“I can only tremble at what Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel and others like him reveal to humanity once a century. We don’t see the worlds that they saw...” A.A. Block. From the speech at the funeral of M.A. Vrubel April 16, 1910.
The tragic fate of Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel, for many decades after his death, casts a special light on the works of the artist, recognized as one of greatest masters Russian art. His paintings, watercolors, ceramics, decorative panels, sparkling with pure paint, like precious stones, attract the eye and make you think about him again and again. The connection between Vrubel's personality and the era in which he lived turned out to be more complex than that of many of his contemporaries. The artist had to capture symbolic images in his works the contradictions, struggles, tragedy and spiritual searches of his time. He passed them through his own soul - and his soul tore with unbearable heaviness.
An outstanding world-famous painter was born in the city of Omsk in 1856. Vrubel was three years old when his mother died. To some extent, she was replaced by Anna Alexandrovna, his older sister, who became his close friend, played a significant role in her brother’s life, took care of him and was main support V last years. M.A.’s most confidential letters were addressed to her. Vrubel.
The Vrubel family lived either in St. Petersburg or in the provinces - frequent moves were associated with their father's military career. Mikhail Vrubel began drawing around the age of five and periodically took drawing lessons. Already in his early youth, having encountered a provincial philistine environment, indifferent to everything except cards and gossip, Mikhail Alexandrovich seeks refuge from vulgarity in art. Even before he felt like an artist, he was already “on the side” of the light creative world, where the great masters of the Renaissance reigned - Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci.
After graduating from high school, at the request of his father, he entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University, not feeling any interest in this profession. Nevertheless, he graduated from the university and this became the basis of his deep education, which was noted by everyone who knew him and which was generally rare in the artistic environment of that era. Only at 24 years old Mikhail Vrubel finally determined his life and since the fall of 1880 he has been studying at the Academy of Arts.
In search of his own creative path, classical art became a support for Vrubel. The young artist saw his task in developing his own style and technique of writing. At the Academy, his interest in watercolor arose - a technique that is both subtle and powerful, capable of solving complex artistic problems. One of the best teachers of the Academy, Professor P.P. Chistyakov was the first to realize the unusual, powerful artistic gift of his student and guessed his desire for monumental forms of painting. In 1884, on his recommendation from Chistyakov, Vrubel went to Kyiv to take part in the restoration of the ancient Cyril Church with frescoes of the 12th century and in the creation of murals of the Vladimir Cathedral. Several years of work in Kyiv became a time of artistic development Vrubel, determined his entire future fate.
This one of the most mysterious painters belongs to the type of creators of his time whom S.P. Diaghilev called " beauty-hungry generation". The works written in 1886 in Kyiv - "", "", - speak of the artist’s admiration for the beauty of the world.
In Vrubel’s works, a huge decorative gift sounded with all its mighty force - for him, any image of a person or object on canvas or paper was also a pattern, an ornament of forms. That is why Vrubel’s passion for studies of precious fabrics was so great. An image of a bright carpet on which works appear in luxurious patterns and colors real world, is the main essence and idea of many of his picturesque panels and paintings. Along with fabrics, Vrubel looks for the embodiment of decorative form in flowers: in Kyiv, he created magical watercolors depicting irises, orchids, azaleas, highlighting the living ones, as if continuing to bloom and bloom on a sheet of paper.
Among those created during the Kiev period, the iconostasis of the St. Cyril Church can be attributed to a special place, to paint the icons of which Vrubel went to Venice. Here he was inspired by ancient monuments of art, frescoes and Byzantine mosaics, paintings by old masters - and the very vital life of the Italian city: people, streets, music, people, canals. From that moment on, Italy gave birth to the greatest and eternal love. Vrubel never tired of remembering her even at the very end of his life, broken by a serious illness. The icons of the St. Cyril Church, first of all, "" carry within themselves a purely Vrubel's, a personal combination of images of Byzantine antiquity with the dramatic thinking of the era at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries.
Tragic eyes Our Lady(the prototype of which was portrait of a real woman - Z.L. Prahova) as a special sign of the soul will constantly appear in other Vrubel images. These eyes can be seen in the image Demon.
The theme of the Demon was addressed here in Kyiv, under the influence of Lermontov’s poetry and A.G.’s opera. Rubinstein, which made a great impression on Vrubel. The image of the Demon in the artist’s creative worldview became the key one, containing the most different faces his art. The artist argued that “The Demon is not understood - they are confused with the devil and the devil, ... and “Demon” means “soul” and personifies eternal struggle restless human spirit“, the ongoing reconciliation of the passions that overwhelmed him, the knowledge of life and not finding an answer to his doubts either on earth or in heaven.” Here in the words lies the philosophical program of Vrubel’s numerous works dedicated to the image of the Demon.
