A message on the topic of Vasnetsov and his paintings. Viktor Vasnetsov - biography, paintings

Vasnetsov Viktor Mikhailovich short biography famous Russian artist is presented in this article.

Victor Vasnetsov short biography

Vasnetsov Viktor Mikhailovich was born on May 15, 1848 in the remote Vyatka village of Lopyal into a large family of a rural priest. Since childhood, Victor loved to listen to folk tales, songs, and legends. They instilled in the boy a love for Russian folk art.

The boy's talent manifested itself in early age, but due to lack of money, he was sent to religious school, and then seminary. Children of priests were admitted there free of charge. However, the craving for art led the 19-year-old seminarian from Vyatka to St. Petersburg, to the Academy of Arts.

While studying at the Academy, the young artist worked a lot (as an engraver and draftsman, and collaborated with a number of St. Petersburg magazines). I created illustrations for the alphabet with great interest. But most of all, the artist was captivated by thoughts about the heroic strength of Russian soldiers, about beauty, about freedom.

In 1876, Vasnetsov came to Paris at the invitation of Repin. At the exhibition, the artist’s attention was attracted by a large painting about fairy-tale knights. And again he remembered his idea of ​​​​creating a painting dedicated to Russian heroes.

In the summer of 1881, Vasnetsov wrote sketches in Abramtsevo and began working on the painting “Bogatyrs”. But only in 1898, Vasnetsov completed this picture.

Since 1893, Vasnetsov became a full member of the Russian Academy of Arts.

In 1899, Vasnetsov opened his first exhibition in Moscow, central work the painting “Bogatyrs” appears on it.

Viktor Vasnetsov is a famous Russian artist, whose work has left a deep mark on the culture of Russia. The great painter's brushes include paintings and church canvases. The artist did church painting to order for Russian churches. Versatile, very talented person was Vasnetsov Viktor Mikhailovich: a short biography can serve as confirmation of this conclusion.

Biography of the painter

Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov (1848-1926) was born in poor family priest in the village of Lopyal, Vyatka province, on May 15, 1848. In addition to him, his parents had five children. The boy's father paid maximum attention to raising his children. He tried to develop their horizons, and not just instill religious dogmas. Mikhail Vasilyevich subscribed to scientific journals, but the places where Vasnetsov lived were replete with legends, epics, and beliefs. The boy's thoughts were spinning around fairy tale characters. Fairy tale heroes and colorful landscapes wild land can be seen on the artist's canvases.

Little Victor showed an ability to draw from childhood. But lack of money did not allow his father to send his son to study artistic arts. The boy had to enter a religious school (1958), where education for the son of a priest was free.

After college, the boy entered the seminary, but did not graduate from the educational institution, as he began his studies at the St. Petersburg art school(1867). At the same time, the young man passed the exam at the Academy of Arts, but due to excessive modesty, did not come to check the result (Vasnetsov learned about his enrollment a year later).

After graduating from the academy, the artist participated in many exhibitions and painted temples. He became a member of the Association of Mobile art exhibitions Moscow, when I came to live in this city. Currently, you can visit the house-museum of Viktor Vasnetsov in Moscow, designed by the painter himself. Vasnetsov built it in neo-Russian style. The artist moved here in 1894 and lived with his family until his death.

The building now belongs to museum complex Tretyakov Gallery and is a museum with a permanent exhibition dedicated to the life and work of the famous Russian painter. Here you will see a portrait of Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov and a number of paintings by the great artist. Except permanent exhibition, other exhibitions covering Vasnetsov’s activities are regularly held here.

A talented painter painted until he died (July 23, 1926). He left unfinished the portrait of Nesterov, the artist’s friend and student.

Works of the Russian painter

The work of Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov developed in stages. As a student at the academy, the young man dedicated free time drawing. At that time, the young artist was interested in illustrating Russian folk sayings, proverbs, fairy tales. Noticing the student’s talent, representatives of the clergy asked him to paint the Vyatka Cathedral.

The works, written by the young artist from 1876 to 1879, depict everyday scenes. The canvases of 1880-1898 have an epic-historical orientation. Since 1890, the painter became interested in religious themes. He actively took up painting of temples, but did not forget about easel painting. After 1917, the artist painted illustrations for Russian folk tales.

During his life, Vasnetsov repeatedly took part in painting exhibitions. For the first time he exhibited works as a student at the academy. The demonstration of paintings helped the young man attract the attention of recognized artists and make his name known. After graduating from the educational institution (1873), the painter exhibited paintings as a member of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions. Such exhibitions were held in large villages and many cities. In addition to works by Viktor Mikhailovich, the exhibitions included paintings by other famous artists.

The active work of the partnership lasted until 1980, then the movement began to fade, and the organization itself ceased to exist after the last exhibition (1922).

Famous paintings

Of some of Vasnetsov's masterpieces, only descriptions remain. But many of the canvases have survived to this day. What has Viktor Vasnetsov pleased with modern art lovers: let’s look at the paintings with titles in order.

Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov left a rich legacy to his descendants. Many of his works were destroyed after the 1917 revolution. But even now we can admire the masterpieces of the great Russian painter of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov

Today I want to tell you about the Russian artist Viktor Vasnetsov.

There was a time when his paintings from the very early childhood entered the life of a young Russian and this name (like the author’s paintings) was known to anyone who graduated from a simple high school.

