Kramskoy Ivan Nikolaevich (1837-1887)

Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy (1837 - 1887), Russian artist, critic and art theorist. Born in Ostrogozhsk (Voronezh province) May 27, 1837 in a poor bourgeois family.

From childhood he was fond of art and literature. He was self-taught in drawing since childhood, then, on the advice of a drawing lover, he began to work in watercolor. After graduating from the district school (1850), he served as a scribe, then as a retoucher for a photographer, with whom he wandered around Russia.

In 1857 he ended up in St. Petersburg, worked in the photo studio of A. I. Denier. In the autumn of the same year he entered the Academy of Arts, was a student of A. T. Markov. For the painting “Moses exudes water from a rock” (1863) he received a Small Gold Medal.

During the years of teaching, he rallied around himself the advanced academic youth. He led the protest of the graduates of the Academy (“rebellion of fourteen”), who refused to paint pictures (“programs”) based on the mythological plot set by the Council. The young artists petitioned the council of the academy to be allowed to choose a theme for each painting for a large gold medal. The Academy reacted unfavorably to the proposed innovation. One of the professors of the academy, the architect Ton, even described the attempt of young artists in this way: “in the past, you would have been given to the soldiers for this,” as a result of which 14 young artists, headed by Kramskoy, refused to write in 1863 on the topic set by the academy - “ Feast in Valhalla” and left the academy.

The artists who left the Academy united in the St. Petersburg artel. The atmosphere of mutual assistance, cooperation and deep spiritual interests that reigned here is largely due to Kramskoy. In his articles and extensive correspondence (with I. E. Repin, V. V. Stasov, A. S. Suvorin and others) he defended the idea of ​​“tendentious” art, not only reflecting, but also morally transforming the inert, false world.

At this time, the vocation of Kramskoy as a portrait painter was also completely determined. Then he most often resorted to his favorite graphic technique using white, Italian pencil, he also worked using the so-called “wet sauce” method, which made it possible to imitate a photograph. Kramskoy had a painting technique - a subtle finish, which some sometimes considered superfluous or excessive. Nevertheless, Kramskoy wrote quickly and confidently: in a few hours the portrait acquired a similarity: in this respect, the portrait of Dr. Rauchfuss, Kramskoy's last dying work, is remarkable. This portrait was painted in one morning, but remained unfinished, since Kramskoy died while working on this picture.

"Portrait of Princess Ekaterina Alekseevna Vasilchikova"

The portraits created at this time were mostly commissioned, made for the sake of earning money. The portraits of artists A. I. Morozov (1868), I. I. Shishkin (1869), G. G. Myasoedov (1861), P. P. Chistyakov (1861), N. A. Koshelev (1866) are well known. The nature of Kramskoy's pictorial portrait is meticulous in drawing and light and shade modeling, but restrained in color. The artistic language corresponded to the image of a raznochint-democrat, who was a frequent hero of the master's portraits. These are the "Self-portrait" of the artist (1867) and "Portrait of the agronomist Vyunnikov" (1868). In 1863-1868 Kramskoy taught at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists.

"Portrait of an old peasant"

However, over time, Artel began to gradually deviate in its activities from the high moral principles declared at its inception, and Kramskoy left it, carried away by a new idea - the creation of a partnership of traveling art exhibitions. He took part in the development of the charter of the "Partnership" and immediately became not only one of the most active and authoritative members of the board, but also the ideologist of the Partnership, defending and substantiating the main positions. From other leaders of the Association, he was favorably distinguished by his independence of outlook, a rare breadth of views, sensitivity to everything new in the artistic process and intolerance to any dogmatism.

"Portrait of Sofia Ivanovna Kramskoy"

At the first exhibition of the Association, “Portrait of F. A. Vasiliev” and “Portrait of M. M. Antokolsky” were exhibited. A year later, the picture “Christ in the Desert” was shown, the idea of ​​which was nurtured for several years. According to Kramskoy, “for the former artists, too, the Bible, the Gospel and mythology served only as a pretext for expressing completely contemporary passions and thoughts.” He himself, like Ge and Polenov, in the image of Christ expressed the ideal of a man full of high spiritual thoughts, preparing himself for self-sacrifice. The artist managed to speak convincingly here about the problem of moral choice, which is very important for the Russian intelligentsia, which confronts everyone who understands their responsibility for the fate of the world, and this rather modest painting went down in the history of Russian art.

"Portrait of Empress Maria Feodorovna"

The artist repeatedly returned to the theme of Christ. The work on the originally conceived large painting “Laughter (“Hail, King of the Jews”)” (1877 - 1882), depicting the mockery of the crowd over Jesus Christ, ended in defeat. The artist selflessly worked on it for ten or twelve hours a day, but never finished, he soberly assessed his impotence. Collecting material for her, Kramskoy visited Italy (1876). He traveled to Europe in subsequent years.

"Bouquet of flowers. Phloxes»

"Portrait of Sonya Kramskoy, the artist's daughter"

"Forest path"

Poet Apollon Nikolaevich Maikov. 1883.

"Portrait of the singer Elizaveta Andreevna Lavrovskaya, on the stage in the Nobility Assembly"

"Portrait of the artist N.A. Koshelev"

"Portrait of the artist Fyodor Alexandrovich Vasiliev"

"Artist's Family"

"Russian monk in contemplation"

"Laughter. "Hail, King of the Jews"

"Contemplator"

Christ in the wilderness.1872

"Sleepwalker"

Mermaids. (May night) 1871

“For reading. Portrait of Sofia Nikolaevna Kramskoy»

"Peasant with a bridle. Mina Moiseev"

"Empress Maria Feodorovna, wife of Emperor Alexander III"

"Miller"

"Moonlight night"

"Girl with a loose braid"

"Female portrait"

"Female portrait"

"Female portrait"

"Female portrait"

"Girl in a deep shawl"

"Prayer of Moses after the crossing of the Israelites through the Black Sea"

"Portrait of Nikolai Kramskoy, the artist's son"

"Portrait of Alexander III"

Portrait of Sergei Kramskoy, the artist's son. 1883

Portrait of Olga Afanasyevna Raftopulo. 1884

Inconsolable grief. 1884

Insulted Jewish boy. 1874

Unknown. 1883

Portrait of Varvara Kirillovna Lemokh as a child. 1882

"Portrait of the artist Ilya Efimovich Repin"

"Portrait of the Ukrainian writer and artist Taras Grigoryevich Shevchenko"

"Portrait of the actor Vasily Vasilyevich Samoilov"

"Portrait of P.A. Valuev"

"Female portrait"

"Self-portrait"

"Portrait of the artist Shishkin"

"Portrait of a lady"

"Portrait of the astronomer O.V. Struve, director of the Pulkovo Observatory"

"Portrait of P.I. Melnikov"

"Beekeeper"

“N.A. Koshelev. Music lesson"

Kramskoy, painting a portrait of his daughter, Sophia Ivanovna Kramskoy, married Juncker. 1884

Female portrait. 1884

Actor Alexander Pavlovich Lensky as Petruchio in Shakespeare's comedy The Taming of the Shrew. 1883

Original entry and comments on

Kramskoy's paintings and the artist's biography

Self-portrait. 1867

Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy(1837-1887) - an outstanding artist of the second half of the 19th century, occupies one of the leading places in the history of Russian artistic culture. Having matured early, thoughtful and well-read, he quickly gained authority among his comrades and, naturally, became one of the leaders of the "rebellion of fourteen" in 1863, when a group of graduates refused to paint graduation pictures on a given mythological plot. After the rebels left the Academy of Arts, it was Kramskoy who headed the Artel of Artists, created on his initiative. Kramskoy is one of the main founders of the Wanderers association, a subtle art critic, passionately interested in the fate of Russian art, he was the ideologist of a whole generation of realist artists. He took part in the development of the charter of the Partnership and immediately became not only one of the most active and authoritative members of the board, but also the ideologist of the Partnership, who defended and substantiated the main positions. From other leaders of the Association, he was favorably distinguished by his independence of outlook, a rare breadth of views, sensitivity to everything new in the artistic process and intolerance to any dogmatism.