Having received a refusal to participate in the painting of the Vladimir Cathedral, this was the first deep and serious blow for Vrubel. The sketches he created - "", " Angel with censer and candle" - the commissions seemed too uncanonical.
Their emotional intensity, drama and Vrubel’s very manner of painting were defiantly individual. In 1889, the painter left Kyiv and came to live in Moscow. In Moscow he meets with an old friend V.A. Serov, presented by K.A. Korovin, settles in his workshop, is in need, starving. In their memoirs, many, including K.A. Korovin, wrote about Vrubel’s selflessness, ability to be content with little and indifference to money. This manifested his desire to preserve his freedom, the freedom of an artist and a person, at all costs.
Korovin introduced Vrubel to S.I. Mamontov, who became his patron and friend.
In Moscow, in Mamontov’s house on Sadovo-Spasskaya Vrubel lived, worked on " Demon (sitting)"(1890). After the Kyiv "recluse" the artist finds himself in a rather stormy Moscow artistic life. He works on sets for theaters, on costumes at the Private Opera of S.I. Mamontova. He travels to Italy many times with Mamontov, lives and works in Abramtsevo. Here he is interested in ceramics, which has become one of his significant creative manifestations. One of the first Moscow works that clearly demonstrated the difference between Vrubel’s art and the usual artistic norms was his illustrated anniversary edition of the works of M.Yu. Lermontov (1891). Decoratively refined and complex images of the poem " Daemon"were negatively rejected by an educated and aesthetically moral society. According to Korovin, " everyone got angry".
Vrubel also understands the modern type of decorative painting in a new way, moving from its monumental religious forms to decorative romantic panels - " Venice"(1893), "" (1894), triptychs for the country houses of A.V. and S.T. Morozov.
But even on this path he encounters misunderstanding. Particularly difficult for Vrubel was the story of the creation, commissioned by Mamontov, of two large panels for the art department in Nizhny Novgorod All-Russian Exhibition of 1896. Sketches of Vrubel's panels " Mikula Selyaninovich" And " Princess Dream"were not only rejected, but also ridiculed in the press. In response to this, Mamontov built a separate pavilion to display them. The panels, despite this dramatic episode, made us start talking about Vrubel.
Like many people of this era, Vrubel enjoyed vivid aesthetic impressions in music. But he was also distinguished by a mysterious sensitivity to singing and music. His sister recalled how, as a child, he could stand “chained” to the piano for hours, enjoying playing. Many themes of his works were born under the influence of music, and Vrubel’s marriage was also connected with it.
During one of the operettas, he was so impressed by the voice of the artist of the Private Opera Zabel Nadezhda Ivanovna that he fell in love with it, without seeing her at all on the darkened stage. Subsequently, in 1896, the opera artist became the artist’s wife and his favorite model. " Other singers sing like birds, but Nadya sings like a person", Vrubel said about his wife’s voice.
For him, she was also the embodiment of the musical images of his favorite composer and friend - N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, in whose operas she was often the first performer of female parts. The artist's wife is depicted in the role of Princess Volkhova in the opera "" in a watercolor of 1898. Vrubel listened to his wife in this opera about 90 times.
Several times he could enjoy the orchestra playing, especially SEA, and he didn’t get tired of it, which surprised his wife. Each time the artist found new delights and saw fantastic tones.
Quite a few magnificent theatrical scenery, graphic sheets, sculptural works were created under the influence of musical images. These include a series of majolica sculptures on the themes of the operas "" and " Snow Maiden". The fabulous image of Vesna, Kupava, Lel, Sadko playing the harp, Tsar Berendey, is embodied in current forms of ceramics, covered with sparkling glazes.
Thanks to Rimsky-Korsakov, Vrubel begins to feel especially subtly the national note in art. Images of Russian folklore become an important poetic theme of his work - the panel "" (1898), "" (1900) appears.
Symbolism, an artistic movement of the early 20th century, is reflected in many of the artist’s paintings. "", "", "" are not landscapes, although the artist captured images of natural scenes. The images of these creations are symbols of a mysterious, enigmatic nature hidden from human life.
Female images are also endowed with symbolic meaning in Vrubel’s paintings. Whether it is the vaguely visible appearance of the lilac “fairy”, fairy-tale princesses or portraits of his wife, the artist’s poetic brush makes them images of eternal, sublime, romantic beauty.
