No matter how sad it is to talk about it, many brilliant people were not appreciated at their true worth during their lifetime. From history books we can conclude that the past was quite cruel and to some extent wild. Thus, many architects, artists, philosophers or writers were an example of shame for citizens. Some of them were executed, others were tortured, and others disappeared altogether. However, after their death, everything changed dramatically. And that “dirt,” as people called the work of talented individuals, is today called a real masterpiece, which, it seems, no one can repeat. They admire the works, are inspired, and sometimes they simply cannot take their eyes off such perfection.
Mikhail Vrubel - artist of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
On March 5 (17), 1856, little Mikhail Vrubel was born into the family of a combat officer. A few decades later he became famous throughout the Russian Empire, and in different genres art. The talented man showed excellent results in graphics, sculpture and theater. He was a multi-faceted person who never rested on his laurels. He gave the world unsurpassed frescoes, wonderful canvases and book illustrations. Vrubel was considered a very complex person and artist. At that time, not everyone would have been able to decipher the essence of his paintings or understand what the curves of his sculptures meant.
Since childhood, Mikhail loved to draw and enjoy the charming landscapes around him. When he turned eighteen, his father decided that the young man should enter the Faculty of Law at the University of St. Petersburg. At that time, Mikhail was completely indifferent to this science and went to study only because of the will of Vrubel Sr. He was interested in Kant's philosophy, attended performances, fell in love with theater actresses, argued about art and constantly drew. Everything that came to his mind soon appeared on the canvas.
The life of a great artist
Vrubel's work is often associated with 1880. During this period, Mikhail studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts and created his first masterpieces. All teachers saw the leadership and superiority of the young man over other students. The first watercolors that captivated the entire Academy were “The Feasting of the Romans” and “Introduction to the Temple.” It is in the highest educational institution changes were visible in young man. From an irresponsible, flighty boy, he became a talented and strong man. Paintings by M.A. Vrubel was so captivated by the teachers and guests of the Academy that after some time Professor Prakhov invited Mikhail to Kyiv. He invited him to work on the restoration of the St. Cyril Church. Vrubel, in turn, agreed and began to paint icons. He created unsurpassed wall paintings, depicting the Virgin and Child, Cyril, Christ and Athanasius.
Besides this, great artist made sketches intended for the restoration of the Vladimir Cathedral. Ultimately, Mikhail worked in Kyiv for about five years and became much wiser, more diligent, and developed his talent to the next stage of creativity. After 1889, the artist changed his works, just look at the painting, which is often popularly called “Vrubel’s Demon.”
Further work in the field of art
For about three years the great artist worked applied arts. This period is called Abramtsevo. The work of Mikhail Vrubel can be briefly characterized by the following achievements: he created the design of the facade of Mamontov’s house and the sculpture “Lion Mask”.
One way or another, for many, painting is the main field in which Mikhail Vrubel worked. His paintings were from deep meaning, which each person interpreted them in his own way. A talented artist never paid attention to boundaries and rules; he created and achieved truly magnificent results. In his youth, Mikhail was already boldly entrusted with huge projects, since the customers were confident in their luxurious and quick implementation.
Vrubel worked with the best craftsmen and architects, among whom Fyodor Shekhtel stood out. Together they designed the legendary mansion of Savva Morozov. It should be noted that Mikhail also took part in exhibitions, participated in the design of performances, and even once went on tour with the troupe of the Mamontov Russian Private Opera.
Mikhail Vrubel adored Lermontov's works, as well as spiritual world and the life of your idol. He tried to imitate him and sometimes expressed the emotions hidden in his soul on the canvases of his unsurpassed paintings. Mikhail Alexandrovich was strong personality and tried to impart tragedy and perseverance to each of his works. It was Vrubel’s painting “The Demon” that successfully combined the features of romanticism, sadness and ambiguity. Many art connoisseurs have tried to explain what it is this image, what meaning it carries and what exactly the author wanted to convey with these strokes.
Painting "Demon"
Vrubel's "Demon" is an image of a real tragedy, which nevertheless denies evil. Its essence is that a noble person stands for the side of good, but cannot do anything about the forces of darkness. Evil still wins, it drags in the powerless and controls him for selfish, vile purposes. Here, many writers draw a parallel between Lermontov and Vrubel. For the first, the demon is not the creator of evil, but only its offspring, and Mikhail Alexandrovich understands this very well. He tries to depict the contrast of colors on the canvas, so that everyone who sees the picture immediately and unconditionally understands where is evil and where is good. To summarize, we note that Vrubel’s “Demon” is nothing more than a struggle between two forces: light and darkness. Of course, each person decides for himself what is more powerful, and some argue that the author gives preference to the forces of darkness.
Note that the hero is also not a frightened, lost man. He is strong, powerful, confident, and by the will of events he has no choice. The hero must contemplate what is happening. This makes him powerless (this is evidenced by the position in which he sits - with his hands clasped around his knees). The man does not want to be in this place, but he has no choice, and he watches as the demon arises. Vrubel, they say, specially painted the picture on a narrow canvas. So he subconsciously did not give much space to evil, that is, the demon is cramped, and this makes him seem even more terrifying. Of course, his power is tamed, compressed. This can be seen in the drawing by the muscles, posture and facial expression of the hero. He is tired, exhausted, depressed... But still Vrubel makes him his ideal of a wonderful person.
The essence of the “Demon” in the works of Vrubel
The plot that Vrubel drew (“The Seated Demon”) tells of his fatigue and powerlessness. But nevertheless, the author enlivens the picture with crystals that sparkle on the hero’s robe in blue and blue tones. There is also stunning scenery to be seen which may seem quaint to some, but that is the beauty of it. In general, Vrubel’s painting “The Demon” is filled with golden, red, purple-blue tones, which give it a completely different look in different lighting. Mikhail Alexandrovich's work clearly emphasizes the importance and charm of the main character. Although the demon is scary and powerful, he still looks beautiful.
The most important thing, so to speak, the essence of the picture lies in its meaning. And it is this: a demon is a symbol of the complex, unfair, real world, which collapses and reassembles like a mosaic. This is fear for people of today and the future who cannot find a way out in life where evil and hatred reign. Vrubel’s “Demon” can be found in various sources, and the meaning of the image will also be interpreted differently. But most researchers believe that the author wanted to convey sadness, anxiety, which is intertwined with grief and depression, anxiety for humanity and its continued existence. This was precisely the theme of the artist’s painting; it was in this direction that he worked in his last years of creativity. Perhaps this is why Vrubel’s painting is considered one of the most complex, to some extent cruel, but fair and touching. His paintings amaze with their depth and uniqueness; skillful combination of colors and background.