Biography of Kramskoy

The work of Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy coincided with the brightest period in the history of Russian realistic art, when critical realism in painting and literature reaches its highest level and becomes of great importance in the world culture of the 19th century. However, the role of the artist in the history of Russian art is not limited to his personal work: with his gift as a teacher, ideologist of a new direction, with all his social activities, Kramskoy had a huge impact on the minds of his contemporaries.

Kramskoy was born in the city of Ostrogozhsk, Voronezh province. The future artist's early interest in art turned over time into a persistent attraction to creativity. The young Kramskoy worked for some time as a retoucher for the photographer Danilevsky and, as an assistant, endlessly wanders around the provincial cities of Russia. Finally, once in St. Petersburg, he fulfills his dream - he enters the Academy of Arts. However, the bright hopes of familiarizing with the secrets of great art were not destined to be realized, since at that time the main principles of academic teaching remained the ideas of classicism that had already outlived themselves, and did not correspond at all to the new time. Advanced social circles set before the artists the task of being a broad and truthful father of living reality. The appearance at that time of N. G. Chernyshevsky’s dissertation “The Aesthetic Relationship of Art to Reality” gave special weight to the issues of art. In the autumn of 1863, fourteen academicians were offered a “program” on a theme from the Scandinavian sagas “Feast in Valhalla”. Young artists refused to write on this topic and left the Academy. The break with the Academy was led by Kramskoy. This decisive step threatened the former students with political distrust from the state and material need, and therefore required great courage. Having led this movement, Kramskoy assumed responsibility for the future fate of Russian art. For the purpose of mutual assistance and material support, the Artel of Artists was created, which later became the base of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions. A public figure by vocation, Kramskoy becomes one of the most active members of this organization. One of the main objectives of the Partnership was the development of democratic art, not only in the form of organization, but also in the ideological direction. In the Russian Wandering movement, democratic realism, as a phenomenon of world art, reached high peaks. The first traveling exhibition was opened on November 21, 1871 in the building of the Academy of Arts. In the spring of 1872, she was transported to Moscow, and then to Kyiv. Unlike academic exhibitions, traveling exhibitions "moved" from city to city, everywhere arousing keen interest in themselves. Thus began the activity of this public organization, which for a number of decades united all the leading artists of Russia.

At the first traveling exhibition, Kramskoy participated in a large painting "Mermaids" based on the plot of N.V. Gogol's story "May Night". Here the artist was attracted by the opportunity to convey the moonlight in the language of painting, so poetically changing everything around. Kramskoy wrote: “I am glad that with such a plot I didn’t finally break my neck, and if I didn’t catch the moon, something fantastic came out.”

For the next exhibition of the Wanderers, Kramskoy paints the painting “Christ in the Desert” (1872), which was conceived as the first in a series (and never realized) of paintings on gospel stories. The artist wrote that his task was to show the inner struggle of a person immersed in deep thoughts about choosing a life path. The painting "Christ in the Wilderness" was perceived by contemporaries as a symbol of a person of high civic duty.

In the summer of 1873, Kramskoy and his family settled in the Tula province, not far from the estate of Leo Tolstoy. Taking advantage of this neighborhood, Kramskoy paints a portrait of Tolstoy. The strength and solidity of the personality, a clear and energetic mind - this is how the writer appears in this portrait. From the whole gallery of portraits of L. N. Tolstoy, written by N. N. Ge, I. E. Repin, L. O. Pasternak, the portrait of Kramskoy is one of the best. In turn, the artist himself served as a prototype for the artist Mikhailov in the novel Anna Karenina. Almost at the same time, portraits of I. I. Shishkin and N. A. Ne-krasov were created. The portrait of “Nekrasov from the period of the Last Songs” (1877) was painted at a time when Nekrasov was already seriously ill, so the sessions lasted 10-15 minutes. The strongest impression from the portrait is the contrast between the clarity of mind, creative inspiration and the physical weakness of the dying poet.

Among the works of Kramskoy there are a number of poetic female images, such as "Girl with a loose braid" or the famous "Stranger", which was said to be the prototype of Anna Karenina. Back in 1874, the artist created a whole series of peasant types, the most powerful in character among them - "Woodsman" (1874).

In the 80s, Kramskoy painted the painting “Inconsolable Grief”, which is largely autobiographical: the artist survived the death of two children. Kai and in "The Widow" by Fedotov, the theme of human grief sounds mournful here. The face and the very image of the mother who lost her child are striking.

This woman, killed by an irreparable misfortune, exists, as it were, outside of time, it seems to have stopped. Since 1883, the artist's health has deteriorated, and Kramskoy's last years were extremely difficult. Constant household chores and work on orders do not allow him to finish work on the painting "Laughter" ("Christ before the people"), the idea of ​​​​which involved the development of the theme "Christ in the Desert", the theme of the sacrificial fate of man.

On March 25, 1887, while working on a portrait of Dr. Rauchfus, Kramskoy died unexpectedly.

It is difficult to overestimate the importance of Kramskoy's artistic and literary heritage for Russian culture. The main ideological orientation of his artistic activity is a deep interest in the knowledge of a person of his era, whether the artist portrayed him in the guise of a gospel legend or in the guise of his contemporary. Social activities of Kramskoy, his work became a school for a whole generation of Russian artists.

Self-portrait. 1874.

Christ in the wilderness. 180 x 210 cm. 1872

Mermaids. 1871

ON THE. Nekrasov in the period of the Last Songs. 1877-1878

Prayer of Moses after the passage of the Israelites through the Black Sea. 1861

Herodias. 1884-1886

For reading. Portrait of Sophia Nikolaevna Kramskoy, the artist's wife. 1866-1869

Female portrait. 1884

Female portrait. 1867

A girl with a loose braid. 1873

A girl with linen on a yoke among the grass. 1874

Peasant's head. 1874

Convalescent. 1885

Bouquet of flowers. Phloxes. 1884

Actor Alexander Pavlovich Lensky as Petruchio in Shakespeare's comedy The Taming of the Shrew. 1883

Portrait of Vera Nikolaevna Tretyakova. 1879

Portrait of Vera Nikolaevna Tretyakova. 1876

Portrait of Anatoly Ivanovich Kramskoy, the artist's son. 1882

Portrait of Adrian Viktorovich Prakhov, art historian and art critic. 1879

Portrait of the artist Mikhail Klodt. 1872

Portrait of the artist K.A.Savitsky.

