Working on the paintings “Pan”, “Toward Night”, “Lilac” and “The Swan Princess”, Mikhail Vrubel is looking for himself and, at the same time, seems to be groping artistic techniques to write his latest Demon. There is a feeling that the Demon did not leave the artist’s imagination alone, even when he did not turn to it in his work.
"Flying Demon"
A new surge of interest in this topic appeared among the artist at the turn of the century. The feeling of impending change and upheaval hangs in the air. Some sketches for the Demon Standing and Defeated have reached us; Vrubel destroyed many, dissatisfied with his work.
In 1899 he wrote The Flying Demon. This is one of the most symbolic embodiments of his demoniad. The mournful spirit of darkness flies heavily over the beautiful land. Huge melancholy blue eyes, a tense, gloomy face - all this was written at a time when the long-awaited success finally came to the artist. His “Lilac” is constantly exhibited at exhibitions. The majolica fireplace created by Vrubel receives the Gold Medal of the World Exhibition (Paris). The canvases “Towards Night” and “Pan” receive rave reviews from the Viennese public. And, at the peak of glory, Mikhail Vrubel casts down his Demon from heaven. It is symbolic and full of tragedy. Especially knowing how his fate unfolded next.
"Demon Defeated"
Mikhail Vrubel paints this picture on last stage his creative life. Perhaps he did not even suspect how prophetic the work he was creating was. It is unlikely that he could have guessed that a terrible illness would soon plunge him into a continuous series of mental and physical suffering.
No one knows how working on this painting affected Vrubel’s condition. Perhaps she only aggravated what the disease was already destroying. Or maybe the picture saved him from impending disaster. There is only one doubt that he left us everything he could as a legacy. He managed to transform into painting both the suffering of an artist losing his sight, and the great torment of the soul, gradually plunging into terrible darkness and the chaos of madness.
The artist cannot part with “The Defeated Demon.” He is always redoing something, adding something, changing something. The painting is shown to the public in St. Petersburg, at the 4th exhibition “World of Art”. Even the most devoted admirers of Vrubel accept this picture somewhat warily. Particularly a lot of complaints from fellow artists and critics are caused by inaccuracies in the anatomical proportions of the Demon’s body. Maybe that's why Tretyakov Gallery refused to buy the painting, taking only a few sketches.
Every morning, the artist, under the curious gaze of visitors to the exhibition, completed the painting. The Demon's face became even more terrible, and his body took on a kind of tortured, twisted appearance. And then suddenly she appeared again new beauty and universal sadness. Most likely, the appearance of this creation by Vrubel, in which it came to us, is quite accidental. Probably the author did not complete his work on it. Nevertheless, it has taken its rightful place among the masterpieces of world painting.
Death or aborted flight
The theme of death, as an interrupted flight, followed by Eternity, is the main one in the film. The demon is cast down from the heights to which pride and daring dreams of happiness raised him. However, the fall does not free him from torment, as is the case with mere mortals. His destiny is painful immortality. “Demon Defeated” is a brilliant embodiment of the essence of the collapse of hopes.
The artist managed to create an image of death as a different form of life, death in which life does not end. Such a death does not grant purification - neither to the Demon, nor to the artist who gave birth to him. The Demon's eyes express inhuman pain, and the broken plasticity of the body is written with a fair amount of cruel naturalism. The picture is painfully, even painfully eloquent. The Demon's body is spread out on the ground, it absorbs his life, and blossoms, filling with the heat of a defeated, broken soul. This is a real requiem, full of unexpected and mournful intonations.
There are many revelations in “The Defeated Demon,” and had the artist’s fate been different, perhaps it would have become another step to new creative heights. However, what happened happened. In 1902, doctors made a fatal diagnosis - Vrubel’s disease was incurable. His world narrows - first to the size of a hospital ward, where he continues to write. And then pitch darkness came, from which Mikhail Vrubel was not destined to escape.
At the beginning of 1902, perhaps one of the most famous paintings Mikhail Vrubel - “The Demon Defeated” - was shown to the public in St. Petersburg at the exhibition “World of Art”. Shortly before this event, those around him began to notice symptoms of a mental disorder in the artist. Memories of friends and relatives allow us to reconstruct the chronology of the past, sorrowful years the life of Mikhail Vrubel, about whom even his attending physician, psychiatrist Usoltsev, wrote: “He died seriously ill, but as an artist he was healthy, and deeply healthy.”
The year 1901 was marked by a major family event - Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel and his wife Nadezhda Ivanovna had a son. The couple was preparing for this event very cheerfully; it seemed to them that the birth of a child would not interfere with their elegant and social life, they fantasized about how they would go abroad with their child to exhibit “The Demon.”
