Demons once brought him fame, thanks to his “Demons” he is still admired today. But why did the artist himself, at the end of his life, consider these paintings to be his burden, why was he burdened by them and suffered from them? And why, after many “demonic years,” did he still return to Scripture?

Daemon. For some reason, throughout my entire life creative life Vrubel returned to this image. And each time another one appeared on the canvas, different from the previous one: in his face there was either loneliness and melancholy, or despair. And finally, the last one appeared, “The Defeated Demon” - there was only anger and coldness in him. His gaze makes me shiver. “I believe that the Prince of Peace posed for him,” said Alexander Benois. “These sessions were pure mockery and teasing. Vrubel saw first one, then another feature of his deity, then both at once, and in pursuit of this elusive thing, he began to quickly move towards the abyss.”

Art is our religion

Funeral lament. Sketch for the painting of the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv.
1887

Strangely, Mikhail Vrubel first began to paint the Demon at the time when he was painting the St. Cyril Church and making sketches for the St. Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv. By order, he painted Christ, but in his free time, for himself, he turned to a completely different hero.

Emperor Nicholas I really liked the idea of ​​​​building the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv, dedicated to the 900th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus'. Construction began in 1862, already under Alexander II, and lasted for thirty long years. Many artists were invited to paint the Vladimir Cathedral and the St. Cyril Church - Vasnetsov, Surikov, Polenov, Repin. Not all of them agreed. To paint real icons, you need authenticity of faith. Vasnetsov, who did the main work on painting the cathedral, studied at the Theological Seminary before the Academy of Arts. The son of a priest, he understood well what he was taking on. For him, work in the Vladimir Cathedral was “the path to the light,” the path to comprehending great values.

Mikhail Vrubel's attitude towards temple painting was completely different. Vrubel did not really know Christ, did not feel him. And Christ himself was for him neither the final truth nor the final depth.

“Art is our religion,” Mikhail Alexandrovich once remarked while working on one of the paintings that captivated him. “However,” he added, “who knows, maybe you’ll still have to be moved.” The temple for him was, first of all, a temple of art. He was attracted not by religious feeling, but by the scale and monumentality of churches.

While working in the Cyril Church, Vrubel admitted in a letter to his sister: “I draw and write with all the strength of Christ, and yet all religious rituals, including Christ’s Resurrection, are even annoying to me, so alien.”

It seems difficult to keep one eye on the ground and the other on the sky. Perhaps this is why the line between good and evil in Vrubel’s Kyiv works becomes too unsteady, the images of the earthly and the heavenly in his icons are too double.

Lilac. 1900. The height of Vrubel’s “demonic period.” Even delicate flowers pull the viewer into a funnel, into a stuffy purple twilight.

It was amazingly easy for Vrubel to paint a portrait of a circus rider in a muslin skirt who captivated him on top of “Prayer for the Cup,” only because there was no blank canvas at hand.

And in the image of Vrubel’s Mother of God, the features of an earthly woman, Emilia Prakhova, are clearly visible. During his Kyiv days, Vrubel was painfully and unrequitedly in love with her.

And in the faces of his angels and saints there is little holiness. They are much more like spirits, menacing and disturbing.

Vrubel painted icons for the “Byzantine iconostasis” of the St. Cyril Church. But his sketches for the Vladimir Cathedral were not accepted. They were too different from traditional icon painting. It was a disaster. Vrubel dreamed of painting monumental canvases. Did not happen. He did not write Christ, but he will write the Demon.

Demon Gallery

In the fall of 1889, Vrubel moved from Kyiv to Moscow. He really hopes that everything will turn out differently for him in Moscow. Vrubel becomes friends with the Abramtsevo circle and somehow quickly fits into Moscow life. He became, in the words of Konstantin Korovin, “Moscow’s chick.” I got acquainted with everyone, was frequent guest Moscow rich houses, where his company was loved. Mikhail Alexandrovich was well educated, graduated from St. Petersburg University, two faculties - law and history and philology, both with a gold medal, spoke eight languages.

Vrubel was a dandy. With his last money he could buy expensive perfume and, standing in a clay basin, doused himself with warm water and perfume. I visited the hairdresser almost every day. I almost cried when the cuffs were even slightly stained with paint. Sometimes he lived from hand to mouth, but he was always dressed exquisitely and elegantly. He often spent everything he received for his work in one day. I went to the best restaurant and ordered various delicious dishes. He was known as a gourmet, knew the brands of wines, what he was supposed to drink and after what.

It seemed that there was nothing demonic in Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. He had great talent, and great passions raged in his soul. Konstantin Korovin said: one summer he and Vrubel went swimming, and Korovin saw large white stripes on his friend’s chest, like scars. When asked what it was, Mikhail Alexandrovich replied that he was cutting himself with a knife. “I don’t know if you will understand me, I loved a woman, but she didn’t love me, she even loved me, but many things prevented her from understanding me. I suffered, and when I cut myself, the suffering lessened.” We were talking about Emilia Prakhova.

Stranger to everyone

There was nothing demonic in Vrubel, and yet, why the Demon? Why does this image haunt him all his life? Even then, in Kyiv, in 1885, when the Demon first began to appear on canvas, Vrubel believed that his idol would make his name. Then he made dozens of different sketches and felt that it was not right. He tore it up, sketched what he had done and started all over again. He even decided to sculpt the Demon from clay: “... sculpted, he can only help painting.” In drawing, in painting, in clay, a whole gallery of demons unfolds, an endless demonic suite.

In Moscow, Vrubel receives an order to create illustrations for Lermontov’s collected works, including “The Demon.”

How often on top of the icy

One between heaven and earth

Under the roof of a fiery rainbow

He sat gloomy and dumb...

Vrubel often quoted Lermontov by heart. I listened to the opera “The Demon” by Rubinstein. But it was important for him to find the image of his demon. It was as if he knew his thoughts and desires. And no longer by order, in the Morozov mansion, on Sadovo-Spasskaya, Vrubel painted “The Seated Demon.”

On the canvas there is not an evil spirit or a crafty tempter. Vrubel painted melancholy. Supermundane melancholy and loneliness. His Demon is a stranger to everyone and everything. But he has inhuman power. He will not yield to anyone, either on earth or above earth. An unearthly landscape opens up around this lonely gigantic figure. A blue-purple tone covers the sky, illuminating the frozen masses of the mountains.

