Artist Vasnetsov works. The fairy-tale world of Viktor Vasnetsov
Viktor Vasnetsov is a famous Russian artist, whose work has left a deep mark on the culture of Russia. The great painter's brushes include paintings and church canvases. The artist did church painting to order for Russian churches. Versatile, very talented person was Vasnetsov Viktor Mikhailovich: short biography may serve to confirm this conclusion.
Biography of the painter
Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov (1848-1926) was born in poor family priest in the village of Lopyal, Vyatka province, on May 15, 1848. In addition to him, his parents had five children. The boy's father paid maximum attention to raising his children. He tried to develop their horizons, and not just instill religious dogmas. Mikhail Vasilyevich subscribed to scientific journals, but the places where Vasnetsov lived were replete with legends, epics, and beliefs. The boy's thoughts were spinning around fairy tale characters. Fairy tale heroes and colorful landscapes wild land can be seen on the artist's canvases.
Little Victor showed an ability to draw from childhood. But lack of money did not allow his father to send his son to study artistic arts. The boy had to go to religious school(1958), where education for the son of a priest was free.
After college, the boy entered the seminary, but did not graduate from the educational institution, as he began his studies at the St. Petersburg art school(1867). At the same time, the young man passed the exam at the Academy of Arts, but due to excessive modesty, did not come to check the result (Vasnetsov learned about his enrollment a year later).
After graduating from the academy, the artist participated in many exhibitions and painted temples. He became a member of the Association of Mobile art exhibitions Moscow, when I came to live in this city. Currently, you can visit the house-museum of Viktor Vasnetsov in Moscow, designed by the painter himself. Vasnetsov built it in neo-Russian style. The artist moved here in 1894 and lived with his family until his death.
The building now belongs to museum complex Tretyakov Gallery and is a museum with a permanent exhibition dedicated to the life and work of the famous Russian painter. Here you will see a portrait of Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov and a number of paintings by the great artist. Except permanent exhibition, other exhibitions covering Vasnetsov’s activities are regularly held here.
A talented painter painted until he died (July 23, 1926). He left unfinished the portrait of Nesterov, the artist’s friend and student.
Works of the Russian painter
The work of Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov developed in stages. As a student at the academy, the young man dedicated free time drawing. At that time, the young artist was interested in illustrating Russian folk sayings, proverbs, fairy tales. Noticing the student’s talent, representatives of the clergy asked him to paint the Vyatka Cathedral.
The works, written by the young artist from 1876 to 1879, depict everyday scenes. The canvases of 1880-1898 have an epic-historical orientation. Since 1890, the painter became interested in religious themes. He actively took up painting of temples, but did not forget about easel painting. After 1917, the artist painted illustrations for Russian folk tales.
During his life, Vasnetsov repeatedly took part in painting exhibitions. For the first time he exhibited works as a student at the academy. The demonstration of paintings helped the young man attract the attention of recognized artists and make his name known. After graduation educational institution(1873) the painter exhibited paintings as a member of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions. Such exhibitions were held in large villages and many cities. In addition to works by Viktor Mikhailovich, the exhibitions included paintings by other famous artists.
The active work of the partnership lasted until 1980, then the movement began to fade, and the organization itself ceased to exist after the last exhibition (1922).
Famous paintings
Of some of Vasnetsov's masterpieces, only descriptions remain. But many of the canvases have survived to this day. What has Viktor Vasnetsov pleased with modern art lovers: let’s look at the paintings with titles in order.
Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov left a rich legacy to his descendants. Many of his works were destroyed after the 1917 revolution. But even now we can admire the masterpieces of the great Russian painter of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Ictor Vasnetsov was famous master household and historical painting- his paintings were purchased by collectors Pavel Tretyakov and Savva Mamontov. Vasnetsov’s canvas “Bogatyrs” became one of the first references to an epic plot in the history of Russian painting. In addition to painting, Vasnetsov made illustrations for books and created sketches architectural structures and painted churches in different cities of Russia.
Seminarist at the Academy of Arts
Viktor Vasnetsov was born on May 15, 1848 in the Vyatka province (today - Kirov region) in the family of a priest. Parents tried to give their children a diverse education: they read them scientific magazines and taught them how to draw. Viktor Vasnetsov's first works were landscapes and scenes of rural life. The nature in his paintings is largely copied from Vyatka views: winding rivers, hills, dense coniferous forests.
