Volkov: paintings by Russian painter

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The artist Efim Efimovich Volkov, whose paintings are full of natural charm and subtle spiritual harmony, is a famous painter, a bright representative of the artists of Russian nature, whose work is rich in several hundred landscapes, sketches and a huge number of album drawings.

Contemporaries considered this author, whose works are presented in the art museums of large cities, "the poet of Russian autumn and fogs", because he mainly painted landscapes of Russian latitudes. In his works, Yefim showed not bright and catchy areas, but modest, inconspicuous nooks of nature, trying to convey the charm and unique poetry inherent in these places as subtly and accurately.

Biography of Yefim Volkov

Coming from the family of an ordinary St. Petersburg paramedic, Efim Volkov, whose paintings colorfully convey the charm of Russian nature, was born in 1844 on April 4th. He received his education in a private boarding school, and then at the Vvedenchesky gymnasium in the city of St. Petersburg. The artistic path of the Wolves, whose paintings adorn manyart galleries, he did not immediately choose: for some time he was engaged in bureaucratic clerical work. Being a creative person, Yefim got a job in a drawing school in 1866 and mastered a four-year program in a year. Then Volkov got a job as a volunteer at the Imperial Academy of Arts. The endurance to attend classes was only enough for a year, after which the artist left the walls of the educational institution and came to grips with painting.

His canvas "Swamp in Autumn" (1871), depicting a dull picture of the approach of autumn days and the threshold of the oncoming cold weather, won two exhibitions: the World London exhibition with a bronze medal and the Society for the Encouragement of Artists with a second prize. In this work, the author for the first time used the effect of a barely perceptible haze, which will often be used in autumn-spring landscapes.

Paintings by artist Volkov

Besides swampy terrain, a favorite image in the artistic work of Efim Volkov is the forest, its picturesque edges, clearings surrounded by trees, small lakes and banks of meandering streams. Volkov's paintings "At the Bazaar" (1874) and "In the Forest. In the spring "(1876). Volkov's work is characterized by high inspiration, subtlety of emotions, the image of a calmly poetic state of nature, the absence of a violent manifestation of the elements.

"Moonlight night in the forest" with a warm night full of captivating bliss or "Winter Landscape" with a truthfully shown state of silence of a snowy forest - Efim Volkov's paintings are immersed ina state of peace and harmony with nature.

In 1879, a significant event took place in the life of a Russian painter: he was elected a member of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions, a little earlier, thanks to the efforts of D. V. Grigorovich, Secretary of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists, a scholarship was awarded to a talented painter. The work of the artist, who became famous since the 1870s, was of interest to many printed publications (“World Illustration”, “Bee”, “Niva”, “Art Chronicle” and others), which often published reproductions of his works with descriptions and comments.

The artist's family misfortune

Creative success, recognition of the audience, happiness in family life - it seemed that the artist had everything one could dream of. Yefim Volkov was broken by the sudden death of his adored young daughter in 1884. The artist was so shocked by this misfortune that he barely managed to survive. During this period, his work is characterized by a sad mood, drawing of monks and elders, who hid from the bustle of the world behind the monastery walls. A striking example is the canvas "Skete", when looking at which one involuntarily imagines deserts, where the groans of the outside world do not reach, and nature is solemnly calm.

In Russian landscape painting, Efim Volkov, whose paintings evoke a feeling of peace and tranquility in the viewer, was considered a magnificent songbook of the Russian summer - the season that is most difficult to write due to the clogging of landscape elements with the greenery of trees and grasses. An example of this is his work"Flower field", "Landscape with a pond", "River".

Native landscapes of St. Petersburg

Visiting as an illustrator Palestine and the Black Sea coast with friends in the brush, Efim Volkov has always remained faithful to his favorite landscapes of the swampy areas of St. Petersburg and the middle Russian strip. In 1895, Efim Volkov, whose paintings convey the beauty of Russian expanses, was elected a full member of the Academy of Arts, and in 1899 he was awarded the title of academician. As time went. The fashion for the art of the Wanderers has sunk into the past, replaced by Art Nouveau and Impressionism. Disappointed in the public, which had sharply lost interest in the work of the Wanderers, the artist Volkov lost a lot of weight, became haggard, became gloomy, but did not betray himself and until the end of his days he painted swampy landscapes of the surroundings of his beloved St. Petersburg, finding silence, charm and peace in them.

The Russian artist died on February 17, 1920.