Artist Viktor Vasnetsov. Biography

The creative path of the artist Viktor Vasnetsov began in the 70s of the nineteenth century. This was the time when such famous peers and contemporaries of Vasnetsov as I.E. Repin, V.I. Surikov, V.D. Polenov were working. and many others. In those days, the Russian public followed the successes of the emerging “realistic art” with great interest and delight and simply “flocked” to the exhibitions of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions.

There was a huge interest not only in painting. Literature, science, music - everything was interesting, everything was warmed by the idea of ​​​​the revival of Russian culture and Russian traditions.

Artist Viktor Vasnetsov was born on May 15, 1848 in the remote Vyatka village of Lopatya, in the family of a rural priest. Big family very soon, after the birth of Victor, she moved to the village of Ryabovo, Vyatka province. The future artist spent his childhood in this God-forgotten village.

Family life rural priest differed little from the life of a simple peasant. The same garden, cattle, folk songs and fairy tales.

Soon the young man goes to Vyatka and becomes a student at the theological seminary. Studying was boring, and Victor began taking drawing lessons from the gymnasium teacher N.G. Chernyshova. Vasnetsov, with great joy and desire, painted from plaster and lithographs in the Vyatka Museum, and got a job as an assistant to the artist E. Andriolli, who at that time was painting the cathedral in Vyatka.

In 1967 future artist comes to St. Petersburg and a year later enters the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. Here he began a completely different life: he became friends with Repin and Antokolsky, Stasov and Kramskoy. Countless meetings and literary parties, debates about the ways of development of Russian art and culture.

Many of the artist’s contemporaries recalled that at that time Vasnetsov became interested in reading Russian epics and studied national culture, folklore and folk art. However, his training at the academy became simply formal - his father died and Vasnetsov devoted more time to the elementary fight against poverty. I had to somehow live on my own and help my mother, who was left alone with young children in her arms. Perhaps that is why, later recalling the years spent at the academy, Vasnetsov called his only teacher only one P.P. Chistyakov, with whom Victor developed friendly relations and to whom he very often turned for help and advice.

As a student, Vasnetsov became famous as the author of numerous drawings depicting genre scenes and urban types. In newspapers, critics praised the young author for his powers of observation, friendly humor, and democratic sympathy. And they predicted a great future for him as a typist (there was such a word. This is someone who draws types).

However, Vasnetsov sees himself as a serious artist and tries his hand at painting. His genre paintings the public notices. Special success fell to the film “From Apartment to Apartment.”

This painting was purchased for his famous exhibition by P.M. Tretyakov.

Critics do not criticize the artist, but note that his genre paintings are not distinctive in composition and are modest in painting.

The painting “Preference” (1879) is of a completely different order.

She is called the best not only in the work of the young artist, but also in Russian genre painting of the second half of the nineteenth century. Here's what he said about this painting and about the artist Kramskoy:

Over the past 15 years, the entire Russian school has told more than it has depicted. Nowadays, he will be right who really portrays it not in a hint, but in reality. You are one of the brightest talents in understanding type. Don't you feel your terrible power in understanding character?

However, despite the undoubted success, genre painting did not bring complete satisfaction to Vasnetsov himself. I wanted something completely different; other types and images attracted the artist.

Repin invites Vasnetsov to Paris - to unwind and look around, to be imbued with new ideas.

Vasnetsov lives in Paris for a whole year, studies the paintings of modern French masters, and visits museums. And he decides to return to Russia and settle in Moscow.

The desire to live in Moscow is not at all accidental - Moscow has long been attracting artists. Many years later he would write:

When I arrived in Moscow, I felt that I had arrived home and had nowhere else to go - the Kremlin, St. Basil's made me almost cry, to such an extent all this breathed on my soul, family, unforgettable.

It must be said that Moscow at that time attracted more than one Vasnetsov. Around the same time, Repin and Polenov moved to Moscow, and Surikov moved from the capital. Artists were keenly interested in the ancient capital, as a miraculous oasis capable of imbuing art with life-giving forces. We must not forget that the end of the nineteenth century was a time when interest in Russian history and national culture grew sharply.

It was in Moscow that Vasnetsov made a “decisive and conscious transition from the genre.” He suddenly clearly realized that all these years he had been vaguely dreaming of Russian history and Russian epics, old Russian fairy tales.

And very soon the artist’s first painting appeared as a result of these “historical dreams”.

“After the massacre of Igor Svyatoslavovich with the Polovtsians” the public and critics greeted it quite coolly. The “people” demanded an archaeologically accurate depiction of the battle, but did not want to accept “fairy tales and epics”.

The artist tried to explain that while borrowing the plot from “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” he was not trying to create an illustration for the work. No. He deliberately removed the blood and dirt of a real battle from the canvas, and wanted to create a heroic picture that would reflect the Russian spirit and attract the viewer not with the terrible details of the past battle, but with hidden drama, beauty, and the creation of a poetic artistic image.

Chistyakov wrote to Vasnetsov:

You, most noble, Viktor Mikhailovich, poet-artist! The Russian spirit smelled so distant, so grandiose and in its own way original, that I simply became sad, I, a pre-Petrine eccentric, envied you.

The artist offered the public a completely new artistic language, which was initially not understood and not heard.

But not everyone felt this way. As soon as the painting appeared at the exhibition, Tretyakov immediately acquired it, who realized what opportunities the new direction opened up for Russian realism. And from then on famous philanthropist and the collector vigilantly followed every creative step of the artist.