The history of the creation of the paintings “Demon”
The painting by Vrubel (“Seated Demon”) was created in 1891. The work appeared after Mikhail Alexandrovich studied Lermontov’s work in detail. For some of his works, he painted wonderful paintings, one of which depicted a demon. The sketch was created in 1890, and exactly 12 months later the work was completed. Only in 1917 did the painting enter the museum. After some time, it began to attract attention, and today it is considered a real masterpiece. This is how the painting “Demon” was born, inspired by Lermontov’s poem. In addition, Vrubel wrote many more wonderful works related to this block. The surprising thing is that the difference in their spelling is nine years. Nobody knows what caused the resumption of work, but the painting “The Seated Demon” was not the last. She was followed new job. In 1899, exactly 9 years later, another masterpiece created by Vrubel was presented - “The Flying Demon”.
This work evoked a wide variety of emotions in people. The painting was completed by a real master who perfected his drawing system. It also depicted main character, but with wings. Thus, the author wanted to convey that gradually a pure soul is captured by evil and evil spirits. The demon is depicted on the canvas quite clearly, but at the same time blurry. He is trying to absorb the hero, who has already followed his lead. The author improved his creation for a long time, constantly redoing some features of the picture. It is important that Vrubel clearly understood that the devil is believed to be a horned, insidious creature capable of luring a person to his side. As for the demon, this is energy that can capture the soul. which condemns a person to eternal struggle, which will not end either in heaven or on earth. This is exactly what Vrubel wanted to convey to the public. "Flying Demon" - negative character, which prevents people from showing willpower and remaining on the side of good, that is, being fair, honest, pure in mind and heart.
Demon defeated
From a series of popular works dedicated to Lermontov’s poem, the painting “The Defeated Demon” also stands out. Vrubel completed it by 1902, and it became the last on this topic. The work was done in oil on canvas. As a background, the author took a mountainous area, which is depicted in a scarlet sunset. On it you can see the cramped figure of a demon, as if squeezed between the crossbars of the frame. Never before has an artist worked on his paintings so passionately and with such obsession. The defeated demon is the embodiment of evil and beauty at the same time. While working on the painting, Mikhail Alexandrovich devastated himself. He tried to portray the impossible, sought to show the drama and conflict of existence. Vrubel's face was constantly changing while he worked, as if he was seeing new fragments of one film, lost and confused in his memory. Sometimes the artist could even cry over the canvas, he felt it so strongly. The surprising thing is that Lermontov wrote six versions of his poem and believed that none of them could be considered complete. He was looking for something that did not exist, trying to convey to the reader something that he himself did not fully know. About the same thing happened with Vrubel. He tried to paint something he had no idea about, and every time he finished the picture, the artist found inaccuracies and tried to correct them.
In fact, the image of evil is often found in the works that Vrubel presented to the world. The description of the painting “The Defeated Demon” boils down to the fact that ultimately the main character defeated the evil spirits. In other words, every person can fight for himself and constantly work on himself, improving his skills, developing and enriching his inner world. Thus, Mikhail Alexandrovich expressed his opinion about the demon and about the evil on the planet in general: it can be defeated, and it is even necessary to fight it!
Vrubel depicted the painting “The Defeated Demon” in a unique style: using crystalline edges and flat strokes, which were made with a palette knife.
The illness of a great artist
Unfortunately, Vrubel’s “Demon” did not bring anything good to the artist. He was so deeply imbued with his image, sympathy for all people on earth, thoughts about life and other philosophical things that he gradually began to get lost in reality. Vrubel's last painting - "The Demon Defeated" (the last of the series written for Lermontov's poem) - was in the Moscow gallery and was ready for exhibition. Every morning the artist came there and corrected the details of his work. Some believe that this was the feature thanks to which Mikhail Vrubel became famous: his paintings were thought out to the smallest detail, therefore they were perfect.
As the author wrote his works, those around him became increasingly convinced that he had mental disorder. A little later the diagnosis was confirmed. Vrubel was taken to a psychiatric clinic and his relatives were assured that he was in a state of manic excitement. Data about the deterioration of his health were confirmed. Mikhail Alexandrovich once declared that he was Christ, then claimed that he was Pushkin; sometimes I heard voices. As a result of the examination, it was discovered that the artist’s nervous system was disturbed.
Vrubel fell ill in 1902. As a result, he was found to have behaved very strangely during these years. First, having discovered the illness, he was sent to the Svavey-Mogilevich clinic, then transported to the Serbsky hospital, and a little later he was sent to Usoltsev. Why did this happen? This is explained by the fact that the treatment did not help Vrubel; on the contrary, his condition worsened, and he became so violent that four orderlies could barely restrain him. After three years of changes in positive side did not happen, the disease worsened. During that period, the artist’s vision deteriorated sharply, and he was practically unable to write, which was equivalent to the amputation of an arm or leg. Nevertheless, Mikhail Alexandrovich managed to complete the portrait of Bryusov, after which he became completely blind. The artist spent the last years of his life in Dr. Bari's clinic. A talented painter, an incredibly smart, honest and fair man, died in 1910.
Themes of Vrubel's creativity
In fact, the artist painted paintings that were real for his time. Vrubel depicted movement, intrigue, silence and mystery. In addition to works related to Lermontov’s poem “The Demon,” the artist presented the world with other masterpieces of art. These include the paintings “Hamlet and Ophelia”, “Girl against the background of a Persian carpet”, “Fortune Teller”, “Bogatyr”, “Mikula Selyaninovich”, “Prince Guidon and the Swan Princess”, as well as many others. In these works you can see luxury, love, death, sadness and decay. The artist created many paintings in Russian themes, among which the most popular is “The Swan Princess,” painted in 1900. Also considered stunning works are such works as “Angel with a Censer and a Candle”, “Towards Night”, “Pan” and many portraits of outstanding personalities.
One way or another, all people will remember the masterpiece created by Mikhail Vrubel - “The Demon”, as well as a block of paintings associated with the poem of the Russian writer, depicting feelings, emotions and experiences ordinary person, who is consumed by evil and betrayal, hatred and envy. And, of course, other images are presented in this series of works.
