... Dated 1908, it was painted the year in which Kalmakoff created the decor and costumes for a Russian production of Oscar Wilde's Salome that was so provocative it was closed on its first night. In contrast with the delicate details of the two main figures in Dionysus, Kalmakoff expresses his fascination with the grotesque with the two faces at the top of the picture, and what looks like blood overflowing from the vase and dripping down the side of the image, into the leopard's mouth.
It's fitting that Dionysus was the Greek god not only of wine making, but also religious ecstasy, and the theatre.
Throughout his career, Kalmakoff's paintings frequently combine the spiritual with the erotic. As a boy he had a German governess who told him many fairytales, and both these and her teachings about the diabolical nature of the Devil made a lasting impression on Kalmakoff. As an adult, he was known to associate with mystical circles, particularly the Skoptzy sect to which Rasputin belonged. Kalmakoff also had a flair for the dramatic, as could also be seen in his work for the theatre, where he created extravagant decor and costumes for a number of Russian stage productions, including for Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes.
 https://hermitagefineart.com/en/lots/2019-april-fine-art/109/
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"One day, while I was visiting him, he whispered to me mysteriously that, for some time now, he'd been painting the devil. 'I have all the sketches upstairs' he said with a strange glint in his eye. 'I stay awake late into the night and keep watch for him. I've caught a glimpse of his eyes...his tail... even his hooves... but I haven't yet seen him entirely. Still, I've made hundreds of sketches - do you want to see them?' And, in fact, in the dusty attic of his bizarre little home he showed me a fascinating and frightening variety of sketches portraying the devil's eyes, tail and hooves. He was absolutely certain that these were things he'd seen." (KAL p. 20)
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