Artist Valentin Serov: biography, personal life and creativity

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

One of the greatest masters of portraiture and the successor of the tradition of painting of the nineteenth century was Valentin Serov, whose biography is closely connected with the most prominent figures in the fine arts of Russia. No less significant are his landscapes, graphics, book illustrations, animalistics, historical and even antique painting. Serov's "self-portrait" is a kind of hallmark of the artist's style.

Hard worker

A modest and quiet person by nature, although impeccably authoritative among his colleagues, it was Valentin Serov who had the strongest influence on the work of his contemporaries and had a huge number of followers along with Levitan. His biography, however, is not rich in turning points. However, if we consider successively his first works - "The Girl Illuminated by the Sun" or "The Girl with Peaches" - and the last ones - "The Abduction of Europe" or "Portrait of Ida Rubinstein" - it is clear how after some twenty-oddyears from one artist has grown completely different.

It becomes clear not only in the manner of writing. Before the eyes of the viewer, as if not one, but two painters who even lived in different eras. This suggests that in the time where the artist Valentin Serov lived, his biography was marked by creativity, and not everyday details. And the time for his life fell on the events of an extremely rich. All fractures, all turns in the world of art seem to be captured in what Valentin Serov wrote. Kramskoy's biography ended - the great portrait painter, a symbol on the banner of realism of the Wanderers, died - and immediately the painting "Girl with Peaches" (1887) was painted, as if a legacy from the author of "Unknown" was received. And many more of the same signs, dates and bridges thrown from one event to another.

Realism - ideological or artistic?

It was the time of the peak, the highest flowering of the idea of travel. Repin, Surikov, Polenov, Levitan worked. And is it not the work of such an artist as Serov Valentin Alexandrovich, whose biography does not rank him among the "ideological Wanderers", provoked a turning point and a sharp turn towards imagery and artistry from ascertaining the facts of real life? After all, high art is capable of influencing, directing, even correcting, for which the priority is not WHAT to write, but HOW. The biography of Valentin Serov, the artist, chose HOW, making him almost a stranger among teachers and friends, unlike anyone else.

"Peach Girl" - herselfspring, light itself, youth itself - against the backdrop of civil sorrow of the Wanderers was like an explosion. It turned out that you can simply enjoy life, be touched by its colors and thank you for the fact that life in general is sent to the world. It was a discovery, which, of course, not everyone perceived adequately. Outside of considerations of citizenship, outside the principles of any kind of morality, society has already slightly lost the habit of feeling anything. And here is joy. Just. Fellow Wanderers were not so much outraged as discouraged. But the artist Valentin Serov retained his vision of life values. His biography, his personal life made him a stepson of wandering, but still he was and remained until the end of his life a student of the famous Repin, he simply looked at life from its other side, which is vividly shown to us by the work "The Girl Illuminated by the Sun".

"I want something gratifying": Serov and Vrubel

They worked at the same time, and both - on the primary sources of the Venetian Renaissance. "Girl on a Persian Carpet" was written a year before "Girl with Peaches". The couple, it must be said, is contrasting in everything: nocturnal, gloomy, mourning color, luxury with an excess, static in oriental splendor against a clear motif of purely plein air painting, silvery light, liveliness and joy both in the character of the girl and in the movement of the brush. Serov wanted such carelessness, lightness. "I want, I want gratifying!" - Serov wrote from Venice to his fiancee.

And twenty-two-year-old Serov Valentin Alexandrovich, biographywhich was just beginning, conveyed in these portraits the very embodiment of joy. The teacher taught Serov in Paris, but not on the experience of the old masters, of whom there are countless in the museums there, no, Repin always spoke only about the study of nature. But for Serov, the predecessors were very important, and he managed to reunite the interrupted connection of times, returning the former - eternal ones! - the values of art: this is quality, perfection, beauty, harmony - all considerations of a higher artistic order. The portrait of the artist Levitan, for example, is written in a strict classical manner.

Childhood

Every creator should be brought up in the traditions of the beautiful, but not everyone was lucky to be born in a creative family, as happened with such a wonderful artist as Valentin Serov. The artist's biography turned out to be calm, without special outbursts, although the prerequisites were different from childhood. He was brought up in an artistic society: his father was a well-known music critic and composer, an admirer of Wagner, whom he passionately promoted. Late love - at forty-three years old, Alexander Nikolayevich married a seventeen-year-old student Valentina Bergman - was rewarded with the birth of his only son. Valentina Semyonovna was literally obsessed with the ideas of Chernyshevsky, up to nihilism, and this greatly influenced the upbringing of her son.

There were always guests in the house, good friends of his father: Turgenev, for example, Antokolsky, Ge, who was extremely affectionate with the boy and drew horses for him in the album. Oftenthe assembled nihilists interfered with their arguments with listening to fragments of his father's new composition, but this vanity and noisiness, combined with love, gave the boy, not spoiled by parental attention, time to be with himself, to reflect, to observe. At the age of six, he suffered his first loss - his beloved father died. Valentina Semyonovna was very busy with social life, but she quit everything as soon as her son's real passions were discovered, and it was not music, as it suddenly turned out. The biography of Valentin Serov, an artist by the grace of God, began with training from a real master.

Repin

Mother took her six-year-old son to Paris, where at that time her good friend Ilya Efimovich Repin, already famous for his "Barge haulers on the Volga", sent the boy to study and took up public affairs. So Serov Valentin Aleksandrovich remained almost alone. A short biography and that one usually notes that it was from here, from loneliness, that not only the isolation and gloom that were characteristic of the artist all his life, but also an indestructible desire for light, communication, beauty and joy came about. The only entertainment for the future master was only classes - independent and with a teacher.

