Alexey Krasnovsky

Krasnovsky, who has been seen occasionally in the RHA and other places, is Russian as his name suggests, an emigre from his homeland…

Krasnovsky, who has been seen occasionally in the RHA and other places, is Russian as his name suggests, an emigre from his homeland who has lived and worked in many parts of the world before (presumably) settling here. As with so many Russian painters, French influences on his work are strong - Matisse, Bonnard, etcetera though he also reminds me of his illustrious fellow-countryman, Jawlensky. From this you may know what to expect - belle peinture in the old style, with still-life subjects prominent. Objects such as bowls of flowers are placed in a monochrome but glowing foreground with the "horizon" line rising high in the picture plane, skilfully simplified and with a touch of the mock-naive.

The backgrounds, too, can suggest skies as well as interiors, creating an ambiguity; are we looking at objects in a room, or in the great outdoors?

In these subjects Krasnovsky is a stylish painter with a fine colour range and an innate sense of placing. When he paints out-of-doors scenes, streets, buildings, crowds and so on he is less interesting, in fact almost commonplace. The handful of watercolours show him to understand that medium well. Upstairs, a large group exhibition contains Evie Hone gouaches, a nice small Gerald Dillon and other items of interest. Among them are two paintings by Stanley Royal, now established as the real creator of the Goose Girl previously attributed to W.J. Leech.

Until December 31st