Kustodiev Boris Mikhailovich
Born: February 23 (March 7), 1878.
Died: May 28, 1927 (aged 49).

Biography

Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev February 23 (March 7), 1878, Astrakhan - May 26, 1927, Leningrad) - Russian artist.

Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev comes from a family of a gymnasium teacher, he began to study painting in Astrakhan with P. A. Vlasov in 1893-1896.

Boris Kustodiev was born in Astrakhan. His father was a professor of philosophy, history of literature and taught logic at the local theological seminary.

The father died when the future artist was not even two years old. Boris studied at the parochial school, then at the gymnasium. From the age of 15 he took drawing lessons from a graduate of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts P. Vlasov.

In 1896 he entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. He studied first in the workshop of V. E. Savinsky, from the second year - with I. E. Repin. He took part in the work on Repin's painting "The Ceremonial Meeting of the State Council on May 7, 1901" (1901-1903, Russian Museum, St. Petersburg). Despite the fact that the young artist gained wide fame as a portrait painter, Kustodiev chose a genre theme (“At the Bazaar”) for his competitive work and in the fall of 1900 he went to the Kostroma province in search of nature. Here Kustodiev meets his future wife Yu. E. Poroshinskaya. On October 31, 1903, he graduated from the training course with a gold medal and the right to an annual pensioner's trip abroad and in Russia. Even before the end of the course, he took part in international exhibitions in St. Petersburg and Munich (big gold medal of the International Association).

In December 1903, together with his wife and son, he arrived in Paris. During his trip, Kustodiev visited Germany, Italy, Spain, studied and copied the works of old masters. Entered the studio of Rene Menard.

Six months later, Kustodiev returned to Russia and worked in the Kostroma province on a series of paintings "Fairs" and "Village Holidays". In 1904 he became a founding member of the New Society of Artists. In 1905–1907 worked as a cartoonist in the satirical magazine "Zhupel" (the famous drawing "Introduction. Moscow"), after its closure - in the magazines "Infernal mail" and "Iskra". Since 1907 - a member of the Union of Russian Artists. In 1909, on the proposal of Repin and other professors, he was elected a member of the Academy of Arts. At the same time, Kustodiev was asked to replace Serov as a teacher of the portrait-genre class at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, but fearing that this activity would take a lot of time from personal work and not wanting to move to Moscow, Kustodiev refused the position. Since 1910 - a member of the renewed "World of Art".

1913 - taught at the New Art Workshop (St. Petersburg). 1923 - Member of the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia. In 1909, Kustodiev developed the first signs of a spinal cord tumor. Several operations brought only temporary relief; for the last 15 years of his life, the artist was confined to a wheelchair. Due to the illness of work, he was forced to write lying down. However, it was during this difficult period of his life that his most vivid, temperamental, cheerful works appeared.

Post-revolutionary years he lived in Petrograd-Leningrad. He was buried at the Nikolsky cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. In 1948, the ashes and the monument were transferred to the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Wife - Kustodieva Yu. E.

Addresses in St. Petersburg - Petrograd - Leningrad

1914 - tenement house - Ekateringofsky prospect, 105;
1915 - 05/26/1927 - tenement house of E. P. Mikhailov - Vvedenskaya street, 7, apt. 50.

Illustrations and book graphics

In 1905-1907 he worked in the satirical magazines "Zhupel" (the famous drawing "Introduction. Moscow"), "Infernal Post" and "Sparks".

Subtly feeling the line, Kustodiev performed cycles of illustrations for classical works and for the creations of his contemporaries (illustrations for the works of Leskov's "Darner", 1922, "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District", 1923).

Possessing a solid stroke, he worked in the technique of lithography and engraving on linoleum.

Painting

Kustodiev began his career as a portrait painter. Already while working on sketches for Repin's "Ceremonial Meeting of the State Council on May 7, 1901," student Kustodiev showed his talent as a portrait painter. In sketches and portrait sketches for this multi-figure composition, he coped with the task of achieving similarity with Repin's creative style. But Kustodiev the portrait painter was closer to Serov. Picturesque plasticity, a free long stroke, a bright characteristic of appearance, an emphasis on the artistry of the model - these were mostly portraits of fellow students and teachers of the Academy - but without Serov's psychologism. Kustodiev is incredibly fast for a young artist, but deservedly won the fame of a portrait painter from the press and customers. However, according to A. Benois:

“... the real Kustodiev is a Russian fair, motley, “big-eyed” chintzes, a barbaric “fight of colors”, a Russian settlement and a Russian village, with their harmonicas, gingerbread, overdressed girls and dashing guys ... I argue that this is his real sphere, his a real joy ... When he writes fashionable ladies and respectable citizens, it is completely different - boring, sluggish, often even tasteless. And I think it’s not about the plot, but about the approach to it.”

