Alexander Mikhailovich Gerasimov is a famous Soviet artist. Russian artists

Not everyone can appreciate art. Painting is a work that requires special understanding. Someone sees in pictures simple objects and someone can feel the soul. Feel everything that the author tried to show. The artist always tries to say something with his paintings, convey the mood and catch someone's heart. Unfortunately, not everyone succeeds. To become famous artist, who is recognized by "handwriting", requires a lot of strength and patience, but everyone is obliged to love their job. One of the great painters remembered by history was Gerasimov Alexander Mikhailovich.

Origin, study of Gerasimov

The artist was born in July 1881 in the Tambov region, in Kozlov, in the family of a merchant. The first education, in the direction, Gerasimov A.M. received at the Moscow School of Painting. Then in 1915, his career was put on hold as Alexander was drafted into the army. Where he served on the fronts. Then he returned to his homeland in Kozlovo and worked there until the age of 25. The next step in his work was moving to Moscow and joining the AHRR (Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia), later of which he became president. In 1951, Alexander Mikhailovich received a doctorate in art criticism.

Direction in art Gerasimova A.M.

Every artist throughout for long years, and sometimes all his life, looking for himself, his style, his "handwriting". Many try to paint in different styles and sometimes completely different directions. Gerasimov Alexander Mikhailovich began his career as an artist with impressionism, and only by the age of forty did he find himself in socialist realism. The paintings are mostly dedicated to Soviet history. It is worth noting that Gerasimov was one of the favorite artists of I.V. Stalin.

The painter became famous thanks to many of his paintings, the most famous of them are "Lenin on the podium", "Bath", "After the rain", "Hymn to October" and many others. Many artists, and indeed great people in general, became famous only after death. Gerasimov, on the other hand, received recognition during his lifetime and was able to achieve a lot in his work. Gerasimov's works are notable for their broad, etude style of painting, special bold strokes and incredibly juicy coloring. It is worth noting that some of the painter's works seem rough, due to some rigidity of the shades.

Despite the many beautiful landscape works, Gerasimov was still a professional in portraiture. He easily caught portrait resemblance. Thanks to this talent, he became a model Soviet painting, painted portraits of Lenin, Stalin and other high-ranking people. Landscapes were given to Gerasimov no worse. Beautiful work depicting nature in all its glory. Flowers, trees, individual exposures during or after rain. All this gave a special distinction to the works of the artist.

Gerasimov A.M. - head of the artistic life of the country

Alexander Mikhailovich would not only fine artist but also a great leader. During his life he achieved great success in leadership positions. He served as chairman of the board of the Moscow branch of the Union of Artists, headed the organizing committee of the Union of Soviet Artists. Then he became the head of the creative painting workshop in the Academy of Arts of the USSR, and as a result, the president of the Association of Artists.

Gerasimov lived a very active life, both a party leader and a painter. He has received numerous awards and honors. The main activity of Alexander Mikhailovich ended during the reign of Khrushchev N.S., when Gerasimov was gradually relieved of all his posts, and behind the artist and his paintings from museum expositions. Gerasimov died on July 23, 1963.

Alexander Mikhailovich Gerasimov was born on August 12, 1881 in the city of Kozlov (now Michurinsk), in the Tambov region. The father of the future artist, a native of peasants, later became a prasol - a cattle dealer. He traveled to the south of the country, bought up cattle, drove them to Kozlov and sold them in the market squares of the city. Later, Gerasimov recalled that his father, apart from a two-story mansion, did not amass anything - his business did not always bring in large incomes, sometimes it simply “burned out”. “Our family,” Alexander Mikhailovich recalled, “lived according to the old customs and very strictly adhered to them.”

After graduating from the parochial school, Gerasimov enters the Kozlovsky district school. At the same time, the father teaches the "heir" to trade. In the early 90s, a graduate of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts S.I. Krivolutsky came to Kozlov and opened art school. At this time, A.M. Gerasimov begins to get involved in drawing. Once, sitting with his father in a tavern for tea, he drew a horse, and when he showed the drawing to his friends, they said: "But your horse turned out to be alive." A little later, he drew many Kozlov merchants with absolute accuracy. Having learned about the opening of a drawing school, he began to attend it. When Gerasimov showed his drawings to Krivolutsky, Sergei Ivanovich told him: “Young man, go to enter Moscow School painting, sculpture and architecture.

Despite the reluctance of his parents, he goes to Moscow, brilliantly passes the exam in drawing and becomes a student at the School. His teacher in the landscape class was M.K. Klodt, in the head class - K.N. Gorsky and A.M. Korin, in the figure class - S.D. Miloradovich and N.A. Arkhipov and L.O. Pasternak. Much in painting was given to him by teachers V. Serov, K. Korovin, A. Vasnetsov. Having brilliantly finished the painting department of the School, A.M. Gerasimov decided to visit the workshop of K. Korovin. To do this, it was necessary, on the advice of Korovin, to enter another department of the School. Gerasimov firmly decided - on the architectural. Much was given to him by Konstantin Korovin, who is rightfully considered the founder of Russian impressionism. Often visiting Paris, K. Korovin told students about french impressionism and, of course, influenced the work of the young Gerasimov. This influence is especially traced in his early student works created in 1912-13: "Portrait of V.A. Gilyarovskiy", "Portrait of N. Gilyarovskaya", "Portrait of V. Lobanov". All these works were written at the dacha of V. Gilyarovsky, in Gilyaevka. "Portrait of V. A. Gilyarovsky" is now in the writer's apartment in Moscow, and two other portraits are in the collection of the museum-estate of A. M. Gerasimov.

