The cycle 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, is perhaps one of the most memorable - both sad and beautiful - in the artist's work.
A. Benois. "The King's Last Walks". 1896-1898 (there are later drawings)
"Versailles. Louis XIV feeds 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" 
I also put here other drawings by Benois, in which the king does not appear, but there is simply Versailles.
"Flora's Pool at Versailles" 
From the article "Versailles in the works of Benois"
Alexandre Benois first visited Versailles in his youth, back in the 1890s.
Since then, he has remained obsessed with the poetics of the ancient royal palace, the “divine Versailles,” as he calls it. "I returned from there drugged, almost sick from strong impressions."
From a confession to his nephew Eugene Lansere: “I am intoxicated with this place, it is some kind of impossible illness, a criminal passion, a strange love.”
"King Louis XIV in an armchair" 
Throughout his life, the artist will create more than six hundred oil paintings, engravings, pastels, gouaches and watercolors dedicated to Versailles.
When Benoit was 86 years old, he complained of poor health only from the point of view that it did not allow him to "walk around the paradise in which he once lived."
And this is a real lifetime portrait of the old Louis the Sun, drawn by A. Benois. Only not by our artist, but by Antoine Benoist (1632-1717), who worked at court. He was not a relative of our Benois, and not even a namesake (another spelling), but I am sure that such a clever person as Alexander knew about him and perhaps felt some kind of spiritual kinship thanks to the magic of the name. 
"King's Walk" 
"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. Orangery" 
"Versailles. Garden of Trianon" 
From an article by a French researcher (there is an interesting angle in general):
"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."
"At Curtius" 
"Allegory of the river" 
"A few years later, Benoist 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, Benoit 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. XIV was an excellent actor, and he deserved the applause of history. Louis XVI was only one of the "grandchildren of a 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. ".
"Allegory of the river" 
"King" (not yet in the chair) 
"A Walk in the Garden of Versailles" 
"Pond at Versailles" 
"Fantasy on the Versailles theme" 
Anatoly Lunacharsky, the future Soviet "Minister of Culture", swore at the cycle when he saw the drawings at an exhibition in 1907:
... 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.
Benois Alexander Nikolaevich (1870-1960) graphic artist, painter, theater artist, publisher, writer, one of the authors of the modern image of the book. Representative of Russian modernity.
A. N. Benois was born into the family of a famous architect and grew up in an atmosphere of reverence for art, but did not receive an art education. He studied at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University (1890-94), but at the same time independently studied the history of art and was engaged in drawing and painting (mainly watercolor). He did this so thoroughly that he managed to write a chapter on Russian art for the third volume of "The History of Painting in the 19th Century" by R. Muther, published in 1894.
They immediately started talking about him as a talented art critic who turned over the established ideas about the development of domestic art. In 1897, based on impressions from trips to France, he created the first serious work - a series of watercolors "The Last Walks of Louis XIV", showing himself in it as an original artist.
The last walks of Louis XIV
Masquerade under Louis 14. 1898
Walk of the King. 1906
from the series "The last walks of Louis 14". 1898
Repeated trips to Italy and France and copying artistic treasures there, studying the writings of Saint-Simon, Western literature of the 17th-19th centuries, and interest in ancient engravings were the foundation of his artistic education. In 1893, Benois acted as a landscape painter, creating watercolors of the environs of St. Petersburg. 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.
Versailles. 1906
Versailles. Trianon Garden. 1906
Versailles. Alley. 1906
Name of the painting: Cemetery. 1896-97
Name of the painting: Carnival on the Fontanka
He worked no less fruitfully as an art historian: he published in two editions (1901, 1902) the widely known book Russian Painting in the 19th Century, substantially reworking his earlier essay for it; began to publish serial publications "Russian School of Painting" and "History of Painting of All Times and Peoples" (1910-17; the publication was interrupted with the beginning of the revolution) and the magazine "Art Treasures of Russia"; created a wonderful "Guide to the Hermitage Art Gallery" (1911).
Peterhof. Big cascade. 1901-17
Quay Rei in Basel in the rain. 1902
Summer garden under Peter the Great. 1902
Oranienbaum. Japanese garden. 1902
From the fantasy world. 1904
Pavilion. 1906
Marquise bath. 1906
Wedding walk. 1906
In the work of Benois the artist, history decisively prevailed. Two topics invariably attracted his attention: "Petersburg in the 18th - early 19th centuries." and "The France of Louis XIV". He addressed them primarily in his historical compositions - in two "Versailles series" (1897, 1905-06), in the well-known paintings "Parade under Paul I" (1907)
Parade under Pavel 1. 1907
One of his highest achievements was the scenery for I. F. Stravinsky's ballet "Petrushka" (1911). Soon, Benois began working with the Moscow Art Theater, where he successfully designed two performances based on the plays of J.-B. Moliere (1913) and for some time even participated in the management of the theater along with K. S. Stanislavsky and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko.
