We Celebrate the Arrival of Spring by offering Two Master Landscape Paintings by Russia's Top Landscape Painters!

Plus The History of Russian Impressionism and an Exhibition of Monumental Soviet Paintings at TMORA

Filippov, Vladimir Viktorovich

"Spring in the Yard"

17¼'' x 23½'', (44 x 60 cm), 2010, Oil on Canvas

Estimate $4,000 to $5,000- framed

Current Bid $500 by J Haney, Next Bid is $750

Krantz, Vladimir Pavlovich

"The Spring Meadow"

19¾'' x 27½'', (50 x 70 cm), 1978, Oil on Board

Estimate $5,000 to $6,000- framed

Current Bid $750 by I. Renner, Next Bid is $1,000

Filippov, Vladimir Viktorovich

"Spring in the Yard"

17¼'' x 23½'', (44 x 60 cm)

2010, Oil on Canvas

Estimate $4,000 to $5,000- framed

Current Bid $500 by J. Haney, Next Bid is $750

"Spring in the Yard" is a masterwork by one of Russia's most talented up-and-coming artists, and one of the Gallery's favorite painters, Vladimir V. Filippov. Vladimir has grown to be one of the most honored landscape artists painting in Russia today.

Filippov was trained, and lives in the renowned Russian art village "Akademicheskaya Dacha" or Academic Dacha, halfway between Moscow and St Petersburg. For more than 130 years, this village has been almost a sacred place to Russian artists. Filippov was introduced to the McCarthey Gallery by the master painter Yuri Kugach (recently deceased at age 97), who was named as one of the top 10 artists of Russia in the twentieth century. Under this tutelage, Filippov has become a respected and sought after Russian artist. 

Vladimir Filippov captures the native Russian countryside with a vivid intimacy attesting to a love of life spent close to the land. The contrasts and vividness of colors in "Spring in the Yard" shows Filippov's impressive skills and natural talent in portraying the Russian countryside.

"Spring in the Yard" would make a stunning addition to any collection or a great painting to start your collection. Remember, there is no reserve, at the end of the auction the high bid wins! Bids will be taken via telephone, or e-mail until 7:00 pm MST, Tuesday, June 3rd. 

Vladimir Viktorovich Filippov

Russia has a long tradition of the great master painters giving apprenticeship to the best of the next generation thereby keeping the venerated Russian tradition of realism alive. That is the case between the Russian master painter Yuri Petrovich Kugach and his student, Vladimir Viktorovich Filippov. They both live and work in the legendary artistic community of Academic Dacha.

About halfway between Moscow and St. Petersburg close to Tver, is the small village of "Akademichka" (or in English, "Academic Dacha"). It is about 10 kilometers off the main road, nestled in the Russian forest and graced by the shimmering Lake Mistino. The village has been the spiritual heart of Russian art since the village was founded in 1884. It has been the seasonal home of many of the great Russian artists over the last century and a half. The Academic Dacha initially served as a country refuge for impoverished or ailing artists from the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. Over time, the area increasingly became a favorite with students and professors who came to paint landscapes in the open air. The setting appealed so much to artists that many spent the greater part of their lives there, purchasing small country homes (dachas) nearby. From Repin to Levitan to Kugach and countless other greats, this small village has been painted more and has inspired more great art than any other place in Russia.



Even today, in this idyllic setting, many great artists still call Academic Dacha home. The place that housed the legendary Yuri Petrovich Kugach (who still paints at age 91) since 1951. Over the years, Yuri Petrovich has been a generous mentor to several promising artists. Kugach, who was named one of 'Russia's top twenty artists of the twenty first century' recently introduced us to one of his students. Yuri Petrovich told us that VLADIMIR VIKTOROVICH FILIPPOV was his finest student ever. Kugach told us that Vladimir Viktorovich's soul was imbued with Russia's nature. He said that while you can teach technique, color and composition---an artist's ability to 'feel' the land is unteachable. Kugach said that the instinct of greatness is genetic and that VLADIMIR VIKTOROVICH FILIPPOV has that very rare natural talent.