“There is no smile in the color lilac,” noted Goethe.

Above the crowd

For Vrubel, the creator, the artist, is always above the crowd.

He was chosen to “awaken the soul from the trifles of everyday life.” And most of it is filled with trifles, nonsense and everyday life. human life. This is why I am doomed to misunderstanding and endless loneliness: “I am an artist, but no one needs me. Nobody understands what I’m doing, but that’s what I want,” Vrubel complained to Korovin.

Vrubel’s father wrote about his son: “In conversations he revealed incredible conceit as an artist, a creator, and as a result did not allow any generalization, any measure, any comparison of him - the artist - with ordinary people.”

“No comparison with ordinary people” - perhaps in this contemptuous look at an ordinary person, in the desire to assert oneself above the world, the demonic is revealed? Maybe this is the path to the Demon?

The monumentality and power of the entire figure is an affirmation of the strength and pride of man.

A motionless giant. He feels immensely sad in the deserted, closed kingdom of his own soul. Where is the way out of this isolation? Where is that one ray that will illuminate and resolve everything?

U great artist The breath of the era shines through Vrubel’s personality. Blok will see in Vrubel’s demons a prediction of the fate of the Russian intelligentsia at the turn of the century. Creators Silver Age, they knew the transition of light into darkness.

Elizaveta Karavaeva-Kuzmina, who went down in history as Mother Maria (Skobtsova), wrote about those intellectual gatherings and ferments that she knew about first-hand:

“I remember one of our first visits to the “Tower” of Vyacheslav Ivanov. All of Russia is sleeping. Midnight. There are a lot of people in the dining room. There is probably not a single ordinary person here, a person in general or just a person. We haven’t even had time to say hello to everyone, and Merezhkovsky is already shouting to my husband: “Who are you with - Christ or the Antichrist?!” And the dispute continues. Everything is out in the open, everything is almost shameless.

A cab's horse runs at a small trot along the sleepy streets.

Some kind of drunkenness without wine. Food that doesn't fill you up. Longing again."

The melancholy of Vrubel's Demon. The intelligentsia at the turn of the century. They made an idol out of art, deified themselves as creators. Food that doesn't fill you up.

Six-winged Seraphim. 1904. The painting was painted after Vrubel’s spiritual turning point. The demonic veil falls, the artist gains prophetic vision.

“My dear woman, wonderful woman, save me from my demons...” - this is what Vrubel will write to his wife, Nadezhda Zabela, almost at the end of his life, while in a psychiatric hospital.

Zabela became for Vrubel a bright angel who warmed, inspired, and saved from loneliness. When they got married, Vrubel was 39. Fate opened the next page. Some general disorder, which many remembered, left his life.

After meeting with Zabela, Vrubel stopped painting the Demon. The purple twilight dissipated. It was as if he had been freed from demonic spells and oppression. Everything around him and in himself became brighter. And the usual scolding of critics was perceived differently - easier.

When he met Nadezhda Zabela, a scandal broke out over the panels “Princess Dreams” and “Mikula Selyaninovich”. Vrubel presented these huge panels commissioned by Mamontov to decorate the art pavilion at the All-Russian exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod. “Princess Dreams” is the eternal dream of artists about beauty. And “Mikula Selyaninovich” is the strength of the Russian land. The academic jury did not accept Vrubel's work. Critics said: “decadent ugliness”! The angry Mamontov is building a separate pavilion for these panels.

“I couldn’t figure it out, but I felt something animalistic in the hearts of the audience,” Korovin recalled. - I listened to the curses they uttered while looking at these panels. Mikhail Alexandrovich became even more convinced of his non-recognition and felt even more like an orphan of this life.”

“The Seated Demon” and Vrubel’s illustrations to Lermontov’s poem were also criticized. Many people scolded him, but there were also those who felt this strong, special gift and could not help but bow to it. Among them was Savva Mamontov, in whose private opera Nadezhda Zabela sang.

She became the muse of the composer Rimsky-Korsakov and performed the roles of the Snow Maiden, the Swan Princess, and Volkhova.

And soon this entire fabulous family will come to life in Vrubel’s paintings, in stage costumes, and in sculptures.

Zabela sang the Sea Princess 90 times, and Vrubel was present at the performance 90 times.

He idolized his wife. As an esthete, I could not help but admire her voice. He designed stage costumes for her and painted sets for operas.

It was a bright, harmonious time in Vrubel’s life. He wanted integrity and clarity of being.

Now he reaches out to the original Russian folk: “The Sea Princess,” “Thirty-three Bogatyrs,” majolica “Snow Maiden,” “Kupava,” “Sadko.”

In response to all accusations of decadence, Vrubel writes his “Bogatyr”. Stumpy, earthy, powerful - the salt of the Russian land.

Sign of fate

And yet, even in Vrubel’s fairy tale paintings, a background is visible - alarming and eerie. There is duality and slyness in Vrubel’s “Pan”. Is he a good-natured old man from the forest or a magical goblin with transparent eyes, turned out of tree bark and roots?

And the landscape of the painting “Towards Night” breathes mysterious, alarming. There is an otherworldly force in everything. Even Vrubel’s “Lilac” draws the viewer into a funnel, into a stuffy, purple twilight.

No lordship. There is increasing anxiety and tension everywhere.

A strong, special gift as an artist, but a kind of defenselessness of the soul against the forces of darkness.

“Take me somewhere, otherwise I’ll cause trouble for you...” - Vrubel will say after the funeral of his son, Savva. The child did not live even two years. Mikhail Alexandrovich was then taken to a psychiatric clinic in Riga, then placed in the Serbsky clinic in Moscow.

Blok remarked: “The little that I have heard about Vrubel is more like a fairy tale than ordinary life.”

Sometimes like a fairy tale, and sometimes like a parable. Well, it seemed that Vrubel was a dandy and an esthete, for whom the ultimate truth was beauty. Is it a coincidence that his son is born with a congenital deformity - a cleft lip? And Vrubel, who created a cult of beauty, experiences this sign or clue of his fate so hard and terribly.