The spouses were in for a terrible disappointment - the boy was born with a forked upper lip, this deeply struck Mikhail Vrubel. From that very moment, his relatives and friends began to notice that something was wrong with the artist.
Vrubel paints a portrait of his son, who was named Savva, and gives his appearance that expression of extreme anxiety that he himself is probably experiencing.
At the beginning of 1902, the painting “The Defeated Demon” was shown to the public in St. Petersburg at the “World of Art” exhibition. This is what Vrubel’s wife’s sister, Ekaterina Ivanovna Ge, remembers about that exhibition: “Mikhail Alexandrovich, despite the fact that the painting was already on display, rewrote it every day from early morning, and I was horrified to see the change every day. There were days when the “Demon” was very scary, and then again deep sadness and new beauty appeared in the expression of the Demon’s face... In general, despite the illness, the ability to create did not leave Vrubel, it even seemed to be growing, but living with him was already becoming unbearable "
In March 1902, Mikhail Vrubel was first admitted to a private psychiatric hospital. The picture of the artist’s illness was dominated by ideas of his own greatness; a period of such strong excitement ensued that meetings with even his closest people—his wife and sister—were interrupted for six months.
In September of the same year, Vrubel was transported to the clinic of the psychiatrist Serbsky, transported in only a coat and hat, even without underwear, since they said that he had destroyed all his belongings.
In this hospital, things went much better, he wrote completely logical letters to his relatives, and on the doctor’s advice he began painting again.
On February 18, 1903, Mikhail Vrubel left the clinic, but he was very sad, and by April he was completely “unstuck”: he often cried, was sad, said that he was worthless, and could not work at all, although he was offered various orders.
On May 3, 1903, a misfortune happened - Savvochka, the only child of the Vrubels, died. In the face of this grief, Mikhail Alexandrovich behaved very courageously, personally took charge of organizing the funeral, and tried to support his wife, who was in despair.
After the funeral of their son, the Vrubels left for their estate near Kiev, where the artist became very nervous and demanded that he be taken to a hospital as soon as possible. Someone advised that Vrubel be sent to one of the psychiatric clinics in Riga.
This time the illness was of a completely different nature: there was no trace left of megalomania; on the contrary, it was replaced by complete oppression. Vrubel was despondent and sad, considered himself a nonentity and wanted to lose his life.
In the fall, the artist’s sister moved him from Riga to Moscow. In a Moscow clinic, he began to draw very successful portraits of patients, but his thoughts were confused; it seemed to Vrubel that both his wife and sister were also patients in a psychiatric hospital.
The drawings made in the clinic were presented at an exhibition of Moscow artists; not a shadow of the disease was visible in them.
During this period, Vrubel painted the painting “The Six-Winged Seraphim,” depicting an angel with a burning lamp, a very beautiful thing, made with burning and bright colors.
By the spring of 1904, the artist was so ill that doctors and relatives thought that he would not live to see the summer and wanted to take him abroad, but then abandoned these plans. Moscow clinics were closed for the summer, so the psychiatrist Serbsky advised Vrubel to be placed in the psychiatrist Usoltsev’s hospital, which had recently opened in the vicinity of Moscow.
Patients in this hospital lived with the doctor's family and enjoyed great freedom.
The move to Usoltsev’s clinic had an amazing benefit: Vrubel began to eat (before that he had denied himself food, considering himself unworthy of food), his thoughts became clearer, he drew, wrote letters to family and friends, and two months later he had recovered so much that he returned home.
After the artist was discharged from the hospital, the Vrubels moved to St. Petersburg, where Mikhail led the life of an absolutely healthy person: he rented an apartment, installed electricity in it and worked very hard.
During this period, Vrubel began to write his amazing “Pearl”, which is now in the collection of the Moscow Tretyakov Gallery.
By the beginning of 1905, Mikhail Vrubel's wife began to notice strong agitation; he became intractable, irritable, and spent money disproportionately on completely unnecessary things. The artist’s wife had to “discharge” the psychiatrist Usoltsev from Moscow, who took Vrubel to his Moscow hospital.
Usoltsev had a calming effect on the patient. Once in the clinic, Vrubel began to sleep, and insomnia has always been one of the dangerous symptoms of his illness. The relatives hoped that this time the illness would not be long-lasting, alas, but they were mistaken - the excitement in Once again gave way to oppression.
Despite his illness, Vrubel did not stop working: he painted a portrait of the entire Usoltsev family, many sick people and the poet Bryusov, who visited the artist.
