Russian artist Vasily Polenov: biography, creativity and interesting facts. Vasily Polenov

The work of Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov is one of the most significant phenomena in Russian painting of the second half of the 19th century century.

A remarkable landscape painter, he developed plein air painting systems in Russian art, creating works full of poetry and lyricism, beauty and truthfulness, and freshness of painting. His paintings "Moscow courtyard" "Grandmother's garden"; "Christ and the Sinner" brought recognition to the artist. They are not only widely known and popular, but have become a kind of “sign” of Russian fine art.

The artist’s multifaceted creativity was not limited to achievements in the field of landscape genre. Painter and theater artist, an architect and musician, he revealed his talent in each of the genres and types of art, and in many respects acted as an innovator.

In 1888, the artist wrote in one of his letters: “It seems to me that art should give happiness and joy, otherwise it is worth nothing.” It can be considered that these words contain the creative principle of the master, which he carried throughout his life.

Polenov was born in St. Petersburg on June 1 (May 20), 1844, into a cultured noble family. His father, Dmitry Vasilyevich Polenov, the son of an academician in the department of Russian language and literature, was a famous archaeologist and bibliographer. The artist’s mother, Maria Alekseevna, nee Voeykova, wrote books for children and was engaged in painting.

One of Polenov’s most powerful childhood impressions were trips to Olshanka, Tambov province, to the estate of grandmother V.N. Voeykova. Vera Nikolaevna, daughter of the famous architect N.A. Lvova, raised after the death of her parents in the house of G.R. Derzhavina knew Russian history and folk poetry well, and loved to tell her grandchildren Russian folk tales and epics. Vera Nikolaevna encouraged her grandchildren’s passion for painting, usually organizing competitions like academic ones among children, awarding better job"medal".

The ability to draw was characteristic of most of the Polenov children. Two of them turned out to be the most gifted: the eldest son Vasily and the youngest daughter Elena, who later became real artists. The children had painting teachers from the Academy of Arts. Meeting with one of the teachers - P.P. Chistyakov - became decisive for Polenov’s life path. Chistyakov taught drawing and the basics of painting to Polenov and his sister in 1856-1861, while still a student at the Academy of Arts. Already at that time he demanded from his students a close study of nature. “The nature,” Polenov later recalled, “was established for a long time, and the drawing was developed systematically, not by a conventional method, but by careful study and, if possible, an accurate rendering of nature.” “Without thinking, don’t start anything, and once you start, don’t rush,” the teacher advised Polenov. Obviously, Chistyakov was able to convey to his student the main thing - a professional approach to painting, the understanding that real art can only arise as a result of hard work.

But from studying with Chistyakov to choosing a profession as an artist, the path was still very far. This choice forced Polenov to move away from the “normal” road trodden by previous generations of his family, associated with public service, which, in the end, could lead to the appearance of another Polenov-senator (the artist’s uncle, M.V. Polenov, was a senator). In any case, Polenov’s family couldn’t imagine him without a university education later life. And, after much hesitation, in 1863, after graduating from high school, he entered, together with his brother Alexei, the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics (natural science) of St. Petersburg University. At the same time, in the evenings, as a visiting student, he attends the Academy of Arts, and studies not only in drawing classes, but listens with interest to lectures on subjects that are not in the university course - anatomy, construction art, descriptive geometry, history fine arts. Polenov does not stop playing music. He was not only a regular visitor to the opera house and concerts (Polenov’s first acquaintance with Wagner’s music dates back to this time - his passion for the art of the great romantic composer, who performed in concerts in Russia in 1863, lasted throughout his life), but he himself sang in the student Academy Choir.

Having transferred to the full-scale class of the Academy of Arts as a permanent student, Polenov left the university for a while, completely immersing himself in painting. In 1867, he completed his student course at the Academy of Arts and received silver medals for drawings and sketches. Following this, he participated in two competitions for gold medals in his chosen class of historical painting, and in January 1868 he again became a university student, but now at the Faculty of Law.

In the summer of 1867, Polenov traveled to France and visited the World Exhibition there, where there was a large section with works of folk arts and crafts from various countries. The impressions from this exhibition will subsequently form the basis of the dissertation that he will defend at the university. In 1869, Polenov received a small gold medal for the painting “Job and His Friends” and the right to compete for a large gold medal; he prepared the theme “Resurrection of Jairus’s Daughter” for the competition together with Repin.

Both artists sought to create a work of high style, to give an elevated character to what was depicted. They coped with the given program brilliantly, almost on an equal footing. Although Polenov’s painting was not inferior to Repin’s canvas in terms of coloristic merits and skill in organizing the composition, it bore the features of a genre and was somewhat inferior in the depth and significance of the concept. However, many noted the great warmth of feeling expressed by Polenov in the image of a girl stretching her thin hand to Christ.

Both Polenov and Repin received large gold medals and the right to travel abroad for pensioners. In the same year, 1871, Polenov graduated from the university - passed the final exams and presented a dissertation “On the significance of art in its application to craft and the measures taken by individual states to raise crafts, introducing into it artistic element". This topic, of course, is not accidental. It is connected both with the author’s personal acquaintance with folk arts and crafts, and with the ideological movement of the era - a broad wave of attraction to the national in art. “Society,” writes Polenov, “than its many-sided development, the more aware it is of the need for the aesthetic, the more urgent is the need for art (...) History shows what a strong influence art has on a person, on his morals, on their softening, on moral and mental development. Usually, wherever freedom penetrated, art appeared, or wherever art penetrated, the spirit of freedom developed, driving out the spirit of submission. In terms of its influence on the masses, it is more powerful than science."

The retirement period (1872-1876) played a very important role in Polenov’s creative development. important role- greater than for Repin, who was abroad with him, who by this time had already found his line in art. Despite his age (he went abroad at the age of twenty-seven), he had not yet developed as an artist. This already made him more “open” to foreign influences. He continued to study intensively, visiting numerous galleries, museums, and private collections.

Polenov's path - Germany, Italy (then temporary return to Russia), France. What has the greatest influence on the artist? Of course, it is impossible to list all European influences. For example, the impressions received from visiting ancient German knightly castles, from which Polenov made many sketches, will form the basis of his plan for the painting “The Right of the Master” (1874), and his visit to the Russian church in Paris, in the interior design of which Bogolyubov’s landscapes were used, will later find a response in the artist’s work on the cycle of paintings “From the Life” of “Christ” (1899-1909). Polenov also experiences the influence of the artistic atmosphere of the cities through which his travel route runs.

With this stock of artistic impressions, Polenov arrived in Rome. Many plans and plans swarmed in his head, and in his soul there was a burning desire to work selflessly. But Rome very soon disappointed him, and the surrounding artistic life turned out to be little conducive to inspired creativity. “Rome itself... is somehow dead, backward, outdated,” Polenov shared his observations with Repin. “It exists... for so many centuries, but it doesn’t even have typicality, like in German medieval cities... There is no life in it original, their own, and it all seems to exist for foreigners... There is no mention of artistic life in the modern sense, there are many artists, but there is little sense; everyone works in isolation, each nationality is separate from the other, although their studios are unlocked, but the main thing is way, again, for rich overseas buyers, so that the art is adjusted to their taste... The Roman artist is already a routine imitator in his first painting. Old Italians don’t captivate me either... "

In Rome, Polenov met the Mamontov family, where artistic youth gathered, and began to visit them often. The talented, constantly enthusiastic owner of the house is S.I. Mamontov knew how to fill life with eternally new inventions, fun and entertainment, he knew how to arouse in people their artistic inclinations, no matter how modest they were. Home performances, concerts, carnivals followed each other continuously, and Polenov took an active part in all of this. The in-depth studies that the artist dreamed of receded into the background of their own accord, his plans remained unfulfilled day after day... “I found myself in such a whirlwind,” Polenov complained to Repin, “that I was completely wrapped up in the vanity of the world, but about my own ascetic feat and forgot...”

He did not create a single painting in Rome.

Different impressions awaited him in Paris. Here he is fascinated by the variety of stylistic trends in which artists work - “whatever suits anyone,” their ability to “realize their strengths and abilities.” Polenov's retirement in Paris coincided with the first appearance of the Impressionists, whose works caused lively controversy in artistic circles. The art of the new direction did not deeply affect Polenov, but was an additional impetus for his mastery of plein air painting. Mastering the secrets of outdoor painting became an important task for many artists studying abroad at that time. On the advice of Bogolyubov, around whom a group of Russian artists working in the open air had gathered, Repin and then Polenov went to the north of France - to Normandy, to the sea, to the small town of Vel. In a month and a half, Polenov wrote a lot of excellent sketches. Among them - “White Horse, Normandy”, “Old Gate”, “Vel”, several “Ebb Tide”, “Fishing Boat. Etretat. Normandy” Particularly attractive to Polenov in France was the work of the Spanish master M. Fortuny, who delighted everyone with his virtuoso technique artistic performance. In one of his letters to Kramskoy, he says: “But I was personally captured and absorbed by one artist, whose works constitute, in my understanding, the highest point in the development of our art: he, it seems to me, is the last word artistry in painting at the present time. One could say technique - but this word is too narrow for his works, in them it appears in such richness, in such luxurious beauty that it ceases to be a manner, but becomes creativity... After his paintings you no longer see anything, that is, nothing in there is no memory left - they obscure everything else."

The period of his retirement business trip helped Polenov understand that he was not history painting is his true element. Polenov's gaze turned undividedly to the landscape. This was the result of his searches abroad. “It (the pensioner's business trip - T.Yu.) brought me benefits in many ways, the main thing is that everything that I have done so far is not right, I need to give it all up and start again - great. Here I tried and tried all kinds of painting: historical, genre, landscape, marina, head portrait, animal image, nature morte [still life], etc., and came to the conclusion that my talent is closest to landscape, everyday genre, which I will do."

Along with determining one’s place in art, came the conviction that creativity can only be fruitful in one’s homeland, and an urgent need to return to Russia as soon as possible, no matter what. “The Salon opened the other day,” Polenov reported to his mother on April 30 (May 12), 1876, “and finally convinced me of the absurdity of hanging around here and studying...”

But Polenov failed to settle in Moscow immediately upon returning from abroad. The wave of enthusiasm that swept Russian society in connection with the beginning of the Serbian struggle for liberation from Turkish oppression also captivated Polenov and prompted him to volunteer in September 1876 to the Serbian-Turkish front. For his participation in battles and his bravery, Polenov was awarded the Montenegrin medal "For Bravery" and the Serbian Golden Order "Takovsky Cross". The artist conveyed his military impressions in drawings made for the magazine "Pchela". Among them there are almost no sketches of military operations. For the most part, these are either landscape drawings ("View of the city of Paracin", "Belgrade from the eastern side", "Morava Valley in front of Deligrad", etc.), or ethnographic (types of Serbia), or everyday life ("Serbian horsemen at a watering hole", “At the bivouacs beyond the Danube”, “The rear of the Serbian army”, etc.). The explanation for this should be sought not only in Polenov’s passion for the landscape, everyday genre. Sympathizing with the goals of the liberation war, he at the same time could not look without shudder at the sacrifices that it brought with it. The war confronted Polenov, first of all, not with pictures of heroic battles and victories, but with thousands of deaths, the meaninglessness of destroying human lives. As an artist, he did not feel able to convey this cruel truth of life in art. And it was inappropriate in official reports about the war, as the drawings in “The Bee”, performed for the sake of earning money, should have been. “You ask if I found subjects for paintings,” Polenov wrote to M.N. Klimentova. “Yes and no. The subjects are peaceful, that is, bivouacs, camps, movements, although interesting, sometimes very picturesque, but they draw little war, the subjects of human disfigurement and death are too strong in nature to be conveyed on canvas, at least I still feel some kind of defect in myself, it doesn’t come out for me what is in reality, there it is so terrible and so Just..."

