Russia 1956-1974

Of his painting, which was not exhibited over this period, Sokolov wrote: “I sought points of departure in Russian art (what they now call the Russian Avantgarde) and here the most inspiring were the ‘The Knave of Diamonds’ (Konchalovsky, Larionov, Malevich) and ‘The Blue Rose’. For me ‘The Knave of Diamonds’ is still fundamental. I mean the period from 1907 – 1911. Rodchenko’s Constructivism and the non-objectivity of Malevich represented, to some extent, the loss of painterliness and a movement towards graphics.” (Notebook No 140, 1990/III-VI). Much of this painting “for the drawer” was on imaginary subjects, but he also worked from nature and took particular delight in depicting scenes from Russian village life in terms of domestic detail and traditional faith.