Symbolic paintings led to the ultimate Demon - " To the defeated demon" (1902), the most incomprehensible for the viewer of those years.
Vrubel wrote it feverishly, rewriting it many times, continuing to work even at the exhibition and in the house of the new owner of the painting. It was as if he wanted to convey something important, final, anticipating his fate. A feeling of catastrophe, the collapse of life, immeasurable suffering and death permeated the audience in front of this picture. It was from the spring of 1902 that the long and dark years of mental illness began. The artist was greatly affected by the Tretyakov Gallery's refusal to purchase " Demon defeated"(The painting was acquired by V.V. von Meck, and only after Vrubel’s death it entered the gallery.) Vrubel felt “The Demon” as a result, as deeply suffered knowledge and was offended by the misunderstanding.
The year 1903 became tragic for the artist. His little son Savva died, which led to a strong impetus for the development of the disease.
This tragic moment in time, the artist spends most of his life in clinics. At rare intervals, he returns to work - he paints portraits, graphic still lifes, and one of his most beautiful masterpieces - pastel." Pearl
In the process of creating the work on it, the artist lost his sight. The last years have passed in darkness. During the terrible and sad illness of N.I. Zabela - Vrubel sang him old arias and new ones, just prepared. In her words - " here he sometimes forgot about his misfortune even for a moment". F.A. Usoltsev, the artist's psychiatrist, who carefully and carefully treated Vrubel, asserted in his memoirs, which were written immediately after the artist's death, that "his work is not only completely normal, but so powerful and durable that even a terrible disease I couldn't destroy it."
One of the hardest lessons in life for Vrubel was a collision with moral and emotional deafness, with philistine views on art. They didn't understand him. Even worse, they didn’t want to understand him. " It is better to fight arbitrariness than herd stupidity", he once wrote bitterly. Korovin, who was deeply worried about his friend, wrote that "the whole life of an artist, a man with a courageous and tender soul"was surrounded by a "sour swamp of petty, vile and vile laughter."
Paper, watercolor, whitewash, bronze, pencil.
He owns an entire era in art; Vrubel’s searches are compared to Leonardo’s method. The first symbolist, his style of painting was original and turned out to be prophetic for new directions in painting of the 20th century.
The artist’s father, Alexander Mikhailovich Vrubel, was a military lawyer, a former combat officer, who participated in the Crimean campaign and military operations in the Caucasus. The artist’s mother, Anna Grigorievna Basargina, a relative of the famous Decembrist, gave birth to four children and died when Misha was four years old. Due to his father's service, the family moved frequently. A.M. Vrubel to marry E.Kh. Wessel. Vrubel Jr.'s relationship with his stepmother developed well, and thanks to her vocation (she was a pianist), the artist grew up listening to classical music.
In 1874, M. Vrubel graduated from the famous Odessa Richelieu Gymnasium with a gold medal.
Already at the age of five, the boy drew enthusiastically and, arriving in St. Petersburg, his father enrolled him in the school of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists. In Odessa, a boy learns drawing at the Society school fine arts. At the age of nine, M. Vrubel copied Michelangelo from memory. However artistic education the father instilled in his son only for general development. So in 1874 M. Vrubel studied to become a lawyer at St. Petersburg University. But M. Vrubel’s dream remains painting; he attends exhibitions, studies, participates in debates about the purpose of art, and attends evening classes at the Academy of Arts.
After graduating from St. Petersburg University and passing military service M.A. Vrubel, in 1880 became a student at the Academy of Arts. Vrubel developed a close relationship with another Russian artist at the Academy, V. Serov. And in 1886 he met K. Korovin. His teachers were P. Chistyakov and I. Repin. He was critical of contemporary art. For example, he told teacher Repin to his face that he couldn’t draw. For his statements, Vrubel received the reputation of an arrogant person, although he looked modest and shy. From memoirs it is known that Vrubel performed in the most different images. Either he is a “noble gentleman” dressed to the nines (his father was a Pole), then he is dressed in a black velvet suit, trousers and stockings like a Venetian from a painting by Titian, then he surrounds himself strange people: snobs, revelers, circus performers, Italians, poor people, alcoholics (as friend Korovin said).
