Vrubel Mikhail Alexandrovich. Mikhail Vrubel: from icon to demon, the history of a new style

We publish the story of the genius Mikhail Vrubel, who was faithful to his creativity until the end of his life.

"The Demon Defeated", 1901-1902

The year 1901 was marked by a major family event- Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel and his wife Nadezhda Ivanovna had a son. The couple was preparing for this event very cheerfully; it seemed to them that the birth of a child would not interfere with their elegant and social life, they fantasized about how they would go abroad with their child to exhibit “The Demon.”

“The Demon Seated”, 1890 (before illness)

The spouses were in for a terrible disappointment - the boy was born with a split upper lip, this deeply struck Mikhail Vrubel. From that very moment, his relatives and friends began to notice that something was wrong with the artist.

Mikhail Vrubel with his wife, Nadezhda Ivanovna Zabela-Vrubel, 1892 (before illness)

Vrubel paints a portrait of his son, who was named Savva, and gives his appearance that expression of extreme anxiety that he himself is probably experiencing.

“Portrait of the Artist’s Son,” 1902 (beginning of illness, but before first hospitalization)

At the beginning of 1902, the painting “Demon Defeated” was shown to the public at the World of Art exhibition in St. Petersburg. This is what Vrubel’s wife’s sister, Ekaterina Ivanovna Ge, remembers about that exhibition: “Mikhail Alexandrovich, despite the fact that the painting was already on display, rewrote it every day from early morning, and I was horrified to see the change every day. There were days when the “Demon” was very scary, and then again deep sadness and new beauty appeared in the expression of the Demon’s face... In general, despite the illness, the ability to create did not leave Vrubel, it even seemed to grow, but living with him was already it became unbearable."

“The Defeated Demon”, 1901-1902 (started before illness, rewrote it many times)

In March 1902, the artist was first admitted to a private psychiatric hospital. The picture of the illness was dominated by ideas of one's own greatness; a period of such strong excitement ensued that meetings with even the closest people - his wife and sister - were interrupted for six months.

"Pan", 1899 (before illness)

In September of the same year, Vrubel was transported to the clinic of the psychiatrist Serbsky, wearing only a coat and hat, even without underwear, as they said that he had destroyed all his belongings.

“The Swan Princess”, 1900 (before illness)

In this hospital, things went much better, he wrote completely logical letters to his family, and on the advice of the doctor, he began to paint again.

"Lilac", 1900 (before illness)

On February 18, 1903, Mikhail Vrubel left the clinic, but he was very sad, and by April he was completely “unstuck”: he often cried, was sad, said that he was no good, could not work at all, although he was offered various orders. On May 3, 1903, a misfortune happened - Savvochka died, only child Vrubeli. In the face of this grief, Mikhail Alexandrovich behaved very courageously, personally took charge of organizing the funeral, and tried to support his wife, who was in despair.

“Portrait of N. I. Zabela-Vrubel”, 1904 (during illness)

After the funeral of their son, the Vrubels left for their estate near Kiev, where the artist became very nervous and demanded that he be taken to a hospital as soon as possible. Someone advised that Vrubel be sent to one of the psychiatric clinics in Riga.

One of the versions of the work “Pearl”, written in pastel, approximately 1904 (during illness)

This time the illness was of a completely different nature: there was no trace left of megalomania; on the contrary, it was replaced by complete oppression. Vrubel was despondent and sad, considered himself a nonentity and wanted to lose his life.

“Self-Portrait with a Shell”, 1905 (during illness)

In the fall, the artist’s sister moved him from Riga to Moscow. In a Moscow clinic, he began to draw very successful portraits of patients, but his thoughts were confused, it seemed to Vrubel that both his wife and sister were also patients psychiatric hospital.

“Water lilies”, 1890 (before illness)

The drawings made in the clinic were presented at an exhibition of Moscow artists; not a shadow of the disease was visible in them.

"Hamlet and Ophelia", 1884 (before illness)

During this period, Vrubel painted the painting “The Six-Winged Seraphim,” depicting an angel with a burning lamp, a very beautiful thing, made with burning and bright colors.

“Six-winged Seraphim (Azrael)”, 1904 (during illness)

By the spring of 1904, the artist was so ill that doctors and relatives thought that he would not live to see the summer and wanted to take him abroad, but then abandoned these plans. Moscow clinics were closed for the summer, so the psychiatrist Serbsky advised Vrubel to be placed in the psychiatrist Usoltsev’s hospital, which had recently opened in the vicinity of Moscow. Patients in this hospital lived with the doctor's family and enjoyed great freedom.

“Portrait of Doctor F. A. Usoltsev”, 1904 (during illness)

The move to Usoltsev’s clinic brought amazing benefits: Vrubel began to eat (before that he had denied himself food, considering himself unworthy of food), his thoughts became clearer, he drew, wrote letters to family and friends, and two months later he recovered so much that he returned home.

The fence of a psychiatric hospital; Usoltsev’s clinic was located on this site.

After the artist was discharged from the hospital, the Vrubels moved to St. Petersburg, where Mikhail Alexandrovich led the life of an absolutely healthy person: he rented an apartment, installed electricity in it and worked very hard.

"Morning", 1897 (before illness)

During this period, Vrubel began to write his amazing “Pearl”, which is now in the collection of the Moscow Tretyakov Gallery.

“Pearl”, 1904 (during illness)

By the beginning of 1905, Vrubel’s wife began to notice that Vrubel was very agitated, he became intractable, irritable, and spent money disproportionately on completely unnecessary things. The artist’s wife had to “discharge” the psychiatrist Usoltsev from Moscow, who took Vrubel to his Moscow hospital.