Portrait of the artist I.K. Aivazovsky

Portrait of the artist I. E. Repin

Portrait of the artist Grigory Myasoedov

Portrait of the artist Alexei Bogolyubov. 1869

Portrait of the philosopher Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov. 1885

Portrait of Sophia Ivanovna Kramskoy, the artist's daughter. 1882

Portrait of the sculptor Mark Matveyevich Antokolsky. 1876

Portrait of the poet Yakov Petrovich Polonsky. 1875

Portrait of the poet Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov. 1877

Portrait of the poet and artist Taras Grigoryevich Shevchenko. 1871

Portrait of the writer Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov. 1878

Portrait of the writer Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov (N. Shchedrin). 1879

Portrait of the writer Leo Tolstoy. 1873

Portrait of the writer Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov. 1874

Portrait of the writer Dmitry Vasilyevich Grigorovich. 1876

Portrait of the singer Elizaveta Andreevna Lavrovskaya, on the stage in the Nobility Assembly. 1879

Portrait of Nikolai Ivanovich Kramskoy, the artist's son. 1882

Portrait of Empress Maria Feodorovna

Portrait of the publisher and publicist Alexei Sergeevich Suvorin. 1881

Portrait of I.I. Shishkin. 1880

Portrait of the artist Ivan Shishkin. 1873

Laughter (Hail, king of the Jews). Late 1870s - 1880s

Poet Apollon Nikolaevich Maikov. 1883

Portrait of the artist F.A.Vasiliev. 1871

Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy, an artist of the second half of the 19th century, entered the history of Russian painting as the founder of the realistic trend in art. He actively developed the principle of critical realism in his work, as well as in articles devoted to the theory of art. Many of his canvases are recognized as classics of Russian painting. The author was a master of portraiture, historical and genre scenes.

short biography

Kramskoy, an artist famous for his realistic paintings, was born in 1837 into a bourgeois family. He graduated from the Ostrogorzhsk real school, but due to the poverty of his family, he could not continue his education at the gymnasium. While working in the local Duma, he became interested in photo retouching. Soon M. Tulinov became his teacher, who taught him the basics of painting. A few years later, Kramskoy, the artist best known for his portraits, moved to St. Petersburg, where he began a fruitful creative career that continued until his sudden death in 1887.

Studying at the academy

In 1857 he became a student of Academician A. Markov, who specialized in historical painting. During his studies, he received several medals both for his own paintings and for copies of paintings by other painters on religious themes. The future famous painter received his small gold medal for a painting dedicated to a biblical story.

To receive the title of an artist with the right to receive a state pension, one had to submit to the competition a work dedicated to a scene from the Scandinavian sagas. However, Kramskoy, an artist who strove for a realistic depiction of events and freedom of creativity, together with thirteen other students, turned to the academy administration with a request to remove them from the competition, justifying their desire by saying that they want to write on topics that they themselves would prefer. After that, the young painters founded their own artistic artel, which, however, did not last long, since its members very soon decided to switch to state support.

Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions

Which already in the early period of his work became a landmark event in the cultural life of the empire, became one of the organizers and ideological inspirers of this organization. Its members defended the principles of realism in art, the active social and civil position of artists. In his work, the author defended the principles of realism. He believed that the pictures should not only be believable, but also carry a moral and educational meaning. Therefore, his works are imbued with a special drama.

In the 1870s, the author creates a number of remarkable portraits of his famous contemporaries: he paints images of Tolstoy, Nekrasov, Shishkin, Tretyakov and others. In this series, a special place is occupied by the portrait of the artist Kramskoy, created by himself in 1867. This canvas is distinguished by a high degree of realism, like the rest of his works of this period.

Portrait of N. Nekrasov

Such, for example, is the well-known work of the artist “Nekrasov during the “Last Songs” period” of 1877-1878. In this picture, the artist set out to show the famous poet at work in the last period of his life. In general, the theme of a person’s emotional experiences, his struggle with death or some kind of shock played a big role in the artist’s work. In the works of the master, this theme did not have a social connotation, as in the works of other painters. He always showed the struggle of the spirit with the disease and was most able to convey this idea in this picture.

Women's portraits

Perhaps the most famous work of the master is the painting "The Stranger". The artist Kramskoy focused on the beauty of his model. He emphasized that she was an urban fashionista, and therefore prescribed her appearance with great care: a rich fur coat, flirty headdress, magnificent jewelry and fabrics.

It is significant that the background on this canvas plays a secondary role: it is presented in a haze, as the author concentrates all his attention on an elegant young woman. The artist Ivan Kramskoy was especially fond of painting portraits. The paintings of the author differ in different moods.

If the woman in the above picture is depicted in a proud, confident pose, then the model on the canvas “Girl with a Loose Braid”, on the contrary, is shown in a difficult, even painful moment, when she seemed to have renounced everything around her and was completely immersed in herself. Therefore, her face, in contrast to the appearance of a stranger, expresses deep concentrated thoughtfulness, sadness and light sadness.

"Inconsolable grief"

This painting was painted in 1884 under the impression of the personal grief of the artist, who lost his son. Therefore, in the image of a woman depicted in a mourning dress, the features of the author's wife are guessed.

This canvas differs from other works of the author by the hopelessness with which it is imbued. In the center of the canvas is a middle-aged woman in a black dress. She is standing next to a box full of flowers. Her grief is expressed not in a pose that is quite natural and even free, but in the eyes and the movement of the hand with which she presses the handkerchief to her mouth. This canvas is perhaps one of the most powerful in the work of the artist and Russian painting in general.

Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy (1837-1887) - artist.

Becoming in 1863 the leader of students competing for a gold medal, who refused to paint a picture based on a given biblical story and left the Academy in protest, Ivan Kramskoy first headed the Artel of Artists, and then the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions.

The first exhibition of the Association was opened in St. Petersburg in 1871 by I.N. Kramskoy participated in it with the painting "Mermaids" based on the plot of the story by N.V. Gogol "May night".

“I became a portrait painter out of necessity,” wrote Kramskoy about himself. In the 1870s he made portraits of writers and artists, most of which were commissioned by Pavel Tretyakov. Dozens more orders followed.

It seemed that it was possible to live comfortably. But I wanted to have a family home. During construction, Kramskoy learned that he was seriously ill. I had to get into debt, with which he managed to pay off three months before his death.

I.N. Kramskoy was the first teacher of I.E. Repin. First - at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists, and then - at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts.

