Konstantin Makovsky: the life and work of the artist. Konstantin Makovsky: best paintings, biography

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

The biography of the artist Makovsky Konstantin today is obscured by his outstanding brother Vladimir, a well-known representative of the Wanderers. However, Konstantin left a noticeable mark in art, being a serious, independent painter.

Makovsky family

The surname Makovsky is well known in Russian art. The father of the family, Yegor Ivanovich Makovsky, was a famous artist in Moscow, an amateur artist. He organized the "Natural School" for painters, which later became known as the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

The creative spirit has always reigned in the family and it is not surprising that all three children of Yegor Ivanovich became artists. The house was often visited by friends of the father - the artists Karl Bryullov and Vasily Tropinin, one could also meet the writer Gogol, the actor Shchepkin, the composer Glinka here. Literary and musical evenings were constantly arranged in the family, and there were disputes about art. All this influenced the formation of children. Adult Konstantin Makovsky said that with his success in painting heowes solely to his father, who was able to instill in him an indestructible love for art.

There were three children in the family: the eldest son Konstantin, daughter Alexandra and the youngest - Vladimir. The we alth in the family was modest, but the reigning spirit of art fully compensated for all domestic inconveniences.

Konstantin's childhood

From childhood, Konstantin Makovsky was immersed in art, in fact, he did not know any other life, and he was destined to choose the path of a painter. All the children in the family started drawing very early.

Kostya, as the first child in the family, began by being next to his father and his friends, when they discussed painting and their ideas, showed sketches and paintings. All this shaped the aesthetic views and interests of the boy.

Finding a craft

In 1851, Konstantin Makovsky entered his father's school of painting, sculpture and architecture. His mentors there were - V. Tropinin, M. Scotty, S. Zaryanko, A. Mokritsky. Here, for seven years, an artist was formed from a boy with his own, original view of the world and taught him the basics of pictorial art.

He was the first student at the school, received all possible awards. In 1858, Konstantin entered the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg - the best educational institution in the field of art in the Russian Empire. During his studies, he regularly exhibited his work at the Academy's annual exhibitions and even received a Grand Gold Medal for his work "Dmitry the Pretender's agents kill Boris Godunov's son."

In 1862, Makovsky began to look forhis way in art, as academicism seemed boring and outdated to him.

The Path in Art

Konstantin Makovsky (paintings, biography of the artist are presented in our article) is looking for his own style, he wants to express his inner world. In 1863, he, along with thirteen other artists selected to participate in the competition for the Great Gold Medal of the Academy of Arts, refuses to paint a picture on a theme approved by the academicians.

He had to leave the educational institution, and Makovsky was never able to get a diploma of education. This event became known as the "Riot of the Fourteen". The protest was that the artists wanted to get freedom and write work on a free theme, but the Academy did not want to meet them halfway. In fact, it was a rebellion against the shackles of academicism and was a sign of the emerging new school of realism, in which Konstantin Makovsky would play a prominent role.

In 1863 the artist joins I. Kramskoy's group and works in the emerging genre of everyday painting. In 1870, Makovsky became one of the initiators and ideological inspirers of the creation of the Association of Traveling Artists and worked hard, describing the scenes of everyday life.

He exhibited his works both at academic exhibitions and in company with the Wanderers. In the 80s, Makovsky became a very popular author of salon portraits and paintings on historical subjects. And in 1889 he received a Grand Gold Medal at an art exhibition in Paris for a series of works.

The objects of Makovsky's brush were historical scenes, the life of the people, everyday life. He paints the characters' costumes and settings with love and ethnographic accuracy. At the end of the 80s, the artist increasingly turned to historical subjects, painted large detailed paintings, for example, “Boyar Wedding Feast in the 17th century”, which were very popular with the public and critics. He also created a lot of portraits of various people.

The creative heritage of Konstantin Makovsky has about a hundred paintings, among them many large, epic canvases (today they are dispersed in private and museum collections around the world). In addition, he participated in the design of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.

Collector

Konstantin Makovsky, whose paintings are now the object of attention of collectors, was himself a great collector. He inherited this passion from his father, who loved a wide variety of art and antiques.

The idea of the collection was formulated by the artist in the words: "beautiful antiquity". Fascinated by historical subjects, he collected various items of utensils and furnishings, costumes, as well as everything that attracted the refined taste of the artist.

During the period of passion for the peasant theme, Makovsky travels a lot around the Russian hinterland, buying household items and clothes. A trip to the East added to the collection a large number of items of oriental life, carpets, jewelry and costumes. As a result, by the 80s, the artist’s apartment is morelooked more like a museum than a human dwelling.

Items of the collection often served as the basis for the creation of paintings. Thus, in the work “Boyar wedding feast in the 17th century”, critics note the smallest coincidence of details with the historical costume and the situation of that time. By the beginning of the XX century. Makovsky was one of the largest collectors in Russia, and his activities led to a craze for collecting among the bohemians and the bourgeois.

Konstantin Egorovich was very proud of his collection, he showed it with pleasure and gave things for various exhibitions. After the death of the artist, an auction was organized, which put up 1,100 items, as a result of which the widow got more than half a million rubles, and the things went to the collections of private individuals and museums. But, unfortunately, the integrity of the collection was broken, and Makovsky's many years of work went to waste.

Best work

Konstantin Makovsky, the best paintings, biography, which is still becoming the object of study by art historians, left a great legacy. Among his most famous works are: "The Death of Ivan the Terrible", "Feast at Boyar Morozov", "Bulgarian Martyrs", "Minin at the Nizhny Novgorod Fair", "Choice of the Bride by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich".

The private life of an artist

Konstantin Makovsky traveled a lot, lived in Paris for some time, visited Africa three times, and all this enriched his work, in which one can find featuresemerging modernism. For his artistic merits, Makovsky was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor and St. Anne.

The artist was married three times. The first wife died of tuberculosis, and he divorced the second. In total, he had nine children, among whom there are artists and cultural figures.

September 30, according to the new style of 1915, a tram hit a man - this is how Konstantin Makovsky ended his journey. The life and work of the artist remained in the history of Russian painting as an important page in the formation of realism.