Изумрудное ожерелье 1904 * Viktor Borisov-Musatov (1870-1905)

Description of Victor Borisov Musatov’s painting Emerald Necklace

In his "Emerald Necklace," the artist tried to convey images of the combination of colors and the beauty of the decorative elements. The young women are seated in a green garden.

Borisov-Musatov himself considered his work a reflection of paganism. Her beauties-heroines represent spring, blooming nature. They are like flower buds unfurling and reaching for the sun. The painting was inspired by the green nature of May, the time when most flowers were in bloom.

The artist himself called this time "late spring." It filled his mind with its vivid color combinations. Because of its sensualist beginning, this painting stands out from all other creations of the artist. In it, nature and people are merged into a single whole.

There is absolutely no horizon line in this composition. The greenery of the lawn and dandelion buds, framed by oak leaves, strongly resembles the image of an ornament. All of this acts as a background parallel to the characters and the canvas, rather than the space behind the women.

The women depicted, although seeming very static at first, do begin to blend from left to right when you look at them again. This is the first work by the artist in which so many figures appear depicted in motion.

From one edge of the painting to the other, a wavelike rhythm seems to run, subordinating the patterns on the leaves, the arrangement of the dandelion buds, and naturally the six heroines of the work. In the middle of the painting there seems to be a small pause, separating the composition of the women.

The distance between them, however, is smoothed by gestures of invitation to step forward, expressed in the central figure, dressed in a yellow dress. A band of dandelions and leaves also unites the female figures. The background of the landscape is dominated by a range of green colors.