At the end of 1876, Polenov returned to St. Petersburg, and already in March 1877, fulfilling his long-standing intention, he moved to Moscow. There he, together with his friend R.S. Levitsky rented an apartment in Trubnikovsky Lane (on Arbat) and began creating paintings of the “landscape, everyday genre,” inspired by the old Moscow that came to his heart. The sketch from the Savior on the Sands (as Polenov himself called it, who captured the view from the windows of his workshop) dates back to this time. Subsequently, on the basis of this sketch, his most famous painting, “Moscow Courtyard,” was painted. In parallel with this, Polenov began working on sketches for the painting “The Tonsuring of the Worthless Princess,” the idea for which came to him back in St. Petersburg (at the beginning of 1877). This plan was not realized, but in connection with it, Polenov created several wonderful studies of Kremlin cathedrals and towers, which are among the best creations of the artist in the first year of his life in Russia upon returning from abroad ("The Golden Tsarina's Chamber. Window", “Upper Golden Porch”, “Assumption Cathedral. Southern Gate”, “Terem Palace”, Exit from the chambers to the Golden Porch” and a number of others.. All belong to the Tretyakov Gallery).

Polenov was most successful in his interior images. Polenov had a good feel for the intimate comfort of ancient Russian tower architecture, its elegant decorative festivity. Never before in his work have there been such carpet-like, flowery and joyful colors as in these sketches, such enthusiasm for the decorative richness of Russian architecture. Friendship with Mamontov and the artists who grouped around him and tried to revive the traditions of ancient Russian and, above all, applied art, helped Polenov so vividly, with such insight, to perceive the originality of architectural solutions and especially the decoration of the palace premises of Ancient Rus'.

The mastery of plein air painting demonstrated by Polenov in the Kremlin sketches, this landscape perception of architecture allowed the artist a few months later to create a wonderful landscape image of old Moscow - “Moscow Courtyard”.

“Moscow Courtyard” is Polenov’s first painting exhibited by the Itinerants, whose cause he had long sympathized with. The artist treated his debut with the Peredvizhniki with a sense of great responsibility and therefore was terribly tormented that, due to lack of time, he was giving for the exhibition such an “insignificant” piece as “Moscow Courtyard”, painted as if in jest, by inspiration, without serious and long-term work . “Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to do a more significant thing, but I wanted to go to a traveling exhibition with something decent, I hope in the future to earn time lost for art,” Polenov lamented. However, Polenov was mistaken in his assessment of his painting, not suspecting that it would be among the pearls of the Russian school of painting and would become a landmark work in the history of Russian landscape.

The film depicts a typical corner of old Moscow - with its mansions, churches, courtyards overgrown with green grass, and its almost provincial lifestyle. The morning of a clear sunny day at the beginning of summer (according to the artist’s own recollections). Clouds glide easily across the sky, the sun rises higher and higher, warming the earth with its warmth, lighting up the domes of churches with an unbearable brilliance, shortening the thick shadows. . . The courtyard comes to life: a woman with a bucket is hurriedly heading to the well, chickens are busily rummaging in the ground near the barn, children are starting to fuss in the thick green grass, a horse harnessed to a cart is about to set off. . . This everyday bustle does not disturb the serene clarity and silence diffused in the landscape.

Polenov’s humanistic talent is finally revealed in its full strength and is revealed precisely on Russian soil, revealing at the same time its Russian warehouse. There is no trace left of the “Frenchness” of Polenov, who returned from his retirement business trip, which so scared Stasov away from him. Repin turns out to be right. In Russia, Polenov becomes a truly Russian artist, and his “Moscow Yard” becomes the favorite work of every Russian person.

In the future, Polenov had to, having mastered plein air painting, achieve the fullness and richness of colors, their emotional richness, which was achieved in the works that followed “Moscow Courtyard”, written with all the brilliance of pictorial skill - the paintings “Grandmother’s Garden” and “Overgrown Pond” ".

The painting "Grandmother's Garden" was exhibited at the VII Traveling Exhibition in 1879. In his review of the exhibition, Stasov named “Grandma’s Garden” among the best works, noting its painting, which is distinguished by its “freshness of tones.”

The painting, indeed, first of all captivates with its painting. Its ash-gray with a lilac and bluish tint, pale pink, sand, silver-green tones of various shades, harmoniously combined with each other, form a single color scheme. This range, noble and refined, immediately puts the viewer in a poetic mood. The image created in the painting by the artist is devoid of one-dimensionality; it naturally and harmoniously combines different aspects of the perception of life and its comprehension.

Depicting an old mansion and its decrepit owner, Polenov, unlike Maximov with his painting “Everything is in the Past,” does not tell the viewer anything about the style of this life, does not emphasize the social affiliation of people to a certain class. An old woman dressed all in black, hunched over, walks along the overgrown path of the garden, accompanied by a lovely young girl in pink. This is the very personification of old age, as its companion is youth and beauty.

As if echoing the change of generations, the nature depicted by the artist blooms again and again. This constant update nature is subtly conveyed by Polenov. The lush greenery of the garden occupies most of the space of the picture, for the ineradicable creative power of life is manifested in it. It is characteristic that Polenov mainly shows in the picture the young growth, fresh and juicy, leaving the old trees, disfigured by time, outside the image. This makes nature seem forever young, never aging and as beautiful in its bloom as a charming young girl in pink walking along a garden path.

The fusion of man with nature, which Polenov shows here, makes those depicted similar to the inhabitants of a Moscow courtyard. Both live quietly and naturally, one life with nature, which gives their existence meaning and poetry. This feeling of harmony and beauty of life awakens in the viewer that bright, peaceful and joyful mood that allows him to elegiacally reflect on the scene captured by the artist.

In the painting “The Old Mill” (1880, Serpukhov Historical- Art Museum) the same topic is being addressed.

Old destroyed mill. An abandoned corner of nature. Lush greenery. There is such an abundance of vegetation in the picture that it seems that there is not a single piece of land that is barren. There is silence all around. The figure of a white-headed fisherman boy, quiet by the creek waiting for a bite, does not bring anything of his own into the life of the depicted corner; it only emphasizes its coziness and the silence reigning in it and is almost lost in the lush, sun-drenched greenery. Nature, very human in the artist’s depiction, bright and joyful, is always more significant for him than man himself.

The high skill of Polenov as a colorist is revealed in the painting “Overgrown Pond,” which is almost entirely built on gradations of one green color. The green range, subtly developed in shades, is distinguished by its exceptional beauty and richness of nuance. It seems that there are no two absolutely identical tones in the landscape, just as there is no that somewhat neutral paint that completely covered individual pieces of canvas in the “Moscow Courtyard”.

The painting “Overgrown Pond” completed a certain stage of Polenov’s work and marked the onset of creative maturity. Another very talented master has entered the circle of Russian landscape painters, big influence for the further development of landscape painting. In his paintings, and especially in the paintings of the late 70s - early 80s, younger generation Itinerant artists. From Polenov they learned the truthful rendering of light and air, a subtle vision of color and the beauty of painting, and a poetic perception of life. "WITH youth I was an admiring admirer of “Grandma’s Garden,” “Moscow Courtyard,” “Swamp with Frogs,” Nesterov admitted to Polenov. - In them, with such a young, spontaneous feeling, with such colorful completeness, you showed me the poetry of the old native life, the inexhaustible secrets of our nature. It’s as if you have rediscovered the magical charm of colors.”

Having finally decided on art, Polenov fulfilled his long-standing intention - to connect his life path with the Wanderers, and in 1878, together with I.E. Repin joined the Association of Traveling Exhibitions. “It’s been six years now that I’ve been wanting to do what I wanted, but various external circumstances got in the way,” Polenov wrote to Chistyakov. “Now, as far as I understand, these circumstances no longer exist, and I’m free, and all my sympathies have been on the side of this society since its very beginning.” emergence..." He retained these sympathies for many years, becoming one of the prominent figures of the Partnership.

In 1880, Repin met Tolstoy; Tolstoy's moral preaching and his destructive criticism of existing forms of life literally shocked Repin. Polenov met Tolstoy much later, in 1887, but it is difficult to imagine that Repin, Polenov’s friend, did not retell to him in every detail his conversations and meetings with the writer, which were quite frequent at that time. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to assume that it was the influence of Tolstoy’s views on Polenov that aroused the artist’s interest in old topic, the theme of Christ. In addition, in March 1881, Polenov suffered deep grief - his beloved sister Vera Dmitrievna Khrushchova died, who, before her death, took her brother’s word that he would begin to work “seriously”, that is, to paint a large picture on the long-planned theme “Christ and the Sinner” . In the Polenov family, only historical painting was recognized as truly great art, and therefore the artist’s pursuits in landscape painting were not given serious importance.

Soon after the death of his sister, Polenov, having learned that Prince S.S. Abamelek-Lazarev and A.V. Prahov are going to take a trip to Egypt, Syria and Palestine, asked Prahov’s permission to join them and received consent. The journey began in November 1881 and ended in the spring of 1882. Polenov spent the summer of 1882 in Abramtsevo. During the trip, Polenov visited Constantinople, Alexandria, Cairo, from Cairo he took a boat up the Nile to Aswan, not far from which is the sacred island of Philae with the Temple of Isis, and, returning to Cairo, departed by train to Port Said; from there he reached Beirut by sea - a port in Syria - and headed to Jerusalem; On the way back, the artist visited Greece. The artist’s sketches executed during the trip served as a unique account of the artist’s journey and all the sights he saw and amazed him. They were shown at the Traveling Exhibition in 1885 and purchased directly from the exhibition by Tretyakov. The artistic community perceived Polenov's oriental sketches of 1881-1882 as a new word in painting. “The result of the trip,” Ostroukhov wrote, “was, first of all, a collection of sketches exhibited at a traveling exhibition, and the impression it made was very great. The sketches for the most part were not directly related to the painting. These were vivid records of the colors of the East that amazed the artist , pieces of the azure sea, the peaks of the southern mountains glowing in the colors of the sunset, spots of dark cypress trees in the deep blue sky, etc. It was something full of sincere passion for colorful beauty, and at the same time, solving colorful problems completely new for the Russian artist and unusual a path for him. In these sketches Polenov revealed to the Russian artist the secret of a new power of paint and awakened in him the courage to handle paint in a way that he had never even thought of before." And indeed, the bright, pure colors of the East made a real revolution in Polenov’s painting, turning the artist to open, intense color. True, in the future this range turned out to be of little use for conveying the modest colors of the Central Russian summer and winter landscape, which prevailed in the work of Polenov the landscape painter in the era of the 80s. But the experience of writing with bright and at the same time gentle, contrasting and at the same time finely selected colors was not in vain. It was very useful when creating the painting “Christ and the Sinner”, the cycle “From the Life of Christ” and helped a few years later to master the ringing, open colors of the golden Russian autumn, which, starting from the 90s, became Polenov’s favorite time of year.

The greatest interest among the landscapes brought from a trip to the countries of the East are views of Egypt, including “The Nile at the Theban Range” (1881), “The First Nile Threshold” (undated), “The Nile, Pyramids in the Distance” (1881), etc. ( Tretyakov Gallery). First of all, they are captivating by the convincingly conveyed distances - this is reflected in Polenov’s passion for spatial solutions, which was revealed in his work in the era of the 80s.