Vrubel and his demon
The famous and talented Vrubel was visited by a muse, who prompted him to paint the painting “The Demon” when he was in Moscow. Not only Lermontov's poem became the basis for the creation of masterpieces, but also the environment: meanness, envy, dishonor of people. A good friend of Mikhail Alexandrovich, Savva Mamontov, allowed the artist to occupy his studio for a while. Let us note that it was in honor of this bright and devoted man that Vrubel named his son.
At the initial stage, Mikhail Alexandrovich did not understand exactly how to portray a demon, with what accuracy and in whose guise. The picture in his head was fuzzy and needed some work, so one day he just sat down and began experimenting, constantly changing or correcting his creation. According to the artist, the demon was the embodiment of a suffering and mournful person. But still he considered him majestic and powerful. As noted above, for Vrubel the demon was not a devil or a devil, he was a creature that steals the human soul.
After analyzing the works of Lermontov and Blok, Vrubel only became convinced of the veracity of his thoughts. An interesting thing is that every day Mikhail Alexandrovich remade the image of the demon. Some days he portrayed him as majestic, powerful and invincible. At other times he made him scary, terrifying, cruel. That is, sometimes the author admired him, and sometimes hated him. But in each picture in the image of a demon there was some kind of sadness, a completely unique beauty. Many believe that it was precisely because of his fictional characters that Vrubel soon went crazy. He imagined them so clearly and was imbued with their essence that he slowly lost himself. Indeed, before the artist began his second work - “The Flying Demon” - he felt great and improved his drawing skills. His paintings were inspiring, sensual, unique.
During the completion of the third painting - “The Defeated Demon” - Mikhail Alexandrovich was overwhelmed with different feelings. It is worth noting that he was the first to violate the ban on the image evil spirits on canvas. This is because all the artists who painted demons soon died. That is why these heroes were banned. All people believe that "playing with fire" in this case with the devil, you can't. This is evidenced by dozens of unrelated events. Many claim that it was precisely because of the violation of this prohibition that the forces of darkness punished Vrubel, depriving him of his mind. But what actually happened remains a mystery. And each person can form his own vision of the work of a brilliant painter and his heroes, develop his own attitude towards them. One thing is clear: the topic chosen by Vrubel always remains relevant. After all, there has always been and will continue to exist a confrontation between evil and good, light and darkness, beautiful and monstrous, sublime and earthly.
The fairy-tale-mystical world of Vrubel, his sensual aesthetics fascinated, attracted and... repelled his contemporaries. His creativity, his spirit remain a mystery - was this artist driven by a painful or brilliant consciousness?
Even when he turned to the themes of the Russian epic or biblical images, even in landscapes and still lifes there was excessive passion, violence - a freedom that refutes established canons. What can we say about demons and spirits!
In the soul of this short man with the appearance of a Venetian “from a painting by Tintoretto or Titian,” there lived a constant unsatisfaction with this world and a longing for another world. This is probably why the theme of the Demon became the main one in his work, even when he did not yet realize it.
Demon first. “They don’t come back from there”
Can a child who has lost his mother meet her? Yes, Seryozha Karenin was lucky: one day, when he was sleeping, his mother broke into the nursery and picked up her son in her arms, glaring at him - saying goodbye forever.
How often did Misha Vrubel imagine meeting his mother? His mother died when he was three years old, and a few years later his sister and brother left this world. Only Anna remained - the elder sister, the most close person for life.
Anna Karenina is the first demonic woman in Vrubel’s work. An umbrella and gloves thrown in a rush. Passion and tragedy.
The second demon. "I'm bored, demon"
Mikhail's father was a military man, the family moved from place to place - Omsk, Saratov, Astrakhan, St. Petersburg, Kharkov, Odessa... All this did not contribute to long-term attachments.
We stayed in Odessa for a long time. Here, from a teenager, Misha turns into a young man, arousing the interest and delight of those around him. He excels in literature and languages, is interested in history, reads Roman classics in the original, and graduates from the Odessa Richelieu Gymnasium with a gold medal. The family encourages Mishino's passion for drawing; he attends the Odessa Drawing School.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Self-portrait
Sociable, with diverse musical, theatrical and literary interests, the young man easily makes acquaintances with people of art and science. In his letters to his sister, he describes in detail the adult world that opened up to him.
Memorial plaque on the house in which in 1884-1889. lived M. Vrubel.
Board - granite, bas-relief; sculptor I. P. Kavaleridze, architect R. P. Bykova; opened in 1962.
“... the St. Petersburg Russian Opera Company was in Odessa in the summer... I heard: “A Life for the Tsar,” “The Jew,” “Thunderbreaker” and “Faust”; I met Korsov and Derviz through Krasovsky”; “Now in Odessa there is a traveling art exhibition, the caretaker of which, De-Villiers, I recently met; he is a very nice man, a gendarmerie officer, and a wonderful landscape painter himself; he asked me to come to him at any time to write and promised to get paintings from Novoselsky’s gallery to copy.”
And at the same time:
“I envy you a thousand, a thousand times, Dear Anyuta, that you are in St. Petersburg: do you understand, madam, what it means for a person sitting in this damned Odessa, with eyes sore, looking at all her stupid people, to read letters from a St. Petersburger, from whom so seems to breathe the freshness of the Neva”; “Lord, how do you look at the life of the young ladies of the Novorossiysk slums... leisure hours... are spent in the most empty conversations in the closest circle of acquaintances, which only dull and vulgarize a person’s entire mental system. Men spend no better time: food, sleep and cards.”
...Perhaps it’s all youthful maximalism and thirst for life, but I remember Pushkin’s Faust: “I’m bored, demon.”
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Faust. Triptych. 1896
The third demon. Crazy technology and strange aesthetics
In St. Petersburg, studying at the law faculty, Mikhail throws himself into the maelstrom of the capital's bohemian life and... in search of truth: he studies philosophy and is forever imbued with Kant's theory of aesthetics. Creativity becomes for him the only possibility reconcile being with spirit.
At the Academy of Arts, Vrubel entered the workshop of P. Chistyakov, whose students were I. Repin, V. Surikov, V. Polenov, V. Vasnetsov and V. Serov.
The famous Vrubel outline and “crystalline” are from Chistyakov. From him the artist learned the structural analysis of form and the division of the drawing into small planes, the joints between which form the edges of the volume.
“When I started studying with Chistyakov, I passionately liked his main provisions, because they were nothing more than a formula for my living attitude towards nature, which was instilled in me.”