“After the concert” (Portrait of the artist’s wife), 1905 (during illness)

Usoltsev had a calming effect on the patient. Once in the clinic, Vrubel began to sleep, and insomnia has always been one of the dangerous symptoms of his illness. Relatives hoped that this time the illness would not be long-lasting, alas, but they were mistaken - excitement once again gave way to depression. Despite his illness, Vrubel did not stop working: he painted a portrait of the entire Usoltsev family, many sick people and the poet Bryusov, who visited the artist.

“Portrait of the poet V. Ya. Bryusov”, 1906 (during illness)

Bryusov left very interesting memories of his first meeting with Mikhail Vrubel, which took place at Usoltsev’s clinic: “To tell the truth, I was horrified when I saw Vrubel. He was a frail, sick man, wearing a dirty, wrinkled shirt. He had a reddish face; eyes like a bird of prey; sticking hair instead of a beard. First impression: crazy! After the usual greetings, he asked me: “Is it you I should write?” And he began to examine me in a special way, artistically, intently, almost soulfully. Immediately his expression changed. Genius shines through the madness.”

Photo of the poet Bryusov.

When Vrubel painted Bryusov, those around him began to notice that something strange was happening to his eyes; the artist was forced to come very close to see the model. New suffering was approaching with terrifying speed; having finished the portrait of Bryusov, Vrubel almost did not see his work.

"Fortune Teller", 1894-1895 (before illness)

Mikhail Vrubel understood the horror of his situation: the artist, whose world was fabulously beautiful, is now almost blind... He began to refuse food, saying that if he starved for 10 years, he would see clearly, and his drawing would be unusually good.

“Six-Winged Seraphim”, 1905 (before illness)

The unfortunate artist was now embarrassed by his acquaintances, he said: “Why should they come, I don’t see them.”

“Valkyrie (Portrait of Princess Tenisheva)”, 1899 (before illness)

The outside world had less and less contact with Mikhail Vrubel. Despite all the efforts of his sister and wife, who regularly visited the artist, he plunged into the world of his own dreams: he told something like fairy tales, that he would have eyes made of emerald, that he created all his works during the times Ancient world or the Renaissance.

"Hansel and Gretel", 1896 (before illness)

During the last year of his life, the artist more and more insistently refused meat, saying that he did not want to eat “slaughter,” so they began to serve him a vegetarian table. Vrubel’s strength gradually left him; sometimes he said that he was “tired of living.”

"Seraphim", 1904-1905 (during illness)

Sitting in the garden in his last summer, he once said: “The sparrows are chirping at me - barely alive, barely alive.” General appearance the patient seemed to become more refined, more spiritual. Vrubel walked towards the end with complete calm. When he developed pneumonia, which then turned into fleeting consumption, he took it calmly. On his last conscious day, before the agony, Vrubel especially carefully cleaned himself up, warmly kissed the hands of his wife and sister and did not speak again.

Photo of M. A. Vrubel, 1897 (before illness)

Only at night, having briefly come to his senses, the artist said, turning to the man who was caring for him: “Nikolai, I’ve had enough of lying here - let’s go to the Academy.” There was some kind of prophetic premonition in these words: within 24 hours Vrubel was solemnly brought in a coffin to the Academy of Arts - his alma mater.

“Bed” (from the series “Insomnia”), 1903-1904 (during illness)

I would like to end the story with the words of the psychiatrist Usoltsev, who, like no one else, appreciated Mikhail Vrubel, understanding the complexity of his brilliant personality: “I often heard that Vrubel’s work is sick creativity. I studied Vrubel for a long time and carefully, and I believe that his work is not only quite normal, but so powerful and durable that even a terrible illness could not destroy it. Creativity was at the core, in the very essence of his mental personality, and, having reached the end, the disease destroyed him... He died seriously ill, but as an artist he was healthy, and deeply healthy.”

“Rose in a glass”, 1904 (during illness)

I thought it was interesting for a post.
Often biographies are accompanied by rare selections of works, and I have collected each mention in the text.
I could have been wrong about something.

VRUBEL Mikhail Alexandrovich (1856-1910)

Monumental painter, theater artist, sculptor, graphic artist, illustrator, representative of the romantic direction of Russian Art Nouveau, M.A. Vrubel was born on March 5 (17), 1856 in Omsk. His father, Alexander Mikhailovich, a former combat officer, a participant in the Crimean War and hostilities in the Caucasus, was a military lawyer, the family often moved from city to city: Omsk, Astrakhan, St. Petersburg, Saratov, Odessa and again St. Petersburg, where Vrubel spent his childhood . The future artist had no home and no memories associated with it. The artist’s mother, Anna Grigorievna, née Basargina, a relative of the famous Decembrist, gave birth to four children and died when little Misha was only three years old. 4 years later, his father married again - to E.X. Wessel. She was a pianist, so the future artist became closely acquainted with classical music. Mikhail's relationship with his stepmother was quite good - she turned out to be kind and loving, the boy's childhood was happy.

His artistic ability appeared very early. From the age of 5 he was enthusiastically studying at a drawing school. At the age of nine, he copied Michelangelo from memory. While living in St. Petersburg, in 1864 and 1868-1869, the father took the boy to classes at the school of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. In 1870, the Vrubel family moved to Odessa, where Mikhail graduated from the famous Richelieu Gymnasium with a gold medal in 1874, where he seriously studied literature, history, French, German, Latin languages, attended the Society's drawing school fine arts. His father thought it was useful for general development, but looked at his son’s future from the point of view of “positive views” - an indispensable condition for choosing a profession was “benefit for society.” Therefore, after the family’s next visit to St. Petersburg, M. Vrubel in 1874 entered the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University. While studying to become a lawyer, he was indifferent to jurisprudence, but did not give up his dream of becoming an artist - he read a lot, attended exhibitions, and took evening classes at the Academy of Arts. It is in university years, often visiting the Hermitage, making acquaintances with artists, he began to draw a lot himself and realized his true calling.