V. A. Gilyarovsky during these years often attended student exhibitions at the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. By the works, he could easily determine not only the talent of the artist, but also where this or that artist came from. He acquired the paintings of a very young Gerasimov, supported him morally and financially, and this had a positive effect on the artist's work.

Starting from 1909, A.M. Gerasimov takes part in all reporting exhibitions of the School. In 1911, he showed about ten works: "The bees are buzzing", "The rye was mowed", "The night turns white". In 1912 - "Bolshak. Heat", "Warm Chernozem", "Hacks Throw", "Spring Festival", " Winter road. Troika". These student works were appreciated by critics: "Gerasimov," wrote the Moscow press of those years, "has proven himself an interesting landscape painter ... Others are still looking, but he has already found his way. Excellent, unique image spring landscape, he can truly be called a poet of spring, a poet of young awakening nature. "From the very beginning, A.M. Gerasimov declared himself as an artist following the traditions of Russian realistic art. "I loved life and the real in art. Therefore, I liked the life of A.E. Arkhipov's colors so much," he recalled. A.M. Gerasimov was attracted by such artists as A. Zorn, K. Monet. According to him, in them he appreciated sincerity, poetry and integrity.

At the end of the School in 1915, Gerasimov was awarded two diplomas - an artist of the 1st degree and a diploma of an architect. Its only architectural building is the building of the theater built in Kozlov in 1913. “While still a student, I designed the building of the theater in Kozlov in the modernized Empire style. This is the only building - the rest of the projects remained on paper, because I devoted my whole life to painting,” A.M. Gerasimov recalled. In that 1915, A. Gerasimov was drafted into the army, and from the army in 1918 he returned to his hometown.

In Kozlov in 1919, the artist created the "Commune of creativity of Kozlov artists". He brought together everyone "who knew how to hold a brush in the slightest degree", as well as artists who had completed art schools. "Commune" arranged exhibitions, designed performances in the theater. At that time, A.M. Gerasimov worked as an artist - decorator in the theater.

In 1925, A.M. Gerasimov moved to Moscow and soon joined the AHRR, working at the same time as a stage designer at the Moscow Operetta Theater, the Maly Theater. Since 1934, he has been visiting Germany, France, Italy, and Turkey on creative business trips. From these trips, he brings a lot of sketches, watercolor sketches, travel sketches. In 1936, the first personal exhibition of A.M. Gerasimov opened in Moscow, at which more than a hundred works were presented. On it, he shows the painting "Lenin on the podium" (1930), "Portrait of I.V. Michurin" (1926), the portrait - painting "K.E. the artist admires the magnificent monuments of the past, conveys the rhythms of large European cities of the 30s. In the same year, the artist was awarded the Order of Lenin. After Moscow, the artist's personal exhibition was shown in Michurinsk.

In the late 30s, A.M. Gerasimov was fond of portraiture: "The portrait genre is the main type of my work, expressing my essence as an artist," wrote Gerasimov. The artist was attracted by creative, intellectually rich and significant personalities. "I loved and love the strong and bright in nature, I look for the same in a person, and when I find it, I irresistibly want to capture him in a colorful image," A.M. Gerasimov recalled. The need to perpetuate the strong, beautiful person, seen in his broad connections with time, era, environment, resulted in the creation of a truly grandiose series of portraits. Among them, "Portrait of a ballerina O. V. Lepeshinskaya" (1939) stood out in particular. The ballerina is depicted in the rehearsal room, against the backdrop of a huge mirror, standing on pointe shoes. This technique allows you to show the dancer's figure from two angles. The mirror reflects a table with make-up accessories and part of a ballet barre, and the easel at which the artist worked is also visible.

Remarkable are the portraits of A.K. Tarasova (RM), the actor of the Moscow Art Theater I.M. Moskvin (1940) (Lviv Art Gallery), "Portrait of the Artist Tamara Khanum" (1939). Later he painted "A group portrait of the oldest artists of the State Academic Maly Theater of the USSR A.A. Yablochkina, V.N. Ryzhova, E.D. Turchaninova" (1956), "Portrait of Rina Zelena" (1954) and others.

In 1936, A.M. Gerasimov finished work on a large multi-figured canvas "The First Cavalry Army". A year later, in 1937, this work was shown in Paris at the World Exhibition and received the highest award - the Grand Prix. In 1943 the artist was awarded the title of "People's Artist of the USSR". In 1944, A.M. Gerasimov painted "A group portrait of the oldest artists I.N. Pavlov, V.N. Baksheev, V.K. Byalynitsky-Birul, V.N. Meshkov." In 1946, for this work, the artist received the third State Prize. In 1958, at the World Exhibition in Brussels, he was awarded a gold medal for the same work. A.M. Gerasimov saw beauty in everything, even in the most simple and unpretentious. He knew how to make sound any, sometimes banal motive. We see this quality in the famous Gerasimov's "Wet Terrace", written in his hometown of Michurinsk, in the courtyard of his house in three and a half hours. Tretyakov Gallery I bought this painting right away. " Wet Terrace"Written as if in one breath. The softness of the light, the rain-washed greenery of the garden, the countless variety of reflexes on the wet floor, on the polished table, crumbling rose petals - all this is breathtaking. Only an artist who is enthusiastically in love with life could write the "world of things" like this This work was shown for the first time at the first solo exhibition in Moscow in 1936.