The trip to the East gave Polenov a rich supply of observations, introduced him to the nature and architecture of Palestine, to the life of eastern cities, to the customs, appearance and clothing of their inhabitants. All this, undoubtedly, helped Polenov in the future to present the Gospel legend about Christ and the sinner as a real scene that took place in the square in front of the Jerusalem Temple. And in this sense, the eastern journey played a role in the creation of the picture. But immediate preparatory material for the picture was collected in insufficient quantities - apparently, vivid impressions of architectural monuments and the nature of the East distracted the artist from his plan, so Polenov’s relatives were inclined to consider the trip not very successful. An echo of these sentiments can be felt in a letter from Polenov’s wife, written a little later, in March 1884, in which she expresses fear that the same thing might happen to Polenov in Rome as in Palestine - “... the same thing would come out of this.” the same troubles as with the eastern journey,” she writes to E.D. Polenova.

This “trouble” with traveling around the East forced Polenov to make a second trip, this time to Italy, where he hoped to find a suitable subject and write the necessary sketches for the painting. The artist settled in Rome and spent the winter of 1883/84 and spring of 1884 there. In 1882, the artist married N.V. Yakunchikova - cousin of E.G. Mamontova. The foreign trip of 1883/84 was made with her. Polenov’s wife was very sympathetic to the idea of the painting “Christ and the Sinner” and, to the best of her ability, tried to help the artist in his work. She not only sewed the costumes for the film, but, most importantly, she constantly supported Polenov’s inspired attitude towards the theme and tried to direct him towards its in-depth development. This was all the more necessary because Polenov himself was often overly carried away by the external verisimilitude of what was depicted. This hobby arose in the artist as a consequence of the desire inspired by Renan to present Christ as a person who really existed, historical, and all the acts and events of his life attributed to him actually took place in the distant times of early Christianity. The search for external truthfulness distracted Polenov from those lofty ideas for the sake of which he decided to paint his picture. “He works a lot, but whether it’s successful is again terribly difficult to say; it seems to me that he is looking for too much and too little in his work,” wrote N.V. Polenova to the artist’s sister E.D. Polenova. “It would be peace of mind for me, if there were half as many sketches, but more in content."

In the early 80s, the artist first imagined his theme in its full scope. The pencil sketch of 1883 (Tretyakov Gallery) was its detailed development. It already contains all those characters who will later enter the picture: the Pharisee and the Sadducee, the angry crowd mocking the sinner, the sinner, Simon of Cyrene riding on a donkey, Christ, his disciples, traders, onlookers, etc. Their location is close to the picture. The appearance of a crowded crowd of people is the most fundamental innovation of the sketch. It is here that the artist begins to grope for his theme: the teachings of Christ and the people, which will form the basis of the picture. The episode with the sinner is now interpreted much more widely than before - as an object lesson in new morality taught by Christ to the people. Another significant feature of the 1883 sketch was that the scene was placed in the square in front of the temple. The chaotic, noisy life of a large eastern city is in full swing here. The square is literally crowded with people - traders, ragged boys scurrying around underfoot, crippled beggars, praying people, working people. But the artist too generously included his travel impressions of street life eastern cities and thus, as it were, turned the image into an ordinary travel sketch. Christ, his disciples and his opponents are lost among the idle onlookers surrounding them; the expressively gesticulating crowd is drowned in the chaotic commotion reigning in the square. Even lighting and detailed drawing of all figures make them equally noticeable, not much different from each other, especially since the images themselves are not yet sufficiently differentiated in their internal significance.

Further crystallization of the concept is clearly visible in the oil sketch of 1885 (Tretyakov Gallery). First of all, the scale of all the figures in it changed - they became larger, more commensurate with the architecture. The point of view on what is depicted has also changed: previously it was a point of view somewhat from above, which is why all the figures were pressed to the ground; now the artist looks at what is happening a little from below, and the figures look more representative. The division into the crowd and the group of disciples of Christ was finally revealed. The image of Christ became more collected, more significant, his movements softer, smoother and more majestic. Shifted closer to the center and given almost in the middle of the stone ledge, against its background (in the sketch of 1883, Christ rather accidentally huddled near it), the figure of Christ stood out more clearly from the general environment of the disciples. The general color scheme of the image was found - it was all flooded with golden-pinkish rays of the setting sun. But the color scheme of the crowd, the contrast in the color sound of the Christ group and the crowd have not yet been determined. Compositionally, the sketch was close to the final design of the plan. This enabled Polenov to begin creating cardboard.

In 1885, Polenov made a charcoal drawing on canvas in the size of a painting (Museum named after V.D. Polenov), “which he left in this form and did not write down with paints, because he considered it a finished thing.” The picture itself, according to E.V. Sakharova, was written during 1886-1887 in Moscow, in the office of S.I. Mamontov (in his house on Sadovo-Spasskaya). The painting was exhibited at the XV Traveling Exhibition in 1887. Alexander III, who inspected the exhibition before its opening, purchased Polenov’s painting for his collection, ahead of Tretyakov, who negotiated with the artist to purchase the painting.

The acquisition of the painting “Christ and the Sinner” by Alexander III resolved all the doubts of the censor Nikitin regarding the possibility of leaving the painting at the exhibition, aroused in the latter by the too “base” real interpretation of the gospel plot and the non-canonical image of Christ.

These same features of the picture caused attacks on it by the reactionary press. M. Soloviev, in an article published in Moskovskie Vedomosti, attacked Polenov for the fact that the “pseudo-historical element” predominates in his picture over the “idealistic-religious”. Another correspondent for Moskovskie Vedomosti put forward a demand for the artist to depict “the earthly image of Christ not in the possibly real, by assumption, but in the highest idealization of the human image, which is only accessible to the means of art.” “So, what, according to Mr. Polenov, is the Savior of the world, the Messiah, God! Why is He so simple and ordinary? Where is the seal of the divine calling that He serves, how does He differ from the rest of the crowd of slovenly ragamuffins surrounding Him?” - asked the author of the article " Biblical motives in the Russian school." Polenov's passion for conveying the authenticity of what was depicted, its life-like authenticity had its own meaning. It was due to the fact that the artist persistently sought to affirm the reality of the personality of Christ and all the events associated with him, in order to prove the vitality of his teaching and its significance for the development of human society.

Christ Polenov is, first of all, a teacher, a sage, a humanist who brings people words of love, who teaches them humanity. “Your Christ,” his friend P.A. Spiro wrote to Polenov, “he gives me not only a strong mind, he gives me kindness, and also accessibility, simplicity, my God! Kindness in an intelligent, energetic person, and even accessible - but that This is what gives people the greatest joy! But the whole picture - human malice (narrow, vile, inhuman passion) is drowned in the kindness spilled throughout the whole picture, even in its air, and it spilled out for you because Christ is yours so simply , is usually so kind. And the plot is interpreted in such a way that if the crowd that attacked the woman were even more enraged, even more terribly unbridled, I would not be afraid for the woman and for people in general; I am excited and calm, I’m even glad that it’s here happened, - here the matter will be ended in the most humane way in a simple way, comforting: there is a man here, Christ - I see from his posture, from his face, from the whole makeup of everything around him, who thinks about the fact before about himself, and a man with a heart of gold; You can’t pry it, because there’s nothing to it - it doesn’t have hooks, it’s simple!”

The tragically sad note that sounds in the picture despite its entire content is, as it were, an amendment made by life, the artist’s real ideas about it, to the dream of spreading the religion of love and forgiveness among people, which Polenov cherished in his soul.

The bright and joyful acceptance of life characteristic of the young Polenov, who had just graduated from the Academy of Arts, gradually faded in the era of the 80s - the era of rampant reaction. Art increasingly became for him not only an area in which he affirms his ideals, reveals his understanding of beauty, captures what is near and dear to him in life, but also a sphere of activity that feeds his need for joy and beauty, which is not satisfied by the surrounding reality. “It seems to me,” Polenov wrote at the beginning of 1888, “that art should give happiness and joy, otherwise it is worth nothing. There is so much sorrow in life, so much vulgarity and dirt, that if art completely drenches you in horrors and atrocities, then life will become too difficult.”

Polenov’s appeal to the religion of Christ did not cause a radical change in the artist’s views. It was a continuation of the search for ways to achieve those humanistic ideals that have always been decisive in Polenov’s worldview and which he did not change. In Christianity, he first of all saw a humanistic preaching of mercy and love for man, a protest against violence against the human person, a call to goodness, to high spiritual perfection, that is, everything that he valued before and that became especially dear to him in Russia in the 80s years - in an era of complete arbitrariness, gross violation of human rights, rampant reaction and despotism.

In the era of the 80s, Polenov managed to engage in landscape painting only in fits and starts - the canvas “Christ and the Sinner” for for long years absorbed all the artist’s attention, so most of the landscapes of the 80s were created either at the beginning of this period, before the enthusiasm for working on the painting, or at the end, after its completion.

The development of Polenov as a landscape painter in the era of the 90s is inextricably linked with his life on the banks of the Oka, which became an inexhaustible source his creative inspiration. Dreaming of settling “in nature,” Polenov acquired in 1890 a small estate “Bekhovo” in the former. Aleksinsky district, Tula province. There, according to his own design, he built a house with workshops for his artist friends. The estate was named "Borok". The choice of a new place to live happily coincided with the direction creative searches Polenov in the 90s and can be said to have largely contributed to the success of these searches. The nature of the Prioksky region favored the development of Polenov's attraction to the epic landscape. The artist very quickly found his theme in the landscape and from that moment became a real poet of Oka.

Among Polenov's landscapes of this period, images of the Russian village occupy a prominent place ("Winter. Imochentsy", 1880, Kiev Museum of Russian Art; "Village Landscape with a Bridge", 1880s, private collection, Moscow; "Northern Village" - appeared for the first time at the Traveling Exhibition in Moscow in 1889, Saratov Art Museum named after A. N. Radishchev). Together with Polenov’s appeal to the rural landscape, the theme of the Russian village naturally entered into his work, but it did not acquire that fundamental significance for the artist, was not saturated with the acutely critical social content that Perov, Vasiliev and his other predecessors had, who, through the means of their art, , with their images of a beggar lost in the depths of the forests and endless plains of a Russian village, with the motifs of driven country roads drowning in impassable mud, they were included in the struggle of the democratic strata of society against the darkness and backwardness of the village, with the remnants of serfdom in an era when the peasant question was one of the most pressing . The Russian village in Polenov’s depiction appears in a poeticized form. This is explained not so much by the insufficient maturity of the artist’s democracy, not only by the peculiarities of his bright talent, sensitive to beauty, but - most importantly - by the common tendencies in literature and art of the 80-90s towards the poeticization of the village with its simple and natural, close to nature life.

Polenov’s first paintings depicting a Russian village were executed in the same landscape and everyday genre as the paintings “Moscow Courtyard” and “Grandmother’s Garden”. Gradually, as we approach the 90s, people begin to disappear from Polenov’s landscapes, but for some time the latter still bear traces of their daily life and activities, and only in the era of the 90s “pure”, untouched nature is finally established in landscape painting by Polenov. At the same time, naturally, the theme of the Russian village ends.

Polenov’s series of “village landscapes” opens with the large painting “Winter. Imochentsy” (62.5x107.5).

The painting depicts a small village at the edge of a black forest. Its huts, typically of the northern type, are large, built from thick logs, with high roofs, with windows set almost to the height of a man from the ground, decorated with elegant, carved frames, do not drown in snowdrifts, are not lost in the snowy plain surrounding them, like this was usually in the landscapes of the 60s - early 70s ("The Thaw" by Vasiliev, for example). Closely huddled together, they make an impressive impression, seeming to match a dense, continuous wall of coniferous forest standing. Everything in this village breathes homeliness, contentment, and a strong way of life. Smoke billows from the chimneys, women with buckets talk leisurely on the street, a woman with luggage returns home in a sleigh, two dogs sit sedately in the snow. All these genre details, just like in the painting “Moscow Courtyard,” not only help to reveal the life of people, but also reveal the content of the image of a northern village created by the artist, which has largely preserved the features of patriarchy and antiquity.

