Benois Alexander Nikolaevich (1870 - 1960)
Walk of the King 1906
62×48 cm
Watercolor, Gouache, Pencil, Feather, Cardboard, Silver, Gold
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
The Last Walks of the King is a series of drawings by Alexandre Benois dedicated to the walks of King Louis the Sun, his old age, as well as autumn and winter in the park of Versailles.
Versailles. Louis XIV feeding the fish
Description of the old age of Louis XIV (from here):
“... The king became sad and gloomy. According to Madame de Maintenon, he became "the most inconsolable person in all of France." Louis began to violate the laws of etiquette established by himself.
In the last years of his life, he acquired all the habits befitting an old man: he got up late, ate in bed, half-lying received ministers and secretaries of state (Louis XIV was engaged in the affairs of the kingdom until the last days of his life), and then sat for hours in a large armchair, placing a velvet chair under his back. pillow. In vain, the doctors repeated to their sovereign that the lack of bodily movements bored him and drowsiness and was a harbinger of imminent death.
The king could no longer resist the onset of decrepitude, and his age was approaching eighty.
Everything he agreed to was limited to trips through the gardens of Versailles in a small controlled carriage. 
Versailles. By the pool of Ceres
Walk of the King
“The source of inspiration for the artist is not the royal splendor of the castle and parks, but rather “unsteady, sad memories of the kings who still roam here.” It looks like some kind of almost mystical illusion (“I sometimes reach a state close to hallucinations”).
For Benois, those shadows that silently glide through the park of Versailles are more like memories than fantasies. According to his own statement, images of events that once happened here flash before his eyes. He "sees" the very creator of this magnificence, King Louis XIV, surrounded by his retinue. Moreover, he sees him already terribly old and sick, which surprisingly accurately reflects the former reality. 
Versailles. Greenhouse
Versailles. Trianon Garden
From an article by a French researcher:
“The images of The Last Walks of Louis XIV are certainly inspired, and sometimes even borrowed from the texts and engravings of the time of the “Sun King”.
However, such a view - the approach of an erudite and connoisseur - is by no means fraught with either dryness or pedantry and does not force the artist to engage in lifeless historical reconstructions. Indifferent to Montesquieu’s “complaints of stones that dream of decaying into oblivion,” so dear to Montesquieu’s heart, Benois did not capture either the dilapidation of the palace or the desolation of the park, which he still certainly found. He prefers flights of fantasy to historical accuracy - and at the same time, his fantasies are historically accurate. The artist's themes are the passage of time, the "romantic" intrusion of nature into the classic park of Le Nôtre; he is occupied - and amused - by the contrast between the sophistication of the park scenery, in which "every line, every statue, the smallest vase" reminds "of the divinity of monarchical power, the greatness of the sun king, the inviolability of the foundations" - and the grotesque figure of the king himself: a hunched old man in a gurney pushed by a footman in livery. 
Curtius
Allegory of the river
Allegory of the river
A few years later, Benoit would draw an equally irreverent verbal portrait of Louis XIV: "a gnarled old man with drooping cheeks, bad teeth, and a face eaten away by smallpox."
The king in Benois' Walks is a lonely old man, left by the courtiers and clinging to his confessor in anticipation of imminent death. But he appears rather not as a tragic hero, but as a staff character, an extra, whose almost ephemeral, ghostly presence emphasizes the inviolability of the scenery and the stage from which the once great actor leaves, "having uncomplainingly endured the burden of this monstrous comedy." 
The king walked in any weather ... (Saint-Simon)
At the same time, Benois seems to forget that Louis XIV was the main customer of the Versailles performance and was not at all mistaken about the role that he appointed himself to play. Since the story seemed to Benois to be a kind of theatrical play, the change of bright mise-en-scenes by less successful ones was inevitable: “Louis XIV was an excellent actor, and he deserved the applause of history. Louis XVI was only one of the "grandchildren of the great actor" who got on stage - and therefore it is very natural that he was driven away by the audience, and the play, which had recently had a huge success, also failed.
... the worst thing is that Mr. Benois, following the example of many, chose a special specialty for himself. Now it is very common among painters and young poets to find and defend their original individuality, choosing some kind of plot, sometimes ridiculously narrow and deliberate. M. Benois took a fancy to the Versailles park. A thousand and one studies of the Versailles park, and all more or less well done. And yet I want to say: "Strike once, strike twice, but it is impossible to insensibility." For Mr. Benois caused in the public a kind of special psychic stupor: Versailles ceased to function. "How good!" - says the audience and widely, widely yawns.
