Arkhip Kuindzhi (1842-1910) - was truly in love twice, but for life. The first love - for art, it was fierce, loud, taking a huge amount of time and mental strength, but also bringing a lot of joy. The second - to his wife Vera Kuindzhi. Here everything is much more measured, quieter, without sharp manifestations of feelings, although under the external decency boiled and considerable passion. We will talk about her in this article.
Ivan Kramskoy. Portrait of A. I. Kuindzhi
They met in Mariupol, when Arkhip came on vacation from St. Petersburg to his parents and for part-time work thought to write a portrait of a rich local merchant Eleutherius Shapovalov-Ketcherdzhi - a Greek by birth. The work as a whole got along, Kuindzhi though not too fond of writing portraits, preferring landscapes, but to earn money in his youth sometimes had to do and this “craft” artwork, so in his time annoyed Kramskoi. Ketcherdzhi traded in furs and hats and managed to establish this business so cleverly that he made a large fortune, and at the same time took a second Russian surname Shapovalov, so as not to annoy the locals with the need to pronounce his hard-to-pronounce Greek surname.
It was in his house that Quindzhi saw his daughter Vera and somehow immediately fell in love without a glance and hopelessly. And it would be all right if it was just a matter of the difference in wealth and social status - Arkhip was the son of a simple cobbler - but Vera was only 9 years old when she met the 21-year-old artist.
Steppe
Vera studied at the Kushnikov Institute for Noble Maidens, where she studied mathematics, French and Greek, dancing, needlework, and social behavior, as a noble maiden should. She came home only in the summer for vacations, and only at that time could see her parents, friends and Arkhip Kuindzhi. Gradually she developed feelings for the handsome young man who became a frequent guest in their household in the summer, and as Vera grew older, the difference in age no longer seemed so fundamental.
Autumn thaw
But there was another problem - Kuindzhi was poor, although he showed great promise. However, painting to earn really a lot managed to earn only a few, for example, Konstantin Makovsky and even then on commissioned portraits. And the landscape painter, and even self-taught, had nothing to rely on.
View of St. Isaac's Cathedral in the moonlight
Kuindzhi at first frankly needed money. He even took a job as a photo retoucher and, spending his days in boring and monotonous artwork, dreamed that someday he would become rich and worthy of his chosen one.
He had no artistic education, but the talent of Kuindzhi was undeniable and it was recognized by all the teachers of the Academy of Arts. For the painting “Tatar Saklja” he received the title of a non-class artist, and more importantly, a certain fame in artistic circles.
Tatar saklja
Kuindzhi joined the Peredvizhniki Society, became friends with Ilya Repin, Ivan Kramsky, Viktor Vasnetsov, and presented his remarkable landscapes at the exhibitions of the Peredvizhniki. In 1875 Tretyakov bought two paintings by Kuindzhi for 1.5 thousand rubles and this allowed Kuindzhi to go to Paris, which was by then the art capital of the world and most importantly - to propose to his beloved.
Portrait of Vera Kuindzhi
Kuindzhi returned to Mariupol on horseback - he had bought a wedding tailcoat and cylinder in Paris, and arrived already in the status of a famous artist, with whom even the most arrogant merchant was not ashamed to be related. Vera had long been in love with Arkhip, and the wedding was played in the Greek way - noisy, rich and merry. The wedding trip took them to the island of Valaam, and perhaps the sanctity of this place blessed the marriage - it was strong and unshakable until the death of Arkhip Kuindzhi.
On the island of Valaam
And Kuindzhi's name became really loud when he presented his famous “Night on the Dnieper” to the public in 1880.
Moonlit Night on the Dnieper
There was a personal exhibition for a single painting, kilometer-long queues, universal admiration and crazy for those times the sum of 5 thousand rubles paid for it by Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich.
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