Already from the beginning of the 1900s, Boris Mikhailovich developed a kind of portrait genre, or rather, a portrait-picture, a portrait-type, in which the model is connected together with the landscape or interior surrounding it. At the same time, this is a generalized image of a person and his unique individuality, its disclosure through the world surrounding the model. In their form, these portraits are associated with the genre images-types of Kustodiev (“Self-portrait” (1912), portraits of A. I. Anisimov (1915), F. I. Chaliapin (1922)).

But Kustodiev's interests went beyond the portrait: it was no coincidence that he chose a genre painting for his thesis (“At the Bazaar” (1903), has not been preserved). In the early 1900s, for several years in a row, he went to field work in the Kostroma province. In 1906, Kustodiev came up with works that were new in their concept - a series of canvases on the themes of brightly festive peasant and provincial philistine-merchant life ("Balagany", "Shrovetide"), in which modern features are visible. Spectacular, decorative works reveal the Russian character through the everyday genre. On a deeply realistic basis, Kustodiev created a poetic dream, a fairy tale about provincial Russian life. Great importance in these works is attached to line, drawing, color spot, forms are generalized and simplified - the artist turns to gouache, tempera. The artist's works are characterized by stylization - he studies the Russian parsuna of the 16th-18th centuries, popular prints, signs of provincial shops and taverns, and folk crafts.

In the future, Kustodiev gradually shifts more and more towards the ironic stylization of the folk and, especially, the life of the Russian merchants with a riot of colors and flesh (“Beauty”, “Russian Venus”, “Merchant for Tea”).

Theatrical work

Like many artists of the turn of the century, Kustodiev also worked in the theater, transferring his vision of the work to the stage. The scenery performed by Kustodiev was colorful, close to his genre painting, but this was not always perceived as a merit: creating a bright and convincing world, carried away by its material beauty, the artist sometimes did not coincide with the author's intention and the director's reading of the play ("The Death of Pazukhin" by Saltykov- Shchedrin, 1914, Moscow Art Theater; The Thunderstorm by Ostrovsky, which never saw the light of day, 1918). In his later works for the theater, he moves away from the chamber interpretation to a more generalized one, looking for greater simplicity, building a stage space, giving freedom to the director when building mise-en-scenes. The success of Kustodiev was his design work in 1918–1920. opera performances (1920, The Tsar's Bride, the Bolshoi Opera House of the People's House; 1918, The Snow Maiden, the Bolshoi Theater (no production)). Sketches of scenery, costumes and props for A. Serov's opera "The Enemy Force" (Academic (former Mariinsky) Theatre, 1921)

The performances of Zamyatin's Fleas (1925, Moscow Art Theater 2nd; 1926, Leningrad Bolshoi Drama Theater) were successful. According to the memoirs of the director of the play A. D. Diky:

“It was so vivid, so precise, that my role as a director accepting sketches was reduced to zero - I had nothing to correct or reject. It was as if he, Kustodiev, had been in my heart, overheard my thoughts, read Leskovsky's story with the same eyes as me, and saw him in stage form in the same way. ... Never have I had such a complete, such inspiring unanimity with the artist, as when working on the play "Flea". I knew the whole meaning of this community, when Kustodiev's farcical, bright scenery appeared on the stage, props and props made according to his sketches appeared. The artist led the whole performance, took, as it were, the first part in the orchestra, which obediently and sensitively sounded in unison.

After 1917, the artist participated in the design of Petrograd for the first anniversary of the October Revolution, painted posters, popular prints and paintings on revolutionary themes (“Bolshevik”, 1919–1920, Tretyakov Gallery; “Celebration in honor of the 2nd Congress of the Comintern on Uritsky Square”, 1921 , Russian Museum).

Memory

In 1978, a series of stamps with a postage block and an artistic stamped envelope dedicated to the artist and his work were issued. Also, an artistic stamped envelope with the image of B. M. Kustodiev was released in 2003 (artist B. Ilyukhin, circulation 1,000,000 copies).

In Astrakhan, next to the Astrakhan Art Gallery named after P. M. Dogadin, there is a monument to Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev.

House-Museum of Kustodiev B.M. in Astrakhan is located at st. Kalinina, 26 / st. Sverdlov, 68.