In 1947, A.M. Gerasimov became the first president of the Academy of Arts of the USSR. He devoted a lot of time and effort to the institutes named after V.I. Surikov and named after I.E. Repin. He headed the State Commission for the award of diplomas, led a creative workshop at the Academy in Leningrad. He raised the issues of education of young artists at the sessions of the Academy of Arts of the USSR. In 1951 he became a doctor of art history. Whatever A. M. Gerasimov was busy with, no matter what difficult tasks he solved, he was, first of all, a painter, in love with life, a master of realistic art.

Despite the fact that the artist lived in Moscow for many years, he loved his home in Michurinsk very much. Here lived his parents, his sister, here he got married and had a daughter, Galina. Gerasimov traveled all over the world, he visited many countries, and when he returned from abroad, as a rule, he immediately came to his native Michurinsk the next day. Once he said to his sister: "Dear Sanya! In what hotels did I live abroad, with a microclimate, and now, when I arrived in my native home, I'm ready to kiss these stones. "So the artist said, sitting on a bench near the house and looking at the white stone paved path that led from the house to the workshop, where he created his most the best works Kozlov's period of creativity.

After the death of A.M. Gerasimov in 1963, the public of the city and the region petitioned for the creation of a memorial museum in the city of Michurinsk.
/amgerasimov.ru/
Museums:

The life of an artist cannot be cloudless, even if outwardly everything is fine. True Master always in search of funds artistic expressiveness, and plots that will affect the person who turned his gaze to his picture.

Adolescence and youth

Born in the small town of Kozlov in the Tambov province in 1881. In it, on your small homeland, he will return again and again, taking a break from the busy life in the capital and gaining new strength and impressions. In the meantime, the growing gifted young man is studying painting in Moscow. His teachers were K. A. Korovin, A. V. A. Serov, real masters, whose works our Motherland is proud of. A wide etude style of writing, rich coloring become inherent in a novice master. This is how Gerasimov the artist grows, mastering classical and modern techniques.

When did the first World War, Gerasimov was mobilized, and he spent two years on the fronts. He knew the full severity of trench warfare, when a person, in the words of Sholokhov, is eaten by a louse to the bone.

Return and departure to the capital

In 1918, Gerasimov returned to his native Kozlov and worked there as a decorator for several years. In 1925 he again comes to the capital. Gerasimov finds himself in the AHRR association as a painter. The artist now combines Soviet political topics with traditional painting style. Conceived and written big job"Lenin on the podium".

It cannot fail to find a response in the souls of people who lost their leader quite recently, four years ago, whose grief is still alive. But now they see Vladimir Ilyich against the background of the scarlet banners for which they shed blood on the fronts of the civil war, energetic, calling forward ... The picture is filled with the pathos of revolutionary energy and is written in an understandable, intelligible pictorial language.

Portraitist

At the same time, he is a teacher at the School of Memory of 1905. Gerasimov had the ability to capture portrait resemblance. Therefore, he perceived and positioned himself primarily as a portrait painter. It was in the 30s that the main thing in the artist's work becomes portrait painting. He has individual and group portraits. He works on portraits of famous beloved actors, polar explorers. The group portrait "Horse Army" receives the Grand Prix at an exhibition in Paris.

Public life

The artist “opened the door” to his studio, and everyday life of people. The painter does not miss a single social event that affects the country - everything resonates with him. At the same time, administrative work was added: Gerasimov became one of the leaders in the secretariat of the board of the Union of Soviet Artists. Despite the lack of time, the first persons of the state began to appear more and more often in his portraits. Willingly or unwittingly, but his work is considered a model of how to write. Gerasimov the artist becomes Stalin's favorite portrait painter.

This is a portrait of Stalin at the 17th Congress of the CPSU(b) in 1934. Still full of energy, I. V. Stalin reads a report that arouses the support of the entire hall. Various shades of brown, playing with golden reflections, do not merge, but give severity and seriousness to the moment. This is the official "ceremonial" portrait. More chamber, "home" portrait of I. V. Stalin and A. M. Gorky in Gorki, he will write in 1939.

Cozy setting on the veranda, flooded with morning light, breaking through the greenery of the surrounding trees. Its mother-of-pearl reflections are on the carved railings, on the tablecloth, on the clothes of two calmly talking people. Everything is filled with simplicity and tranquility. Calm and peace are emphasized by a dog sleeping calmly on the floor. Masterfully beat this friendly environment Gerasimov. The artist did not regret light colors who created such a wonderful harmonious corner.

A burst of inspiration

The picture that Gerasimov painted, “After the Rain”, is simple, light and poetic.