In 1879, Vrubel graduated from the university with a gold medal, but never became a lawyer. By this time, the future artist had already firmly decided to devote himself to art. He served his military service with sin and already in 1880 he entered the Academy of Arts, where he studied in the class of the famous teacher Pavel Chistyakov. Vrubel worked hard and seriously at the Academy. “You can’t imagine,” he wrote to his sister in 1883, “how immersed I am with my whole being in art: no thought or desire extraneous to art can fit in or take root. I was so busy with work that I almost entered into Academy in the proverb. If I wasn’t working, I was thinking about work.” P.P.’s own works Chistyakov are few and little known. But as a teacher he played a huge role. Having become a student of Chistyakov, Vrubel trained his eye so much that he could distinguish “edges” not only in the structure of the human body or head, but also where it is almost elusive, for example, in crumpled fabric or a flower petal. You can see how he did this in the example of "Models in a Renaissance setting" (1883)

which testifies to the artist’s ability to convey the variety of material forms and the richness of color shades. Already at the Academy, Vrubel began to be interested in universal, philosophical themes; he was attracted by strong, rebellious, and often tragic personalities. It is no coincidence that Vrubel’s first painting is associated with Shakespeare’s tragedy:
This is Hamlet and Ophelia

(1884, Russian Museum). Chistyakov saw the student’s extraordinary talent and distinguished him from others. Therefore, when Chistyakov was approached by his old friend Professor A.V. Prakhov with a request to recommend one of the capable students for the restoration of ancient frescoes in the temple of the Cyril Monastery (12th century) near Kiev, Chistyakov without hesitation introduced Vrubel to him with the words: “I cannot recommend anyone better, more talented to carry out your order.” In the spring of 1884, not having time to graduate from the Academy, Vrubel went to Kyiv, where his independent artistic life began.

From 1884, for six years, M. Vrubel lived in Kyiv, where he worked on sketches for the paintings of the St. Cyril Church; studied Byzantine icon painting and independently completed a number of monumental compositions. But in the summer of 1884, the artist was left in a foreign city without any funds. I even had to become a tutor. They say that one summer day in 1884, having entered a Kiev restaurant, Vrubel was unable to pay for lunch, telling the waiter: “I don’t have any money, but please offer the owner this watercolor.” The owner, without even looking at the drawing, started a scandal. His daughter came out in response to the noise and picked up a “strange” picture. “You can’t understand anything,” she shrugged. - But... it's beautiful. Are you an artist? Okay, go ahead. 

 That lunch for 28-year-old Vrubel cost only two rubles. But with what joy the watercolor was returned to him when he brought the debt. Meanwhile, it was a sketch for an "Eastern Tale"which has been decorating the Russian Museum for a hundred years.

In November 1884, Vrubel left work for a while to travel to Venice, where he stayed until May 1885. There he studied the work of masters of the 15th century, painted four icons for the iconostasis of the St. Cyril Church ("St. Athanasius", "The Virgin and Child",

"The Descent of the Holy Spirit", etc.).
The best of these works is the icon “The Mother of God” (1885, State Museum of Russian Arts, Kyiv) - a gentle and at the same time sad image of a mother anticipating the tragic fate of her son. The prototype for the face of the Mother of God was the face of Emilia Lvovna Prakhova, the wife of Professor A.V. Prahova, with whom Vrubel was secretly in love.

Returning to Kyiv, Vrubel rushed about. It was as if he could not find a place for himself - he either made the decision to leave Kyiv (and indeed went to Odessa for several months), then returned again. He became violently infatuated with some visiting dancer, drank a lot, lived unsettledly, feverishly, and was also in severe poverty; his relationship with Prahov became colder and more distant. No direct evidence state of mind artist at that time, but it is obvious that he was experiencing more than just a financial crisis.

In the end, he continued restoration work, and in 1887 he was entrusted with the execution of frescoes for the Vladimir Cathedral based on sketches he had made partly earlier. In the same year he began to study sculpture and created wonderful works in this area. In Kyiv, Vrubel creates paintings "Oriental Fairy Tale"

as well as the first versions of "Demon".

Vrubel painted on the walls of the Cyril Church several figures of angels, the head of Christ, the head of Moses and two independent compositions -

"The Descent of the Holy Spirit"

and "Lamentation".

In total, he completed work to update 150 fragments of ancient frescoes and created four new compositions in place of the lost ones. In his works, he tried to modernize Byzantine aesthetics, introducing into them elements of a modern worldview, which could hardly be called traditionally religious. According to Nesterov, Vrubel “was hovering in his visions, dreams, and these dreams, visiting him, did not remain his guests for long, giving way to new dreams, new images, unprecedented, unexpected, unexpected, beautiful visions of life and fantasy wonderful artist"foreign countries". Be that as it may, his iconographic “daring” caused bewilderment. Vrubel put such philosophical depth into his sketches that he was accused of violating the canons of the church and was removed from work in 1889. Only after his death did the church recognize that Vrubel’s sketches of cathedral paintings are as valuable as biblical sketches Alexandra Ivanova. In those same days, expelled from the Vladimir Cathedral, reading Lermontov’s lines, Vrubel felt the “spirit of exile” in himself. And he takes to Moscow, towards fate, the image of the “Demon”, which will become a symbol of his life. 


The relocation was sudden, almost accidental. In the fall of 1889, Vrubel went to Kazan to visit his sick father and on the way back stopped in Moscow - just for a few days. But Moscow dragged him in and tore him away from Kyiv forever. Misunderstood in the provinces - in Odessa, Kyiv, Poltava - Mikhail Vrubel hoped that things would be different in Moscow. That's how it was at first. Brilliantly educated, always tastefully dressed, Vrubel was accepted everywhere. Through V. Serov, Vrubel met the famous philanthropist Savva Ivanovich Mamontov. In 1890, a year after Vrubel’s arrival in Moscow, “The Seated Demon” will be written.

