Boris Anisfeld (Bal?i, present–day Moldova (former Russian Empire), 1879–1973, Waterford, Connecticut). <em>Clouds over the Black Sea--Crimea</em>, 1906. Oil on canvas, 49 1/2 × 56 in. (125.7 × 142.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Boris Anisfeld in memory of his wife, 33.416 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 33.416_PS11.jpg)

Boris Anisfeld (Bal?i, present–day Moldova (former Russian Empire), 1879–1973, Waterford, Connecticut). Clouds over the Black Sea--Crimea, 1906. Oil on canvas, 49 1/2 × 56 in. (125.7 × 142.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Boris Anisfeld in memory of his wife, 33.416 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 33.416_PS11.jpg)

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I'm interested in how it's placed next to the Anisfeld seascape. Is there a narrative to be drawn from this wall? Or is it more thematic?

This wall is devoted to Russian modern art and features thirteen paintings spanning 100 years. The diversity of their scale, subject-matter, and style is a tribute to the dramatic aesthetic and political changes taking place in Russia, and across Europe, during the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Large-scale landscapes seen from unusual perspectives were a popular genre in Russia at this time. The paintings by Vasily Vereshchagin and Boris Anisfeld both draw attention to the vastness of the Russian Empire's landscape and the powerful impact of the elements. Vereshchagin shows the ferocity and bleakness of winter in the fields of Bulgaria. In Anisfeld’s canvas, painted from the Aiou-Dagh Mountain in the Crimean Peninsula, the artist introduces a new aerial viewpoint emphasizing the clouds and reducing the battleship below to a tiny object in the vast sea. Vereshschagin's picture conveys a message about the nature of warfare. The artist witnessed the devastating Russo-Turkish war of 1877 and was deeply affected by the loss of life on both sides.

What was the artist's intention in creating this painting? What inspired them?

The artist Boris Anisfeld was inspired by the site itself: The view of the Black Sea from Aiou-Dagh Mountain in the Crimean Peninsula. This mountain was then a popular destination for Russian painters seeking to paint outdoors. Anisfeld challenged traditional ways of depicting a landscape. He shattered the illusion of depth by flattening the picture's different elements—the mountain’s edge, a warship, and sailboats punctuating the horizon appear as if they are on a single plane. If you look closely, you can just make out the warship.

Was there any inspiration for this painting?

The site was the inspiration. The clouds and the sea are seen from a high vantage point atop the Aiou-Dagh mountain in the Crimean Peninsula. This mountain in the Black Sea was then a popular destination for Russian painters seeking to paint outdoors. It's quite an interesting vantage point for a landscape to look down onto the waves through clouds. The artist was trying to challenge traditional ways of painting by shattering the illusion of depth and flattening disparate elements—the mountain’s edge, a warship, and sailboats punctuating the horizon—onto a single plane.

Where is this?

It is a view from the top of Bear Mountain, in the Crimea. We are actually looking down through the clouds to the Black Sea but you can also see part of the mountain which juts into the composition on the lower right. It was a popular destination for Russian plein air (outdoors) painters in 1906, when this was painted.The seascape scene was painted from high on a cliff so you are actually looking down on the clouds which is an interesting way for the artist to play with perspective.

I found a painting.

The artist painted this view of the Black Sea from a mountain. The perspective he chose to portray is even higher than the Ayu-Dag, a summit on the coast of Crimea, which lends an illusionistic property to this landscape. Did you notice the tiny boats sailing on the sea?

Yes, what about them?

Their small size gives you a sense of scale by which to judge the height of Anisfeld's perspective. Notice he has also positioned this view above the clouds, higher than this mountain really is.

Oh cool.

It's called Clouds Over the Black Sea, but the sea is not black.

You are very right! The Black Sea is a real sea in Eastern Europe--the vantage point here is from the top of a mountain on the Crimean coast--that is actually blue like most other seas.

The origin of the name "Black Sea" is not certain, but two potential reasons could be because of its storminess or because of the comparative darkness of the water (it is a very deep sea).

Innovatively, Anisfeld has reduced the number of colors in the sea to a single shade of blue and distorted the perspective to represent the dramatic vastness of the sea. It's almost hard for me to orient myself when I first look at this canvas!

Anisfeld said, "I paint what I feel, not what I see."

Oh! He looks to be high to be above the clouds.

This view seems to put us in the position of a bird! It's interesting that you gravitated to Yvonne Jacquette's aerial view of NYC and now this one.

Yeah!

What is the October Revolution?

It was the first part of the overall Russian Revolution of 1917. The empire of the Tsars was dismantled, and several temporary Bolshevik governments took over.

In the October Revolution phase of 1917, the Bolshevik Party came to power. This was the beginning of the Soviet Union as we all came t to know it.

Thanks, you've been awesome

Tell me about these two.

These two paintings make such a great pair! Yvonne Jacquette sketched New York City from high floors of tall buildings and even chartered helicopters to get to the angles she was interested in.

Boris Anisfeld, on the other hand, climbed to the top of a mountain to view the Black Sea; but when painting this canvas, he imagined he was even higher above the clouds!

Tell me more.

Anisfeld painted this depiction of the Black Sea from a mountain. The perspective is even higher than the top of the Ayu-Dag mountain near the coast, adding to the illusionistic properties of this landscape.

Depicting the sea as a flat blue plane was revolutionary in 1906, when this work was created. While in school, Anisfeld and his fellow artists were considered rebellious for disregarding academic standards.

