Vasily Vereshchagin (1842 - 1904) was a Russian artist who participated in three military campaigns, but was a pacifist in his convictions, and in his paintings he condemned war in all its manifestations. It is no coincidence that Vereshchagin one of the first even wanted to give the Nobel Peace Prize, but it did not work out. He not unreasonably thought that paintings without a clear idea expressed by the artist on the canvas, should not be, they should reflect his thoughts, feelings and attitude to the depicted phenomenon. So, Vereshchagin and wrote - honestly and without embellishments, he generally was a very stubborn and unyielding person, for which not once and paid. About the life and work of a wonderful artist and honest man Vasily Vereshchagin we will tell in this article.
Vasily Vereshchagin
Vasily Vereshchagin was born in Cherepovets uyezd, Novgorod province, and one of the most vivid memories of his childhood was the clanging of hammers in a long row of forges located along a mountain cliff. There people forged nails, which were then exported abroad - the artwork was hard, requiring a certain amount of diligence and a lot of patience.
Vereshchagin's father was a district leader of the nobility, a man of business, he earned money by selling nails forged by his serfs, organized the alloying of wood, owned land plots on which peasants belonging to him worked. However, despite his business acumen, he was a typical bourgeois - a man somewhat limited and boring, who did not care about art and art. He lived all his life in Cherepovets and its villages, in particular in his family nest - the village of Petrovka and was not going to move from there, as he was a typical homebody. Vasily Vereshchagin himself went to his mother - a beautiful, intelligent and educated Tatar woman, however, a little hysterical and harsh in words.
Vasily began to draw from childhood, but despite certain successes, his father, hardened in his local noble notions, did not want his son to become an artist. From ancient times in those places the nobility had a tradition to give their sons to serve in the navy, and therefore Vasily's fate seemed predetermined.
Picket on the Danube
Already at the age of 8 he began to study in the Alexander Cadet Corps. As a boy he was brave and strong, able to stand up for himself, but the general atmosphere of unconcealed cynicism, hazing and superiority of the elders over the younger depressed him. At the age of 15 he made his first voyage on the frigate "Kamchatka", but it did not give him any joy - the novice sailor began to get a strong sea sickness, which did not pass with time. It became clear that Vereshchagin's maritime career, despite all his courage and stubbornness, would not be possible.
Cape Fiolent
But Vasily became more and more interested in drawing and entered the St. Petersburg School of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts. He had talent, and it was noticed by all teachers, but Vereshchagin's parents were categorically opposed. His father wanted for his son only sea service, and arguments in the form of intolerance to sea sickness Vasily did not convince him. Even Vasily Vereshchagin's mother wanted her son to become a military man: "in epaulettes you will have a much better chance to become your own in the best houses of St. Petersburg than with a brush and easel.
The palace in Livadia
But Vasily was stubborn and did everything according to his own mind. Having become the best in the graduating class of the Naval Corps, he did not continue his career as a naval officer, but entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. However, the 1860s were not the best time for the Academy of Arts - the teachers there were mostly hardened retrogrades, adherents of the old "school" and the old masters. Students were forced to rewrite many times boring ancient subjects, rather than teaching new trends in painting. In the end, disappointed in his studies, Vereshchagin left for the Caucasus, and very timely - soon there was a so-called "revolt of fourteen" students of this academy, including Konstantin Makovsky - an article about why he can be called Nikas Safronov XIX century, you can read at the link. If Vereshchagin had stayed at the academy, there would probably have been a riot 15, and Vasily himself became its main organizer.
But in the Caucasus Vereshchagin time was not wasted - much painted landscapes of local nature, wrote portraits of mountaineers, improving as a painter and even taught at the Tiflis school.
Lezgin Haji-Murtuz from Dagestan
Soon came the news that his uncle left a rich inheritance of 1 thousand rubles, and Vasily decided to go abroad to familiarize himself with the outstanding foreign works of art.
But even abroad disappointed Vereshchagin, in Paris, he wanted to become a student of the artist Jean-Leon Jerome, but he was still the same retrograde, condemned the gaining strength of the artistic direction of the Impressionists, criticized Claude Monet. History later put everything in its place, it turned out that mercilessly criticized retrogrades Impressionists wrote wonderful paintings, which became a new word in art. To get acquainted with these Impressionist painters like Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, Maurice Utrillo, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec you can on our channel.
Vereshchagin returned to Russia, again began to live in his beloved Tiflis and actively paint everything he could see. And then Vereshchagin, who was eager for adventure, travel and new impressions, was "lucky" - General Kaufman, who commanded the Russian troops in the Turkestan Military District offered him to travel with him as a regimental painter.
Regimental adjutant
And soon the war began - the Emir of Bukhara declared jihad. The Emir's troops began to fight with Russian regiments for Samarkand, but the superiority in tactics, fortitude and training of Russian regular troops was obvious, the Emir with his army was forced to retreat, leaving the city to the winner.
Triumphant
However, our command did not want to keep a large garrison in Samarkand, and soon the main forces left it, left only 500 people and among them Vasily Vereshchagin.
But having started the war, it is not so easy to finish it, the local population, incited by mullahs and dervishes, numbering several tens of thousands of people went to the assault. They were joined by the remaining troops of the Emir of Bukhara.
The forces of the defenders were melting, and after a week the attackers managed to break a hole in the wall. And then Vasily Vereshchagin, who later described this episode as follows: "I look - they broke through the wall, so they will attack, but for some reason do not go forward, so we need to counterattack, and here is a great opportunity to show themselves. But most likely they'll kill us, but maybe we'll be lucky. And Vasily rushed into the attack, grabbed weapons and shot, then in close combat fought with a bayonet, killed and tried to save his comrades from death.
At the castle wall. Let them come in.
Soon came reinforcements, Samarkand remained for the Russians, and Vereshchagin himself was awarded the Cross of St. George.
However, Vereshchagin to the end of his life hated the war, he realized that to be a patriot is good only a thousand kilometers from the front line and always in all his paintings tried to convey to the viewer this idea.
Unfinished letter
Vereshchagin's work is the work of a man who sincerely hates war in all its manifestations, and perhaps by this it is more relevant and valuable than ever.
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