And only one person will immediately understand where this image came from. The artist Konstantin Korovin met Mikhail Vrubel back in his Ukrainian period, in an estate near Poltava, where he lived in the summer as a tutor. And I was fascinated by his thoroughbred face, thin strong hands, the way he carried himself, how he eats, how easily and deftly he rides... And then, while swimming, noticing the large white scars on Vrubel’s chest, in answer to his question, heard: “I loved a woman and suffered greatly. And when I cut myself with a knife, the suffering decreased.” Later he understood the main suffering of this man. “I am an artist,” said Vrubel, “but no one needs me. No one understands what I do, but... I want it that way!”

The central work, the quintessence of his work, was the “Demon” trilogy - sitting, flying and defeated.

In the famous painting “The Seated Demon” (1890, Tretyakov Gallery), Vrubel paints a “young, sadly pensive figure” among a fantastic lilac-terracotta landscape, crystalline, precious flowers. The purple sky in the picture is painted in that mysterious color that was so loved in the “era of extinction,” as the end of the 19th century was called. The powerful, beautiful body doesn’t seem to fit in the frame, the arms are twisted, the face is touchingly beautiful, there is inhuman sorrow in the eyes. Vrubel's "Demon" is a combination of contradictions: beauty, greatness, strength and at the same time constraint, helplessness, melancholy; he is surrounded by a beautiful, but petrified, cold world.

In Moscow in 1891, Vrubel became close to the circle of artists and musicians who gathered around Savva Mamontov, primarily V.A. Serov, K.A. Korovin, V.D. Polenov. Vrubel lived in Mamontov's house and worked as a sculptor, designer, monumentalist, and theater decorator, creating a huge number of works. Savva Mamontov placed one of his best workshops at the complete disposal of Vrubel. And a week later, shocked, he told Korovin: “Did you see what he writes? I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s creepy!” 

 The artist creates in his works a certain fantasy world, filled with surreal creatures. In 1890, he showed his “Seated Demon,” conceived in Kyiv. This picture became a symbol of the coming era - the era of symbolism and religious reformation. Mamontov was horrified. Valentin Serov (who over the years became a friend of Vrubel and achieved a place for his paintings in the Tretyakov Gallery), who looked into Vrubel’s studio, frankly admitted: “I don’t understand this.” Finally, Tretyakov himself, who hurried to the painter, who was talked about in all the salons, upon seeing his work, just threw up his hands. Everyone was amazed and... repulsed by the mystical coloring of his works: "Resurrection", "Funeral Lament", "Angel with a Censer and a Candle..." And they were horrified by the hitherto unseen image of the "Demon", a formidable angel with a wounded human soul, sitting in the middle of a world alien to him, suffering from human imperfection. “It was Vrubel himself, who aroused great envy with his brilliant talent,” recalled K. Korovin. “I don’t know another artist who during his lifetime would have been so viciously persecuted.” "The Seated Demon" was presented to the Moscow artistic elite in January 1891 and was met with cold silence. To which Vrubel said: Your denial gives me faith in myself!

In 1891, Vrubel was offered to make illustrations for the collected works of Lermontov, published under the editorship of Konchalovsky by the Kushnerev company. Thus, he could return to the image of the Demon. For many years, Vrubel was attracted to him: the Demon was for him not an unambiguous allegory, but a whole world of complex experiences. Having completed the painting “The Seated Demon,” he began to illustrate Lermontov. In general, Lermontov’s cycle, especially the illustrations for “The Demon,” can be considered the pinnacle of Vrubel’s skill as a graphic artist. Since then, no one has tried to illustrate “The Demon”: in our imagination it has become too fused with Vrubel’s Demon - we probably would not have accepted anything else. In addition to “The Demon”, Vrubel made several illustrations for “Hero of Our Time”,

He saw and heard her in St. Petersburg, on the stage of the Panaevsky Theater, where the Moscow private opera organized by Mamontov gave performances. One cannot speak of Zabel simply as “Vrubel’s wife,” just as it is strange to read that Vrubel is in theatrical circles was simply called “the husband of the artist Zabela.” Both husband and wife were each in their own field great artists, and their marriage meant a community of people of art who understood and inspired each other. Vrubel was very musical and took a close part in Zabela’s work; she always listened to his advice. He came up with all her costumes and makeup himself - after becoming his wife, Zabela never used the services of another theater artist. She, however, could not accept as much direct participation in Vrubel’s work on paintings, but her singing, her artistic individuality meant a lot to him, so that, ultimately, she helped him even more than he helped her. In it, Vrubel found the image that he had long dreamed of and eluded him. Zabela became his muse: her portrait-fantasy, written in the year of marriage, is called “Muse”.

The next five years (1896-1901) became the most fruitful for Vrubel in creative terms and prosperous in terms of everyday life.

In 1897, Vrubel painted the panel “Morning” for Morozov.

"Noon"

And "Evening", creates paintings on the themes of Russian fairy tales, his best paintings ("Pan",

"Lilac",

portraits of S.I. Mamontova,

N.I. Zabela

etc. He deals with almost everything: painting, graphics, sculpture, monumental compositions, theatrical scenery, interior design, becoming that multifaceted figure without whom Russian culture at the turn of the century is unthinkable. Moreover, “everything that Vrubel did wasclassically good," wrote the artist A. Golovin. During these years, Vrubel created almost all of his famous paintings. He became close to the “World of Art” (although A. Benois was always critical of his pictorial innovations), exhibited a lot - at exhibitions of the “World of Art”, the Vienna Secession, etc. The main organizer of the “World of Art” was the energetic, enterprising S. Diaghilev, the soul and a theorist - Alexander Benois; the core of the "World of Art" was the artists K. Somov, M. Dobuzhinsky, E. Lansere, L. Bakst, and later V. Serov. Levitan, Korovin, Nesterov, Ryabushkin and many others, including members of the Association of Traveling Exhibitions, took part in the World of Art exhibitions. And for the first time Vrubel began to exhibit. Until then, his works were purchased by private individuals, and in exhibition halls didn't show up. The “Exhibition of Russian and Finnish Artists”, organized in 1898 in St. Petersburg by S. Diaghilev, was actually the first where some of Vrubel’s works were put on public display. The magazine "World of Art" began to publish reproductions of his works. Then they began to appear at Moscow exhibitions.