A street in the Vyborgsky district of St. Petersburg is named after B. M. Kustodiev.

artistic talent Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev the world-famous representative of Russian painting of the last century, gave us a nostalgic world, sunny and joyful, emphasizing the feeling of a holiday with bright colors. As a student, Kustodiev not only inherited Repin's manner and style, but also introduced a play of colors inherent only to him, which involuntarily charges with positive and happiness. It is worth noting that the formation of Boris Mikhailovich as an artist began long before he met the teacher, this is evidenced by his work, riddled with echoes of childhood attachments and experiences.

Kustodiev was born in the family of a seminary teacher in 1878 in Astrakhan. Fate decreed that Boris's father died when the boy was a little over a year old, and all responsibility for upbringing fell on the fragile shoulders of his mother - a 25-year-old widow with four children in her arms. Despite a very modest income, the family lived together, and motherly love brightened up the difficulties of life, making it possible to form a creative personality. It was the mother, Ekaterina Prokhorovna, who instilled in her children a love for high art - theater, literature, painting. Such an upbringing clearly defined the future of Boris, and already at the age of 9 he knew that he would become an artist.

In 1892, having entered the Astrakhan Theological Seminary, Kustodiev simultaneously began to take lessons from the local painter A.P. Vlasov. With the blessing of Vlasov, in 1896 Kustodiev became a student at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts and after two years was accepted into the studio of Ilya Repin. The great artist immediately drew attention to the student, placing great hopes on him, which subsequently resulted in joint work on a monumental canvas -. The result of such a successful start was the defense of the thesis with a gold medal and an internship abroad. On his trip to Europe, the artist went with a young family, a recently born son and a young wife - Yulia Evstafievna Proshinskaya.

Subsequently, in 1905, paying tribute to the fateful meeting with his love, Kustodiev built the house-workshop "Terem" near the city of Kineshma, on the Volga. "Terem" became the place of work and creativity of the artist, and here, almost every summer, Boris Mikhailovich was seized by a feeling that is commonly called happiness, inspiring him to create and realize the fullness of life. Beloved wife, who became a faithful assistant, son and daughter, in the indestructible concept of the family, were reflected in the artist's work and became a separate big theme in his painting (the painting "Morning").

A year earlier, in 1904, the artist spent several months abroad, in and out, visiting exhibitions and museums. Native expanses called Boris Mikhailovich to Russia and, returning to his homeland, Kustodiev plunged into the world of journalism, collaborating with the satirical magazines Zhupel and Infernal Mail. So, the first Russian revolution inspired him to try his hand at cartoons and caricatures of government officials.

The year 1907 became eventful: a trip to, a passion for sculpture, membership in the Union of Artists. And in 1908, the world of theater opens up for Kustodiev - he works as a decorator at the Mariinsky. The popularity of Boris Mikhailovich is growing, the fame of the portrait painter becomes the reason for the well-known work of Nicholas II in 1915, but long before that, in 1909, trouble came to the artist's family - the first signs of a spinal cord tumor appeared. Despite this, he continues to actively travel around Europe, receiving the title of academician of painting in the same year. Having visited Austria, Italy, France and Germany, Kustodiev goes to Switzerland, where he undergoes treatment. Subsequently, in Berlin in 1913, he undergoes a complex operation.

It would seem that the disease receded and 1914 was marked by exhibitions at the Bernheim Gallery in Paris, International Art Exhibitions in Venice and. In 1916, Kustodiev underwent a second operation, which resulted in paralysis of the lower body and amputation of the legs. Since then, the whole world of the artist is his room, memory and imagination. It was during this period that he wrote his most vivid and festive paintings, depicting provincial life (, "Rural Holiday") and the beauty of the body ().

But cheerfulness and optimism are not able to overcome the disease, which, as it progresses, gives the artist a single lifetime exhibition of his own works in 1920 at the Petrograd House of Arts. The last milestones of his life were marked by the design of the play "Flea" and participation in the International Exhibition in Paris.

In 1927, on May 26, at the age of 49, Boris Mikhailovich dies literally while working on a sketch of the triptych conceived by him “The Joy of Work and Rest”. Thus ended the difficult, but full of light and joyful notes, life of the famous artist, who left us a legacy demonstrating a thirst for life and knowledge.

Fans of Russian painting are well aware of the name of such a remarkable domestic artist as Boris Kustodiev. Consider in this article the creative biography of this person.