Biography of Kramskoy

Ivan Kramskoy. Self-portrait 1867

Ivan Kramskoy. Self-portrait 1874

Kramskoy painting a portrait of his daughter Sophia. Self-portrait 1884

• 1837. May 27 (June 8) - in the city of Ostrogozhsk, Voronezh province, son Ivan was born in the family of the clerk Nikolai Kramskoy.
• 1849. Ivan Kramskoy graduated from the Ostrogozhsk district school with a certificate of merit. Father's death. Kramskoy was accepted as a clerk in the city duma, where his father worked. Later, until the age of 16, Kramskoy served as an intermediary for amicable land surveying.
• 1852. At the age of fifteen, Kramskoy entered the Ostrogozhsk icon painter as an apprentice and spent about a year in his workshop.
• 1853. Ivan Kramskoy took up photo retouching. M.B. Tulinov, a fellow countryman of Kramskoy, taught him to "finish photographic portraits with watercolors and retouching." Acquaintance with the Kharkov photographer Yakov Petrovich Danilevsky, who arrived in the town to shoot military exercises. With him, Kramskoy toured half of Russia as a retoucher and watercolorist.
• 1856. Arrival in St. Petersburg. Work as a retoucher in Aleksandrovsky's photo studio.
• 1857. Kramskoy successfully passed the exams at the Academy of Arts and became a student of Professor A.T. Markov. He moonlights as a retoucher at the "Daguerreotype institution of the artist Denier".
• 1860. Kramskoy received a small silver medal for the painting "The Dying Lensky".
• 1861. Large silver medal for a sketch from nature.
• 1863. The Academy of Arts awarded Kramskoy a small gold medal for the painting "Moses exudes water from a rock" and offered the students a theme from the Scandinavian sagas "Feast in Valhalla" for the competition. The alumni have petitioned to be allowed to choose topics of their choice. Professor Ton remarked: "If this happened before, then all of you would be soldiers!" November 9 - Kramskoy, on behalf of his comrades, told the council that they, "not daring to think about changing academic decisions, humbly ask the council to release them from participating in the competition." The artists formed the "Petersburg Artel of Artists". Marriage of Kramskoy to Sofya Nikolaevna Prokhorova. Birth of son Nicholas. Beginning of teaching at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts.
• 1865. Markov invited Kramskoy to help paint the dome of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Due to Markov's illness, the main painting of the dome was made by Kramskoy with the artists Venig and Koshelev.
• 1867. August 21 - the birth of his beloved daughter Sophia, who became an artist.
• 1868. Kramskoy's departure from the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts.
• 1869. First order from P.M. Tretyakov for the creation of "Portrait of the writer P.A. Goncharov". Ivan Kramskoy received the title of academician. A trip to Europe to get acquainted with the painting of the old masters.
• 1870. Kramskoy's departure from the "Artel of Artists": tired of the hopeless struggle for "moral unity". Artel broke up a year later. Formation of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions. Kramskoy is one of the main organizers and ideologists.
• 1872. Painting by Kramskoy "Christ in the desert".
• 1873-1880. "Passion" by I.N. Kramskoy portraits.
• 1882. Deterioration of Kramskoy's relations with the majority of the Wanderers.
• 1883. Beginning of Kramskoy's two-year work on the album of the coronation of Alexander III. From a letter to P.M. Tretyakov: "I confess that the circumstances are beyond my character and will. I am broken by life and far from doing what I wanted and what I should have done."
• 1884. Exacerbation of heart disease. Departure for treatment in the south of France, accompanied by her daughter Sophia.
• 1885. Participation of Kramskoy in the development of the project of the monument to Alexander II.
• 1886. Kramskoy's accusations from the Wanderers that his work had become "insincere" and that he "betrayed ideals" by accepting an order for the execution of portraits of members of the royal family. At the end of his life, Kramskoy wrote: "Almost everyone turned away from me ... I feel offended."
• 1887. March 24 (April 5) - Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy died of a heart attack at the easel.

Paintings and portraits of Kramskoy

From the age of sixteen, Ivan Kramskoy was a photo retoucher. At first, he finished "photographic portraits with watercolors and retouching" from fellow countryman M.B. Tulinov, then - in Kharkov with the photographer Ya.P. Danilevsky. Since 1856, he worked in the famous studio of I.F. Alexandrovsky in Petersburg. Kramskoy wrote about that time: "We were more interested in technology and chemistry than the artistic side of photography." But it was school.

Being the ideological leader and leader of the Association of the Wanderers, Kramskoy began to paint only in adulthood. Kramskoy's best paintings were painted after 1870. The first of them was Mermaids.

Painting "Moonlight night" written by I.N. Kramskoy in 1880. Summer night. Silence. Silver moonlight. Nothing breaks the silence. To a woman sitting on a bench and immersed in her thoughts, the author gave a resemblance to the second wife of Sergei Tretyakov, Elena Andreevna (nee Matveeva). CM. Tretyakov bought the painting immediately after it was painted. Contemporaries argued that both in the composition of the painting "Moonlight Night" and in the color rendition, the influence of his friends, A.I. Kuindzhi and F.A. Vasiliev. In 1892, after the death of his brother, Pavel Tretyakov donated the painting to the city as part of his collection.

Painting "Mermaids" ("May night") , written on the plot of the story of the same name by Gogol, was the first of the proposed series to illustrate "Evenings on a Farm". The artist worked on "Mermaids" in Little Russia in the summer of 1871. On the bank overgrown with reeds and on the trunk of a huge poplar in the moonlight, two dozen drowned women. Their postures are dull, their faces are pale and full of hopeless longing. Presented at the exhibition of the Wanderers in the year of writing, the picture attracted the special attention of visitors. Kramskoy wrote about "Mermaids": "I am glad that with such a plot I did not finally break my neck ... something fantastic came out."

Plot paintings "Inconsolable grief" was close to the author: in a short time he lost two sons. About the painting, the artist wrote: "If it is not sold, I calmly turn it to the wall and forget about it, I have done my job." Ilya Repin's review is preserved in his "Memoirs": "Not a picture, but a living reality."

In the 1870-1880s. P.M. Tretyakov collected portraits of figures of Russian art for his gallery. He gave twelve orders to Kramskoy. Members of the imperial family appeared among the customers. As a result, the portrait painter became popular and in demand. The Rumyantsev Museum commissioned several dozen portraits from him.

M.P. Mussorgsky wrote criticism of V.V. Stasov about the impression of one of the portraits of Kramskoy: "Going up to the portrait of Litovchenko, I jumped back ... This is not a canvas - this is life, power, sought in creativity!"

Kramskoy, Ivan Nikolaevich

Artist, b. May 27, 1837, d. March 25, 1887 “I was born,” I. N. Kramskoy wrote in his autobiography, “in the county town of Ostrogozhsk, Voronezh province, in the suburban settlement of Novaya Sotna, from parents assigned to the local bourgeoisie. For 12 years I lost my father , a very stern man, as far as I remember. My father served in the city duma, if I am not mistaken, as a journalist, while my grandfather, according to the stories, was a so-called military resident and, it seems, was also some kind of clerk in Ukraine. Further, my genealogy is not I studied at first with a literate neighbor, and then at the Ostrogozhsk district school, where I finished the course with various distinctions, meritorious lists, with marks "5" in all subjects, the first student, as my certificate also testifies; only 12 years old, and my mother left me for one more year in the senior class, because I was too young. The next year I was given the same certificate, with the same grades, only with a change of year. Not having the means to transfer me to Voronezh gymnasium where I I really wanted to, they left me in my native city, and I began to practice calligraphy in the same city duma, where my elder brother (15 years older than me) then took the place of my father. Then he served for some time with an intermediary for amicable land surveying. I don't know how early my attraction to painting appeared. I only remember that for 7 years I sculpted Cossacks from clay, and then, after leaving the school, I painted everything that I came across, but at the school I did not differ in this part, it was boring. "In a letter to A. S. Suvorin, Kramskoy recalls about drawing at school: "In the second grade, we were given a lot of originals to choose from, and I remember choosing a lithograph of St. families; the figures were with legs. I started, but never finished, and I remember that the teacher called me a lazy person for this, burying his talent in the ground; what it meant - for me then it was an unsolvable mystery, but I was glad that the teacher did not insist on drawing." molested his relatives, asking him to be apprenticed to some painter, but no one wanted to hear about it. Only two years later, Kramskoy managed to insist on his own and he was sent to science to some Voronezh icon painter. Kramskoy happily went to this icon painter, but what was his chagrin when he saw that they didn’t let him get close to his work, they didn’t give him any brushes or a pencil, but they only forced him to grind paints, run around parcels, fetch water from the river or wash barrels, yes trough! It is clear that he did not stay long with such a teacher and at the first opportunity returned back to Ostrogozhsk. Here he met one passionate lover of painting, later a prominent figure in the field of photography, M. B. Tulinov, spent whole days drawing, using the advice and drawing supplies of his new acquaintance, who willingly supplied him with them.