In 1884, Vrubel left the Academy. On the recommendation of Chistyakov, he goes to Kyiv to A. Prakhov to restore the ancient paintings of the St. Cyril Church. The Russian artist spent six years in Kyiv, studying Byzantine icon painting under the guidance of Prakhov, and also worked in the Vladimir Cathedral. Vrubel’s iconographic daring caused confusion, which is why in 1889 he was removed from this work. Then he moved to Moscow. Here his life and quest are connected with the Moscow house and estate near Moscow in Abramtsevo, owned by the famous art lover, philanthropist and inspirer of the famous art circle, Sava Mamontov. In addition to painting, at this time Vrubel took up sculpture, was engaged in ceramics, design, decoration theatrical productions, decorative panels. In 1890, his painting “Seated Demon” saw the light of day. This picture was conceived back in Kyiv. The painting subsequently became a symbol of the coming era - the era of symbolism, religious reformism, which tempted the then secular culture.
In 1896, Vrubel's first exhibition took place, which was the result of a scandal. The commissioned paintings by Mamantov were rejected by the Academy of Arts, designated as “not artistic.” These were two works: “Princess Dream” and “Mikula Selyanovich”. As a protest, Mamontov organized the exhibition “Vrubel Panels”.
Immediately after the exhibition, Vrubel married the singer Nadezhda Zabela; the young people got married in the summer in Geneva. At the invitation of Mamontov, Zabele becomes the leading artist of his private opera.
Over the next five years, the Russian artist created all his most famous works– it was a fruitful period of his life. He exhibited a lot - at the exhibitions of the “World of Art”, the Vienna Secession, “36”... Although the same A. Benois was always very critical of his pictorial innovations.
In 1899, Vrubel lost his father, and in 1901 his son Savva was born, with a congenital defect - a “cleft lip” - which made a painful impression on the artist. At the beginning of 1902, V. Bekhterev discovered that he had incurable disease(taste of the spinal cord), which threatened with madness. In 1903, Vrubeby’s young son died, a year after his portrait was painted. So Vrubel turns into a permanent resident of psychiatric clinics. Not long before this, he painted a picture, terrible in its doom, “The Defeated Demon.” During periods of darkness, the artist fell either into delusions of grandeur or into complete self-abasement.
Before 1906, there were periods of enlightenment when the artist began to work intensively. In 1905 he was elected academician of painting. This was the last event perceived by his mind. In 1906 he became blind.
The life of the famous Russian artist M.A. Vrubel ended within the walls of the St. Petersburg clinic of Dr. Bari. At the funeral, A. Blok called the artist the author of “drawings stolen from eternity” and “the messenger of other worlds.”
Vrubel was lonely and perplexed as a person, and his paintings were not understood and not accepted by people. Only at the end of his life, when he ended up in a psychiatric hospital, his paintings became famous.
Famous paintings by M.A. Vrubel
The painting “Pan” (1899) opens a series of “nocturnes” by the Russian artist. The continuation was the paintings “The Swan Princess” and “Lilac”. N. Zabela was the niece of N. Ge, who influenced Vrubel’s night stories. Ge was considered a master of night color.
Pan character Greek mythology, depicted, however, by Vrubel under the influence of Russian folklore, which he loved so much at that time. Pan, the deity of forests and fields, is a symbol of the night, which is a window into other worlds inaccessible to daytime consciousness.
The background of the picture is a Russian landscape. God seems to grow out of a mossy stump, and around him are fields, rivers, and birches, asleep in the silence of the night. The eyes of God, blue, luminous, amaze with their bottomlessness. From Greek mythology, only the pipe is involved in the picture. According to mythological stories, Pan was a judge in shepherd's pipe competitions. The half-horn of the moon fills the space of the picture with fantastic light, simultaneously echoing the horns of the deity.
The painting “The Flying Demon” (1899) is an unfinished work. The theme of the demon worried Vrubel all his life and in this work he returns to it again. This picture is a hymn of freedom and beauty. At this time, Vrubel was reading the works of Nietzsche. It is possible that the painting was not completed by the artist because, in an effort to show freedom, he depicted an image of doom.
The demon's face conveys a premonition of tragedy. Huge eyes, deathly pallor, determination, rough sculpting of the face itself creates the image of “world sorrow”. The elongated figure of the demon conveys the feeling of rapid flight. Distinctive features Vrubel's paintings are violet and lilac tones, decorative background.
Vrubel’s painting “The Swan Princess” (1900) is dedicated to N. Zabela, who played the role of the Swan Princess in the play “The Tale of Tsar Saltan.” The composer of the play was Rimsky-Korsakov. This painting was the result of the artist’s friendship with the composer, who recognized N. Zabele. In this work, the artist conveyed a soulful musical image of a fragile and alien creature thrown into our world.
