Biography

Natalya Sergeevna Goncharova was born in Negaevo village Central Russia on June 16^th 1881.She grew up on her grandparents estate at Ladyzhino in the province of Tula,the countryside and peasant culture by which she was surrounded had a profound effect on her which was to stay with her until adulthood and affect her art in later life. She came from a family with distinguished connections , as the great niece of Pushkin’s wife, also Natalya Goncharova, and the daughter of an architect she grew up in an environment where artistic culture was embraced and creativity welcomed .During her younger years she studied a wide variety of subjects including history, zoology and botany , after her schooling she even enrolled on a medical course but only lasted a week before realising her talents lay in the arts.

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It was then, in 1898, that she enrolled at the Moscow School of Painting , Sculpture and Architecture to study sculpture under the tutelage of Prince Pavel Trubetskoi , a disciple of Rodin.  It was here that she met the young painter Mikhail Larionov (1881 - 1964), he was to become from that moment , her lifelong partner personally and artistically .

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It was under the influence of Larionov that Goncharova was truly able to develop as an artist , he had a major impact encouraging her to convert to painting in 1901. Apparently he told her  "You have eyes for colour but you occupy yourself with form. Open your eyes to your own eyes." Goncharova said " I suddenly realised that painting could do everything that sculpture could not."

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After her formal art training in 1903 from which she graduated with a gold/silver medal , painting became her main priority and along with Larionov she started to make her presence felt within the art world. During the early years of her career Goncharova’s work was influenced by contemporary French art , to the extent that initially she painted in an impressionist style .

Gauguin , Matisse and Cezanne were also significant figures for Goncharova at this time but she soon used these elements , along with many others , to develop her own distinctive art .

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+	There are examples of work in the fauvist and cubist manner which illustrates the degree to which she was prepared to experiment and how western art sowed the seeds for her own artistic development.

However, Goncharova also recognised the beauty in established Russian traditions and was able to take elements of these and breath new life into them . Goncharova was particularly enamoured by the art of her own country , she revelled in various aspects of Russian folk art such as the lubok (an old woodcut print), peasant costumes and folk decoration of trays , signs etc. The primitive , naive forms , the vivid juxtapositions of colour, the simple peasant subject matter and its lack of theoretical pretences all appealed to her and left an indelible mark.

The tradition of Russian icon art also greatly interested her with its flat inexpressive forms and stylish use of colour. Later on she was to strongly renounce the art of western Europe , she harshly criticised it while exalting the art of the east claiming that it was the east which set the precedent for the advances of western art. From there on she would look to eastern art , particularly that of her native country.

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Goncharova though was still the first to recognise that contemporary western art;  Impressionism , Post - Impressionism , Fauvism , Cubism and Futurism did have a great significance on her own work. They opened her eyes to things that she would not have previously been open to, for example she was intrigued by Gauguin’s return to naive , primitive forms . It was in fact the west which made her appreciate Russian vernacular art.

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It was with Goncharova’s emphatic declaration of her adherence to Russian art forms of the past and their characteristics that she developed the type of art with which she was most successful in , Neo-primitivism. Realising the significance and value of the artistic traditions of her native country , she brought those elements into a specifically modern context, whilst retaining its inherent Russian-ness , this is what she wanted. It would however be wrong to think that Goncharova completely discarded her interest in western art, a significant talent of hers was recognise the potential of certain aspects and then combine them into an eclectic mix. Her willingness to do this and not to discount any other art forms is shown in her use of every kind of visual device which was available, hence the fact that she produced work in a multitude of forms; sculpture, painting, set designs, costume designs , book illustrations and prints she even illustrated musical scores.

After contributing to various exhibitions such as "The Golden Fleece", Goncharova and Larionov formed "The Knave of Diamonds Group" in 1910. His was a group of young avant-garde artists who were influenced by the early cubism of Picasso and Braque and the bright colours used by the fauvists. However, it was during this time that Goncharova and Larionov became disenchanted with contemporary western art and resented the reliance of the rest of the group on western models , therefore they broke away to organise an opposed group "The Donkey’s Tail". The one and only exhibition they held under this title illustrates Goncharova’s interest in icon art , the religious subject matter she adopted within a modern context was seen as scandalous and caused uproar.

Goncharova and Larionov played an important role in the Russian avant- garde and were extremely important in organising exhibitions and groups according to their ideas. In 1913 Goncharova held her enormous one-woman exhibition in Moscow displaying a portfolio of 736 works despite the infancy of her career. Around 1912-13 Goncharova helped Larionov formulate the Rayonist manifesto, they were both profoundly affected by the Futurist style deriving from Italy and the style of rayonism was a clear progression from the starting point of Futurism. The theory was based on the premise that every object has a relationship with the other through a network of connecting invisible coloured rays of light . Visually , rayonism correlates to the concept of movement and dynamism of the futurist style in their attempt to capture "speed". Their connections were confirmed by Goncharova’s series of lithographs produced to illustrate the futurist poetry of Khlebinikov and Kruchenykh "A Game In Hell".

Then in 1914 Serge Diaghilev commisioned Goncharova to design his opera-ballet "Le Coq d’Or". It was the beginning of a close relationship between Goncharova and Larionov with the exiled ballet company The Ballets Russes . She designed a number of productions for him including "Triana", "Rhapsodie Espagnole", "Liturgie" and "Les Noces" , but "Le Coq d’Or" was her most successful and notable foray into the world of theatrical design. Through the travel of Diaghilev’s company Goncharova and Larionov encountered various cultures and artistic stimulation, the culture of Spain in particular was to have a long lasting effect on Natalya.

Finally though they settled in Paris both producing a huge body of work in varying media. Goncharova did in fact produce theatre sets for productions independent of Diaghilev , for example "Cinderella" 1938 for Colonel de Basil, "The Barber of Seville" etc, but they were not to have the same significance as her previous designs. Goncharova’s neo-primitivist works are widely regarded as the highlight of her career , and its theory was that which was to touch her most. However, this did not prevent her from experimenting , at the end of her life for example she produced work influenced by the recent space explorations by her native country men. She died in Paris in 1962.

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