Further, since 1875, already in Russia, where Repin also returned, Serov Valentin Alexandrovich became a wanderer at the behest of his mother. A brief biography of that period can be expressed in two words - nomadic life. Only three years later, classes with Repin continued. The master took Serov practically into the family: they lived in oneat home, went to plein-airs together, the rest of the time the boy copied the teacher's canvases and painted, painted, painted - from nature, from plaster, still lifes, landscapes, portraits, including his beloved teacher. Serov has a lot of portraits of Repin, this one is one of the most famous.

Academy of Arts

In 1880, Serov easily entered the academy, and five years later he easily left, taking a sick leave and never returning. He studied with Chistyakov, who had already released a whole galaxy of real artists: Vrubel, Repin, Polenov, Surikov … This teacher was extremely strict. Serov considered his opinion even more authoritative than Repin's. Probably because Pavel Petrovich was the first to point out to him the treasures of the old masters. This Serov thoughtfulness of writing comes from Chistyakov. The biography of Valentin Serov, a very thorough artist, speaks of painstaking and very slow work, which surprised all colleagues. But Serov did not know how to work otherwise, and did not want to. However, it was precisely this quality of the student that Chistyakov liked the most.

Thanks to the activities of his mother, Valentin Serov was entered into the house of the famous patrons Mamontovs. He was invited to Abramtsevo, where the theater was a cult, and almost until the end of his life, acquaintances from this circle of Valentin did not call him anything other than Antosha, because his role was so successful for him. Serov was inimitable in these home performances, having a clear gift of a comedian, a pantomimist, he made the audience roll with laughter, while remaining imperturbable himself. In addition, Savva Mamontov provided the artist with orderson portraits of visiting celebrities, and this is both a practice and a life without hunger and deprivation. One of these portraits, exhibited in the exposition of Moscow artists, organized by a patron of the arts, was not only noticed, but also approved by connoisseurs.

Recognition

The first two real (and remaining most famous) paintings made our hero not only popular, but also ahead of all other young painters of that time. Vrubel was in Kyiv, he was known only to the narrowest circle of patrons and artists, and it was Valentin Serov who brought him to Mamontov. Biography, personal life and even friendly communication, which do not fit into because of the all-consuming work, are filled only with creativity. And in these circumstances, Vrubel was not immediately understood by others, unlike Serov.

Mamontov frankly mocked him even at the feast. They didn’t quite understand then Konstantin Korovin, whom Savva could starve for hours in the hallway, waiting for an appointment, and he bought paintings from him not only for next to nothing, but also with bullying. Vrubel ordered a panel for three thousand rubles, and when it was ready (and ready in Vrubel's way, that is, unusually talented), he gave ten rubles with offensive jokes. Really poor artists endured a lot from patrons.

Serov seemed between them just a favorite of the gods. He really was doing well - even in his personal life, which is rare. Only a very happy person feels the inner world of a child so deeply. Serov's sons Yura and Sasha willingly posed for their father, and for all their similarity to each other, the artist managed to convey the difference - with poses,gestures. Here they calmly contemplate something in the world of their serene childhood fantasies. And it is so blessed to look at such portraits - the soul rejoices. Therefore, it is no wonder that Serov was loved by those around him.

Writing style

So, in the forefront was the artist Valentin Serov. Biography, personal life could have been rosy and brilliant. They expected a similar beginning and continuation from him: the same amount of sun. the same serenity. But in this genre - plein air - Serov has already shown everything he wanted. He began to systematically complicate his paintings, not repeating himself in anything, and if occasionally he returned to plein airism, then clearly in order not to forget how it was done. Although, it must be said that even these first two paintings differ significantly from each other in the manner of painting."Girl with Peaches" is pure impressionism, young, like the model herself, mobile, even impetuous painting. "Girl, illuminated by the sun" - model Maria Simonovich - with a different pace of life, a different plasticity. The age of the model is different, the attitude - respectively. And Serov writes differently: the painting is thick, dense, unhurried, the color spots are mosaic, reminiscent of Vrubel's letter, the style of which Serov was then carried away. It describes a longer state of nature and man - a clear post-impressionism. Spring and summer. Morning girl and noon girl.

Olga Fedorovna

After these beautiful comparisons, several works were created - similar, but with differentexcellent work of art. Portrait of his wife Olga Feodorovna, for example. Purely portrait problems were solved in a highly professional and masterful way: also plein-air painting, the model sits calmly, a grove in the background, a white blouse with highlights, facial features are shaded by a hat, a characteristic shy stoop … Olga Fedorovna was very fragile, her tenderness seemed to shine through from within, slightly shy, but always trying to seem natural - all this, along with behavioral nuances and the whole character of the model, appeared before the audience, in full view.

Of the many excellent works of this period of the artist's life, two portraits of Sofya Dragomirova can be mentioned as evidence of the inexorable growth of both Serov's skill and Serov's glory. The general (father of the model) had two portraits of his daughter in his house, painted at the same time - Repin and Serov. At first, all the guests were interested in the portrait of Repin and might not even ask who the author of the other portrait was, after a few years they asked about the portrait of Serov, and Repin, who was hanging nearby, was noted indifferently: "Ah, Repin …" That was Valentin Serov. A short biography contains a huge creativity that will delight and direct people to the light for many centuries, to that "pleasant" that was the goal of the artist's whole life.