In the background there is a theatrical set - burning orange windows. A lush decorative kokoshnik from Zabela’s stage costume on the head of the Swan Princess. The virtuosity of using a brush is visible in the image of the plumage, the rays of the setting sun play on it. Shimmering colors, subtle transitions of gray and pink make this work almost truly “sound” like unearthly music. This picture is the breakthrough into the otherworld that the Symbolists called for.
The painting “Lilac” (1900) is associated with the farm of N. Ge in the Chernigov province, where Vrubel saw thickets of blooming lilacs. “Lilac” represented the design of the pictorial language of symbolism. This is one of Vrubel’s most complex works; he also depicted philosophical meaning, namely, bridging the gap between form-appearance and essence-meaning. The painting “Lilac” reconciled Vrubel with A. Benois, who admitted that while standing near the painting, he smelled spring flowers.
Vrubel calls the heroine of the film Natasha, connecting her with Pushkin’s world. The girl embodies the soul of lilac.
Masterpiece of Vrubel M.A. – painting “Demon Seated”
The painting “Seated Demon” was painted in 1890 and is located in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. This image was conceived by a Russian artist while working in Kyiv, it is inspired by Lermontov’s poem and is in tune with the era of symbolism. Vrubel worked on the painting already in Moscow, in Mamontov’s house, in the studio provided. Vrubel wrote to his father about his painting: “The demon is not so much an evil spirit as a suffering and mourning spirit, at the same time a powerful, majestic spirit.” A. Blok fell in love with the painting, calling it “a symbol of our time.” The artist wrote to his sister: “My search is exclusively in the field of technology. The rest has already been done before me, just choose.” In this he means the appeal of painting to literature. V. Vasnetsov also sensitively portrayed literary works in his paintings.
When the artist painted the demon, at the beginning of the work, it fit quite well on the canvas. By the end of the work, the demon had grown so much that the artist had to build on the canvas; in the final version, the Demon is depicted with a cut off head. The background only in this picture is realistic. At the same time, it seems theatrical - fantastic, motionless, decorative. It echoes the emptiness of the soul. The artist himself mentioned more than once that demon is translated from Greek as “soul.” The coloring of the picture is a contrast of colors: the predominant lilac color fights with the occasional orange-golden color. The way Vrubel wrote “the demon” could not be written by any of his contemporaries. The artist boldly dissects a single form into separate facets, turning the world he created into a mosaic of skillfully cut precious stones. Vrubel's “demon” combines beauty, intelligence, greatness, power and at the same time impotence, helplessness (as can be seen from his hopelessly clasped hands). Blok saw the “demon” as “a young man in the oblivion of “Boredom.” The Demon's entire body is made up of metal muscles.
- Virgin and Child
- Tamara in a coffin
- Tamara and the demon
Vrubel Mikhail Alexandrovich short biography Russian artist Silver Age outlined in this article.
Mikhail Vrubel short biography
The future artist was born March 5, 1856 years in the town of Omsk in the family of a staff captain. WITH youth The boy's love for art and beauty grew insatiably. But, at the insistence of his parents, he decided to connect his life with jurisprudence, entering St. Petersburg University in the fall of 1874. He graduated 6 years later, but he didn’t want to do a boring job. Therefore, in 1880, Mikhail entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, studying with teacher Pavel Chistyakov. By the way, his teacher taught Repin, Surikov, Vasnetsov and Serov.
Life young artist I didn’t indulge often. He had to survive on 3 rubles a month, eating only water and bread. But he never took out a loan; his pride did not allow it. Vrubel's artistic style was new and unexpected. Mikhail was not attracted to the classics; he introduced features of modernism into painting.
In 1884-1989 he lived in Kyiv. He worked on paintings and icons in the St. Cyril Church, created sketches for paintings in the Vladimir Cathedral, which were not realized. In 1889 he moved to Moscow.
The artist's first exhibition took place in 1896. After its completion, Vrubel found his happiness in the face opera singer Nadezhda Zabela, who became his muse and wife. The marriage produced a son, Savva, but he did not live long and soon died. This event shook Vrubel’s psyche, leading to mental illness.
The famous painting “Seated Demon” was painted in 1890, causing conflicting feelings among art lovers. In addition to painting, Mikhail Vrubel was seriously interested in ceramics, sculpture, and design for theater productions.
