Vrubel's history. Vrubel's masterpieces

“…Vrubel ideally expressed his thought; he was perfect by nature. There is some infallibility in everything he did."

(A.Ya.Golovin)

M.Vrubel. Panel "Judgment of Paris"

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel (1856-1910) is one of the most complex and controversial figures in Russian culture at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries.

He showed his skill in various forms. visual arts: painting, graphics, sculpture and architecture, trying to get closer to the masters of the Renaissance

Vrubel - at the origins of Russian symbolism and modernity

The artistic language of Vrubel was formed in the pictorial system of the Art Nouveau style, and was also based on the objectivity and tactile value of the form, borrowed by the artist from the tradition of Russian academic art, and in particular from his teacher P.P. Chistyakov.

In his work, two trends are combined and, based on this compound there is a semantic ambiguity of images. The symbol of the master is a sign with an infinite number of interpretations. The images he created are multifaceted, they are symbols that evoke numerous associations in the viewer.

painter through symbolic image creates an image of the world being. All the characters of the artist are multi-valued images-symbols that contain the author's understanding of the world, a reflection of the author's "I".

The main themes of the paintings of the artist Vrubel

religious theme

Works on a religious theme by Vrubel were most fully embodied in early period his activities. Then he was engaged in the restoration of murals in the Church of St. Cyril in Kiev (“Lamentation”), and subsequently creates sketches for the murals of the Vladimir Cathedral in Kiev (“Tombstone”, “Our Lady and Child”), which remained on paper.

The central theme of the master's work is the image of the Demon

This theme has become for the artist a whole world of complex experiences. For the first time this image attracted the attention of the artist when creating sketches for the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv, he painted it, but later destroyed this work.

M. Vrubel illustrations for "The Demon" by Lermontov

In 1890, the artist paints a pensive image of the "Seated Demon" - the first work created from the demonic cycle, which includes paintings, drawings and sculpture. Later, the master made the sculptural head of the "Demon", where the same image is shown more cruel.

In 1891, the artist took on illustrations for the poem "The Demon", which at that time no one else tried to illustrate.

M. Vrubel "Demon Defeated"

In 1898, he returns to the "demonic" theme, after much hesitation, he takes on the creation of the "Flying Demon", but, unfortunately, never finishes it. Takes on the image of the "Defeated Demon". The demon in this picture looks like a broken madness. After a long break, the artist returns to this cycle in 1904 and creates the painting "Azrael" (the demon of death).

fairy tale theme

M. Vrubel "The Swan Princess"

Quite a few important place in the work of Vrubel, the theme of fairy tale epic and Russian opera played. He creates numerous picturesque canvases, among which are the famous "The Swan Princess", the panel "Bogatyr", theatrical scenery for Rimsky-Korsakov's operas.

most latest topic the artist became the image of the "prophet", which began with illustrations for famous poem became the master's swan song, he worked on it until the end of his life, this theme was dedicated to the tragic mission of the creator. The artist called the last variation of this theme "The Vision of Ezekiel"

Vrubel as a universal master

The artist, as mentioned above, sought to leave a mark in all areas of fine art, like the artists of the Renaissance. The master tried himself in various genres: portrait ("Woman's head. E.L. Prakhova"), fantasy ("Seated Demon"), landscape ("Lilac Bush"), etc., working in various techniques.

He created:

• monumental and decorative panels (“Faust”),
• works of theatrical painting (scenery for "Sadko") and arts and crafts (revival of majolica),
• decorative sculpture (“Lion Mask”), etc.

Artistic means of Vrubel

M. Vrubel "The Virgin and Child"

The basis of the coloring of the painter is three colors:

• golden;
• purple (color of dawn)
• blue-lilac (color of night and sky).

This color combination is characteristic of his work.

The color scheme of the artist changes with a certain stage of his work. A mature master uses darker, richer, gloomier shades of his color scheme.

For example,

• at the strongest sketch for the painting of the Vladimir Cathedral "Tombstone Lament", created in the early period, color solution consists of light yellow, pink, sky tones;
• in the late-period "Demons", he uses brilliant golden, lilac and pearl hues.

M. Vrubel "Head of the Prophet"

At Vrubel coloristic solution always coincides with the figurative-symbolic and stylistically set tasks. The metaphorical nature of the color content of the picture is typical for the painting of this artist. A very narrow choice of colors and an incredible number of their combinations are used by the artist to create a personal symbolic system.

The master's anti-dynamic compositions are large images on a general background, there is no interaction between the objects of the work in them. Mosaic, faceted forms, erasing the boundaries of figures and objects, are also characteristic of Vrubel's paintings. The depth and space of the paintings are flat.

In the last works of the master, there is a tendency towards expressionism, his painting becomes more pessimistic, and the color becomes darker and gloomier, increasing the tension of the canvases. Although expression was characteristic of his paintings initially, in his early works he followed more romantic tendencies.

All my creative life the artist dedicated to the service of beauty. His motto was - "Truth in beauty."

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On March 17, 1856, the Russian artist Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel was born in Omsk, who worked in almost all types and genres of fine art: painting, graphics, decorative sculpture and theatrical art.

In the 1880s-1890s creative search Vrubel did not find the support of the Academy of Arts and art critics. Vrubel was made “their own” by artists and critics, who later united around the magazine “World of Art”, his works began to be constantly exhibited at the expositions of the World of Arts and Diaghilev retrospectives, and at the beginning of the 20th century, Vrubel’s painting became an organic part of Russian modernity. "For fame in the artistic field" November 28, 1905 he was awarded the title of academician of painting - just in time for the complete cessation of artistic activity.

Virgin and Child, 1884

Left: finished version. Right: Italian pencil sketch, 1884

The icon was created in 1884-1885 to decorate the single-tiered marble iconostasis of St. Cyril's Church in Kyiv. It was this work that made Vrubel known to the general public and served as a milestone in his subsequent career as an artist and decorator. Despite the fact that the image is made in accordance with all the canons of Orthodox iconography, critics note its expressiveness and unusualness.

