Painting: The Torment

The Torment, painting
The Torment
2008
painting, oil on canvas
56 x 42 inches
provenance: United Kingdom
Catalogue raisonné R.1

The intensely orange background of this painting recalls Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion by Francis Bacon. The Torment was created by Nicholas Chistiakov during extremely hard period in his life and as well as this is a depiction of a torment, it is much autobiographical work of art. This work was created in a few days while artist was heavily consuming wine and beer and having deep psychological problems. The monster assemble human with the head of a bird, there is something borrowed from the art of Goya and Bosch in this creature as well. Colors are intense and saturated, orange, red, creamy whites, gray, pink, greenish brown. This is an eloquent image of suffering and pain, something extremely rare in the modern world which often tend to hide the human anxiety behind the glossy covers of fashion magazines and always bright optimistic billboards of McDonalds restaurants.