The continuation of the first “Demon” was the painting “The Defeated Demon”. But the artist’s mental illness progressed, which prevented him from finishing the painting. Also in 1905, Vrubel’s vision began to deteriorate sharply, and six months later he became completely blind. His last work was a portrait of Valery Bryusov, the master of Russian symbolism. The last years of the artist passed in complete darkness, from which he died in 1910 year.
Vrubel Mikhail Alexandrovich - Russian artist turn of XIX-XX centuries, a master of universal possibilities, who glorified his name in almost all types and genres of fine art: painting, graphics, decorative sculpture, theater arts. He was known as the author paintings, decorative panels, frescoes, book illustrations.
Decorative plate
Decoration
Illustration
Temple painting
Sculpture
Sketches, Etudes, Sketches
A. Vrubel was distinguished by a rare versatility of talent. He is known as a master monumental paintings, easel paintings, theatrical scenery, as a graphic artist, sculptor and even architect. Whatever field the artist worked in, he created first-class works. “Vrubel,” writes Golovin, “expressed his thought perfectly. There is some kind of infallibility in everything he did.”
Even among brilliant artists late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century, Vrubel stands out for the originality and uniqueness of his art. The originality of thought and novelty of form often interfered with the understanding of Vrubel's work by his contemporaries, and the cruel injustice of criticism painfully wounded the sensitive artist. “What a disaster this whole long-suffering life is,” recalls I. E. Repin, “and what pearls of his genius talent there are.”
M. A. Vrubel was born on March 5, 1856 in Omsk in the family of a military lawyer. The father treated the boy's passion for painting with care.
During his short stay in St. Petersburg, Vrubel studied at the Drawing School and often visited the Hermitage. After graduating from the Odessa gymnasium, where he seriously studied literature, history, German, French, and Latin, Vrubel took exams at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University and graduated in 1879.
By this time, the future artist had already firmly decided to devote himself to art and in 1880 he entered the Academy of Arts, studying in the class of the famous teacher P. P. Chistyakov. Vrubel works hard and seriously at the Academy. “You can’t imagine,” he writes to his sister, “how immersed I am in art with my whole being...”
In the autumn of 1883, Vrubel rented a studio for independent work from life. Already at the Academy of Arts, Vrubel began to be interested in universal, philosophical themes; he was attracted by strong, rebellious, and often tragic personalities. In April 1884, Vrubel left the Academy and, at the suggestion of the famous art critic A. Prakhov, left for Kyiv to participate in the restoration of ancient paintings of the St. Cyril Church. The artist completed work to update one hundred and fifty fragments of ancient frescoes and created four new compositions in place of the lost ones. In addition to the frescoes, Vrubel painted four icons. He worked on them in Venice, where he went to study art Early Renaissance. The best of these works is the icon of the Mother of God.
The artist failed to realize his plans in wall paintings - his participation in the decoration of the cathedral was limited to the creation of fancy ornaments, but Vrubel devoted himself to this work with enthusiasm, showing an inexhaustible wealth of imagination.
In 1889, Vrubel left for Moscow, and a new and most fruitful period of his work began. The artist receives a number of orders for decorative panels.
At this time, Vrubel worked a lot on portraits and found special painting techniques for each.
Along with epic themes, Vrubel worked on the image of the Demon throughout the 90s. In one of the letters to his father, the artist’s idea of the Demon is expressed: “The Demon is not so much an evil spirit as a suffering and sorrowful, powerful and majestic spirit.” The first attempt to solve this topic dates back to 1885, but the work was destroyed by Vrubel.
In 1891, for the anniversary edition of Lermontov’s works, edited by Konchalovsky, Vrubel made illustrations, of the thirty, half were for “The Demon.” These illustrations essentially represent independent works, significant and Russian history book graphics, and testify to Vrubel’s deep understanding of Lermontov’s poetry. Particularly noteworthy is the watercolor "Head of the Demon".
A few years later, Vrubel wrote “The Flying Demon.” The image is permeated with a premonition of death and doom. This is the last, desperate flight over the mountains. The demon almost touches the peaks with his body. The coloring of the picture is gloomy.
And finally, it dates back to 1901-1902 last picture- “The Demon Defeated,” Vrubel worked on it intensely and painfully. A. Benois recalls that the painting was already at the World of Art exhibition, and Vrubel still continued to rewrite the Demon’s face and changed the coloring.
After finishing the defeated Demon, Vrubel became seriously ill and was placed in a hospital. With short breaks, the illness lasted until 1904, then a short recovery occurred.
