Paintings by Bogdanov-Belsky Nikolai Petrovich: titles, description

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

The artist with the sonorous surname Bogdanov-Belsky came from the very bottom of society. It would seem that the environment in which he grew up was bound to grind him down and absorb him, but no. The artist received education and fame. His biography is an example of not only a happy coincidence, but also tireless hard work. The image of a rural school, its pupils and teachers became one of the main ones in his work.

Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky: biography

On a frosty day on December 8, 1868, an illegitimate son was born to a Smolensk farm worker. Everyone knows how society treated such children, and even from the bottom. A mother with a child "out of mercy" was sheltered by her older brother. Many hardships fell on the lot of little Nikolai. At birth, he received the surname Bogdanov - given by God. "Belsky" the artist later added himself, in honor of the county in which he grew up.

The boy received his first two years of education at a rural church school in Shopotov. Thanks to the patronage of his teacher-priest, he ended up in the school of Professor Rachinsky. Here, the same as Nikolai, simplepeasant boys. This man played a decisive role in the life of the artist. Bogdanov-Belsky himself always said that he owed everything to him.

Seeing the boy's talent for painting, Rachinsky helped him enter first the drawing school at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, and then the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. The patron helped the boy financially, monthly allocating money for maintenance. At the school, Nikolai entered the landscape class, where he worked very successfully, often being the first among classmates. The young man was very lucky with the teachers, they were wonderful Russian artists: Vasily Polenov, Vladimir Makovsky, Illarion Pryanishnikov. Nikolai thought about the theme of the graduation picture for a long time, and Rachinsky suggested it. The result of the artist's enthusiastic work was the canvas "The Future Monk".

After graduating from the Moscow School, Bogdanov-Belsky continues his studies at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts in the class of Ilya Repin. At the end of 1895, the graduate went to Europe: to Paris, Munich, and then to Italy. The color of the artist's paintings is enriched, his mastery of painting techniques is enhanced.

Glory in Russia to Bogdanov-Belsky is brought by the paintings "At the Doors of the School" and "Mental Account". Orders rained down on the artist: portraits, still lifes, landscapes. He painted the most famous and influential people of his era. He painted portraits of Emperor Nicholas II, the Grand Dukes, Fyodor Chaliapin. But his favorite models are peasant children, lively, sincere anddirect.

The artist's works were acquired by the Tretyakov Gallery, he participates in exhibitions of the association of the Wanderers. His paintings travel around Russia, then are taken to Paris and Rome. At the age of 35, Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky became an academician of painting, and 10 years later - a member of the Academy of Arts.

After a revolutionary-minded government comes to power, "left" becomes official art. The persecution of realist artists begins, classical art withers and is eradicated. Korovin, Polenov, Vasnetsov, Nesterov - all experienced the hardships of the post-revolutionary period. At the invitation of his friend Bogdanov-Belsky moved to Riga. Here the artist sets to work with renewed vigor and actively participates in foreign exhibitions of Russian art. His paintings are a success and are sold in private collections. Until now, many canvases by Bogdanov-Belsky are scattered throughout Western Europe.

In 1941, the 73-year-old artist faced a new challenge: war. But there was no more strength left to fight, too much had been passed and suffered. The artist falls ill, creative forces leave him. Nikolai Petrovich had an operation in Germany, but it did not help. In 1945, during the bombing, the artist dies. He was buried in the Russian cemetery in Berlin. Pictures of Bogdanov-Belsky and now remain very popular. Some of them can be seen in the Tretyakov Gallery and the Russian Museum, many are in private collections.

"The Future Monk" (1889)

On the ideathis picture of Bogdanov-Belsky was prompted by his friend and guardian Rachinsky. It was written in 1889.

In the cramped room of the hut two people are sitting: an elderly wanderer-monk and a dreaming peasant boy. The monk tells him something, and the boy listened. Before his eyes are pictures of a pious peaceful future. He listens to the wanderer, but his thoughts are no longer in the room, but somewhere in unknown distances. Someday he will also go with a knapsack behind his back to glorify the name of God.

The picture was painted for the final exam at the school. With great anxiety, the artist expected his result: after all, he studied in a landscape class, and the canvas presented a genre one. Despite fears, the painting was a success and was bought by a major collector, and then ended up in the imperial palace.

"Virtuoso" (1891)

This is one of the first paintings with peasant children, which was painted by Bogdanov-Belsky. The virtuoso, it turns out, is a simple boy. Simple, but not really. His playing the balalaika gathered around a circle of children. There are two kids, a girl and an older boy. They all listen to the music, as if at a concert of a great artist, they catch every sound. The virtuoso himself is focused on his game. The artist placed them in a picturesque clearing in a birch forest. The landscape, dear to every heart, harmoniously frames a group of children and, it seems, heeds the play of a young talent.

"Mental Account" (1896)

In 1896 Bogdanov-Belsky painted this picture. Essay on it so farSince then, they are often asked to write to children at school. In the role of a teacher, the artist portrayed his own mentor Rachinsky. class in a rural school. There is an oral count. The picture is filled with tension, hard work is felt in everything. The dominant place is occupied by a black slate board with a mathematical example. Children of different ages crowded around the board. The example is not easy, but try to count it in your mind! Every face shows the intense work of thought. In the foreground, a boy rubs his chin thoughtfully. He is short-haired, naughty hair bristling in a crew cut. Compared to other guys, he is dressed very poorly: a dirty shirt with a tattered elbow is girded with a drawstring, rough pants have seen better days. His face is tense: here it is, the answer is already close, now it will break from the tongue!

We don't know who all these boys will be in the future. Maybe they will continue the work of their grandfathers and fathers and stay to plow the land in the village. Maybe they will leave for the city and "get out into the people", and someone will even become a teacher himself. One thing is for sure: none of them will turn into a parasite and a loafer, everyone will be good.

In 1897, Pavel Tretyakov purchased the Oral Account for his gallery. The painting is still popular, many stop in front of it to take a closer look.

"At the School Door" (1897)

Many paintings by Bogdanov-Belsky depicting rural children are autobiographical. "At the door of the school" - just like that. In the picture we see a clean bright classroom of a rural school. Slate board with evenly linedlines, neat rows of desks, diligently bowed heads over books. And the new disciple looks at all this grace. The boy is dressed very poorly. The jacket, sewn from rags, seems to crumble right on him, large holes gape in his pants, bast shoes are shabby and dirty. He stands with his back to the viewer and looks out from behind the door furtively at all this splendor, not daring to enter. Perhaps, the young shepherd Nikolai once stood in the same way, not daring to cross the threshold of the school of his benefactor Rachinsky.

Visitors

Two kids, a boy and a girl, entered the manor house. Perhaps it was the young friends of the artist himself who came to pose for him. Thin children have short hair and dressed in a festive way. The girl is wearing a bright red dress with polka dots, the boy is wearing a shirt with an elegant pattern. The colorful clothing echoes the picturesque drapery behind the backs of the children. They sit on a luxurious, by their standards, easy chair with carved handles and solemnly drink tea from saucers. On the table in front of them is a cup and a glass, bagels and lumps of sugar. Visiting the manor house is not an easy event. The awareness of the solemnity of the moment is read in the faces of the kids, the tense figures evoke emotion.

Pictures of Bogdanov-Belsky always captivate with their sincerity and spontaneity. It is a pity that much of the artist's creative heritage has been lost to us: it has remained abroad and has gone to private collections.