Радуга

1882–1901

Twenty years of seclusion

The reasons for the seclusion are unknown; he was probably tired of the fuss and of accusations of cheap effects. The public thought he had exhausted himself, but he worked tirelessly, searching for pigments and grounds resistant to the air, and created about five hundred sketches and finished works and about three hundred graphic works.

1901

Breaks his seclusion: four paintings

In 1901 Kuindzhi showed his students, and then some friends, four paintings: the finished “Evening in Ukraine”, “Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane”, the third version of “The Birch Grove” and the already known “The Dnieper in the Morning”. The viewers were enraptured, and people talked of the artist again.

November 1901

The last public exhibition

In November 1901 the last public exhibition of Kuindzhi’s work took place; after it nobody saw his new paintings until his death. Witnesses explained this by his fear of sceptical visitors, but the explanation satisfied few.

1908–1909

Founds the artists’ society that bears his name

Together with Konstantin Kryzhitsky Kuindzhi took the initiative in founding in St Petersburg a society of artists to support artists; it was established in November 1908 or in 1909 and was later named after him.

summer 1910

Pneumonia in the Crimea

In summer 1910, while in the Crimea, Kuindzhi fell ill with pneumonia. With the doctors’ permission his wife took him to St Petersburg, but the illness progressed: his weak heart told.

24 July 1910

Died