This is just a corner of the veranda with a garden behind it: a bench with railings, a curly-shaped table with carved legs. A voluminous bouquet in a glass jug, an overturned glass - everything plays and shimmers with joyful colors, reflections of the sun that came out after a shower. Juicy and varied is the greenery of the rain-washed garden. All shades of green are used. Each leaf flickers, illuminated along the contour and illuminated from the back. The branches leaned heavily, very close to the veranda, they were about to look into it. The puddles on the floor reflect the blue of the sky. Everywhere, on every object, raindrops sparkle like mother-of-pearl. The artist achieved a special state of freshness and purity, using the reflections that leave behind both the greenery of the foliage and the white-pink bouquet on the dark wet surface of the table. Light and shadow are intertwined, but the shadow is made in many shades, and therefore also shines and shimmers, pleasing the eye. The viewer does not see the light source. Scattered light of the sun - somewhere behind the trees and bushes. It is not bright, but the warmth of the setting summer sun is felt everywhere. According to eyewitnesses, after a summer downpour, Gerasimov (“After the Rain” is one of his most famous canvases), delighted with what he saw, immediately took up paint and a palette and, in one breath, without stopping, captured a marvelous landscape. But in order to be able to work so quickly and efficiently, one must go a long and difficult path in painting. That is the only reason why the artist managed to express the sincerity of his feeling, which leaves no one indifferent, to convey to the viewer the energy of freshness. Later, the master recalled his delight, his impatience when he was working on the landscape. Therefore, the work has become truthful and poetic in every detail. It was exhibited in Paris, and the painter received big prize(The Grand Prix). This is not an accidental luck, but the result of a lot of long work, conditioned by a lifetime. Adjacent to it is a family portrait created a year earlier.

In the same father's house in Kozlov, on a hot summer day, the whole Gerasimov family gathered. It is here, without moving to the capital, that the artist's relatives constantly live. The painter is resting serenely after intense activities with his family. He is preparing for the upcoming difficult and great job. The canvas is filled with light, peace and harmony.

The exhibition is a great event in the life of an artist

In the same years, more precisely, in 1936, the artist summed up his work, which had already lasted a quarter of a century: his exhibition was held in Moscow, where about a hundred works were presented. These were paintings and drawings.

Another portrait

A little later, “Portrait of the ballerina O. V. Lepeshinskaya” will be written, in 1939.

The artist finds the lead dancer after the warm-up, she is no longer at the barre. In a traditional ballet tutu, standing on pointe shoes, she is ready to fly up and continue the dance. Proud landing of the head, turn of the shoulders, a slight smile - everything speaks of the temperamental sparkling character of the dancer, of her liveliness and dynamism, which she transferred to the stage. The inspiration and love for work experienced by the prima ballerina are also captured by the artist in this portrait. Olga Vasilievna was one of the most beloved ballerinas of I.V. Stalin, he called her "dragonfly".

War

IN difficult years The war master continues to work and transfers his personal savings to the Defense Fund. The historical genre now occupies the artist more and more. He creates portraits of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. During the same period, he painted “A group portrait of the oldest Soviet artists Pavlov I.N., Baksheev V.N., Byalyanitsky-Biruli V.K., Meshkov V.N.”, for which he received the Stalin Prize in 1946.

Considering what big influence on the development of fine arts had A.M. Gerasimov, he was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR. He is also working on an epic film dedicated to the conference of the leaders of the three great powers in Tehran.

So it showed up again historical genre in the work of the artist. The canvas captured both the appearance and the characters of the people who took part in it.

Academician

After the war, in 1947, he was elected the first president of the USSR Academy of Arts. A significant role in this election was played by his close friend Voroshilov. For ten years, in this position, Gerasimov fought vigorously against those artists who were seen as innovative or even simply impressionist. He considered the degenerate art of the West to be alien Soviet people. During these years, he creates a canvas full of solemnity and pomposity called “There is a subway!”

In the center on the podium - I. V. Stalin. But for some reason, not the leader, not the delegates in the hall, but five huge chandeliers attract all the attention. Everything else seems smaller and insignificant.

In a small home

big creativity and high efficiency the artist manages when he arrives in his native city. Here he paints still lifes, landscapes, reflecting his state of mind. Memories of the years of work and study are reflected in these canvases.

“Song of the Starling” is the purest work without any pathos, lyrically telling about the beauty of awakening nature. Still life “Noon. Warm rain” shows how the master yearned for this work.

In it, he can use all the available techniques, change the boring brown-red color to a subtle lilac-blue, show raindrops flowing down the glass, breathe in clean, moisture-filled air. This is life in its personal manifestations. This is Gerasimov the artist, whose paintings are far from official, but full of dreams and lyrics, admiration and pleasure.

personality traits

Here is another side of his personality. After all, in everyday life Gerasimov was a gentle, benevolent person. He recommended young artists not to chase titles, money and fame. They will come to the person who deserves them after a long work on the drawing and coloring. He believed that the artist in himself should not be lost.

Opala

After the death of I. V. Stalin, Gerasimov's influence began to decrease. Yes, he has changed in appearance. He became, as it were, smaller in stature, lost weight. Intelligent eyes were sad. But he was already in his seventies. The disgraced artist at the time was perceived as something obsolete.

Life goes on

However, Gerasimov himself did not consider himself a retrograde. He knew that he was an artist endowed with great talent by God himself. And it was true. But what did he exchange his talent for? In order to survive, he had to compromise and serve those in power. There is a fine line here between serving the Talent and the Masters. How can you not slip off of it? How not to cross the invisible line? These are eternal questions for every artist, in whatever area he works. The musician Orpheus was faced with the question of whom to serve - the bright, clear, harmonious Phoebus or the dark, stormy, ecstatic Dionysus. Since ancient times, this question has been decided by everyone for himself. Gerasimov Alexander Mikhailovich (artist) gave himself an answer, although he hesitated to the end.

