Alexander Vasiliev, a fashion historian, theater decorator and art critic, has been different from everyone else since his youth. Individuality, following not mass culture, but style, honorary member Russian Academy currently promotes the arts in the TV show “Fashionable Sentence”, in lectures that he gives in three languages, in costume collections collected from all over the world.

Childhood and youth

The TV presenter's biography began in Moscow in an exceptionally intelligent family. Alexander Vasiliev, Sr., is a famous theater artist and fashion designer, winner of the Grand Prix of the 1959 World Exhibition in Brussels, People's Artist of the RSFSR. Mother Tatyana Gurevich played in the theater, taught stage speech and acting at the Moscow Art Theater and choreographic school Bolshoi Theater. Early immersion in the world of beauty gave Vasiliev Jr. the first impetus for development. Since childhood, Sasha helped his father prepare the scenery and costumes, and at the age of 12 he acted as an artist for the children's play "The Wizard" Emerald City".

Of course, such a rich experience is worth passing on to descendants. Alexander Vasiliev is the author of more than three dozen books dedicated to the history of fashion and style of Russian emigrants of the early twentieth century. “Beauty in Exile” has been reprinted 6 times. The artist plans to release memoirs of Tatyana Leskova, the great-granddaughter of the writer, prima ballerina of the Russian ballet and ballet director in Brazil.

Personal life

The master was fictitiously married. A graduate of the Moscow Art Theater School entered into a marriage to obtain a French visa in order to reunite with classmate Maria Lavrova, who left for Paris after her mother’s marriage. Frenchwoman Anna Micheline Jean Bodimon, the daughter of a wealthy manufacturer and judge, was then studying Russian in Moscow and agreed to help with obtaining a visa.

Arriving in France, Alexander learned that Masha had found another man, a local journalist. Lavrova gave birth to a daughter from him, but did not get married, and over time resumed communication with Vasiliev.

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The TV presenter’s union with Anna lasted another 5 years, but then the couple separated. Vasiliev became close to his assistant Stefania. The girl refused to move from Iceland to France, and the marriage collapsed. After this, Alexander’s personal life was connected only with art. As a man sometimes jokes, he married fashion and is happy in such a marriage.

Fate can be cruel and allows too few years of life to true talents. Fyodor Vasiliev was supposed to grow into a talented landscape painter, but he was given only 23 years of life. Even in such a short period of time, when others were just learning the basics of painting, he managed to paint paintings that were included in the golden fund of Russian art.

Swamp in the forest. Autumn. 1872

Fedor was born on February 22, 1850 in the small town of Gatchina near St. Petersburg in the family of a minor official Alexander Vasiliev. More precisely, he was illegitimate son, since at that time his parents had not yet gotten married. Soon the family moved to the capital, but this did not make her life any better. My father often drank, and the money he didn’t have time to drink away was lost at cards. In order to somehow support his family, twelve-year-old Fyodor went to work at the post office, and then got a job as an assistant scribe at the Admiralty. He passionately loved to draw, but there was sorely not enough time for his favorite pastime.

Tree crowns.

In 1865, his father, who had completely drunk himself, died, and at the age of 15 Fyodor became the main breadwinner of the family: his mother, older sister and two younger brothers. To be closer to his favorite work, Vasiliev got a job as an apprentice restorer at the Academy of Arts, and in the evenings he began studying at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. The gifted student quickly attracted the attention of artists. He has already taken the young man under his care famous landscape painter Ivan Shishkin, who had recently returned from a retirement trip abroad.

Landscape with a rock and a stream.1867

Dawn.1873

In the summer of 1867, Shishkin invited Vasiliev on a trip to Valaam to write sketches. Working next to an experienced master gave Fedor a lot, but, oddly enough, he also had some influence on his older friend, who soon married his sister. Art critics believe that it was under the influence of Vasiliev that Shishkin’s painting became a little more lyrical. A small painting by Shishkin has survived from that period, in which the cemetery landscape on Valaam is “revitalized” by Vasiliev sitting on the grass.