Many years of living on the banks of the Oka did not disappoint the artist in its beauty. Polenov continued to tenderly love this nature and, above all, for the harmony diffused in it. He captures Oka in various seasons, in her various states, giving a real chronicle of her life, full of poetry and deep truth. These are the works: “Early Snow” (1891, private collection), “Summer on the Oka” (1893, private collection, Moscow), “Golden Autumn” (1893, V.D. Polenov Museum), “Autumn on the Oka near Tarusy" (1893, Kiev Museum of Russian Art), etc. “How I would like to show you our Oka,” Polenov wrote to Konstantin Korovin in 1914. “After all, you and I were the first to discover its beauty and choose a place to live. But then you for some reason it seemed that in this beauty and harmony, no, no, and even a harmonic would slip through. Now I’ve been living here for twenty-two years, and I’ve never heard it, but the beauty and harmony are still the same.”

The painting “Early Snow” is one of the artist’s first successes on the path to creating a broad lyrical-epic landscape of the Oka River. The first cover of fluffy snow lay on the ground, smoothing and softening its outlines, making the endless expanse of space even more noticeable. Thanks to high point From the point of view from which the landscape is painted, the viewer's gaze easily glides over the surface of the snow-covered hills and freely goes into the distance, towards the horizon, where the snowy veil of fields merges with the sky covered with gray clouds. The silhouette of a bare tree with fallen leaves, clearly visible against this gray-white background, draws the viewer’s eye even more strongly to the distance, as does the turn of the river going into the distance, lost among the snowy expanses. Wide, smooth, rhythmically repeating lines on which the landscape is built give it greater clarity and harmony, calm and epic scope.

At the same time, the nature depicted by the artist has not yet plunged into winter torpor, has not yet frozen in winter sleep. The river is not entirely covered with ice - there are wide openings left on it; the snow lies only on the ground: the bushes have not yet disappeared under the snowdrifts, and their reddish foliage flutters in the wind; only a few trees had completely lost their leaves, and therefore the forest had not yet lost its fluffiness, standing out as a dark spot, rich in its shades, against the background of the snow cover. This transitional state of nature, this mixture of summer and winter forms and colors makes the landscape very picturesque, allows you to more acutely experience the beauty of the late flowering of nature, the last manifestations of its life before the coming winter sleep.

But Polenov’s favorite time of year at this time is still golden autumn. He managed to convey her beauty like no one else in Russian art.

Following the painting “Autumn in Abramtsevo,” Polenov creates a large canvas, which he calls “Golden Autumn” (1893, V.D. Polenov Museum). A broad picture of nature opens up to the viewer's eyes. Calmly rolls his transparent blue waters majestic river. Its high bank gives way to a slightly hilly plain that stretches to the horizon. The hills, outlined by smooth, flowing lines, gradually disappear and disappear into the blue distance. Only a small part of this plain falls into the artist’s field of vision - the hills, trees and river appear as if accidentally cut off by the frame of the picture. This forces the viewer to mentally continue the image, to imagine the whole view as a whole, which intensifies the feeling of the vastness of the Oka meadows captured by the artist.

Polenov's landscape with its calm and wide spread of space, abundance of light, air, smooth, flowing rhythms of the terrain lines, centric balanced composition produces a surprisingly peaceful impression. It is harmoniously combined with the state of the depicted nature. It is a transparent and clear autumn, slightly gilding the banks of the Oka and humbly shining with its “quiet beauty” (Pushkin). The wild flowering of the Abramtsevo autumn has ceased, its burning has faded. Peace, concentration, silence reigned. The colors have faded. Dim, gentle, harmonious and light, they the best way express this mood. Air, which plays a primary role in the painting, facilitating the transfer of wide open spaces, extinguishes them even more. But this no longer worries Polenov. The sonorous, bright, rich colors of “Autumn in Abramtsevo” would be out of place here. A quiet, contemplative mood determines the entire structure of the landscape and leaves its mark on the interpretation of the image of nature.

Since the second half of the 90s, classes landscape painting more and more begin to fade into the background, crowded out by Polenov’s new serious plan - his cycle of paintings from the life of Christ.

The idea of creating this cycle, apparently, originated with Polenov during the period of his work on the painting “Christ and the Sinner”.

A new work dedicated to Christ appeared shortly after the creation of the painting “Christ and the Sinner”. It was the painting “On Lake Genisaret”, or, as Polenov called it, “Christ walks along the shore of the lake” (Tretyakov Gallery).

Desert, majestic nature. In the distance is a wide-spread mountainous country; chains of low mountains go to the very horizon, appearing against the sky with their smooth, softened outlines. The surface of a calm blue lake with almost motionless waters and distant shores. The sun has already stopped mercilessly scorching the earth, and the distant plans of the landscape are already beginning to plunge into the late afternoon blue haze.

The type of Christ in the painting is the same as in the painting “Christ and the Sinner”. This is a man of strong build, with pronounced oriental facial features, meek and wise. But here it is given not in the process of communicating with people, but alone with oneself, one’s thoughts, in communication with nature. Immersed in himself, like a blind man, not seeing his surroundings, he walks with a measured, quiet step along the path along the lake and, it seems, there is no end to his path. His entire figure is almost not involved in the movement, almost motionless - Christ himself does not seem to notice that he is walking, the state of self-absorption has so strongly engulfed him. And at the same time, nature, with its silence and detachment from all earthly storms, so amazingly corresponds to the internal structure of the image of Christ that you involuntarily feel how it subjugates a person to itself, how, before the consciousness of the beauty and harmony of being born by it, purely human doubts and thoughts recede and remain one overwhelming feeling of merging with nature, dissolving in it.

Continuing to work on the cycle of paintings “From the Life of Christ,” Polenov “to replenish the material” (according to E. V. Sakharova) went to Rome in the fall of 1894. There he spends the winter of 1894/95 and paints the painting “Among Teachers” (Tretyakov Gallery), conceived back in 1884.

A second trip to the East was undertaken in 1899. The route lay through Constantinople, Athens, Smyrna, Cairo, Port Said, and Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, a caravan was set up for Tiberias, Tire, Sidon, and Beirut. Beirut was the final destination of the journey.

On the way back, Polenov traveled from Constantinople to Vienna and from there to Moscow. The entire journey took about three months.

Having visited the places that the gospel legend associates with the name of Christ, Polenov collected a large amount of sketch material for his gospel cycle.

The painting went well. In 1909, the enormous work of creating the cycle “From the Life of Christ” was completed. The works were shown to the public first in St. Petersburg (February - March 1909, 58 paintings), then in Moscow and Tver (in May 1909, 64 paintings). The series “From the Life of Christ” consisted of small sketches, divided into cycles in accordance with the Gospel legend: 1. Childhood and youth. 2. At the Jordan. 3. In Galilee. 4. Outside Galilee. 5. In Jerusalem. 6. Last days. Paintings dedicated to Christ, which were painted before Polenov began working on the cycle as a whole ("Christ and the Sinner", "On Lake Gennesaret" and "Among the Teachers"), were included in it in reduced repetitions.

As in his previous paintings on gospel themes, Polenov views Christ as a real historical figure and therefore does not depict the miracles attributed to him at all in his cycle “From the Life of Christ.” At the same time, Polenov strives to capture not so much the dramatic episodes and events of his life, but rather to show Christ, the nature that surrounded him, and the people who stood in his way. “My paintings serve mainly as an image of nature and the environment in which the Gospel events took place,” Polenov wrote about his cycle to L. Tolstoy.

Based on his real impressions from traveling in the East, Polenov paints pictures of peaceful and ideally beautiful nature, where the sun shines gently, skies that know no storms turn blue, majestic mountains rise, softened in their outlines, and the mirror surface of transparent blue lakes sparkles. In accordance with the nature of the landscape, the artist’s favorite tones are: turquoise blue, pinkish lilac, golden white, emerald green. The entire life of Christ and those close to him seems to pass in contemplation of this beautiful nature; such a significant place in Polenov’s cycle is occupied by the image of Christ and his disciples in the bosom of nature, in a state of internal immersion in its life, dissolution and merging with it.

This state turns out to be most characteristic of Polenov’s heroes, and even often regardless of the moments of life they experience. This is how Christ lives in nature and exclusively by nature, not only in the paintings “On Lake Gennesaret”, “Dreams”, “Retired to a Deserted Place”, “In the Morning, Rising Early”, etc., where this state is determined by the plot itself, but also in the paintings “Was in the desert with the beasts”, “Returned to Galilee in the strength of spirit”, etc., the plot of which contains more general issues the worldview of Christ associated with his search for ways to serve truth, goodness, and people.

Nature in many paintings of the cycle “From the Life of Christ” even begins to dominate people, acquiring in the artist’s eyes the only vital value and significance. In such paintings, people appear like small insects in the bosom of the grandiose earth (“They were baptized by him,” “He taught,” “Across the sown fields,” “He left the land of Gennesaret,” etc.).

It is characteristic that Polenov’s Christ remains much less often with people than alone with himself, alone with nature. His communication with people is limited to the sphere of selected people close to him, who share his views and has the character of an ideal communication of souls (such are the paintings “Simon and Andrew”, “Levi - Matthew”, “Mary Magdalene”, “Woman of Samaritan”, “Instruction to the Disciples”, “They brought the children”, “At Mary and Martha’s”, etc.; these paintings are absolutely devoid of genre principles; the images of people in them are inactive, contemplatively passive). Polenov almost never pits Christ against dissenters, with people hostile to him, creating an atmosphere of ideal human relationships around him.

That is why the end of Christ, which was least successful for the artist, turns out to be so unexpected in Polenov’s depiction. The paintings of the “Last Days” cycle - the most recent creations - suffer from external pathos, beauty and are not free from the serious influence of Art Nouveau, which affected the other sketches to a much lesser extent. And they were unsuccessful for the artist not simply because he could not cope with the dramatic scenes, but because they were alien to him, did not meet the search for inner harmony, the desire to create an idyllic picture of the world, which were characteristic of the series “From the Life of Christ.” That is why, in the paintings of the “Last Days” cycle, what was heard first of all was not the tragedy of an ideal personality, betrayed and misunderstood by the crowd, but “the pacifying principle of nature.”

“The general mood is very high,” Polenov noted the audience’s attitude towards the exhibition of his paintings. The success of the exhibition was confirmed by everyone who sent congratulations to the artist on the occasion of its opening and the completion of his life’s work. “Dear and deeply respected Vasily Dmitrievich! Thank you for your attention and memory and for the moments of unusual, especially aesthetic pleasure that were the result, in addition to direct artistic merit, with which I wholeheartedly congratulate you, but also that deeply touching and important, your serious attitude towards your huge oeuvre"y [work] that you have dedicated your entire life to. . . I wish you and your dear family. . . to enjoy the success, which is undoubted and of which we were witnesses, for the public (and a huge one) eagerly watched and experienced high moments: I have not seen such serious attention and interest for a long time,” wrote L.O. Pasternak to Polenov. P. P. Chistyakov, Polenov’s teacher, who came to the artist to cordially thank him for the exhibition of paintings “From the Life of Christ,” told him: “And many artists came with me, and everyone was silent... Makovsky Vladimir is wise, and he calmed down, says : “Here the purity of Christ is connected with the beauty of nature.” This is true!” Polenov and Serov spoke about the high impression the exhibition made on him. “I really liked the feeling, it even seemed to captivate me,” he admitted.