On the eve of the birth of his son, Savva, in 1899, Vrubel again took on the image of the Demon. A completely different demon is born in the artist’s soul. At that time, the first translations of Nietzsche’s atheistic works had just appeared in Russia. Ibsen's dramaturgy became fashionable.

Cultivated new hero, free, powerful. A person who has an effective will to resist a society that is trying to enslave and depersonalize him.

The trouble is that the sublime mission of the new hero often sweeps away ordinary people and, in general, everything human on its “high” path.

...And now a new mask of the Demon is visible. This time it is not a mournful young man in the arms of world melancholy and loneliness.

Vrubel passionately takes up his work. In incredible excitement, he sends a note to his admirer, Mr. von Meck, who bought his paintings:

“Help and quickly get photographs of mountains somewhere, better than the Caucasus. I won't sleep until I get them."

One night, desert mountain ranges grew on the canvas behind the figure of the Demon. The unearthly cold and lifeless peace of this landscape. All. Humanity is impossible here.

In the end, Vrubel left the work unfinished. The reasons are not entirely clear.

In the flight of the Demon, instead of the intended feeling of power and freedom of spirit, there is a feeling of catastrophe, the threshold of the end. It seems that something appeared on the canvas, against the will of Vrubel himself: perhaps what the “liberated” nihilist man carries with him.

Then they will write that Vrubel brilliantly saw the spirit of Evil that hung over Europe at the turn of the century. He caught then the still barely audible, underground rumble of future upheavals.

Not many years will pass - and this rumble will burst out. The builders of happiness for future generations will march across Russia in orderly rows. And over a confused, frightened country, where there is hunger, communal services and devastation, Mayakovsky’s voice will thunder like thunder: “Down with your love! Down with your art! Down with your system! Down with your religion!”

That's later. In the meantime, in 1899, the powerful Demon on Vrubel’s canvas flies directly at the viewer, and features of torment and doom appear in his appearance.

Darkness

The image of the Demon as a freedom-loving rebel came into art only after romanticism. The New Testament texts completely abandon graphic images of Satan. Theological literature does not describe the appearance of the devil or uses metaphors. On the contrary, folklore and art pay attention to this great attention. In the Middle Ages, when depicting Satan, they endowed him with a gigantic body of incredible size, animal features, and multi-armedness. But it was always an image of evil and darkness.

Prophet's head. 1905 The demons are already behind us. He doesn't look at the world
with contempt, but seeing beautiful secret and the depth of life itself.

XVIII-XIX century. In art - the era of romanticism with the depiction of strong (often rebellious) passions and characters. The image of Satan becomes almost positive. The demon as a symbol of a lone rebel challenging an ossified society. A whole gallery of rebellious demons appears in art - both in Byron and in Lermontov.

Vrubel is the heir to this tradition.

At one time, Lermontov got rid of his demonic hero relatively easily.

And this wild nonsense

Has haunted my mind for many years.

But I, having parted with other dreams,

And I got rid of him - in poetry!

For Vrubel, everything turned out much more tragic. The painting “Demon Flying” remained unfinished. But the image of the Prince of this world again completely controls the artist. The demon is looking for his new incarnation.

In December 1901, another painting appeared - “The Defeated Demon.” Vrubel rewrites his canvas again and again, without stopping work even at exhibitions in Moscow and especially in St. Petersburg. On the canvas there is an inverted body, as if under torture.

Vrubel hoped that the Tretyakov Gallery would acquire the painting. Artist friends, on whom the acquisition of his treasured painting depended, criticize the incorrect anatomy in the depiction of the Demon’s figure. Vrubel was furious. Having lost all tact, he openly insulted Serov, Ostroukhov and even his wife. Ostroukhov, member Arts Council Tretyakov Gallery, wrote about this:

“Vrubel tormented me so much with his scenes that I can’t calmly watch another of his works, every peacock eye of the Demon’s wings seems to scream to me with Vrubel’s nervous cries...”

Mikhail Alexandrovich worked on this painting in an incredible nervous frenzy. He did not follow anatomical correctness. Realism was not important to him. Finally he found the one he was looking for - his truly tragic Demon. His twisted, broken body is a metaphor for the internal torment he has experienced and the struggles of the spirit. The strong, sublime in the human creator is crushed and trampled upon by the ponderous foundations of society. This man is hunted, defeated, but not broken. He continues his battle with God, with the world, with people. There is no reconciliation, and strength is gathering in the soul for a new uprising.

Vrubel intends to go to Paris and exhibit his “Demon” there under the title “Icon”.

While working on this painting, Mikhail Alexandrovich will fall into real spiritual darkness. Those who saw him in those days at an exhibition in St. Petersburg were shocked by what was happening. However, it is better to give the floor to eyewitnesses. Alexandre Benois recalls:

“Every morning, until 12, the public could see how Vrubel “finished” his painting. There was something terrible and monstrous in this last struggle. Every day we found new and new changes. The Demon’s face at one time became more and more terrible and more terrible, more painful and more painful.”

But it seems that the spirit that Vrubel was captivated by and exalted, mocked him himself.

After the euphoric upsurge of work, Vrubel falls into severe depression. The artist's mind cannot withstand the incredible creative stress. In April 1902, Vrubel was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Mikhail Alexandrovich’s illness is mysterious. Many things played a role in this breakdown: misunderstanding of Vrubel by fellow artists, deafness to his quest. And, of course, the exhausting creative struggle in which Vrubel tried to capture the essence of the Demon. But the Demon constantly changed, eluded, and this duel becomes an obsession for the artist.

Or maybe the fluidity of essence is the essence of the demonic. Everything doubles and triples, nothing can be found on solid ground. The discovered truth soon turns into a crafty deception.

Enlightenment

In the hospital, Mikhail Alexandrovich soon loses his gloss and sophistication; it is difficult to recognize him as the former dandy. The disease disfigured his appearance. Vrubel’s wife’s sister, Ekaterina Ivanovna Ge, wrote: “...and poor Misha himself is now covered in pimples, red spots, without teeth.”

It's external. And inside is enlightenment bought with flour.

Vrubel finally parted with his demons.

