Page:Benois - The Russian School of Painting (1916).djvu/226

, taciturn Syerov; on the same line, to the left—the gloomy, nervous Ivanov; in the second row we see K. Korovin, who has stretched himself in a characteristic pose, and the reserved, quiet Apollinarius Vasnetzov.

Kustodiev derives from Syerov and Korovin; as to his landscapes, they are influenced by Levitan. In general, he is still very young, and rich mostly in promises, but we mention his name here because it seems to us that he clings wholly to our modern Realism and will hardly betray it in the future.

To "free" Realism belongs also the late Mary Yakunchikov (1870–1903) one of the most gifted, thoughtful, and poetical figures that Russian painting has produced for the last few decades. Yakunchikov essayed her forces in fantastic compositions and in applied art, and after her marriage she devoted a considerable part of her energies to the special sphere of "children" art. Yet it seems to us that these digressions were due to the example of Miss H. Polyenov and to the influence the latter exerted on her youthful friend. At any rate, the best and truly charming works in Yakunchikov "Nachlass" which is quite large considering her short life, are more or less close echoes of Levitan's elegies and idyls. There sounds in them the same note of sad resignation, there vibrates