While strictly representational art had been the rule up until that point, Anisfeld reduced the number of colors in the sea to a single shade of blue and distorted the perspective to represent the dramatic vastness of the sea.

He said: "I paint what I feel, not what I see"

What is the "flattening" mentioned in the label? There is still a sense of perspective so I don't understand.

You're right! There is still a sense of depth in this painting, but it has been reduced and simplified. The sea is reduced to a blue plane that takes up most of the frame.

The perspective is also distorted so that you appear to be both on the mountain and above the clouds at the same time. The image is only relatively flattened compared to reality, not made to look completely flat.

I’m looking at the Anisfeld painting and the labels talks about the artist “shattering the illusion of depth and flattening the elements” but I think the painting seems to have a really strong sense of depth. Could you tell me more about it?

This was painted by Anisfeld from the top of a mountain and he wanted to create an even more severe sense of distance by exaggerating how high up he was when painting the scene. His portrayal of the sea, as huge and monochromatic, is most often pointed out as contrary to realistic perspective.

Yeah, to me the odd high tilted point of view does the opposite of flattening the elements!

You and I understand from how the clouds get smaller and layer above the sea that there is depth in the work, but I would argue that Anisfeld still flattens the work with his use of color, the lack of shading or atmosphere, and the fact that he doesn't paint with attention to realism in the work.

The clouds become almost like a pattern on the flat blue sea, rather than a true landscape.

I don’t see it that way at all, which is what makes art so much fun! Thanks!

I agree! I certainly see it as flat color and pattern, but I can see the depth as well. It's pretty cool that we can read it in so many different ways!

I’m looking at Boris Anisfeld Clouds over the Black Sea and it says painting the sea as a flat blue plane was revolutionary. Why?

Up until that point, strictly representational art had been the rule. Artists tried to depict the world around them just as it looked, with a very literal approach to space and detail.

Anisfeld and some of his fellow artists were considered rebellious for painting however they wanted and disregarding academic standards.

So other artists would have had a horizon line in the ocean?

Yes! What he has done here is distorted the perspective to represent the dramatic vastness of the sea. He said, "I paint what I feel, not what I see,"

Cool! Thank you for the explanation.

The label says Boris Anisfeld left Russia during the October Revolution. Was the artist Boris Anisfeld escaping potential persecution by the Bolsheviks?

We don't really know if he was escaping potential persecution or just seeking better opportunities in the US given the political upheaval at home.

He was very successful in Russia pre-Revolution and he found quick success in the US spurred by a solo exhibition, starting at the Brooklyn Museum, that traveled to ten venues across the country. Anisfeld continued to design sets and costumes for stage productions in the United States; he was often contracted for productions composed by fellow Russians.

The artist must have adored the landscapes of Russia very much!

Yes, he did love the Russian landscape. In 1904, Anisfeld married and began to spend time each summer traveling primarily in the Russian countryside; he was still enrolled at the Imperial Academy. At the time the Russian Empire controlled much of Eastern Europe making a wide variety of environments easily accessible.

Thank you so much for the info!

Did he imagine above the clouds before air travel?

Though the Wright brothers had made their first powered flight only a few years earlier, balloon flight had been developed in the late 18th century. Aiou-Dahg, the mountain from which Anisfeld painted this seascape is high enough to touch the clouds on occasion, but he definitely had to use his imagination to place the viewer above them like he did.

This is so pretty.

I love that painting myself! Anisfeld was renowned for his revolutionary approach to painting in the early 20th century. He flattened perspective and emphasized big swaths of bright colors that didn't necessarily represent what was really there.

He said: "I paint what I feel, not what I see."

Though it's technically a landscape, he's basically reduced nature to a series of colors and patterns. He was the first widely known artist to do so and contemporary reviews of his work praised him for it.

Clouds over the Black Sea--Crimea

Boris Anisfeld

European Art

Boris Anisfeld’s canvas presents a vertiginous view of the Black Sea from the top of the Ayu-Dag mountain in southern Ukraine. The viewer has the sensation of being placed in midair, looking down through billowing clouds at an expanse of blue water, in the midst of which is a small boat. Although the scene represents a vast space, the artist’s complex composition challenges the illusion of depth in traditional landscapes by flattening the elements—cloud, land, and horizon—onto a single plane.

This painting was included in the 1906 Salon d’Automne in Paris in the Russian galleries organized by the ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev, for whom Anisfeld designed stage sets and costumes. After the 1917 Russian Revolution, the artist came to the United States, and within a year the Brooklyn Museum hosted his first American one-person exhibition.

ARTIST Boris Anisfeld, Bal?i, present–day Moldova (former Russian Empire), 1879–1973, Waterford, Connecticut

MEDIUM Oil on canvas

Place Made: Europe

DATES 1906

DIMENSIONS 49 1/2 × 56 in. (125.7 × 142.2 cm) frame: 56 1/2 × 63 1/2 × 3 1/2 in. (143.5 × 161.3 × 8.9 cm) (show scale)

SIGNATURE Signed lower right: "Boris Anisfeld"

COLLECTIONS European Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 33.416

CREDIT LINE Gift of Boris Anisfeld in memory of his wife

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Boris Anisfeld (Bal?i, present–day Moldova (former Russian Empire), 1879–1973, Waterford, Connecticut). Clouds over the Black Sea--Crimea, 1906. Oil on canvas, 49 1/2 × 56 in. (125.7 × 142.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Boris Anisfeld in memory of his wife, 33.416 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 33.416_PS11.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 33.416_PS11.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2022

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