At the turn of the century, his fate seemed to smell like a thunderstorm. In 1899, Vrubel lost his father, whom he loved devotedly. His acquaintances began to notice oddities in his behavior: he grew in his own opinion, not giving a penny to his former friends and associates. In the same year, Vrubel wrote “The Flying Demon” (1899, Russian Russian Museum). The image is permeated with a premonition of death and doom. This is the last, desperate flight over the mountains. The demon almost touches the peaks with his body. The coloring of the picture is gloomy. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were few connoisseurs of Vrubel’s art, and there were many reproaches. One of the most difficult was the review of the most influential Russian critic V.V. Stasova. He irritably called his paintings ridiculous decadent rubbish, saying: “In his Demons, Vrubel gives horrifying examples of unacceptable and repulsive decadence.” In such an atmosphere, in 1900, Vrubel began work on the long-planned “monumental Demon” - his most pathetic creation. 

 In September In 1901, Vrubel had a son, in honor of Mamontov he is called Savva. The child was born with a congenital defect - a “cleft lip” - which made a painful impression on the artist. Around the same time, after a whole series of graphic and sculptural works dedicated to the Demon, the artist begins another painting, terrible in its doom, to which he gives special meaning. He calls it "Demon Defeated". The artist worked hard, 17 hours a day, sometimes all night long; he worked intensely and painfully. A. Benois recalled that the painting was already at the World of Art exhibition, and Vrubel still continued to rewrite the Demon’s face and changed the coloring. The broken, deformed body of the Demon with broken wings is stretched out in the gorge, his eyes burning with anger. The world plunges into darkness, the last ray flashes on the crown of the Demon, on the tops of the mountains. The rebellious spirit is overthrown, but not broken. 


“The Demon Defeated” was a sad milestone in Vrubel’s biography. The painting was still hanging at the exhibition when its author had to be placed in one of the Moscow psychiatric hospitals. In March 1902, V. Bekhterev discovered that he had an incurable disease (tabes dorsalis), which threatened him with madness. The great psychiatrist's predictions very soon came true. For six months, his condition was so serious that no one was allowed to see him, not even his sister and wife. Then he began to recover, wrote quite sensible letters to his loved ones, tried to draw, but this was difficult for him - after the euphoric uplift that accompanied the work on “The Demon”, a long depression set in, the artist’s state was depressed all the time, he now considered himself which is unsuitable. This was his attitude even when he left the hospital (in February 1903) and went on vacation to the Crimea. Nothing interested him, he didn’t like Crimea, he almost couldn’t work. In May 1903, the Vrubels reached Kyiv and stayed at a hotel. Suddenly a child fell ill - little Savvochka, who was just beginning to speak. Two days later he was gone.

Soon the artist began to have attacks of illness again. After the death of his son, Vrubel became an almost permanent resident of psychiatric clinics. He was taken first to Riga, then transferred to the Serbsky clinic in Moscow. He was sad, weak, helpless and physically completely exhausted, as he did not eat anything, wanting to starve himself to death. By the beginning of 1904 he was almost dying. Those who saw the history of his illness testify: everything was very scary. For some time, Mikhail Alexandrovich suffered from delusions and auditory hallucinations. An unknown voice whispered in his ear that he was a nonentity, not an artist, the grief of his loved ones. He considered himself a criminal, worthy of punishment for writing both Christ and the Demon. The artist fell either into delusions of grandeur or into complete self-abasement. 

 But the crisis passed, he was placed in the private hospital of Dr. F.A. Usoltsev in the vicinity of Moscow. It happened there last return to life. He began to eat and sleep, his thoughts became clearer, he began to draw a lot, with the same enthusiasm - and after a few months he left the hospital as a healthy man.

The most remarkable among the drawings made in the hospital are several portraits of Dr. Usoltsev and members of his family. The pencil portrait of Usoltsev is at the level of beauty and solidity of technique and psychological expressiveness. best works Vrubel.

according to the plan associated with Pushkin’s poem “The Prophet”. A mighty angel in sparkling rainbow plumage to a certain extent continues the theme of the Demon, but this image is distinguished by its integrity and harmony. He is either punitive, ready to punish the prophet for a aimlessly wasted gift, or as if capable of giving healing. Several beautiful things will still appear under Vrubel’s brush, but all of them will be written as if on the way to another world. And a portrait of a little son,

and cemetery scenes from Romeo and Juliet,

and the “Six-Winged Seraphim” appeared to Vrubel, who was already losing his mind.

In 1905, Vrubel was elected academician of painting. This was the last event perceived by his mind. In the spring of 1905, Vrubel again felt the symptoms of an approaching illness. Now, getting ready to return to the clinic again, he, as his sister recalled, “says goodbye to what is especially close and dear to him.” Before leaving, he invited friends of his youth, as well as his old teacher Chistyakov; visited the exhibition of the “New Society of Artists”, which he sympathized with; accompanied by his wife and Usoltsev, who was summoned from Moscow, to the Panaevsky Theater, where he saw Zabela for the first time. The circle of life was closing. The next morning, Usoltsev took Vrubel to Moscow, to his “sanatorium”. There Vrubel began to paint a portrait of V. Bryusov (1906, State Russian Museum), but the disease inevitably worsened, in 1906 the artist went blind, the portrait remained unfinished. Vrubel tragically experiences a terrible blow, in a difficult hospital situation he dreams of the blue of the sky, of the colors of spring. Music was the only consolation.

