The exhibition ‘Larionov/Goncharova. The Beginning’, currently on view at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow may not be a blockbuster yet it has strong scholarly appeal. Visitors drawn by the familiar names of these two famous artists may initially feel disappointed.

The first thing that surprises visitors to the exhibition of Russia’s greatest power couple Natalia Goncharova (1881-1962) and Mikhail Larionov (1881-1964) is the venue itself: an unpretentious, modest sized room behind the museum’s Greek courtyard. The second is the absence of paintings. You might think from the title of the exhibition that it focusses on the early paintings by the couple, yet you quickly discover that this is a show of works on paper.

However, the most striking revelation is the works themselves as they bear little resemblance to the early, iconic paintings for which these artists are best known like Goncharova’s famous ‘Peacock in Bright Sunlight’ or Mikhail Larionov’s ‘Resting Soldier’. Those paintings remain in their usual place in the museum building on Kramskaya Embankment. In contrast, for the recent exhibition ‘Marc Chagall: The Joy of Earthly Gravity’, several works were on loan from the Tretyakov Gallery and there is the sense that what was a temporary cooperation between Moscow’s two main museums created unrealistic expectations for Larionov/Goncharova. Here, however, the exhibition shows only items from the Pushkin collection, all dating from the first half of the 1900s.

Much of the art on view is being exhibited for the first time. Firstly, works on paper are rarely displayed because of their sensitivity to light. Secondly, none of the individual works in the show are particularly significant or striking on their own - they were created when they were learning to form their own artistic language and drawing inspiration from the French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, whose works they saw in Sergei Shchukin’s collection. As Alla Lukanova, the exhibition’s scholarly consultant and Deputy Head of the Department of Private Collections at the Pushkin Museum, said at the opening: “Russian teachers honed their technique, French teachers trained their eye.”

The introductory panel presents some potential sources for early works by Larionov and Goncharova, including Claude Monet’s (1840–1926) exquisite ‘Lilacs in the Sun’, Édouard Vuillard’s (1868-1940) ‘On the Sofa (In the White Room)’, and Henri-Edmond Cross’s (1856-1910) pointillist ‘Around My House’. For educational purposes, these works are entirely appropriate, though their quality noticeably surpasses the early experiments of the young Russian artists. Also on display is a skillful copy of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s (1864–1901) ‘Woman at Her Toilet’ made by Leonid Pasternak (1862-1945), illustrating that copying was a standard practice, alongside a charming small landscape by Larionov’s teacher Konstantin Korovin (1861–1939).

At the opening of the exhibition, curator Oleg Antonov, Head of the Works on Paper Department at the Pushkin Museum, noted that some early works had to be reattributed between the two artists, from one to the other at times the two were working in a very similar style. That said, the attribution of many of pastels was very clear. Goncharova’s ‘Courtyard in Spring’ and Larionov’s ‘In the Carriage’ differ in subject but share a similar palette, making authorship hard to determine. Meanwhile, the deep blue ‘Seascape’ could only have been painted by Larionov, a native of southern Tiraspol. The carefully rendered urban landscapes clearly belong to Goncharova, the daughter of a Moscow architect, who also created delicate small works such as ‘At Sewing’ and ‘Woman Sewing’. A series of grotesque pastels, ‘Female Figure in Various Poses (Model in Black Stockings)’, was clearly done by Larionov.

Small landscapes dominate this show. Larionov’s Trees: Autumn Motif and River (Landscape with Bathers) are unusually lyrical, showing the influence of Mikhail Borisov-Musatov (1870–1905), whose own small landscape is also included. The largest pastel in the show, Goncharova’s ‘Canvas Factory’, is among the most beautiful works on display. Before it was acquired by the museum it belonged to the pianist and amateur artist Sviatoslav Richter (1915–1997) although this provenance is not noted on the exhibition label and the exhibition does not indicate how any of the works entered the Pushkin Museum. Antonov explained that acquisition details will only appear in the catalogue later - a release date is currently unknown.

As Lukanova explained at the opening, in 1915 Larionov and Goncharova travelled to Paris with Sergei Diaghilev’s (1872–1929) Ballets Russes. Larionov had already been wounded at the front. Neither artist ever returned to Russia again, leaving their early works behind in Moscow. Later, they asked fellow artist Lev Zhegin (1892-1969) to transport the remaining works to Paris, which he gradually did.

By 1927, all the pastel drawings that had been kept stored in folders were returned to the artists. After they had both passed away, the works passed to Larionov’s second wife, Alexandra Tomilina. She sold part of their estate, part was claimed under French inheritance law, and the remainder was donated to the Soviet state. Soviet officials then determined which museums would receive the works.