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Rose
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. White iris
Many years later, the artist M. Mukhin recalled the stunning impression Vrubel’s technique made on the students of the Stroganov School:
“...the maestro, with quick, angular, chopped strokes, built the finest graphic web on a sheet of paper. He painted in disparate, unconnected pieces. ...Other teachers, at the beginning of the drawing, encouraged us to have integrity, a lack of detail that made it difficult to see the large form. But Vrubel's method was completely different; at some point it even seemed to us that the artist had lost control over the drawing... and we were already anticipating the artist’s failure... And suddenly, before our eyes, the cosmic strokes on the paper began to gradually take on a crystalline form. ...before my eyes appeared the fruit of the highest craftsmanship, a work of amazing internal expression, clear constructive thinking, presented in an ornamental form.”
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Virgin and Child
The fourth demon. unrequited love
While working on the painting of the St. Cyril Church, for the restoration of which he was invited to Kyiv by Professor A. V. Prakhov, Vrubel fell madly in love with Prakhov’s eccentric wife, Emilia Lvovna.
K. Korovin recalls how, while swimming in a pond, he saw large scars on Vrubel’s chest; when asked about them, the unhappy lover replied: “... I loved a woman, she didn’t love me - she even loved me, but many things prevented her from understanding me. I suffered from the inability to explain to her this disturbing thing. I suffered, but when I cut myself, the suffering lessened.”
The fifth demon. "Demon Seated"
Vrubel went to Odessa to be treated for lovesickness. In Odessa, he first begins to work on the image of the Seated Demon. Serov recalled that he saw a half-length image of the Demon against the backdrop of mountains: “... in an overturned form, the photograph presented a surprisingly complex pattern, similar to an extinct crater or a landscape on the moon.” The picture was created by only two oil paints: whitewash and soot. Vrubel had no equal in conveying shades of white.
Mikhail Alexandrovich’s father did not like the work:
“This demon seemed to me like an evil, sensual... repulsive... elderly woman.”
The artist destroyed this version, but returned to the theme of the Demon later, in Moscow.
From a letter to my sister:
“For about a month now I have been painting the Demon, that is, not so much a monumental Demon, which I will write over time, but a “demonic” one - a half-naked, winged, young, sadly pensive figure sitting, hugging his knees, against the backdrop of the sunset and looking at the blooming a clearing from which branches stretch out to her, bending under flowers.”
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Seated Demon In “Seated Demon,” Vrubel’s “trademark” large “modeling” and the crystalline nature of the painting were most clearly manifested. It is noteworthy that Anna Vrubel recalled her brother’s passion for natural science and growing crystals in the gymnasium.
Demon sixth. Lermontovsky
In 1891, Vrubel was offered to make illustrations for the collected works of Lermontov, published by Kushnerev’s company. Of course he started with "Demon"! The artist painted it endlessly, making many sketches.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Demon head
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Demon (Figure 2)
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. flying demon
And it was wild and wonderful all around
God's whole world; but a proud spirit
He cast a contemptuous eye
The creation of his God,
And on his high forehead
Nothing was reflected
Demon at the monastery
To this day, near that cell
The stone is visible through the burnt
A hot tear like a flame,
An inhuman tear!..
The public was not ready to face such a Demon: after the book’s release, Vrubel’s illustrations were harshly criticized for “rudeness, ugliness, caricature and absurdity.”
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Tamara and Demon
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Tamara in a coffin
Not a single illustrator has been able to embody with such force the restless hopelessness, melancholy and bitterness of this unearthly creature.
For example: The Demon as imagined by K. Makovsky
The seventh demon. Unfulfilled "Dream"
In 1896, Savva Mamontov ordered Vrubel two panels measuring 20x5m for the All-Russian Nizhny Novgorod exhibition dedicated to the coronation of Nicholas II. Down with the demons! Vrubel conceives the image of Dreams - a muse that inspires the artist. Also an alien spirit, but quite friendly.
The commission recognized both of Vrubel’s panels – “Mikula Selyaninovich” and “Princess Greza” – as monstrous. In response, Mamontov built a special pavilion for the arrival of the imperial couple entitled: “Exhibition of decorative panels by the artist M. A. Vrubel, rejected by the jury of the Imperial Academy of Arts.” True, the last five words had to be painted over.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Princess Dream. 1896
The newspapers exploded with criticism, and Maxim Gorky especially distinguished himself (by the way, much later he wrote a monstrous article against jazz in the Soviet press) - in five articles about the exhibition he exposed the “poverty of spirit and poverty of imagination” of the artist.
Subsequently, one of the pediments of the Metropol Hotel was decorated with the majolica panel “Princess of Dreams” by A. Vrubel.
The eighth demon: who is in this form?
In a conversation with his father about the first, destroyed Demon, Mikhail explained that a demon is a spirit that combines male and female forms. This probably scared away customers and spectators in female images artist. I was disturbed by a bewitching mystery, a call into the unknown. His “Fortune Teller”, the spirit of “Lilac” and even “Girl against the background of a Persian carpet” are alien to Russian aesthetics; the east “spent the night” here with its destructive Shamakhan queen.
Lilac
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. A girl against the background of a Persian carpet (the girl’s father, Masha Dokhnovich, refused the portrait)
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Fortune teller
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Swan Princess. 1900, 93×142 cm.
In this face, half-face eyes, turn of the head - the same demonic melancholy? Did the Demon, contrary to Lermontov, take Tamara into his joyless world? Did he turn him into the Swan Princess? This “otherness” made “The Swan Princess” the favorite painting of Alexander Blok, but not the rest of the public - it was also subject to fierce criticism.
Demon Ninth. Spirits of different worlds.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Morning. 1897
Ilya Repin had difficulty dissuading Mikhail Alexandrovich from destroying the “Morning” panel, which was rejected by the customer, where the line between male and female is completely erased in the images of spirits.
Appealing to the spirits of the forest, rivers, and mountains is very characteristic of Vrubel’s “formula of a living relationship with nature.” And he returns again and again to mythological images.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Pan On the Tenisheva estate, where the Vrubel couple are invited to relax, the artist, inspired by Anatole France’s short story “Saint Satyr”, creates “Pan” in one day
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. ValkyrieThe owner of the estate, Princess Maria Tenisheva, appears in the image of a Valkyrie, a warrior who transports fallen warriors to Valhalla.
“Valkyrie”, together with “Swamp Lights”, as a symbol of the return to the city of the artist’s youth, ended up in the collection of Odessa art museum(gift of M.V. Braikevich). Also in the museum collection are two drawings by the artist - “Ya. V. Tarnovsky’s Family at the Card Table”, “Portrait of an Unknown Woman” and two majolicas - “Volkhova” and “Sea Queen” (from the collection of A.P. Russov).