In 1858, Vasnetsov entered a theological school, then a seminary. He studied the lives of saints, chronographs, chronicles, and parables. Old Russian literature sparked an interest in antiquity in the artist.
“I have always been convinced that in genre and historical paintings, statues and in general any work of art - image, sound, word - in fairy tales, songs, epics, drama and so on, the whole entire appearance of the people, internal and external, with the past and present, and perhaps the future, is reflected" .
Victor Vasnetsov
In his free time from studying, Vasnetsov painted portraits of townspeople, made sketches from memory, and helped paint Vyatsky Cathedral. In 1867, he illustrated ethnographer Nikolai Trapitsin's book about proverbs. Later, the artist published his drawings separately - in the album “Russian Proverbs and Sayings in the Drawings of V.M. Vasnetsov." During his studies, the painter created his first canvases “The Reaper” and “The Milkmaid”.
Victor Vasnetsov. Reaper. 1867. Private collection
Victor Vasnetsov. From apartment to apartment. 1876. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Victor Vasnetsov. Beggar singers. 1873. Kirov regional Art Museum them. A.M. Gorky, Kirov
In 1867, Viktor Vasnetsov left the seminary and went to St. Petersburg. In the winter of this year, he studied painting at the school of his friend, the artist Ivan Kramskoy, and a year later he entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts.
At the academy, Vasnetsov received two small silver medals for his academic work, and two years later he was awarded a large one. silver medal for the painting “Christ and Pilate before the people.” At this time, the artist painted illustrations for fairy tales and literary and pedagogical works of Nikolai Stolpyansky - “The People's Alphabet”, “The Soldier's Alphabet”. While living in St. Petersburg, Viktor Vasnetsov created canvases everyday genre- “Beggar Singers”, “From Apartment to Apartment”, “Workers with Wheelbarrows”. In 1874, the painter received a bronze medal at the World Exhibition in London for his paintings “Bookshop” and “Boy with a Bottle of Wine.”
Viktor Vasnetsov - master of historical painting
After graduating from the academy, the artist went abroad with friends. There he continued to write, participated in exhibitions and salons. In the Parisian workshop of his friend Vasily Polenov, Vasnetsov sketched a sketch of the painting “Bogatyrs” - the first canvas based on Russian epics.
Vasnetsov lived abroad for about a year and returned to Moscow in 1877. Here I met the collector Pavel Tretyakov, often visited musical evenings in his family.
During the Moscow period, the artist painted paintings with scenes from the history and fairy tales of Ancient Rus'. One of the first paintings - “After the massacre of Igor Svyatoslavich with the Polovtsians” - was exhibited at the VIII exhibition of the Wanderers. The painting was bought by Pavel Tretyakov.
Vasnetsov also met the philanthropist Savva Mamontov and became a member of his Abramtsevo circle. Mamontov invited the artist to paint three paintings for the interior of the Donetsk administration railway. This is how the paintings “Battle of the Scythians with the Slavs”, “Flying Carpet”, “Three Princesses” appeared underground kingdom" However, board members rejected paintings with fairy-tale scenes. The paintings were bought by Savva Mamontov and his brother.
Victor Vasnetsov. Battle of the Scythians with the Slavs. 1881. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
Victor Vasnetsov. Carpet plane. 1880. Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum, Nizhny Novgorod
Victor Vasnetsov. Three princesses of the underworld. 1881. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Viktor Vasnetsov visited the philanthropist’s estate in Abramtsevo a lot and painted portraits of his family members. The surroundings of Abramtsev appeared in other paintings by Vasnetsov: birch groves and winding rivers, ravines and ponds overgrown with sedge. Here in 1880 the artist painted “Alyonushka”.
“Alyonushka” seemed to have been living in my head for a long time, but in reality I saw her in Akhtyrka, when I met one simple-haired girl who captured my imagination. There was so much melancholy, loneliness and purely Russian sadness in her eyes... Some special Russian spirit wafted from her.”
Victor Vasnetsov
Temple painting and architecture
Viktor Vasnetsov also tried himself in architecture. He created sketches for buildings in the Mamontov estate; according to the drawings of Vasnetsov and Polenov, the Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands was built in Abramtsevo. The artist also drew sketches of his own house-studio, the mansion of Ivan Tsvetkov, the main facade of the Tretyakov Gallery in Lavrushinsky Lane in Moscow.