1906 State Tretyakov Gallery. Moscow.
Paper on cardboard, gouache, watercolor, bronze paint, silver paint, graphite pencil, pen, brush 48 x 62
IN The King's Walk picture Alexandre Benois takes the viewer to the brilliant park of Versailles from the time of Louis XIV.
Against the backdrop of an autumn landscape, the artist depicts a solemn procession of the monarch with his courtiers. Plane modeling of marching figures seems to turn them into ghosts of a bygone era. Among the court retinue, it is difficult to find Louis XIV himself. The Sun King is not important to the artist. Benois is much more concerned about the atmosphere of the era, the breath of the Versailles park from the time of its crowned owner.
The author of the canvas Walk of the King Alexander Nikolaevich Benois is one of the organizers and ideological inspirer of the artistic association World of Art. He was a theorist and critic of art. Peru Benois owns research on the history of both domestic and Western European art. His multifaceted talent manifested itself in book graphics and set design.
The picturesque works of Benois are mainly devoted to two topics: France during the time of Louis XIV the "Sun King" and Petersburg in the 18th - early 19th centuries (see "
"Academician Alexander Benois is the finest esthete, a wonderful artist, a charming person." A.V. Lunacharsky
worldwide fame Alexander Nikolaevich Benois acquired as a decorator and director of Russian ballets in Paris, but this is only part of the activity of an ever-seeking, addicted nature, who had irresistible charm and the ability to light others with her necks. Art historian, art critic, editor of the two largest art magazines "World of Art" and "Apollo", head of the painting department of the Hermitage and, finally, just a painter.
Himself Benois Alexander Nikolaevich wrote to his son from Paris in 1953 that "... the only work worthy of outliving me ... will probably be" a multi-volume book " A. Benois remembers", because "this story about Shurenka is at the same time quite detailed about a whole culture."
In his memoirs, Benois calls himself "the product of an artistic family." Indeed, his father Nicholas Benois was a famous architect, maternal grandfather A.K. Kavos - no less significant architect, creator of St. Petersburg theaters. Elder brother A.N. Benois-Albert is a popular watercolourist. With no less success, one can say that he was a "product" of an international family. On the father's side - a Frenchman, on the mother's side - an Italian, more precisely a Venetian. His kinship with Venice - the city of beautiful corruption of once powerful muses - Alexander Nikolaevich Benois felt particularly acute. He also had Russian blood. The Catholic religion did not interfere with the amazing reverence of the family for the Orthodox Church. One of the strongest childhood impressions of A. Benois is St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral (St. Nicholas of the Sea), a work of the Baroque era, the view of which was opened from the windows of the Benois family house. With all the understandable cosmopolitanism, Benois was the only place in the world that he loved with all his heart and considered his homeland - Petersburg. In this creation of Peter, which crossed Russia and Europe, he felt "some great, strict force, great predestination."
That amazing charge of harmony and beauty, which A. Benois received in childhood, helped to make his life something like a work of art, striking in its integrity. This was especially evident in his novel of life. On the threshold of the ninth decade, Benoit admits that he feels very young, and explains this "curiosity" by the fact that his adored wife's attitude towards him has not changed over time. AND " Memories He dedicated his own to her, Dear Ate"- Anna Karlovna Benois (née Kind). Their lives are connected from the age of 16. Atya was the first to share his artistic enthusiasm, the first creative tests. She was his muse, sensitive, very cheerful, artistically gifted. Not being a beauty, she seemed irresistible to Benois with her charming appearance, grace, and lively mind. But the serene happiness of the children in love was to be tested. Tired of the disapproval of relatives, they parted, but the feeling of emptiness did not leave them during the years of separation. And, finally, with what joy they met again and married in 1893.
The couple Benoit had three children - two daughters: Anna and Elena, and son Nikolai, who became a worthy successor to his father's work, a theater artist who worked a lot in Rome and in the Milan theater ...
A. Benois is often called " artist of Versailles". Versailles symbolizes in his work the triumph of art over the chaos of the universe.
This theme determines the originality of Benoit's historical retrospectivism, the sophistication of his stylization. The first Versailles series appears in 1896 - 1898. She was named " The last walks of Louis XIV". It includes such famous works as " The king walked in any weather», « Fish feeding". Versailles Benoit begins in Peterhof and Oranienbaum, where he spent his childhood years.
