Boris Kustodiev (1878-1927) was a Russian artist who liked to work in the genre of portrait-painting, when the inner essence of a person, his character is revealed through the room or landscape. Sometimes Kustodiev wrote and small genre scenes, the meaning of which - in the best disclosure of the character of the main character. And also his paintings are beautiful and decorative, bright, colorful, cheerful. They are almost ideal options for creating lubochnyh pictures from them. They may well be hung in the living room - with some critical paintings by Perov and Repin it is more difficult.
Merchant woman at tea
But looking at these cheerful paintings, it is hard to believe that in the life of Kustodiev tragedies were many - he died a year-old son, and Kustodiev himself long and seriously ill. And critics sometimes scolded his paintings mercilessly, "illiterate lubki" - this is just one of the most, relatively mild, their definitions of Kustodiev's paintings.
Shrovetide festivities
But against all odds, Kustodiev painted so always - cheerfully and brightly, merchants in his paintings lush forms and bright blush caused genuine envy of St. Petersburg young ladies, although carefully concealed. Shrovetide horseback riding, bargaining on Palm Sunday - as if Kustodiev in his paintings tried to compensate for the joy that he lacked in ordinary life. We will talk about the tragic fate of the singer of joy Kustodiev in this article.
Boris Kustodiev. Self-Portrait.
Boris Kustodiev was born in Astrakhan, his mother really wanted him to follow in his father's footsteps and become a priest, and little Boris could not, and did not want to resist her desire. That's why he graduated from the theological school, began to study in the seminary, but soon saw the paintings of Perov, Serov and Shishkin and realized - nothing but painting, he does not want to do.
He wanted to enter the Moscow Art School, but when Boris finally arrived in the capital, he was 18 years old - too mature an age for a student. So he entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. But it was not the best time - the teachers, all academicians, were not distinguished by a greater pedagogical gift, to teach to write in a new way, they could not, and did not want to. But then in their place came itinerant artists, in particular, Ilya Repin - that's where Kustodiev studied with greater pleasure.
Soon Boris is already making the first successes - managed to sell the painting "Staging in the studio of Ilya Repin" for quite decent money for those times - 16 rubles. He immediately reports on this success to his mother, she is happy for him, but warns that Boris "do not get carried away with sitters".
Staging a nature scene in Ilya Repin's studio
Kustodiev was best at portraits, in particular, Ivan Bilibin - for him he was awarded a small gold medal. Then there was work on the epic canvas "Solemn Meeting" - Ilya Repin, whose brush it belongs to, attracted to its writing Kustodiev and Kulikov, and later wrote: "during this artwork from students they grew into real artists.
Solemn meeting of the State Council on May 7, 1901
But Kustodiev does not like it in St. Petersburg, he desperately longs for the bright colors of the province, and therefore takes every opportunity to leave St. Petersburg. On one such trip he met Julia Proshinskaya, who later became the wife of the artist.
The best time for Kustodiev began in the early 1900s. His, unfortunately, not preserved, painting "Bazaar in the Village" was awarded a gold medal, and most importantly - he received a paid boarding trip to Europe. And Kustodiev and his family went to Paris - the main city for all artists at that time, where impressionists Edgar Degas, Claude Monet, Pierre Renoir and many others created.
Palm Sunday market on Red Square.
After acquaintance with the Impressionists, Kustodiev began to write paintings in lighter colors, in many respects it was then that his famous "lubochny" style was formed. Then there was Spain, where Kustodiev liked very much the artwork of Spanish masters: Velazquez, Francisco Goya and others, but was horrified by the bullfight and the paintings exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art. "Talentless ointment" - this is the verdict of Kustodiev.
Returning home, he again continued to write his paintings. Giving in to the mindset of students and the creative intelligentsia at the time, drew several political cartoons for magazines, but when he received an order from the royal family to paint a portrait of Alexander the First, he thought not long - to be a court painter is much more profitable than a cartoonist, and besides, you can count on expensive orders.
Portrait of Alexander the First
And in 1907, Kustodiev began to show a tumor of the spinal canal. Needed a radical operation and became a question of what to leave mobile - hands or feet. "The artist without hands can not live" - stated his wife, Kustodiev himself at this time was unconscious and preparing for surgery.
Russian Venus
And Kustodiev did not give up, continued to write against all odds. Confined to a wheelchair, he created his brightest, most colorful paintings, as if he was trying to dissolve into the world of his art, not to think about the dreary reality. And why Kustodiev writes so festive - here is the simple answer. He was a very strong-willed and strong-willed man, fully committed to creativity - otherwise he would have long ago instead of writing paintings succumbed to despair and drunkenness, like Savrasov, or would have gone mad like Pavel Fedotov.
In 1927, the Soviet government allocated money for the treatment of the artist - it was necessary to conduct an expensive operation in Germany. But Kustodiev himself did not live to see it.
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