Meanwhile, Vasnetsov’s life in Moscow was simply happy: he found good friends and often visited P.M. Tretyakov’s house. at famous musical evenings.

Another friend who played a big role in the artist’s fate was Savva Ivanovich Mamontov. The artist was always a welcome guest and country house, and in the famous Abramtsevo estate. Mamontov simply selflessly loved Russian antiquity, folk art and supported young artists and writers. Very soon, thanks to the efforts of Vasnetsov, a friendly circle formed in Abramtsevo, which consisted of young artists, musicians, actors, writers who saw the origins of their creativity in Russian culture, in its origins and its uniqueness.

Paintings by artist Viktor Vasnetsov

It was in “Abramtsevo” (where the artist lived for a long time) that the first cycle of Vasnetsov’s fairy-tale paintings originated. The cycle opened with three paintings that were commissioned by Mamontov: “Three Princesses of the Underground Kingdom”, “Alyonushka”, “Ivan Tsarevich on a Gray Wolf”.

Vasnetsov wrote paintings with fairy-tale scenes all his life. With all their diversity (and even disparity), all the paintings are united, first of all, by the desire to reveal the inner content of a Russian fairy tale, to create an atmosphere that is real and at the same time fantastic. Fabulous. With a special understanding of good and evil. And faith in justice and the triumph of good.

Already in the artist’s first works one can see great love to folk costume and attention to its details. It was during this period that the participants of the Abramtsevo circle began to engage in in-depth study of ancient folk costume, forms and ornaments. And Vasnetsov uses the acquired knowledge in painting his paintings.

A striking example of his passion for folk costume was the artist’s sketch “In the Costume of a Buffoon.”

In 1881, Vasnetsov painted one of his best fairy-tale paintings - “Alyonushka”. He painted this picture in Abramtsevo. There, in Abramtsevo, the artist began decoration play "The Snow Maiden".

The performance was initially staged in Mamontov's house, and subsequently transferred to the professional stage.

With all the success of "Alyonushka", the most grandiose plan of the eighties was "Bogatyrs". The artist painted this picture for almost twenty years (1881-1898). It must be said that during this period Vasnetsov wrote several large and very significant works.

Frieze painting " Stone Age"(1882 - 1885) for Moscow Historical Museum- 16 meters in length, consisting of three parts: the first is dedicated to the life and everyday life of ancient people, the second is a scene of a mammoth hunt, the third is “The Feast”.

It was thanks to the “Stone Age” that the artist received a contract to paint the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv.

In 1891, the painting work was almost completed and the artist, together with his family, returned to Moscow. By this period financial situation The family improved so much that the Vasnetsovs were able to buy a small estate in Abramtsevo and build a small house with a workshop in Moscow. It was in this workshop that the artist resumed work on “Bogatyrs” and, at the same time, began to paint the painting “Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible” (with this painting in 1897, the artist would appear for the last time at the exhibition of the Itinerants).

In 1899, the first personal exhibition artist. And the central work of the exhibition becomes “Bogatyrs”.

In the last years of the 19th century, Vasnetsov was at the peak of his fame: the domestic and foreign press wrote well and a lot about the artist, his studio was visited famous musicians, artists and writers. Tretyakov in his gallery (already donated to Moscow) is building a special hall for Vasnetsov’s works.

During this period, the artist suddenly became fascinated by architecture. Many years ago, in Abramtsevo, two small buildings were erected according to the artist’s sketches: a house church and a “Hut on Chicken Legs”. Later - the facade of the Tretyakov Gallery and several private houses in Moscow.

"The beauty of the branches depends on the roots"

Almost the entire Vasnetsov family was priestly. In 1678 the psalm-reader of the Trifonov Monastery is mentioned Dmitry Kondratyev son of Vasnetsov. But the roots of the family come from Perm the Great: in 1678, clergymen were mentioned there at the Nyrob churchyard Vasketsovs.

Map of northern Russia, including Great Perm.

Perm Great (Perm Kamskaya) is a historical region in Russia. The cities of Cherdyn, Solvychegodsk, Solikamsk, Kaigorod, and Old Perm were called Perm the Great. The city of Old Perm was located 140 versts from the mouth of the Vychegda.

The surname arose from the name Vasily: Vaska - Vaskets - Vasketsov, and initially looked exactly like Vasketsov. Similar to this, the surnames Ivantsov and Pashketsov were formed.

The Vasnetsovs were people who devoted their lives to serving God and education: priests and teachers.

In 10 districts of modern Kirov region There are places associated with the activities of this glorious family: these are the cities and villages where the Vasnetsovs lived, churches and schools where they served people.

Mikhail Vasilievich Vasnetsov

The father of future artists, Mikhail Vasilyevich Vasnetsov, after graduating from the Vyatka Theological Seminary, was ordained a priest of the Trinity Church in the village of Lopyal, Urzhum district, where he arrived with his wife Apollinaria Ivanovna, who came from the priestly family of the Kibardins, in 1844. Two children were born in Lopyala - Nikolai and Victor.

Vasnetsov Nikolay Mikhailovich(1845-1893) - teacher, wrote the book “Materials for the Explanatory Regional Dictionary of the Vyatka Dialect”, published in 1908 by the Provincial Statistical Committee.