Artist ambiguity

Future art critics, comparing two paintings by Gerasimov, which are in the State Tretyakov Gallery, can see in them a timeless talent and will not reproach the artist for the splendor of portraits of Soviet leaders. How we look today at the ceremonial works of Franz Xavier Winterhalter or D. G. Levitsky and V. L. Borovikovsky, carefully written out in every detail, and treat them calmly - just like works of art.

What gave the artist the Motherland

For services to the Fatherland, starting in 1941, A. M. Gerasimov was favored by the authorities. Awards and prizes just rained down on him. He is a People's Artist of the USSR, he has four Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

So, in tireless work, the life of the creator with the simple surname Gerasimov passed. The artist, whose biography is dual and ambiguous and, undoubtedly, marked by Talent, died when he was 82 years old.

House number 6A. House-workshop for the artist A.M. Gerasimov built in 1937 on the site of the square, through which there was a passage to the street. Venetsianov. The building site was allocated petition of People's Commissar of Defense K.E. Voroshilov ( the artist had known him since 1927, when he painted his portrait, and was friends all his life), and offered to settle in the village of Gerasimov Chairman of the Board "Vsekohudozhnik" V.F. Sakharov, who was also the chairman of the board of the Sokol cooperative.
According to some sources, the cottage was built according to the design of the artist himself. (?).
st. Levitan, house 6A. This is what the house looked like when I was a kid.

True, I doubt its authorship, he himself claimed - ""While still a student, I designed the theater building in Kozlov ( now Michurinsk) in the modernized Empire style. This is the only building - the rest of the projects remained on paper, because I devoted my whole life to painting".
Michurinsky Theatre of Drama, built in 1913 according to the project of Gerasimov A.M.

People's Artist of the USSR, winner of four Stalin Prizes, the first president of the Academy of Arts of the USSRAlexander Mikhailovich Gerasimov(1881-1963) a bright and ambiguous personality. Talented artist, a man of versatile hobbies, who was friends with many prominent people of his time, incl. and with power, evoked conflicting feelings among his contemporaries, some hated him, others envied him, others loved him.
Artist Gerasimov Alexander Mikhailovich. Self-portrait.

Now, after the lapse of time, you understand that Gerasimov is a block man who made himself, achieved career heights, left on his canvases, on the one hand, the chronicle of the era in the monumental canvases and portraits of his contemporaries, and on the other hand, subtle and lyrical landscapes and still lifes . However, the more I look at the artist's work and read his memoirs, I am not left with a feeling of duality, as if we are talking about two different people.
A lot of articles and books have been written about him, and everyone can read them. I will briefly mention the initial period of his biography and mainly talk about period of his residence in the village and about his family.
Alexander Mikhailovich was born on August 12, 1881 in the city of Kozlov (now Michurinsk), in the Tambov region. The father of the future artist, a native of peasants, later became a prasol - a cattle dealer. After graduating from the parochial school, Gerasimov enters the Kozlovsky district school. At the same time, the father teaches the "heir" to trade.

Gerasimov A.M. in youth.

Perhaps young Alexander would have followed in his father's footsteps, but chance helped. In the early 90s, a graduate of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, S.I. Krivolutsky, came to Kozlov and opened an art school, which young Alexander began to attend. It was he who saw the work of the boy and advised him to study further.
Gerasimov goes to Moscow, brilliantly passes the exam in drawing and becomes a student at the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where his mentors are such outstanding artists like V. Serov, K. Korovin, A. Vasnetsov, A. M. Korin, A. E. Arkhipov, L. O. Pasternak and many others. others
Alexander Mikhailovich studied at the school from 1903 to 1915. After graduation, in 1915, he was drafted into the army and until 1917 was on the fronts of the First World War. As a non-combatant soldier, he served in an ambulance train on the southern (Galician) front. After demobilization, in 1918 - 1925, he lived and worked in Kozlov. Here he married and in 1918 his daughter Galina was born.
Together with the Gerasimov family, in 1925 he moved to Moscow. At first, everything was not very easy, the first years he was forced to work odd jobs. However, soon, feeling the conjuncture, Gerasimov begins to paint paintings "for the needs of the day", partly on his own initiative, partly by order, among them such as "Portrait of K.E. Voroshilov" - 1927 ( thanks to this acquaintance in the future, A.M. achieved a lot); "Lenin on the podium" - 1929 -1930; "Report of Comrade Stalin at the XVI Party Congress" - 1931; "Stalin and the delegates of the Second All-Union Congress of Collective Farmers-Shock Workers of Labor in 1935", etc.
Gerasimov A.M. "Portrait of K.E. Voroshilov"

Gerasimov did not have his own housing in the city, not to mention a workshop. At first he lived on Volkhonka in the premises of the board of the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia, where he joined. Then they built for him makeshift, such as a large barn, on Baltic Street at the Izofabrik, where the "All-Artist" was located (), Here he, in 1935, painted his painting "The First Cavalry Army" by order of Voroshilov. A year later, in 1937, this work was shown in Paris at the World Exhibition and received the highest award - the Grand Prix.
In the same year, he moved to his house in the village of Sokol. Here is how this house is described by one of its guests, the writer Ivan Shevtsov, although he visited it already in the 1960s - “... they arrived on Levitan Street to a small and inconspicuous, modest two-story mansion, reminiscent of a country cottage. seemed to me a private house President of the Academy of Arts. It was divided into two halves.