Bryusov left very interesting memories of his first meeting with Mikhail Vrubel, which took place at Usoltsev’s clinic: “To tell the truth, I was horrified when I saw Vrubel. He was a frail, sick man, wearing a dirty, wrinkled shirt. He had a reddish face; eyes like those of a bird of prey; sticking hair instead of a beard. First impression: crazy! After the usual greetings, he asked me: “Is it you I should write to?” And he began to examine me in a special way, artistically, intently, almost soulfully. Immediately his expression changed. Genius shines through the madness.”
When Vrubel painted Bryusov, those around him began to notice that something strange was happening to his eyes, the artist was forced to come very close to see the model. New suffering occurred with terrifying speed; having finished the portrait of Bryusov, Vrubel almost did not see his work.
Mikhail Vrubel understood the horror of his situation, the artist, whose world was fabulously beautiful, was now almost blind... He began to refuse food, saying that if he starved for 10 years, he would see clearly and his drawing would be unusually good.
The unfortunate artist was now embarrassed by his acquaintances, he said: “Why should they come, I don’t see them.”
The outside world had less and less contact with Mikhail Vrubel. Despite all the efforts of his sister and wife, who regularly visited the artist, he plunged into the world of his own dreams: he told something like fairy tales, that he would have eyes made of emerald, that he created all his works during the times Ancient world or the Renaissance.
During the last year of his life, Vrubel increasingly refused meat, saying that he did not want to eat “slaughter,” so they began to serve him a vegetarian table. The artist’s strength gradually left him; sometimes he said that he was “tired of living.”
Sitting in the garden in my last summer, he once said: “The sparrows are chirping at me - barely alive, barely alive.” The general appearance of the patient seemed to become more refined, more spiritual.
Vrubel walked towards the end with complete calm. When he began to have pneumonia, which then turned into fleeting consumption, he took it calmly. On his last conscious day, before the agony, Vrubel put himself in order especially carefully (he combed his hair, washed himself with cologne), warmly kissed the hands of his wife and sister and did not speak again.
Only at night, having briefly come to his senses, the artist said, turning to the man who was caring for him: “Nikolai, I’ve had enough of lying here - let’s go to the Academy.” There was some kind of dying prophetic premonition in these words: within 24 hours Vrubel was solemnly brought in a coffin to the Academy of Arts - his alma mater.
I would like to end the story with the words of the psychiatrist Usoltsev, who appreciated Mikhail Vrubel like no one else, understanding the complexity of his brilliant personality: “I often heard that Vrubel’s work is sick creativity. I studied Vrubel for a long time and carefully, and I believe that his work is not only quite normal, but so powerful and durable that even a terrible illness could not destroy it. Creativity was at the core, in the very essence of his mental personality, and, having reached the end, the disease destroyed him... He died seriously ill, but as an artist he was healthy, and deeply healthy.”
The material was prepared with the support of the Center for Propaganda and Development of Creativity of People Suffering from Mental Disorders, Daria Evseeva evseeva-centre.ru
Even when he turned to the themes of Russian epic or biblical images, even in landscapes and still lifes there was an excessive passion, exuberance - freedom that refutes established canons. What can we say about demons and spirits!
In the soul of this short man with the appearance of a Venetian “from a painting by Tintoretto or Titian,” there lived a constant unsatisfaction with this world and a longing for another world. This is probably why the theme of the Demon became the main one in his work, even when he did not yet realize it.
Demon first. “They don’t come back from there”
Can a child who has lost his mother meet her? Yes, Seryozha Karenin was lucky: one day, when he was sleeping, his mother broke into the nursery and picked up her son in her arms, glaring at him - saying goodbye forever.
How often did Misha Vrubel imagine meeting his mother? His mother died when he was three years old, and a few years later his sister and brother left this world. Only Anna remained - the elder sister, the most close person for life.
Anna Karenina is the first demonic woman in Vrubel's work. An umbrella and gloves thrown in a rush. Passion and tragedy.
The second demon. "I'm bored, demon"
Mikhail's father was a military man, the family moved from place to place - Omsk, Saratov, Astrakhan, St. Petersburg, Kharkov, Odessa... All this did not contribute to long-term attachments.
We stayed in Odessa for a long time. Here, from a teenager, Misha turns into a young man, arousing the interest and delight of those around him. He excels in literature and languages, is interested in history, reads Roman classics in the original, and graduates from the Odessa Richelieu Gymnasium with a gold medal. The family encourages Mishino's passion for drawing; he attends the Odessa Drawing School.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Self-portrait.
Sociable, with diverse musical, theatrical and literary interests, the young man easily makes acquaintances with people of art and science. In letters to his sister he in more detail describes the adult world that has opened up to him.
Memorial plaque on the house in which in 1884-1889. lived M. Vrubel.