In the church fence. Old cemetery of the Valaam Monastery. 1867

Fedor was amazingly lucky good people. His patron was the famous philanthropist Count Pavel Sergeevich Stroganov, who bought one of the Vaalam paintings of the novice artist. He began to invite Fyodor to his estates in the Kharkov and Tambov provinces, where the painter, freed from worries about his daily bread, could selflessly devote himself to creativity. It is important that with Stroganov he could communicate with the elite of Russian society, absorbing secular gloss and manners. Artist friends even sometimes jokingly called him “count,” although more often they called him “a brilliant boy.” And the Stroganov guests began to buy from young artist paintings, which was very useful, because Fyodor’s mother and brothers remained dependent on him.

Trees.Sketch.1870

Volga lagoons.1870

Izba.

During this period, the tone in Russian painting was set by the famous “Artel of Artists” of Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy, who was Vasiliev’s teacher. Naturally, the young artist soon also joined the artel. It is curious that among painters with an academic education he did not look like an amateur. Later, Ilya Repin recalled: “Everyone was drawn to this lucky man, and he himself vigilantly and quickly grasped all the phenomena around him.” Experienced artists watched with surprise the rapid professional growth of their young brother.

Gatchina.1850-1873

Already in 1868, Vasiliev presented at the exhibition the works “Return of the Herd”, “Village Street”, “After the Storm”, which demonstrated that a new lyrical landscape painter had appeared in Russia, with a keen sense of nature and able to convey in his works the beauty of his native Russian landscape.

Village.1869

After the thunderstorm.1868

After the rain. Country road.1867-1869

Vasiliev spent the summer of the following year with Repin on the Volga. The Great Russian River and the vast expanses of central Russia captivated the artist. He writes with ecstasy, trying to convey in sketches and drawings not just the beauty of nature, but its variability and mood. The result of this trip was several paintings, but the greatest delight among fellow professionals and spectators was “View on the Volga. Barki." The picture literally envelops the audience with midday peace, while simultaneously conveying the expanse of a powerful river, subjugated to a man forced to earn his bread through hard barge labor. Everyone noted the amazing skill with which the artist depicted the sky, which occupies more than half of the canvas.

View of the Volga.Barki.1870

“Young, strong, who lived only five years as an artist, who reached enormous heights... he discovered the living sky, he discovered the wet, bright, moving sky and those delights of the landscape that he expressed in a hundred of his paintings.”

(Ge N.N.)

In 1871 Vasiliev writes amazing picture"Thaw". Contemporaries noted that it is possible to retell in words everything that is depicted on the canvas, but it is impossible to convey in words its unique charm. I bought the painting for my gallery by P.M. Tretyakov. The Society for the Encouragement of the Arts awarded the film first prize. It’s interesting that he received the second prize for “ Pechora Monastery» Savrasov, who was already a recognized landscape painter. Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich (soon he will become emperor Alexander III) ordered the artist to repeat this painting. The following year in London, “The Thaw” was presented at the World Exhibition, receiving an award and rave reviews in the press.

Thaw.1871

By this time, Vasiliev was already seriously ill; doctors found he had progressive tuberculosis. Urgent treatment and climate change were required. The Society for the Encouragement of Arts allocated him money for a trip to Crimea, but first Vasilyev went to the Kharkov estate of Count Stroganov. Perhaps it was on that visit to Ukraine that he saw an old mill somewhere on a quiet river. Later, in Crimea, he would paint one of his most poetic paintings, “The Abandoned Mill.” There is something fabulous about her. It seems that at night mermaids swim to this shore overgrown with reeds and sedges, and a goblin lives in the thickets of willow trees.

