2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25
Almost every inhabitant of our country knows the paintings "Hunters at rest", "Troika" and "Tea drinking in Mytishchi", but, probably, much less than those who know that they belong to the brush of the itinerant artist Vasily Perov. His original natural talent left us unforgettable evidence of the social life of the XIX century.
Early childhood
On New Year's Eve in 1833 in a small Siberian town, Tobolsk, in the family of the local prosecutor G. K. The exact date of birth of the future artist Perov was never determined in the biography: either December 21, or December 23 (according to the old style, according to the new - January 2, 1834). Soon the parents got married, but it no longer mattered. At baptism, he received the surname Vasiliev after the name of his godfather, he could no longer receive the surname of his real father. Almost immediately after the birth of his son, von Kridener had to resign from the stateservices.
Surname History
All childhood, as written in the biography of the artist Perov, his family spent on the move, they lived in different parts of the empire: from Arkhangelsk and St. Petersburg in the north to Arzamas and Dorpat in the south. My father was an educated and free-thinking man, he did not stay long in the regular service. The financial situation of the family was very unenviable. And the father ended up taking a low-paying job as an estate manager.
In this estate in the vicinity of Arzamas, the childhood of the future artist passed. Quite early, from the age of five, Vasily began to be taught to read and write, at first his mother worked with him, and then he was transferred to a local deacon for training. A nondescript, but smart and cheerful teacher taught him writing, arithmetic, the law of God, in general, all the sciences in which he himself excelled. Vasily was especially good at calligraphy, already at the age of seven he wrote beautifully both in print and in cursive. The teacher eventually gave him a nickname, which was then officially fixed. And so appeared in the then short biography of the artist Perov, the surname by which he was recognized by all of Russia.
First acquaintance with painting
When Vasya was nine years old, a painter came to his father from Arzamas to update a large portrait, in which he was depicted with a dog. In the picture, it was necessary to replace the old dog with a new one. Vasya watched the artist's work with delight: how he laid out the easel, washed away the old image, mixed paints and began to draw. So for the first time in the biography of the artist Perov there was an acquaintance withpainting.
After the departure of the painter, Vasily began to try to draw his father, brother and comrades himself, and wept bitterly, because it turned out completely different. He drew with charcoal, pencil, chalk wherever he found a flat surface: on walls, tables and window sills. Father never got angry at this, he loved art and played the violin and piano himself, wrote poetry, often told his son about musicians, artists, showed pictures.
At the age of ten, the boy was sent to study at the Arzamas district school, settled him in the house of a school teacher. Vasily spent all his free time from studying drawing, he had no one to learn this from, there was no drawing teacher at the school. When his father visited him and looked at the drawings, he increasingly thought that Vasya needed to develop further in this direction. At the age of thirteen, he completed his initial studies, and it was necessary to decide where to continue his education. And in the biography of the artist Perov, the Arzamas art school appeared, where his father decided to send Vasya for further education.
Craft training
The founder of the art school was the artist Alexander Stupin, who graduated from the Academy of Arts. He came to his native city to start a new and unprecedented business in Russia. There was no such school in the country yet; both freemen and serfs studied there. Here Vasya first thought about the inequality of people and the plight of the poor, these thoughts were later reflected in many of his paintings. Compassion for the peasants and dislike of the swagger of the rich forever remained in Perov's soul.
Continuing the storyabout the biography of the artist Perov, it is worth noting that the teachers of the school paid a lot of attention to ensuring that students studied nature and drew a lot, acquiring “mastery in pencil”. Stupin did not allow painting with paints for a long time. Vasily studied for almost a year when one of the older students suggested that he secretly start writing a copy of Bryullov's sketch "The Old Man". Once he forgot to hide his sketches, and Stupin, who always looked at the work of his students at lunchtime, saw a copy of the study. Instead of catching up for arbitrariness, he praised Vasily and allowed him to study writing with older students. In parallel with special classes in drawing and painting, the school also held lessons in general subjects. The teachers tried to instill a love of literature, arranged theatrical performances.
Two years in the countryside
Vasily's family continued to roam around the places of service of the head of the family. They did not live long in Arzamas, they rented housing right in front of the art school. However, when the father got a position as a manager in one of the estates, the parents left, leaving their son to finish his studies. After some time, Vasily himself came to them, who walked thirty-five miles on foot. He quarreled with a friend, dropped out of school, telling Stupin that he did not intend to endure insults.