Vasnetsov Viktor Mikhailovich(1848-1926) - artist, master of historical and folklore painting.

In 1850, the Vasnetsovs moved to the village of Ryabovo. Four more brothers were born here: Alexander, Arkady, Apollinaris, Peter.

Vasnetsov Pyotr Mikhailovich(1852-1899) - agronomist, teacher.

Vasnetsov Apollinariy Mikhailovich(1856-1933) - artist, master historical painting, art critic.

Vasnetsov Arkady Mikhailovich(1858-1924) - people's teacher, acting as head of the city of Vyatka.

Vasnetsov Alexander Mikhailovich(1861-1927) - Russian folklorist, folk teacher, author of the collection “Songs of North-Eastern Russia” (1894).

Mikhail Vasilyevich gave all six sons their primary education at home. He taught them to read, write, count, and sing. They received their first drawing skills from their father. “I started drawing from very early childhood,” Viktor Vasnetsov later recalled, “and in my very first childhood I drew mostly ships and naval battles - this is distant lands from any sea. Then landscapes and people (peasants, etc.) from memory...”

Of course, the various talents that later manifested themselves in the brothers have hereditary roots from the grandfathers and great-grandfathers of the Vasnetsovs and Kibardins.

The village of Ryabovo - the home of the Vasnetsovs

Ryabovo is a “family nest”; the family has lived here for more than 20 years. In Ryabovo, future artists Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov (1848-1926) and Apollinary Mikhailovich Vasnetsov (1856-1933) saw the beauty of their native land and received their first lessons in painting and life. The surroundings of the village are beautiful, sung by the Vasnetsov brothers: fabulous forests, flowering fields, snow-covered expanses. Quiet Vyatka landscapes, the life and way of life of the people, fairy tales, songs, legends - everything was absorbed into children's souls and reflected in their creativity.

Victor and Appolinary came here when they were already adults and famous; their father and mother are buried here. The brothers loved Ryabovo very much and often remembered their native village, as evidenced by their letters and the memoirs of their contemporaries. On the Ryabov land, undoubtedly, ideas for future paintings arose.

Since 1981, the Vasnetsovs’ house, which has survived to this day, has housed Memorial Museum. Precious exhibits are carefully preserved: documents, photographs, antiques. A significant place in the museum’s collection is occupied by original paintings by A. M. Vasnetsov, such as “Arable land”, “Oak in Demyanovo”.

Good mentor

The Vasnetsov family of priests is endowed with artistic abilities by nature. Among them were architects who took part in the construction of rural stone churches and the preparation of “artistic drawings” according to which the bell tower of the church in the village of Talye Klyuchi was built. According to them artistic sketches“Stone church fences and metal gratings for them, trade shops for fairs and their own houses were built. The artistic talent of the Vasnetsov priests was manifested in finishing work and painting the walls of churches, arranging iconostases, and painting paintings.

In the house of Father Mikhail’s mother Olga Alexandrovna Vasnetsova, née Vechtomova, all the walls were hung with her paintings. Later, Viktor Mikhailovich recalled: “... Apollinaris and I saw the first real paintings in the house of our grandmother, to whom our father took us “to pay respects”, as soon as we arrived from the seminary... all under glass, in gold frames, hung decorously in several rows, filling the walls of the living room... We were proud of my grandmother’s talent.”

Mikhail Vasilyevich was a kind and strict mentor for his sons. During the holidays, “my father demanded to see our drawings, looked at them very seriously and severely criticized them, pointing out all the mistakes he noticed. Having finished this matter, somehow a little embarrassed and shy in front of us children, he showed his works, drawings and sketches made oil paints, all views surrounding the village beautiful places" “Once,” recalled Viktor Vasnetsov, already a student at the Academy of Arts, “we were all writing sketches, and my father’s drawing was unanimously recognized as the best.”

Many years later, in 1929, seventy-year-old Apollinary Vasnetsov, then an academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, in his autobiographical narrative “How I Became an Artist,” wrote about his father and his childhood in Ryabovo: “Love of nature, falling in love with it, observation was brought up I have a father in me since childhood. When spring came, he called me into the forest to listen to the finches; We placed birdhouses in front of the windows, and in the evenings the whole family walked through the fields. At night he drew my attention to the sky; since childhood I knew the main constellations and stars; the rotation of the firmament and its causes... The love of nature and landscape raised an artist in me, and I owe this to my father. His death shook me to the core... Eternal, heartfelt thanks to my father.”

Mikhail Vasilyevich Vasnetsov departed to the Lord in 1870 at the age of 47 years. Four years earlier, Apollinaria Ivanovna passed away. The brothers' childhood is over. Six children were left orphans.

From the midst of the people

The elder brother Nikolai (1845-1893) was 25 years old by that time. He graduated from the Vyatka Theological Seminary “in the first category,” that is, excellent, and was sent to his homeland in the village of Lopyal as a teacher at the primary school. A few years later he was appointed head of the Shurma two-year school, where he taught Russian, arithmetic, history, natural science, agriculture, drawing, and the Law of God. On his own initiative, in addition to the program, he taught geography and history lessons Vyatka region, considering the main thing in his work to be “to sanctify the soul and heart of a child.” The artistic talent of Nikolai Vasnetsov was manifested in the creation of models of ancient peasant huts, school buildings, churches and cathedrals, which were shown at the Kazan exhibition in 1890 and awarded a medal. But his absolutely unique work, the value and significance of which increases every year, is “Materials for the Explanatory Regional Dictionary of the Vyatka Dialect,” published in 1908 by the Provincial Statistical Committee.