He died in St. Petersburg on April 1 (14), 1910 in the hospital for the mentally ill of Dr. Bari, died of pneumonia. Or was it suicide? It is known that he caught a cold deliberately, standing for a long time on frosty days under an open window. His last words were: “Stop lying around, get ready, Nikolai, let’s go to the Academy...”

Vrubel was buried on Novodevichy Cemetery. A. Blok gave an inspirational speech at the funeral, calling the artist “a messenger of other worlds.” A. Blok said over Vrubel’s grave: “He left us his Demons, as spellcasters against purple evil, against the night. I can only tremble at what Vrubel and others like him reveal to humanity once a century. we don't see." In 1913, his wife, N.I., was buried nearby. Zabelu-Vrubel. In 1935-1936, it was planned to transfer Vrubel’s grave to the museum necropolis of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, but this plan was not implemented. 

 M.A. Vrubel was distinguished by a rare versatility of talent.

He is known as a master of monumental paintings, paintings, theatrical scenery, as a graphic artist, sculptor and even an architect. Whatever field the artist worked in, he created first-class works. “Vrubel,” writes Golovin, “expressed his thought perfectly. There is some kind of infallibility in everything he did.” “What a disaster the whole life of this long-suffering man is,” recalled I.E. Repin, “and what pearls of his brilliant talent there are.” The life and work of Mikhail Vrubel became a legend during his lifetime. The unusual fantasy of his works, permeated with aching sadness, gloomy grandeur, and rare tragedy, gave rise to many rumors and conjectures, which involuntarily fill the life of every outstanding person. After all, the worlds born of the artist’s creative imagination became a revelation of the era, the significance spiritual heritage which goes far beyond its time frame.

A large selection of paintings by M.A. Vrubel.

I was very struck by the painting "Pan". Before writing my feelings, I got acquainted with the life of the author and the history of the character.

Mikhail Vrubel became interested in drawing as a child. At the insistence of his father, he was supposed to become a lawyer, but later left this career to enter the Academy of Arts. Mikhail Vrubel painted icons and frescoes, worked with mosaics and drew sketches of theatrical costumes, created scenery and huge paintings. He became the author of the “demonic cycle” - a series of works of paintings, illustrations and sculptures with the main character the Demon.

"Actual student" Mikhail Vrubel

Mikhail Vrubel was born on March 17, 1856 in Omsk. His father Alexander Vrubel served as a military lawyer. Mother was the daughter of the Astrakhan governor, famous cartographer and admiral Grigory Basargin.

Mikhail Vrubel. Self-portrait. 1904-1905. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Mikhail Vrubel. Anna Karenina's meeting with her son. 1878. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Mikhail Vrubel. Self-portrait. 1885. Kyiv national museum Russian art, Kyiv, Ukraine

In 1859, the future artist’s mother died of consumption. Four years later, Alexander Vrubel married again: his second wife was Elizaveta Wessel from St. Petersburg. The children have developed good relations with their stepmother: she took up their upbringing, development and even strengthening their health: from birth Mikhail Vrubel was weak and sickly, he even began to walk only at the age of three. As an adult, he recalled with irony the “diets of raw meat and fish oils.”

Elizaveta Wessel's relatives also took care of the children. Her sister Alexandra taught them music, and her brother Nikolai, a teacher, tried new techniques on children - educational games. By the age of ten, Mikhail Vrubel was interested in music, theatrical art and drawing.

However, at the insistence of his father, he entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. All expenses for living and studying were covered by Nikolai Wessel. IN student years Vrubel was interested in philosophy and theater, created illustrations for literary works. One of the most famous works of that time - a graphic illustration of “Anna Karenina’s Date with her Son”, made in black ink on brown paper. Studying at the Faculty of Law did not particularly attract Vrubel: he studied for two years in his second year and was unable to defend thesis, which is why I received the lowest academic degree- actual student.

Icon painter and restorer

During his university years, the future artist worked part-time as a tutor and tutor. This is how he ended up in the Papmel family of sugar producers: he became a tutor for their son, with whom he studied together.

“He [Vrubel] lived with the Papmels like his own: in the winter he went to the opera with them, in the summer he moved with everyone to the dacha in Peterhof. The Papmeli did not deny themselves anything, and everything they had was different from the strict and modest way of life in Vrubel’s own family; the house was a full cup, even in an overly literal sense.”

Alexander Ivanov, artist

The Papmels supported Mikhail Vrubel's passion for drawing. He was introduced to students at the Academy of Arts, and soon Vrubel began visiting there evening classes and in 1880 he entered the Academy. The future artist ended up in the studio of Pavel Chistyakov, and at the same time studied in the watercolor studio of Ilya Repin. He studied the basics of drawing and painting, mastered watercolor and Chistyakov’s special technique: building volume on canvas, like an architect.

Mikhail Vrubel. Saint Cyril. Iconostasis. 1885. St. Cyril Church, Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo: artchive.ru

Mikhail Vrubel. Saint Athanasius. Iconostasis. 1885. St. Cyril Church, Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo: artchive.ru

Mikhail Vrubel. Virgin and Child. Iconostasis. 1885. St. Cyril Church, Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo: artchive.ru

Mikhail Vrubel. Christ the Savior. Iconostasis.1885. St. Cyril Church, Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo: artchive.ru

In the fall of 1883, Pavel Chistyakov recommended Vrubel to art historian Adrian Prakhov - he was looking for an artist to restore the ancient St. Cyril Church in Kyiv. After the end of the school year, Vrubel moved to Kyiv. He created sketches for the restoration of old frescoes, painted the walls of the church himself, and even painted four icons.