Leo Tolstoy was unable to attend the exhibition. Polenov, interested in the opinion of the great teacher of life about his cycle, sent him an album with reproductions of paintings “From the Life of Christ”. “I am very grateful to you, Vasily Dmitrievich, for sending your album,” Tolstoy wrote to Polenov. “According to the stories, I had a very vague idea about your exhibition, but your album made a strong impression on me. I can imagine how the exhibition itself would have affected me, and "I am very, very sorry that I could not see her. Not to mention the beauty of the paintings and your completely sympathetic attitude towards the subject depicted, this very enormous work you put into this matter evokes deep respect for the artist."

Polenov could be satisfied. His work, to which he devoted all the strength of his soul in his declining days, received recognition from his contemporaries.

Work on the landscape and paintings “From the Life of Christ” did not exhaust Polenov’s activities during these years. Selflessly devoted to art, he tried to serve it in all its forms and manifestations.

A special section of the artist’s creativity is his activity in the theater. Polenov’s passion for theater and work on the design of performances began literally from the first steps of his independent creativity. Big role Polenov’s friendship with S.I. played a role in this hobby. Mamontov, a passionate theater lover, but even if it were not for Mamontov, Polenov in his work as an artist inevitably had to come to work in the field of theatrical and decorative art. For Polenov the educator, theater was another (and very serious) opportunity to serve the cause of educating people in the spirit of goodness, truth, and beauty. “We agreed with him (Mamontov. - T. Yu.), - wrote Polenov, - in an effort to raise children from everyday life into the realm of heroism and beauty. . ".

Polenov designed quite a significant part of the productions of the Mamontov circle and the Mamontov private opera. Among them: the scenery for A. Maykov’s tragedy “Two Worlds” (1879, Mamontov circle), for S. Mamontov’s play “Camorra” (1881, Mamontov circle), dramatic poem V. Zhukovsky "Camoens" (1882, Mamontovsky circle), to Gounod's opera "Faust" (1882, Mamontovsky circle), to S. Mamontov's fairy tale play "The Scarlet Rose" (1883, Mamontovsky circle), to S. Mamontov's mystery " Joseph" (production 1880, 1881, 1887, 1889, Mamontov Circle), for Nikolai's opera "The Merry Wives of Windsor" (1885, Mamontov Opera), for S. Mamontov's comedy "To the Caucasus" (1891, Mamontov Circle), for the opera Gluck's "Orpheus and Eurydice" (1897, Mamontov Opera), to P. Tchaikovsky's opera "The Maid of Orleans" (1899, Mamontov Opera) and a number of others.

In 1915, according to the project of V.D. Polenova for section folk theaters a house was built with decoration and costume workshops and theater hall. By unanimous decision of the section members, it was named “House named after V.D. Polenov.”

Polenov’s activities in the section were of the most diverse nature. He did not limit himself to creating sketches of scenery for amateur performances (standard sets for plays by Turgenev, Ostrovsky, etc., distinguished by their great simplicity and high artistry), developing methods for simplified productions, Polenov paid serious attention to compiling a repertoire for folk amateur groups, and often performed himself as an author of plays and a composer (his play “Anna of Breton” was performed on the stage of Polenov’s house with great success), he took an active part in directing performances. In all this activity, Polenov, as before, proceeded from the human need (as he understood it) to see in art “something that rises above the difficult reality, good, beautiful, ideal,” which, in his opinion, was called upon primarily to satisfy theater.

Polenov worked in the section to implement these ideas of his until October revolution. After the revolution, he continued his work in Borka, organizing a number of peasants there theater clubs. The section, even after the revolution, continued to bear the name “House of Theater Education named after Academician V.D. Polenov” for a long time.

There is one more area social activities, to which Polenov made a large and significant contribution. This is his teaching work, or rather, his education of the younger generation of artists, for teaching the fundamentals of professional skill does not exhaust the role of Polenov as a teacher. Polenov the educator in the fullest and highest sense of the word, as we saw him both in art and in theatrical and decorative work, showed himself to be one in his communication with young people. One of his favorite students, E. Tatevosyan, spoke well about this quality of Polenov in his address to the artist on the day of his eightieth birthday: “I, one of your younger students, am filled with feelings of love and admiration for you, since I owe you not only your instructions in art, but moreover, I owe you moral education, your personal example. How many happy years I spent with you, under your leadership. For everything, I sincerely thank you forever..."

Judging by the reviews of his students, Polenov carefully explained to everyone his mistakes and shortcomings, immediately showed himself how to write, and encouraged everyone to tirelessly observe and learn from nature. Polenov attached particular importance to mastering painting techniques, the ability to achieve beauty in color solutions, purity and sonority of paints, and increasing their luminosity based on the use of the law of tonal relationships. “Vasily Dmitrievich introduced students in detail from the very beginning to paints and their changes: from compounds, soil and air,” “demanded cleanliness of the palette and brushes, careful, sparing laying out of paint on the palette, mixing individual pure tones on it, without at all bringing them to dirt, good, seasoned canvas, dry, old board, etc.” The effectiveness of Polenov’s system of teaching the fundamentals of painting is proven by the fact that such wonderful colorists as K. Korovin and Levitan came out of his workshop. Arkhipov, Golovin and a number of others. Polenov helped them polish their natural gift and at the same time preserve all the originality of their pictorial vision of the world.

Open to new ideas in painting, Polenov himself learned from his students, supported the endeavors of the young, and defended their interests before the older generation of Itinerants.

Polenov spent the last years of his life in Borka. He continued to work constantly, inspired by the landscapes of the Oka.

On July 18, 1927, the artist died at his estate and was buried in the cemetery in Bechov.

With the Big Gold Medal, he traveled around Europe, studying different schools and styles of painting and visiting many museums and art galleries. The artist searched for his direction for a long time - and already in adulthood he gained fame as a landscape painter and master genre painting. Thanks to the painting “Moscow Courtyard,” Polenov became the founder of “intimate painting,” and his painting “Christ and the Sinner” was purchased by Emperor Alexander III for his collection.

Medalist of the Academy of Arts

Vasily Polenov was born in St. Petersburg into a large noble family. His father Dmitry Polenov, secretary of the Russian Archaeological Society, studied chronicles and history and was fond of art. Mother Maria Polenova (née Voeykova) took painting lessons from the artist Karl Bryullov. Thanks to her portraits, we know what Vasily Polenov looked like as a child. Parents supported their children's interest in art and hired teachers from the Academy of Arts. Pavel Chistyakov, at that time still a student at the Academy, taught drawing and the basics of painting to Vasily and his younger sister Elena. Chistyakov managed to instill in the young man a meaningful attitude towards creativity: “Don’t start anything without thinking, and once you start, don’t rush”- he advised.

Vasily Polenov enjoyed studying painting and wanted to enter the Academy of Arts. However, his parents insisted on receiving a classical university education. In 1863, after graduating from high school, Vasily Polenov, together with his brother Alexei, entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University. However, he soon left the university and began to study only painting. He attended evening classes at the Academy of Arts, studying drawing, anatomy, construction art, geometry and the history of fine arts. In 1867, Vasily Polenov completed his student course and received silver medals for his drawings and sketches.

Vasily Polenov. Resurrection of Jairus' daughter. 1871. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

Ilya Repin. Resurrection of Jairus' daughter. 1871. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

Later, the artist finally decided to graduate from university: he entered the Faculty of Law and in 1871 successfully defended his dissertation on the topic “On the meaning of art in its application to crafts.” In the same year, Polenov received the highest award - the Great Gold Medal - for the painting “The Resurrection of Jairus’s Daughter.” His fellow student Ilya Repin prepared the same topic, he also became a medalist. The artists also received the right to retire abroad for six years.

European pensions - Germany, Italy, France

At this time, Vasily Polenov was already 27 years old, but he had not yet decided on his artistic “specialization.” Therefore, during his internship abroad, he often visited museums. In Germany, Polenov studied art German artists- Carl Piloty, Gabriel Max, Arnold Böcklin, Hans Makart. As the painter recalled, their works affected him like “opium intoxication.” Polenov visited knights' castles and made sketches there - based on them he later painted the painting “The Right of the Master,” which was bought by Pavel Tretyakov for a lot of money and without even haggling.

After Germany, Polenov went to Naples, Venice and Florence.

“Italy seems to me different from the way it is usually portrayed. I somehow don’t see many yellow-red tones, except at sunset, but I think more like silver-olive, that is, gray.”
Vasily Polenov

This impression of the artist was reflected in his painting “Italian Landscape with a Peasant.” In Italy, Polenov's friendship began with the philanthropist Savva Mamontov and members of the Abramtsevo circle. The artist participated in their performances and concerts, discussions and carnivals. Painting classes receded into the background: “I found myself in such a whirlpool that I completely got caught up in the vanity of the world, and forgot about my own ascetic feat.”. Later, Polenov visited Abramtsevo more than once - to Mamontov’s estate near Moscow.

Vasily Polenov. Sir's right. 1874. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Vasily Polenov. Shower. 1874. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

A trip to France had a great influence on Polenov’s work. Parisian art schools and painting styles delighted and inspired the painter. Here he became more acquainted with representatives of the Barbizon school and saw paintings by landscape painter Camille Caro. Under the influence of the Barbizonians, Polenov created the painting “Rain” in gray tones, as the artist recalled - he painted it “for himself, for relaxation.” However, Ivan Turgenev really liked the canvas, whom the artist met there, in the capital of France.

On the advice of the artist Alexei Bogolyubov, around whom a kind of circle had formed in Paris, Vasily Polenov, following Ilya Repin, went to the north of France - to Normandy, to a small town near the sea of Veul. Polenov lived here for several months and painted many landscapes: “White Horse”, “Normandy”, “Old Gate. Veul”, “Etretat. Normandy" and many others.

Front-line sketches and landscapes of old Moscow

Two years before the official end of his trip abroad, the artist began to work for an early return to his homeland. He presented two paintings to the Academy of Arts - “The Right of the Master” and “The Arrest of the Huguenot” - and 50 Parisian sketches. For his work, Polenov received the title of academician.

“It [the trip abroad] brought me benefits in many ways, the main thing is that everything that I have done so far is wrong, I need to give it all up and start again - great. Here I tried and tried all kinds of painting: historical, genre, landscape, marina, portrait of a head, images of animals, nature morte, etc. and came to the conclusion that my talent is closest to the landscape, everyday genre, which is what I will do »
Vasily Polenov

Immediately upon returning to Russia, Vasily Polenov volunteered for the Serbian-Turkish front. The artist reflected his military impressions in ethnographic types, architectural sketches, scenes from bivouac life - these illustrations from the battlefield were published by the magazine "Pchela". The painter did not create battle paintings. In a letter to the Russian singer Marya Klimentova-Muromtseva, he wrote: “The subjects of human disfigurement and death are too strong in nature to be conveyed on canvas, at least I still feel some kind of flaw in myself, it doesn’t work out for me what is in reality, it’s so terrible and so simple.”.

Vasily Polenov. Moscow courtyard. 1878. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Vasily Polenov. Grandmother's garden. 1878. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Vasily Polenov. Overgrown pond. 1879. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

In 1877, Vasily Polenov, as he wanted, settled in Moscow. Inspired by the views of the old capital, he began working on the canvas “The Tonsuring of the Worthless Princess.” The painting was never painted, but Polenov created sketches of Kremlin cathedrals and ancient towers, and learned to paint ancient Russian interiors. The sketch from the Savior on the Sands formed the basis of the landscape image of old Moscow - the painting “Moscow Courtyard”. Vasily Polenov made his debut with it at the exhibition of the Association of Itinerants in 1878. However, the artist himself did not like the painting, and he complained that he did not pay more attention to the painting: “Unfortunately, I did not have time to do a more significant thing, but I wanted to participate in a traveling exhibition with something decent, I hope in the future to earn time lost for art.”. However, “Moscow Yard” was a huge success among critics: the work stood out against the backdrop of ascetic aesthetics with its special poetry and elegiac Turgenev mood. Polenov’s paintings “Grandma’s Garden” and “Overgrown Pond” also participated in the exhibitions.