Five other children of Father Mikhail Vasnetsov also received spiritual education and education. Arkady Vasnetsov's artistic abilities manifested themselves in wood carving and creating furniture both from his own drawings and from the sketches of Viktor Mikhailovich. His works decorated many houses in Vyatka and Moscow.

Alexander (1860-1927) was endowed with rare musicality and a beautiful voice. For thirty years, he collected and kept folk “home” choral songs - and he himself performed them with great art. His book “Songs of North-Eastern Russia” was published in Vyatka in 1894. Its uniqueness was appreciated by contemporaries and descendants.

Two brothers - Victor (1848-1926) and Apollinaris (1856-1933) - became artists. Since childhood, they had amazing powers of observation and the ability to see the deep meaning in everyday life. In the late story “The Rural Icon Painter,” A. M. Vasnetsov, remembering “dear Ryabovo,” made lively, bright sketches, thanks to which you seem to see and hear his characters: “The high staircase leading to the church, on long summer evenings served as a place where we basked in the setting sun local residents- watchman Omelyan, sextons Luka and Alexander Ivanovich, Yegor Nikolaevich “in a white linen cassock” and local icon painter Semyon Ivanovich Kopysov. Here they often sat until late at night, scribbling about this and that, deciding everyday matters, the interests of the parish, the diocese, and even the entire Russian state. This same rainbow sun peered through the windows into the church itself, playing on the gilded iconostasis, lamps and vestments on the icons.”

And as if continuing to paint pictures of rural life, V. M. Vasnetsov wrote: “I lived among men and women and loved them not in a populist way, but simply as my friends and pals, listened to their songs and fairy tales, listened to them while sitting on the stove in the light and crackling of a splinter.”

Like his older brother, Victor at the age of ten was sent to Vyatka to study at the Theological School and Seminary. There, the compulsory disciplines included church painting and architecture. From 1855 to 1867 they were led by N. A. Chernyshev, an icon painter and a good draftsman, who “had an icon-painting workshop at home. He painted icons for many churches, including “he had an agreement with the Vyatka Transfiguration Convent to paint icons in the 29 marks of the iconostasis of the cold church.”

V. M. Vasnetsov with his grandson Vitya (1925)

After graduating from the Vyatka Theological Seminary, Victor, and then Appolinary, left their native land and entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, but they did not lose contact with their native land and maintained active correspondence with relatives and friends who lived in Vyatka.

In 1909, the Vasnetsov brothers, already well-known artists throughout Russia, turned to the Vyatka community with a proposal to “set up a gallery in Vyatka and provide their works for it, as well as assist in the acquisition of works by other artists.” The proposal was supported by artists and other representatives of the city's creative intelligentsia. This is how it arose in Vyatka Art Museum- now the Kirov Regional Art Museum named after V. M. and A. M. Vasnetsov.

The museum houses one of the most significant regional collections of painting: about 18 thousand works of painting and graphics, including 27 works by Viktor Vasnetsov and 25 by Appolinary Vasnetsov, paintings by Shishkin, Levitan, Tropinin, Repin, Surikov, Aivazovsky, Saryan, Kandinsky, and also works by Vyatka artists Rylov and Khokhryakov, Vershigorov, Kharlov, Vopilov.

Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov - painter, master portrait and landscape painter, theater artist

“I look at this tall, stately man, and I believe that it is he who is destined to revive the forgotten traditions of our great ancient Russian painting...” (Nesterov M.V.)

Kuznetsov N. D. Portrait of V. M. Vasnetsov (1891)

Outstanding Russian Itinerant painter, author of heroic, epic and fairy-tale paintings, master monumental painting, theatrical scenery, graphic artist, creator of a number of architectural projects. Professor, full member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, holder of the Order of the Legion of Honor (France).

“I only lived in Russia.” These words of the artist characterize the meaning and significance of his work.

Baptism of Rus', 1885-1896

Sleeping Princess, 1900-1926

The name of Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov is one of the most famous and beloved among the names of Russian artists. His creative heritage interesting and multifaceted. The painter's talent manifested itself in all areas of fine art. Paintings everyday genre- and poetic canvases based on Russian folk tales, legends, and epics; illustrations for the works of Russian writers - and sketches of theatrical scenery; portrait painting- and ornamental art; paintings on historical subjects - and architectural projects- such is the creative range of the artist. Vasnetsov the architect is remembered with gratitude by visitors to the Tretyakov Gallery: the façade of this elegant building was designed according to the artist’s design. But the main thing is what the artist enriched Russian art, are works written on the basis folk art. Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov was born in the distant Vyatka village of Lopyal. His father, Mikhail Vasilyevich, a priest, soon after the birth of his son moved to the village of Ryabovo. Mother, Apollinaria Ivanovna, came from an old Vyatichi family. On a very modest income, Vasnetsov’s father had to feed and educate six children. Mother died early. The first thing that the future artist remembered for the rest of his life was the mysterious, bluish twilight of winter twilight blurred throughout the room and the stories of unknown wanderers. “I think I won’t be mistaken when I say that the cook’s tales and the stories of wandering people made me fall in love with the present and past of my people for the rest of my life. In many ways, they determined my path and gave direction to my future activities,” Vasnetsov wrote. Victor received other impressions, no less strong, from his grandmother Olga Alexandrovna. In her youth she was interested in painting. The future artist was breathtaking with happiness when the grandmother opened the lid of the old chest where the paints were. The boy began to draw early, but according to tradition, sons had to follow in their father’s footsteps, and Victor was sent to a theological school in 1858, and soon transferred to the Vyatka Theological Seminary. Vasnetsov’s decision to become an artist was strengthened after a meeting with an exile Polish artist E. Andrioli. From him he learned about the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. And Victor decided to try his luck. The rector of the seminary blessed him to pursue the path of a painter, saying that there are many priests, but Rublev is still one. The father also agreed, although he warned that he would not be able to help financially. When Vasnetsov turned to Andrioli for advice, he did not think long. He introduced Victor to Bishop Adam Krasinski, who attracted Governor Kampaneyshchikov, and both of them assisted in holding a lottery - the sale of Vasnetsov’s genre pictures “Priestess” and “Milkmaid”. Sixty rubles and a small amount given by his father made up the entire “substantial” capital of the future artist.