Meanwhile, Ostrogozhsk revived: the Sevastopol campaign began, Ostrogozhsk was in the path of military corps, and various regiments either came or left. Among the newcomers was the Kharkov photographer Ya. P. Danilevsky. Before the campaign, the officers were in a hurry to order their portraits, and Danilevsky had so much work to do that he had to turn to Tulinov for some photographic supplies; they met and when the retoucher left Danilevsky, he again turned to Tulinov and offered him to take the place of the retoucher. Tulinov flatly refused, but remembering his friend Kramskoy, he promised Danilevsky to find a retoucher. Kramskoy was terribly delighted with Tulinov's proposal, under his guidance he quickly learned the science of retouching and agreed to the conditions that Danilevsky presented to him. Kramskoy's mother for a long time did not agree that her son should go "to a Jew" (Danilevsky was a baptized Jew), and God knows where to go with him. Only after much effort was it possible to convince the old woman not to oppose her son's admission to photography for three years. "It was a harsh school," says Kramskoy about life with Danilevsky and adds: "the photographer was a Jew!" Working hard for his master, Kramskoy at the same time read a lot and diligently; from early youth he was addicted to reading, and absorbed everything printed that came across to him; he pondered for a long time what he had read, trying to make clear to himself what he did not understand; with deep interest and attention he listened from his few acquaintances about artists, art, about the Academy. With all his heart he was eager to go to St. Petersburg to a higher school; Kramskoy considered the academy to be some kind of temple, “assuming to find there the same inspired teachers and great painters that he had read about, teaching with fiery speeches reverently listening to them young men,” as he says in one letter. After serving with Danilevsky for the agreed three years, he immediately moved to St. Petersburg and entered the Academy, since then (1857) no verbal examinations were required for admission. As I. N. Kramskoy said more than once, due to the fact that the photographic pavilions were in most cases very poor, the portraits came out extremely weak, and only thanks to the retoucher did they begin to resemble the originals. Kramskoy had to memorize the faces of customers for greater success in his work, and this, according to him, he owes a lot to the fact that he was used to grasping the features of faces so amazingly and transferring them to canvas or paper. Receiving from Danilevsky 2 rubles. 50 kop. per month, I. N. Kramskoy, having arrived in St. Petersburg, was soon left without a penny, and since he "never received a penny from anyone, neither from his brother, nor from his mother, and from none of the benefactors," then entered as a retoucher for the photographer Aleksandrovsky. From Alexander Kramskoy he moved on to Denier and, thanks to his retouching talent (Kramskoy was nicknamed "the god of retouching"), this photograph became the first in the capital. Denier's work as a retoucher was paid relatively well, and Kramskoy's financial situation improved so much that he had the opportunity to move to a small three-room apartment somewhere on Vasilyevsky Island. Here at Kramskoy's almost every day his comrades from the Academy gathered and, while working, had endless disputes about art, and the host himself was always the soul of these evenings. This group of students played a significant role throughout Kramskoy's stay at the Academy. Both Kramskoy and his friends soon had to be bitterly disappointed in academic professors: instead of the expected practical advice, instructions and explanations, they heard only completely meaningless remarks - “this is long, and this is short, this is good, but this is bad”, but why did it turn out that it was not possible to achieve, and "only the partnership, says Kramskoy, moved the masses forward, gave at least some knowledge, worked out at least some methods and helped to cope with their tasks ...".

A deep impression on Kramskoy was made by Ivanov's painting, which appeared in 1858: "The Appearance of Christ to the People." "This is not a picture - but a word," said Kramskoy. In the article “A Look at Historical Painting”, Kramskoy speaks of Ivanov’s painting in the following way: “Your painting will be a school in which other figures will get stronger, and it will also indicate to many of the younger generation their purpose. The hour of the old historical painting has struck, and there is more than one before your painting of young artists will sincerely pray and sincerely cry in the depths of their spirit about the loss of faith in people, and not one of them will fly out a terrifying cry about the emptiness and barrenness of the human heart, and not one of them will feel a gigantic power to represent everything and the ugliness and emptiness of the human race and everything that humanity has come to with its egoism, unbelief and knowledge.Yes, your picture is for artists!" So wrote a twenty-year-old self-taught! Kramskoy was very interested in Ivanov "his position, fate ..." and like a thunder struck his untimely death of a great artist. In terms of depth, in terms of the strength of his artistic talent, Kramskoy had much in common with Ivanov, but the same search for truth, the same deep and thoughtful attitude to art, to painting, to artists, like Ivanov’s, brings him even closer to this artist ... writes about himself to Repin - "Every plot, every thought, every picture decomposed without a trace of merciless analysis."

Meanwhile, Kramskoy's studies at the Academy were going very well. In 1860, his first painting appeared, the first experience of his own composition: "The Mortally Wounded Lensky" based on Pushkin's poem; for this work he received a second silver medal. A year later, at the academic exhibition, in addition to Kramskoy's painting "Moses' Prayer for the Israelites Crossing the Red Sea", seven more portraits of his work appeared. In 1862, an unfinished program work for the 2nd gold medal "Oleg's Campaign to Constantinople" came out of his workshop, two large copies: from the painting by Y. Kapkov "The Siloam font" for the academic church and from the painting by P. Petrovsky "The angel brings the shepherds news of the Nativity of Christ", as well as a number of portraits.

In 1862, Kramskoy became a teacher at the drawing school of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of Arts, which was then in charge of MP Dyakonov. Kramskoy reacted lively and ardently to a new business for him. His teaching at school is a striking contrast to the system that Kramskoy met at the Academy of Arts. At school, he "found - as one of his students, E. P. Mikhaltseva, recalls - students who ardently wanted to study, but did not have the proper training; we made large compositions without knowing anatomy, not even knowing how to correctly and correctly draw an eye or nose ". Kramskoy immediately pointed out to the students their shortcomings, and many, convinced of the correctness of his words and who imagined almost to perform at exhibitions the day before, courageously again went on to draw body parts from plaster models. "Seeing complete ignorance of anatomy, Kramskoy began to read a short course in this science. He he took the success of his students so close to his heart that he never refused to look at their work at home, contributing to the success of the work with his practical advice.In order to unite both teachers and students, he organized drawing evenings where students could work, having around them such artists as Koehler, Korzukhin, M.P. Klodt, Benzemann, Kramskoy himself, etc. In a word, Kramskoy revived the school with his attitude and brought it great benefit. E. M. Bem, I. E. Repin, N. A. Yaroshenko recall with gratitude and recalled the time when the works Ali under the leadership of Kramskoy, and believe that they owe much of their success to him. In 1863, Kramskoy graduated from the program work with the 2nd gold medal "Moses exudes water from a stone" and was awarded the desired award, and last year's work was credited to him. In addition, in the same year he made several portraits and 45 drawings, 8 cardboards depicting God-Sabaoth with the Holy Spirit, two hands, Christ and 4 apostles for the dome of the Cathedral of Christ in Moscow, partly according to the sketch of A. Markov. It remained to complete the program to receive the 1st gold medal, which gives such a wide path for the development of talent and financial support for a trip abroad as a state pensioner.

But then an event occurred that had a sharp impact on the rest of the artist's life. The fact is that in 1863 the Council of the Academy decreed new rules for seekers of the 1st gold medal, so difficult for competitors, so embarrassing in their free work, that they filed petitions to cancel them, or at least for an accurate interpretation. There was no response to either the first request or the second. Then the competitors chose a deputation to speak personally with the members of the academic council; Kramskoy was also among the deputies. With the exception of only one, all members of the council accepted the deputation very coldly, expressing to the deputies their complete lack of sympathy and censure of their undertaking, and only F. Bruni instilled in them some hope for a happy outcome of the case ... But this weak hope was not destined to come true, and advice to all 14 competitors dictated one program - "Feast in Valhalla". Here everyone asked to be released from participating in the competition and only to issue diplomas for the titles of artists, and left the walls of the Academy forever.