Educational Center of Vasily Polenov

In 1881, Vasily Polenov began work on the painting “Christ and the Sinner” - the first of a future cycle about the life of Christ. The artist wanted “to create a Christ who is not only coming, but has already come into the world and making his way among the people”. Together with art critic Adrian Prakhov and industrialist Semyon Lazarev, he went to the Middle East. The travelers visited Turkey, Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Greece. Polenov was inspired by bright oriental landscapes and colorful clothes local residents. Pavel Tretyakov bought the sketches brought from the trip directly from the exhibition of the Itinerants in 1885.

However, his first trip to the Middle East distracted the artist from his original plan, and his sketches had nothing to do with the planned series about the life of Christ. Therefore, Polenov went in search of nature in Italy. There he created sketches for the painting “Christ and the Sinner”. The artist made sketches in pencil, oil, and charcoal. Polenov painted the painting itself in 1886–1887 in the office of Savva Mamontov. This work was first published at the XV Traveling Exhibition. Alexander III bought the painting there. The Emperor was ahead of Pavel Tretyakov, who was already negotiating with Polenov about purchasing the canvas.

Vasily Polenov. Christ and the sinner. 1888. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

Vasily Polenov. View of the Oka River from the eastern bank. 1898. Tula Museum of Fine Arts, Tula

Having long dreamed of “a house on the banks of the Oka... where there will be a museum, gallery and library,” Vasily Polenov acquired an old estate at the beginning of 1890. In its place, a house was built according to the drawings of the artist himself. It, as the author intended, became an important educational center. The Polenov family settled here, there was a museum and an art gallery in which paintings by the artist himself and his many students hung: Konstantin Korovin, Isaac Levitan, Ilya Ostroukhov and others. In the vicinity of the village of Bekhovo, Polenov built two schools, as well as a diorama for peasant children - a trip around the world in pictures in the form of a small light theater.

In 1905, Polenov completed work on paintings of the gospel cycle. The paintings were exhibited throughout Russia, and they were a great success.

After the October Revolution, Vasily Polenov continued his educational activities: he independently led excursions around the estate, worked with peasant youth, organized theater clubs, taught children the basics of painting. The artist did not abandon his creativity - in 1919 he painted the painting “Spill on the Oka River”. Critics recognized it as one of the best in Polenov’s late work. In 1924, the Tretyakov Gallery was organized personal exhibition artist - in honor of his 80th birthday. And two years later, Polenov was one of the first to be awarded the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR.

In 1927, the painter died in his estate.

Overgrown pond

“This extraordinary Russian man,
somehow managed to distribute himself between the Russian
the lake with the lily and the harsh hills of Jerusalem,
hot sands of the Asian desert.
Its biblical scenes, its high priests,
his Christ - how could he combine in his soul
this poignant and colorful grandeur with the silence of the simple
Russian lake with crucian carp? Isn’t it because, however,
does the spirit of the deity waft over its quiet lakes?”
Fyodor Chaliapin

Polenov, Vasily Dmitrievich. Portrait by I. Repin

One of the most significant phenomena in Russian painting of the second half of the 19th century is the work of Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov.
Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov is a Russian artist, master of historical, landscape and genre painting, teacher. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1926).
The work of Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov is one of the most significant phenomena in Russian painting of the second half of the 19th century.
A remarkable landscape painter, he developed plein air painting systems in Russian art, creating works full of poetry and lyricism, beauty and truthfulness, and freshness of painting. His paintings "Moscow courtyard" "Grandmother's garden"; "Christ and the Sinner" brought recognition to the artist. They are not only widely known and popular, but have become a kind of “sign” of Russian fine art.

The artist’s multifaceted creativity was not limited to achievements in the field of landscape genre. A painter and theater artist, an architect and a musician, he revealed his talent in every genre and type of art, and in many respects acted as an innovator.

In 1888, the artist wrote in one of his letters:

“It seems to me that art should give happiness and joy, otherwise it is worth nothing.”
It can be considered that these words contain the creative principle of the master, which he carried throughout his life.

The artist’s multifaceted creativity, where he sought to apply all his talents, knew no bounds. He is a painter and theater artist, architect and musician, and was an innovator in many ways.

Film 1. Painting, landscapes.

Film 2. Historical and genre painting

Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov was born in St. Petersburg on May 20 (June 1), 1844 into a cultured noble family.

His father, Dmitry Vasilyevich Polenov, the son of an academician in the department of Russian language and literature, was a famous archaeologist and bibliographer. The future artist’s mother, Maria Alekseevna, nee Voeykova, wrote books for children and was engaged in painting. The ability to draw was characteristic of most of the Polenov children, but two were the most gifted: the eldest son Vasily and the youngest daughter Elena, who later became real artists.

Polenov’s vivid childhood impressions were trips to the north, to the Olonets region with its pristine nature, and to Olshanka, Tambov province, to the estate of grandmother V.N. Voeykova. Vera Nikolaevna, daughter of the famous architect N.A. Lvova, raised after the early death of her parents in the house of G.R. Derzhavina was well versed in Russian history, knew folk poetry, and loved to tell her grandchildren Russian folk tales, epics, and legends. It was in this atmosphere that Polenov’s artistic taste was formed. Voeykova in every possible way developed her grandchildren’s passion for painting, encouraged creative ambition, organized competitions among children, awarding, as in academies, a “medal” for the best work.

The children had painting teachers from the Academy of Arts. Meeting with one of the teachers - P.P. Chistyakov - became decisive for Polenov’s life path. Chistyakov taught drawing and the basics of painting to Polenov and his sister in 1856-1861. At that time, he demanded from his students a close study of nature.

“The nature,” Polenov later recalled, “was established for a long time, and the drawing was developed systematically, not by a conventional method, but by careful study and, if possible, an accurate rendering of nature.” “Don’t start anything without thinking, and, having started, don’t rush,” the teacher advised Polenov. Obviously, Chistyakov was able to convey to his student the main thing - a professional approach to painting, the understanding that real art can only arise as a result of hard work and, just as importantly, Polenov was able to learn this.

After much hesitation, in 1863, after graduating from high school, he entered together
with his brother Alexey to the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics
(natural category) St. Petersburg University.
At the same time, in the evenings, as a visiting student, he attends
Academy of Arts, and he studies not only in drawing classes,
but also listens with interest to lectures on the subjects of anatomy, construction
art, descriptive geometry, history of fine arts.
Polenov does not stop playing music.
He was not only a regular visitor to the opera house and concerts, but also
he himself sang in the student choir of the Academy.
Having transferred to the full-scale class of the Academy of Arts as a permanent
student, Polenov leaves the university for a while, completely immersed in
into painting. Having thus made the right choice, because already in
In 1867 he completed his student course at the Academy of Arts and received
silver medals for drawings and sketches. Following this, he participates in two competitions
for gold medals in his chosen class of historical painting and from January
1868 again becomes a university student, but now a law student
faculty.

In 1871 he received a law degree and, simultaneously with Ilya Efimovich
Repin, a large gold medal for the competition painting
"The Resurrection of Jairus' Daughter."
Polenov strives to create a work of high style, to give a sublime
character depicted, masterful layout and color scheme, she wore
genre features, but there was no improvement in the concept of this picture.
Many noted the great warmth of feeling expressed by Polenov in the image of a girl,
stretching out a thin hand to Christ.
In 1869, Polenov received a small gold medal for the painting “Job and His Friends.”
and in 1871 (at the same time as Ilya Repin) for a competition entry
“Christ Raises the Daughter of Jairus” - large gold medal.

Resurrection of Jairus' Daughter

Having simultaneously completed a university course at the Faculty of Law in 1872,
Polenov went abroad as a pensioner of the academy.
Visited Vienna, Munich, Venice, Florence and Naples, lived for a long time in
Paris and painted there, among other things, the painting “The Arrest of the Countess d’Etremont”,
which secured him the title of academician in 1876.

Arrest of the Huguenot, Countess d'Etremont. 1875

The artist’s realistic aspirations, strengthened under the influence of I. Repin and
A. Bogolyubov, were more fully manifested in his subtle plein air landscapes and sketches.
After returning to his homeland, Polenov became a staunch supporter of national democratic art.
He paints truthful portraits of the storyteller, imbued with love for the people of the people.
epics by N. Bogdanov (1876), village boy Vakhramey (1878),
picture from peasant life"Family Grief" (1876).

Epic storyteller Nikita Bogdanov. 1876
Returning to Russia in 1876, he soon went to the theater of the Russian-Turkish war,
during which he served as the official artist at the main apartment
heir-Tsarevich (later Emperor Alexander 3).
At the end of the war he settled in Moscow.

Afterwards I traveled a lot.
In 1881-1882 he went on his first trip to the Middle East and
to biblical places: to Constantinople, Palestine, Syria and Egypt,
from where he brings sketches and outlines for the large-scale canvas “Christ and the Sinner”,
as well as other paintings painted in the new one Polenov found on his trip
for myself the manner of writing.

Christ and the Sinner

The strongest impression on him was made by “Venezia la Bella” (the beauty of Venice), which appears (in his words) “to a passing traveler as something fantastic,
some kind of magical dream." Polenov's admiration for Venice intensified because
that it was the birthplace of his favorite artist, Paolo Veronese, who captivated him
while still studying at the Academy of Arts.
Since then, Veronese's passion has not passed, becoming, year after year, more and more
meaningful and purposeful. Polenov with his talents as a colorist was amazing
the enormous coloristic gift of the Venetian artist, the power of his painting.

Venice

Venice. Channels and pipes

“What a subtle sense of colors,” Polenov admired,
- how extraordinary
the ability to combine and select tones, what strength is in them, how free and wide
detailed composition, with all this ease of brush and work, like no one else
I don’t know!” Admiring the beauty of the colors of Veronese’s paintings.

The period of his retirement business trip helped Polenov understand that he was not
historical painting is his true element.
Polenov's gaze turned undividedly to the landscape.
This was the result of his searches abroad.

Since the 1870s, Polenov worked a lot in the field of theatrical and decorative painting.
In 1882-1895, the artist taught at the Moscow School of Painting,
sculpture and architecture, where among his students were I. I. Levitan, K. A. Korovin,
I. S. Ostroukhov, A. E. Arkhipov, A. Ya. Golovin and E. M. Tatevosyan.

Polenov’s humanistic talent is finally revealed in its full strength and is revealed precisely on Russian soil, revealing at the same time its Russian warehouse. Having mastered plein air painting, he had to achieve the fullness and richness of colors, their emotional richness, which was achieved in the works that followed “Moscow Courtyard”, written with all the brilliance of pictorial skill - the paintings “Grandma’s Garden” and “Overgrown Pond”.

Grandmother's garden

She really, first of all, captivates with her painting.
Its ash-gray with a lilac and bluish tint, pale pink,
sand, silver-green of various shades of tone, harmoniously
when combined with each other, they form a single color scheme.
The image created in the painting by the artist is devoid of one-dimensionality; in him
naturalness and harmonious combination of different aspects of the perception of life,
its comprehension. Depicting an old mansion and its decrepit owner,
Polenov, unlike Maksimov with his painting “Everything is in the Past,” did not
tells the viewer about the style of this life. The fusion of man with nature, which
Polenov shows here, making those depicted similar to the inhabitants of the Moscow
courtyard Both live quietly and naturally, one life with nature,
which gives meaning and poetry to their existence.
This feeling of harmony and beauty of life awakens in the viewer that bright
a peaceful and joyful mood that resolves his elegiac
thinking about the scene captured by the artist.

