Valentin Serov at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1900-1909). Member of the Jack of Diamonds (1911), World of Art (1916), Society of Moscow Artists (1924-1928) and the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia (from 1924). Contributed to exhibitions (from 1902). Contributed to the exhibitions of the New Society of Artists (1909), Golden Fleece (1909-1910), Vladimir Izdebsky Salon (1909-1911), Jack of Diamonds (1910-1914), Moscow Salon (1911), Salon des Independants (1911, 1912) World of Art (1911, 1912, 1915-1922, 1929), Society of Moscow Artists (1927, 1928) and the Venice Biennale (1924). Taught in his own studio in Moscow (1904-1917) and at the Free Art Studios/ VKhUTEMAS/Higher Art and Technical Institute (1920-1930). Headed the central studio of the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia (1925-1929). Honoured artist of the RUSSIAN SOVIET FEDERATED SOCIALIST REPUBLIC (1928).