This event, according to Kramskoy, made him wake up, because the student's life did not allow him to develop properly. "And suddenly, the push ... woke up ... 63 years old, on November 9, when 14 people refused the program. The only good day in my life, honestly and well lived. This is the only day that I remember with pure and sincere joy "Kramskoy writes in a letter to Repin in January 1874. Upon leaving the Academy, all former competitors decided not to disperse, but to join together and work, to make up an artistic artel. Kramskoy became the soul of this enterprise.

He worked hard to implement this idea and, closer than all the other members of the artel, took all her affairs to heart - he sincerely rejoiced at her successes, hurt his heart at failures, or when he noticed that a spark of discord flared up among the members. He strictly and vigilantly monitored that the members of the artel regularly contributed the agreed percentage of the work performed and without hesitation contributed 3,000 rubles in 1869. percent of the fee received for painting the dome of the Cathedral of Christ in Moscow, together with Venig and N. Koshelev. Artel refused to accept this percentage, but he insisted on his own. Nevertheless, the artel soon fell apart; a few years later it became noticeable that the moral bond that united the members of the artel was beginning to weaken; one member of the artel began to fuss about being sent abroad by the Academy of Arts at state expense .... Kramskoy was indignant at this, and even more so because the other members of the artel did not see anything particularly reprehensible in the act of the renegade of the artel. This story ended with the departure of Kramskoy from among the members of the artel. And the artistic artel, having disintegrated at the root, soon completely ceased to exist.

But this artistic artel was replaced by something larger - a "partnership of traveling exhibitions" arose. And everything that was best in the artistic artel, headed by Kramskoy, passed into the ranks of the members of the new partnership, the idea of ​​​​the emergence of which was raised back in 1868 by a member of the artel, the artist G. G. Myasoedov - it had to come true only two years later.

All this time, Kramskoy worked tirelessly; he begins to achieve fame for his magnificent portraits, for example, I. I. Shishkin (1869), Prince. E. A. Vasilchikova (1867), c. D. A. Tolstoy (1869) - for the last portraits he received the title of academician, prince. Vasilchikov (1867) and some. etc. In 1869, for the first time, he briefly went abroad. In Dresden, he was greatly struck by the "Sistine Madonna". In a letter to his wife dated November 19, 1869, we read: "No book, no description, nothing else can tell the whole human physiognomy as well as its image." "Raphael's Madonna," he writes elsewhere, is truly a great and truly eternal work, even when humanity ceases to believe, when scientific research (as far as science is able to do) will reveal the real historical features of both of these persons.

The most brilliant period of Kramskoy's activity was the seventies. During them, he gave a number of magnificent portraits: Grand Dukes Paul and Sergius Alexandrovich (1870), F. Vasiliev, M. Antokolsky, T. G. Shevchenko (1871), I. Ya. Shishkin, gr. P. Valuev (1873), Goncharov, N. Yaroshenko (1874), Y. Polonsky (1875), D. V. Grigorovich, Melnikov, heir to Tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich (1876), Nekrasov, S T. Aksakova, A. D. Litovchenko, Lavrovskaya on the stage, Yu. F. Samarin (1877-1878), M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, S. P. Botkin, I. I. Shishkin, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, Empress Maria Alexandrovna and many others; these works strengthened for him forever the glory of an outstanding artist of portraiture. The brightest and most striking portrait in terms of expression, technique and color is the portrait of A. D. Litovchenko: "Litovchenko's face lives, his eyes sparkle, - according to V. V. Stasov - in the portrait of Litovchenko one feels inspiration, a mighty impulse, creation by one swoop, unstoppable passion." It is impossible to say otherwise about this most amazing work of Kramskoy. In addition, the portrait of the writer D. V. Grigorovich, the portrait of E. Lavrovskaya originally presented on the stage, A. S. Suvorin, I. I. Shishkin and Vladimir Solovyov stand out from the general group of his brilliant portraits. In addition to portraits, several paintings appeared in the period of the seventies - "May Night", "Hunter on a draft", "Beekeeper", "Christ in the Desert", "Moonlight Night" and a half-painting, half-portrait - "Contemplator" and magnificent sketches - "Forester "," Insulted Jewish Boy "(a most amazing work in terms of the power of expression)," Miller "; there were few such paintings and studies, the overwhelming majority were portraits. Kramskoy says in his autobiography - "then (from the 1870s) went portraits, portraits and portraits, and in pencil, and paints, and whatever."

It has already been noted what a deep impression Ivanov’s painting “The Appearance of the Messiah” made on Kramskoy, and the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bcreating “his own” Christ never left him, and when Kramskoy’s painting “Christ in the Desert” appeared in 1872, the public met this picture enthusiastically, critics sympathetically. In a letter to A.D. Chirkin, dated December 27, 1873, Kramskoy wrote: “When the idea of ​​writing Him came to me for the first time, I went, after working for a year, abroad in 1869 to see everything that had been done in this way and to push the boundaries of the plot, enriched by acquaintance with the galleries. “I saw, he writes further, this strange figure followed her, saw her as if alive, and one day I suddenly almost stumbled upon her: she was sitting right there, with her hands folded, her head bowed. He did not notice me, and I quietly tiptoed away so as not to interfere, and then I could not forget her ... ". So he created his Christ - quiet, calm, thoughtful, majestic!

During the seventies, Kramskoy's best and most interesting letters were written; - his correspondence was subsequently published and is one of the most curious books in Russian fiction. Especially in the letters to I. E. Repin and to the young landscape painter F. A. Vasiliev, who died untimely, the deep and inquisitive mind of Kramskoy was vividly captured. These letters are a series of magnificent articles about art, amazing characteristics of contemporary artists and their works; these letters are living and brilliant pages in the history of Russian art... In April 1876, Kramskoy went abroad for the second time and first went to Rome. "Italy (and Rome in particular), wrote Kramskoy to P.M. Tretyakov in April 1876, did not make any impression on me." From Rome he went to Naples, then to Pompeii and worked a lot there. Having then moved to Paris, Kramskoy, in addition to working on paintings, set to work on a large etching - a portrait of Tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich. Kramskoy returned from the trip in December of the same year. The reason for such a quick return was, on the one hand, family circumstances, and on the other, “everything, or almost everything that, according to political conditions in Europe, I needed to see, I saw,” he wrote to P. M. Tretyakov shortly before leaving Paris . When Kramskoy finished his "Christ in the Wilderness", he wrote in the already quoted letter to A. D. Chirkin in December 1873 - "I once again think to return to Christ, this is the plot" "... but what do you say, He writes further, for example, about the following scene: when He was being judged, the soldiers in the yard, bored with inaction, mocked Him in every possible way, and suddenly they had a happy idea to dress up this meek man as a king; now the whole jester's costume was ready; this invention was corrected, and here they are reporting to the gentlemen so that they deign to take a look, everything that was in the yard, in the house, on the balconies and galleries rolled with loud laughter, and some of the nobles clap their hands favorably. , and only a bloody five burns on the cheek from a slap in the face. Bonfires, the day just beginning to emerge, everything is as it is said. In another letter to I. Repin dated January 6, 1874, Kramskoy wrote "After all, I must once again return to Christ." And further: "I have to do it, I can't move on to what's next in line without getting it over with!" Kramskoy worked hard and hard on this picture; all the figures that were supposed to be in it were molded from clay - (up to 150 pieces) to make it easier for the artist to arrange groups. Kramskoy worked on it for about five years. But "Christ in the Wilderness" was incomparably more successful and stronger than this picture: "Hail, King of the Jews!"