 Vladimir Viktorovich Filippov b. 1956

Vladimir V. Filippov was born in 1956 in Vyshniy Volochek. He spent his childhood in Novoye Kotchische Village, where such famous artists as brothers Sergei & Aleksei Tkachev lived. It was also not far from the Academic Dacha named after the great painter Ilya E. Repin. The Academic Dacha is a well-known Art Academy and artist community in Russia, and that creative atmosphere had a great influence on young Vladimir's creative future. Filippov spent long hours visiting artists in their studios, admiring great artists and their paintings. Since childhood, Vladimir's dream was to become an artist.

But at the beginning, Vladimir's way of life was altered from art. Having graduated from the Railway Collage, he enrolled in the Soviet Army. After his demobilization, he entered the Agricultural Academy. However, he never abandoned his dream to become an artist. Vladimir painted his first water-colored still life from nature in the studio of Nikolai A. Sysoev, who was an honored artist of the Soviet Union. He painted with great vigor under Sysoev's direction. Later on in 1970, he became acquainted with Peter I. Strakhov and Peter's wife Lia A. Ostrovaya, who were famous artists in Leningrad (St. Petersburg). Peter Straknov made great contributions and progress in Vladimir's creative development. Since 1970, Vladimir Filippov has devoted his life, full time to painting. He has been an enduring participant of all the local and regional exhibitions since 1980.

Since 1990, Filippov has trained and worked under the Russian Realist masters Yuri P. Kugach (senior) and his son Mikhail Y. Kugach, who is now head of the Kugach Studio and a full member of the Russian Academy of Arts. Vladimir has also painted in the company of such wonderful artists as Grigory Chainikov and Andrei Zakharov. These artists and close friends have played an important role in Vladimir's development as an artist. Filippov is one of the few artists continuing the great tradition of Russian Realistic Art. Vladimir Filippov is a member of the Union of Russian Artists since 2003. His paintings are exhibited in the Museums of Mogilev and Bobruisk (Republic of Byelorussia), in the Museum of Harbin (China), in many private art collections in Russia, Check Republic, Yugoslavia, Romania, Finland, Germany, China, and the USA.

Yuri Petrovich Kugach- The Master

Yuri Kugach is one of the premier 20th century Russian Realist painters. He is known in Russia and around the world for his paintings of the Russian countryside and his amazing skill of depicting space, form and feeling in his paintings. He received the USSR's highest honors for his work, taught at the renowned Surikov Institute of Art in Moscow, and founded the Moscow River School. Yuri Kugachs' talents were considered so valuable that, during World War Two, the Soviet government evacuated him and ten other artists to Uzbekistan to escape the Nazi onslaught. In 1951 Yuri moved to the Tver region-renowned for its scenic countryside-to instruct at the House of Artists of Russia. Themes of nature and village life are a powerful and unifying principle in much Russian art. As avant-garde art began to rise in the estimation of critics, it too helped preserve the realist tradition.

Vladimir Filippov with Yuri Kugach in Kugach's studio.

Krantz, Vladimir Pavlovich

"The Spring Meadow"

19¾'' x 27½'', (50 x 70 cm)

1978, Oil on Cardboard

Estimate $5,000 to $6,000- framed

Current Bid $750 by I. Renner, Next Bid is $1,000

Krantz was a master of the lyrical landscape and considered Nature as a his main teacher. He was drawn to the simple beauty of the Northern Russian forests and the seascapes of the Crimea. He painted with a unique eye towards nature's mystery, and his works rivet the eye by their romantic mood and masterful technique. He had a special gift for capturing the special light that filters the Russian wilderness, each season bringing its own distinct glow and drawing the viewer into the landscape.