Abandoned mill.1871-1873

Vasiliev did not stay in Ukraine for long; at the insistence of doctors, he moved to Crimea. The lush southern nature did not make an impression on him. He yearns for the endless Russian fields and birches fluttering in the wind. “I miss Russia and don’t believe in Crimea,” he complains in a letter to Kramskoy. In Crimea, Vasiliev was visited by Aivazovsky, who was at the height of his fame at that time. The master looked at Fedor’s paintings and sketches with interest and shared his experience in depicting the sea and southern nature. But the bright southern nature does not inspire the artist; he paints pictures based on old sketches and sketches.

Eriklik.Fantan (Crimea).1872

One of his best paintings, “Wet Meadow,” was born here. For it, the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts awarded him a prize. Another thing happened an important event, The Academy of Arts in absentia awarded Vasiliev, who did not pass the exams for the academic course, the title of “class artist of the first degree.” This title allowed one to run for official positions, and upon admission to public service receive the rank of 12th grade.

Wet meadow.1872

Evening in Crimea.1871-1873

Gradually the artist gets used to the local nature and begins to paint it, but life path Vasilyeva is already ending. His last great job became the painting “In the Crimean Mountains”.

In the Crimean mountains.1873

On October 6, 1873, Fyodor Alexandrovich Vasiliev died. The artist's friends arranged it posthumous exhibition. Surprisingly, all the works exhibited there, including sketches and sketches, were sold out even before its official opening. Only Pavel Tretyakov acquired 18 paintings for his gallery at once.

"He lived a short but wonderful creative life. “He was destined to bring into the Russian landscape what the latter lacked and is still lacking: poetry with natural execution,”

Kramskoy wrote about him.

I.N. Kramskoy. Portrait of the artist F.A. Vasilyev

Under the big tent
Blue skies -
I see the distance of the steppes
Turns green.

And on their edges,
Above the dark clouds
The chains of mountains stand
Giants.

Across the steppes to the seas
The rivers are rolling
And there are paths
In all directions.

I'll look south -
The fields are mature.
That the reeds are thick,
They move quietly;

Ant of meadows
It spreads like a carpet,
Grapes in the gardens
It's pouring.

I'll look north -
There, in the wilderness of the desert,
Snow is like white fluff,
Spins quickly;

Raises the chest
The sea is blue,
And mountains of ice
Walks on the sea;

And the sky is on fire
Bright glow
Lights up the darkness
Impenetrable...

It's you, my
Sovereign Rus'.
My motherland
Orthodox!

Wide are you, Rus',
Across the face of the earth
In royal beauty
Turned around!

@Ivan Nikitin

Alexander Vasiliev (fashion historian)

Alexander Alexandrovich Vasiliev. Born on December 8, 1958 in Moscow. Russian and French fashion historian, art critic, collector, interior decorator, theater artist, TV presenter.

Father - Alexander Pavlovich Vasiliev (1911-1990), theater artist, People's Artist RSFSR, creator of scenery and costumes.

Mother - Tatyana Ilyinichna Vasilyeva-Gulevich (1924-2003), dramatic actress, professor, one of the first graduates of the Moscow Art Theater School.

I grew up in a theatrical atmosphere. Big influence he was influenced by the work of his father, who created sets and costumes for more than 300 productions on the domestic and foreign stage.

From an early age he was interested in creating costumes and scenery. At first he made them for performances in puppet theater, later - for his own play “The Wizard of the Emerald City,” which he staged at the age of twelve.

He took part in the filming of children's programs on Soviet television "Theater Bell" and "Alarm Clock".

Alexander Vasiliev as a child in the Alarm Clock program

He studied at English special school No. 29, from where he was expelled due to poor performance. Then he studied at working youth school No. 127.

In 1981, Vasiliev graduated from the production department of the Moscow Art Theater School. He worked as a costume designer at the Moscow Theater on Malaya Bronnaya together with his father, designing performances.

