Portrait of Leo Tolstoy is the greatest work of Russian painting

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

The greatest Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, who was called the conscience of the nation, was painted by several famous artists. The most famous portraits of the classic belong to I. E. Repin, I. N. Kramskoy, M. V. Nesterov. From domestic painters to the image of L. N. Tolstoy addressed L. O. Pasternak (father of the writer B. L. Pasternak) and N. N. Ge.

Global recognition

But there is a portrait of Leo Tolstoy by Pablo Picasso (painted in 1956). In addition, the author of the novel "War and Peace" was painted by the famous Polish artist Jan Styka. He has several portraits of the classic and two paintings. One depicts the last departure of the writer with a knapsack on his back from Yasnaya Polyana. The canvas is called "On the road to infinity." The second shows the great Russian writer embracing Jesus Christ.

The portrait of Leo Tolstoy by the American graphic artist Mauricio Lazanski was made in a somewhat unusual manner. Probably, this canvas has its fans.

Works of famous masters

Our country is rich in images of a great compatriot. Especially well known are the paintings by the above-mentioned Russian artists. Some of them turned to this image repeatedly. At M. V. Nesterov - two works dated 1907 and 1918. Leonid Pasternak painted the writer a lot. In 1901, he created a portrait of Tolstoy Leo Nikolayevich against the backdrop of a thunderstorm and by the light of a table lamp. And in 1906 he painted a portrait with charcoal. The work of N. N. Ge of 1884, on which the classic is depicted writing with abandon: he does not pose, he works. The portrait was painted in the Moscow apartment of the classic at the moment when Lev Nikolaevich was working on the treatise “What is my faith?”. The canvas is distinguished by conciseness and simplicity, not one iota detracting from its greatness.

Great Kramskoy

Since childhood, every Russian has known from school textbooks a canvas depicting forty-five-year-old Leo Tolstoy, a portrait by the itinerant artist I. N. Kramskoy. A painter-psychologist, a wonderful master of portrait painting, painted one of his best paintings in Yasnaya Polyana.

The history of creation is as follows. Leo Tolstoy for a long time refused, despite Tretyakov's persuasion, to pose for the recommended artists. But Kramskoy managed to convince the writer. This canvas is so popular because the artist managed to reveal the complex world of the genius and analyst of human souls, which was Leo. Tolstoy. The portrait captured for centuries the calm look of a unique person, conveying both simplicity and wisdom at the same time. I. N. Kramskoy painted two portraits - for the Tretyakov Gallery and the writer's family. The artist was so passionate about the work that he completed the first canvas in three sessions, the second was completed even faster. This painter was able to notice and capture the hidden movements of the soul and character traits of the depicted person. The artist himself said that the portrait should, first of all, reflect that in a person, for which all of Russia loves him. Repin wrote about this work of Kramskoy that the author managed to "express the whole essence of the" great Lion "". This wonderful portrait of Leo Tolstoy is in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Genius Repin

Ilya Efimovich Repin himself, a great master of the portrait genre, painted the "great Lion" more than once. He has the largest series of portraits of the writer. There is a photograph of Leo Tolstoy posing for Repin. He painted Tolstoy plowing and playing the piano alone and together with his daughter A. L. Tolstoy. A very popular painting depicts the writer lying under a tree in the forest and reading a book. There is a canvas where L. Tolstoy, writing, is depicted at the table in the working room (room under the arches). A portrait against a pink sofa is also extraordinarily good.

A lot of sketches for all the pictures. An unusually popular painting by Ilya Efimovich depicts Tolstoy standing barefoot on the grass. She is always referred to when speaking about the simplicity of the count: he walked barefoot, plowed the ground. The last fact of the writer's biography was also captured by the great Repin, the picture is called "The Plowman". By the way, the family did not like all the drawings, especially the barefoot and plowing classic. The wife considered this behavior of the count an intimate, non-public side of life. There is also a family portrait, where the writer is depicted with his wife, there are sketches of the writer writing and reading from different angles. A lot of work.

A genius in a picture of a genius

The most famous is the work of Repin in 1887, which depicts the great writer, sitting in an armchair with a book in his hand. The ingenious author of the portrait of Tolstoy portrayed the "master of thought", calmly leaning back in a dark chair. The writer's clothes are in the same color scheme. The picture tells about the genius in a very simple way. The color scheme is very modest, which does not detract from the greatness of either the picture or the “man for all time” depicted on it.