Art critics, critics and artists unanimously recognized the success of not only the image of the Mother of God, but also other works performed by Vrubel in the St. Cyril's Church. So, for example, the famous collector P. M. Tretyakov praised this work of Vrubel, specially came to Kiev to see it and lamented that he could not purchase it for his collection, and the critic and gallery owner S. K. Makovsky believed that Vrubel’s debut work in Kirillovskaya church is "Vrubel's highest achievement", and emphasized that this achievement is "deeply national", rejecting Vrubel's accusations of "non-Russian (Polish) origin" and "aesthetic cosmopolitanism", and art historian and critic A. N. Benois also noted Vrubel's skill and emphasized that in comparison with the works of Vrubel in the St. Cyril's Church, the frescoes of V. M. Vasnetsov "seem to be superficial illustrations."

Girl in front of a Persian carpet, 1886

The painting depicts a teenage girl dressed in a pink satin dress against a Persian carpet, the girl's hands resting on a rose and a richly inlaid dagger, traditional emblems of love and death. On the girl's neck is a pearl necklace, her fingers are studded with rings.

By our time, the colors of the picture have darkened noticeably. Vrubel was often in a hurry to work and violated the technology, using retouch varnishes, which quickly dried the surface of the picture. The painting is currently exhibited in the collection of the Kyiv Museum of Russian Art.

Demon flying, 1899

This is an unfinished painting by Mikhail Vrubel, painted in 1899 and part of a series of illustrations for Mikhail Lermontov's poem "The Demon". He didn't finish the job for some unknown reason.

Downcast Demon, 1902

In 1900, Vrubel again turns to the theme of "The Demon". Before finishing the canvas “Flying Demon”, in 1901 the artist began to write preliminary sketches for the painting “Demon Defeated”. Vrubel was generally healthy, although others noted his irritability. Despite the mostly negative reviews of the critics of the time, his popularity among connoisseurs of painting grew.

The picture is made on canvas with oil. Its background is a mountainous area in a scarlet sunset. The composition emphasizes the constraint of the figure of the demon, as if sandwiched between the upper and lower crossbars of the frame. The picture was painted in individual style Vrubel with the effect of crystal facets, which makes his paintings more like stained-glass windows or panels. The artist achieved this effect with the help of flat strokes made with a palette knife.

Seated Demon, 1890

The demon is an image of the strength of the human spirit, internal struggle, doubts. Tragically clasping his hands, he sits with sad, huge eyes directed into the distance, surrounded by unprecedented flowers. The background of the picture is a mountainous area in a scarlet sunset. The composition emphasizes the constraint of the figure of the demon, as if sandwiched between the upper and lower crossbars of the frame.

In 1891, Vrubel wrote thirty illustrations for the anniversary edition of Lermontov's works, edited by Konchalovsky. Most of works related to Lermontov's poem "The Demon", which we have already mentioned above. The sketch of this painting was created in 1890 and is kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery.

Pan, 1899

The picture depicts Pan - a character of ancient Greek mythology. However, he is depicted against the background of a typical northern Russian landscape (plain, crooked birch, forest, river), which makes him related to the image of the goblin

The painting was painted in 1899, belongs to the so-called "Fairytale cycle" and is considered its pinnacle. Written during the stay of the artist and his wife in the estate of Princess Maria Tenisheva ( Khotylevo village, Oryol province). At first, Vrubel began to paint a portrait of his wife in the background forest landscape, however, did not finish it and in just a few days wrote on the same canvas new picture. The source of inspiration for Vrubel was the story of Anatole France "Saint Satyr".

Portrait of K. D. Artsybushev, 1897

About the portrait of Konstantin Dmitrievich Artsybushev, painted by Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel, we can say that this is a portrait of a Russian intellectual of the time of the formation of capitalism in Russia.

The hero of the portrait is a man of a new formation, a new industrial developing Russia, a country in which not only the nobility of origin, but also the mind, talent and active civil position. Therefore, the artistic means chosen by Vrubel are appropriate. Nothing outwardly conspicuous. Artsybushev sits at a table with spread out books in his office. Behind him is a bookcase with books and business papers. The red color of the butterfly of the graying Artsybushev and the slightly gathered carpet on the floor discharge the monotony of the gray-green shades of the picture. This is a traditional realistic portrait, the hero of which does not pose, but, on the contrary, is in a state of thought, in a comfortable position, in a comfortable and familiar environment. But this portrait would not have been Vrubel's if the image of Artsybushev had not felt an inner dynamic, like a twisted spring. A sharp tilt of the head, a broken turn of the shoulders, a gloomy look from under wide eyebrows - the thoughts of the hero are far from contemplative. During the creation of the portrait of Artsybushev, Vrubel had already come up with his "Demon".

Princess Dream, 1896

Vrubel's panel "Princess Dream" is called the most famous panel in Moscow. It was created on the plot of the drama in verses by Edmond Rostand "La Princesse lointaine", in the Russian translation by T. L. Shchepkina-Kupernik called "Princess Dream". The premiere of the play on the Russian stage took place in January 1896 in St. Petersburg. romantic story about the sublime desire for love and perfect beauty, the contemplation of which is achieved at the cost of death, was a resounding success with the public.

The picturesque panel is now exhibited in the Vrubel Hall in the Tretyakov Gallery.

The Swan Princess, 1900

The princess from Vrubel's canvas is mysterious and enigmatic, her face is sad. The Swan Princess is depicted against the background of twilight descending over the sea, a narrow strip of sunset on the horizon and a distant city (the backdrop was the scenery for the play - the city of Ledenets, made by the artist).

