Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1088861
14 The diffident Alexander Bogomazov was an unlikely life partner for his bohemian fellow- artist, Wanda Monastyrska. Shy and reserved, Bogomazov's courting of Wanda was a touching, if at times painful episode. The gauche artist fell madly in love at first sight and his pursuit of Wanda appears to have become his raison d'etre in a bizarre parallel search for his artistic voice, the one closely associated with the other. For Bogomazov, the successful pursuit of Wanda freed his creative spirit and there seems to have been three phases in his artistic development, dependent upon his success with his future spouse - shy pursuit, light at the end of the tunnel and, finally, the 'creative explosion' which took hold of the artist after their marriage in Boyarka in August 1913. There are tales of the pursuit. Bogomazov would hide behind a tree at the Academy of Arts waiting for Wanda to emerge and then accidentally bump into her, but such an approach was ineffective. The early Pointillist portrait of his beloved shows a figure utterly distant from the artist, gazing in an abstract manner into the distance. Likewise, another portrait from 1908 (illustrated on page 7), is a tender adoration from afar, a representation of the unattainable. The small pastel, exhibited here at TEFAF, of Wanda reading is in the same vein. It is incorrectly dated 1913, but corresponds to a pen portrait from 1911. She is looking down, there is no contact with the artist. By late 1911, however, there is a quizzical look in Wanda's face, there is interest, she is wary but attentive and Bogomazov's portrait of her in front of a New Year tree is intensely autobiographical. It is dated 1911 – but we could be more precise and date it as late December 1911 or early January 1912? Perhaps the drawing denotes a breakthrough? Perhaps Wanda had been won over by Bogomazov's letters? The ink drawing of the Sound of Saimaa from 1911 contains a most lyrical dedication, capable of melting the heart of even the most resistant. The Russian word that Bogomazov uses in his dedication is напъвы, meaning ballad, refrain, melody, not the more common word for song in Russian, песни. Surely this choice of words is instructive? Every word mattered in his pursuit, every syllable, as even the merest rustle of trees, the lapping of water was enough to stir the artist's heart. By 1913 Bogomazov was more sure of himself - he had won her over. His quasi-intellectual approach to romance had succeeded but it is only by 1914, and we have numerous examples, that the creative gloves are off and Bogomazov can give free rein to his voice. Wanda in Profile is from 1914 and consists of a few twists and flicks of the artist's crayon. It is a wonderfully carefree portrait, whereas a 1915 portrait has taken this representation to another level entirely. Now the artist is so confident in his feelings, so consumed with creative impulse that his work no longer shows his wife as a clear image, more a vehicle for artistic statement. 'He courted Wanda for five years, was in torment for five years, then suddenly…' Dmytro Horbachov Portrait of Wanda Monastyrska, 1911, Indian ink and whitener on paper, 28.5 x 29.5 cm, Private collection, Budapest