1921–1924 Asia: Tashkent, Samarkand


In 1921-1922 Nurenberg within a team of artists was sent to Uzbekistan for organizing architectural restoration works. During and after the trip he created a series of genre scenes and of urban landscapes with mosques, aryks, and odd trees.

In these works, one can recognize the inspiration by Cezanne which was common to artists of the Soviet avant-garde (in 1924 Nurenberg published a monograph «Paul Cezanne» in the school of arts VkHUTEMAS where he was professor of history of the Western arts). This inspiration manifested itself in the use of geometrical forms. In painting Nurenberg preferred however warm yellow-brown colors, differing from the cold blue palette of Cezanne.

In 1924 Nurenberg showed his Asia works at a joint exhibition with former members of the group «Jack of Diamonds» Falk and Shevchenko in Moscow. Some of these works are in Tretyakov Gallery, Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, and State Museum of the East Nations Art in Moscow.