In 1885, the artist went to Italy to get acquainted with Byzantine and late Roman painting. In Ravenna and Venice he studied medieval stained glass and mosaics in Italian churches. During the trip, Mikhail Vrubel worked a lot: he made sketches, painted watercolors, and in one night he created the hundred-figure composition “Orpheus in Hell.”

In Venice, Vrubel met Dmitry Mendeleev, who was married to a student of Pavel Chistyakov. The scientist advised the artist to paint icons not on canvas, but on zinc plates to protect them from moisture. Over the next month and a half, Vrubel created three such icons - “St. Cyril”, “St. Athanasius” and “Christ the Savior”.

After returning from Italy, Vrubel briefly went to Odessa, and then moved again to Kyiv. He painted paintings to order, participated in the restoration of the Vladimir Cathedral, and gave drawing lessons. At the same time, the first sketches related to his future legendary Demon theme appeared.

“Wonderful Pathetic Symphony” by Vrubel

In 1889, Vrubel moved to Moscow. During these years he, together with famous artists- Ilya Repin, Ivan Aivazovsky, Ivan Shishkin - worked on illustrations for the Collected Works of Mikhail Lermontov. Among them were drawings for the poem “The Demon”. And at the same time, the artist painted a large canvas, “The Seated Demon.” Later, the artist created an entire “demonic cycle” consisting of drawings, sculptures and paintings.

“...I am writing a Demon, that is, not exactly a monumental Demon, which I will write over time, but a “demonic” - a half-naked, winged, young, sadly pensive figure sitting, hugging his knees, against the backdrop of the sunset and looking at a flowering meadow, with with which branches stretch out to her, bending under the flowers.”

Mikhail Vrubel

During this period, a special style of the artist began to develop: he painted canvases with filigree angular strokes, reminiscent of mosaics.

Soon Vrubel moved from Moscow to Abramtsevo - the estate of Savva Mamontov. He became a member of the Abramtsevo circle and designed fairy-tale operas by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. On Mamontov's estate, the artist headed a majolica workshop, created plaster sculptures and decorative panels to order, and traveled to Italy several times - first with Mamontov himself, then with his son Sergei.

Mikhail Vrubel. Swan Princess. 1900. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Mikhail Vrubel. Demon sitting. 1890. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Mikhail Vrubel. Pan. 1899. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

At the beginning of 1896, Mikhail Vrubel met his future wife - opera singer Nadezhda Zabela. He proposed almost on the same day, and Zabela agreed.

“During a break (I remember standing behind the scenes) I was amazed and even somewhat shocked that some gentleman ran up to me and, kissing my hand, exclaimed: “A lovely voice!” T. S. Lyubatovich, who was standing here, hastened to introduce me: “Our artist Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel,” and said to me: “He is a very expansive man, but quite decent.”

Nadezhda Zabela

By the time of his marriage, Vrubel had practically no money, and he began to create custom-made theatrical costumes and scenery. At the same time, the artist painted paintings based on fairy-tale and mythological subjects - “The Swan Princess”, “Pan”, “Bogatyr”.

- (1856 1910), Russian. artist. In 1880 84 he studied at the Academy of Arts. L.’s poetry occupies a special place in his work, with many of its aspirations being close to the artist’s worldview. Romantic pathos, powerful rebellious images (primarily the tragic image of the Demon), ... ... Lermontov Encyclopedia

- (1856 1910), Russian painter. He studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1880-84) with P. P. Chistyakov. Following the tradition of A. A. Ivanov and N. N. Ge, Vrubel in his work raised moral and philosophical questions about good and evil, about the place of man in the world;... ... Art encyclopedia

Russian painter. He studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1880‒84) with P. P. Chistyakov. Repeatedly visited Italy and France, visited Germany, Greece, Switzerland. Following the tradition of A. A. Ivanov and N. N. Ge, V.... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Vrubel, Mikhail Alexandrovich one of the most remarkable Russian artists (1856 1910), son of an officer in the Russian service. Due to the frequent movements of his father, Vrubel experienced many new impressions from childhood, living alternately in Omsk, Astrakhan,... ... Biographical Dictionary

- (1856 1910) Russian painter. The works (Demon, 1890, Lilac, 1900) are marked by dramatic intensity of color, crystalline clarity, constructive design, a tendency towards symbolic and philosophical generalization of images, often... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (05.03.1856, Omsk 01.04.1910, St. Petersburg) Studied at the drawing school of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts in St. Petersburg (1867 69), graduated from the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University, and in 1880 84 studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts. Since 1905 academician of painting. I was involved in theater... Big biographical encyclopedia

- (1856 1910), Russian painter. The works (“Demon”, 1890; “Lilac”, 1900) are marked by dramatic intensity of color, “crystalline” clarity, constructive design, a tendency towards symbolic and philosophical generalization of images,... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary

Vrubel, Mikhail Alexandrovich- M.A. Vrubel. Pan. 1899. Tretyakov Gallery. VRUBEL Mikhail Alexandrovich (1856 1910), Russian painter. Vrubel's works contain moral and philosophical questions about good and evil, about the place of man in the world. Works (“Lilac”, “Towards the Night” both 1900) ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

Mikhail Vrubel Self-portrait. 1885 Date of birth: March 5 (17), 1856 Place of birth: Omsk Date of death: 1 (... Wikipedia

VRUBEL Mikhail Alexandrovich- Mikhail Alexandrovich (03/5/17/1856, Omsk 04/14/1910, St. Petersburg), Russian. Symbolist artist. Son of a military lawyer; He graduated with honors from the Odessa Richelieu Gymnasium, then from the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University. at the Academy of Arts (since 1880) he studied under... ... Orthodox Encyclopedia

Books

• Vrubel Mikhail Alexandrovich. Graphics, book illustration, . Artists, critics, musicians, and poets recall meetings with M.A. Vrubel. Next to him is his wife and muse - Nadezhda Ivanovna, to whom romances and poems were dedicated... The second album tells in...
• Vrubel Mikhail Alexandrovich. Painting. Decorative and applied arts. Theater , . The album dedicated to Mikhail Vrubel contains vivid characteristics of the master, myths, “oral memory” and rare documentary materials. About creativity, about bright fragments of biography and tragedy...

Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel (March 5, 1856, Omsk, Region of the Siberian Kirghiz, Russian Empire- April 1, 1910, St. Petersburg) - Russian artist turn of XIX-XX centuries, working in almost all types and genres fine arts: painting, graphics, decorative sculpture and theatrical art.

Biography of Mikhail Vrubel

Vrubel Mikhail Aleksandrovich was born into the family of an officer who often moved from city to city: Omsk, Astrakhan, St. Petersburg, Saratov, Odessa and St. Petersburg again, where Vrubel spent his childhood years. At the age of three, Vrubel’s mother died, but his stepmother turned out to be kind and loving, and the sickly boy’s childhood was happy. Among adults and children, Vrubel was everyone's favorite; from the age of 5 he studied at a drawing school, at the age of 7 he attended the school of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts in St. Petersburg. In 1874, after graduating from high school, he entered law school. faculty of St. Petersburg University and attended evening classes at the Academy of Arts. In 1879, after graduating from university, Vrubel entered the Academy of Arts, where he stayed for four years.

Vrubel's outstanding talent was noticed, and in 1884 he received an invitation to Kyiv to restore ancient frescoes and perform new compositions in the St. Cyril Church (12th century). From 1884 to 1885, Vrubel spent about six months in Venice, where he studied the work of Quattrocento masters (15th century) associated with the medieval tradition, and painted four icons for the iconostasis of the St. Cyril Church in Kyiv. This work enriched his gift for color and helped him better understand the tasks of painting. In 1891, Vrubel became close to the circle of artists and musicians who gathered around S.I. Mamontova. Vrubel lived in his house and worked as a sculptor, monumentalist, and theater decorator, creating a huge number of works.

Vrubel's creativity

The work of Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel is one of the most significant and mysterious phenomena Russian art late XIX century. Great skill, tragedy, heroic spirit and unique decorative gift make Vrubel an artist for all times. Eternally living in his own world, inaccessible to the understanding of others, Vrubel was able to recreate his complex world in the images of his unusual art, and these images became one of major milestones Russian culture at the turn of the century.

The artist developed themes of good and evil, the contradictions of the human spirit, and turned out to be congenial to the great poet.

Vrubel painted paintings on themes of Russian fairy tales and operas by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov (“The Sea Princess”, “Thirty-three heroes”, etc.). Vivid imagination and deep understanding of the essence of human existence gave birth to such paintings as “The Swan Princess”, “Towards Night”, “Pan”.

Pan

Art critic N.M. Tarabukin wrote about Vrubel’s ability to “make the canvas play like a jewel by juxtaposing color spots,” and color gave rise to form.

I. Grabar believed that Vrubel “occupies a unique place in Russian art. He had no predecessors in Russia and left no followers.”

Vrubel’s last work was “Portrait of V.Ya. Bryusova. (1906), unusually expressive. Obsession with work has led to mental disorder and placement in a hospital, where Vrubel died.

A. Blok said at Vrubel’s funeral: “I can only tremble at what Vrubel and others like him reveal to humanity once a century. We don’t see the worlds they saw.”

Vrubel automated reality in painting, split the world and saw in it a second bottom, incomprehensible and demonic.

Vrubel's paintings almost always disturb the soul, although the eyes of his Demon and Swan Princess are beautiful and spiritual.

These characters from Vrubel’s paintings, to which an entire hall is dedicated in the Tretyakov Gallery, are perhaps the most famous. The symbolist artist loved fairy-tale, mythical images, their silence and mystery, ambiguity.

Blok at Vrubel’s grave will say: “He himself was a demon, a beautiful fallen angel, for whom the world was endless joy and endless torment...”

Vrubel generally loved such faces - pensive, with a stamp of doom, or ecstatic, intoxicated by a trance. At the same time, when creating his masterpieces - canvases, decorative panels, sculptures, frescoes, Vrubel was rarely satisfied with them. But the artist was not satisfied with the spiritual content of his paintings.

A perfectionist by nature, he had high hopes for art. Painting should have a high mission, Vrubel believed.

In 1902, the famous psychiatrist Vladimir Bekhterev diagnosed Vrubel with acute mental disorder. Incurable disease drove the artist to the clinic, he had eight years to live.

Doctor Fyodor Usoltsev, who treated Vrubel, recalled that even in painful excitement, confusion of thoughts and feelings, Vrubel created - he sculpted strange figures from clay, painted.

Art was Vrubel's breathing and thinking. But as soon as you listened to his seemingly incoherent speeches, logic, meaning and feeling began to appear in them.

By the way, psychiatrists Usoltsev and Vvedensky collected collections of Vrubel’s paintings, which were shown to the public in 1955.

Vrubel greedily explored the world: he traveled - in order to later say: “How much beauty we have in Rus'!”, tried his hand at different types art, restored the paintings of the dome of Hagia Sophia in Kyiv, was an architect. He designed the facade of Savva Mamontov's house on Sadovo-Spasskaya Street in Moscow in 1891.

Life is a journey outward and deep into oneself, Vrubel might say. His disturbing and self-absorbed creativity recalls the depths of the spirit and its abysses.