Piazza della Signoria in Siena 1912

Pyotr Konchalovsky painted this oil on canvas, entitled Piazza della Signoria in Siena, sometime in the first half of the 20th century. Konchalovsky was a key member of the Jack of Diamonds group of Russian avant-garde artists. The group's aesthetic was influenced by French Post-Impressionism, but they were especially interested in the gritty realities of urban life and the expressive potential of so-called 'low' or 'naive' art forms, such as folk art and sign painting. Here, we see a modern take on the Italian cityscape. The scene presents an urban landscape that is both monumental and intimate. The buildings are rendered in bold, simplified forms with thick brushstrokes, typical of early 20th-century modernist painting. But the muted palette and the presence of human figures give the painting a certain warmth. To understand Konchalovsky's artistic choices fully, we might consult exhibition reviews from the period. What did critics and fellow artists have to say about his approach? How did his engagement with Western European styles intersect with his sense of Russian national identity? These are some of the questions that art historians try to answer.