The painting is dedicated to the character of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" (based on Pushkin's novel). A.P. Ivanov spoke about this picture: “Isn’t it the Virgin-Resentment herself, which, according to the words of an ancient poem, “splashes her swan wings on the blue sea” before the days of great disasters?”, referring to the character from “The Tale of the Regiment Igor. Alexander Blok also loved this picture very much and always kept a reproduction of it in his office in Shakhmatovo. She inspired a large poem with the subtitle "Vrubel".

The first Russian symbolist Mikhail Vrubel had a special manner of performing his works of art, so that his paintings are difficult to confuse with the works of other artists. All who knew the artist and his friends noted the special temperament and peculiar character of the master, which was reflected in his wonderful works. Let's take a closer look at the work of the great Russian artist and present a gallery of the most famous paintings Mikhail Vrubel.

A little biography and features of creativity ...

Portrait of Vrubel

Vrubel Mikhail Alexandrovich was born in 1856 in the city of Omsk, and for 10 years little Misha showed artistic abilities, including drawing. Neither his relatives, nor he himself thought that he would become an artist, but already his first sketches and sketches testified to his great creative potential.

Over time, while studying at the Academy of Arts, Vrubel developed a special artistic style, as they say, his own handwriting. The fact that the demon became the main character of his works gave rise to many rumors that the artist sold his soul to the devil, and when a resident of the other world revealed his true face to the master, Mikhail Vrubel went blind and went crazy.

The artist traveled a lot, so let's imagine the moments of the master's insight and painting in time and space.

Kyiv period. 1880-1889

Over the five years of his life in Kyiv, the artist completed a huge amount of work, but most importantly, he was able to touch and absorb the origins of Russian painting.

On the choirs of St. Cyril's Church, which Vrubel himself painted, he depicted a monumental fresco "The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles." The master managed to accurately combine the origins of the Byzantine style of icon painting with his own portrait research.

To paint the figures of the apostles and the Mother of God, the artist used real prototypes people with whom he communicated during his life in Kyiv.

The icon, painted by Vrubel for the iconostasis of St. Cyril's Church, glorified the artist and became the starting point on his creative path.

According to experts, the icon was made according to all the canons of Christian iconography, but Vrubel brought portrait expressiveness and unusualness to it.

It was rumored that the master was secretly in love with the wife of his customer, the art critic Adrian Prakhov, and it was she, Emilia, and their youngest daughter who looked at the parishioners of the church from the icon.

There are many self-portraits in the artist's creative piggy bank, but this one, painted during his stay in Kyiv, most accurately conveys the character traits and aspirations of the master.

Graphics occupied a special place in creativity, and the self-portrait was made in this manner. Purposeful, but a little tense look, as it symbolizes that the artist is still in creative search, still looking for his own special manner of conveying reality on canvas and in sculpture.

Blurred contours also testify to the search of a young artist, but in the confidently applied pencil lines, the firm hand of the master is already felt.

Returning to Kyiv after a trip to Italy, Vrubel again plunged headlong into creativity, and one of the Kyiv entrepreneurs ordered him to paint a portrait of his daughter.

Vrubel, as always, thoroughly approached the matter, and completed the portrait in a manner that experts called "portrait-fantasy". And here the inconsistency of the artist's nature is in the hands of a girl beautiful roses and a sharp dagger nearby.

In the summer of 2018, Ukrposhta issued a stamp with a face value of 5 hryvnias, which depicts this painting by the painter and the signature: “Vrubel Mikhailo Oleksandrovych”.

Moscow. 1890-1902

It was in Moscow, under the influence of the work of Mikhail Lermontov, that the most famous picture.

Seated surrounded unusual colors, Demon, arms crossed, looks sadly into the distance. Working on illustrating the works of M. Lermontov, Vrubel managed to accurately convey the image literary hero. Incarnated in his Demon human features, internal contradictions, fortitude and constant doubt.

It seems that the image of the Demon, made on canvas, finally confirms that the doubting master has found his own special style.

For lovers underworld and travel - our stuff.

Vrubel lived in Russian culture and found inspiration in it. The painting "The Swan Princess" was written under the influence of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's opera based on the fairy tale by Alexander Pushkin.

The artist worked on the scenery for the production, and his first wife played the princess. Vrubel's image of the princess is sad and mysterious, and it contains great symbolism, and the work itself is a real gem of his creative collection.

The picture is far from the stage image, because Vrubel embodied in the picture all the duality of the swan essence - the desire for heaven, something bright, and the desire for dark waters sea ​​depths.

This is not a painting, but an illustration for the work of Mikhail Lermontov "The Demon". But in terms of artistic performance and transmission of images, this illustration occupies an important place in the artist's work.

Executed in black watercolor, the illustration conveys the whole tragedy of the Demon's meeting with Tamara, and in the mood of the picture, the artist's beginning illness is already visible.

In all illustrations, the Demon is in one unchanged pose, a “fallen angel”, firmly settled in the world of dark forces. But Tamara is always in different poses than the artist emphasized doubts about her choice - between heavenly and earthly.

Moving away from the image of the demon, Vrubel, with his inherent passion, began to write fairy tales.

This canvas is considered the most famous panel of the Russian capital, and the artist painted it based on the drama of Edmond Rostand. At this time, he painted two canvases that were to be exhibited at an industrial exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod. But the commission did not allow them to view.

Savva Morozov wanted to save the situation by exhibiting "Princess of the Dream" and "Mikula Selyaninovich" in his own pavilion, but the public hostilely accepted the pictures.

Mikhail Vrubel's unfinished painting was the painter's return to the theme of the Demon after an 8-year break.

The work itself is made in dark, gloomy colors. The demon is wearing a brown tunic tied with a belt. He soared over the mountains of the Caucasus and the river, but most of the details are not traced, so the final plan is not clear.