“... the St. Petersburg Russian opera troupe was in Odessa in the summer... I heard: “A Life for the Tsar,” “The Jew,” “Thunderbreaker” and “Faust”; I met Korsov and Derviz through Krasovsky”; "Now in Odessa" Mobile art exhibition, whose caretaker De Villiers I recently met; he is a very nice man, a gendarmerie officer, and a wonderful landscape painter himself; he asked me to come to him at any time to write and promised to get paintings from Novoselsky’s gallery to copy.”
And at the same time:
“I envy you a thousand, a thousand times, Dear Anyuta, that you are in St. Petersburg: do you understand, madam, what it means for a person sitting in this damned Odessa, with eyes sore, looking at all her stupid people, to read letters from a St. Petersburger, from whom so seems to breathe the freshness of the Neva”; “Lord, how do you look at the life of the young ladies of the Novorossiysk slums... leisure hours... are spent in the most empty conversations in the closest circle of acquaintances, which only dull and vulgarize a person’s entire mental system. Men spend no better time: food, sleep and cards.”
Perhaps it’s all youthful maximalism and thirst for life, but I remember Pushkin’s Faust: “I’m bored, demon.”
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Faust. Triptych. 1896
The third demon. Crazy technology and strange aesthetics
In St. Petersburg, while studying at the law school, Mikhail throws himself into the maelstrom of the capital's bohemian life and... in search of truth: he studies philosophy and is forever imbued with Kant's theory of aesthetics. Creativity becomes for him the only opportunity to reconcile being with spirit.
At the Academy of Arts, Vrubel entered the workshop of P. Chistyakov, whose students were I. Repin, V. Surikov, V. Polenov, V. Vasnetsov and V. Serov.
The famous Vrubel outline and “crystalline” are from Chistyakov. From him the artist learned the structural analysis of form and the division of the drawing into small planes, the joints between which form the edges of the volume.
“When I started studying with Chistyakov, I passionately liked his main provisions, because they were nothing more than a formula for my living attitude towards nature, which was instilled in me.”
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Rose.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. White iris.
Many years later, the artist M. Mukhin recalled the stunning impression Vrubel’s technique made on the students of the Stroganov School:
“...the maestro, with quick, angular, chopped strokes, built the finest graphic web on a sheet of paper. He painted in disparate, unconnected pieces. ...Other teachers, at the beginning of the drawing, called us on integrity, the lack of detail, which made it difficult to see the large form. But Vrubel's method was completely different; at some point it even seemed to us that the artist had lost control over the drawing... and we were already anticipating the artist’s failure... And suddenly, before our eyes, the cosmic strokes on the paper began to gradually take on a crystalline form. ...before my eyes appeared the fruit of the highest craftsmanship, a work of amazing internal expression, clear constructive thinking, presented in an ornamental form.”
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Virgin and Child.
The fourth demon. unrequited love
While working on the painting of the St. Cyril Church, for the restoration of which he was invited to Kyiv by Professor A. V. Prakhov, Vrubel fell madly in love with Prakhov’s eccentric wife, Emilia Lvovna.
K. Korovin recalls how, while swimming in a pond, he saw large scars on Vrubel’s chest; when asked about them, the unfortunate lover replied: “...I loved a woman, she didn’t love me - she even loved me, but many things prevented her from understanding me. I suffered from the inability to explain to her this disturbing thing. I suffered, but when I cut myself, the suffering lessened.".
The fifth demon. "Demon Seated"
Vrubel went to Odessa to be treated for lovesickness. In Odessa, he first begins to work on the image of the Seated Demon. Serov recalled that he saw a half-length image of the Demon against the backdrop of mountains: “ ... when turned upside down, the photograph presented a surprisingly complex pattern, similar to an extinct crater or a landscape on the moon.” The picture was created by only two oil paints: whitewash and soot. Vrubel had no equal in conveying shades of white.
Mikhail Alexandrovich’s father did not like the work:
“This demon seemed to me like an evil, sensual... repulsive... elderly woman.”
The artist destroyed this version, but returned to the theme of the Demon later, in Moscow.
From a letter to my sister:
“For about a month now I have been writing the Demon, that is, not so much a monumental Demon, which I will write in due course, but a “demonic” one - a half-naked, winged, young sad-thoughtful figure sits, hugging his knees, against the backdrop of the sunset and looks at the blooming a clearing from which branches stretch out to her, bending under flowers.”
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Demon sitting.
In “The Seated Demon,” Vrubel’s “trademark” large “modeling” and the crystalline nature of the painting were most clearly manifested. It is noteworthy that Anna Vrubel recalled her brother’s passion for natural science and growing crystals in the gymnasium.