Volkhova 1
Sea queen
Demon tenth. Demon - Angel.
Vrubel explained that his Demon should not be confused with the traditional devil, demons are “mythical creatures, messengers... The spirit is not so much evil as suffering and mournful, but at the same time a powerful spirit... majestic.”
Demons, angels, seraphim for the artist are divine entities endowed with greatness. In his paintings they rise to their full enormous height, announcing a different world.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Demon
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Angel with censer and candles
The six-winged seraphim, Azrael, the angel of death, also has a dual nature.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Six-winged Seraphim
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Demon and angel "in one bottle"
The eleventh demon - ascended and defeated.
In 1898, Vrubel, a decade later, returned to Lermontov’s “Demon” (Lermontov himself reworked his “Demon” until the end of his life; nine editions of it have survived): he oscillates between the plots of “The Flying Demon” and “The Defeated Demon.”
In 1900, the artist received recognition: at the World Exhibition in Paris he was awarded a gold medal for the fireplace “Volga Svyatoslavich and Mikula Selyaninovich”.
"Flying Demon" remains unfinished. He works furiously on “The Demon Defeated,” without respite, endlessly reworking...
Next - a diagnosis of “incurable progressive paralysis” and a psychiatric hospital.
“My dear woman, wonderful woman, save me from my demons...” Vrubel writes to his wife while in the hospital.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Flying Demon
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Flying Demon. 1899, 430×138 cm.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Defeated Demon This broken Demon has empty glassy eyes, the plumage of once powerful wings has turned into decorative peacock feathers.
Twelfth demon. Prophet
The last of his “otherworldly subjects” - “Visions of the Prophet Ezekiel” - remains unfinished: at the beginning of 1906, the artist Vrubel died - he went blind.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Visions of the prophet Ezekiel. 1905
Doctor Usoltsev wrote: “It was not the case with him as with others that the most subtle, so to speak, last in appearance ideas - aesthetic - die first; they were the last to die because they were the first.”
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Self-portrait. 1885
Demon thirteenth. Messenger of other worlds
Perhaps Alexander Blok was the only one who during his lifetime fully accepted Vrubel’s world:
“By constantly returning to the “Demon” in his creations, he only gave away the secret of his mission. He himself was a demon, a fallen beautiful angel, for whom the world was endless joy and endless torment... He left us his Demons, as exorcists against purple evil, against the night. I can only tremble at what Vrubel and his ilk reveal to humanity once a century. We don’t see the worlds they saw.”
It seems to us - a century later - that the Demon cannot be any different. It worries and shocks us...
Even people who do not understand art cannot help but know Vrubel’s “Demon”. This work is amazing. A seated, athletically built male figure against a sunset background is painted in a very unusual technique. It seems that this is not even a painting, but a panel. How did it come to mind? famous artist idea to draw mythical creature? Read about it below.
History of creation
Vrubel's "Demon" appeared in connection with the anniversary edition of Lermontov's poem of the same name. The artist was invited to illustrate the book, as he was recommended for this position by Sava Mamontov himself, who was famous for his excellent artistic taste. For the young artist Vrubel, the demon became a real breakthrough. After all, up to this point, the former student had not yet had time to really work. His work was limited to painting the Kyiv monastery, where he restored frescoes. Surprisingly, in Kyiv the artist was painting the Mother of God, and in Moscow he was offered to paint a demon. It must be said that the artist already had experience in such drawing. The story of Vrubel's "Demon" begins with unrequited love. An artist in Kyiv fell in love with Emilia Prahova, the wife of his customer. His beloved was a married lady, so there was no question of any mutual feelings. In order to somehow express his unrequited love, Vrubel draws a demon and draws his beloved’s head on it. The artist destroyed this sketch. The resulting sketch scared Mikhail Alexandrovich. But in Moscow he remembers the pencil sketch, and on its basis the artist creates his cult masterpiece “The Seated Demon.”
Description of the painting
Vrubel's "Demon" was written in a very interesting technique. The picture was created not from brushstrokes, but as if from crystals. When looking at the canvas, it seems that what is in front of your eyes is not a painting, but a well-made appliqué. According to the idea, the seated demon should personify the titan. The young man depicted in the painting took a thoughtful pose. He sits with his arms wrapped around his legs and looks into the distance. His tension is revealed by tightly clenched hands. Looking at the sitting demon, one can understand that this young man has already had to endure a lot. His bare torso looks very impressive. The muscles on her tanned arms bulge, which looks very unusual in contrast to her young face. A description of Vrubel’s painting “The Demon” would not be complete without mentioning the landscape. The demon is painted sitting on a mountain, surrounded by flowers. Surprisingly, beautiful and delicate plants seem to be sculpted from stone. The artist took a lower angle to deliberately make his already large demon even larger. The figure seems so huge that some of it doesn’t even fit into the canvas. A pensive man does not seem repulsive to us. His gloomy expression, questioning lines on his forehead and sad eyes rather evoke sympathy than disgust.
Color range
Vrubel's "Demon" is written in contrasts. Blue, which is present both in the youth’s clothing and in the ground on which the figure sits, represents hope. The cool shades in the painting are supported by the purple colors of the sunset. The rest of the painting is done in warm orange-brown tones. The figure is illuminated by the sun, which makes it less mystical and more earthly.
One can consider the cold shades in the picture as the birth of some new world that the demon dreams of. All the tension in the protagonist’s pose tells the story that the character’s reality is not very satisfying. The sunset of the day, painted in cold shades, should convey to the viewer the idea that everything bad in life comes to an end. A new day will come regardless of whether a person wants it or not. But before the morning dawns, the gray-black colors will take effect. The shadows of the coming night can already be seen in the picture. But the white stone flowers to the right of the figure give hope. They balance the composition, acting as a counterweight open space left. Without these white spots, the figure would visually fall to the side.
Analysis of the picture
On the canvas, the seated demon is depicted as a young titan. This analogy is not accidental. Vrubel himself did not associate his demon with either the devil or the devil. Vrubel wrote that a demon is the state of his soul. Today you can hear the opinion of critics that the artist went crazy precisely because he chose an otherworldly creature from hell as the main character of his paintings. But Vrubel had a different opinion on this matter. He believed that it was simply impossible to express his inner essence in any other way. You should look at the picture carefully, and you can find many contradictions in it.