The demon flies, just as the artist himself wanted to take off, but in the manner and dark tones of the picture it is clear that Vrubel was already very ill. And the symbolism manifested itself in its incompleteness ...

In 1901, Nadezhda Zabela and Mikhail Vrubel had a son, who was named Savva. A physically strong and healthy boy had a defect - he had a cleft lip.

The painter blamed only himself for this, but, interrupting work on The Demon Downcast, he created a portrait of Savvushka. Looks at us from the picture child's face, but distorted by fright and a serious look.

The description of the painting is always accompanied by a note that the birth of a son with a "hare lip", and more - his sudden death in 1903, plunged the artist even more into depression.

Last works

The idea to write this plot was born in 1899, and the upheavals of life and a progressive illness finally confirmed the author in the correctness of the choice, and in 1902 Vrubel completed his canvas.

The beautiful background of the picture is Mountain landscape, flooded with the light of a scarlet setting sun, and in the foreground is the figure of a defeated demon. It is, as it were, sandwiched between the upper and lower edges of the picture, and cannot escape.

Exhibited in St. Petersburg at the World of Arts exhibition, the painting created a real sensation, and the early public watched the author rewrite his canvas.

The last large-scale work of the painter, created on the walls of the hospital by V.P. Serbian, became the pinnacle of his work.

This synthesis bright colors and expression fully revealed creative potential and the skill of a craftsman in painting. The look of Seraphim exudes confidence and hope, and the sword and lamp in the hands of an angel are bright symbols of the struggle of opposites.

This magnificent work of Vrubel is also known under other names - "Azrael", as well as "Angel with a sword and a censer".

This portrait appeared due to the fact that Vrubel, who had already completely lost touch with reality, was allowed to paint in short moments of enlightenment.

The Russian poet himself posed for the artist in the morning, and a little later the artist Valentin Serov came to the hospital ward and painted a portrait of Vrubel himself in the evenings.

And so it happened at one time from under the brush of two great Russian artists two portraits - the poet Valery Bryusov and the painter Mikhail Vrubel.

Interesting facts of the life of Mikhail Vrubel ...

• Vrubel started painting the image of the Demon while painting the St. Cyril's Church. This showed up controversial nature artist. Drawing bright images of angels on icons, he draws sketches of demons in the workshop.
• While working on the work, the artist often changed original intention. So in the painting "Pearl Shell" images of sea princesses appeared.
• Rather a sad fact, but mental anguish and life tragedies ultimately led Vrubel to a psychiatric hospital. He began his creative path with the painting of the St. Cyril's Church, standing on the territory of the hospital, in the hospital and ended his life.
• The painting "Demon Defeated" was already cheerful in the gallery, and the artist came and rewrote his defeated demon again.
• During his lifetime, he was not recognized as an artist, his work was laughed at. But one day his artist friends made a big exhibition of his paintings… Vrubel was recognized, but it was too late, he was already seriously ill by that time.
• On the evening before his death, Vrubel opened the window and, breathing in the frosty air, said, "Let's go to the Academy!" The next day, a memorial service began at the Academy of Arts to say goodbye to the artist, and funeral lamentation spread throughout the district.

Vrubel died in 1910, and scientists and art historians are still arguing about his place in Russian and world art. But one thing is clear - Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel, like a comet, swept through life, leaving his unique and bright mark on the sky of Russian and world culture.

Surrounded by people, he remained alone all his life, having made his way from a hermit-alchemist to a prophet, with his creativity far ahead of his time, predicting in his paintings some events of his own life.

How artist Vrubel formed rapidly. He came to art as an adult, an educated person. Mikhail Vrubel had neither students nor followers who made up the school. during his lifetime, he won success, but by this time the artist was already hopelessly ill, and he did not need honors. Follow him to for a long time the idea was strengthened as a strange and unbalanced person. It was important for Vrubel to live by creativity, and not to create art. He surprised his friends with ridiculous - from their point of view - antics: he could, in a state of imbalance, record a beautiful picture, on which he had worked long and hard before, with a meaningless image of a circus rider; in a fit of anger, he tore up beautiful watercolor sheets, threw out magnificent sketches. He valued not so much the result as the creative work itself, the process, the moment of artistic insight. Widely educated, knowing several European languages, always neatly and even smartly dressed, polite and tactful, although sometimes able to look down on his interlocutor, Vrubel lived in poverty almost all his life, sometimes remaining with five kopecks in his pocket or barely making a living with a small remuneration, received for drawing lessons. He painfully felt injustice, but he did not specifically seek success, he was not interested in artistic affairs, he did not even go to exhibitions. But at the same time, wounded pride sometimes forced him to quit hurtful words in the face of their artist friends, who forgave their friend, interpreting his words as the quirks of a sick genius. From his life, Vrubel himself created a legend. This is a trait inherent in the romantic personality. He longed for accomplishments strong impressions, big events. inner life, full of conflicts, shocks, as if shaking his outer life. Circles, diverging from his inner tension, reached not only all the ordinary circumstances of life, but penetrated into the flesh of each work. The artist's hand seemed to be driven by his inner pain, his spiritual struggle. The movement of the hand became a direct expression of spiritual movement.

In the very nature of Vrubel's art, in the system of his artistic thinking, one can find numerous manifestations of the romantic concept. artistic creativity. Vrubel was perhaps the first among the figures of Russian artistic culture who began the movement towards symbolism. IN late XIX V. art culture Russia was going through a period of formation of a new style (in Russia it was called "modern"). The language of painting in this style acquired a bright pronounced features decorativeness, a solid linear-structural basis, and besides this, he subordinated his discoveries not only to the image, but also to the transformation of nature. In Russia, Vrubel can be considered the founder of this style.