The first, so to speak, two-story front door was the abode of the artist's wife and daughter, as well as "freeloaders" - the wife's sister and her husband. The second half of the house was occupied by a spacious, two-storey high workshop. She struck me with some kind of carelessness, deliberate neglect, deliberate simplicity and disorder. Particularly surprising was the master's bedroom, a corner fenced off with canvas. It contains a wooden hard sofa covered with a mattress, a blanket, a pillow, and a bearskin at the feet. Obviously, therefore, acquaintances and friends called the bedroom "bear's corner". Nails are driven into the wall, on which the owner's weekend and everyday suits hang, that is, his entire wardrobe. In the workshop Crystal Chandelier, easels, paints, and stacks of paintings and sketches...". Photo of a workshop from the 1940s.

Here, on the Falcon, in 1937 the artist creates large canvas"Meeting of the Council under the People's Commissar of Heavy Industry G.K. Ordzhonikidze". There are over forty figures in the painting. “I worked on it,” the artist said, “with great enthusiasm. I wanted to create a collective portrait of the commanders of industrialization.”

When Alexander Mikhailovich painted a picture, outstanding contemporaries came to him for sessions three, four, five times: G.K. Ordzhonikidze, academician Gubkin, architect Vesnin and many others. During the work, Gerasimov talked with each of them, penetrated the image, got used to it. But it was a time of repression. Gerasimov recalled - “To my deep regret, the personalities I portrayed one after another went into oblivion, and, naturally, I had to remove them from the canvas. . Emotion not only hindered work, but also led to dark thoughts that not today or tomorrow you yourself can be there. "The atmosphere in the village on Sokol was no better either, the landings followed one after another.
There is information on the Internet that he did not have relations with the inhabitants of Sokol, I don’t know how reliable it is, but even if this is so, it can be assumed that the ceremonial brilliance that was depicted on Gerasimov’s canvases in this hard time, not everyone liked it.
They wrote about such Gerasimov " Outstanding Talent painter, cheerful, juicy manner of writing - all this as the artist moves along career ladder socialist realism acquired a ceremonial gloss. His canvases were created by the brigade method, that is, by apprentices, Gerasimov himself prescribed only picturesque details. "From here it becomes clear why in his workshop, the corners were shared by the artists whom he sheltered: I.G. Antropov and N.A. Denisovsky, and later his students.
It is unlikely that such paintings brought satisfaction to the artist. At the same time, Alexander Mikhailovich writes completely different works. Apparently, a picture is written here on the Falcon " Song of the starling" ( I assume the house on the left - No. 3 on the street. Venetsianov, and in the distance houses on the street. Surikov).
Gerasimov A.M. "Song of the Starling". 1938

He takes away the soul in numerous still lifes depicting flowers.
Noon. Warm rain. 1939 G.

However, he painted such still lifes all his life. "I have always loved to paint flowers: roses and peonies, because I saw in them the ultimate concentration of the vital forces of nature and its charm. They somehow excited my creative imagination in a special way, teased me with the huge possibilities of rich colorful incarnations ..." - the artist recalled.
Still life with peonies and carnations. 1950s


In the same year, 1938, he also paints a picture " country bath" (I don’t give a link, because LiveJournal sets special conditions for posting nudity, but anyone who wants to can easily find a picture on the Internet). This picture was painted in the bathhouse of Gerasimov himself, which he built on his site in the village of Sokol. To create a picture, he invited several models at once.
Presumably, the second building on the left is this bathhouse, pay attention to the windows written in the picture.
The writer Ivan Shvetsov wrote - "... I was strongly impressed by his large-sized painting "Russian Bath" ( exact name. "Rustic Bath"). It has a dozen naked female bodies related complex composition, written out with a charming brilliance, where each figure is an image, an individual character. It was surprising that such a masterpiece, equal in artistic power to the brush of the titans of the Renaissance, could not find a place in domestic museums and art galleries: it was kept in the artist's studio.
Another outlet for Alexander Mikhailovich was the writing of portraits. The artist was attracted by creative, intellectually rich and significant personalities. "I loved and love the strong and bright in nature, I look for the same in a person, and when I find it, I irresistibly want to capture him in a colorful image," A.M. Gerasimov recalled.
Gerasimov A.M. "Portrait of a ballerina O.V. Lepeshinskaya"

Everyone knows his "Portrait of the ballerina O. V. Lepeshinskaya" (1939). This is how she herself recalled it - “For the first session,” Lepeshinskaya recalled, “I flew like on wings. In addition, I was fascinated by the enchanting beauty of the Falcon: gardens bloomed, roses were fragrant, their aroma turned my head. I became friends with my wife artist Lidia Nikolaevna and especially close - with their daughter Galina, also an artist. After the session, we all drank tea together in the garden. Gerasimov was an extremely interesting conversationalist, he knew a lot. We developed common views on art. In a word, in a hospitable the Gerasimov family I spent best watch my life...". Among the works of this period are portraits of artists of the Moscow Art Theater A. Tarasova, I. Moskvin, pianist A. Gedike and others.
Gerasimov A.M. "Portrait of A.K. Tarasova"

