Constantin Kousnetzov (1863-1936) - Portrait Of A Man In A Beret - Oil On Canvas

Nice portrait of a man with a beard and a beret signed by the Russian artist Constantin Kousnetzov (1863-1936) at the bottom left. Other writings of the artist's surname: Kousnetzoff, Kuznecov, Kousnetsoff.

Dimensions: 46 cm x 38 cm.

As is. Some slight lack of paint in places.

Constantin Pavlovitch Kousnetzoff, originally from the banks of the Volga, born in Jolnino near Nizhny Novgorod (Russia) on August 22, 1863 and died on December 30, 1936 in Paris, is a Russian painter. A significant part of his work is devoted to Brittany. Kousnetzoff was first attracted, in his youth, by literature and music. He spent his childhood in the countryside, he observed the water and lived in communion with nature. Then he travelled around Europe, was enthusiastic about Turner in London, about Botticelli in Florence. Attracted by the reputation of the studios, he came to Paris in 1897 with friends from the Russian symbolist movement. He entered the Cormon studio. Disappointed, he returned to Russia. But in 1900, he returned to Paris to settle down with his wife who also painted. He visited museums and galleries and admired Claude Monet. And he undertook his first trip to Brittany to paint on location, in Concarneau. From 1902 he exhibited regularly at the Parisian Salons. He returned regularly to Brittany: 1906, to Saint-Lunaire, 1908 to Saint-Cast, to Cap Fréhel, from 1911 to 1918 to Val-André, in 1913 to Belle-Isle, then again in 1919 to Saint-Lunaire. In the summer of 1921 he was in Kerfany where he had rented from Madame Bourhis-Salin the old house of Mr. Thirion ("Biribi", renamed "Kenavo" by Mr. Rosenberg), the same one that Julia Guillou had already rented for her painter boarders who wanted to escape Pont-Aven and find some peace and quiet. Henry Mothéré and Marie Henry lived about a hundred meters above. Many visitors came to see the collection of paintings that Marie Henry had brought back from Pouldu. The memory of Gauguin was there. Kousnetzoff then produced a few dozen paintings for the next Parisian exhibitions. This was the only time he would stay in Moëlan. The banks and meanders of the Belon, its port and its slipway, the pines of Kerfany, planted for about twenty years already, were the subjects of his paintings. "He worked outdoors, carrying his easel box, his canvases and stretchers." (André Marchand). In 1922 the painter was in Étables and Binic, in 1923 in Sauzon, in 1926 in Val-André. "He painted in Brittany, one hundred and fifty seascapes, nearly three hundred rural landscapes, several portraits painted outdoors; no urban landscapes, no still lifes." (Monique Vivier-Branthomme, great-granddaughter of the painter). Exhibitions were devoted to Constantin Kousnetzoff in 1937 at the Salon d'Automne, in 1968 at the Katia Granoff gallery in Paris, in 1984 at the Carnavalet museum and in 1987 at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Pont-Aven.