In 1867, Vasnetsov passed the exams for the academy, but, being shy and modest, did not even dare to check himself on the list of those enrolled. The ordeal began: almost without money, in search of a corner and at least some kind of work. Having accidentally met the brother of his Vyatka teacher Krasovsky, Vasnetsov found hope: he helped him get a job as a draftsman in a cartographic establishment. Subsequently, Victor got a job illustrating books and magazines. At the same time, he began to attend the drawing school of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists, where he met the artist I. N. Kramskoy. This acquaintance played a significant role in Vasnetsov’s life. When, in August 1868, Victor again decided to try his luck within the walls of the academy, he, to his surprise, learned that he had been enrolled last year. Here he quickly became friends with Repin, Maximov, Antokolsky. Together with them in a small apartment on Vasilyevsky Island Vasnetsov listened to the young scientist, historian and poet Mstislav Prakhov, who vividly expounded his doctrine of Ancient Rus'. The first year of study at the academy brought the artist a well-deserved reward - a silver medal of the second rank. The following year, 1869, Vasnetsov received another silver medal for his work “Christ and Pilate Before the People.” But from 1871, first due to illness, and then due to lack of time, the regularity of visiting the academy was disrupted. And in 1875, forced to earn his own living, and succumbing to the desire to improve in painting on his own, Vasnetsov left the academy.

By this time, he had already created the genre paintings “Beggar Singers” and “Tea Party in a Tavern” (1874). The latter was so significant that it was accepted into the exhibition of the Itinerants. In 1876, Vasnetsov included in the exhibition the paintings “Book Shop” and “From Apartment to Apartment.” The latter is more successful. Decrepit old men, husband and wife, wander along the ice of the Neva, moving from one closet to another. They have all their meager belongings in their hands. Desertion. Only a pitiful pug, running ahead, is waiting for them. Dressed in poor clothes, bent by poverty and old age, these slum dwellers look especially pitiful against the backdrop of the proudly towering Peter and Paul Fortress. It was not for nothing that they said about Vasnetsov: “He could have been a first-class genre painter... very close in spirit to Dostoevsky.”

From apartment to apartment, 1876

In the spring of 1876, Vasnetsov went to Paris, where Repin, Kramskoy and Polenov had long called him. He closely studied the life of the French people. The result of these observations was the painting “Booths in the Outskirts of Paris” (1877). A year later, returning to Russia, Viktor Vasnetsov got married to Alexandra Vladimirovna Ryazantseva. He created his family in the likeness of his father’s, patriarchal family. Vasnetsov lived for almost fifty years in happy family harmony. As his wife later recalled, when they moved to Moscow, the artist loved to wander through the old Moscow streets. And when he returned home, he often said: “How many miracles I have seen!” In front of St. Basil's Cathedral I could not hold back my tears. What was seen and experienced matured into the painting “Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible,” conceived at the turn of the 1880s and executed in 1897. The figure of the Tsar occupied almost the entire canvas. Ivan the Terrible, dressed in a brocade opashen, in a cap with icons, and in embroidered mittens, descended the steep stairs. His appearance was majestic, his face expressed will, great intelligence and at the same time suspicion, embitterment and anger. The strictly consistent color scheme of the painting created the impression of monumentality. As always, Vasnetsov had a successful background for the canvas: a massive wall, covered with rich paintings, in its thickness there is a small window, from which the old wooden Moscow, covered with snow, can be seen far below. The ornamentation of wall paintings, print patterns, and embroidery added a decorative touch to the work.

Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible, 1897

In 1878, Vasnetsov began painting “After the Massacre of Igor Svyatoslavich with the Polovtsians,” which became one of the first in his new historical epic cycle. In it, the artist wanted to solemnly, sadly and poetically glorify the heroism of Russian soldiers, as the creator of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” did. That is why he depicted not the horrors of battle, but the greatness of death for the homeland. Peace emanates from the bodies of the fallen. Beautiful mighty hero, lying with his arms wide open, and the young prince in azure robes personified the idea of ​​selfless service to the homeland. Color solution The paintings created an alarming mood. Against the dark green background of the steppe, the intense red shields and red boots of the warrior are illuminated by the crimson moon. The tragic sound of the picture was enhanced by the contrast between the themes of death and beauty: images of killed soldiers against the backdrop of lush green grass, soft blue flowers, and beautiful clothes. However, the picture did not meet with unanimous approval. She was so unusual that there could not be a single opinion about her. Only Repin and Chistyakov immediately felt the “important” thing in the film. The latter wrote in a letter to Vasnetsov: “The Russian spirit was so distant, so grandiose and in its own way original, that I simply became sad: I, a pre-Petrine eccentric, envied you...”