For example, the titan's figure is powerful and muscular. But the face is very young and very sad. The viewer can understand that the main character does not like the fate of the demon, but he cannot do anything about his fate. The film well conveys three states: constraint, melancholy and helplessness. The cold peace that the demon found at the top of the mountain is not what he expected to see there.
The style in which the picture is painted helps to better understand it. Crystal fragments seem to form a figure. The viewer can assume that the artist wanted to convey to him that even those individuals who are made of stone can have a subtle and vulnerable soul.
Criticism
Contemporaries warmly received Vrubel’s painting “The Demon”. Where is this painting located today? In the same place where it was located two centuries ago - in the Tretyakov Gallery. It was there that the painting was first exhibited before the whole world saw it. Chaliapin said about the painting that the demon shocked him. The singer admitted that the demon shook him to the core, and it was simply impossible to take his eyes off the picture. Blok, like many of his contemporaries, believed that Vrubel managed to fully embrace Lermontov’s thought and penetrate every line of the poem. Despite this, many critics believed that the artist’s demon was not disgusting enough; he could not become the embodiment of evil and vice, which any manifestation needs to be dark forces. It is surprising that the film of the young talent was able not only to win the hearts of the domestic public, but also to gain recognition abroad. Picasso said that it was thanks to the style that he first saw in Vrubel that he got the idea to create new style in art. Inspiring and giving confidence to his colleagues that art needs a new look - these are the artist’s main achievements.
Sculpture
The demon appeared not only in paintings artist. Vrubel created his sculptures on a similar theme. The most famous of them is the “Head of the Demon”; unfortunately, it has not reached us, as it was badly damaged at the hands of a vandal. The sculpture was exhibited at the Russian Museum when one of the visitors to the exhibition could not contain his feelings and threw the work off the pedestal. They say that the man was crazy, but maybe someone was simply terrified to see the manifestation of the devil in the flesh.
But Vrubel enjoyed making his sculpture. He made it immediately after he painted the painting “The Seated Demon.” But if the face of the titan from the painting was sad and romantic, then in the sculptural portrait the face was transformed. It was a scary mask covered with a mane thick hair. To add more realism to his work, the artist decided to paint the sculpture.
Demon and Tamara
Where else, besides paintings, can you find mythical hero in the works of Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel? “The Demon and Tamara” is one of the illustrations for Lermontov’s collection. The illustration was made on whatman paper with watercolors. Vrubel decided to show the audience his vision of the moment of the meeting of the Demon and Tamara. In the drawing, the main characters do not seem to experience any feelings. Tamara's detachment and lack of premonition of death makes the illustration more meaningful. How were Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel’s illustrations assessed? “The Demon and Tamara”, as well as other illustrations, were not so highly rated by the audience. Publishers believed that Vrubel’s drawing style was too pretentious, and therefore did not fit well with the illustrations of other artists. Naturally, publishers were afraid that the book would sell worse if buyers could not evaluate those presented in printed edition illustrations. Vrubel even had to redraw some illustrations. But the artist was unable to fully adapt to the required style. He was too original and freedom-loving. Rigid boundaries limited his creativity and did not help him create masterpieces - this is what the artist believed. But Vrubel didn’t really want to sell his talent for money. He wanted to create not for the sake of large fees, but for the sake of the process itself.
flying
In the wake of his success, the artist decided to return to the topic that interested him most. “The Flying Demon” is a painting by Vrubel, which appeared 9 years after the first painting, which earned worldwide recognition. But unlike his first demon, the artist left the second unfinished. It's difficult to say what caused this. Perhaps Vrubel was disappointed by the topic, perhaps in the process of bringing the idea to life, inspiration left the artist. But one thing is clear: the picture was well thought out in advance. Some sketches have even survived to this day. Vrubel’s painting “The Flying Demon” depicts a mountainous area and the figure of a hero in the middle. Unlike the first creation, the second image became less allegorical and less detailed. The figure in the picture is barely outlined. But the folds of the cloak and the background are well worked out. The demon flies between heaven and earth, cutting through the narrow space allotted to him by the author. The freedom that the character represents seems too compressed.
Portraying a flying demon, Vrubel reflected on the change of eras. Fame had already come to him, his paintings were successfully exhibited abroad. But for some reason the future seemed to the artist as something gray and uncomfortable. Probably for the second time Vrubel again wrote his state of mind. But if the first time he was able to clearly express his feelings, then the second attempt clearly failed. There are no specifics, everything is gray and blurry. Although the likelihood that this is exactly the condition the artist had is very high.
Defeated
The last demon that the artist painted became prophetic for him. As always, when creating his mythical character, Mikhail Alexandrovich turned his soul inside out. At the time when the picture was being painted, changes were taking place in the artist’s life. And they weren't happy. “The Defeated Demon,” written by Vrubel, has a gray color scheme. This is not surprising. The artist suffered from a psychological disorder and therefore gradually lost his sight. It's hard to imagine how this can be dealt with. But the artist held out until the last. In Vrubel’s painting “The Defeated Demon,” the character is depicted in a strange pose and with a clearly distorted face. When the painting was exhibited for the first time, it received a large flurry of negative reviews. Even the artist’s friends noticed that the demon was too disproportionate. Perhaps it was these remarks that forced Vrubel to come to the exhibition more than once and redraw his character right there.
They said that the demon changed before our eyes, took different poses, and the expression on his face changed from day to day. When analyzing Vrubel’s painting “The Defeated Demon,” one cannot help but say about the background on which the character is located. The mountain gorge looks like a grave, and the feathers from the wings scattered nearby were supposed to show the viewer that the higher a person climbs, the harder it will be for him to fall. The action of the picture takes place against the backdrop of sunset. This symbolic background draws a line under the life of the demon and Vrubel. There is an opinion that the artist wanted to show with his demon his invincibility in the life of every person. Even though the hero has fallen, he still breathes and will live. But the impression the canvas makes is such that it seems as if the demon is too weak and will die any minute. But one should not deny the fact that the artist was never able to complete the idea he started, so now viewers do not have the opportunity to admire what should have turned out in the end.