"I visited Mr. Krantz at his studio in St. Petersburg shortly before his death in 2003. While he was close to blind and very weak, he lit up as I picked up paintings one-by-one and asked him if he could remember painting the particular work. Although he was slumped and ill, as I held up the painting, he seemed to come to life as he animatedly described each painting. Vivid with detail, excitement and overwhelming enthusiasm, he described the place and the people. It was almost as if he had painted the work that afternoon. For a few brief moments, the artist emerged and reveled in his life and his work. As we reached the end of the visit, he returned to his illness".  - Jim Dabakis

"The Spring Meadow," would make a stunning addition to any collection or a great painting to start your collection. Remember, there is no reserve, at the end of the auction the high bid wins! Bids will be taken via telephone, or e-mail until 7:00 pm MST, Tuesday, June 3rd

VLADIMIR PAVLOVICH KRANTZ (1913-2003), Mozdok, Northern Caucasia

The lyrical landscape is the genre of painting that evokes reciprocal feeling in every Russian, especially if it is done in such brilliant manner as that of Vladimir Krantz. The life itself made him an artist. He was lucky not to be forced painting in an official formal manner, glorifying the socialist labor. The artist simply polished his brushwork, developed his coloring working hard, nevertheless staying an amateur for the bureaucrats of the Soviet art. Being an "amateur" at that time meant to be free in choice to paint landscapes - the genre that was not greeted by the authorities. The most preferable were large multi-figural pictures depicting social life or historical events.

Vladimir Pavlovich Krantz was born in Mozdok, Chechnya in 1913. His mother's origin was Cossack, and his father came from nobility. His ancestor, German born Von Rosen Krantz, was sent in exile to the Caucasus after the December uprising in Petersburg in 1825.

The artist showed his talent in early years when he studied at the atelier of a local painter, A. Turbin. After finishing the secondary school he worked as a draftsman and got a recommendation to the Academy of Fine Arts in Leningrad (Petersburg). Just before the entrance exams V. Krantz showed his sketches to the rector of the Academy, a prominent Soviet artist Isaak Brodsky and met with his approval.

Unfortunately, the serious disease typhoid prevented him from entering the Academy that year. And in 1935 he successfully passed the exams to the Architectural Faculty of the Civil Engineering Institute in 1940. After graduating he worked as an artist-decorator, and painted in oils independently.

After World War II he returned to his work in the Painting and Design Group of Enterprises in Leningrad and perfected his art at the atelier of S. Nevelstein. He set himself high standards and purposefully painted from nature again and again. One of his most favorite places was the ancient Russian town of Staraja Ladoga in the Petersburg Region. The pictures painted there gained a great success during the first Krantz one-man show in 1967 and in 1973 he joined the Russian Artists' Union, thus giving up the work of decorator.

Success did not come V. Krantz's way easily. His way to acclaim was long and taxing, and only in the 1970's his art was recognized by the public. The Japanese collector Yoko Nakamura acquired series of his landscapes, and the artist became well known abroad.

Vladimir Krantz painted the modest beauty of Russian forest and seascapes in the Crimea, working at the Academic Dacha. There he got acquainted with many colleagues who enriched his mental outlook. Among them was a famous Soviet painter, academician Zagonek, who once presented Krantz his sketch with an inscription: "To the student surpassing the teacher." They worked together on the same motive and Krantz's landscape was voted the best.

Vladimir Krantz considered Nature to be the main teacher. None of the painters greatly influenced the artist's manner as he went his path directed mainly by his own inward intuition and original talent. He preferred painting "ala prima," finishing his landscape in one day. Using photos was the common practice of such great masters as Vrubel and Degas, and Krantz following in their example, studied and gave a more precise definition to the juxtaposition of color, light-and-shade. He never went down to the rough naturalism or unwarranted detailing both in drawing and coloring.

Krantz intentionally denied the fleeting effects so typical of the Impressionists and art of the XX Century. He saw the integrity and calm in the landscape, which should represent the stability and firmness of being.