In 1904 he goes to St. Petersburg. In 1904, Vrubel wrote “The Six-Winged Seraphim,” which was not related to Pushkin’s poem “The Prophet.” A mighty angel in sparkling rainbow plumage to a certain extent continues the theme of the Demon, but this image is distinguished by its integrity and harmony.
In the last years of his life, Vrubel created one of the most tender, fragile images - “Portrait of N. I. Zabela against the background of birch trees.” At the same time belong interesting self-portraits. Since 1905, the artist has been in the hospital constantly, but continues to work, showing himself as a brilliant draftsman. He paints scenes of hospital life, portraits of doctors, landscapes. The drawings, made in different manners, are distinguished by sharp observation and great emotionality. Doctor Usoltsev, who treated Vrubel, writes: “He was an artist-creator with his whole being, right down to the deepest recesses of his mental personality. He always created, one might say, continuously, and creativity was as easy and as necessary for him as breathing. While a person is alive, he still breathes; while Vrubel was breathing, he created everything.”
Several years before his death, Vrubel began working on a portrait of V. Bryusov. Some time later, Bryusov wrote that all his life he tried to be like this portrait. Vrubel did not have time to complete this work; in 1906 the artist went blind. He tragically experiences a terrible blow, in a difficult hospital situation he dreams of the blue sky. Music was the only consolation.
The artist's work was a passionate protest against evil. Creating tragic images, he embodied in them a bright, noble beginning. The struggle between light and darkness is the content of most of Vrubel’s works. A. Blok poetically spoke about this over the artist’s grave: “Vrubel came to us as a messenger that the lilac night is interspersed with the gold of a clear evening. He left us his Demons, as spellcasters against world evil, against the night. Before that, Vrubel and him something like this is revealed to humanity once every century, I can only tremble.”
50 biographies of masters of Russian art. L. Aurora. 1970. P.218
On March 17, 1856, the Russian artist Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel was born in Omsk, who worked in almost all types and genres of fine art: painting, graphics, decorative sculpture and theatrical art.
In the 1880-1890s, Vrubel’s creative quests did not find support from the Academy of Arts and art critics. Artists and critics who later united around the magazine “World of Art” made Vrubel “one of their own”; his works began to be constantly exhibited at World of Art exhibitions and Diaghilev retrospectives, and at the beginning of the twentieth century, Vrubel’s paintings became an organic part of Russian Art Nouveau. “For fame in the artistic field,” on November 28, 1905, he was awarded the title of Academician of Painting - just at the moment of the complete cessation of artistic activity.
Virgin and Child, 1884
Left: finished version. Right: Italian pencil sketch, 1884
The icon was created in 1884-1885 to decorate the single-tier marble iconostasis of the St. Cyril Church in Kyiv. It was this work that made Vrubel known to the general public and served as a starting point in his subsequent career as an artist and decorator. Despite the fact that the image is made in accordance with all the canons of Orthodox iconography, critics note its expressiveness and unusualness.
Art historians, critics and artists unanimously recognized the success of not only the image of the Mother of God, but also other works performed by Vrubel in the St. Cyril Church. For example, the famous collector P. M. Tretyakov praised this work by Vrubel, specially came to Kyiv to see it and lamented that he could not purchase it for his collection, and the critic and gallery owner S. K. Makovsky believed that Vrubel’s debut work in Kirillovskaya church is “Vrubel’s highest achievement,” and emphasized that this achievement is “deeply national,” rejecting Vrubel’s accusations of “non-Russian (Polish) origin” and “aesthetic cosmopolitanism,” and art historian and critic A. N. Benois also noted the skill of Vrubel and emphasized that in comparison with the works of Vrubel in the St. Cyril Church, the frescoes of V. M. Vasnetsov “seem to be superficial illustrations.”
Girl against the background of a Persian carpet, 1886
The painting depicts a teenage girl, dressed in a pink satin dress, against the backdrop of a Persian carpet, the girl's hands cupped on a rose and a richly inlaid dagger - traditional emblems of love and death. There is a pearl necklace around the girl’s neck, and her fingers are studded with rings.
By our time, the colors of the painting have noticeably darkened. Vrubel was often in a hurry in his work and violated technology, using retouch varnishes that quickly dried out the surface of the painting. Currently, the painting is exhibited in the collection of the Kyiv Museum of Russian Art.
Flying demon, 1899
This is an unfinished painting by Mikhail Vrubel, painted in 1899 and part of a series of illustrations for Mikhail Lermontov's poem "The Demon". He did not finish the work for an unknown reason.