In the hospital, Mikhail Alexandrovich draws a portrait of his doctor, Doctor Usoltsev, a very religious man.

“Over my 48 years, I have completely lost the image of an honest person, especially in portraits, and acquired the image of an evil spirit. Now I must see others and the fullness of the image of my God,” Vrubel writes on the back of this painting.

A spiritual turning point begins in Vrubel’s quest.

Prophet. Late work Vrubel

Now his main works are devoted to the theme of the prophet: “Six-winged Seraphim”, “Head of the Prophet”, “Vision of Ezekiel”.

“Six-winged seraphim” is an angel close to the throne of God. Angel who destroys all darkness:

With fingers as light as a dream,

He touched my eyes.

The prophetic eyes opened...

The demonic veil falls, and Vrubel gains prophetic vision. This is the law of all true knowledge. It begins with cleansing and renewal.

There is a lot of personal things for Vrubel in the painting “Head of the Prophet.” The portrait resemblance is so obvious here. How much this man has suffered. A look filled with pain, but also enlightened and sublime. He looks at the world not with hatred and contempt, as the “Demon Defeated” once did, but seeing the beautiful mystery and depth of life itself. Truly, enlightenment was bought through pain.

Times of exacerbation of mental disorder are replaced by calm periods for the artist. He leaves the hospital, lives in St. Petersburg, writes and draws. But since 1906, Mikhail Alexandrovich almost never leaves the clinic. His latest works: “The Vision of the Prophet Ezekiel” and a portrait of the poet Bryusov. Bryusov recalled these sessions in the hospital. “Vrubel was very tormented by the thought that he had lived his life badly, sinfully, and that, as punishment for this, against his will, obscene scenes appeared in his paintings. “This is what the devil does to my paintings. He was given power because I, being unworthy, wrote to the Mother of God and Christ. He distorted all my paintings."

These confessions can be attributed to Vrubel’s unhealthy state of mind. Or perhaps there is a true and bitter regret here that the insight came to him as an artist so late; that he wasted his undoubted gift on exalting emptiness.

For the last four years, Vrubel, blind and insane, lived in St. Petersburg psychiatric clinics. His wife came to him and sang, she sang only for him. Mikhail Alexandrovich loved it very much.

Vrubel is an anxious, sighted soul. He was captured by a demon, but the demon turned out to be a false prophet. Behind all his temptations in fact lay emptiness, an abyss. Vrubel touched this terrible emptiness with his soul and paid for this knowledge at too high a price - the destruction of his soul.

At his funeral, Blok will say: “Vrubel left us his demons as spellcasters against purple evil, against the night.” Hardly as spellcasters. These are not chimeras of Notre-Dame de Paris. These are images of darkness that haunted the artist all his life.

Perhaps in our world today it is worth thinking about his will. About the value of creative freedom without moral restrictions, about the fact that self-aggrandizement sooner or later turns into a fall, and about the fact that, having stopped looking for light, a person not only does not find happiness, but fills the world with disappointment and despair.

We thank the publishing house “White City” for providing the reproductions

This text is available in e-book format.

Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel (1856-1910) I shouldn't have become an artist at all. He received legal education, there was no one in his family who was associated with painting. In this respect, his story is very similar life path. He was a preacher for a long time, but became an artist in order to convey the essence of Christianity to ordinary people. Vrubel, unlike Vincent, was not sick with the Bible. Immanuel Kant brought him to painting.

Oh, those German philosophers! How much they have done for Russian culture. Where are we without Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer? I’m generally silent about Karl Marx. Those born in the Soviet Union absorbed his philosophy with their mother's milk. So, Vrubel had Kant. The artist read it in a special way. In Kant's theory of aesthetics, the category of geniuses with their special mission - work in the sphere between nature and freedom - was recognized only in the field of art. Who doesn’t feel like a genius at 24? The choice was obvious: of all types of art, Mikhail Vrubel liked painting the most.

Vrubel was lucky. Despite the fact that the future artist entered the Academy only as a volunteer, he began to study privately in the workshop of the legendary Pavel Petrovich Chistyakov. Chistyakov, in fact, was the teacher of almost all the stars of Russian painting of the late 19th century. Among his students were Repin, Surikov, Polenov, Vasnetsov, Serov. They all had a completely different style, but they all unanimously called Chistyakov their only real teacher.

Vrubel studied with the best masters, had conflicts with eminent colleagues (most often he attacked Ilya Efimovich Repin). One day, during dinner, he said to Repin:

“And you, Ilya Efimovich, don’t even know how to draw!”

Chistyakov recommended Vrubel to Adrian Viktorovich Prakhov, who at that moment was engaged in the restoration of the St. Cyril Church in Kyiv. He needed an unknown and inexpensive master with an academic education. Vrubel was perfect. But only at first glance. The artist’s works were clearly of an absolutely independent nature. There was not a word in them about the restoration of monuments of the 12th century.

Everything would be fine. The customer liked the master’s work, his fee was increased, and he could become famous. Yes, he could, but in his life Vrubel never looked for simple paths. Love came into the artist’s life - the scourge and inspiration of sublime natures. It seems that there was nothing wrong with this if the object of the master’s love had not become the wife of his patron and employer, Emilia Lvovna Prakhova. It was a complete failure. At first, the ardent lover was sent out of harm's way to Italy, but this did not affect him in any way. Returning to Kyiv, Vrubel immediately announced that he intended to marry Emilia Lvovna, and he announced this not to her, but to her husband. The ending was predictable. Vrubel was forced to leave, and also began to cut himself. This made him feel better.

A new stage in the artist’s life began in Moscow. Here he met his main benefactor, philanthropist Savva Mamontov. Even before this, Vrubel had a crisis of faith, at the moment when he was painting the painting “Prayer for the Cup.” In one of his letters to his sister, the master wrote:

“I draw and write with all the strength of Christ, and meanwhile, probably because I am away from my family, all the religious rituals, including Christ's Resurrection, they even annoy me, they’re so alien.”

Strange, but it was while working on the painting of Kyiv churches that the artist came to a theme that would not leave him until the end of his life. He found his "Demon".