Together with Vrubel, Russian art established new type artist - universal artist. Vrubel painted paintings and large panels, painted the walls of the temple and made stained-glass windows, created illustrations and book signs, was engaged in theatrical decoration and applied arts, sculpture and architecture, even made sketches of scallops and paintings on balalaikas in Talashkino (the estate of Princess Tenisheva).

Demon's Head (painted plaster) (1890)

Head of a Libyan lion (high relief mask) (1892)

Sadko (sketch of a dish, majolica) (1899)

Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel (1856-1910) was born into a military family and spent his childhood in different cities- in Omsk, Astrakhan, St. Petersburg, Saratov, Odessa. After graduating first from a classical gymnasium, he studied for 5 years at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University and only then - in 1880 - entered the Academy of Arts. In his pre-academic years, an interest in art had already awakened in him, revealed in some drawings that testify to the unusual nature of his talent. At the Academy, happiness smiled at Vrubel - he fell into the field of view of P.P. Chistyakov, who brought up almost all the best painters of the last third of the 19th century. Meanwhile, Vrubel failed to graduate from the Academy. He was called by A.V. Prakhov, an art historian and archaeologist who at that time was in charge of the painting of the Vladimir Cathedral, to work in Kyiv as a muralist.

Five years (1884-1889) Vrubel spent in Kyiv, occasionally leaving there, in particular to Italy. In Kyiv, Vrubel clearly manifests himself in the monumental and easel painting and in graphics. Even then, his figurative and pictorial system takes shape, even then he discovers in himself a craving for symbolic categories, and in his art he fetters the principle of a new style.

During his academic years, the artist’s work naturally divided into two lines - one led to academic traditional images (for example, “Feasting Romans”), and the other stimulated independent creativity: he painted portraits of acquaintances in watercolor, wrote a watercolor composition in his own workshop (he shared it with his friends Serov and Derviz). Then he began to paint a picture, which he did not finish (“Hamlet and Ophelia”) and returned to the plot of which five years later.

Self portrait (1882)

Feasting Romans (1883)

Hamlet and Ophelia (1884)

These experiments did not bring great success. But in those years, Vrubel's artistic position was being developed. Together with friends, he first experienced the influence of Repin, used his advice. But his creative temperament did not allow him to remain within the framework of the creative attitudes characteristic of the senior Wanderers. In serious, thoughtful watercolor work on portraits and compositions, Vrubel was looking for what he called "love conversation with nature." This position opened a new path for the artist.

This new way began to give real fruits while working in the St. Cyril's Church in Kyiv, where Vrubel had to renew the old freon paintings of the 12th century. and places to create new compositions; the artist met one on one with the huge surfaces of walls and ceilings. He reproduced main stage his painting "The Descent of the Holy Spirit" on the vault of the choir without cardboard, according to a small sketch, acting as old master, no one knows where, gaining the confidence and strength of a Renaissance artist. Vrubel was concerned at that time with the Byzantine style; he saw its main feature in observing the plane on which the image is applied, therefore he attached particular importance to the pattern, the rhythm of the folds, and the general ornamentation of the surface. He sought to penetrate the essence of the old style, but at the same time modernized his heroes. The artist was best able to interpret the medieval heritage in the “Tomb Lament” scene, where soft rhythms and smooth lines became the main figurative means.

Virgin with Child. Cyril's Church. Kyiv (1885)

Descent of the Holy Spirit

The first monumental experience was to be followed by the second. In Kyiv, the construction of the large Vladimir Cathedral, which had to be painted, was nearing completion. For these murals are already invited experienced craftsmen— Viktor Vasnetsov and academic artists brothers Svedomsky and Notarbinsky. Vrubel, at the suggestion of Prakhov, also began working on sketches. But they turned out so unusual that they scared the customers. The only thing that was carried out from Vrubel's sketches was the projects of his ornaments, made up of elements of the organic world of flowers, leaves, birds, female faces. Vrubel's ornaments are extremely typical of the Art Nouveau style - curved lines, intertwining plant stems, scattered spangles of peacock feathers.

Resurrection. Sketch of the painting of the Vladimir Cathedral. Kyiv

Vrubel himself was very attentive to his ornaments, but he had much higher hopes for plot compositions. Most of all, he worked on two subjects - "Tombstone" and "Resurrection" (1887). The sketch “Tombstone Lamentation”, made in black watercolor, fixing the frozen, stopped movement of the Mother of God over the body of Christ, cleared of details, specific signs of space and time, this sketch embodies the eternal theme of death. The tragic feeling is released from overstrain. The figures seem to float in a vacuum. Their incorporeality is emphasized by the cold light that transforms the scene.

grave lament

Grave Lament (option)

Interest in the mystical light that transforms reality manifested itself in all of Vrubel's work in the 1980s. In Kyiv, the whole art system Vrubel. In graphic self-portraits of that time, in drawings depicting everyday scenes of real life, light acts as a means of dramatization. artistic image. Sometimes, as it seems, it has a real source, sometimes it pours out of nowhere, arbitrarily snatching objects or parts of figures.

Portrait of old woman Knorre knitting (1883)

Still life. Fabrics (1884)

Salieri pours poison into Mozart's glass (1884)

At the same time, Vrubel developed other means of transforming reality. He gravitates toward the ornamental structure of his works, which manifests itself both in painting and in graphics. One of the first full-fledged and completed paintings by Vrubel was "Girl against the backdrop of a Persian carpet" (1886). For the sake of the beauty of the ornamental beginning, Vrubel resorts to staging the scene. The model of the artist was the daughter of the owner of an antique shop. Vrubel was attracted by the variegation of the carpet, the brightness of the dress, the very atmosphere of the antique shop with its magical appeal of antiques.

Girl in front of a Persian carpet (1886)

Ornamentalism develops in its own way in graphics. Vrubel immediately began to draw in a peculiar way. His task included not only the image of an object or figure, but also the organization of the plane of the sheet, the reduction of these elements into a certain structure. The main achievement of this structure was the rhythmic repetition of certain graphic elements - parallel strokes, shaded planes, commas. At the same time, the ornament did not come into conflict with the subject image.

