Apollinary Vasnetsov

Apollinary Vasnetsov
Аполлинарий Васнецов
Portrait of Apollinary by his brother, Viktor (1878)
Born	6 August [O.S.25 July] 1856 Ryabovo,Vyatka Governorate,Russian Empire
Died	23 January 1933(1933-01-23)(aged 76) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Education	Member Academy of Arts (1900)
Alma mater	Moscow School of Painting
Known for	Painting
Movement	Peredvizhniki
Relatives	Viktor(brother)

Apollinary Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov(Russian:Аполлина́рий Миха́йлович Васнецо́в;6 August [O.S.25 July] 1856 – 23 January 1933) was a Russian painter and graphic artist.He specialised in scenes from the medieval history of Moscow.

Vasnetsov did not receive a formal artistic education. He had studied under his older brother,Viktor,also a famous painter. From 1883, he along with his brother lived and worked inAbramtsevowhere he fell under the influence ofVasily Polenov.In 1898–1899, he travelled across Europe. In addition to epic landscapes of Russian nature, Apollinary Vasnetsov created his own genre of historical landscape reconstruction on the basis of historical and archaeological data. His paintings present a visual picture of medieval Moscow. He was a member of theAssociation of Travelling Art Exhibitions(Peredvizhniki) from 1899, and anacademicianfrom 1900. He became one of the founders and supervisors of theUnion of Russian Artists.

Early life

Vasnetsov had three elder and two younger brothers. His only sister died at the age of four months. Vasnetsov's father played an important role in the upbringing and education of his sons, teaching them to love nature and to become familiar with the life of birds and animals. Vasnetsov's father died in 1870, which came as a terrible blow for him.

The Caucasus and the Urals

In 1890, Vasnetsov made a journey across the North of theRussian Empireand was able to record beautiful views ofSiberiaand theUrals,including the paintings:

• Forest on the Slopes of Mount Blagodat, Mid-Urals (1890)
• Boreal forestin the Urals (1890)
• Mountain lake in the Urals (1892)
• The Steppes ofOrenburg(1895)
• "Koma" (1895)

In 1895, Vasnetsov visitedthe Caucasus.He was deeply impressed by the beauty of the rugged Caucasus mountains. While there, he climbed the glaciers of Mt.Elbrus,visitedTiflisand lived in theDarial Gorge.He created a great number of hissketchesduring this period, including:

• View of Elbrus from Bermomut (1895)
• RedCliffsinKislovodsk(1896)
• Elbrus before Sunrise (1897)
• Darial (1897)

In 1890, Vasnetsov made a journey across Europe, visiting France and Italy, where he studied the works of famous masters.

At the beginning of 1920, the Committee of Archaeology (the predecessor of the Community for the Saving of Art Monuments) invited Vasnetsov and several other painters (includingVikentii Trofimov) to draw the old places ofVoronezh.

A minor planet,3586 Vasnetsov,discovered by Soviet astronomerLyudmila Zhuravlyovain 1978, is named afterViktor Vasnetsovand Apollinary Vasnetsov.

Gallery

• 
  Boreal forest in the Ural mountains (1890)
• 
  Mountain Lake (1892)
• 
  Kremlin(1892)
• 
  Set for the operaThe OprichnikbyTchaikovsky(1911)
• 
  In the Moscow Kremlin
• 
  Novgorodmarketplace
• 
  Red Squarein the second half of the 17th century
• 
  Kama River
• 
  Painting of "Old Moscow" by Vasnetsov, depicted on a 1947 stamp

See also

• List of Russian artists

References

Sources

• Apollinary Vasnetsovby Vasnetsova, Yekaterina & Schmidt, Igor (eds.), Izobrazitelnoye Iskusstvo, Moscow, 1980, (Russian/English), Book ID V 1121 31.
• Great paintersby Gordeeva M., "Direct media", Kyiv, 2011, (Russian)

Further reading

• Short biography 1
• Short biography 2