During the eighties, many more portrait works came out from under his brush; they are inferior to the best portraits that were painted by Kramskoy in the seventies, but still remain exceptional in their amazing merits. Portraits of: Emperor Alexander Alexandrovich - later donated to the Museum of Emperor Alexander III by A. A. Polovtsov, - I. I. Shishkin, S. P. Botkin, V. V. Samoilov, Lemokh, A. I. Sokolov, unfinished portrait of V V. Vereshchagin, himself with his daughter, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, - written for A. A. Polovtsov, - A. S. Suvorin, A. S. Koltsov, A. G. Rubinstein at the piano - these are the most remarkable of those written Kramskoy for the eighties. In addition to these portraits, Kramskoy painted many sketches, a large number of drawings "Unknown" (a richly dressed beauty in a semi-carriage) and two magnificent paintings: - "Moonlight Night" and "Inconsolable Sorrow"; the last picture is a whole poem in colors; the astonishingly mournful face of the woman at the coffin...

Kramskoy also worked with love on engraving with strong vodka (etching) and already in 1872, as can be seen from Kramskoy's letter to F. A. Vasiliev dated February 22, 1872, he had his own etching workshop. Most of Kramskoy's etchings are excellent; they are juicy, pleasant and effective. As the best of them, one can note a portrait of Tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich of very large sizes, a portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna on her deathbed, half-length; one 3/4 to the left, the other in profile (only 25 copies were printed); portrait of the artist A.I. Ivanov; portrait of Taras Shevchenko in a fur coat and fur hat, bust, "Christ in the Desert" from his own painting; sketches for the painting "May night" (two prints).

Kramskoy worked tirelessly in the last years of his life ... But a serious illness gnawed him more and more; the cough choked and tormented him. Constant malaise, so difficult to treat, greatly changed the character of Kramskoy; he became extremely irritable; his views on Russian painting and Russian artists changed and became pessimistic. Life was dying out in Kramskoy, but his talent, his artistic power were still strong in him. The death that followed from the aneurysm was instantaneous. Kramskoy fell down, working at the easel on a portrait of Dr. Rauchfuss, with brushes in his hands, in a lively conversation. And this unfinished portrait of Rauchfus is a vivid and brilliant evidence of the artistic power of Kramskoy until the last moment of his life. - In the person of Kramskoy, Russian art and Russian society had an outstanding artist, a sensitive critic and an inspired fighter for everything fresh, good and talented, a tireless fighter against routine, against any brakes that hindered the development of his native art dear to his heart. Many of his critical articles will remain deeply important for everyone for many years to come, and especially for young artists - they will find in these articles a number of lively, bright ideas, truthful and correct views on contemporary art.

V. V. Stasov, "Iv. Nikolay. Kramskoy". SPb. 1887"; "Iv. Nikol. Kramskoy, his life, correspondence and art-critical articles. SPb. 1888"; N. Sobko, "Illustrated catalog of paintings, drawings and engravings by I. N. Kramskoy. 1887 St. Petersburg."; V. Stasov, "Sev. Vestn." 1888 V book. "Kramskoy and Russian Artists" vols. I and II of the complete collection of works. V. V. Stasov, "Bulletin of Europe" 1887 art. V. Stasov; I. E. Repin. "Memories" pp. 1-76.

Iv. Lazarevsky.

(Polovtsov)

Kramskoy, Ivan Nikolaevich

Famous painter (1837-1887). Born in Ostrogozhsk, in a poor bourgeois family, he received his initial education at the district school. He was self-taught in drawing since childhood, and then, with the help of the advice of a drawing lover, he began to work in watercolor. At the age of sixteen, he entered a retoucher for a Kharkov photographer. Having moved to St. Petersburg in 1856, he continued to do the same with the best metropolitan photographers. The following year, I decided to enter the Akd. arts, where he soon made rapid progress in drawing and painting. As a student of Prof. A. T. Markov, received a small silver medal for a drawing from nature (in 1858), the same medal for the painting "The Dying Lensky" (in 1860), a large silver medal. a medal for a sketch from nature (in 1861) and a small gold medal for a picture painted according to the program: "Moses exudes water from a stone." K. had to compete for a big gold medal, but at that time doubts arose and matured among the young academic artists about the correctness of academic teaching, and they filed a petition with the academy council that they be allowed to choose each according to their inclinations a theme for the picture for the big gold medal. The Academy reacted unfavorably to the proposed innovation [One of the professors of the Academy, the architect Ton, even described the attempt of young artists in this way: "in the past you would have been given to soldiers for this."], as a result of which 14 young artists, with K. at the head, refused , in 1863, to write on the topic set by the academy - "Feast in Valhalla" and left the academy. At first, in order to find means of subsistence, they formed an art artel, and in 1870 some of them, having joined the young Moscow artists, headed by Myasoedov, founded an association of traveling exhibitions (see). K. became a portrait painter. In his further artistic activity, K. constantly showed a desire for paintings - works of the imagination and willingly gave himself up to him when everyday circumstances allowed it. Even when he was an academician, he brought great benefit to his professor Markov, using a year of time to draw cardboard for the ceiling in the Church of the Savior (in Moscow), according to Markov's sketches. Subsequently, K. had to write on these cardboards, in community with his comrades at the academy, B. Venig, Zhuravlev and Koshelev, the ceiling itself, which remained unfinished due to Markov’s quarrel with I. Makarov, to whom he initially entrusted this work. To the best works of non-portrait painting by K. include: "May Night" (according to Gogol), "Lady on a Moonlit Night", "Inconsolable Grief", "Woodworker", "Contemplator", "Christ in the Wilderness" and some others. He put a lot of effort into composing the picture "Jesus Christ, ridiculed as the king of the Jews" - a picture that he called "Laughter", and he hoped a lot for it. But he did not manage to provide himself in such a way as to fully devote himself to this work, which remained far from finished. He painted portraits (the so-called "sauce", see Drawing) and wrote a lot; Of these, the portraits of S. P. Botkin, I. I. Shishkin, Grigorovich, Ms. Vogau, the Gunzburg family (portraits of women), a Jewish boy, A. S. Suvorin, unknown, c. L. N. Tolstoy, c. Litke, c. D. A. Tolstoy, Goncharov and many others. They are distinguished by their complete resemblance and talented characterization of the face from which the portrait was painted; the painting "Inconsolable grief" mentioned above is a portrait proper, having all the qualities and virtues of a painting. But not all his works are of equal force, which he himself admitted without hesitation; sometimes he was not interested in the person from whom he had to write, and then he became only a conscientious recorder. K. understood the landscape, and although he did not write a single picture of this kind, but in "May Night", as well as in another "Night", he perfectly conveyed the moonlight not only of human figures, but also of the landscape setting. Painting technique at K. was - a subtle completeness, which was sometimes considered by some to be superfluous or excessive. Nevertheless, K. wrote quickly and confidently: in a few hours the portrait acquired a similarity: in this respect, the portrait of Dr. Rauchfus, the last dying work of K., is remarkable [The portrait was painted in one morning, but remained unfinished, since K. was working died.]. Many of K.'s works are in the famous Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow [Among other things, the paintings "Inconsolable Grief", "Christ in the Desert" and "May Night"; portraits of P. M. Tretyakov, gr. L. N. Tolstoy, D. V. Grigorovich, N. A. Nekrasov, P. I. Melnikov, V. V. Samoilov, M. E. Saltykov, etc. white pencil), portrait of V. Vasistov (ink), N. Yaroshenko (watercolor), etc.]. K. was also engaged in engraving on copper with strong vodka; among the etchings he performed, the best are portraits of Emperor Alexander III, when he was his heir, Tsarevich, Peter the Great and T. Shevchenko. Whether K. would have become a major historical painter is hard to say. His rationality prevailed over his imagination, as he himself admitted both in intimate conversation and in correspondence, putting I. E. Repina is above himself in essence of talent. In general, K. was very demanding of artists, which earned himself a lot of detractors, but at the same time he was strict with himself and strove for self-improvement. His remarks and opinions about art were not merely personal convictions, but were usually conclusive, as much as possible in matters of aesthetics. Its main requirement is the content and nationality of works of art, their poetry; but no less than that, he demanded good painting proper. In this regard, he should be noted, and one can be convinced of this by reading his correspondence, published by A. Suvorin according to the thought and edited by V. V. Stasov ["Ivan Nikolayevich K., his life, correspondence and artistic critical articles" ( SPb., 1888).]. It cannot be said that he judged correctly by first impressions, but he always more or less motivated a change of opinion. Sometimes his opinions remained vacillating for a long time until he found a compromise. K. did not have a great education, he always regretted it and made up for this lack by constant serious reading and a community of intelligent people, as a result of which he himself was a useful interlocutor for artists [K. also known for his teaching activities, as a teacher since 1862 in the drawing school of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists. See the memoirs of his students E. K. Gauger and E. N. Mikhaltseva in the above-mentioned book by V. Stasov.]. He left a significant mark on himself with his anti-academic activities, which began in 1863, from the time he and his comrades left the academy; he constantly agitated in favor of the principles he had learned of the free artistic development of young people. Although in the last years of his life he seemed to be inclined towards reconciliation with the academy, this is due to the fact that he thought and hoped to wait for the possibility of its transformation in accordance with his basic views. From this it is clear that he was not an agitator out of love for agitation, which he was ready to stop as soon as he believed that his cherished goal could be achieved in another way. In general, the significance of k. in the history of Russian art is twofold; as an artist and as a public figure.

