PAVEL BENKOV

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SUNDAY Feature on ART of Architecture -by Gautam Shah

Pavel Petrovich Benkov (1879-1949) was a Russian artist who settled down in Uzbekistan. He was portraitist, city-scape painter and theatre set designer. He taught art at the Kazan Art School and the Samarkand Art School. He was influential in formation of the pictorial traditions of Uzbekistan and region.

Benkov was attracted by the secluded corners of the traditional mohalla (street-neighborhoods) and courtyards around the houses in villages of Uzbekistan. He uses human figures to enhance the depiction of life. He loved the Uzbek domes, minarets and dresses. He exploited these through a colourful palette in plein-air style impressionism. In spite of using bright colours, his art seems warm and calm.

Benkov’ s fellow students nicknamed him ‘Titian’ for his heightened interest in colour, (-after Titian =Italian Tiziano, the Italian painter who made frequent use of brownish-orange in colour in his art).

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