Demons in creativity
Every person has internal problems, and everyone struggles with them differently. Some go to a psychotherapist, others keep a diary. Demons occupy a central position in Vrubel’s work for the reason that they were images of his soul. As the artist himself admitted, he felt better more than once after he poured out his soul on canvas. But why did Vrubel associate his inner tenant with a demon? The fact is that the artist did not consider this character to be something evil or vicious. For Vrubel, a demon is neither a devil nor a devil. This is a fallen being who is trying to find his place in this world. Agree, it’s allegorical. If you look at all the demons painted by the artist, you can trace the mental state of their author. Some say that Vrubel created prophetic paintings. But you can look at the problem from a different angle. The pictures were not prophetic. The artist through his creativity expressed his mental anguish, his illness, which destroyed him. The subject matter of his work has nothing to do with it. After all, his first creations were considered a miracle and a revolution in art. So it’s stupid to believe that it was the “dark” theme chosen by the artist that ruined the creator.
Influence on followers
Were all geniuses crazy? It's hard to say. But we can say for sure that Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel and the demons he wrote changed the course of history. The artist did not immediately gain popularity. Many did not understand the creator's style. It seemed too pretentious and unrealistic. The artist's uniqueness was attributed to his illness and strange image thinking. But as Vrubel’s attending physician said, there is nothing strange in the creative manifestation of his patient. After all, each person has his own picture of the world.
When did true fame come to the artist? This happened during his lifetime, but at that time Vrubel was already blind and was living out his days in a psychiatric hospital. But it was not the creator’s compassion that prompted the public to reconsider their views on the artist’s work. At the turn of the century, fashion changed. Paintings by artists such as Monet and Degas became popular. At this time, Ge, Benois, Chaliapin and Gorky revised their attitude towards the special style of their contemporary.
It is difficult to say whether the artist was ahead of his time. Mikhail Vrubel lived in his own world and painted his own vision. Naturally, the artist’s taste was formed under the influence of his contemporaries and fashion. But Vrubel managed to develop a unique style before Cubism became fashionable. Although, as already written above, Picasso said that it was thanks to the work of Mikhail Alexandrovich that he changed his style of writing and interpreted the artist’s style in his own way.
What happened to the illustrations of Lermontov’s demon? They were warmly received by the public. The books were sold out both at the time of their publication and are still sold today. The artist managed better than others to understand the feelings of the great poet and depict the image on paper. It must be said that after Vrubel no one even tried to take on the illustration of Lermontov’s work. It is difficult to withstand the competition of an artist who spent his entire life merging with the image he created and did not stop creating his demons until last days. Vrubel taught a lesson to the entire modern generation. There is no need to be afraid of your uniqueness. Each artist should try to develop his own unique style in order to be different from others. With talent and perseverance you can achieve a lot in life.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel (1856-1910) I shouldn't have become an artist at all. He received a law degree; there was no one in his family who was associated with painting. In this respect, his story is very similar to his life path. He was a preacher for a long time, but became an artist in order to convey the essence of Christianity to ordinary people. Vrubel, unlike Vincent, was not sick with the Bible. Immanuel Kant brought him to painting.
Oh, those German philosophers! How much they have done for Russian culture. Where are we without Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer? I’m generally silent about Karl Marx. Those born in the Soviet Union absorbed his philosophy with their mother's milk. So, Vrubel had Kant. The artist read it in a special way. In Kant's theory of aesthetics, the category of geniuses with their special mission - work in the sphere between nature and freedom - was recognized only in the field of art. Who doesn’t feel like a genius at 24? The choice was obvious: of all types of art, Mikhail Vrubel liked painting the most.
Vrubel was lucky. Despite the fact that the future artist entered the Academy only as a volunteer, he began to study privately in the workshop of the legendary Pavel Petrovich Chistyakov. Chistyakov, in fact, was the teacher of almost all the stars of Russian painting of the late 19th century. Among his students were Repin, Surikov, Polenov, Vasnetsov, Serov. They all had absolutely different style, but they all unanimously called Chistyakov their only real teacher.
Vrubel studied with the best masters, had conflicts with eminent colleagues (most often he attacked Ilya Efimovich Repin). One day, during dinner, he said to Repin:
“And you, Ilya Efimovich, don’t even know how to draw!”
Chistyakov recommended Vrubel to Adrian Viktorovich Prakhov, who at that moment was engaged in the restoration of the St. Cyril Church in Kyiv. He needed an unknown and inexpensive master with an academic education. Vrubel was perfect. But only at first glance. The artist’s works were clearly of an absolutely independent nature. There was not a word in them about the restoration of monuments of the 12th century.
Everything would be fine. The customer liked the master’s work, his fee was increased, and he could become famous. Yes, he could, but in his life Vrubel never looked for simple paths. Love came into the artist’s life - the scourge and inspiration of sublime natures. It seems that there was nothing wrong with this if the object of the master’s love had not become the wife of his patron and employer, Emilia Lvovna Prakhova. It was a complete failure. At first, the ardent lover was sent out of harm's way to Italy, but this did not affect him in any way. Returning to Kyiv, Vrubel immediately announced that he intended to marry Emilia Lvovna, and he announced this not to her, but to her husband. The ending was predictable. Vrubel was forced to leave, and also began to cut himself. This made him feel better.
A new stage in the artist’s life began in Moscow. Here he met his main benefactor, philanthropist Savva Mamontov. Even before this, Vrubel had a crisis of faith, at the moment when he was painting the painting “Prayer for the Cup.” In one of his letters to his sister, the master wrote:
“I draw and write with all my might of Christ, but meanwhile, probably because I am away from my family, all religious rituals, including the Resurrection of Christ, are even annoying to me, so alien.”
Strange, but it was while working on the painting of Kyiv churches that the artist came to a theme that did not leave him until the end of his life. He found his "Demon".
"Demon" became business card artist. His defeat and his triumph. Many consider the series of paintings and sculptures to be a kind of illustration to the poem by Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov. But this is not entirely true. Lermontov’s work is the root cause, but in Vrubel’s mind everything was transformed in a bizarre way.
The artist's demon is not the spirit of evil. He is the soul of nature itself and the master himself.
Vrubel always had his own view of the world. He considered nature not just alive, but inhabited by spirits! These spirits are the real face of the world around us, its essence, but very few see them.
Thus, the story of the Demon turns into a completely different plot than in Lermontov’s poem. This is a story about the death of this world. There are three paintings in the series, like three stages of the plot. Meditation - “Demon sitting”, battle - “Demon flying” and defeat - “Demon defeated”.
It is symbolic that the last picture in this trilogy should have been the most striking. Vrubl experiments with phosphorus-based paints. He wants his painting to literally glow. The public will see it for the first time at the 1902 exhibition. But what a surprise visitors will be when they see not only the canvas, but also the master finishing it. Mikhail Vrubel did not like the final result until the very last moment. The colors in the picture became brighter, but the Demon’s gaze dimmed and took on an increasingly angry expression.