Vladimir Krantz was a real master of the lyrical landscape. His art is immediately recognizable in any gallery neighborhood as it rivets the eye by the romantic mood and a masterful technique. It gives the spectator an opportunity to enter the truthfully painted atmosphere of the landscape, to share the artist's admiration. The good taste, a sense of rhythm together with following nature without copying, brings a wholeness and completeness to his fine landscapes.

In 1940 Vladimir Krantz graduated from Architectural department of Leningrad Building Institute.

Since 1957 he has participated in Art Exhibitions.

Joined the LOSKH (Leningrad Union of Artists of the RSFSR) in 1972.

Member of LCRAU since 1972.

Modern Soviet painting exhibition. Gekkoso Gallery. Tokyo, 1977.

Ecole de Saint-Petersburg. Drouot Richelieu. 13 Mars. Paris, 1992.

Personal Exhibitions in Leningrad (1964, 1977, 1991) and St. Petersburg (1992, 1995, 2002).

Paintings by Vladimir KRANTZ are in Art museums and private collections in the Russia, USA, Japan, Germany, and throughout the world.

We invite you to participate in this month's auctions and thank everyone who placed bids 's last month. Remember, there is no reserve, at the end of the auction the high bid wins!

Bids will be taken via telephone, or e-mail until 7:00 pm MST, Tuesday, June 3rd. Follow all the bidding updates on the Gallery's website.  

Tel: 801-755-7072

email: info@McCartheyGallery.net

website:  www.McCartheyGallery.net

Please, e-mail bids only to info@McCartheyGallery.net.  Note that you may place a maximum bid and the Gallery will bid on your behalf up to your maximum bid.

How Russian Impressionism Began

Soon after the rise of French Impressionism, which began in the 1860s, their style of impressionist painting was immediately copied by the Russians. However it was not until the late 1880s that Russian Impressionism paintings were seen in galleries.

The first artists to exhibit Russian Impressionism paintings were Valentin Serov, Isaac Levitan, Konstantin Korovin, Nicolai Fechin, and Ilya Repin. One of the first first official exhibitions of Russian Impressionism took place in Moscow, and was organized by the Moscow Society of Lovers of the Arts in December 1888. Valentin Serov won first prize for Girl with Peaches (1887), Korovin won second prize for genre painting with At the Tea Table (1888), and Isaac Levitan won second prize for landscape with At Volga. Evening Falls (1888). Russian Impressionism artists who painted in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s were well educated, well traveled, and highly influenced by the Impressionists from Europe.

The Progression of Russian Impressionism



When most people think about Russian art, what comes to mind are the images of propaganda posters and the opulent splendor of Russia. However, Russian artists made a huge contribution to impressionist and realist art. Compared to Europe, impressionism had a complex development in Russia between 1860-1930. During this period artists combined many different styles – subsequently Russian impressionist and post-impressionist works often fall under other genres of art including Cezannism, Neo-Primitivism, and Russian Symbolism.

Russia’s contribution to the impressionist movement is showcased in the Museum of Russian Impressionism, displaying the original works of the top Russian Impressionism artists. The museums’ permanent collection consists of more than seventy works of art by prominent Russian artists such as Konstantin Korovin, Igor Grabar, Konstantin Yuon, Petr Konchalovsky, and Yuri Pimenov, as well as selected works by Boris Kustodiev and Valentin Serov. The painting below is by Tit Dvornikov, a naturally gifted and self-taught artist who went on to teach others.

TIT YAKOVLEVICH DVORNIKOV (1862-1922) "By the Sea" 1912.

Impressionism was well represented in Russia. Artists in the 19th and early 20th centuries studied the impressionist art movements in Europe, and copied their motifs – to depict real life, nature, and light was an important form of expression in Russia. 

Painting en plein air and a sketch-like style led artists to motifs that expressed the carefreeness of modern recreational activities in impressionistic interiors that are suffused with light, encouraging a shift away from the old subjects of Russian art. Studies of light effects in indoor scenes and in still lifes led to a new appreciation of these genres that were little seen at the academy in Moscow.