"Demon" became business card artist. His defeat and his triumph. Many consider the series of paintings and sculptures to be a kind of illustration to the poem by Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov. But it is not so. Lermontov’s work is the root cause, but in Vrubel’s mind everything was transformed in a bizarre way.

The artist's demon is not the spirit of evil. He is the soul of nature itself and the master himself.

Vrubel always had his own view of the world. He considered nature not just alive, but inhabited by spirits! These spirits are the real face of the world around us, its essence, but very few see them.

Thus, the story of the Demon turns into a completely different plot than in Lermontov’s poem. This is a story about the death of this world. There are three paintings in the series, like three stages of the plot. Meditation - “Demon sitting”, battle - “Demon flying” and defeat - “Demon defeated”.

It is symbolic that the last picture in this trilogy should have been the most striking. Vrubl experiments with phosphorus-based paints. He wants his painting to literally glow. The public will see it for the first time at the 1902 exhibition. But what a surprise visitors will be when they see not only the canvas, but also the master finishing it. Mikhail Vrubel until the very last moment didn't like it final result. The colors in the picture became brighter, but the Demon’s gaze dimmed and took on an increasingly angry expression.

The demon was defeated, but defeated in the splendor of his triumph. The picture literally glowed. The pink crown on the hero's head glowed with bright fire, peacock feathers flickered and shimmered. But the artist did not calculate. The brightness of the colors was phenomenal, but they were short-lived. On the day the exhibition closed, they had already begun to get dark. The picture is still spectacular. But this is only a pale shadow of what it was before.

“The Defeated Demon” brought Vrubel recognition, but the artist himself was no longer able to enjoy its fruits. Immediately after the exhibition, he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. There was a slight improvement after a year of treatment, but the loss of his only son finally broke the painter. He was less and less conscious, and by the end of 1906 he was completely blind.

But before that, while already lying in the hospital, he created two more masterpieces. These are “The Six-Winged Seraph” and “The Vision of the Prophet Ezekiel.” Vrubel returned to Christianity again, but now the work frightened him. It seemed to the artist that religiosity and strict fasting would help him heal. They didn't help.

And the painter’s fame grew in society. In 1905 he was made an academician of painting. Vrubel did not attend any of the meetings, but he still appeared in honorary status at the Academy.

On the day of his death, the artist got out of bed and said to his servant who was taking care of him in the hospital:

“Get ready, Nikolai, let’s go to the Academy!”

And let's go. The next day, the coffin with Vrubel’s body was displayed there.

Painting: 1890
Canvas, oil.
Size: 114 × 211 cm

Description of the painting by M. Vrubel “Seated Demon”

Artist: Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel
Title of the painting: “Demon Seated”
Painting: 1890
Canvas, oil.
Size: 114 × 211 cm

The paintings of one of the most famous, and at the world level, Russian artists - M. Vrubel, attract and fascinate. First of all, these are his Demons... It is impossible to pass by them without looking into the eyes of these “bad guys”. Probably, filmmakers copied the images of the most famous cynics from them, whose souls not every woman can warm, but every woman wants to.

First of all, the history of the creation of the painting “Demon Seated” is interesting. Many people associate it with M. Yu. Lermontov’s poem “The Demon” and they are right. M. Vrubel drew about 30 illustrations for the anniversary edition of the poet’s works, among which is that same Demon. This painting is now in Tretyakov Gallery, excites the thoughts of more than one generation of people.

A young man sits against the background of a crimson sky, looking into the distance. In his eyes there is pain, sadness, torment, surprise, but not repentance. Once upon a time he was expelled from paradise and wandered the earth. The Caucasus Mountains, the places where he is now, surround the Demon with their silence. The wanderer is lonely, and all his deeds, terrible and immoral, will remain with him forever - the Almighty does not allow him to forget about them, “and he would not accept oblivion.”

The first parallel that comes to mind for anyone who has ever seen “The Seated Demon” is Aeschylus’s tragedy “Prometheus Bound” - the young man depicted in the picture seems unfree in his own body and longs to get out of it, but he just doesn’t know how.

The second association is the color of Vrubel’s character’s clothing. If you remember the paintings and icons that depicted God, Jesus and the Virgin Mary, then pay attention to the fact that blue colors predominate in their clothes or they are depicted against a background blue sky. The Demon's Robe, in the picture, is rich of blue color, which is also called the color of the “Moroccan night”. Didn’t Vrubel want to say what Lermontov could not say, namely, that the Demon would still earn forgiveness and return to heaven?

Another parallel is the pose of the character in the picture - he is sitting. At all times, it was in this position that a person sat, who was depicted as thoughtful, sad and sad. Later, other artists began to use the “demon pose”, because it conveys grief, all-encompassing and irresistible. His hands are closed “in a lock” - psychologists say that this is how closed people or those who have something to hide behave. These limbs of the Demon are not raised, not rested on the sides, they are simply lowered limply - he is tired of wandering. The artist clearly describes the young man’s developed muscles, his gaze, and his flowing black hair.

It is noteworthy that the figure of the Demon itself and the color and shade of the evening sky are clearly drawn - from violet to purple, interspersed with the golden sun illuminating the horizon in the background. The rest of the composition of the picture has a certain dissonance - the strokes are rough and blurry, mosaic and flat.

The flowers depicted in the picture are somewhat similar to crystals; they have no life. Many critics say that these are dead anemones.

If you look at the "Demon Seated" from long distance, then you get the feeling that this is not a painting, but a stained glass window or panel. To achieve this effect, the artist worked with a palette knife, painstakingly cleaning it with a knife.

The color scheme of the painting is dominated by dark tones. The sky is bloody color, and only it has smooth transitions. All other boundaries are clear and specified. The range of colors “black - red - blue” speaks of a certain danger, because the very word “demon” makes many people wary. Demons are considered merciless, and Vrubel’s hero is depicted in light shades of pastel with emphatically dark lines, his clothes are of a rich shade - this is how the artist demonstrates the duality of the hero.

The golden sun, white shades of flowers, red sky, orange highlights of the sunset should set you in a positive mood, but they only worsen the overall impression. One gets the feeling of some brute force that has invaded the fragile world of nature.