The demon was defeated, but defeated in the splendor of his triumph. The picture literally glowed. The pink crown on the hero’s head glowed with bright fire, the peacock feathers shimmered and shimmered. But the artist did not calculate. The brightness of the colors was phenomenal, but they were short-lived. On the day the exhibition closed, they had already begun to get dark. The picture is still spectacular. But this is only a pale shadow of what it was before.
“The Defeated Demon” brought Vrubel recognition, but the artist himself was no longer able to enjoy its fruits. Immediately after the exhibition, he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. There was a slight improvement after a year of treatment, but the loss of his only son finally broke the painter. He was less and less conscious, and by the end of 1906 he was completely blind.
But before that, while already lying in the hospital, he created two more masterpieces. These are “The Six-Winged Seraph” and “The Vision of the Prophet Ezekiel.” Vrubel returned to Christianity again, but now the work frightened him. It seemed to the artist that religiosity and strict fasting would help him heal. They didn't help.
And the painter’s fame grew in society. In 1905 he was made an academician of painting. Vrubel did not attend any of the meetings, but he still appeared in honorary status at the Academy.
On the day of his death, the artist got out of bed and said to his servant who was taking care of him in the hospital:
“Get ready, Nikolai, let’s go to the Academy!”
And let's go. The next day, the coffin with Vrubel’s body was displayed there.
Mikhail Vrubel. Demon sitting. 1890 Tretyakov Gallery
In 2007, I entered the Vrubel Hall for the first time. The lights are dim. Dark walls. You approach the “Demon” and... you fall into the other world. A world in which powerful and sad creatures live. A world where the purple-red sky turns giant flowers to stone. And the space looks like a kaleidoscope, and you can imagine the sound of glass.
A unique, colorful, attractive Demon sits opposite you.
Even if you don’t understand painting, you will feel the colossal energy of the canvas.
How did Mikhail Vrubel (1856-1910) manage to create this masterpiece? It's all about the Russian Renaissance, growing crystals, big eyes and much more.
Russian Renaissance
The “Demon” could not have been born earlier. A special atmosphere was needed for its appearance. Russian Renaissance.
Let us remember how it was for the Italians at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries.
Florence flourished. Merchants and bankers craved not only money, but also spiritual pleasures. The best poets, painters and sculptors were generously rewarded, as long as they created.
For the first time in many centuries, the customers were secular people, and not the church. But a person from high society does not want to see a flat, stereotyped face and a tightly closed body. He wants beauty.
Therefore, Madonnas became human and beautiful, with open shoulders and chiseled noses.
Raphael. Madonna in greenery (fragment). 1506 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Russian artists experienced something similar in mid-19th century. Part of the intelligentsia began to doubt the divine nature of Christ.
Some spoke cautiously, portraying the Savior as humanized. So, Kramskoy has the Son of God without a halo, with a haggard face.
(fragment). 1872 Tretyakov Gallery Someone looked for a way out by turning to fairy tales and pagan images, like Vasnetsov.
Victor Vasnetsov. Sirin and Alkonost. 1896 Vrubel followed the same path. He took a mythical creature, the Demon, and gave him human traits. Please note that there is no devilry in the form of horns and hooves in the picture.
Only the title of the painting explains who is in front of us. We see beauty first. Athletic body against the backdrop of a fantastic landscape. Why isn't the Renaissance to you?
Feminine as a demon
Vrubel's Demon is special. And it’s not just the absence of red evil eyes and a tail.
Before us is a Nephilim, fallen angel. He is huge, so he doesn’t even fit into the frame of the picture.
His clasped fingers and slumped shoulders suggest complex emotions. He's tired of doing evil. He does not notice the beauty around him, since nothing pleases him.
He is strong, but there is nowhere to put this strength. The position of the powerful body, which froze under the yoke of mental confusion, is very unusual.
Mikhail Vrubel. Seated demon (fragment “The Demon’s Face”). 1890 Please note: Vrubel's Demon has an unusual face. Huge eyes long hair, plump lips. Despite his muscular body, something feminine slips through him.
Vrubel himself said that he deliberately creates an androgynous image. After all, both male and female spirits can be dark. This means that his image must combine the features of both sexes.
Kaleidoscope "Demon"
Vrubel's contemporaries doubted that “The Demon” belonged to painting. His work was so unusually written.
The artist worked partially with a palette knife (a metal spatula for removing excess paint), applying the image fractionally. The surface looks like a kaleidoscope or crystal.
This technique took a long time to mature for the master. His sister Anna recalled that Vrubel was interested in growing crystals in the gymnasium.
And in his youth he studied with the artist Pavel Chistyakov. He taught us to divide space on edges, looking for volume. Vrubel enthusiastically adopted this method, as it fit well with his plans.
Mikhail Vrubel. Portrait of V.A. Usoltseva. 1905 Fantastic color "Demon"
Vrubel. Detail of the painting “Seated Demon”. 1890 Vrubel was an uncanny colorist. He could do a lot. For example, using only white and black to create a feeling of color due to the subtlest shades of gray.
And when you remember “The Date of Tamara and the Demon,” it appears in color in your imagination.
Mikhail Vrubel. Date of Tamara and Demon. 1890 Tretyakov Gallery Therefore, it is not surprising that such a master creates an unusual flavor, somewhat similar to Vasnetsovsky. Remember the unusual sky in “The Three Princesses”?
Victor Vasnetsov. Three princesses underground kingdom. 1881 Tretyakov Gallery Although Vrubel has a three-color pattern: blue - yellow - red, the shades are unusual. Therefore, it is not surprising that late XIX For centuries such painting was not understood. Vrubel’s “Demon” was called rude and clumsy.
But at the beginning of the 20th century, in the era of modernity, Vrubel was already idolized. Such originality of colors and shapes was only welcomed. And the artist became very close to the public. Now he was compared to such “eccentrics” as.
"Demon" as an obsession
10 years after “The Seated Demon,” Vrubel created “The Defeated Demon.” And it so happened that after completing this work, the artist ended up in a psychiatric clinic.
Therefore, it is believed that the “Demon” defeated Vrubel and drove him crazy.
I don't think so.
Mikhail Vrubel. The demon is defeated. 1902 Tretyakov Gallery He was interested in this image, and he worked on it. It is common for an artist to return to one image several times.
