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THBRussian Artist Vasily Vereshchagin, Autographed Photo, 1902
Timed Auction in Progress ... Currently on Lot Bid Increments
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About Auction
TimedSep 30, 2016 - Oct 27, 2016
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- Lot Description
Cabinet Portrait of the Russian Famous Artist Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin. Photographer V. Podolskiy. Odessa, 1902.
Dimensions: 13 x 21.5 cm
Vasily Vereshchagin (1842 - 1913) – a very famous Russian war painter known for his realistic battle scenes. One of the most important Russian artists/realists widely recognized abroad, Vereshchagin was also a historian. literary scholar and professor at the Imperial Academy of Arts.
Vereshchagin was born in the city of Cherepovets, Vologda region (Russian Empire). Except for Saint Petersburg and Moscow, he lived most of his life abroad (Tashkent, Munich, Paris) and traveled to far countries such as the Caucasus and Turkestan, India and Palestine, Europe, the Philippines and Cuba, the US and Japan. He participated in the International exhibitions in London, Munich, and Vienna, his numerous personal exhibitions were held in the biggest cities of Europe, the Russian Empire and the US.
The artist graduated from the Junior Cadet Corps and was enrolled in the Military Naval School in Saint Petersburg; however, he refused from the career as Marine officer in favor of his passion of for drawing and the chose an education in the Imperial Academy of Arts. He then went to Paris to attend the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and study under Jean-Léon Gérôme.
As an officer, he participated in Russian military battles in Central Asia, the Balkans, and Japan. He deliberately risked his life to be in the thick of each battle in order to see and feel all the emotions of war to vividly portray them in his paintings. He said it was impossible to make the painting real by watching from the sidelines what the soldiers felt so keenly. You had to be there, experience everything yourself, take part in attacks, victories, and defeats, and feel the cold, hunger, fear, illness and wounds of battle in order to show society the real cruelty and horror of war.
In 1868 Vereshchagin was awarded the Cross of St. George (4th class) for bravery and participation in the garrison defense of the Samarkand fortress (Turkestan), led by the General Kaufman. The Turkestan war paintings are very popular mostly because of the seven artworks in the series called “Barbarians.” These paintings are: “The Apotheosis of War” (1871) portraying a pyramid of skulls “dedicated to all conquerors: the past, present and those yet to come,” “Unawares Attack” (1871), “At the Fortress wall” (1871), “Eagles. The Forgotten Soldier” (1871),” Presenting the Trophies” (1872), “Triumph” (1872), “Encircled and Pursued” (1872), “Looking out” (1873) and others. Vereshchagin worked on the Turkestan series for seven years; most of the masterpieces were bought by Pavel Tretyakov.
For two years Vereshchagin traveled around India and created a series of 150 sketches, the most magnificent of which are “Buddhist Temple in Darjeeling” (1874), “Taj Mahal Mausoleum in Agra” (1874), “Glacier on the way from Kashmir to Ladakh” (1875). He devoted a special series of artworks about the British takeover of India. The painting “Suppression of the Indian Revolt” (1884) became notorious all over the world as it realistically showed the gory execution of the convicted mutineers (oppression of the Indian people by the British colony).
In 1877-1878 Vereshchagin took part in the Russo-Turkish war on the Balkan Peninsula and was seriously wounded while battling in Plevna, Bulgaria (crossing of the Shipka Pass). The Balkan series included around thirty paintings, the most popular of which were “Shipka-Sheinovo field (Skobelev at Shipka)” (1879), triptych “All is quiet at Shipka” (1879), “Before the Attack. At Plevna” (1881). His paintings revealed the viciousness and death of Russian and Turkish victims, depicting the soldiers as the most important and unfortunate element of war. Looking at this series of paintings you may see the enormous toil, ineffable sufferings, and terrible calamity which war brings to people.
Three works jointly entitled “Trilogy of Executions” is a famous series, showing the executions in three different countries at different times in history (the 1800's): “Crucifixion by the Romans”, “Execution of Conspirators in Russia”, “English Suppression of the Indian Mutiny”.
In 1884 Vereshchagin headed to Palestine and then to Syria where he painted Arabian nature and everyday life – ordinary people praying at the Wailing Wall, hermits who came to Palestine from all over the world. This series is mostly known for its paintings: “The Holy Family”, “The Resurrection” and some portrayals of New Testament subjects.
For 15 years Vereshchagin worked on the "1812” series devoted to Napoleon’s unsuccessful campaign and invasion of the French army into the Russian Empire. The series is in two parts. Seventeen works, jointly entitled “Napoleon I in Russia,” include the episodes from the battle of Borodino, invasion of Moscow and downfall of the Great French army (“Napoleon on the Borodino Heights” and “The End of the Battle of Borodino”). Three other works are entitled “The Old Partisan” and are dedicated to the partisan war of 1812, patriotic Russian people, national spirit, courage, devotion and heroism in fighting the enemy.
Vereshchagin painted the series “Infamous People” during the family boat trip along the Northern Dvina River towards the Write Sea and Solovki Islands, Russia (1894). This series demonstrates ordinary people such as the butler, soldier, monk, lace-maker, laundress, beggar, craftsman, and so on.
The last Vereshchagin series is about the Spanish-American War (1898-1899) and the insurrection at the Philippines and Cuba.
Vasily Vereshchagin died at 62 during the Russo-Japanese war in 1904. The flagman battleship Petropavlovsk with Vereshchagin on board exploded on a mine while returning to Port Arthur (now Lüshun City, China) and sunk, taking most of the crew.
The well-known American novelist Theodore Dreiser was influenced by the personality of Vereshchagin when he created the character of the artist Eugene in his novel “The Genius."
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