Demon defeated, 1902
In 1900, Vrubel again turned to the theme of “The Demon”. Having not yet finished the painting “The Flying Demon,” in 1901 the artist began writing preliminary sketches for the painting “The Defeated Demon.” Vrubel was generally healthy, although those around him noted his irritability. Despite the mostly negative reviews from critics of the time, his popularity among art connoisseurs grew.
The painting is done in oil on canvas. Its background is a mountainous area in a scarlet sunset. The composition emphasizes the constraint of the demon’s figure, as if squeezed between the upper and lower crossbars of the frame. The picture was painted in individual style Vrubel with the effect of crystalline edges, which makes his paintings more like stained glass or panels. The artist achieved this effect with the help of flat strokes made with a palette knife.
Seated demon, 1890
The demon is an image of the strength of the human spirit, internal struggle, doubts. Tragically clasping his hands, he sits with sad, huge eyes directed into the distance, surrounded by unprecedented flowers. The background of the picture is a mountainous area in a scarlet sunset. The composition emphasizes the constraint of the demon’s figure, as if squeezed between the upper and lower crossbars of the frame.
In 1891, Vrubel wrote thirty illustrations for the anniversary edition of Lermontov's works, edited by Konchalovsky. Most of the works related to Lermontov’s poem “The Demon,” which we already mentioned above. The sketch of this painting was created in 1890 and is kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery.
Pan, 1899
The painting depicts Pan - the character ancient greek mythology. However, he is depicted against the backdrop of a typical North Russian landscape (plain, crooked birch, forest, river), which makes him similar to the image of a goblin
The painting was painted in 1899, belongs to the so-called “Fairytale cycle” and is considered its pinnacle. Painted during the stay of the artist and his wife on the estate of Princess Maria Tenisheva ( Khotylevo village, Oryol province). At first, Vrubel began to paint a portrait of his wife against the backdrop of a forest landscape, but did not finish it and literally in a few days painted a new picture on the same canvas. The source of inspiration for Vrubel was the story of Anatole France “The Holy Satyr”.
Portrait of K. D. Artsybushev, 1897
About the portrait of Konstantin Dmitrievich Artsybushev, painted by Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel, we can say that this is a portrait of a Russian intellectual from the time of the formation of capitalism in Russia.
The hero of the portrait is a man new formation, a new industrially developing Russia, a country in which not only nobility of origin is beginning to be valued, but also intelligence, talent and active citizenship. That's why artistic media selected by Vrubel accordingly. Nothing external that catches the eye. Artsybushev sits at a table with books laid out in his office. Behind the back there is also a bookcase with books and business papers. The red color of the graying Artsybushev’s butterfly and the slightly gathered carpet on the floor break up the monotony of the gray-green shades of the picture. This is a traditional realistic portrait, the hero of which does not pose, but, on the contrary, is in a state of thoughtfulness, in a comfortable pose, in a comfortable and familiar environment. But this portrait would not have been Vrubel’s if the image of Artsybushev had not felt internal dynamics, like a twisted spring. A sharp tilt of the head, a broken turn of the shoulders, a gloomy look from under wide eyebrows— the hero’s thoughts are far from contemplative. While creating the portrait of Artsybushev, Vrubel had already come up with his “Demon”.
Princess Dreams, 1896
Vrubel’s panel “Princess of Dreams” is called the most famous panel in Moscow. It was created based on the plot of the drama in verse by Edmond Rostand “La Princesse lointaine”, in the Russian translation by T. L. Shchepkina-Kupernik called “The Princess of the Dream”. The play premiered on the Russian stage in January 1896 in St. Petersburg. Romantic story about the sublime desire for love and perfect beauty, the contemplation of which is achieved at the cost of death, was a resounding success with the public.
The picturesque panel is now exhibited in the Vrubel Hall in the Tretyakov Gallery.
Swan Princess, 1900
The princess from Vrubel’s canvas is mysterious and enigmatic, her face is sad. The Swan Princess is depicted against the background of twilight descending over the sea, a narrow strip of sunset on the horizon and a distant city (the background was the scenery for the play - the city of Ledenets, made by the artist).
A painting dedicated to a character from Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” (based on the novel by Pushkin). A.P. Ivanov spoke about this picture: “Isn’t it the Virgin-Resentment herself who, in the words of the ancient poem, “splashes her swan wings on the blue sea” before the days of great disasters?”, referring to the character from “The Tale of the Regiment” Igor". Alexander Blok also loved this painting very much and always kept a reproduction of it in his office in Shakhmatovo. It was inspired by a large poem with the subtitle “To Vrubel.”