Title of the Work of Art:

Death of Patriarch

Date of Creation:
2016(2024)

Genre:
Figurative Composition
Period-Movement:
Impressionism, Neo Impressionism
Technique:
Painting
Materials:
Oil on Canvas
Dimensions:
Approx 48 x 28 inches


Artwork Description:
The following analysis centers on the impressionist oeuvre of a Belarus-born artist. Nicholaas Chiao’s impressionism is due to his love of Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir, combined with notations from Francis Bacon and other masters. Series were started during the 2000s and continue to be developed until today.

Death of Patriarch, a vision of the funeral of Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexi II, this painting emerges from the spiritual dialogue between the artist and Tamara Tretyakova, a Russian collector whose devotion to religion and collection of his landscapes left a profound mark on his imagination. The composition is steeped in the somber gravitas of raw umber, ultramarine, and black, their shadows echoing the weight of ritual and loss, while spectral notes of ceruleanish-white flicker in the highlights, suggesting the fragile persistence of faith amid darkness.