In the 80s. Vrubel did not often have to work on paintings made by oil paints, that is, in the technique in which he was to create most of his masterpieces in the future. But already, then, he had ideas for future software programs. paintings, even then these plans were formed painfully and difficultly. He works on the image of Christ, bears the image of the Demon for many years, takes up a picture about him, writes and remakes it repeatedly. Finally, at the end of the decade, he returns to Hamlet and Ophelia, making Hamlet the brother of his Demon, who has not yet taken place. With such thoughts, he enters the most significant decade of his work - in the 90s.

Hamlet and Ophelia (1888)

From 1889 to 1902 Vrubel's creativity is experiencing its highest flowering, the time of its maturity. It was this time that was released by fate in order for the artist's talent to fully unfold. In 1902, an illness came, and Vrubel had to move away from active creativity, although some of his graphic works reached high excellence. It was in the 90s. manifested the universalism of the artist. At the same time, the theme of the Demon was realized, which accompanied Vrubel almost all his life.

The first "Demon" was completed in 1890. It became central work artist, having collected in himself everything that has already been done before, and outlining the way forward. Vrubel positions his hero as an exponent of the demonic principle and at the same time emphasizes the complexity of his Demon - a spirit that combines male and female appearance. Vrubel's demonism is demonism in a softened form, beyond the extremes of individualism, with a touch of that universal suffering for people, which runs like a red thread through the whole of Russian culture XIX V. In this picture, Vrubel acts as a symbolist. The content of his symbol cannot be determined with exhaustive accuracy. It is extremely complex and multifaceted. It cannot be reduced to any specific categories - yearning or thirst for beauty, longing or rejection. The image cannot be exhausted, it remains open. "Demon" gives the viewer the opportunity to speculate, expanding the content of the image in his mind to infinity.

Demon Seated (1890)

This is the disappearance of a concrete singularity of an idea, attachment to a certain life fact determines the artist's attitude to the conditional image and artistic language. Vrubel refuses to directly perceive nature, from fixing the movement of the surrounding world - he is looking for something permanent, not subject to instant change. The demon froze in a pose of expectation and contemplation. This state of immobility can last for a long time. It seems to enter into the artist's intention, saves him from describing the specific conditions of space and time. Vrubel does not depict, but creates, builds, constructs. He places the figure in space in such a way that a balance is created in the picture between figure and environment, between foreground and depth. The powerful torso of the Demon, as if carved from solid material, is located in the middle. It separates equal parts from each other - huge unearthly flowers occupying the entire plane of the picture on the right, and the heavenly space that opens on the left - for Vrubel all parts of the world are homogeneous. The artist works with a broad stroke, often preferring a palette knife to a brush: the stroke turns into a color plane, the color spots lying on the surface are likened to mosaic stones. The general colorful structure does not correspond to the real state of nature, but to the state human soul: gray, purple, blue express melancholy, mental anguish.

Demon head

Demon head against the backdrop of mountains

Demon and angel with the soul of Tamara

Demon flying

Demon flying

Demon watching

Demon at the monastery gate

Demon at the walls of the monastery

Demon looking down the valley

Demon watching Tamara dance

Date of Tamara and Demon

Tamara in the coffin

Tamara and the Demon

Following the first pictorial "Demon" in 1891-1892. a series of drawings appeared for the works of Lermontov, and in particular for the poem "Demon". best drawings to the poem there were sheets "A horse rushes faster than a fallow deer" and one of the variants "Tamara in a coffin". In the latter, all the tenderness of the artist for the human being, his compassion, gathered. In the first drawing, made in watercolor, the swift running of a horse with a dead rider in the saddle is emphasized by all means. Running one after another: spots of watercolor, faceted shapes of figures cutting through the air, a whirlwind of strokes - such is the language of Vrubel in this drawing.

Illustration "Prince Gvidon and the Swan Princess" (1890s)

Illustration "Grigory Pechorin on the sofa" (Novel by M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time")

Illustration for M.Yu. Lermontov's poem "Izmail Bay"

Illustration "Pechorin's duel with Grushnitsky" (M.Yu. Lermontov's novel "A Hero of Our Time")

Illustration for M.Yu. Lermontov's poem "Journalist, reader and writer"

Illustration for M.Yu. Lermontov's poem "Mermaid" ("Mermaid sailed along the blue river, illuminated by the full moon...")

Demon Downcast (1902), Vrubel's last finished painting, completes his demoniana. The artist's hero dies - not in a senseless and cold struggle with life and death, but in an unequal struggle. This is not a fight between good and evil. This is a struggle with fate, which oppresses the individual, eventually killing him. The hero resists to the end. The image of his death is both a requiem and a kind of hymn to resistance. There is something solemn, uplifting in this hymn. Vrubel himself called his painting an icon. In The Demon Downcast, the principle of Art Nouveau style, which can be characterized as ornamentality, is quite definitely revealed. The viewer's eye moves along the surface of the picture (and not in depth), comprehending the rhythm of repetitive lines and spots, which is typical for a number of paintings and panels by the artist: for "Venice" (1893), in which the motif of a magnificent procession gives rise to comparison on the plane of heads , figures, luxurious attire, for "Bogatyr" (1898), where plant forms, figures of a hero and a horse are intertwined in a swirling rhythm, for panels dedicated to Faust (1896), where rhythms are organized by acute-angled forms, prickly and needle-like, for a number of graphic works . In The Demon Downcast, the real and the fantastic are combined, reality is overcome by the deformation of the figure. The defeated hero is bent, broken; his body is buried in fantastic feathers, resembling props rather than a living manifestation of nature. Next to this conditional world of broken beauty, there are absolutely real details of the landscape in the picture - the mountain peaks were painted by the artist from a photograph.