The dimensions of the canvas on which the Demon is depicted are non-standard for that time - the painting is oblong, uncomfortable and cramped. In fact, this is one of the artistic techniques Vrubel - everything should emphasize the external and internal constraint of the hero, and convey that same Lermontov “neither day nor night, neither darkness nor light.”

It is amazing how strong the influence of Lermontov’s work on M. Vrubel is. For the poet, the demon is not evil pure form, he is able to enjoy the beauty of the nature of the Caucasus and feel Tamara’s grief, console her and demonically kill her with a kiss. Lermontov's hero is more of a rebel than a creature of darkness and hell, seeking to destroy all life in his path. Vrubel said the same about his Demon. According to the painter, it is in vain that they do not differentiate him from the devil and Satan, and do not delve into the origin of the name. The Greek synonym for “devil” is “horned,” and “devil” means “slanderer.” The inhabitants of Hellas called a demon a soul that rushes about in search of the meaning of life, unable to pacify the passions that boil in its soul. He does not find answers to his questions either on earth or in heaven.

What is noteworthy is that many of the critics of literature and art of the late 19th and early 20th centuries spoke of the artist’s “misunderstanding of Lermontov.” This was greatly facilitated by the deterioration of Vrubel’s health and psyche. The latter gave rise to a legend about a man of art who sold his soul to Satan.

...After the exhibition dedicated to the anniversary of M. Lermontov’s work opened, M. Vrubel closed in his studio and continued to work on paintings about demons. The painter claimed that the Demon changed not only under the strokes of his brush, but also appeared to him live. Well, the artist fought with a fallen and exiled angel, and it is unknown who emerged victorious from this war.

Vrubel's work is mysterious and mystical. If you have not yet made sure of this, visit the Tretyakov Gallery or look at his demons, images of which are full of images on the Internet. One thing can be said without a doubt - Vrubel’s demons torment the souls of many contemporary artists.

Seated" is one of the most mysterious works in world painting. The artist was inspired by Lermontov's poem. The work of the Russian poet tells the story of the beautiful princess Tamara, destroyed by a restless demon. In 1891, Vrubel created about thirty illustrations for the anniversary edition of Lermontov's works. But it was precisely the image of the "spirit of exile" " from the famous poem haunted him for many years.

Worth bringing Interesting Facts from the artist's biography, before telling the story of the creation of the painting "Demon Seated". Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel was a talented painter. However, he suffered from a mental disorder, which, however, did not deprive him of the opportunity to engage in creativity.

Mikhail Vrubel

The future artist was born in 1856 in Omsk. For many years he was engaged in church painting. In 1890 he left for Moscow and became one of the most fashionable artists. This period began with work on the painting “The Seated Demon.” It ended with a canvas depicting the same image, but in a different quality. Last years the artist spent in St. Petersburg. This was a very sad period in his biography.

After graduating from high school, Vrubel did not plan to become an artist. His parents sent him to St. Petersburg University. According to family tradition, he was supposed to become a lawyer. However, in the capital, the young artist learned about the bohemian lifestyle, which affected his future fate.

However, Mikhail Vrubel spent a lot of time reading philosophical literature, was especially interested in Kant's aesthetics. He painted little during this period. One of the few surviving sketches made by Mikhail Vrubel in his youth is a small sketch of a scene from Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina. On this composition main character depicted during a meeting with her son.

The money that Vrubel received from relatives was not enough. He actively worked as a tutor. At the age of 24 he entered the Academy of Arts. What influenced Vrubel’s decision to devote himself to painting is unknown. There is a version that the influence of Kantian aesthetics played a major role in the choice.

In 1880, Vrubel began studying in the workshop of the teacher and artist Pavel Chistyakov. The studies lasted four years. Among Chistyakov's students there were also Surikov, Repina, Vasnetsov, Polenov, Serov. The latter had a strong influence on the work of Mikhail Vrubel.

The young artist combined creative pursuits with fulfilling orders. In addition, he participated in a competition to receive an award from the Society for the Encouragement of Artists. During this period, he painted a picture depicting the heroes of Shakespeare's tragedy "Hamlet". The work was done in the style of Raphaelian realism. Vrubel spent several years in Kyiv, where he was mainly engaged in church painting. Vrubel's works - "Angel with a Censer", "The Virgin and Child", "The Prophet Moses", "The Swan Princess".

Eccentric painter

The author of the painting “The Seated Demon” - M. A. Vrubel - was an extraordinary person. In recent years he has suffered from a personality disorder. In addition, there were several tragic events in the artist’s fate that aggravated mental condition.

In 1902, Mikhail Vrubel presented to the public a painting that depicted a demon - but not an evil spirit, but rather a sad young man doomed to loneliness. It was a different canvas, not the one that will be discussed below. The painting was called "The Demon Defeated." It was first shown at an exhibition in St. Petersburg and immediately attracted the attention of fans of symbolism - an art direction that was very popular at the turn of the century.

Vrubel by that time was quite famous painter. Friends and relatives have repeatedly noticed oddities in his behavior. But these were not the oddities that are usually explained by a creative gift. The artist talked incessantly about his painting, he desperately argued about the image of the demon, about how incorrectly his colleagues portrayed him on canvas, and writers in their writings.

Tragedy in the painter's family

In 1901, the artist had a son. Vrubel's wife was the famous singer Nadezhda Zabela at that time. Future parents accustomed to social life, could not even think that after the birth of their son they would not be able to go to Europe for an exhibition. They were going to Paris, where they were supposed to present the painting “The Defeated Demon” to the court of zealous art connoisseurs. But with the birth of his son, a series of troubles began in the artist’s family.

The child was born with a split lip, which greatly upset the parents. They called him Savva. Vrubel painted a portrait of his son a little later. It was a painting depicting a boy with an anxious and at the same time sad look.

The boy lived only two years. Before his death, his father had already spent several months in a psychiatric hospital. At first, Vrubel’s oddities were expressed in extremely high self-esteem, bordering on delusions of grandeur. Then attacks of aggression and violence began - the patient developed extraordinary physical strength, he tore into small pieces everything that came into his hands: clothes, bed linen. But he wrote, as before, masterfully.

Rumors about the disease spread throughout St. Petersburg famous artist. Critics immediately appeared, believing that Vrubel’s paintings had nothing to do with art, but were just “the scribbles of a madman.”