In 1877 Polenov settled in Moscow. A year later at the VI traveling exhibition
Polenov shows what later became his business card picture
“Moscow Courtyard”, painted from life in an Arbat lane.
But the painting “Moscow Courtyard” is Polenov’s first painting exhibited
among the Wanderers, whose cause he had long sympathized with.

Moscow courtyard. GT G

The artist treated his debut with the Peredvizhniki with great feeling.
responsibility and therefore was terribly tormented that due to lack of time it gives
to an exhibition of such an “insignificant” thing as “Moscow Courtyard”,
written as if in jest, by inspiration, without serious and lengthy work.
"Unfortunately, I did not have time to do more significant things, and I
I wanted to go to a traveling exhibition with something decent,
I hope in the future to earn back the time lost for art,” he lamented
Polenov.
However, Polenov was mistaken in assessing his painting, not suspecting what
the future awaits this work, that it will be among the pearls
Russian school of painting, will become a landmark work in the history of Russian
landscape. In this picture the author reproduced a typical corner of old Moscow -
with its mansions, churches, courtyards overgrown with green grass, with its almost
provincial lifestyle.
The morning of a clear sunny day at the beginning of summer (according to the artist’s own recollections).
Clouds glide easily across the sky, the sun rises higher and higher, warming
warmly the earth, lighting up the domes of churches with an unbearable brilliance, shortening the thick shadows...
The courtyard comes to life: a woman with a bucket is hurriedly heading towards the well,
chickens are rummaging in the ground near the barn, children are starting to fuss in the thick green grass,
A horse harnessed to a cart is about to set off...
This everyday bustle does not disturb the serene clarity and silence.

After its resounding success, the artist becomes the founder of a new
genre - “intimate landscape”.

Since 1879 he was a member of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions.
Acquires fame as a master of the epic landscape, which he then multiplies,
settling on the Oka and traveling to places associated with the cradle
Christianity.

Being a city dweller from birth, Polenov was very fond of the vast expanse of endless fields, dense deciduous forests descending to mighty rivers.
I dreamed of settling in the lap of nature. In 1890 he acquired the small estate Bökhovo in
Aleksinsky district, Tula province, on the high bank above the Oka.

In a quiet place, in pine forest, a little away from the village he built his own house
original project, and there are art workshops in the house.
The estate was named Borok.
There Polenov worked hard and productively, willingly inviting rural children to join him,
spent for them educational activities and performances, developed artistic
taste. According to Polenov’s plan, the estate was to become a “nest of artists”,
and eventually turn into the first provincial public museum.
Polenov built a folk theater for peasants and a church in Bökhov.
In 1899 he went to the Middle East for the second time to collect material for
the grandiose gospel series “From the Life of Christ,” which he completed in 1909.
The exhibition of these paintings was a great success and at the time of the exhibition it became
central event in the world of painting.

Who Do People Revere Me For?

Among the teachers

They brought the Children.1890-1900
In 1910-1918, Polenov conducted educational activities in Moscow and participated in the organization of the people's theater.

In 1906 - in Great hall The Moscow Conservatory performed Polenov's opera Ghosts of Hellas.

In 1914, an exhibition of paintings from the cycle “From the Life of Christ” was organized in Moscow to raise funds for the benefit of those wounded in the First World War.

In 1915, according to Polenov’s design, a house was built on Presnya in Moscow for the Section for Assistance to Factory and Village Theaters; Since 1921 it has been the House of Theater Education named after Academician V.D. Polenov.

Polenov spent the last years of his life in Borka. He continued to work constantly, inspired by the landscapes of the Oka, where many of the master’s landscapes were painted, he collected an art collection to open a public museum. Now there is the Museum-Estate of V. D. Polenov.
In 1924, the first personal exhibition was held at the State Tretyakov Gallery, dedicated to the artist’s 80th anniversary.

In 1926, Polenov was awarded the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR.

The artist died on July 18, 1927 in his estate and was buried at rural cemetery in the village of Bekhovo on the steep bank of the Oka, where he so often loved to draw sketches. According to his will, an Olonets cross was erected over his grave.
“I remember Polenov - another wonderful poet in painting. I would say, you can’t breathe on any of his yellow lilies in the lake.
This extraordinary Russian man somehow managed to distribute himself between the Russian lake with a lily and the harsh hills of Jerusalem, the hot sands of the Asian desert.
His biblical scenes, his high priests, his Christ - how could he combine in his soul this colorful and poignant grandeur with the silence of a simple Russian lake with crucian carp!
Isn’t that why, however, the spirit of the deity blows over its quiet lakes?...”
F.I. Shalyapin “Literary legacy”

Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov was born in St. Petersburg on May 20 (June 1), 1844 into a cultured noble family. His father, Dmitry Vasilyevich Polenov, the son of an academician in the department of Russian language and literature, was a famous archaeologist and bibliographer. The future artist’s mother, Maria Alekseevna, nee Voeykova, wrote books for children and was engaged in painting. The ability to draw was characteristic of most of the Polenov children, but two were the most gifted: the eldest son Vasily and the youngest daughter Elena, who later became real artists. The children had painting teachers from the Academy of Arts. Meeting with one of the teachers - P.P. Chistyakov - became decisive for Polenov’s life path. Chistyakov taught drawing and the basics of painting to Polenov and his sister in 1856-1861. At that time, he demanded from his students a close study of nature. “The nature,” Polenov later recalled, “was established for a long time, and the drawing was developed systematically, not by a conventional method, but by careful study and, if possible, an accurate rendering of nature.” “Don’t start anything without thinking, and, having started, don’t rush,” the teacher advised Polenov. Obviously, Chistyakov was able to convey to his student the main thing - a professional approach to painting, the understanding that real art can only arise as a result of hard work and, just as importantly, Polenov was able to learn this.

After much hesitation, in 1863, after graduating from high school, he entered, together with his brother Alexei, the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics (natural science) of St. Petersburg University. At the same time, in the evenings, as a visiting student, he attends the Academy of Arts, and not only studies in drawing classes, but also listens with interest to lectures on the subjects of anatomy, construction art, descriptive geometry, and the history of fine arts. Polenov does not stop playing music. Not only was he a regular visitor to the opera house and concerts, but he himself sang in the student choir of the Academy. Having transferred to the full-scale class of the Academy of Arts as a permanent student, Polenov left the university for a while, completely immersing himself in painting. Having thus made the right choice, because already in 1867 he completed his student course at the Academy of Arts and received silver medals for drawings and sketches. Following this, he participated in two competitions for gold medals in his chosen class of historical painting, and in January 1868 he again became a university student, but now at the Faculty of Law.

In 1871, he received a law degree and, simultaneously with Ilya Efimovich Repin, a large gold medal for the competition painting “The Resurrection of Jairus’s Daughter.” Polenov strives to create a work of high style, to give a sublime character to the depicted, a masterful layout and color solution, it bore the features of a genre, but there was no refinement in the concept of this picture. Many noted the great warmth of feeling expressed by Polenov in the image of a girl stretching her thin hand to Christ.

However, several more years passed before Polenov really found himself as an artist. Vasily went to Paris for a long internship, and there he painted, among other things, the painting “The Arrest of the Countess d’Etremont,” which secured him the title of academician in 1876. The artist’s realistic aspirations, strengthened under the influence of I. Repin and A. Bogolyubov, were more fully manifested in his subtle plein air landscapes and sketches. After returning to his homeland, Polenov became a staunch supporter of national democratic art. He paints truthful portraits, imbued with love for the people of the people, of the epic storyteller N. Bogdanov (1876), the village boy Vakhramey (1878), and a picture of peasant life “Family Grief” (1876).

Returning to Russia in 1876, he soon went to the theater of the Russian-Turkish war, during which he served as the official artist at the main apartment of the heir-cresarevich (later Emperor Alexander 3). At the end of the war he settled in Moscow. Afterwards I traveled a lot.

The strongest impression was made on him by "Venezia la Bella" (the beauty of Venice), which seems (in his words) "to a passing traveler like something fantastic, some kind of magical dream." Polenov's admiration for Venice was intensified by the fact that it was the birthplace of his favorite artist Paolo Veronese, who captivated him while still studying at the Academy of Arts. Since then, Veronese’s passion has not passed, becoming, year after year, more meaningful and purposeful. Polenov, with his inclinations as a colorist, was amazed by the enormous coloristic gift of the Venetian artist and the power of his painting. “What a subtle sense of colors,” Polenov admired, “what an extraordinary skill in combining and selecting tones, what strength in them, what a free and widely deployed composition, with all this ease of brush and work, like I don’t know from anyone!” Admiring the beauty of the colors of Veronese's paintings. Then he proceeded to Rome, but he was disappointed. “Rome itself... is somehow dead, backward, outdated,” Polenov shared his observations with Repin. “It exists... for so many centuries, but it doesn’t even have typicality, like in German medieval cities... There is no life in it original, their own, and all of it seems to exist for foreigners... There is no mention of artistic life in the modern sense, there are many artists, but there is little sense; everyone works in isolation, each nationality is separate from the other, although their studios are unlocked, but the main thing is way, again, for rich overseas buyers, so that the art is adjusted to their taste... The Roman artist is already a routine imitator in his first painting. Old Italians don’t captivate me either..." Therefore, not a single painting was created in Rome.

The period of his retirement business trip helped Polenov understand that historical painting was not his true element. Polenov's gaze turned undividedly to the landscape. This was the result of his searches abroad.

For example, the painting "Grandmother's Garden" was exhibited at the VII Traveling Exhibition in 1879. In his review of the exhibition, Stasov named “Grandma’s Garden” among the best works, noting its painting, which is distinguished by its “freshness of tones.” She really, first of all, captivates with her painting. Its ash-gray with a lilac and bluish tint, pale pink, sand, silver-green tones of various shades, harmoniously combined with each other, form a single color scheme. The image created in the painting by the artist is devoid of one-dimensionality; it is natural and harmoniously combines different aspects of the perception of life and its comprehension. Depicting an old manor house and its decrepit owner, Polenov, unlike Maximov with his painting “Everything is in the Past,” does not tell the viewer anything about the style of this life. The fusion of man with nature, which Polenov shows here, makes those depicted similar to the inhabitants of a Moscow courtyard. Both of them live quietly and naturally, one life with nature, which gives their existence meaning and poetry. This feeling of harmony and beauty of life awakens in the viewer that bright, peaceful and joyful mood that allows him to elegiacally reflect on the scene captured by the artist.

But the painting “Moscow Courtyard” is Polenov’s first painting exhibited by the Itinerants, whose cause he had long sympathized with. The artist treated his debut with the Peredvizhniki with a sense of great responsibility and therefore was terribly tormented that, due to lack of time, he was giving for the exhibition such an “insignificant” piece as “Moscow Courtyard”, painted as if in jest, by inspiration, without serious and long-term work . “Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to do a more significant thing, but I wanted to go to a traveling exhibition with something decent, I hope in the future to earn time lost for art,” Polenov lamented. However, Polenov was mistaken in assessing his painting, not suspecting what future awaited this work, that it would be one of the pearls of the Russian school of painting, and would become a landmark work in the history of Russian landscape. In this painting, the author reproduced a typical corner of old Moscow - with its mansions , churches, courtyards overgrown with green grass, with its almost provincial lifestyle. The morning of a clear sunny day at the beginning of summer (according to the artist’s own recollections). Clouds glide easily across the sky, the sun rises higher and higher, warming the earth with its warmth, lighting up the domes of churches with an unbearable brilliance, shortening the thick shadows... The courtyard comes to life: a woman with a bucket is hurriedly heading towards the well, chickens are busily rummaging in the ground near the barn, they are starting to fuss in In the thick green grass of the children, a horse harnessed to a cart is about to set off... This everyday bustle does not disturb the serene clarity and silence.