Italian comedy. "Love Note". 1907
Berta (costume sketch by V. Komissarzhevskaya). 1907
Evening. 1905-06
After the revolution of 1917, Benois took an active part in the work of various organizations, mainly related to the protection of monuments of art and antiquity, and from 1918 he also took up museum work - he became the head of the Hermitage Art Gallery. He developed and successfully implemented a completely new plan for the general exposition of the museum, which contributed to the most expressive demonstration of each work.
At the beginning of the XX century. Benois illustrates the works of Pushkin A.S. Acts as a critic and art historian. In the 1910s, people came to the center of the artist's interests.
Herman in front of the windows of the Countess (screen saver for Pushkin's The Queen of Spades). 1911
The artist entered the history of Russian book graphics with his book "The Alphabet in the Pictures of Alexander Benois" (1905) and illustrations for "The Queen of Spades" by A. S. Pushkin, performed in two versions (1899, 1910), as well as wonderful illustrations for "The Bronze Horseman" ", to the three variants of which he devoted almost twenty years of work (1903-22).
illustration for Pushkin's poem "The Bronze Horseman". 1904
Frontispiece sketch for A. S. Pushkin's poem "The Bronze Horseman"
By the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, Benois again returns to the landscapes of Peterhof, Oranienbaum, Pavlovsk. It glorifies the beauty and grandeur of 18th century architecture. Nature interests the artist mainly in its connection with history. Possessing a pedagogical gift and erudition, he at the end of the 19th century. organized the "World of Art" association, becoming its theorist and inspirer. He worked a lot in book graphics. He often appeared in the press and every week published his "Artistic Letters" (1908-16) in the newspaper "Rech".
Peterhof. Flower beds under the Grand Palace. 1918
Peterhof. The lower fountain at the Cascade. 1942
Peterhof. main fountain. 1942
From 1926 he lived in Paris, where he died. The main works of the artist: "The Walk of the King" (1906), "Fantasy on the Versailles theme" (1906), "Italian comedy" (1906), illustrations for the Bronze Horseman by Pushkin A.S. (1903) and others.
Benois Alexander Nikolaevich (1870-1960) graphic artist, painter, theater artist, publisher, writer, one of the authors of the modern image of the book. Representative of Russian modernity.
Versailles.
Our community has already published a post about the work of Alexandre Benois:
We offer you a few more watercolors of this wonderful artist.
Versailles. (Versailles).
Paris. Karruzel.
Versailles. Versailles.
Versailles. Versailles.
Fountain "Neptune" in Versailles. Versailles.
Fontainebleau.
Villa Maurel, Cassis.
Pont Marie, Paris.
Capitol, Rome. Le Capitole, Rome.
Ufficio Scavi, Rome.
Pavlovsk.
Venice. Venice.
Palace by moonlight. (Gouache, paper)
Cassis. Cassis.
Cassis. (Grove in Cassis).
Walk of the King.
Chinese pavilion in Tsarskoye Selo. (watercolor on paper. 23 x 25.5 cm).
Image source:
From the comments to the post:
"..... Benois has long held me captive to his sophistication. I cannot ignore not only a post about him, but also some minor watercolor of his, exhibited to maintain the prestige and status of the exhibition. Attracts the eye, attracts the mind, attracts the essence. What kind of misfortune is this: to cling to Benoit for life! It is already the 21st century, and it is for nothing that the founder of the community, as we would say now, is horror to what extent formalized in content, and stormy (with beating faces, novels, scandals and quarrels) in essence. What is it that fascinates me so much? Calligraphic accuracy of details? Color scheme, muted and aristocratic? Lack of fuss and flickering in craftsmanship, in the hand? Visible, hanging outside the boundaries of work, education? Longing for an unseen and untested era? Samples of French parks, lined and clipped, living as phantoms in his watercolors? An axiom learned from childhood: he could see a partially preserved one, but you won’t even think of it, because you will never see it? Envy of his scenery and costumes made for Diaghilev, no matter how much you leaf through the elite edition of Diaghilev's seasons - you won't touch it, you won't understand the delicate, but deafening effect? What makes me all my life, in thought, stop near these chilly sheets of high-quality paper hidden under glass, note that it was put up there, but there was nothing there and there was nothing? Maybe a landscape without a person? And how good is a landscape without a person, from whom there are only troubles and the destruction of the harmony adjusted by classical standards? I do not know. But I'm looking...