F. Petrushevsky.

(Brockhaus)

Kramskoy, Ivan Nikolaevich

(Kramskoi), painter - engraver and portrait painter; genus. 1837, mind. 1887; since 1869 academician; belonged to the Society of Wanderers and only therefore did not receive the title of professor. - Engaged in lithography.

His etchings:

1. Image of the sitter Ak. thin peasant Ignaty Pirogov, in a wide caftan and bast shoes; full length, 3/4 inc. Without a signature.

2. Bust portrait of Academician Ruprecht. Signed: "I. Kramskoy".

3. Bust portrait of Taras Shevchenko, in a lamb's hat. Signed: "I. Kramskoy 1871. - T. Shevchenko". Placed in the album: "The first experiments of Russian aquafortists. 1871".

4. Bust portrait of Emperor Peter I, 3/4 to the right, from a painting belonging to Count P.S. Strogonov. Signed: "I. Kramskoy 1875". Placed in the album: "In memory of Peter the Great. St. Petersburg. 1872". Large sheet. First prints before signature.

5-8. Four sheets for the Illustrated catalog of the second traveling exhibition in 1873, namely: 5. Title page, with the inscription: "Second | traveling | exhibition. | 1873". View of the exhibition with a painting by Kramskoy: The Savior in the Desert - in the background. Without a signature.

6. Savior in the wilderness. Without a signature.

7. Two heads from sketches (peasant types) by Kramskoy and portraits: Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Pogodin and Dahl, from originals by V. Perov. Also unsigned.

8. Portraits on one sheet: Nekrasov, Shchedrin and Maykov, the first two from the paintings of Ge, and Maikov from the painting by V. Perov; bottom etching by M.K. Klodt from his painting: "Arable land". This sheet has remained unpublished.

9. Five etchings on one sheet in the album of the third traveling exhibition in 1874, representing studies and paintings by Kramskoy at this exhibition, namely: "Beekeeper" - a portrait of P.A. Valuev; full-length portrait of I.I. Shishkin; a study of the head of a peasant in a hat and "Insulted Jewish Boy". All, with the exception of the last one, are signed: "Kramskoy".

10. Study for the painting: "May Night. | Kramskoy | 1874". App. to the album "Skladchina", 1875 with censorship permission April 23, 1874 and address Exp. blanks state b. First prints before signature.

11. Full-length portrait of Emperor Alexander Alexandrovich (heir). From a painting by Kramskoy, which was on the front. exhibition of 1876 No. 21.

I view. Unfinished, before the session (for the head) in the Anichkov Palace.

II. Finished, before signature, on yellow paper.

III. With the signature: "I. Kramskoy", in Chinese. paper. Sold by subscription for 100 rubles.

IV. With the signature: "E. I. V. Sovereign Nasl. Tsesarevich Alexander Alexandrovich. Engraving. I. N. Kramskoy". With Kadar's address in Paris, on a special board.

12-13. Two etchings for M.P. Botkin: "A.A. Ivanov, his life and correspondence. St. Petersburg. 1880", namely: 12. Portrait of Ivanov, almost in profile, to the left; from a drawing made in Rome in 1846 by his brother, the architect Sergei Andr. Ivanov and 13. Christ announces the second coming to the disciples. From a painting by Ivanov.

14. Empress Maria Alexandrovna on her deathbed. Half-length image, 3/4 to the left. Signed "I. Kramskoy".

15. She is the same; half-length image; profile left, no signature. Both were not for sale.

b. Lithographs.

1-2. Roman baths, from maps. prof. Bronnikova, and Francesca da Rimini and Paolo da Paolento, from maps. Myasoedov; These lithographs are placed in Khudozh. Autograph 1869

3. Wanderer, from a painting by V. Perov; room in Hood. Autograph 1870. Ed. Inc. Artel Hood.

4-5. Two lithographs, signed: "I. Kramskoy 1874"; on a large sheet; placed in Golyashkin's edition: "Evenings near Dikanka" and represent scenes from Gogol's story: "Terrible Revenge", namely: Katerina wanders through the oak forests, and the horseman raised the sorcerer over the abyss. Printed in tone.

6. Bust portrait of the poet Nekrasov, with a facsimile of his signature: "Nik. Nekrasov". Signed "Kramskoy | 77". Attached to the magazine "Light 1878". There are proof prints, no facsimile.

7. Mask of Michelangelo, signed: "I. Kramskoy 78". This lithograph was drawn by Kramskoy on the day of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Michelangelo by our Academy of Arts, but remained unpublished.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia

- (1837 1887), Russian painter, draftsman and art critic. The ideological leader of the democratic movement in Russian art in 1860-80s. He studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1857-63). He taught at the Drawing School of the OPH (1863-68). Initiator... ... Art Encyclopedia

Famous painter (1837 1887). Born in Ostrogozhsk, in a poor bourgeois family. He has been self-taught in drawing since childhood; then, with the help of the advice of one drawing lover, he began to work in watercolor. First he was a retoucher at Kharkov, ... ... Biographical Dictionary

- (18371887), painter, draftsman and art critic, ideological leader of the democratic movement in Russian art in the 186080s. He studied at the Academy of Arts (185763), Academician since 1869. He taught at the Drawing School of the OPH (186368). ... ... Encyclopedic reference book "St. Petersburg"