Boris Kustodiev: short biography, stages of creative maturity

The future artist was born in Astrakhan, in Tsarist Russia, in 1878. He came from an intelligent teacher's family. His parents loved Russian art and passed this love on to their children. The artist's father taught philosophy, logic and literature at the theological seminary. When Boris was 2 years old, his father died suddenly.

Nevertheless, the family was able to provide the boy with a decent education: he studied at the parochial school, then at the gymnasium. Boris Kustodiev received his first painting lessons at the local Astrakhan gymnasium.

In 1896, the young man entered the prestigious department. From the second year, I. E. Repin became his teacher.

In the last year of the academy, Boris Kustodiev, while working on his graduation picture in the Kostroma province, met his future wife Yu. E. Poroshinskaya. He graduated from the academy brilliantly: with a gold medal and excellent prospects.

First successes

After the wedding and the end of the course, the artist Boris Kustodiev goes on a tour abroad to get to know all the colors of European life. He visited Paris, Germany and Italy. He met famous European artists of that time, sat down to visit many art exhibitions and galleries.

Returning to Russia, Kustodiev continued to work on genre paintings. He created a series of works "Village Holidays" and "Fairs". The talent of the young man attracted the attention of his contemporaries. At the suggestion of Repin, Kustodiev was elected a professor at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, became a member of the Union of Russian Artists, and began to collaborate with many literary and art magazines.

Portraits of Kustodiev: a feature of the genre

Boris Kustodiev entered the history of Russian art primarily as a very talented portrait painter. It was he who created a whole cycle of portraits of his contemporaries, and his canvases are still considered masterworks.

Critics noted that in his art both the power of Repin's colors and plots and the subtle psychologism of Serov's paintings found their expression. However, the artist was able to create his own style: in his portraits, a person is characterized not only by his face and appearance, but also by the whole environment around him.

Consider from this point of view the famous "Merchant for Tea", written in the anxious 1918.

Everything in this picture is permeated with a sense of contentment and peace. The full face of the merchant, her bright clothes, household items surrounding her, even the cat that clings to her mistress - a certain thought is felt in everything: this is both gentle humor and an attempt to understand the essence of the soul of a Russian person.

In the artist's works there is a lot of things from Russian folk popular art, and from old parsuns, and from ancient Russian fairy-tale images of people and animals.

Most famous works

In addition to the aforementioned "Merchant's Woman for Tea", the following portraits of Kustodiev received the greatest popularity: the portrait of Fyodor Chaliapin, written in 1921, the portrait of Maximilian Voloshin (1924), the painting "Bolshevik" (1920), the work "Russian Venus" (1925), the painting " Fair in Saratov.

All these canvases are imbued with a sense of the beauty of the national spirit, a feeling of deep patriotism, their characteristic features are a riot of colors and monumental images.

The great Russian singer Fyodor Chaliapin appears as Russian heroes, and the writer Chaliapin stands in a fur coat wide open, he is dressed like a dandy, but at the same time there is something folk, powerful and inspired in his image. Equally huge and majestic is Voloshin, whose head rests on the clouds.

In the picture "Bolshevik" the main character, depicted against the background of a bright red banner, is ready to take a swing at the temple. The growth of a Bolshevik is equal to the height of an architectural structure. Thus, the artist dismantles the man of the new era, who perceives himself as the winner of the old system and the creator of a new life.

Boris Kustodiev painted many canvases during his creative life, his paintings amaze the audience with their scope and majesty.

Illustrations for literary works and theatrical works

Kustodiev became famous as an excellent illustrator. During his life, he created many works for magazines that conveyed the image of the main characters of the works of Russian classical literature that he understood. He wonderfully illustrated the works of Leskov, drew engravings and even caricatures.

Boris Kustodiev appreciated various types of Russian art, his paintings were actively used in the theatrical environment. The talent of the artist was especially vividly embodied when creating scenery for the performances of the Moscow Art Theater. These are works based on the works of Ostrovsky, Saltykov-Shchedrin and even Zamyatin (by the way, one of the most famous portraits of Zamyatin belongs to Kustodiev's brush). His works were liked by his contemporaries for their simplicity, the power of the embodiment of the image and the magnificent selection of colors.

last years of life

Boris Kustodiev managed to do a lot in his creative life, his biography is a direct confirmation of this.

For the last 15 years of his life, the artist was confined to a wheelchair. The fact is that he was tormented by a dangerous and severe tumor of the spine, which did not respond to surgical treatment. Kustodiev was forced to write, first sitting, and then lying down.

