Revelation of a world that never existed: paintings by Margarita Volochine

The Goetheanum exhibition presents some twenty paintings by Margarita Volochine (1882-1973). These works from the second half of his life come from the collection of the Goetheanum, the Rudolf Steiner Archives and two private collections. Also on display are paintings by Maximilian Volochine, her husband.

Born in 1882 in Moscow, Russia, Margarita Volochine, painter and writer, gained public recognition in her early years as a portrait painter of Russian personalities. Soon, however, she questioned the naturalistic style of her teacher Ilia Repin: "Is there any point," she wrote in her diary, "in repeating what already exists? A completely different art must emerge, revealing a world that has never existed before ".
His questions and his inner quest lead him to meet Rudolf Steiner, after which the artist very often spent long stays at the Goetheanum, in Dornach, Switzerland. She worked there on the construction of the first Goetheanum by participating in the sculpture of the capitals and the realization of the fresco of the ceiling of the small dome. Her involvement in anthroposophy led Margarita Volochine to become interested in the essence of color.

In her autobiography entitled 'The Green Snake', she formulates her perceptions as follows: "To transform the experience of feeling into color, into a movement of color which becomes rhythm and finally form". The idea, she said, "must always be sensed as something essential, a whole". And to add: "The composition should not be frozen as with the old masters, but emerge. "

Rich in this analysis, Margarita Volochine developed a new pictorial language which she applied to mainly spiritual and religious themes. Until April 24, 2022, the Goetheanum art gallery exhibits around twenty of his watercolors on the life of Christ. The exhibition is completed by landscapes made by her husband Maximilian Volochine.

(1986 characters / Section des Beaux-Arts au Goetheanum; translation: Jean Pierre Ablard)
Exhibition "The morning announces itself, imperceptible ...", paintings by Margarita Volochine, until April 24, 2022, Monday to Friday from 9 am to 6 pm, Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm Access according to conditions of admission in force to the Goetheanum