After the massacre of Igor Svyatoslavich with the Polovtsians, 1880

Despite the non-recognition of the picture by most critics, Vasnetsov did not abandon his chosen path and by 1882 he created “The Knight at the Crossroads.” The artist depicted a twilight steppe, a former battlefield with bones scattered across it. The evening dawn is burning down. A prophetic stone stands as a warning at the crossroads of three roads. The knight who stopped in front of him was immersed in deep thought (Stasov gave Vasnetsov the idea to inscribe an epic inscription on a dense stone). In the image of a knight at a crossroads, the artist seemed to involuntarily depict himself, his difficult thoughts about the future.

The Knight at the Crossroads, 1882

In Moscow, Viktor Vasnetsov met the family of Savva Mamontov, and this became an important event in the artist’s life. Soon this philanthropist ordered him three paintings for the meeting room of Donetsk railway: “The Battle of the Russians with the Scythians”, “The Flying Carpet”, “The Three Princesses of the Underground Kingdom”. “The first picture was supposed to depict the distant past of the Donetsk region, the second - fabulous way transformations and the third - princesses of gold, precious stones and coal - a symbol of the deity of the depths of the awakened region,” Mamontov’s son recalled the idea of ​​these works. All three pictures were as life-affirming as the fairy tales themselves.

Flying carpet, 1880

One of the artist’s most poetic creations is the painting “Alyonushka” (1881) - the image of a bitter orphan's share. A lonely sad girl sits on a stone by the water. There are forests around. And, as if taking part in her grief, they bend over to the orphan aspen tree, guard her slender fir trees, and swallows chirp affectionately over her. The figure of Alyonushka is inextricably linked in the picture with the landscape. The girl's heart is sad, and nature is sad. There is grief in Alyonushka’s brown eyes, and like her grief, the pool is dark and deep. Tears are falling and golden leaves are flying down. The color of the girl’s hair echoes the tone of autumn foliage. The composition is built on a strict rhythm, on the smooth flow of the lines of her figure with a bowed head and the slopes of the plants, which adds melodiousness to the picture. The poetry of this work is deeply national. She's like a native folk song, is understandable to the viewer. This is one of the best paintings Russian art.

Alyonushka, 1881

From the point of view of the new popular understanding of the topic, one can also consider the artist’s work on the stage embodiment of “The Snow Maiden”. When Repin saw Vasnetsov’s scenery and costumes for this opera, he wrote to Stasov: “Vasnetsov made drawings for the costumes. He made such magnificent types - delight... I am sure that no one there will do anything like that. It's just a masterpiece." The artist’s gift was especially clearly expressed in the decoration depicting Berendey’s Chamber. Here are conveyed, perhaps, all the forms that ancient architecture knew in interior decoration teremov. Berendeys and Berendeykas performed against the backdrop of these amazing scenery. It was impossible not to believe in the existence of this country. Vasnetsov’s activity as a decorator was short-lived, but quite fruitful: the scenery for Shpazhinsky’s drama “The Enchantress” and for Dargomyzhsky’s opera “Rusalka”. And even after many decades, the drawing of the magical underwater scenery in “Rusalka”, created by Vasnetsov, varied only slightly.

From 1875 to 1883, the Historical Museum, a huge building for those times, was erected in Moscow. The order for the painting “Stone Age” was obtained for Vasnetsov by Adrian Prakhov, brother of the historian M. Prakhov. This panel was supposed to open the museum's exhibition. The new theme required the artist to use a new painting technique. Here his painting style comes closest to the language of fresco. Vasnetsov used matte paints and, although he painted in oil, managed to achieve the complete illusion of painting with water paints on gray plaster, conveying the dim colors of earth, clay, naked bodies, water, and animal skins. All contemporaries highly appreciated this work, but Vasnetsov was especially pleased with Chistyakov’s praise: “Vasnetsov reached the point of clairvoyance in this picture.”

The same surprise as the order for the panel was for the artist the sudden offer to paint for the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv. And again the proposal came from Prahov. At first, Vasnetsov decided to refuse the order, but financial difficulties forced him to take up painting. Over ten years (1880-1890), six of which he lived in Kyiv, the artist and his assistants painted 2880 square meters in the Vladimir Cathedral, made 15 compositions, painted 30 individual figures. These works contain the strict Byzantine faith, the soft poetry of fairy tales, and the power of epics. Here is the Mother of God and Child: she seems to be hovering above the earth, her typical Russian face beautiful, it is full of love and sorrow. In the face of the baby, whom she carefully hugs to herself and carries into the world, there is also a kind of premonition of upcoming torment and suffering, but there is also compassion for sinners. It is not for nothing that the artist himself, speaking about his icon painting works, stated: “My art is a candle lit before the face of God...”. Vasnetsov worthily resumed the living and visible school of icon painting. Subsequently, recalling this period of creativity, the artist was surprised: “Apparently, in youth everything is possible.” He fell from the scaffolding and was broken. To perform difficult work, strong strength of mind and body was required. Many years later, in response to the artist Nesterov’s remark about whether Viktor Mikhailovich had buried himself in fairy tales from life, he replied: “Where was it higher after the Vladimir Cathedral? Where? Write bills of sale? After God?! No higher! But there is something that stands on par. This, brother, is a fairy tale.”