However, he continued to engage not only in art, but also in social activities, and even in 1923 he joined the association of artists of revolutionary Russia.

Boris Mikhailovich died in 1927, was buried in Leningrad - at the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

One of the most famous painters who glorify Russian life. Sometimes the artist is called the Russian Renoir, and Kustodiev's paintings with the names "The Merchant for Tea" or "Shrovetide" are visually known even to those who have not heard of him before. What other famous works belong to the brush of Boris Mikhailovich? The most famous and most significant paintings by Kustodiev with names and descriptions are further in the article.

short biography

Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev was born on March 7 (February 23 according to the old style) in 1878 in the Astrakhan family of a logic teacher, professor of philosophy and literature. The future great artist began to show interest in drawing while still studying at a parochial school, and from the age of 15 he already took professional lessons from the artist Pavel Alekseevich Vlasov. At the age of 18, Boris Mikhailovich became a student at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, where Vasily Savinsky and Ilya Repin were his mentors.

In 1900, the artist went to the Kostroma province - he was looking for nature for his thesis, but found the love of his life, Yulia Efstafyevna. They got married the same year. In 1903, after graduating from the Academy with honors and a gold medal, Kustodiev moved to Paris with his wife and young son Kirill. Here Boris Mikhailovich studied in the studio of the artist Rene Joseph Menard, traveled extensively around Europe, studying and copying the works of classical painters in Italy, Germany and France.

In 1904, Kustodiev returned to Russia, soon after that his daughter Irina was born. The artist worked a lot as an illustrator, in 1907 he became a member of the Union of Russian Artists, and in 1909 - a member of the Academy of Arts thanks to Repin's patronage.

Below you can see a reproduction of the painting by Boris Kustodiev called "On the Terrace", which he painted in 1906. Here the breakfast of the artist and his family is depicted: his son Kirill looks directly at the viewer, in the very center with a cup - his elder sister. On the left is her husband, and on the right is Kustodiev himself. The artist's wife Julia made room at the table so that the nanny could seat little Irina on a chair.

In 1909, Boris Mikhailovich was diagnosed with a serious tumor of the spinal cord. Over the course of several years, he underwent more than one operation, as a result of the latter, the tumor was removed, but his legs remained paralyzed. From about 1912, the artist moved exclusively in a wheelchair, and painted mostly lying down - an uncomfortable chair quickly tired him. Despite this, in 1913 he began teaching at the St. Petersburg New Art Studio, and the most famous paintings by the artist Kustodiev with the names "The Merchant for Tea", "Shrovetide", "Portrait of Chaliapin" and "Russian Venus" were painted during this difficult period.

On May 26, 1927, 49-year-old Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev died. He painted his last picture a year before his death, overcoming terrible pain and thus showing the feat of a true artist devoted to art.

"Merchant for tea"

Above in the photo is the most famous painting by Kustodiev called "The Merchant for Tea", which he created in 1918. It is with this canvas that the expression "Kustodian young lady" is most often associated, by which they mean a puffy, white-skinned, portly and luxuriously dressed woman.

Boris Kustodiev wrote his most famous merchant's wife from his countrywoman, Astrakhan Baroness Galina Aderkas. In the center of the plot is Galina in the image of a merchant's wife, in a velvet dress and a fashionable turban, in a cheerful mood drinking tea from a saucer at a rich table on the terrace or balcony.

The so-called home paradise became the center of the plot - a plentiful meal, a magnificent and richly dressed woman in the center, an affectionate cat and a magnificent landscape behind. The merchant's wife is calm and self-satisfied, which gives the impression that she really is the mistress of the world. The main character of the canvas looks a little to the side - either thinking, or carefully listening to the interlocutor who did not get on the canvas. The picture is painted in oil on canvas in the style of impressionism, allowing you to feel the moment of the moment. You can see this picture in the St. Petersburg State Russian Museum.

Other merchants of Kustodiev

In the lower photo - paintings by Kustodiev (the names can be found below), which also depict women of this class:

• "Merchant", 1915, State Russian Museum.
• "Merchant Drinking Tea", 1923, Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum.
• "Merchant with a mirror" 1923, State Russian Museum.

These are not so popular plots with merchants, but definitely worthy of attention. All three paintings are filled with the same meaning as "The Merchant at Tea": they depict the "mistresses of life", plump, elegant, well-groomed women who are used to living beautifully and not denying themselves anything. On the third canvas, the most interesting thing is the face of a merchant who has just entered the room and is frozen in admiration before the sight of his beautiful wife.

