There are theoretical works too. In August 1914, in his treatise 'Painting and
Elements', Bohomazov wrote that 'painting is creating a work of art using
expressive means inherent in that art, so that each time the aesthetic excitement,
emotion, is translated into certain elements'. Composition in a triangle, from 1913, is
an early experiment. The artist has placed an everyday object, a teacup, within the
triangle to see the effect of such a shape, the resultant pressure and tension. Forms
in a circle is a similar experiment, only this time a table and chairs are the everyday
objects, and a circle is the geometric shape that creates the 'expressive means'.
Construction of the Rhythm of Forms takes the
process a stage further. The image is not
purely abstract, there are human features
recognisable through the angular pencil
strokes - this may be another portrait of
Wanda. The work is the closest relation, in
terms of structure, to Locomotive, which was
purchased by the Kröller-Müller Museum
in 2015.
In 1915 the permanently impecunious
Bohomazov travelled to Geryusi in
present-day Nagorno-Karabakh, to take up a
teaching post. Leaving Wanda in Kyiv, the
artist was inspired by the mountains into
producing the finest work of his career. The
Caucasus, the highest mountain range in
Composition with a triangle, 1913 Forms in a circle, 1915
Violinist, 1915
