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To really appreciate a drawing by Nicholi Fechin you should see it in real life and the best place to do that is at the Taos Art Museum and Fechin House.  On the second day of the conference in New Mexico I went on a road trip with my fellow painting buddies, Sharon Will and Barb Reich.  It was a two and a half hour drive one way and worth the effort.   Fechin was a successful Russian artist who studied under in St Petersburg under Ilya Repin.  Fleeing the turmoil of the Russian revolution he immigrated with his family to the U.S. in the 1920’s.   He first settled in New York City where he became a portrait painter of renown but New York did not agree with his health and in 1922 he moved his family to Taos.   Taos was a growing art community and many artists made their home there.

Fechin was great painter, but his figure and portrait drawings are outstanding.  He had the uncanny ablity to blend accuracy and distortion to create an image that is sensitive yet animated.   All strokes in a Fechin drawing have a purpose.  Line is laid in heavy and then faded to exaggerate the natural rhythm of the figure.  He could blend this line with masses of dark value laid in thick or uneven to give texture and depth to his surface.   He is my favorite artist when it comes to drawing.

We visited his home and studio where we viewed his drawings under the large bank of north facing windows.  His studio and home are a work of art themselves.  Fechin was a talented architect and wood carver and his carvings grace every inch of wood in the home. 

Here is the website of the museum If you would like to learn more about Nicolai Fechin.

http://www.taosartmuseum.org/fechin.php