At the beginning of 1885, St. Petersburg University professor Adrian Prakhov, one of Vasnetsov’s teachers, invited him to paint the newly built St. Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv. Vasnetsov called the painting of the temple main job his life - he devoted about 11 years to it. The artist said: “There is no holier and more fruitful work in Rus' for a Russian artist than decorating a temple.” During his work, Viktor Vasnetsov studied monuments of early Christianity in Italy, frescoes of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, and used the knowledge of icon painting and temple architecture acquired at the seminary.
“Sometimes what is happening in the soul is fully, clearly and heartfeltly expressed in words, but when it comes to realizing what you dreamed about so widely, then you feel bitterly how weak your dreams and personal strength are - you see “that it is possible to express in images only a tenth of what was so clearly and deeply dreamed.”
Victor Vasnetsov
In total, about 400 sketches were created, over 2000 square meters were painted. The cathedral was consecrated in 1896 in the presence of Emperor Nicholas I and his family. After the Vladimir Cathedral, the artist painted churches in St. Petersburg, Gus-Khrustalny, Darmstadt, and Warsaw.
Architecture, as well as design, fascinated Vasnetsov, the reason for this was his participation in the Abramtsevo art club, which zealously strived to create modern synthetic art. Vasnetsov’s development as an architect took place in Abramtsevo. Church of the Savior […]
The canvas “Christ Pantocrator” was created by Vasnetsov over 9 years, from 1885 to 1896. The artist depicted the image of Jesus Christ enclosed in a circle perfect shape, in the central part of the composition, with Vasnetsov in the background […]
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. The painting “The Shroud” (otherwise known as “Laying on the Coffin”) was painted by Viktor Vasnetsov in 1901. It depicts the gospel scene of the funeral of the crucified Jesus Christ. In the center of the canvas is Christ [...]
1885; watercolor; State Tretyakov Gallery. An expert in Russian folklore, a lover of dramatic fairy-tale plots, Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov appears in a form that is not the most familiar to him. Watercolor sketch entitled "Spring is Red" - not separate work, […]
In 1873, Alexander Ostrovsky wrote his famous play "The Snow Maiden", which was staged at theater stage. Many masters of that time worked on the decorations for the production, but the works of Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov occupy a special place. […]
Vasnetsov is known for his artwork on fairy-tale and epic themes. However, the list of themes in his work is extensive. He painted portraits, paintings of household and religious themes. Painting portraits of loved ones helped Vasnetsov create […]
Vasnetsov Viktor Mikhailovich (1848–1926) is a great Russian artist, one of the founders of Russian Art Nouveau in its national-romantic version. Probably, the first of the great Russian artists enters our infant life with his epic paintings, fairy tale paintings and accompanies us throughout life, giving us impetus for thought not only with the works of the named direction, but also with the works we discover genre paintings, portraits and religious paintings.
1. The Reaper (1867)
Canvas, oil.
Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov was born on May 15, 1848 in the distant Vyatka village of Lopyal into a large patriarchal family of a village priest. Soon the family moved to the village of Ryabov, where the artist spent his childhood. He began to draw early, but according to tradition, sons were supposed to inherit their father’s profession, and the boy was sent to a theological school in 1858, and soon transferred to the Vyatka Theological Seminary. On last year Seminary, the young man decided that he would leave Vyatka for St. Petersburg and enter the Academy of Arts. Having performed two genre pictures - “The Milkmaid” and “The Reaper” (1867) - and played them in the lottery, Vasnetsov used the money to go to St. Petersburg and begin studying at the school of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, and in 1868 he became a student at the Academy. Forced to earn money for a living, Vasnetsov gives private lessons and illustrates various publications.
2. Alyonushka (1881)
Canvas, oil. 121 x 173 cm. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.
