Alexey Krasnovsky 1945 - 2016
‘Colour which, like music, is a matter of vibrations, reaches what is most general and therefore most indefinable in nature: its inner power.’
Paul Gauguin
‘Whatever may be the means, or whatever the more immediate end of any kind of art, all of it that is good agrees in this, that it is the expression of one soul talking to another, and is precious according to the greatness of the soul that utters it. And consider what mighty consequences follow from our acceptance of this truth! what a key we have herein given us for the interpretation of the art of all time!’
John Ruskin
The vibrancy of Alexey Krasnovsky's colours is second to none. He displays a synaesthetic ability to feel through colour. Savouring the world through his eyes, Alexey would surely echo Paul Gauguin’s sentiment when he wrote: ‘I shut my eyes in order to see’. In effect, each painting is a self-portrait as Alexey is there in the canvas showing us around, teaching us to see through his eyes. Just as a poet condenses his feelings and emotions to make them understandable to the man on the Clapham omnibus and a masterchef makes a reduction of flavours to better inform our tastebuds, so this artist presents us with layer upon layer of experience, not just of shape and colour but of his personal intuition and understanding. Since the time of Plato art, because of its power to stir the emotions, has been considered dangerous. Had he been painting in Plato’s time, Alexey’s work would have incurred the philosopher’s censorship as emotion drips from each canvas. There is ecstasy, seduction, melancholy and despair in his paintings. We do not come away from a Krasnovsky painting unscathed; they are not pretty pictures to while away a moment. They are statements of intent; they are challenges to our personal take on the world around us.
Síle Connaughton-Deeny
Paul Gauguin
‘Whatever may be the means, or whatever the more immediate end of any kind of art, all of it that is good agrees in this, that it is the expression of one soul talking to another, and is precious according to the greatness of the soul that utters it. And consider what mighty consequences follow from our acceptance of this truth! what a key we have herein given us for the interpretation of the art of all time!’
John Ruskin
The vibrancy of Alexey Krasnovsky's colours is second to none. He displays a synaesthetic ability to feel through colour. Savouring the world through his eyes, Alexey would surely echo Paul Gauguin’s sentiment when he wrote: ‘I shut my eyes in order to see’. In effect, each painting is a self-portrait as Alexey is there in the canvas showing us around, teaching us to see through his eyes. Just as a poet condenses his feelings and emotions to make them understandable to the man on the Clapham omnibus and a masterchef makes a reduction of flavours to better inform our tastebuds, so this artist presents us with layer upon layer of experience, not just of shape and colour but of his personal intuition and understanding. Since the time of Plato art, because of its power to stir the emotions, has been considered dangerous. Had he been painting in Plato’s time, Alexey’s work would have incurred the philosopher’s censorship as emotion drips from each canvas. There is ecstasy, seduction, melancholy and despair in his paintings. We do not come away from a Krasnovsky painting unscathed; they are not pretty pictures to while away a moment. They are statements of intent; they are challenges to our personal take on the world around us.
Síle Connaughton-Deeny
Alexey Krasnovsky
"Still Life with Vases & Jug"
Oil on linen, 20" x 24"
"Still Life with Vases & Jug"
Oil on linen, 20" x 24"