10
Yermakov as the Kiev Theological Seminary in
1901) where Bogomazov taught from 1922 until
his death, and which now houses the National
Academy of Arts.
In 1915 Bogomazov left Kiev to teach art in
Geryusi (now Goris), a small town in south-east
Armenia. 'The air is clear, you can see for miles,
and everything seems in blossom,' he purred to
his wife. Works from his productive stay include
a bright 1915 painting The Caucasus and a 1916
charcoal View of the Caucasus as seen from his
balcony. He returned to Kiev in early 1917 for the
birth of his daughter Yaroslava before heading
100 miles south-east to Zolotonosha for another
teaching job.
The anti-Establishment Bogomazov
welcomed the October Revolution, joining
Alexandra Exter in Agitprop decoration of trains
and boats. His speech to the first All-Ukrainian
Artists' Congress in June 1918 was that of a
fiercely patriotic Ukrainian, slamming art schools
for sticking to 'guidelines from the North' (i.e.
Russia) where 'the spirit of Academism destroys
the mind' and young Ukrainian artists had been
'deprived of their individuality, their souls
poisoned'.
With his next years racked by tuberculosis,
necessitating annual treatment in Yalta,
Bogomazov produced few works between 1920
18 Vosnesensky Descent today – the Monastyrsky/Bogomazov
apartment (flat 5) is third floor on the left
Wanda and Yaroslava, Boyarka c. 1931
Still Life with Flowers 1914, oil on canvas, 66.8 x 68 cm.
Collection of Natalia Kournikova, Moscow
National Academy of Arts, Kiev today