And this fairy tale - work was moving towards the end. Vasnetsov’s “Bogatyrs” sounded in Russian art no less loudly and victoriously than Borodin’s “Bogatyrskaya Symphony”. In this picture there is a hill from which the distant horizon opens. The characters of the canvas are three horsemen in ancient Russian equipment on war horses. This is a heroic outpost. Ilya Muromets is stocky and powerful. He easily holds a “damask club” in his hand. His straightforwardness and honesty are evidenced by the large, kind features of a peasant face. Dobrynya looks completely different. Exquisite decoration and elegance of equipment indicate noble birth hero. His gaze is stern and strict, full of justice and nobility. Psychologically, Alyosha Popovich is more difficult. He defeats the enemy not so much with strength - he doesn’t have much of it - but with cunning and acumen. Alyosha is a joker and a merry fellow, in right hand his “goosebumps are spring-like.” Thus, in a combination of courage and pride, intelligence and dexterity, and unbending greatness of spirit, the heroic outpost of Ancient Rus' is embodied in Vasnetsov’s painting. The laconic landscape palpably conveys the vastness and vastness of Russian fields. “Bogatyrs” was a brilliant conclusion to the heyday of the artist’s work.

Bogatyrs, 1881-1898

Vasnetsov worked on folklore themes (“Bayan”, 1910; “The Sleeping Princess”, “The Frog Princess”, both in 1918; “Princess Nesmeyana”, 1914-1926) until the end of his life, but with the same strength in these images no longer existed. Having devoted his life to serving goodness and beauty, he could not accept the “new” life with its political cataclysms, revolution and Civil War. More and more often, contemporaries saw the artist in Trinity Church. The bent figure of Viktor Mikhailovich seemed to confirm his words: “God must not be blurted out, but suffered through.” Vasnetsov died on July 23, 1926 at the age of 79. After evening tea he headed to his little room. After some time, the family heard something fall. The artist died of a broken heart, instantly, without illness or suffering. They say that this is how the soul leaves, which seeks Divine beauty and truth and finds peace in heaven. It was only after his death that his contemporaries truly appreciated his work. In an article published in the Bulletin of Knowledge, it was written that in the history of Russian painting, the role of Vasnetsov is “equivalent and equivalent” to the role of Pushkin in Russian poetry. And there is no exaggeration in this assessment.

Apollinary Mikhailovich Vasnetsov - landscape painter, theater artist

"IN Lately There is a tendency among artists and critics, the essence of which boils down to the proposition: “it doesn’t matter what to write, but what matters is how to write.” This is almost tantamount to denying one of the theses: the internal image, comprehended by a deep inner feeling, which is usually called “content”. (Vasnetsov A.M.)

Kuznetsov N. D. Portrait of A. M. Vasnetsov

He studied painting with V.M. Vasnetsov, his older brother. In the 1870s, imitating the populists, he became a rural teacher. From 1880 to 1887 he lived in St. Petersburg, worked in the magazines “Picturesque Review”, “World Illustration”, was a member of the “Association of Peredvizhniki” and one of the organizers of the “Union of Russian Artists” (1903). Vasnetsov traveled a lot, important place his art features landscapes of the Urals and Siberia, made in the style of northern modernism (“Taiga in the Urals. Blue Mountain”, 1891; “Kama”, 1895). At the beginning of 1900 he was already a famous artist.

By 1900 A. M. Vasnetsov became famous artist. He produced the first monumental canvases from the history of Moscow, in which Vasnetsov strives to show the appearance and very life of pre-Petrine Moscow. To do this, he had to become a research scientist. The best historical paintings: “A street in Kitai-Gorod. Beginning of the 17th century”, “Moskvoretsky Bridge and Water Gate. Mid-17th century”, both – 1900; "All Saints" A stone bridge. The end of the 17th century”, 1901, and many others. For his services in the artistic field, the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts awarded Vasnetsov the title of academician.

From 1901 to 1918, Vasnetsov taught at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, after the death of I. I. Levitan he led the class landscape painting. In 1900, Vasnetsov was awarded the title of academician.

At the turn of the century, Vasnetsov became interested in theatrical and decorative arts. He worked on the design of a number of performances: “Ivan Susanin” (1885), “Khovanshchina” (1897), “Sadko” (1899) for the Private Russian Opera of S. I. Mamontov.

In 1906, the artist became a member of the Moscow Archaeological Society, and in 1918, chairman of the Commission for the Study of Old Moscow. For the second volume of “The History of Russian Art”, published in 1910 under the editorship of I. E. Grabar, he wrote the chapter “The Image of Old Moscow”. He criticized the decadents and advocated the separation of modernity and avant-garde. He painted picturesque sketches of Moscow and the Moscow region. Vasnetsov died in Moscow in 1933.

Taiga in the Urals. Blue Mountain, 1891

Motherland, 1886

Elegy, 1893

At dawn near the Resurrection Bridge, late 17th century

Siberia, 1894

Lake, 1902

Kama, 1895

Red Square in the second half of the 17th century, 1925