In portraits and pictures of families, Russian artists painted them more honestly and with more depth of feeling, to create their own style of Impressionism. The national identity was just as important as the relationship to the tradition of realism. Impressionism, with its focus on spontaneous expression and modernity, gave new ways of expressing this. 

As such, Russian impressionist paintings have a distinctive feel and there is a sense of the Russian joyful and tragic culture and heritage that radiates from these paintings. The literal translation of impressionism in French is very different to the Russian translation, which is quite apparent when you compare the styles. The French interpret it as an impression of a time, mood, and light. The Russians translation means sorrow, which is why their paintings are more about emotion, family, and poetry.

Artists like Ilya Repin believed that the Russian people wanted artists to depict the real Russian life. Artists who did this successfully became famous, national treasures. Valentin Serov’s painting Girl with Peaches for instance was a sensation. Depicting Russian country life was important culturally and emotionally to the Russian psyche. Artists like Isaac Levitan did this wonderfully. The famous brothers Alexei and Sergei Tkachev have produced stunning works.

The most iconic early Russian Impressionists

Here are some of the more famous artists from the early era of Russian Impressionism.

Konstantin Korovin (1861 – 1939)

One of the most important Russian impressionists, Korovin was inspired during his time in Paris, where the genre was essentially born. The artist dedicated many paintings to the French capital: “Paris. Boulevard of the Capucines, ” “Paris. Morning,” and “Night Street. Paris” are among them. 

Valentin Serov (1865 – 1911)

A master of the psychological portrait, Serov was extremely popular in elite circles. He made some portraits of Romanov family. Serov rose to fame after his paintings “The Girl with Peaches” (1887) and “The Girl in Sunlight” (1888) were shown to the public. His portraits are distinguished by his portrayal of the subject’s soul.

Nicolai Fechin (1881-1955)

Fechin became a distinguished artist in two countries: his motherland Russia, and the USA where he lived for nearly 30 years. In America he was known for his portraits of native Indians and in Russia, and for portraying everyday life.

Today his paintings fetch a pretty penny at auctions, exceeding millions of dollars. Fechin’s work “Little Cowboy”, which was sold for 6.9 million pounds in 2010, made the artist one of the most expensive painters in Russia.

Vladimir Baranov-Rossine (1888–1944)

The artist kicked off his career by creating a number of impressionist works, but Baranov-Rossine later pursued orphism and even created so-called polytechnic sculptures composed of organic and inorganic materials. After graduating from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, the painter traveled to Paris and settled in a bohemian district with Marc Chagall and Amedeo Modigliani as his neighbors. His still life impressionist paintings are the most elegant ones.

Pyotr Konchalovsky (1876 – 1956)

A passionate fan of Paul Cezanne and an admirer of European culture, Konchalovsky searched for his calling in different art movements like impressionism, post-impressionism and cubism. He froze the beauty of nature in his still life paintings of flowers. Like Renoir, the painter believed that “pain passes, and beauty remains,” trying to imprint the positive side of life.

How Russian Impressionism developed

Unlike Impressionism in France and the USA, Russian Impressionism continued to develop throughout the 20th century. The original impressionists taught the next generation, who in turn taught later generations. There is now a wealth of contemporary Russian Impressionists who still paint plein air like the original impressionists, and with the same style of brushwork. However their paintings have developed to make more use of capturing light and color, and incorporating other techniques to develop a new style of artwork.

The contemporary Russian Impressionists

Here are a few artists who are well known in the current Russian Impressionism movement.

Flowers, by Bato Dugarzhapov

Bato Dugarzhapov (1966– )

Bato Dugarzhapov was born in Duldurga in the Chita Region of Siberia. He studied at Moscow Art School and graduated from Surikov’s Moscow Art Institute. He is a member of the Moscow Union of Artists, and lives and works in Moscow.

