The Corrida - Constantin Terechkovitch (1902-1978)

PAINTING “LA CORRIDA
by Constantin TERECHKOVITCH (1902-1978)
Gouache on paper signed lower left
Presence of a gallery label on the back.
Paul Petrides, Paris.
Size unframed: 40.5 x 52.5 cm
Under glass frame: 56 x 67 cm
Provenance: Label on back, Galerie Paul
Pétrides, Paris then private collection Monaco
Bibliography :
Born near Moscow and died in MONACO, Russian-born French painter of animated scenes ;
After studying at the Moscow School of Fine Arts, he decided to join Larionov in Paris in 1907, where he worked at La Grande Chaumière, and with other painters such as Chaim Soutine, he founded a group that Gisèle d'Assally christened
”
The Painters of Poetic Reality”. In 1933, Terechkovitch designed the sets and costumes for the Ballets Russes show in Monte Carlo, and in 1939 he enlisted in the Légion Etrangère.
After the Second World War, he travelled and became interested in horse racing, which he loved to depict.
He arrived in PARIS in 1920 and enrolled at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. He rubbed shoulders with all the Russian painters of Montparnasse, Volovic, Krémègne, and painted alongside them at La Ruche.
In 1923, he exhibited at the Salon d'Automne, where his first paintings were accepted in 1925.
In the same year, Galerie Henry organized a joint exhibition with Lanskoy. He met young French painters with whom he shared the same exuberant vision of color and the pleasure of painting. They were Roland Oudot, with whom he exhibited in 1926 (Galerie Charles Auguste Girard), Brianchon and Legueult.
Terechkovitch traveled to Switzerland in 1929, where he met Swiss collectors who would support him throughout his career.
Ties with Soviet Russia were not yet severed: along with Chagall, Zadkine and Pougny, he took part in the exhibition organized by the Tretiakov Gallery in 1929. Terechkovitch's painting was notable for its cheerful colors and freedom of composition, while remaining figurative. The subjects that made him a success at the time revolved around the night and music-hall dancers.
Terechkovitch painted horses and the racing world, and produced numerous portraits, including those of his painter friends (Vlaminck, Soutine). His career took an international turn, and he exhibited in Geneva in 1934, then in Chicago and New York in
1937.
When war was declared, he joined the Foreign Legion, then served in the French army.
Demobilized in 1940, he settled in the unoccupied zone.
During the Occupation, he continued to paint, exhibiting at Pétridès in 1942.
After the war, he moved to a workshop on rue Boulard in Paris. Exhibition after exhibition followed.
Along with eight of his painting friends, journalist and art critic Giselle d'Asailly called him a painter of poetic reality.
The public success of Terechkovitch's work continued unabated. He divides his time between Paris and the south of France, and travels extensively to renew his subjects, including several months in Asia in 1964.
He continued to exhibit at Pétrides (1969, 1971 and 1979) and at Galerie Matarasso in Nice.
In 1986, the Menton municipal museum devoted a major retrospective to his work.