Second crisis

Vrubel recovered and returned to work. After the first course of treatment, the artist’s condition improved, he calmed down and even began to paint new paintings. However, the death of his son crippled him. He again ended up in the hospital, but this time the disease had completely different symptoms. Mikhail Vrubel constantly wrote self-deprecating letters to his beloved wife. It was as if there had never been any signs of megalomania.

Death

And after the second crisis there was an improvement, but not for long. At the end of his life, the artist did not recognize his acquaintances, lost his sense of reality, and sank deeper and deeper into his own fantasy. Mikhail Vrubel died in April 1911. Buried in St. Petersburg.

There is a version that the cause of the illness lies in a series of paintings to which he devoted more than ten years. Among them is "The Seated Demon". Vrubel painted this picture in 1890. "The Defeated Demon" - twelve years later. Signs of the disease became especially obvious while working on these paintings. Vrubel, as already mentioned, was inspired to write “The Seated Demon” by Lermontov’s essay. What is the poem about?

"Demon" by Lermontov

The sad spirit of exile hovers above the ground, observing the Caucasian landscapes and caves from above. That's how main image Lermontov's poem depicted by Vrubel in the painting "The Seated Demon". Nothing in the Russian artist’s character evokes negative emotions or unpleasant associations. There is neither anger nor deceit in the demon's gaze. Just a strange coldness and sadness.

What is Lermontov's poem about? One day the Demon sees Princess Tamara, who is to marry the ruler of the Synodal. But she is not destined to become the wife of a rich man, because he becomes a victim of abreks. Tamara is inconsolable in her grief. But one day he hears a voice coming from somewhere above. The girl understands that this is none other than the “evil spirit.”

Tamara asks her father to send her to a monastery, but even there, in her cell, she hears the annoying voice of the Demon. He confesses his love to the beauty and promises to turn her into the “queen of the world.” Ultimately, the heroine of Lermontov's poem dies in his arms. This is the plot of the work that formed the basis of the plot of Vrubel’s painting “The Seated Demon.” How the artist depicted this artistic image on his canvas can be seen in the photo in the article.

Painting "Demon Seated" by Vrubel

In 1890, the artist created a sketch of the painting. It is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery. Vrubel worked on the painting “Seated Demon” in the house of Savva Mamontov. The artist sought to depict on his canvas an image of doubt, internal struggle, strength human spirit.

Description of “The Seated Demon” by Vrubel: a young man, personifying the forces of evil, sits with his hands tragically clasped, his sad gaze directed into the distance. The canvas depicts unusual flowers. The background is a mountainous area and a scarlet sunset. When analyzing Vrubel’s “Seated Demon,” art historians emphasize that the canvas was painted in the individual style characteristic of this artist. The artist’s work resembles a panel or stained glass window.

Analysis of the picture

The figure of the Demon seems to be constrained, squeezed between the lower and upper crossbars of the frame. The artist achieved the unusual effect using a palette knife - a tool that is usually used to remove or mix paint residues.

When analyzing Vrubel’s painting “The Seated Demon,” it is impossible not to recall other paintings by the Russian artist that depict Lermontov’s character. There are three such paintings in total. In 1890, Vrubel worked on two paintings: “The Seated Demon,” the description of which is presented above, and “Tamara and the Demon.” The second is an illustration for the Golden Fleece magazine. Both in plot and technique, it has little in common with the painting “The Seated Demon.”

Mikhail Vrubel was apparently captivated by the image of the “evil spirit.” In 1902 he painted the painting “The Demon Defeated.” This was one of his latest works. There is a version that the reason for the illness of the Russian symbolist artist lies in his passion for the demonic theme.

Possessed by a demon

This image, starting from 1890, became perhaps the key image in the work of the Russian artist. Moreover, as Vrubel’s colleagues and friends claimed, on each new canvas the devil became more terrible and angrier. At the same time, the painter’s mental state deteriorated. However, anyone who looks at the painting “Seated Demon” for the first time by Vrubel is unlikely to guess that this work depicts a creature related to devilish forces.

Lonely soul

On the canvas we see a thoughtful young man who is saddened by something. He has regular facial features, a strong body, and thick dark hair. Nothing in this image evokes negative emotions or is associated with malice and deceit. After the painting “Seated Demon” (1890) was presented at one of the exhibitions, Mikhail Vrubel told a friend in a letter about his rather strange ideas about the symbol of evil and deceit. The artist argued that people are mistaken about this creature. They consider the devil to be an enemy, but in fact, this is not the case. The word "demon" translated from Greek means "soul". He compared him to the suffering of a lonely person who does not find a place for himself in this world.

So, in 1890, the painting “Seated Demon” was completed. But Vrubel did not stop there. He continued to work on his favorite image. At the beginning of the 20th century he painted the painting “Demon Defeated,” but even after that he did not calm down. The image of a rebellious creature did not leave him. The artist, enchanted, worked on the sketches.

"Demon Defeated"

Soon Vrubel was diagnosed with an illness, and doctors advised him to go and rest. But something haunted the artist. He increasingly complained that no one understood him. In a short period of time, he changed beyond recognition. His wife was afraid to leave him alone with his troubled thoughts. Vrubel changed as rapidly as the image in the painting “The Defeated Demon.”

It is noteworthy that state of mind the artist and did not in any way affect his work. He said strange things, imagined himself to be a genius, compared him to Pushkin, but his sketches did not look like the drawings of a madman. And the doctor who treated him said: “As an artist, he is healthy.” People suffering from mental disorders primarily experience decreased performance.

Nothing like this happened to Vrubel. It worked as before. But the demon in the next sketch acquired new features.

Art therapy

Modern psychologists put forward the following theory: Vrubel was treated with creativity, work curbed his illness. He, without realizing it, invented a method that thirty years after his death would be called art therapy. While in the clinic, Vrubel constantly drew. He transferred onto canvas everything he saw every day - doctors, the landscape outside the window, his roommates. And the disease subsided for some time.

When Vrubel left the hospital, he was calm and even peaceful. But a family tragedy occurred that irrevocably deprived him peace of mind. When his son died, the artist was able to pull himself together for a while. He organized the funeral, supported his wife, who did not utter a word for several days. And soon a new wave of obsessions began.

