Biography and work of Vasily Polenov

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

Cultural environment from infancy surrounded Vasily Polenov. Therefore, it is not surprising that the development and formation of his talents was multifaceted: the talent of a painter was combined in him with the talent of an architect and musician. He was an educator, theatrical and public figure. A photo of Polenov Vasily Dmitrievich from the portrait of his friend and admirer I. Repin is presented below.

Childhood

Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov (1844 - 1927) was born in St. Petersburg into a noble family, in which cultural traditions were indulged from generation to generation. In the artist's office hung a portrait of his grandfather - a writer, the first organizer of the state archive, a participant in the First Patriotic War, and his father - a historian, secretary of the Russian Archaeological Society, who de alt a lot with monuments of Russia's past. Mother drew and wrote children's books. All children were capable of drawing, and teachers from the Academy of Arts worked with them. In addition, children were taught music. Subsequently, Vasily Dmitrievich will play music in the evenings and compose romances to the words of Lermontov. Vasily Polenov's childhood was happy and cloudless.

Study

In 1863, after graduating from high school, V. Polenov entered St. Petersburg University. But he is attracted to painting, so he attends the Academy of Arts. Volunteer Polenov is engaged not only in drawing, but also listens to lectures on the history of art, anatomy, and descriptive geometry. He manages to study music (sings in the choir of the Academy) and is a frequenter of opera and concerts. In 1868, he continued his studies at the university at the Faculty of Law and, while painting, in 1871 received a large gold medal for the painting "The Resurrection of the Daughter of Air". Ilya Repin paints a picture on the same subject.

In France

After that, Vasily goes for a long time to study abroad. Together in Repin, he worked on landscapes in the town of Veul, and in 1876 in Paris he completed the work The Arrest of the Huguenot. It is also often referred to as "The Arrest of the Huguenot Jacobin de Montebel, Comtesse d'Etremont."

The canvas depicts a modest and steadfast woman, ready to climb the fire or lay her head on the chopping block for her beliefs. She is firm in her faith and will not back down from it. No less zealous for Catholicism are those who came to arrest her and send her to trial. These terrible and bloody years of religious wars in France are depicted in dark, oppressive tones. The coloring of the picture is extremely gloomy. The stone vaults are heavy, from under which the young countess emerges. The light highlights her sad face. She does not raise her eyes to her guards, who are filled with pride, because theythey are doing a holy deed - they are fighting against the enemies of the holy Mother Church. Cold and hopelessness emanates from the whole work. The humanist artist, living in France, was imbued with a deep understanding of the historical era, which he transferred to the canvas. For this work in his homeland, he received the title of academician. In the same place, in France, he became forever friends with I. Repin and became closely acquainted with I. Turgenev. Communication with the ruler of thoughts, a singer of nature and a man from a noble nest will affect the work of Vasily Polenov.

Departure for the Balkans

In 1876, Polenov returned to Russia, but did not stay there. He is passionate about the ideas of the unity of the Slavic peoples in the Balkans. V. Polenov goes first to the Serbian-Turkish front, then to the Russian-Turkish one. As a volunteer, he takes part in the fighting against the Turks. He was awarded two awards - the golden Serbian Takovskiy cross and the medal "For Courage". From the theater of operations, he brings paintings, sketches, sketches, which depict mainly scenes of military life, Serbian and Montenegrin villages, characteristic national types.

In Moscow

Returning to his homeland, V. Polenov moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow. It is in Moscow and the Moscow region that he discovers the reality that still pleases the viewer. Here he writes his first masterpieces, which will reveal the bright original talent of Vasily Polenov.

Grandma's Garden (1879)

The artist created a landscape combined with a genre scene. Turgenev's poetry of old neglected estates is seen by the viewer on the canvas.

A cozy wooden mansion with chipped steps takes the viewer into nostalgic memories of its former splendor and the balls and receptions that he saw, and in which his then young and beautiful hostess participated. Now she, bent by age, dressed in the fashion of the beginning of the century, quietly walks along the sandy path, accompanied by her granddaughter or even great-granddaughter. The girl carefully supports the old woman. They blend in with the surrounding garden. This elegy, this lyricism and contemplation in silver-pink, lilac and green tones, which was created by the skill of the painter, reveals to us not only the charm of the past, but the magic of bewitching colors. This picture was accepted by everyone immediately and unconditionally. Not so with the more monumental work that the artist had painted two years earlier.

"Christ and the Sinner" (1877)

The master is concerned about the topic of women's rights trampled on by social injustice and religious fanaticism. Christ is depicted as an ordinary earthly person.

Church censorship accused the author of insulting the religious feelings of believers. There were therefore attempts to ban this work, which were rebuffed by the public. The author of many works was the artist Vasily Polenov, whose paintings excited society.

Life on the Oka

In the 90s V. D. Polenov acquires an empty sandy mound on the banks of the Oka. Here he builds a house according to his own design, lays out a beautiful garden and with inspiration paints Oka landscapes dear to his heart. Polenov Vasily Dmitrievich especially lovespictures of autumn, when nature is colored with all colors: gold, crimson, the remains of greenery.

Golden Autumn (1893)

The canvas depicts not a damp autumn, but a shining golden summer. It is still warm, and the calm Oka rolls its waters evenly across the wide plains.

The coastal forest, the Oka distance, a tiny church in the distance - this is a generalized image of the homeland.

Early Snow (1891)

This is the first significant work of the painter when he moved to Byohovo on the Oka. It suddenly snowed. Trees and bushes have not yet shed their foliage, and the sky is already covered with low snow clouds.

Oka has not yet been covered with real ice, but only covered with a thin ice crust. But already in the air one can feel the frosty pre-winter.

Thus, along with his entire large family (wife and five children), VD Polenov spent the last years of his life on the Oka River. There he created a museum. Now it is called "Polenovo". He was also buried there under a modest Olonets cross, the drawing of which he created himself. The biography of Polenov Vasily Dmitrievich is filled with a spiritualized perception of life. He managed to take place as an artist, and as a musician, and as a family man.