Plots with Maslenitsa

On account of Boris Kustodiev - 3 paintings with the name "Pancake week". A reproduction of the most famous can be seen below.

This magnificent canvas - both in terms of plot and in terms of execution - was painted in 1916. This is one of the first major works of Kustodiev after experienced operations on the spine. In all the artist's paintings, an all-consuming love for Russia, peasant and merchant life is visible, but in this picture, the bedridden artist outdid himself, as if trying to compensate for the impossibility of attending a fun holiday. You can see this beautiful picture in the State Russian Museum of St. Petersburg.

There are two more paintings with the same name, painted later:

• Shrovetide, 1919, Joseph Brodsky's apartment museum.
• "Shrovetide", 1920, Nizhny Tagil Art Museum.

The painting of 1919 seems to be a stylistic and plot continuation of the first canvas. The same color depth, detailed drawing of all the characters, a sense of presence. The second picture is more like an illustration and is the brightest example of Russian post-impressionism.

"Portrait of Chaliapin"

Another name for another famous painting by the artist is "F.I. Chaliapin at the Fair". The opera singer and artist were introduced to each other by the writer Maxim Gorky, and together they worked on the opera The Enemy Force (Kustodiev drew scenery and costume designs).

From 1920 to 1922, in a lying position and with the help of a special easel tilted over the bed, Boris Mikhailovich created this monumental portrait about 200 by 100 cm in size. The portrait became a favorite in the singer’s collection, he bought it and took it to Paris, constantly keeping it, therefore the artist created another version of the painting - reduced, 99 by 81 cm in size. Currently, the first portrait is exhibited in St. Petersburg and the second - in the State Russian Museum.

The background of the picture is so similar to Kustodiev's "Shrovetide" works that it may seem like an enlarged fragment of such a picture.

"Stepan Razin"

Quite famous is the beautiful painting by Kustodiev called "Stepan Razin", written in 1918.

It is known that Stepan Razin, as the leader of the peasant uprising, was a favorite figure in post-revolutionary culture. Boris Kustodiev was not an ardent supporter of the revolution, but he had nothing against either: the artist loved Russia, was fascinated by the novelty of what was happening, and therefore wrote the work, thus wishing to welcome the changes in the country.

The picture is very interesting for its construction - the center is filled with the setting sun, and the main character is Stepan Razin, proudly standing in his boat, as if about to sail away from the picture. Here, the artist's talent for depicting the momentary was most clearly reflected - he seemed to photograph a random moment, forever snatching it out of life with all natural poses and the absence of deliberate symmetry.

"Russian Venus"

Since the artist became most famous for depicting full, healthy and joyful women, Kustodiev's painting, entitled "Russian Venus", seemed to be destined to be the last in his creative life. On a large canvas, a fragment of which is presented above, the artist’s daughter Irina is depicted at the moment of bathing in a bath - her pose, nudity and shock of golden hair resemble Botticelli’s Venus, and at her feet in the form of a leaf from a box of soap is a kind of cartouche "Russian Venus", which has become good irony over the name.

The highlight of the picture is the history of its creation - in 1926 the artist almost did not get out of bed. When a similar plot was born in his head, he could not wait for the preparation of the canvas, and therefore he took his own painting "On the Terrace", which was already mentioned above, and began to write directly on its back. It is curious that on the canvas "On the Terrace" Irina Kustodieva was first depicted at about two years of age, and her last portrait appeared on the back twenty years later.

The picture was almost destroyed: during the flood in the Gorky Art Museum, most of the drawing was washed away. Pavel Baranov managed to restore the last work of Kustodiev. He also made a special frame for the canvas, so that both "Russian Venus" and "On the Terrace" were available to the viewer. Currently, the painting is stored in the Nizhny Novgorod Art Museum.

"Bolshevik"

The painting by B. Kustodiev, whose name is "Bolshevik", sometimes confuses those who are trying to determine for themselves the political views of the artist. In 1915, he painted "Portrait of Emperor Nicholas II", and already in 1919 - a huge Bolshevik walking down the street with a red flag fluttering. In fact, for those who are familiar with the personality of Boris Mikhailovich, this is not at all surprising. The fact is that he loved his Motherland in all manifestations, taking historical events for granted. That is why at the time of the reign of the king, he painted his portrait, and after the change of power - an allegorical picture of a new man.

The painting is currently exhibited at the Tretyakov Gallery.