Now Vrubel considered himself not a genius, but a villain who had killed his own son. He was sure that the paintings depicting the demon were to blame for the boy’s death. Since Vrubel spoke continuously about his guilt, they rushed to send him to the hospital again, but to a different one. The patient was taken to a clinic located abroad. Every month Nadezhda Zabela paid for her husband’s treatment, for which she had to, despite her recent loss, participate in theatrical productions. Meanwhile, the artist's condition worsened. In addition, he began to lose his vision. The last picture- a portrait of the poet Bryusov - he never finished finishing it. Mikhail Vrubel lived blind for four years, about what his “demons” got global recognition, he never found out.

“For about a month now I have been writing the Demon, that is, not exactly a monumental Demon, which I will write over time, but the “demonic” - a half-naked, winged, young, sadly pensive figure sitting, hugging his knees, against the backdrop of the sunset and looking at the blooming a clearing from which branches stretch out to her, bending under flowers,” Vrubel wrote to his sister about working on the canvas.

This demon is the personification of the strength of the human spirit, internal struggle, doubt. Clasping his hands, he looks into the distance. His eyes are wide, full of anxiety. In the background are mountains in a scarlet sunset. It seems that the demon is cramped, his figure is tightly squeezed between the upper and lower crossbars of the frame.

The theme of the demonic is a cross-cutting theme in Vrubel’s work. Mythical entities, according to the artist’s idea, were messengers, suffering and mournful. In his paintings they herald a different world.

"Demon Flying", 1899. (Pinterest)

After “The Seated Demon,” the artist will take on more flying and defeated demons. And if the first is shown strong, with powerful wings, then the last is already with empty, glassy eyes, and the plumage is turned into decorative peacock feathers.

Context

During the creation of the triptych, Vrubel was generally healthy, although those around him noted his irritability. “All relatives and acquaintances noticed that something was wrong with Mikhail Alexandrovich, but they also constantly doubted it, since there was never any nonsense in his speeches, he recognized everyone, remembered everything. He only became much more self-confident, stopped being shy with people and talked incessantly,” his wife Elena Zabela wrote to her sister.

It ended with the artist having to be hospitalized in a psychiatric clinic in a state of manic excitement. Vrubel imagined himself either as Christ or Pushkin, then he was going to become the Moscow governor-general, then he turned into a Russian sovereign. He heard choirs of voices, claimed that he lived during the Renaissance and painted walls in the Vatican in the company of Raphael and Michelangelo. Vrubel was examined by psychiatrist V.M. Bekhterev, who was the first to discover damage to the artist’s nervous system.

"The Demon Defeated", 1902. (Pinterest)

The fate of the artist

Mikhail Vrubel grew quite an ordinary child. In the gymnasium, he was most interested in natural science. He drew rather for general development. Gradually, however, Misha became more and more interested in painting. After high school, it was decided to go to St. Petersburg and enroll in law school. In the capital, his bohemian life spun. Vrubel did not finish the course.

Mikhail Vrubel. (Pinterest)

At this time, he was interested in philosophy and made illustrations for literary works. Acquaintance with bohemia and new hobbies led Vrubel to think about entering the Academy of Arts. But he was unable to finish it either, despite the fact that, under the influence of Valentin Serov, he replaced dandyism with asceticism.

The test of life has begun. Vrubel went to Kyiv to paint churches. There he was visited by his father, Alexander Mikhailovich Vrubel. Mikhail’s life horrified him: “No warm blanket, no warm coat, no dress except the one he’s wearing... It’s painful, bitter to the point of tears.” My father also saw the first version of “The Demon,” which disgusted him. Then the artist destroyed the painting, like many other things he created in Kyiv.

At that time, he didn’t really have any orders; he had to earn money by teaching and doing small part-time jobs. Vrubel moved to Moscow by accident - most likely due to his passion for a circus rider.

Despite the fact that the artist’s work was not accepted and was called ugly and blasphemous, he did not abandon his bohemian lifestyle. According to the memoirs of K. Korovin, having received a large fee for painting panels for the mansion, he disposed of it as follows: “He gave lunch at the Paris Hotel, where he lived. He invited everyone living there to this dinner. When I came late from the theater, I saw tables covered with bottles of wine, champagne, a lot of people, among the guests were gypsies, guitarists, an orchestra, some military men, actors, and Misha Vrubel treated everyone, like a head waiter he carried champagne wrapped in a napkin and poured it for everyone. “I’m so happy,” he told me. - I feel like a rich man. Look how good everyone is and how happy they are. All five thousand are gone, and there is still not enough. And Vrubel worked hard for two months to cover the debt.”

At the turn of the century, Vrubel met the singer Nadezhda Zabela and proposed to her almost on the day of the meeting. In 1901, their son was born. The family's lifestyle has changed dramatically. Zabela refused to be a wet nurse and, for the sake of her son, decided to leave the stage for a while. To support his wife and child, Vrubel had to work more: instead of his usual 3-4 hours, he worked 14 hours a day.

Portrait of the Artist's Son, 1902. (Pinterest)

Overexertion, exhaustion, depression - the artist began to go crazy. Rumors about Vrubel's illness spread throughout the newspapers. Meanwhile, society's attitude towards his work changed. Benois and Diaghilev, in order to support the artist, organized an exhibition of his works in November 1902. And although the criticism was not so sharp, no one, including doctors, believed in Vrubel’s recovery.

Six months later, when the painter’s condition seemed to begin to improve, the son of Vrubel and Zabela died. The artist fell into severe depression and wanted to commit suicide, for which he starved himself. The symptoms were exactly the opposite of the last time: instead of delusions of grandeur, there was delirium of self-abasement and hallucinations.

For the last 4 years, Vrubel lived in a clinic, completely blind and immersed in the world of his hallucinations. His sister was his nurse, and his wife visited him from time to time. On the eve of his death, Vrubel cleaned himself up, washed himself with cologne and at night said to the orderly who was caring for him: “Nikolai, I’ve had enough of lying here - let’s go to the Academy.” The next day the coffin was installed at the Academy of Arts.