Demon Downcast (1902)

Demon Flying (1899)

Venice (Decorative panel) (1893)

Bogatyr (Decorative panel) (1898)

Flight of Faust and Mephistopheles (1896)

Fortuneteller (1895)

In other cases, the natural principle prevails, then the fantastic artist seeks out in the object itself - for example, in a prophetess who unravels the future of people (“The Fortune Teller” (1895). But the figurative structure still remains metaphorical. Like a web of time, this canvas is covered with a grayish-lilac veil, through which, like precious stones, shining inner light items.

Panel "Spain" (1894), it would seem, brings us closer to the everyday situation. But the artist does not dissolve the images in everyday life. On the contrary, he strains them. This tension also corresponds to the compositional logic of the picture, in which the pictorial plane struggles with a rapid movement in depth, expressed by an exaggerated reduction in the objects of the foreground.

Spain (1894)

Vrubel's works are illuminated by something extraordinary - even when the artist does not choose deliberately lofty motives and situations as his subject. The painting "Toward the Night" (1900) is an excellent example in this respect. The artist turns to the night scene, which is commonplace in the countryside. From this scene he extracts something mysterious, almost mystical. Beautiful thistle flowers are burning. They rock night landscape whimsical reflections. Cautiously and anxiously, the horses grazing nearby are shifting from one foot to the other. Vrubel animates nature, he endows flowers with will, giving them the ability to feel, to influence people with his bewitching magic.

By Night (1900)

Flowers were the artist's favorite subject: he peered intently at the complex structure of a flower, creating his pencil sketches. Flowers often appear in the paintings of the master. Sometimes these are “flowers of evil”, sometimes images of elements beyond human control. In the painting "Lilac" (1900), the viewer is especially acutely aware of the element of flowering, the growth of the bush, the smell coming from the flowers, intoxicating and tart. The mysterious figure of a girl, layer img style=div style=laquo;Defeated Demon p style=border=obviously fused with a lilac bush, reinforces the idea of ​​the fusion of the animate and the inanimate, the interweaving of the forms of both. From these interlacings, Vrubel's characters are born, quite typical of European symbolism and modernity - half-humans, half-animals, half-humans, half plants: The Swan Princess (1900), which came to the canvas from the Roman opera text-align: center;div style= 0text- align: center;o-Korsakova, two young women, as if growing out of a spiral "Pearl" (1904), "Bogatyr" with his huge horse growing out of the ground like grass and bushes. Everything here is subject to metamorphosis. One of the central paintings in which this trend manifested itself particularly consistently is Pan (1899). Turning the ancient pan into a Russian goblin, Vrubel depicts him with a forearm in his hand, as if growing out of the ground, sticking out like a mossy stump. His eyes glow like stars, balancing with their radiance the light pouring from the moon, half of whose sickle has already gone beyond the horizon.

The Swan Princess (1900)

Pearl (1904)

Even in the portrait, Vrubel subjects the model to all sorts of similes. The portrait of the wife of N.I. Zabela-Vrubel (1898), it would seem, is entirely built on the transfer of the first impression of nature. It is written in an easy, plein air way. But, creating the image of a woman, full of charm and beauty, the painter here likens her figure and head to some kind of flower, blooming its lush petals towards the sunlight.

Portrait of the artist N. I. Zabela-Vrubel, the artist’s wife, in the Empire summer dress, designed by the artist (1898)

Most often, when creating a portrait, Vrubel approached the model with an already pre-established idea, putting his own features into this model. This is felt in the portraits of 1897 - K.D. Artsybushev, S.I. Mamontov. in character latest artist emphasized demonism, restless passion. An interesting pictorial and plastic solution, with the help of which the artist embodied his ideas. He seemed to squeeze the figure of Mamontov into space, nailed it to the plane. Deliberately highlighting White spot shirt-fronts, the artist "placed" it on the tip of a triangle, thereby making it stagger and giving the composition an unstable, dynamic character. The alternation of light and shadow further enhanced this dynamic. Next to the portrait of Mamontov, you can put last work Vrubel - a graphic image of Valery Bryusov (1906), drawn with charcoal and sanguine. The image created by the artist vividly expresses the master's idea of ​​the poet as a prophet and bearer of truth. The portrait achieved extraordinary constructiveness of the drawing.

Portrait of K.D. Artsybushev (1897)

Portrait of Savva Mamontov (1897)

Portrait of T.S. Lubatovich as Carmen (1895)

Princess Volkhova (N.I. Zabela) (1897)

Lady in purple. Portrait of N.I. Zabela Vrubel (1900s)

Since 1903, Vrubel has been engaged only in graphics: it was impossible to paint in hospitals, and the short intervals between treatments also did not contribute to these studies. Later drawings are different genres. Through the window of the hospital, the artist painted landscapes. Sick, orderlies posed for him, and then there were portraits, sketches. Sometimes whole scenes turned out - playing chess, talking. Often the artist depicted the surrounding objects, and then still lifes appeared: a decanter, a glass, a sheet, a scarf, etc. Vrubel sees simple objects as a kind of animated flesh of things. It does not resort to any deformation objective world, the metaphor arises by itself. When looking at a crumpled sheet or a hanging dress, the forms of which are traced with incredible care, associations arise, the meaning of which goes far beyond the subject itself. One can feel the desire of the artist to comprehend the innermost essence of the simplest things, to know their original nature.

Bed (1903-1904)

Campanula (1904-1905)

At the same time, images of a different nature were also created in the graphics: Vrubel turns to the theme of the prophet. It begins with an attempt to make illustrations for the "Prophet" by A.S. Pushkin back in the 90s. Then this theme, as it were, is separated, acquiring independence. "Prophet" replaces "Demon".

