The years of the life of the Russian painter Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov: 1848-1926. He said his word in religious, historical, epic painting and architecture. He worked in Russia and abroad: from St. Petersburg to Sofia. The temple in Warsaw with mosaic panels by Vasnetsov was demolished along with his creations.
Short biography of Viktor Vasnetsov
The birthplace of Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov is the Vyatka province (modern Kirov region). The village of Lopyal, in which he was born on May 15 (according to the new style), on May 1848, has been known since 1740. In the old days, the village had two names: Lopial - according to zemstvo registration and Epiphany - after the village church of the Epiphany. The life of Viktor Vasnetsov turned out to be closely connected with Orthodoxy.
His father, Mikhail Vasilievich, was a priest, like many of his ancestors. So, back in 1678 there is information about the psalmist Tryphon, the son of Vasnetsov. "The whole family was spiritual," - this is how Mikhail, the third son of Viktor Vasnetsov, would later write.
The parents of the future artist had six children, and all sons. Victor was the second oldest. Mother's name was Apollinaria Ivanovna. In 1850, the head of the family was transferred to the village of Ryabovo, whose inhabitants at that time were only priests. The family lived in the village for 20 years. Vasnetsov spent his childhood here and his parents are buried here. Now Ryabovo is a branch of the Vasnetsov Brothers Museum. In these Vyatka places, the future painter's love for Russian antiquity, for age-old folk traditions, grew up. “I have always lived only in Russia” - such is the artist's confession.
From the age of 10, Victor studied free of charge, as the son of a priest, for several years at a theological school, and then at the Vyatka seminary. But he did not follow in his father's footsteps, he did not finish his studies at the seminary. The desire to paint won. By agreement with his father, he moved to St. Petersburg in 1867 to receive an art education.
In the first year of his Petersburg life, Viktor Vasnetsov studied at the course of Ivan Kramskoy at the Drawing School. After - at the Imperial Academy of Arts (from 1868 to 1873).
He began to exhibit while still studying at the Academy, and then joined the exhibitions of the Association of the Itinerants. At the initial stage of his creative life, Vasnetsov painted mainly pictures of everyday content. Then he began to be carried away by the plots of fairy tales, epics, historical and religious themes.
Monumental religious works of Viktor Vasnetsov
The church theme became the main one in his monumental painting. Viktor Vasnetsov took part in the design of several large and famous churches not only in Russia, but also abroad.
Although some of the works in the Vladimir Cathedral in Kiev were done by another great Russian painter Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel, Vasnetsov did most of the paintings. In the central part of the altar he painted the amazing Mother of God with the Child, the image of which art critics even call the "Vasnetsovskaya Mother of God". This face highlights the fact that the artist has combined the divine principle and human traits in him. “I put a candle to God,” said Viktor Mikhailovich at the end of the entire scope of work in this Kiev cathedral.
Vasnetsov made picturesque cardboard for the mosaics of the famous Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg. The artist's images were used for a set of mosaics both inside and on the facades of the temple. Viktor Vasnetsov showed his ability to combine architectural volumes with compositions of religious subjects.
Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov designed the interiors of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Dormstadt, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Warsaw. However, the Cathedral in Warsaw, consecrated on May 20, 1912, was demolished by the Polish authorities in 1926. The temple was destroyed like many other Orthodox churches in Poland. Together with the beautiful cathedral, huge panels, created under the leadership of Vasnetsov, perished. Only a few fragments of the mosaics were saved.
But relatively recently - in 2007, in Moscow, in the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist on Presnya, Vasnetsov's frescoes were discovered, recorded by later murals.
Viktor Vasnetsov in architecture
Viktor Vasnetsov was also interested in architecture. For example, according to his sketches, the Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands was built in the famous Mamontov estate in Abramtsevo, and the main facade of the Tretyakov brothers' gallery was designed.
Vasnetsov drew sketches of his house-workshop (now a museum), the interiors of which are designed in the Russian style.
Personal life and family of Viktor Vasnetsov
Viktor Mikhailovich lived for 49 years with his wife, daughter of the merchant Ryazantsev, Alexandra Vladimirovna. He and his wife had one daughter and four sons: Tatiana (1879-1961), Boris (1880-1919), Alexei (1882-1949), Mikhail (1884-1972), Vladimir (1889-1953).
The younger brother of Viktor Mikhailovich, Apollinarius Mikhailovich, also became a painter under Viktor's guidance. The artistic dynasty was continued by Andrei Vladimirovich Vasnetsov, a grandson.
Interestingly, son Michael, who was named after his grandfather, a parish priest, also became a minister of the church. True, it was not in Russia, but in Czechoslovakia.
Viktor Vasnetsov died in his workshop on July 23, 1926. At first he was buried at the Moscow Lazarevskoye cemetery in Maryina Roshcha, but after its liquidation in 1937, the artist's ashes had to be transferred to Vvedenskoye.
