Ten years is a long enough period that can radically change a person's life, and in the case of famous artists - and their work. We will talk about how it was in the wonderful landscape painter Alexei Savrasov in this article.
In 1871, Alexei Savrasov presented at the first exhibition of itinerant artists his painting “The Rooks have flown in”. About her wrote: “Rooks Savrasov - perhaps the best artwork at the exhibition, although there were his paintings presented Shishkin, Alexei Bogolyubov and Klodt. But all this is just nature, water, trees - written beautifully, but without a soul. And there is a soul only in Rooks”.
Rooks have flown in
And it is difficult to argue with this statement, although the period of life, when Savrasov created it, certainly can not be called happy for the artist. He taught at the Moscow School of Painting, where he was given a state-owned apartment. But in 1870 it was reported that the housing will have to vacate and rent some other at their own expense. Except that teaching and writing landscapes Savrasov earned a little: the main earnings in those years were for most artists from portraits, and here he could not compete with the recognized masters of this genre. Therefore, he had to move to Yaroslavl, at least Tretyakov ordered a few landscapes and it was possible to make ends meet.
A country lane
There were misfortunes and in the family: a child died, the fourth in a row, his wife was seriously ill after a difficult childbirth, but, strangely enough, all these trials seem to have cleared Savrasov's soul of all unnecessary, allowed him to focus on creativity, in which he was looking for salvation from life's troubles.
Early spring, floods
His main picture he painted in the village of Molvitino, where he arrived in early March. And it is very “Savrasov's”, completely non-holiday, ordinary, but at the same time it resonates in the soul of every Russian person.
Winter landscape
After 10 years in Savrasov's life much has changed, and for the worse. As if some kind of curse was hanging over him, and misfortunes followed one after another. His wife took the children and left, he was fired from his artwork, had to live in a real slum, not corresponding to the status of the once famous artist. Savrasov even refused to teach his children to write paintings, so that they did not know the same need in which he himself was. Friends helped to rent a room in which Savrasov copied endless variations on the theme of Rooks to earn money, and sometimes visited him.
Early spring. Thaw. 1880-е
About one of these visits and remained a memory. “We entered the room, and then a miracle appeared before us - a painting by Savrasov, where on the background of white, snow-covered roofs black rooks were seen, birches densely studded with rooks' nests, and it seemed that the very masterpiece, painted by him ten years ago, revitalized the atmosphere of the miserable room.
But soon they saw the owner himself. A tall old man with a gray beard, obviously too big for the small bed, because of which he had to bend his legs, was lying on his back and did not even react to us. Two empty bottles of vodka stood next to him and cranberries were lying around.
The Volga River in the vicinity of Yuryevets
Painter Nevrev approached him and began to stir: “Come on, get up Lyosha, the day in the yard, let's go to the inn, freshen up. But Savrasov did not react, only drunken muttering was heard.
“Let's go, there's nothing to do here, he's seriously and for a long time drunk, every day now he'll take two bottles and snack on cranberries, and he doesn't eat anything else. Now I'll just leave two grivnas for a hangover, or he'll take his coat to the miser and die of cold.”
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