Demon sixth. Lermontovsky
In 1891, Vrubel was offered to make illustrations for the collected works of Lermontov, published by Kushnerev’s company. Of course he started with "Demon"! The artist painted it endlessly, making many sketches.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Demon head.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Demon (Figure 2).
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Flying demon.
And it was wild and wonderful all around
God's whole world; but a proud spirit
He cast a contemptuous eye
The creation of his God,
And on his high forehead
Nothing was reflected
Demon at the monastery.
To this day, near that cell
The stone is visible through the burnt
A hot tear like a flame,
An inhuman tear!..
The public was not ready to meet face to face with such a Demon: after the book was published, Vrubel’s illustrations were harshly criticized for "rudeness, ugliness, caricature and absurdity".
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Tamara and Demon
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Tamara in a coffin
Not a single illustrator has been able to embody with such force the restless hopelessness, melancholy and bitterness of this unearthly creature.
For example: The Demon as imagined by K. Makovsky
The seventh demon. Unfulfilled "Dream"
In 1896, Savva Mamontov ordered Vrubel two panels measuring 20x5m for the All-Russian Nizhny Novgorod exhibition, dedicated to the coronation of Nicholas II. Down with the demons! Vrubel conceives the image of Dreams - a muse that inspires the artist. Also an alien spirit, but quite friendly.
The commission recognized both of Vrubel's panels - "Mikula Selyaninovich" and "Princess Greza" - as monstrous. In response, Mamontov built a special pavilion for the arrival of the imperial couple entitled: “Exhibition of decorative panels by the artist M. A. Vrubel, rejected by the jury Imperial Academy arts." True, five last words had to be painted over.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Princess Dream. 1896
The newspapers exploded with criticism, and Maxim Gorky especially distinguished himself (by the way, much later he wrote a monstrous article against jazz in the Soviet press) - in five articles about the exhibition he exposed the “poverty of spirit and poverty of imagination” of the artist.
Subsequently, one of the pediments of the Metropol Hotel was decorated with the majolica panel “Princess of Dreams” by A. Vrubel.
The eighth demon: who is in this form?
In a conversation with his father about the first, destroyed Demon, Mikhail explained that a demon is a spirit that combines male and female forms. This probably scared away customers and spectators in female images artist. I was disturbed by a bewitching mystery, a call into the unknown. His “Fortune Teller”, the spirit of “Lilac” and even “Girl against the background of a Persian carpet” are alien to Russian aesthetics; the east “spent the night” here with its destructive Shamakhan queen.
Lilac
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. A girl against the background of a Persian carpet (the girl’s father, Masha Dokhnovich, refused the portrait)
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Fortune teller.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Swan Princess.
In this face, half-face eyes, turn of the head - the same demonic melancholy? Did the Demon, contrary to Lermontov, take Tamara into his joyless world? Did he turn him into the Swan Princess? This “otherness” made “The Swan Princess” the favorite painting of Alexander Blok, but not the rest of the public - it was also subject to fierce criticism.
Demon Ninth. Spirits of different worlds
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Morning. 1897
Ilya Repin had difficulty dissuading Mikhail Alexandrovich from destroying the “Morning” panel, which was rejected by the customer, where the line between male and female is completely erased in the images of spirits.
Appealing to the spirits of the forest, rivers, and mountains is very characteristic of Vrubel’s “formula of a living relationship with nature.” And he returns again and again to mythological images.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Pan.
On the Tenisheva estate, where the Vrubels are invited to rest, the artist, inspired by Anatole France’s short story “Saint Satyr,” creates “Pan” in one day.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Valkyrie.
The owner of the estate, Princess Maria Tenisheva, appears in the image of a Valkyrie - a warrior transporting fallen warriors to Valhalla.
“Valkyrie”, together with “Swamp Lights”, as a symbol of the return to the city of the artist’s youth, ended up in the collection of Odessa art museum(gift of M.V. Braikevich). also in museum collection there are two drawings by the artist - “The Family of Ya. V. Tarnovsky at the Card Table”, “Portrait of an Unknown Woman” and two majolicas - “Volkhova” and “The Sea Queen” (from the collection of A.P. Russov).
Volkhova 1.
Sea queen.
Demon tenth. Demon - Angel.
Vrubel explained that his Demon should not be confused with the traditional devil, demons are “ mythical creatures, messengers... The spirit is not so much evil as it is suffering and sorrowful, but at the same time a powerful spirit... majestic.”
Demons, angels, seraphim for the artist are divine entities endowed with greatness. In his paintings they rise to their full enormous height, announcing a different world.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Daemon.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Angel with censer and candles.