A key strength in Dugarzhapov’s work is his excellent combination of both far music and near music. The compositions are always very strong, with an interesting arrangement of shapes, and beautiful color harmonies. He uses many types of contrast: contrast of detail, contrast of temperature, and contrast of thick and thin. The paintings are usually painted in middle values with a few dark accents, and sometimes in a high key to emphasize the feeling of strong sunlight.

He is one of the very few painters who can take a representational painting to the verge of abstraction and still make it feel real. Another painter who was able to achieve this was Feodor Zhakarov, but with not with quite the same degree of color harmony.

Denis Sarazhin (1984 – )

Sarazhin was born in Nikopol, Ukraine in 1982. He attended the Kharkov Art and Design Academy, graduating in 2008. Sarazhin was awarded with the 1st Degree Diploma Award for Excellence in Painting from the Ukrainian Art Academy. This prestigious national award is only given to an elite group of graduating students from all the nations top artistic institutions. Since 2007 he has been a member of Kharkov’s section of the association of Ukraine’s Artists’ Alliance. 

Sarazhin’s work is characterized by a strong abstract design with beautiful color harmonies. Beautiful color has historically been a strength of the Ukrainian painters since the 20th century, and it is good to see this tradition being carried on in contemporary painters.

Ovanes Berbarian (1951 – )

Berberian is a Russian Armenian, who received his primary art education under the guidance of his Russian father who was a member of the Armenian Artists’ Society, as well as a theatrical set designer and college art professor. When he moved to the USA in 1977 he studied under Sergei Bongart, who was born in Kiev in Ukraine and studied art in Kiev, Prague, Vienna and Munich, before emigrating to the United States.

Berberian’s deep understanding of hue, value and color relationships make him sought after not only by collectors, but by students who come from near and far for a chance to attend one of his workshops. He mostly paints plein air but does some of his larger pieces in the studio.

He states unequivocally that in painting the most important thing is color harmony. Berberian’s use of color, combined with his dynamic, painterly style, makes each landscape and still life come alive striking a chord deep within the viewer.

This exhibition presents some of the largest paintings from the Soviet era that TMORA could unearth in private American collections. These rare canvases are inhabited by collective farmers, loggers, construction workers, and an occasional waitress or an artist’s wife, some of them tough and mighty proletarian superheroes, while others pensive and demure. The theme of the working class was raised high in the hierarchy of official Soviet art, presenting the Soviet worker as the country’s ruling class. Inspirational and finely executed, these enormous canvases decorated public spaces in Soviet factories, administrative buildings, and other institutions. The Soviet art market knew only one customer, the state itself, and this unique condition of the production of art continues to inspire curiosity and a desire to explore.

The exhibition includes fifteen monumental paintings from the 1950s-1980s. Several important works come from the collection of TMORA founders, Raymond and Susan Johnson. A few smaller canvases are also on view.

Monumental Soviet Paintings will be on view in the Main Gallery through September 21, 2025.

The Museum of Russian Art

Located at the corner of Diamond Lake Road and 35W.

5500 Stevens Avenue

Minneapolis, MN 55419

Nikolai I. Obrynba, 1913-1996

Before the Storm, 1957

Oil on canvas, 60 3/8 in x 100 1/2 in

Private American Collection

Nikolai N. Baskakov, 1918-1993

The Fisherwoman, Lyuba Porbina, 1960

Oil on canvas, 47 1/4 in x 31 1/4 in

The Raymond and Susan Johnson Collection

Nikolai N. Baskakov

Milkmaids, Novella, 1962

Oil on Canvas, 47 in x 90 in

Gift of Pam and Jack Safar, 2015

TMORA Permanent Collection

Nikolai N. Baskakov

Milkmaids, Novella, 1962

Oil on Canvas, 47 in x 90 in

Gift of Pam and Jack Safar, 2015

TMORA Permanent Collection

Mai V. Dantsig, 1930-2017

Tractor Driver, 1960

Oil on canvas, 75 1/4 in x 49 in

Private American Collection