Portrait People's Artist USSR Ivan Mikhailovich Moskvin. 1940

In the difficult days of 1941, Gerasimov created "TASS Windows", was engaged in the evacuation of artists and their families. He himself, together with his family, survived five bombings and was evacuated only at the urgent request of wartime. But his ebullient nature demanded action, and already on May 1, 1942, he returned. Gerasimov and his family flew on the Douglas over the roof of their house and landed on the Khodynka field. And the house was occupied by a military unit, even the soldiers dragged a cannon into it ( the house was the stronghold of a barricade that stretched across the entire village). The family had to live with the artist Byalynitsky-Biruli in Vorotnikovsky Lane for more than two months. The house in Sokol needed a thorough renovation. The water heating in it was put out of action, the stove was installed right in the workshop. And so they lived throughout the war.
At the same time, Gerasimov does not stop working, in February 1943 he writes a large canvas "Hymn to October", covers important world events "Tehran Conference of the Three Great Powers" - 1944-1945. and others. He continues to paint portraits, among them portraits of V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko and academician-literary critic M.B. Khrapchenko, "Portrait of the oldest artists: Pavlova I. N., Baksheeva V. N., Byalynitsky-Biruli V. K., Meshkova V. N." - 1944; In 1945, Alexander Mikhailovich painted a portrait of the famous tenor Bolshoi Theater N.S. Khanaev, who was frequent guest on the Falcon.
Many portraits he will write after the war, a portrait of Samuil Marshak, Rina Zelenaya, ballerina Sofya Golovkina, "Portrait of the oldest Soviet architects ( V.G. Gelfreikh, B.M. Iofan, A.G. Mordvinov, SG. Chernyshev, D.N. Chechulin)- 1958, etc., Gerasimov continued to paint portraits of political figures, military men, scientists, in total about three hundred such works were created by him.
Portrait of the ballerina Sofia Golovkina. 1947

Among the portraits of the artist was a portrait of his wife. Lidia Nikolaevna (1887 - 1977), was interesting person. In Saratov, she studied with the daughters of Stolypin. During the Civil War, Lidia Nikolaevna worked at the headquarters of the Southern Front in Kozlov, where she had to meet Trotsky in her service. Having settled in Sokol, she took care of the house and garden. Lidia Nikolaevna had a delicate artistic taste. Tablecloths, napkins, curtains and curtains in the house were embroidered by her hands.
Portrait of the artist's wife Lidia Nikolaevna Gerasimova.

But the muse of Alexander Mikhailovich was a completely different woman - an artist-decorator Viller Natalya Bernardovna. The artist often visited her. Her daughter E. Mandalyan writes - "They met during the war, when my mother worked as an artist at TASS Windows, where Gerasimov visited on duty. And for Gerasimov she was a friend and a kind of muse almost until his death ...". And further - "Only Gerasimov's wives ( Visiting Willer) we have never seen. (Mom said that his wife suffered from some kind of mental disorder and he could not appear in public with her. He preferred to take my mother with him to all official and unofficial receptions, including the Central House of Arts, to visit and to banquets).
Portrait of Viller Natalia Bernardovna. 1947

The daughter of the Gerasimovs, Galina Alexandrovna (1918 - 1979), followed in her father's footsteps. Since 1942 she has been a member of the Moscow Association of Artists. Galina Alexandrovna painted landscapes, still lifes depicting flowers, like her father. With unique grace and subtle poetic sonority, she created canvases of blooming lilacs. This brought her closer to the famous lilac breeder Kolesnikov.
Gerasimov A.M. Portrait of a daughter. 1951

Gerasimov's career continues to go uphill, in 1943 he receives the title of "People's Artist of the USSR", in 1947 he becomes the first president of the USSR Academy of Arts, in 1951 he is a doctor of art history.
One of the most significant sins of Gerasimov during this period is considered to be the closure of the Museum of New Western Art, which basically consists of two collections of Moscow merchants S.I. Shchukina and Morozova I.A. Here is how N. Semenova writes about this in the book “Moscow Collectors” - “A. M. Gerasimov was the most furious museum-hater. The idea to use the building of the GMNZI as a building for the Moscow headquarters of the USSR Academy of Arts belonged to him. Gerasimov hated the museum physically. I hated even when the GMNZI was liquidated, and he became the owner of Morozov's office. They say that in his hearts the president of the Academy of Arts threatened even to hang the one who dared to expose Picasso." Semyonov's rights or not, I can't judge, the times were not easy. Let me just remind you that there was a campaign against "cosmopolitanism" and the Decree of the Council of Ministers of March 6, 1948 on the liquidation of the museum as "a hotbed of servility to decadent bourgeois culture" was personally signed by Comrade. Stalin.
IN post-war period Gerasimov continues to work in different genres. In the 1950s, he created a series of illustrations for N.V. Gogol "Taras Bulba", creates a series of travel drawings written in different cities of the world, paints views of Moscow, as well as many still lifes depicting flowers. In 1955 he writes bright, explosive, dynamic " Polovtsian dances" (based on a plot from Borodin's opera "Prince Igor"). They wrote about this picture - "The violent colors of the "autumn of the patriarch" - like an attempt to give high art everything that has accumulated over many years of work on orders from the party and government." The author himself wrote about this work: "I would like the colors on my palette to burn like fire, like stars, like the glitter of the sea, so that they shimmer like precious stones ...".
Gerasimov A.M. "Polovtsian dances"