In the biography of the artist Perov, these were quiet years spent in painting. Vasya was almost seventeen years old, he lived in the village for two years, made friends with local guys, went hunting, got acquainted with rural life, spent a lot of time onnature.
Vasily did not part with a pencil and paints, he drew and painted a lot of portraits of village boys, scenes of rural life. At the same time, the first self-portrait appeared in the biography of the artist Perov. The father was very unhappy that his son had abandoned his education, to which he said that he wanted to continue studying in Moscow. At the same time, Vasily painted the picture "Crucifixion", after which his relatives believed in his talent.
Continuing education
In 1853, Perov entered the Moscow School of Sculpture and Painting, he was placed with Maria Lyubimovna, the overseer of the orphanage for girls. In the first year, they drew a lot of individual parts of the body, and then whole figures. Vasily studied conscientiously, carefully sketching ears, eyes, noses. He brilliantly graduated from the first grade, in the second grade the students practiced in different types of painting. They copied paintings made in the historical, everyday, landscape, portrait manner. This was done so that each of the students could determine in which genre he wants to paint in the future. These were the happiest years in the biography of the artist Perov.
However, the carefree period did not last long, his father fell ill, and Perov was left without a livelihood. Most importantly, he had nothing to pay for his studies. He already thought that he would have to leave school and go to the province to work as an art teacher. However, he was lucky, the teacher Vasiliev E. Ya. offered him to live with him, moreover, he did not have to pay for his studies. Egor Yakovlevich managed to record Perov for freetraining.
First confession
The idea of the first painting "Arrival of the policeman for investigation", which received a large silver medal in 1858, appeared during trips to the village to his mother. In short, in the biography of the artist Perov, this was the recognition of his talent by society, by professionals. He himself saw how they came to judge a peasant boy for cutting down a manor's forest. He very well managed to portray the bribe taker and the sycophants of the ten's manager and the clerk. The image of the peasant, whom he drew from his friend and fellow student Pryashnikov, turned out to be somewhat popular.
Remaining dissatisfied with the first job, he again went to study drawing in the primary class. Two years later, Perov exhibited his new painting: “First rank. The son of a deacon, promoted to collegiate registrars. In 1860 he received a small gold medal for this work and moved to St. Petersburg. The victory of the painting by the artist Perov caused a great resonance in society, he was named the heir to Fedotov, the author of "Major's Matchmaking" and other works that denounced the morals that prevailed in society.
Big win
His next work received a large gold medal from the Imperial Academy of Arts. The picture of the artist Perov "Sermon in the Village" was ambiguously accepted by the public, he managed to "deceive" the jury, giving an academic plot, but the audience saw in it a criticism of the existing way of life. He paints a few more pictures showing the ugly side of church life. Howthe winner of the academic competition, Perov receives a pension and the right to go on a business trip at state expense for three years.
After his marriage in 1862 to Elena Edmondovna Shaynes, he and his young wife went abroad. Together they visited the galleries of Berlin and Dresden, after which they went to Paris, where they were going to stay for a long time. He rents a workshop and begins to write multi-figure compositions, but soon realizes that he cannot cope with such a difficult job. These paintings by the artist Perov were never completed. He gets acquainted with the life of the people, makes a lot of sketches and paints some good pictures.
Moscow period
In 1864, the "exile" ended (as the artist Vasily Perov called a business trip abroad in his biography), he returns to Russia and remains in Moscow, and he will live in the capital for the rest of his life. The artist's first painting since his return, "Seeing the Dead", demonstrates his improved craftsmanship and cements his leadership in the movement of ideological realism. He draws a lot. Patron Tretyakov buys a number of his paintings and commissions a series of portraits of prominent Russian people. In 1867, his wife dies, and then his two eldest sons, he himself falls ill with consumption.
Intransigence towards swagger and injustice runs through the entire biography of the artist Perov. His paintings, such as, for example, "The arrival of a governess in a merchant's house", denounce social vices. Along with satire, simple everyday themes are now reflected in the paintings. Examples of works: "Amateur","Art teacher".
Recent years
In 1869 he became a member of the Society of Wandering Artists, where he worked for seven years. The paintings of the artist Perov enjoyed constant success, he was awarded the title of academician.
Vasily Grigorievich was active in teaching at the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture. In 1870 he received the title of professor at the Academy of Arts.
In 1882, after a severe painful illness, Vasily Perov died in the village of Kuzminki near Moscow.
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