"Sailor and Sweetheart"

Quite well-known images of new people in the vision of Kustodiev are similar paintings of 1920 and 1921. with the same name "Sailor and sweetheart". They depict the same people: a strong, courageous sailor with a cigar in his mouth and his sweet, smart girl in a fur boa, a charming hat, fashionable boots and an unchanging rose.

These paintings are painted in watercolor on paper. There is no consensus on these works: someone believes that in the person of a fashionista and a sailor, Kustodiev found himself a plot replacement for merchants and merchants, who were now not approved. Someone, on the contrary, thinks that the paintings are ironic about modern young people who have reacted to changes in a peculiar way.

"Japanese Doll"

The painting by the artist Kustodiev "Japanese doll" was painted in 1908, it depicts little Irina Kustodieva at the moment of playing with an exotic Japanese doll. An interesting contrast to the overseas toy is the neo-Russian architectural style of the house, visible through the large window.

This canvas is a vivid example of Kustodiev's impressionism and, as mentioned above, his talent, as it were, to photograph what is happening. The picture does not have a deep plot or subtext, but it captivates the viewer with its liveliness, everyday simplicity and sincerity. You can see the picture in the State Russian Museum.

self-portraits

On the reproductions above and on the main photo of the article, you can see Kustodiev's paintings, the names of which are as follows:

• "Self-portrait at the window", 1899, Perm Art Gallery.
• "Self-portrait" 1904, State Museum of Arts of Kazakhstan.
• "Self-portrait on the hunt" (main photo of the article), 1905, State Russian Museum.
• "Self-portrait with his son Cyril", 1909, private collection.
• "Self-portrait", 1912, Uffizi Gallery, Florence.

On these canvases, the artist depicted himself.

Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev was born on March 7, 1878. It is difficult to find another painter so passionately in love with provincial Russia: original, bright, surprising

A number of researchers suggest that the surname Kustodiev comes from the Old Slavonic "custod" - the so-called watchman, church gatekeeper. It is not known whether the distant ancestors of Boris Mikhailovich were church ministers, but his closest relatives connected their lives with the church. Grandfather served as a deacon in one of the villages of the Samara province, and his sons, Stepan, Konstantin and Mikhail, followed in his footsteps. Boris Mikhailovich also studied at the theological seminary, but he entered it, rather, due to circumstances. After the death of his father, a desperate financial situation developed in the family, and in the theological seminary the boy could receive an education at public expense. True, the seminarian Kustodiev will not demonstrate outstanding abilities, making progress only in icon painting. Most of the time the boy will devote to his new hobby - sculpture, carving figures of funny animals from soft stone.

famous portrait

Boris Kustodiev is rightfully considered an unsurpassed master of portraiture - this genre has occupied a central place in his work since his studies at the Academy of Arts. After the appearance of the first works at exhibitions, the public appreciated the skill of the portrait painter - private orders rained down. Kustodiev himself admitted that these orders distract him from the relentless search for language and style. Book illustrator Ivan Bilibin, historian and restorer Alexander Anisimov, poet and artist Maximilian Voloshin - in each portrait Kustodiev managed to capture and convey to the viewer the difficult essence of a person. But perhaps the most famous work of Kustodiev in this genre was the ceremonial portrait of Chaliapin. True, a number of researchers (including Valerian Bogdanov-Berezovsky) believe that the artist created, rather, a plot composition, “in which the portrait itself, brought to the fore, plays the role of the main, but still integral component.” Interestingly, in the lower left corner, Kustodiev depicted Chaliapin's daughters, Maria and Marfa, walking, accompanied by the artist's secretary Isaiah Dvorishchin. At Fedor Ivanovich's feet is Roika's favorite French bulldog painted from life, who was forced to "freeze" in the right position, putting a cat on the closet. Chaliapin admired Kustodiev's "great spirit" and often visited him in his Petrograd apartment. They recalled their native Volga and sang soulful songs: seriously and with concentration, as if plunging into some kind of sacred ritual.

Watercolor Rus'

Kustodiev's favorite topic for many years was provincial Russia with its festivities and colorful fairs and the main characters - residents of small cozy towns. Kustodiev's canvases are immediately recognizable: bright, colorful, with overflowing life and many recognizable details. When he first saw the Saturday fair, he wrote: “... it was a mind-blowing color - such a variety and play. No sketches, no fantasies will give anything like this - everything is so simple and beautiful. Alexander Benois was convinced that “the real Kustodiev is a Russian fair, “big-eyed” chintzes, a barbaric “fight of colors”, a Russian settlement and a Russian village, with their accordions, gingerbread, overdressed girls and dashing guys. In 1920, Kustodiev, commissioned by I. Brodsky, creates a series of "Rus": 26 watercolors, each of which tells about the life of ordinary Russian people to the smallest detail. A cab driver drinking tea in a tavern, a respectable merchant in a rich fur coat walking around the city, hurrying to fulfill a sexual order, a chest keeper reading a newspaper, a cheerful baker praising his goods - each becomes a unique part of the picture, which is assembled into one huge puzzle called "Rus".

