Surikov

Vasily Surikov: I loved beauty everywhere...

Galina Churak

Article: 
MASTERPIECES OF RUSSIAN ART
Magazine issue: 
#1 2006 (10)

On March 1 1881 the “Peredvizhniki” (Wanderers) group was to open its ninth exhibition at the Yusupov palace on the Moika Embankment in St. Petersburg. Tragically, the event coincided with anotherone, among the most sinister in Russian history - the bomb thrown by a member of the secret political group Narodnaya Volya (People’s Will) killed Emperor Alexander II. However, as soon as the days of mourning ended, the long wait of art enthusiasts was more than rewarded with masterpieces from the new generation of talented Russian artists: alongside Ilya Repin’s portraits of the composer Modest Mussorgsky and the author Alexei Pisemsky, “Alyonushka” by Vasily Vasnetsov and landscapes by Alexei Savrasov and Ivan Shishkin, viewers would discover the talent of the young Vasily Surikov. His name meant little at the time, but his work “Morning of the Streltsy Execution” seemed to predict in some enigmatic way the recent tragedy. The painting created a sensation. “His appearing to the artistic world with the painting ‘Execution of the Streltsy’ was sensational; nobody had started like that,” remembered Alexandra Botkina, Pavel Tretyakov’s daughter. “He did not hesitate, did not try to size up whether the time was good or bad for the exhibition of such a painting, but went off like a bolt.”[1] Immediately after the exhibition in St. Petersburg, Surikov’s painting, acquired by Pavel Tretyakov before the exhibition, was moved to its permanent home in Lavrushinsky Pereulok. The Tretyakov Gallery was already considered a major collection of Russian art.

Vasily Surikov: I loved beauty everywhere...

Creative Discoveries of the Russian Artist-travelers

Margarita Krylova

Article: 
HERITAGE
Magazine issue: 
#2 2010 (27)

The late 18th century saw the appearance in Russia of the “artist-traveler” - artists who accompanied official delegations to new lands, or visited Europe on Academy fellowships, or traveled independently, always recording their impressions of their journeys. Drawing was the most direct form in which to do so: their sketches from nature - the first step towards final, finished compositions - were created using different media (pencil, quill, watercolour or pastel), and preserved intact the freshness of the artistic perception of nature, architectural landmarks, and people. An exhibition of graphic artwork from the Tretyakov Gallery collection, held from June 2009 through January 2010, featured more than 350 pieces from the late 18 th to the early 20th century (up until the 1930s), created by artists during their travels across the Russian empire and the world.

Creative Discoveries of the Russian Artist-travelers

All Is New, and All Is Exciting!

Alexander Rozhin

Article: 
CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
Magazine issue: 
#2 2012 (35)

Like many of his compatriots, the painter Nicolai Fechin (Feshin) (1881-1955), following the 1917 October revolution, emigrated from Russia. A similar fate awaited Konstantin Somov, Konstantin Korovin, Mikhail Larionov, Natalya Goncharova, Marc Chagall, Yury Annenkov, David Burliuk and hundreds of other Russian artists, musicians, writers, actors and philosophers. Even as emigres, however, these people did not lose their connection with Russia's culture and traditions, remaining faithful to their historical roots throughout their lives.

All Is New, and All Is Exciting!

Like many of his compatriots, the painter Nicolai Fechin (Feshin) (1881-1955), following the 1917 October revolution, emigrated from Russia. A similar fate awaited Konstantin Somov, Konstantin Korovin, Mikhail Larionov, Natalya Goncharova, Marc Chagall, Yury Annenkov, David Burliuk and hundreds of other Russian artists, musicians, writers, actors and philosophers. Even as emigres, however, these people did not lose their connection with Russia's culture and traditions, remaining faithful to their historical roots throughout their lives.

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