In 1881, in Abramtsevo, the estate of the Russian philanthropist Savva Mamontov near Moscow, Vasnetsov wrote one of his best works - "Alyonushka" - based on the plot of a Russian fairy tale. Touching tenderness and the deep poetry of the tale excited the sensitive, responsive heart of the artist. It is not a literal reproduction of a fairy tale plot, but a deep penetration into its emotional structure that distinguishes Vasnetsov’s painting. The girl’s frozen pose, bowed head, brown hair scattered over her shoulders, a look full of sadness - everything speaks of Alyonushka’s melancholy and grief. Nature is in tune with her mood; she seems to be grieving along with the girl. Slender birch trees and young fir trees surrounding Alyonushka seem to protect her from the evil world. The painting "Alyonushka" is one of the first Russian art where poetry is inextricably fused folk tales with the poetry and sincerity of native Russian nature.
3. From apartment to apartment (1876)
Canvas, oil. 53.5 x 67.2 cm. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.
Particular success fell on the painting “From Apartment to Apartment,” on which the artist had been working since 1875. The fate of the poor, lonely old people, thrown out onto the street on a cold frosty day, looking for shelter, worried the artist. Deep sadness emanates from the picture, which tells about homeless old age, about the tragedy that no one knows the right people. "I think,- wrote Stasov, - Each of us has met such people. What poor people, what sad human nature!.. A wonderful picture!”
4. Bookshop (1876)
Canvas, oil. 84 x 66.3 cm. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.
The painting “Book Shop” secured his position as a genre artist, knowledgeable about life who knows how to expressively and vividly reproduce it.
5. Flying Carpet (1880)
Canvas, oil. 165 x 297 cm. Nizhny Novgorod Art Museum
Vasnetsov is actively working on the introduction of folklore into Russian painting, reflecting the aspects of Russian national character(“Flying carpet”, 1880). In his paintings on fairy-tale subjects, the artist combines folklore fantasy with religious teaching and a scientific view of the world.
6. Calm (1881)
Canvas, oil. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
V.A. Gilyarovsky. About the painting by V.M. Vasnetsov "Quiet".
“The pines are dozing. The distances are dozing.
Resting, the forest sleeps.
They fell into the quiet waters
Reflections of heaven.
I’m sitting under a pine tree in my thoughts...
And calm and peace -
And in the whispering of gloomy pine needles
The joy of life is before me."
7. The Knight at the Crossroads (1882)
Canvas, oil. 167x299 cm, timing belt.
"Contrasts between genre and history,- wrote V. Vasnetsov, - in my soul there was never, and therefore no turning point or any transitional struggle took place in me... I have always been convinced that in genre and historical paintings... in a fairy tale, song, epic, drama, the whole whole the appearance of a people, internal and external, with past and present, and maybe also future... The bad people are those who do not remember, do not appreciate and do not love their history.”
8. Warriors of the Apocalypse (1887)
Canvas, oil.
"The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" is a term describing four characters from the sixth chapter of the Revelation of John the Theologian, the last of the books of the New Testament. There is still no consensus on what exactly each of the horsemen represents, but they are often called the Conqueror (Plague, Disease), War, Famine and Death. God calls them and gives them the power to wreak holy chaos and destruction in the world. The horsemen appear strictly one after the other, each with the opening of another of the first four of the seven seals of the book of Revelation. The appearance of each of the horsemen is preceded by the Lamb removing the seals from the Book of Life. After removing each of the first four seals, the tetramorphs exclaim to John - “come and see” - and apocalyptic horsemen appear in front of him one by one.
In the picture, a rider on a white horse represents plague, on a red one – war, on a black one – hunger, on a pale one – death.
From the Revelation of John the Theologian:
Rider on a white horse
“And I saw that the Lamb had opened the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come and see.” I looked, and behold, a white horse, and his rider had a bow, and He had a crown, and he went out victorious and to overcome (Rev. 6:1-2)"
Rider on a red horse
“And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second animal say, Come and see. And there came out another horse, a red one, and power was given to him that sat on him to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another; and a great sword was given to him. (Rev. .6:3-4)"
Rider on a black horse
“And when He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, Come and see. I looked, and behold, a black horse, and his rider had a measure in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, hinix wheat for a denarius, and three quinixes of barley for a denarius; but you shall not damage oil or wine. (Rev. 6:5-6)"
Rider on a Pale Horse
“And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature, saying, Come and see. And I looked, and behold, a pale horse, and his rider, whose name was death; and hell followed him; and it was given to him. authority over the fourth part of the earth - to kill with sword and famine and pestilence and the beasts of the earth. (Rev. 6: 7-8)"
9. Sirin and Alkonost. Song of Joy and Sorrow (1896)
Canvas, oil. 133 x 250 cm. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.