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Nevertheless, the first impression of Versailles, where he got for the first time during his honeymoon trip, was stunning. The artist was seized by the feeling that he "already once experienced it." Everywhere in the works of Versailles there is a slightly dejected, but still outstanding personality of Louis XIV, the King - the Sun. The feeling of the decline of a once majestic culture was extremely consonant with the era of the end of the century, when he lived Benoit.
In a more refined form, these ideas were embodied in the second Versailles series of 1906, in the most famous works of the artist: "", "", " Chinese pavilion», « jealous», « Fantasy on a Versailles theme". The grandiose in them coexists with the curious and exquisitely fragile.
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Finally, let us turn to the most significant that was created by the artist in the theater. This is primarily a staging of the ballet "" to the music of N. Cherepnin in 1909 and the ballet " Parsley to the music of I. Stravinsky in 1911.
Benois in these productions showed himself not only as a brilliant theater artist, but also as a talented libretto author. These ballets, as it were, personify the two ideals that lived in his soul. "" - the embodiment of European culture, the Baroque style, its pomp and grandeur, combined with overripeness and withering. In the libretto, which is a free adaptation of the famous work by Torquato Tasso " Liberated Jerusalem”, tells about a certain young man, Viscount Rene de Beaugency, who, during a hunt, finds himself in the lost pavilion of an old park, where he is miraculously transported to the world of a living tapestry - the beautiful gardens of Armida. But the spell is dispelled, and he, having seen the highest beauty, returns to reality. What remains is the eerie impression of life forever poisoned by mortal longing for extinct beauty, for fantastic reality. In this magnificent performance, the world of retrospective paintings seems to come to life. Benoit.
IN " Petrushka But the Russian theme was embodied, the search for the ideal of the people's soul. This performance sounded all the more poignant and nostalgic because the booths and their hero Petrushka, so beloved by Benois, were already becoming the past. In the play, dolls animated by the evil will of the old man - a magician act: Petrushka - an inanimate character, endowed with all the living qualities that a suffering and spiritualized person has; his lady Colombina is a symbol of eternal femininity and "arap" is rude and undeservedly triumphant. But the end of this puppet drama Benoit sees not the same as in the usual farce theater.
In 1918, Benois became the head of the Hermitage art gallery and did a lot to make the museum the largest in the world. In the late 1920s, the artist left Russia and lived in Paris for almost half a century. He died in 1960 at the age of 90. A few years before death Benoit writes to his friend I.E. Grabar, to Russia: “And how I would like to be where my eyes were opened to the beauty of life and nature, where I first tasted love. Why am I not at home?! Everyone remembers some pieces of the most modest, but so sweet landscape.
Pb.: Akvilon, 1922. 22 p., L. ill.; 600 num. copies, of which 100 copies. registered, 500 copies. (1-500). In an illustrated color publisher's cover. oblong. 24.4x33.8 cm. The printing of this album was sharply criticized by contemporaries!
"Everything flows, everything changes, everything must change, everything cannot but change. However, through all the changes in human artistic creativity there passes one life-giving stream, the one that gives it the character of authenticity, this is sincerity. True joy comes from the consciousness that creations, be it plastic images (including a performance), be it musical sounds, be it thoughts and words, correspond to some inner clue or what is commonly called “inspiration.” But only as long as this correspondence exists, genuine art is born and beauty is born; when it is replaced by a vain desire to amaze and surprise with novelty, or, even worse, by the desire to "be in fashion", then art and beauty disappear, and in their place is a dull fake, or even simply ugliness.
Alexander Nikolaevich Benois
(from the last book of memoirs)
At the end of 1896, Benois, Bakst and Somov went to Paris. Lansere and Yakunchnkov are already there. Soon they are joined by Ober and Ostroumova, who entered Whistler's workshop. Diaghilev, Nurok, Nouvel appear in Paris from time to time. But Benois is not attracted to French academies either. Landscape sketches, drawings, and sketches made in Paris and Brittany show how quickly the artist's self-formation is proceeding. Here we meet for the first time an observant draftsman and watercolorist with his own style. A pencil stroke is boldly used over the widely laid watercolor, freely sculpting the form and sharpening the character of the image; this gives the sheet transparency, fullness of air, some special ease. In parallel with the study of nature, the study of the culture and art of France begins. At the Louvre, he evaluates Delacroix and Corot, Daumier and Courbet for the first time. At the exhibitions of modern art at the Durand-Ruel Gallery, the Impressionists attracted his attention: he discovered Monet and Degas. Benoit is especially close to Lucien Simon, Rene Menard and Gaston La Touche; these Parisians, associated with traditional forms of painting, much stronger than the Impressionists, incomprehensible to most, enjoyed wide popularity at that time. But he does not like much in modern French art. He is disappointed by the "morbid fantasies" of Gustave Moreau, the "foggy painting" of Eugène Carrière, the nightmares of Odilon Redon. With the Symbolists, he is no longer on the road: “The Symbolists and decadents have gone bankrupt, they promised a lot, they gave some scrapes.” Benois, together with friends, visits the old quarters of Paris, the National Library, visits museums, palaces, cathedrals, travels to Sevres, Saint-Cloud, Chantilly, Chartres. “Sometimes one of his words, spoken in passing, opened up a whole world unfamiliar to me,” writes Ostroumova-Lebedeva about these walks. At the same time, it is significant, for example, that it is the era of Louis XIV, which served for Wilde as a symbol of the suppression of creative individuality in art, is at the center of Benoit's interests. Versailles captivates him with special force. First of all, the palace itself is a majestic monument of classicism of the 17th century, the embodiment of the "colossal style" of Arduin Mansart. Spurred on by reading books about the life and rights of the residence of Louis XIV, the "philosophical" imagination of the artist populates the old park with images of the past. In 1905 A.N. Benoit lives with his family in Versailles:
A.N. Benoit
Diary 1905
October 13th. Despite two bad hotels, today we moved to Versailles rue de la Paroisse. Damn heavy books. - The children were delighted. Just before leaving, I received The Word with my article on Telyakovsky and Our Life with two Dimins. It cheered up. I had breakfast at Juveu (Juve) with Stepan. Before that he had. - We dined already at home, in Versailles. The apartment is cozy, and the stench of meat<лавок>No. It feels like I would like to live here for a century. I managed to put the books in a giant placard. He sent a request for money to Baron Wolf, letters to Wrangel, Argutinsky, Zhenya and Katya.
October 14. In the morning we almost quarreled over money bills. Atya is funny. It is worth talking about this topic, as it all begins to tremble, understand words at random, and so on. Retracted. During the day with the children on the foire and in the park. Sun and cold. Beautiful. - Upon returning home, a wonderful impression is spoiled by letters from home. - Dobuzhinsky writes about misunderstandings with the Red Cross (Roerich's intrigues and Kurbatov's stupidity are obvious), Frank - that an unsympathetic review about the ABC appeared in Rus, and especially angry - in the Spectator (Artsybusheva). Dobuzhinsky is also indignant about the latter. What does this mean? Is it really a consequence of my departure from Rus? Or is Roerich here too? In any case - Russian absurdity. It's obvious that it's time for me to go home. Friends are not to be relied upon. In addition, some confusion comes out with the "Enlightenment". - Explanation with Atey. Tears: "It's all my fault." - Having refreshed myself with grog, I cheered up. All lottery and fate! Maybe they'll take it out. Well, it won’t take it out, because somehow it will all end. Professor Trubetskoy died.
October 15th. Was in church. Our concierge is there as a doorman. - After drinking coffee, I went to work in the park and, despite the cold, made a good study at the Bassin de Bacchus [Bacchus Pool]. - Stepan came to breakfast. Bakst "fell ill". - Made all together a huge walk in the Petit Trianon [Small Trianon]. We met Shcherbatov with his wife, but he (pretend? That) did not recognize. - We sorted out the collection at home. I feel more energized today. I spit on St. Petersburg and will rest from intrigues and squabbles in work, in painting. And there, that God will give.
16 October. In the morning I made (unsuccessfully) a sketch of the alley with Thermae. Not too cold. Children interfere. I dozed during the day, did not go to M. de Nolhac "y, to whom I have a letter from Benoit. It is posted that the reception is on Wednesday. - Having changed into dirty clothes, I made another sketch of the same alley with Thermae, and again unsuccessfully. Starched the paper in vain. I don't like it now.
the 25th of October. In the morning I finished the scene in the countess's bedroom. In the afternoon I was at de Nolhac's - the Director of Versailles, took down iconographic material on Elizabeth for him. He was kind and promised to show a lot of interesting things. - From the Ratkovs, a telegram that they were in Paris. . Finished Wells "and" L "Homme invisible" ["Invisible Man"]. Crazy impression.
December 4th. Very bad weather, spent all day at the auction. There was a trifle and engravings. Pretty cheap, but I'm penniless. - For half an hour, despite the cold, he painted the "Pyramid" for the started painting "Winter Dream" (dispute with Harlequin). Régnier is very good in places, but often mumbles. I don't quite understand what the attached diary means. Obviously, this is a hoax. But where does de Nolhac and a link to his publications. In any case, it introduces disharmony. - Plot: the poisoned life of a courtesan who is very handsome and in love with the king, who, due to an absurd case, does not enjoy the favor of Louis XIV. Lots of subtleties. Skeptical cult of the kingdom. Shared with Frans, but without his plebeian backing.
5th of December. I painted the "Pyramid" again and sat out for two hours at the auction. Missed a good miniature: Louis XIV Lady, on copper, for 8fr. 50. - Finished Régnier, continue Michelet. - He has "Collier de la Reine" ["The Queen's Necklace"] in a completely different light. "Pretty" Valois [Valois] is whitewashed, and the representative of the church, Rogan, is exhibited in escroc. - Gets hard and the queen. A hint of lesbianism, of lovers. She's got the necklace! So believe the historians and history. In the evenings I compose my "Ministry".
December 6. In the morning I made the effect of rain at the palace (with Apollo).
9th December. Started (for the first time in the morning) oil painting. - Unpleasant knotting and inability to follow contours. Nevertheless, the underpainting gave the effect that I wanted. - During the day I drew figures for the second picture. Evening at Versailles, in the XVII century. Very nervous. Successfully improvised on the piano. - Finished his articles on the Ministry of Arts. - I realize that they are now untimely. But, in general, I lost all connection between my own mood and the mood of Russian society.
In 1897-1898 he paints in watercolor and gouache a series of landscape paintings of the Versailles parks, recreating in them the spirit and atmosphere of antiquity. There is a series of watercolors "The last walks of Louis XIV". Later, more than 40 paintings and graphic works were created by the master in different years, dedicated to Versailles - an outstanding monument of French architecture and landscape art of the 17th century. Benois, in his own words, was "intoxicated by Versailles" and "completely moved into the past." In the series of watercolors and gouaches "The Last Walks of Louis XIV" (1897-1898), as well as in the "second Versailles series" (1905-1907) and in works completed in 1922, after the artist left Russia forever, he adheres to a clear, somewhat dry plastic language that distinguishes French landscape and architectural graphics of the 17th century. This series for a long time secured for Alexandre Benois, who from childhood showed an increased interest in the art of Russian and Western European classicism and baroque, the glory of "the singer of Versailles and Louis". In the works of the "Versailles series" nature and history appear in an inseparable unity. The architectural structures, sculptures and alleys of the famous residence of the French kings look like silent witnesses of an irretrievably bygone great era, keeping the memory of the creators and owners of the Versailles ensemble. Along with sketches painted from life, the artist performed genre paintings that recreate not just the characteristic scenes of a distant historical era, but its very unique atmosphere. The high skill of execution allowed Benois to present the image of the Versailles park as an image of an entire era that developed its own etiquette, fashion and majestic style, which retained its attractiveness for the artist who lived and worked in the twentieth century, which was disturbing, filled with catastrophes and upheavals.
In September 1921, a new private publishing house Akvilon arose in Petrograd, which soon became the best publishing house specializing in the production of [bibliophilic literature, although it lasted only a little over two years. The owner of Akvilon was the chemical engineer and passionate bibliophile Valier Morisovich Kantor, and the ideological inspirer, technical director and soul of the publishing house was Fedor Fedorovich Notgaft (1896-1942), a lawyer by education, art connoisseur and collector. Aquilon in Roman mythology is the north wind flying with the speed of an eagle (Latin aquilo). This mythologeme was used by M.V. Dobuzhinsky as a publishing brand. Treating the book as a work of art, the Akvilon staff strived to ensure that each of their publications was an example of an organic combination of artwork and text. In total, Akvilon published 22 books. Their circulation ranged from 500 to 1500 copies; The mouth of the edition was named and numbered and subsequently painted by hand by the artist. Most of the publications had a small format. The illustrations were reproduced using the techniques of phototype, lithography, zincography, wood engraving, often they were placed on inserts printed in a way other than the book itself. Paper was selected noble grades (verger, coated, etc.), and the illustrations were of high quality printing. F.F. Notgaft managed to attract many “World of Art” specialists to cooperation, including M.V. Dobuzhinsky, B.M. Kustodieva, K.S. Petrova-Vodkina, A.N. Benoit. The artists themselves chose books to illustrate - in accordance with their own taste and passions. Describing the activities of Akvilon, E.F. Hollerbach wrote: “It was not in vain that Akvilon (Krylov) rushed over the northern capital“ with hail and rain “noisy” - it was truly a golden rain. “Gold, gold fell from the sky” onto the shelves of bibliophiles (but, alas, not into the publisher’s cash desk!)”. In 1922, 5 books of the publishing house were presented at the International Book Exhibition in Florence: “Poor Lisa” by N.M. Karamzin, "The Miserly Knight" by A.S. Pushkin and "Dumb Artist" N.S. Leskov with illustrations by M.V. Dobuzhinsky, "Six poems by Nekrasov" with illustrations by B.M. Kustodieva, "V. Zamirailo" S.R. Ernst. Created specifically for lovers of fine literature, Akvilon's books are still a common collector's item. Here is their list:
1. Karamzin N.M. "Poor Lisa". Drawings by M. Dobuzhinsky. "Aquilon". Petersburg, 1921. 48 pages with illustrations. Circulation 1000 copies. Including 50 personalized, 50 hand-painted (№№I-L). The rest are numbered (No. 1-900).
2. Ernst S. “V. Zamirailo. Akvilon Petersburg, 1921. 48 pages with illustrations. Circulation 1000 copies, including 60 registered. The cover is printed in two types - green and orange.
3. Pushkin A.S. "Stingy Knight". Drawings by M. Dobuzhinsky. Akvilon, Petersburg, 1922.
36 pages with illustrations. Circulation 1000 copies. (60 named and 940 numbered). Two copies are hand-painted by the artist for family members. Three cover options - white, blue and orange.
4. "Six poems by Nekrasov." Drawings by B.M. Kustodiev. "Aquilon". Petersburg, 1921 (the year 1922 is marked on the cover). 96 pages with illustrations. Circulation 1200 copies. Of these, 60 are named, 1140 are numbered. There is one copy painted by Kustodiev by hand.
5. Leskov N.S. "Stupid artist. The story on the grave. Drawings by M. Dobuzhinsky. "Aquilon". Petersburg, 1922. 44 pages with illustrations on separate sheets (4 sheets in total). Circulation 1500 copies.
6. Fet A.A. "Poems". Drawings by V. Konashevich. "Aquilon". Petersburg, 1922. 48 pages with illustrations. Circulation 1000 copies.
7. Leskov N.S. "Dasher". Drawings by B.M. Kustodiev. "Aquilon". Petersburg, 1922.
44 pages with illustrations. Circulation 1000 copies.
8. Henri de Regnier. "Three stories". Translation by E.P. Ukhtomskaya. Drawings by D. Bushen. "Aquilon". Petersburg, 1922. 64 pages with illustrations. Circulation 500 copies, including 75 named and 10 hand-coloured (25 indicated in the book).
9. Ernst S. “Z.I. Serebryakova. "Aquilon". Petersburg, 1922. 32 pages (8 sheets of illustrations). Circulation 1000 copies.
10. Edgar Poe. "Gold Bug". Drawings by D. Mitrokhin. "Aquilon". Petersburg, 1922. 56 pages with illustrations. Circulation 800 copies. (including personalized copies; one of them, hand-painted by Mitrokhin, is the property of Notgaft F.F.).
11. Chulkov G. “Maria Hamilton. Poem". Drawings by V. Belkin. "Aquilon". Petersburg, 1922.
36 pages with illustrations. Circulation 1000 copies.
12. Benois A. "Versailles" (album). "Aquilon". Petersburg, 1922. 32 pages (8 sheets of illustrations). The circulation is 600 copies, including 100 nominal and 500 numbered.
13. Dobuzhinsky M. "Memories of Italy". Author's drawings. "Aquilon". Petersburg, 1923.
68 pages with illustrations. Circulation 1000 copies.
14. "Rus". Russian types B.M. Kustodiev. The word is Evgenia Zamyatina. "Aquilon". Petersburg, 1923. 24 pages (23 sheets of illustrations). Circulation 1000 numbered copies. From the remnants of reproductions, 50 copies without text were made, not for sale.
15. "Feast of toys." Fairy tale and drawings by Yuri Cherkesov. "Aquilon". Petersburg, 1922. 6 pages with illustrations. Circulation 2000 copies.
16. Dostoevsky F.M. "White Nights". Drawings by M. Dobuzhinsky. "Aquilon". Petersburg, 1923. 80 pages with illustrations. Circulation 1000 copies.
17. Weiner P.P. "About Bronze". Conversations about applied art. "Aquilon". Petersburg, 1923. 80 pages (11 sheets of illustrations). Circulation 1000 copies.
18. Vsevolod Voinov. "Wood engravings". 1922-1923. "Aquilon". Petersburg, 1923. 24 pages of engravings. Circulation 600 numbered copies.
19. Radlov N.E. "About Futurism". "Aquilon". Petersburg, 1923. 72 pages. Circulation 1000 copies.
20. Ostroumova-Lebedeva A.P. "Landscapes of Pavlovsk in wood engravings". "Aquilon". Petersburg, 1923. 8 pages of text and 20 sheets of illustrations (woodcuts). Circulation 800 copies.
21. Petrov-Vodkin K.S. "Samarkand". From travel sketches in 1921. "Aquilon". Petersburg, 1923. 52 pages with illustrations. Circulation 1000 copies.
22. Kube A.N. "Venetian glass". Conversations on applied art. "Aquilon". Petersburg, 1923. 104 pages with illustrations and 12 illustrated sheets (phototypes). Circulation 1000 copies.
The album "Versailles", where the artist's watercolors are accompanied by his own text, is "Benoit's largest graphic work during the years of the revolution. Initially, it was supposed to print 1000 copies: 600 in Russian and 400 in French, but only the Russian version was printed. The album sold out rather slowly. The reason for this was, firstly, the high price, largely due to the complexity of the typographical reproduction of illustrations (the album was printed for more than six months), and secondly, the reviews of critics who considered the publication unsuccessful and reproached the printers for poor print quality, "unpleasant" format and typing in two columns. The album was released on thick paper. The illustrations were printed using the technique of photolithography in four colors. The publication includes 26 watercolors by the artist; in addition, the introductory article and the list of drawings are accompanied by headlines and endings - they are printed using the zincography technique. Benois also designed the title page with an allegorical screensaver and the motto of the King of France and the owner of Versailles Louis XIV "Nec pluribus impar" ("Not inferior to the multitude") and an illustrated cover. Versailles was one of the artist's favorite themes. This work is based on numerous natural observations: back in October 1896, Benois made his first trip to Paris, where he sketched the views of Versailles, which marked the beginning of his famous Versailles series. In Benois' watercolors, the landscape of Versailles is presented in its aesthetics as a Russian landscape. Art historians were able to discern in it associations with Levitan's "Above Eternal Peace", and with Pushkin's reflections "on indifferent nature", and with an ironically interpreted idea of a fairy tale about a sleeping princess that no one will wake up. We find confirmation of this in the artist's letters, where he repeatedly speaks of his inseparable connection with the park ensemble, calling it "my dear, my dear Verst." Versailles for Benois is the personification of the harmonious unity of man, nature and art. In an article preceding the album, he formulates this important thought for him in this way: “... Versailles is not an ode to royal power, but a poem of life, a poem of humanity in love with nature, ruling over this very nature ... a monumental hymn to courageous strength, inspiring feminine charms, united human efforts for common goals.
The work of Alexander Nikolaevich Benois still remains closed to Russia, because. most of his work is located outside of Russia. Basically, those who are interested in art know his literary works, dedicated to both Russian and foreign artists. However, Alexandre Benois was an extremely versatile person - he is a painter, a graphic artist, a theater decorator, a stage director, and an art historian. And this is not surprising, because he comes from a family that has given the world many artistically gifted people.
Benois A.N. Chinese Pavilion at Versailles. Jealous 1906
In 1794, confectioner Louis-Jules Benois (1770-1822) arrived in Russia from France. His son Nikolai Leontievich, the father of Alexander Benois, became a famous architect. Alexander took only a few months in 1887 in the evening classes of the Academy of Arts, then studied at the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. He was a self-taught artist, but continuously worked on himself, calling himself " the product of an artistic family". The technique of watercolor painting was taught to him by his elder brother Albert Benois, also a famous artist.