A. N. Benois was born into the family of a famous architect and grew up in an atmosphere of reverence for art, but did not receive an art education. He studied at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University (1890-94), but at the same time independently studied the history of art and was engaged in drawing and painting (mainly watercolor). He did this so thoroughly that he managed to write a chapter on Russian art for the third volume of "The History of Painting in the 19th Century" by R. Muther, published in 1894.
They immediately started talking about him as a talented art critic who turned over the established ideas about the development of domestic art. In 1897, based on impressions from trips to France, he created the first serious work - a series of watercolors "The Last Walks of Louis XIV", - showing himself in it as an original artist.
Repeated trips to Italy and France and copying artistic treasures there, studying the writings of Saint-Simon, Western literature of the 17th-19th centuries, and interest in ancient engravings formed the foundation of his artistic education. In 1893, Benois acted as a landscape painter, creating watercolors of the environs of St. Petersburg. 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.
By the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, Benois again returns to the landscapes of Peterhof, Oranienbaum, Pavlovsk. It glorifies the beauty and grandeur of 18th century architecture. Nature interests the artist mainly in its connection with history. Possessing a pedagogical gift and erudition, he at the end of the 19th century. organized the "World of Art" association, becoming its theorist and inspirer. He worked a lot in book graphics. He often appeared in the press and every week published his "Artistic Letters" (1908-16) in the newspaper "Rech".
He worked no less fruitfully as an art historian: he published in two editions (1901, 1902) the widely known book Russian Painting in the 19th Century, substantially reworking his earlier essay for it; began to publish serial publications "Russian School of Painting" and "History of Painting of All Times and Peoples" (1910-17; the publication was interrupted with the beginning of the revolution) and the magazine "Art Treasures of Russia"; created a wonderful "Guide to the Hermitage Art Gallery" (1911).
After the revolution of 1917, Benois took an active part in the work of various organizations, mainly related to the protection of monuments of art and antiquity, and from 1918 he also took up museum work - he became in charge of the Hermitage Art Gallery. He developed and successfully implemented a completely new plan for the general exposition of the museum, which contributed to the most expressive demonstration of each work.
At the beginning of the XX century. Benois illustrates the works of Pushkin A.S. Acts as a critic and art historian. In the 1910s, people came to the center of the artist's interests. Such is his painting "Peter I on a walk in the Summer Garden", where in a multi-figured scene the appearance of a past life seen through the eyes of a contemporary is recreated.
In the work of Benois the artist, history decisively prevailed. Two topics invariably attracted his attention: "Petersburg in the 18th - early 19th centuries." and "The France of Louis XIV". He addressed them primarily in his historical compositions - in two "Versailles series" (1897, 1905-06), in the well-known paintings "Parade under Paul I" (1907), "Exit of Catherine II in Tsarskoye Selo Palace" (1907 ) and others, reproducing a long-gone life with deep knowledge and a subtle sense of style. The same themes, in essence, were devoted to his numerous natural landscapes, which he usually performed either in St. Petersburg and its suburbs, or in Versailles (Benoit regularly traveled to France and lived there for a long time). The artist entered the history of Russian book graphics with his book "The Alphabet in the Pictures of Alexander Benois" (1905) and illustrations for "The Queen of Spades" by A. S. Pushkin, performed in two versions (1899, 1910), as well as wonderful illustrations for "The Bronze Horseman" ", to the three variants of which he devoted almost twenty years of work (1903-22).
In the same years, he took part in the design of the "Russian Seasons", organized by Diaghilev S.P. in Paris, which included in their program not only opera and ballet performances, but also symphony concerts.
Benois designed R. Wagner's opera The Death of the Gods on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater and then performed sketches for the scenery for N. N. Tcherepnin's ballet The Pavilion of Armida (1903), the libretto of which he composed himself. The passion for ballet turned out to be so strong that on the initiative of Benois and with his direct participation, a private ballet troupe was organized, which began triumphant performances in Paris in 1909 - "Russian Seasons". Benois, who took the post of artistic director in the troupe, performed the design for several performances.
One of his highest achievements was the scenery for I. F. Stravinsky's ballet "Petrushka" (1911). Soon, Benois began working with the Moscow Art Theater, where he successfully designed two performances based on the plays of J.-B. Moliere (1913) and for some time even participated in the management of the theater along with K. S. Stanislavsky and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko.
From 1926 he lived in Paris, where he died. The main works of the artist: "The Walk of the King" (1906), "Fantasy on the Versailles theme" (1906), "Italian comedy" (1906), illustrations for the Bronze Horseman by Pushkin A.S. (1903) and others.