IN further development Polenov's life as a landscape painter in the era of the 90s is inextricably linked with his life on the banks of the Oka, which during these years became an inexhaustible source of his creative inspiration. Dreaming of settling “in nature,” Polenov acquired in 1890 a small estate “Bekhovo” in the former. Aleksinsky district, Tula province. There, according to his own design, he built a house with workshops for his artist friends. The estate was named "Borok". The choice of a new place to live happily coincided with the direction of Polenov’s creative searches in the 90s and, one might say, largely contributed to the success of these searches. The nature of the area was conducive to the development of Polenov's attraction to the epic landscape. The artist very quickly found his theme in the landscape and from that moment became a real poet of Oka.

On July 18, 1927, the artist died at his estate and was buried in the cemetery in Bechov.

Lyrical landscape painter, wrote biblical stories, innovator. Polenov V.D. taught artists to handle paints in a new way.

Vasily Polenov’s father is a historian, archaeologist, bibliographer. Dmitry Vasilyevich participated in the preparation of the reform that freed the peasants. Mother Maria Aleksandrovna Vaeikova, granddaughter of the architect N. Lvov, painted portraits under the guidance of academician of painting K. Moldavsky (a student of K. Bryulov), and was the author of children's books. Polenov's sister also became famous artist and participated in the establishment of new art at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Since 1859, a student at the Academy of Arts P. Chistyakov taught the future artist the basics of painting. Almost all the famous Russian artists of the second half of the 19th century were educated by P. Chistyakov. He foreshadowed Polenov’s fame: “They are a colorist,” he said, “and they compose tones in such a way that I couldn’t compose them either.”

Polenov, devoted to nature, her admirer and servant. His first acquaintance with nature took place at the age of ten, when his parents brought him to the Imochentsy estate in the Olonets province.

In 1861, Polenov went to study in Petrozovodsk, and in 1863 to St. Petersburg, where he entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University. At the same time, Polenov attended classes at the Academy of Arts, when there was a turning point at the Academy (I. Kramskoy and like-minded people left the Academy in protest against academicism). At the same time when realistic painting was born.

In 1871, the Russian artist, while continuing to attend the life class (as a full-time student), graduated from the university, only at the Faculty of Law, and defended his dissertation “On the meaning of art in its application to crafts.” So Polenov received the degree of candidate of rights. At the same time, he received the Big Gold Medal at the Academy of Arts, submitting the painting “The Resurrection of Jairus’s Daughter” to the competition - the same medal was awarded to Academy graduate I. Repin in the same year. A large gold medal gave the right to an internship abroad.

In 1872-76, Polenov studied abroad - in Germany, Italy and France. During this time, the Russian artist chose a direction in painting, his favorite artist was Paolo Veronese (Venice), he painted pictures in Paris and Veul, and here he became close friends with I. Repin.

In Rome, Polenov met the philanthropist S. Mamontov, and later he became an active participant in the Abramtsevo circle. In Abramtsevo, Polenov painted many of his paintings, designed amateur performances, and professional ones at the Mamontov Private Opera. The Russian artist himself wrote operas and proposed his design for the Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands as an architect.

In 1882, in Abramtsevo, Polenov met his other half - N.V. Yakunchikova, cousin of E.G. Mamontova. Polenov’s wife was fond of painting, attended the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, and always shared artistic interests husband From her correspondence with her sister, many facts are known about the work of the Russian artist.

In 1876, returning to Russia, the Russian artist went to the Serbian-Montenegrin-Turkish war, then to the Russian-Turkish war. At the latter, he was an artist-correspondent at the main apartment of the heir to the crown prince (in the future - Emperor Alexander III).

In 1877, Polenov moved to Moscow. In 1878 he became a member of the Association of Traveling Exhibitions. At the VI traveling exhibition, the artist’s painting “Moscow Courtyard” was released - it brought fame to the artist and became the discovery of a new genre of “intimate” landscape.

In 1881-82, in order to paint the painting “Christ and the Sinner,” Polenov travels to the East, where he makes many sketches of paintings; they are distinguished by their freedom of execution and sparkling colors.

In 1882, Polenov became the head of landscape and still life classes at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. For 12 years, Polenov taught young talents, among them were celebrities - K. Korovin, I. Levitan, M. Nesterov, A. Golovin, I. Ostroukhov, A. Arkhipov, S. Malyugin. The students doted on their teacher. “His paintings,” recalled A. Golovin, “delighted us with their colorfulness, the abundance of sun and air in them. It was a real revelation."

In 1899, Polenov again travels to the East. There he collects materials to create a series of paintings “From the Life of Christ”. And in 1909 he presented this series to the viewer; the exhibition became the largest artistic event of the pre-revolutionary years.

In 1892, Polenov moved to the Borok estate on the banks of the Oka, it was built according to the artist’s design, and he lived there for 40 years. The artist dreamed that it would become a “nest of artists” and the first provincial museum. In neighboring Bekhov he built a church for peasants and founded a folk theater. In 1913, he worked as chairman of the section of folk theaters at the Moscow Society of People's Universities.

In 1926, Polenov received the title of People's Artist of the RSFSR; a year later he died in his own estate.

Famous works of Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov

The painting “Moscow Courtyard” dates back to 1878 and is currently in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. With this painting, a creative turning point occurs in the life of the Russian artist; at the same time, in 1877, he moved to Moscow, which discovered an original painter in him. The painting appeared before the viewer at the VI Peredvizhniki Exhibition in 1878. The author of the painting believed that the painting did not contain any “ideological” content, which he reported in a letter to I. Kramskoy: “Unfortunately, I did not have time to do a more significant thing - I would like to set foot on the mobile with something decent... » At this time, the artist was looking for an apartment, creating a picture in between, capturing the view from the window.

“Moscow Yard” - a city landscape with elements of genre painting - is filled with the warmth of everyday life. If we talk about the style of painting, we can note that the background and foreground of the picture contrast deeply. The background is a solemn part of the picture; it depicts temples, bell towers, and mansions. In the foreground, a different color scheme reveals “private” life. The academicism of the picture lies in the contrast between the foreground and background of the picture. A smooth transition from sky to greenery was achieved by the colorist - light blue roofs with a green tint. Looking at this picture, it seems as if you yourself are looking out of the window, where there is a scene of a crying child abandoned by other children. Compositional solution the paintings in the arrangement of the participants in the painting - horses, chickens, people - lead the eye from one “landmark” to another.

In 1879, Polenov wrote something else: famous work– “Overgrown Pond” is a masterpiece of a master colorist. The painting “Overgrown Pond” - a narrative landscape - contains several impressions of the artist. Polenov began painting this picture before leaving for the Russian-Turkish war. In the village of Petrushki near Kiev, he made a sketch for the painting (summer 1877). In the fall of 1878, the artist moved from Arbat to the Moscow outskirts, to Khomovniki. Here he transfers into his sketch all the charm of the old garden. So in 1879 the painting was released at the VII Peredvizhniki Exhibition. The theme of the picture continued. Polenov’s student I. Levitan wrote his “Overgrown Pond.” Polenov's work turned out to be successful and fruitful.

The model of the woman’s figure was the artist’s sister V.D. Khrushchev. The picture contains nostalgic notes, which are emphasized by old bridges with a trampled path. The academic sound of the picture can also be traced here in the composition, construction of the background and foreground. The foreground is painted with special care - bright water lilies and other details. Polenov’s skill as a colorist lies in the artist’s use of the same green color in different gradations.

One of the famous works of the Russian artist, written in 1886, is “Sick Woman”. The second title of the painting is “Elegy”. This picture has a 13-year history. The first sketch was made by the artist in 1873. On a retirement trip from the Academy, the artist met Russian student E. Boguslavskaya, a hopelessly ill girl. The painter was shocked by the image of fading youth. He made a sketch, to which he returned in 1881, shocked by the death of his sister V.D. Khrushchev. At the same time, the soul of the Abramtsevo circle, Marusya Obolenskaya, with whom Polenov was in love, dies. In 1886, the artist's first-born son died. So in 1886 the canvas was completed and sent to the traveling exhibition. This one was last picture written by Polenov on a genre plot.

An all-consuming darkness surrounds and engulfs the girl, symbolizing death, almost obsessive. To emphasize the girl’s hopeless state, the artist places her deep in space, hiding her face in the shadows and clarifying its sad expression. The color center of the color composition is the objects on the table, like a way of life.

The famous painting by Vasily Polenov “Christ and the Sinner” (1886-87). State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg. Polenov wrote a whole series of works “From the Life of Christ”. The title of each painting corresponds to a quotation from the Gospel. The canvas “Christ and the Sinner” opened a series of paintings with biblical scenes. The original title of the painting was “Who is Without Sin?” The censor of the XV Itinerant Exhibition replaced the title with “Christ and the Prodigal Wife.” It is surprising that the censorship allowed this painting to be included in the exhibition at all. The matter was decided by Tsar Alexander III, who bought this painting. This painting “hacked” the existing tradition of depicting Christ. Polenov humanized Him. For him, Christ is not God, but a wanderer, a sage, a humanist. The image was dictated by the ethical quest of that time, under the influence of the books of E. Renan and the religious reformism of L. Tolstoy. V. Versaev wrote after the exhibition: “The picture gives such a Christ - as we can now only think of Him - not God, but a man with a huge soul.”

Christ Polenov is extremely down to earth, sitting in a tired pose, dressed in simple clothes, such as the Russian artist saw in the East. The background of the picture, on the one hand, corresponds to colorful oriental landscapes, and on the other, corresponds to the academic style, reminiscent theatrical scenery. Simon of Cyrene, riding on a donkey, personifies - together with the disciples of Christ placed on the left - the moment of waiting. Sketches brought from the East were used to write them.

Masterpiece by V.D. Polenov – painting “Grandma’s Garden”

This work was written in 1878 and is located in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Polenov’s masterpiece “Grandma’s Garden” came out of Polenov’s trilogy, created in 1878-79. It consists of the following paintings: “Overgrown Pond”, “Moscow Courtyard”. Polenov paints an old noble building (only from different sides) in the paintings “Moscow Courtyard” and “Grandma’s Garden.” This is the Brumgarten house, the corner of Trubnikovsky and Durnovsky lanes on Arbat. The painting was exhibited at the VII Peredvizhniki Exhibition in 1879 and brought enormous success to Polenov. This painting combines a landscape and a genre painting. The year 1861 marked the end of the life of the nobility, which was served by the Peasant Reform carried out at that time. The theme of collapsing “noble nests”, symbolizing the end of a whole historical era, firmly entered into Russian painting of the second half of the 19th century.

The painting depicts a noble mansion, as Moscow was built after the terrible fire of 1812. Mansions at that time were built mainly of wood, and stone-like plaster was applied on top. The Polenovsky mansion is depicted with peeling paint exposing wooden logs. A peeling staircase, a rusty cornice - all these are signs of ruthless time. The neglected garden, overgrown and “set free”, actively participates in the picture. The painting clearly reflects the antithesis of old age and youth. And this is not only the walking grandmother and granddaughter, but also their very clothes, lush young greenery and old trees. The picture amazes with its color scheme. There is nothing superfluous here.

Moscow courtyard

Overgrown pond