One of the peaks of Vrubel's work is his later graphic self-portraits, made in 1904-1905. When there were no models, he painted himself. The whole program was concluded in these drawings. Self-portraits are not devoid of a certain amount of narcissism. But if you look closely, you will notice that each self-portrait contains a silent question or reproach, bewilderment in the face of insoluble problems. life problems, pain, hidden despair or courageous humility. All these feelings are hidden by some form of alienation. But one has only to penetrate into the depths of it, as a stunning document will be revealed before one's eyes. difficult fate and tragic end. In the later drawings of Vrubel, next to the structural elements, there are some signs of expressionism.

Walking on the Waters (Mural Painting Sketch) (1891)

Venice. Bridge of Sighs (1894)

Princess Dream (Decorative panel) (1896)

Six-winged seraph (1904)

As a true artist of the "new style", Vrubel constantly strived to embody beauty. He exalted everyday life - he did not find motives for his creativity in the everyday life of the familiar. Hence the denial household genre, to which the artist almost never turned, interest in the Demon and the Prophet, Faust and Hamlet. Among the "models" of the artist, we find beautiful, eternally valuable items - carpets, shells, magnificent dresses, rare flowers - azaleas or companula. The cult of beauty was a kind of religion for many people of that generation. The artist-creator reveled in this beauty, rising to the heights of creative ecstasy. And the fall from these peaks was fraught with despair, melancholy and melancholy. The life of the artist passed between these two extremes. Beauty was often ephemeral; the fall was sobering, but this sobriety made me want to soar even higher. At the end of his life, Vrubel reproached himself for transgressing the moral boundary somewhere. But in itself this reproach was a witness to the true morality of the artist.

In Omsk.

His father was a combat officer, a participant in the Crimean campaign, who later became a military lawyer. Vrubel's ancestors on his father's side came from Prussian Poland. Vrubel's mother died when the boy was three years old, and when he was seven years old, his father remarried a pianist with a good school.

Because of his father's service, the Vrubel family constantly moved, living alternately in Omsk, Astrakhan, St. Petersburg, Saratov, Odessa, and again in St. Petersburg.

In 1874, Mikhail Vrubel, after graduating from the gymnasium, entered the Faculty of Law Petersburg University, at the same time attended evening classes at the Academy of Arts.

In 1879, Vrubel graduated from the university with a gold medal, after which he served his military service, receiving the rank of reserve scorer. In the autumn of 1880 he was enrolled as a volunteer at the Academy of Arts. Among academic drawings Vrubel's watercolors "The Betrothal of Mary to Joseph" (1881) and "The Model in the Renaissance" (1883) stand out.

In 1884, Mikhail Vrubel left the academy and, at the suggestion of the famous art critic Adrian Prakhov, left for Kyiv to participate in the restoration of the ancient murals of St. Cyril's Church.

To paint the iconostasis, Vrubel traveled to Venice (1884-1885). With no prior experience in monumental genre, the artist created for the St. Cyril's Church the compositions "The Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles" in the choirs and "Lamentation" in the niche of the vestibule, images of the prophet Moses and "Angels with labarums" (three angels over the body of Christ), the iconostasis (images of Christ, the Mother of God with baby, Saints Cyril and Athanasius of Alexandria). Vrubel also added, imitating a mosaic, one of the angels in the dome Sophia Cathedral, performed ornaments on the pillars of the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv. Vrubel's sketches for the Vladimir Cathedral (variations of the plots "Tombstone" and "Resurrection") were not implemented.

In 1889, the artist moved to Moscow, where he became close to the famous philanthropist Savva Mamontov and became a member of the Abramtsevo art circle. During this period, Vrubel created the panel "Venice" (1893), the easel works "Spain" (circa 1894) and "The Fortune Teller" (1895). He participated in the design of the composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's operas Sadko (1897), The Tsar's Bride (1899), The Tale of Tsar Saltan (1900), staged at Savva Mamontov's Moscow Private Russian Opera. He created sketches of architectural details and majolica sculptures for the Abramtsevo ceramic workshop - "Egyptianka", "Mizgir", "Kupava" (1899‒1900). Vrubel also acted as an architect in the design of the facade of Savva Mamontov's house on Sadovo-Spasskaya Street in Moscow (1891).

One of the main themes of the artist's work was the theme of the Demon, begun by "The Demon Seated" (1890), continued by illustrations for poem of the same name Mikhail Lermontov and ending with "The Downcast Demon" (1902).

Vrubel also worked as an illustrator of the works of Alexander Pushkin, William Shakespeare, Edmond Rostand, Johann Goethe, Anatole France, Russian epic epic and ancient mythology.

Vrubel's works were exhibited at the exhibitions of the associations "World of Art" (1898-1903) and "Union of Russian Artists" (1903-1910).

Since 1902, Mikhail Vrubel suffered from mental illness and was treated in psychiatric clinics. During periods of remission, he created a number of paintings and drawings from nature - "Tree near the fence" (1903‒1904), portrait of Fyodor Usoltsev (1904), "After the concert. Portrait of N.I. Zabela-Vrubel" (1905), portrait of the poet Valery Bryusov (1906) and others.

In 1905-1906, Vrubel created watercolor sketches of "The Head of John the Baptist", "John the Baptist" and the last work - "The Vision of the Prophet Ezekiel".

In November 1905, the artist was awarded the title of academician.

In 1906, Vrubel completely lost his sight. Last years spent his life in the clinic of Dr. Bari on Vasilyevsky Island in St. Petersburg.

On April 14 (April 1, old style), 1910, Mikhail Vrubel died. He was buried in the cemetery of the Novodevichy Convent in St. Petersburg.

In 1995, the name of the artist was given to Omsk state museum fine arts.

He was married to the singer Nadezhda Zabela (1868-1913). In 1901, their son Savva was born, who died in 1903 from lobar pneumonia.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources