Group portrait (M. Chuzhak, S. Tretyakov, N. Aseev)

Mediums: oil, canvas.
Location: The National Art Museum of Ukraine (Kyiv).

The portrait demonstrates the tribute paid by the artist to cubism and expressionism in the first period of his creativity. The faces of the depicted workers of the magazine “Creativity” occupy the entire frontal composition of the horizontally elongated canvas. On the left, there is journalist and literary critic Nikolai Chuzhak (pseudonym – Nasimovich); the facial features of the senior comrade are conveyed most realistically and without distortion. Sergei Tretyakov, whose characteristically elongated face looks more like a white Harlequin mask and poet Nikolai Aseev, depicted in profile, is presented in a cubist manner. The background, according to the principles of Cubism, is a continuation of the images, flowing into the depths of various forms. The picture, despite the presence of a large number of ocher shades, is expressively bright due to colour spots and captured emotions.