The six-winged seraphim, Azrael, the angel of death, also has a dual nature.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Six-winged Seraphim.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Demon and angel "in one bottle."
The eleventh demon is ascended and defeated.
In 1898, Vrubel, a decade later, returned to Lermontov’s “Demon” (Lermontov himself reworked his “Demon” until the end of his life; nine editions of it have survived): he oscillates between the plots of “The Flying Demon” and “The Defeated Demon.”
In 1900, recognition came to the artist: at the World Exhibition in Paris he was awarded gold medal for the fireplace "Volga Svyatoslavich and Mikula Selyaninovich."
"Flying Demon" remains unfinished. He works furiously on “The Demon Defeated,” without respite, endlessly reworking...
Next - a diagnosis of “incurable progressive paralysis” and a psychiatric hospital.
“My dear woman, wonderful woman, save me from my demons...“- Vrubel writes to his wife while in the hospital.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Flying Demon.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. The demon is defeated.
This broken Demon has empty, glassy eyes, the plumage of his once powerful wings has turned into decorative peacock feathers.
Twelfth demon. Prophet
The last of his “otherworldly subjects” - “Visions of the Prophet Ezekiel” - remains unfinished: at the beginning of 1906, the artist Vrubel died - he went blind.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Visions of the prophet Ezekiel. 1905
Doctor Usoltsev wrote: “ It was not the case with him as with others that the most subtle, so to speak, the last to arise ideas - aesthetic - perish first; they were the last to die because they were the first.”
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Self-portrait, 1885.
Demon thirteenth. Messenger of other worlds
Perhaps Alexander Blok was the only one who during his lifetime fully accepted Vrubel’s world:
“By constantly returning to the “Demon” in his creations, he only gave away the secret of his mission. He himself was a demon, a fallen beautiful angel, for whom the world was endless joy and endless torment... He left us his Demons, as exorcists against purple evil, against the night. I can only tremble at what Vrubel and his ilk reveal to humanity once a century. We do not see the worlds that they saw.".
It seems to us - a century later - that the Demon cannot be any different. It worries and shocks us...
In the same sense as Daemon 1890 - personification of the Evening, Demon defeated- its paradoxical phase, that is, a picturesque allegory of Sunset with its characteristic grandeur, pomp and convulsiveness in the confrontation between “gold and blue”. The face showed the capricious grimace of a child who had swallowed a bitter mixture. The widening of the eyes, usual for Vrubel's characters, is openly demonstrated here as an artificial physical tension of the eyelids - a popular trick of plastic makeup. In combination with the artificial “interesting pallor”, the Demon’s face is clearly associated with theater mask. Whereas painting - the texture and color of the picture - recreates the impression of fading stage lighting. Pink and blue colors originally had a luminescent effect (it survived only in some fragments of the landscape environment and on the diadem); in painting peacock feathers Bronze powder was used. At the time of writing painting overall it looked like the sparkling and iridescent plumage of a peacock. But all this “beauty” seemed designed to fade before the eyes of the first spectators. Vrubel continued to work on the painting when it was already exhibited at the exhibition. Facial features and expressions, lighting and color design changed before the eyes of the public: the disappeared versions of the image immediately turned into what they “talk about”, what rumors say, rumors and legends circulate. It is known that Vrubel wanted to give the painting a title Ikone. A legendary hagiographic halo accompanied the picture from the very beginning, as if this halo was part of art assignment works. Actually, this is a kind of artistic act, an act, in modern artistic usage called an “action.”
The meaning or plot of this staged action is precisely to turn the picture in its final frozen form, where only in places, as on smoldering coals, the glow of a raging “creative fire” can be discerned, to turn it into a post scriptum for a legendary, magically enchanting, grandiose performance: the lights go out, the scenery fades, the makeup appears, the pomp turns into fake tinsel... But this performance was Vrubel’s own work of the previous decade, the prologue of which was Daemon 1890. In such a retrospective, the painting of 1902 is one of the most striking monuments of Vrubel’s “magic theater”: after all, what it testifies to, what marks, documents the appearance of the painting as a pictorial product - the end, the denouement of the grandiose “pictorial drama” - this is what what is depicted in the picture, showing the symbolic mystery prototype of all the endings with which this kind of attractions are crowned with the purpose of “illusioning the soul... with majestic images.”
The demon is defeated. Painting, photo, photography - Life and work of the artist. Mikhail Vrubel Gallery. Painting, graphics, old photos. - Photo, drawing, painting, oil, paint, paper, canvas, demon, devilry, brunette, poem, Lermontov, Tamara
At the beginning of 1902, one of the most famous paintings by Mikhail Vrubel - “The Defeated Demon” - was shown to the public at an exhibition in St. Petersburg. Shortly before this event, those around him began to notice symptoms of a mental disorder in the artist. Memories of friends and relatives make it possible to reconstruct the chronology of the last, mournful years of the great artist’s life.