Alexander Gerasimov attracted people to him, he was always surrounded by friends. Communication with him pleased and enriched.
Even in his youth, Gerasimov discovered Western literature, got carried away by it and set out to learn French, English and German on his own in order to read European classics. “I read in the originals,” Gerasimov said, “Zola, Maupassant, Alphonse Daudet, Paul Bourget, Marcel Prevost, Pierre Leroux, Thiers’ memoirs Empire and Consulate, and in general many books about Napoleon; in German, Gustav Freytag, Schiller; in English - Charles Dickens, Walter Scott, but could not overcome Shakespeare. Alexander Mikhailovich loved poetry, listened to poetry with undisguised excitement, knew a lot, so there were always a lot of people in his workshop: artists, writers, scientists, artists, diplomats, the US ambassador M.A. Harriman has been many times, came the ambassadors of Italy, Sudan, Mongolia, Czechoslovakia, Argentina, Mexico. It is impossible to list all the guests of this house, except for those already mentioned, Marshal Tolbukhin, the sculptor Vuchechich, the writer Gladkov and many, many others have been here.
After the death of I. V. Stalin, Gerasimov's influence began to decrease, and he was gradually removed from all posts. In addition, Khrushchev ordered remove all the pictures of "this Kozlovsky peasant" and send them to the storerooms. Many former associates recoiled from the disgraced president, and this most oppressed the old artist. The circle of friends and acquaintances has sharply narrowed. Yes, he has changed in appearance. He became, as it were, smaller in stature, lost weight. Intelligent eyes were sad. The disgraced artist during Khrushchev's "thaw" was perceived as something obsolete. Gerasimov A.M. died July 23, 1963. He was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery.
I will finish the story about the artist with the words of the writer I. Shvetsov - "... Alexander Mikhailovich Gerasimov lived and worked in difficult times. He lived a long and wonderful life, this wise, manly, original and very gifted person, skyrocketing to the heights of power and a soft fall, experienced the loyalty of friends and the betrayal of hypocrites. Time is a strict and impartial judge. It washes away everything dirty, secondary and exposes the main thing in the artist - his creation. Gerasimov, with his mighty talent as a painter, displayed his era for posterity, looking at it from the position of a realist artist and a passionate patriot of Russia.
House on the Falcon of the artist A.M. Gerasimov, which was visited by so many famous people, has been preserved, however, now it has been repainted in a poisonous light green color. To whom it belongs in our time, I do not know.

Gerasimov Alexander Mikhailovich (1881-1963)

Art education A. M. Gerasimov received in MUZhVZ (1903-15), where his mentors were the largest Russian painters turn of XIX and XX centuries. - A E Arkhipov, N. A. Kasatkin, K. A. Korovin. From them, he borrowed a broad etude style of painting, a bold brushstroke, rich (although often rough) coloring.

After graduating in 1910 from the painting department, he entered the architectural department in order to continue his studies with Korovin. After several years of work in his native Kozlov, where he spent his childhood years, the artist returned to Moscow in 1925. Here he joined the AHRR - an association of artists who combined the novelty of Soviet politicized themes with traditional painting techniques; that is why the AHRR artists only called themselves "realists", while all the others - "formalists" and "aesthetics", incomprehensible to the people.

Gerasimov had a gift for easily capturing portrait resemblance and felt himself primarily a portrait painter, although he often turned to landscape painting, creating a series of subtle and lyrical landscapes ("March in Kozlov", 1914; "After the rain. Wet terrace", 1935, etc.). Among his portraits, individual and group, over time, images of high-ranking people, leaders of the state and the party, begin to predominate. His large canvases, not devoid of poster pathos, are "V. I. Lenin on the podium" (1930), "J. V. Stalin and K. E. Voroshilov in the Kremlin" (1938), "Hymn to October" (1942) and others .- become examples of the official style of Soviet painting.

Since the late 1930s Gerasimov is not only a painter, but also an official leader artistic life country, a tough master who headed the main creative organizations: chairman of the board of the Moscow branch of the Union of Artists (1938-40), chairman of the organizing committee of the Union of Soviet Artists (1939-54). In these posts, he was an energetic guide, and partly the creator of the artistic policy of the Stalinist decades.

In 1949-1960 he directed the creative workshop easel painting in the Academy of Arts of the USSR.
In 1947-1957 - President of the Academy of Arts of the USSR.
People's Artist of the USSR, Member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR, Laureate of the State Prizes of the USSR, awarded the Order of V.I. Lenina, Doctor of Arts. Received many government awards.

A.M. Gerasimov received as the author of numerous portraits of V.I. Lenin and I.V. Stalin. Occupying official positions in the main art organizations of the USSR in the most reactionary years, he pursued a tough policy of combating any deviations from the method socialist realism. In the 1950s, A.M. Gerasimov wrote: "Why should I consider the tastes of formalist artists higher than my taste? [...] I understood with all my gut that this was some kind of death, I was sick of all this and caused hatred, which is still not done less […]". At the same time, the artist created chamber, lyrical works preferring landscape and still life. In these works, he acted as an adherent of the painting system of his teacher