Benois A.N. Versailles
Benois A.N. Versailles. At Curtius 1898
In 1894, Alexander Nikolaevich Benois began his career as a theorist and art historian, writing a chapter on Russian artists for the German collection History of Painting of the 19th Century. In 1896, he first came to Paris, and his French impressions were so strong that a whole series of watercolor drawings from the history of France was born. Fantastic, fabulous world. Trips to Paris will become regular for the artist and his famous series of works under the general conditional name "Versailles" will be born, which includes works from 1896-1922.
Benois A.N. Dance. Pavilion of Versailles
Benois A.N. scene in the garden
Benois A.N. On a walk
Benois A.N. Spring Day at Trianon 1921
Benois A.N. Walk in the park of Versailles
Benois A.N. Walk of the King 1906
"Versailles for Alexandre Benois is the embodiment of the harmonious unity of man, nature and art. In the "harmony of external forms of life" the artist sees not a superficial stratification, but an expression of a "culture of human dignity", that is, an ethical principle. The protagonist of Benois' paintings is invisible. This is an artist, creator of the Versailles Ensemble. He is the changer of nature, the director of life. He established that solemn mood to which the life of the era is subject. It would be even more accurate to say that there are two heroes in the Versailles paintings. The second is Benois himself, a philosopher and a dreamer, a typical artist of the "World of Art", in which the vanity and chaos of petty-bourgeois life give rise to a craving for beauty, harmony, grandeur.
The cycles of works dedicated to Versailles of the 17th century - the residence of King Louis XIV - were written on the basis of numerous natural observations. Under the influence of old memoirs, diaries, paintings, engravings, drawings, poems, and especially music of the 17th - early 18th centuries, "vague, slightly poignant memories" are born in the artist's soul, he sees the past. The "Versailles Series" is an opportunity to recall how many generations have already seen the Versailles park in their lifetime, and thus speak about the immortality of art and the transience of human life. But art is nothing but one of the manifestations of the greatness of the human spirit.".
A. P. Gusarova "World of Art"
Benois A.N. Rainy day at Versailles
Benois A.N. Walk
Benois A.N. Wedding walk 1908
Benois A.N. Alley of Versailles
Benois A.N. Fish feeding
Benois A.N. masks
Benois A.N. Bathing Marquise
Benois A.N. Masquerade under the king
Benois A.N. Italian comedy 1905
Benois A.N. Versailles
Benois A.N. In the park of Versailles
Benois A.N. Comedy. musical farce
Stylistically, watercolor works are very similar to the works of Konstantin Somov, and this is not surprising, it was with him that Alexander Nikolaevich Benois created the famous art association "World of Art" and founded the magazine of the same name. Miriskussniki entered the history of Russian painting as propagandists of the 18th century, the century of costume, love, the century of beauty. For this departure into the past, Benois was repeatedly scolded, as was scolded by his entire artistic association. So Ilya Efimovich Repin spoke rather caustically about Benois: " half-educated, amateur, never seriously studied the form"...
Benois A.N. The Bronze Horseman 1916
Benois A.N. Peter the Great thinking about the construction of St. Petersburg
Benois A.N. Petersburg
Benois A.N. Parade under Paul I 1907
Benois A.N. Alleys of the Summer Garden
Benois A.N. Summer garden
Benois A.N. Hermitage of Peter the Great
Benois A.N. On the streets of Petersburg
Benois A.N. Grand Cascade of Peterhof
Benois A.N. Peterhof 1900
In 1916-1918, Benois created illustrations for A. S. Pushkin's poem "The Bronze Horseman" and a series of works dedicated to St. Petersburg and its suburbs. In 1918, the artist became head of the Hermitage art gallery and became its curator. In 1926, Alexander Nikolaevich Benois left the USSR without returning from a business trip abroad. He lived in Paris, worked mainly on sketches of theatrical scenery and costumes. Benois died on February 9, 1960 in Paris.
Landscape series of watercolors by A.N. Benois
Benois A.N. French Alps 1928
Benois A.N. Italian landscape
Benois A.N. italian yard
Benois A.N. Luxembourg garden
Benois A.N. Quai Rei in Basel 1902
Benois A.N. Winter landscape
P.S. All images are clickable and most are enlarged to a large size.