"The Demon Defeated", 1901-1902
The year 1901 was marked by a major family event - Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel and his wife Nadezhda Ivanovna had a son. The couple was preparing for this event very cheerfully, it seemed to them that the birth of a child would not interfere with their elegant and social life, they fantasized about how they would go abroad with the child to exhibit “The Demon”.
“The Demon Seated”, 1890 (before illness)
The spouses were in for a terrible disappointment - the boy was born with a split upper lip, this deeply struck Mikhail Vrubel. From that very moment, his relatives and friends began to notice that something was wrong with the artist.
Mikhail Vrubel with his wife, Zabela Ivanovna Vrubel, 1892 (before illness)
Vrubel paints a portrait of his son, who was named Savva, and gives his appearance that expression of extreme anxiety that he himself is probably experiencing.
“Portrait of the Artist’s Son”, 1902 (beginning of the illness, but before the first hospitalization)
At the beginning of 1902, the painting “Demon Defeated” was shown to the public at the World of Art exhibition in St. Petersburg. This is what Vrubel’s wife’s sister, Ekaterina Ivanovna Ge, remembers about that exhibition: “Mikhail Alexandrovich, despite the fact that the painting was already exhibited, rewrote it every day from early morning, and I was horrified to see the change every day. There were days when the “Demon” was very scary, and then again deep sadness and new beauty appeared in the expression of the Demon’s face... In general, despite the illness, the ability to create did not leave Vrubel, it even seemed to grow, but living with him was already it became unbearable."
“The Defeated Demon”, 1901-1902 (started before illness, rewrote it many times)
In March 1902, the artist was first admitted to a private psychiatric hospital. The picture of the illness was dominated by ideas of one’s own greatness; a period of such strong excitement ensued that meetings with even the closest people—his wife and sister—were interrupted for six months.
"Pan", 1899 (before illness)
In September of the same year, Vrubel was transported to the clinic of the psychiatrist Serbsky, wearing only a coat and hat, not even underwear, as they said that he had destroyed all his belongings.
“The Swan Princess”, 1900 (before illness)
In this hospital, things went much better, he wrote completely logical letters to his relatives, and on the doctor’s advice he began painting again.
"Lilac", 1900 (before illness)
On February 18, 1903, Mikhail Vrubel left the clinic, but he was very sad, and by April he was completely “unstuck”: he often cried, was sad, said that he was worthless, and could not work at all, although he was offered various orders. On May 3, 1903, a misfortune happened - Savvochka, the only child of the Vrubels, died. In the face of this grief, Mikhail Alexandrovich behaved very courageously, personally took charge of organizing the funeral, and tried to support his wife, who was in despair.
“Portrait of N. I. Zabela-Vrubel”, 1904 (during illness)
After the funeral of their son, the Vrubels left for their estate near Kiev, where the artist became very nervous and demanded that he be taken to a hospital as soon as possible. Someone advised that Vrubel be sent to one of the psychiatric clinics in Riga.
One of the versions of the work “Pearl”, written in pastel, approximately 1904 (during illness)
This time the illness was of a completely different nature: there was no trace left of megalomania; on the contrary, it was replaced by complete oppression. Vrubel was despondent and sad, considered himself a nonentity and wanted to lose his life.
“Self-Portrait with a Shell”, 1905 (during illness)
In the fall, the artist’s sister moved him from Riga to Moscow. In a Moscow clinic, he began to draw very successful portraits of patients, but his thoughts were confused; it seemed to Vrubel that both his wife and sister were also patients in a psychiatric hospital.
“Water lilies”, 1890 (before illness)
The drawings made in the clinic were presented at an exhibition of Moscow artists; not a shadow of the disease was visible in them.
"Hamlet and Ophelia", 1884 (before illness)
During this period, Vrubel painted the painting “The Six-Winged Seraphim,” depicting an angel with a burning lamp, a very beautiful thing, made with burning and bright colors.
“Six-winged Seraphim (Azrael)”, 1904 (during illness)
By the spring of 1904, the artist was so ill that doctors and relatives thought that he would not live to see the summer and wanted to take him abroad, but then abandoned these plans. Moscow clinics were closed for the summer, so the psychiatrist Serbsky advised Vrubel to be placed in the psychiatrist Usoltsev’s hospital, which had recently opened in the vicinity of Moscow. Patients in this hospital lived with the doctor's family and enjoyed great freedom.