“Two true friends - Love and Separation - cannot walk without the other.” Bulat Okudzhava
Traditional Slavic symbols joys and sorrows were considered two birds of paradise: Sirin and Alkonost. The Orthodox bestiaries about the “Sirins” say that they are half-humans, half-birds, bisexual, singing songs so sweet that the one who hears them loses his mind, follows the voice, not noticing the path, falls into the water and dies.
According to another version: he forgets his life, goes into the desert and, getting lost, dies. Sirins or pitchforks are spirits of water springs who can fly. Subsequently, this tribe in Russian popular print turns into one single bird.
In legends Western Europe The Sirin bird is considered the embodiment of an unhappy soul. Her name can easily be correlated with the Greek “sirens”, legends about which could have been brought to Ancient Rus' trading people who walked along the rivers from Byzantium and Greece. Sirens are predatory beauties with a head and body beautiful woman and with clawed bird feet. They are the daughters of the lord of fresh waters, Achelous, and one of the muses (Melpomene or Terpsichore). From their father they inherited a wild and evil disposition, and from their mother - divine voice. With their magical singing, the sirens lured sailors to their island - they crashed ships on the coastal reefs, and themselves died in whirlpools or in the claws of temptresses. Sirens in ancient times were often depicted on tombstones and were called the Muses of the Underworld.
About Alkonste, in the Orthodox tradition, it is reported that this is a bird that lays its eggs in the depths of the sea in the middle of winter, and “these eggs are idle - they do not spoil and float to the top” as soon as the time comes. Alkonost does not take his eyes off the surface of the water and waits for the surfacing, which is why it is very difficult to steal Alkonost’s egg. If this is successful, then people hang such an egg under the chandelier in the church, which is a symbol of the integrity and unity of all the people who come to it. The Alkonost bird is an example of God's Mercy and divine providence, therefore in those seven days when Alkonost looks out for his children, the sea is calm. Shipbuilders value these days and call them Alkonost or Alkyon.
Alkonost's singing is joyful as she promises Paradise. The singing of Sirin, as medieval sources indicate, is poignant; Sirin yearns for paradise lost, asks for a return to heaven. IN modern culture Sirin and Alkonost are indissoluble; they are established symbols of Sorrowful and Joyful singing.
The symbolist poet A. A. Blok responded to the painting with a poem:
Thick curls thrown back by the waves,
Throwing my head back
Sirin throws him full of happiness,
A full look of unearthly bliss...
The other is all powerful sadness
Exhausted, exhausted...
Everyday and all-night melancholy
The whole chest is high and full...
In the distance - crimson lightning,
The turquoise of the sky has faded...
And from a bloody eyelash
A heavy tear is rolling...
10. Bogatyrs (1898)
Canvas, oil. 295 x 446 cm. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.
On my first personal exhibition in 1898, Vasnetsov showed "Bogatyrs", work on which lasted about twenty years. The painting, designed in a monumental and decorative way, recreates the images of three people’s favorite heroes epic epic: Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich. Each of them is distinguished individual characteristics. Striving for a monumental solution, Vasnetsov slightly raises the horizon line, and the viewer looks, as if from below, at the horsemen, whose clear silhouettes stand out against the background of light clouds. Bright and sonorous colors are subtly and nobly combined - green, brown, red, white, blue, giving a special decorative effect to the canvas. The landscape, with its vast expanse, gentle hills, meadows overgrown with wild grass, is united by smooth and calm rhythms with the figures of heroes. Here Vasnetsov’s ability to create an epic canvas, in tune with folk poetic ideas, was demonstrated. In 1898, the "Bogatyrs" occupied place of honor in the Tretyakov Gallery.
“I believe that Vasnetsov’s “Bogatyrs” occupy one of the first places in the history of Russian painting”, - expressed the general opinion of V.V. Stasov. Comparing Repin's "Burlakov" with "Bogatyrs", Stasov wrote: “And here and there is all the strength and mighty power of the Russian people. Only this force there is oppressed and still trampled... and here is a triumphant force, calm and important, not afraid of anyone and doing itself, of its own free will, what it wants she likes what seems necessary to her for everyone, for the people.”