Russian Venus

In a conversation about the artist, it is impossible not to recall the "Kustodian women" - the type of Russian beauties created by Boris Mikhailovich. He begins to write them in difficult times. Unbearable pains in the hands, which do not allow the master to work fully, force him to go to Switzerland, where he is diagnosed with bone tuberculosis. It was during a long and exhausting treatment, which actually did not bring results, that in 1912 Kustodiev began work on a gallery of unsurpassed female images. In 1915, the world saw "The Merchant" and "Beauty" - unique images of Russian beauty.

Facets of Talent

Painting, sculpture, scenography, book graphics, teaching - the original talent of the "hero of Russian painting" manifested itself in various fields. Scenography attracted Kustodiev as a student, but only in 1911, while undergoing treatment in Leysin, he created his first independent work for Ostrovsky's play "Hot Heart" staged by Fyodor Komissarzhevsky. The work was highly acclaimed. As one of the reviewers wrote, "the artist managed to clothe Kuroslepovshchina and Khlynovshchina in soft tones of stylish memories." In 1914, the artist created the scenery for the play "The Death of Pazukhin" based on the play by Saltykov-Shchedrin, and they are so expressive that twice more, in 1924 and 1938, the audience will see the production in Kustodiev's design.
The most famous works of Kustodiev as an illustrator are drawings for rare editions of Leskov's works The Darner (1922) and Lady Magbet of the Mtsensk District (1923), as well as the Nekrasov collection Six Poems (1922). For the first book, Kustodiev designed the cover, "title" and created 34 illustrations. The illustrations, made in the technique of zincography, are “inextricably and harmoniously” woven into the thread of the story: landscapes of the Moscow Zamoskvorechye alternate with event scenes marked by slight irony.

One day!

From 1905 to 1907, Kustodiev collaborated with a number of satirical publications: Zhupel, Infernal Post, Iskra. This is how the "Intro. 1905 Moscow" - a response to Bloody Sunday, a number of sharp cartoons, including a satire on Witte published in the second issue of "Zhupel". While working on it, Kustodiev snarled through his teeth: “Let's depict, depict ... Hypocritical and dodgy Count Witte ... you are famous for your ability to find a third way out when there are only two! .. Do you want to hold two flags at the same time - the royal tricolor and the revolutionary scarlet? Play for two? Please!..” The third issue of the magazine was not published. It was censored.
After the events of 1917, Kustodiev created several panels to decorate Petrograd for the celebration of the first anniversary of the October Revolution and embodies the severity of events on the covers of the Krasnaya Niva and Krasnaya Panorama magazines. In 1920, he painted the canvas “Bolshevik”, which is ambiguous in its interpretation - a huge giant with a distant look and a scarlet banner in his hands is moving towards the church. The feeling of spontaneity, loss of control and his fears of the death of traditions dear to his heart Kustodiev expresses in this work with his inherent skill. The authorities enthusiastically accept the "Bolshevik", "glorifying the new cause." Subsequent paintings, commissioned by the new government, will be distinguished by the absence of a sharp anguish and an abstract festive mood.

lust for life

The Berlin luminary of neurosurgery Oppenheim did not confirm the diagnosis made in Switzerland, believing that Kustodiev had a tumor of the spinal cord. Despite the successful operation, in 1915 the pain returned - the disease attacked with such cruelty that the master could not move independently. He will undergo another operation, but until his death he will remain chained to a wheelchair. Nevertheless, it was during this period that Kustodiev created his most striking works, filled with endless love of life and a whirlwind of emotions. On many of them there will be an unstoppable trinity, symbolizing movement - something that the artist was deprived of in life. The incessant attacks of his colleagues did not break Kustodiev: the futurists scolded him for indecision and unwillingness to “cut the umbilical cord” that connected him with Repin, the decadents defined his works as “hopelessly orthographic”, critics often recalled the “lubok” of the master’s canvases, and in the 1920s called "the last singer of the merchant-kulak environment." But until the last days he continued to sing of what was dear to his heart - the beauty and generosity of the Russian land.