"Portrait et Dr. F.A. Usoltsev", 1904 (in about the time of illness)
The move to Usoltsev’s clinic brought amazing benefits: Vrubel began to eat (before that he had denied himself food, considering himself unworthy of food), his thoughts became clearer, he drew, wrote letters to family and friends, and two months later he recovered so much that he returned home.
The fence of a psychiatric hospital; Usoltsev’s clinic was located on this site.
After the artist was discharged from the hospital, the Vrubels moved to St. Petersburg, where Mikhail Alexandrovich led the life of an absolutely healthy person: he rented an apartment, installed electricity in it and worked very hard.
"Morning", 1897 (before illness)
During this period, Vrubel began to write his amazing “Pearl”, which is now in the collection of the Moscow Tretyakov Gallery.
“Pearl”, 1904 (during illness)
By the beginning of 1905, Vrubel’s wife began to notice that Vrubel was very agitated, he became intractable, irritable, and spent money disproportionately on completely unnecessary things. The artist’s wife had to “discharge” the psychiatrist Usoltsev from Moscow, who took Vrubel to his Moscow hospital.
“After the Concert” (Portrait of the Artist’s Wife), 1905 (during illness)
Usoltsev had a calming effect on the patient. Once in the clinic, Vrubel began to sleep, and insomnia has always been one of the dangerous symptoms of his illness. The relatives hoped that this time the illness would not be long-lasting, alas, but they were mistaken - excitement once again gave way to depression. Despite his illness, Vrubel did not stop working: he painted a portrait of the entire Usoltsev family, many sick people and the poet Bryusov, who visited the artist.
“Portrait of the poet V. Ya. Bryusov”, 1906 (during illness)
Bryusov left very interesting memories of his first meeting with Mikhail Vrubel, which took place at Usoltsev’s clinic: “To tell the truth, I was horrified when I saw Vrubel. He was a frail, sick man, wearing a dirty, wrinkled shirt. He had a reddish face; eyes like a bird of prey; sticking hair instead of a beard. First impression: crazy! After the usual greetings, he asked me: “Is it you I should write?” And he began to examine me in a special way, artistically, intently, almost soulfully. Immediately his expression changed. Genius shines through the madness.”
Photo of the poet Bryusov.
When Vrubel painted Bryusov, those around him began to notice that something strange was happening to his eyes, the artist was forced to come very close to see the model. New suffering was approaching with terrifying speed; having finished the portrait of Bryusov, Vrubel almost did not see his work.
"Fortune Teller", 1894-1895 (before illness)
Mikhail Vrubel understood the horror of his situation: the artist, whose world was fabulously beautiful, is now almost blind... He began to refuse food, saying that if he starved for 10 years, he would see clearly, and his drawing would be unusually good.
“Six-Winged Seraphim”, 1905 (before illness)
The unfortunate artist was now embarrassed by his acquaintances, he said: “Why should they come, I don’t see them.”
“Valkyrie (Portrait of Princess Tenisheva)”, 1899 (before illness)
The outside world had less and less contact with Mikhail Vrubel. Despite all the efforts of his sister and wife, who regularly visited the artist, he plunged into the world of his own dreams: he told something like fairy tales that he would have eyes made of emerald, that he created all his works during the Ancient World or the Renaissance.
"Seraphim", 1904-1905 (during illness)
Sitting in the garden in his last summer, he once said: “The sparrows are chirping at me - barely alive, barely alive.” The general appearance of the patient seemed to become more refined, more spiritual. Vrubel walked towards the end with complete calm. When he began to have pneumonia, which then turned into fleeting consumption, he took it calmly. On his last conscious day, before the agony, Vrubel especially carefully cleaned himself up, warmly kissed the hands of his wife and sister and did not speak again.
Photo of M. A. Vrubel, 1897 (before illness)
Only at night, having briefly come to his senses, the artist said, turning to the man who was caring for him: “Nikolai, I’ve had enough of lying here - let’s go to the Academy.” There was some kind of prophetic premonition in these words: within 24 hours Vrubel was solemnly brought in a coffin to the Academy of Arts - his alma mater.
“Bed” (from the series “Insomnia”), 1903-1904 (during illness)
I would like to end the story with the words of the psychiatrist Usoltsev, who, like no one else, appreciated Mikhail Vrubel, understanding the complexity of his brilliant personality: “I often heard that Vrubel’s work is sick creativity. I studied Vrubel for a long time and carefully, and I believe that his work is not only quite normal, but so powerful and durable that even a terrible illness could not destroy it. Creativity was at the core, in the very essence of his mental personality, and, having reached the end, the disease destroyed him... He died seriously ill, but as an artist he was healthy, and deeply healthy.”
“Rose in a glass”, 1904 (during illness)