In the early 1980s, after a fictitious marriage with a French woman, he left for Paris. There he worked as a decorator for various French theaters and festivals such as the Théâtre du Rond-Point on the Champs-Élysées, the Bastille Opera Studio, the Théâtre du Lucernaire, the Cartoucherie, the Avignon Festival, the Bale du Nord, the Young Ballet of France and the Royal Opera Versailles.

Since 1994, Alexander Vasiliev began giving lecture courses and demonstrating master classes at various universities and colleges around the world. Owns a family foreign languages(English, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Serbo-Croatian, Turkish), and lectures in three of them - English, French and Spanish.

Since 2000, under his leadership, the Volga Region Seasons of Alexander Vasiliev Festival of Fashion and Theater Costume has been held in Samara.

In 2003 he opened a design studio "Interiors of Alexander Vasiliev".

In Russia, lectures on the course “Management and Theory of Fashion” at the Moscow state university, in lecture halls in various cities of Russia. In 2005, Alexander Vasiliev’s visiting school began operating, within the framework of which students travel to various cultural capitals, including Paris, London, Venice, Rome, Morocco, Cambodia, Madrid, Istanbul, Riga, Vilnius.

Since 2005, the Russian-British Institute of Management in Chelyabinsk has operated the Museum of the History of Fashion of the 20th Century. Vasiliev presented the idea of ​​creating a museum to the institute.

Theatrical works of Alexander Vasiliev

Alexander Vasiliev is the creator of sets for operas, theatrical productions, films and ballets. He designed the ballets “Romeo and Juliet”, “Swan Lake”, “Anna Karenina” - in total more than 100 productions in 25 countries.

Vasiliev worked on the stage design and costumes of the Pushkin Theater performance “And suddenly...”, which is staged in the Pushkin foyer of the theater, with National Theater in London, the Scottish Ballet in Glasgow, the Royal Ballet in Flanders, as well as with ballets from Japan, the USA, Chile and others.

In Russia, productions designed by Alexander Vasiliev were performed at the Moscow Operetta Theater, the Academic Musical theater them. Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko, opera houses Novosibirsk, Samara, Rostov-on-Don.

In 2012, at the Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, he carried out a major revival of the one-act ballet “Pavilion of Armida” to the music of N. Cherepnin. Conductor-producer - Evgeny Khokhlov.

Since 2002, Alexander Vasiliev began working on the “Culture” TV channel as the author and host of the “Blow of the Century” program. Since November 23, 2009, Alexander Vasiliev has been the permanent presenter of fashion court meetings in the “Fashionable Sentence” program instead of Vyacheslav Zaitsev.

In 2009-2012, he was the scientific director of the Moscow Fashion Academy at the Moscow Institute of Television and Radio Broadcasting "Ostankino", where he conducted master classes. In 2012-2013 - master of the course at the Faculty of Design and Fashion at the Moscow Institute of Television and Radio Broadcasting "Ostankino".

Since 2012 he has been collaborating with Radio Mayak. In 2013 - host of the series of programs “Portraits of Great Fashionistas” on Radio Mayak.

In 2016, he starred in a small role in the film “Hero”.

Alexander Vasiliev in the film "Hero"

Collection of Alexander Vasiliev

Owns a private collection of fashion and costume, items from which have been exhibited in Australia, Europe, Asia and America. The collection, stored in France, has been growing for 30 years and consists of more than 50 thousand exhibits from the 17th century to the present, including haute couture masterpieces created by the best ateliers of their era. A significant part of the collection consists of photographs and paintings related to the history of fashion, and, in particular, to the history of the Russian diaspora.

The collection includes costumes that in the past belonged to Princess Maria Shcherbatova, Baroness Galina Delvig, Countess Jacqueline de Beaugourdon, and Countess Olga von Kreutz. In addition, wardrobe items from such Russian stars theater and cinema like, Natalya Durova, Olga Lepeshinskaya, Galina Ulanova, .

The ballerina donated several unique items from her wardrobe to the collection, including:

An ensemble consisting of a tunic and overalls. Fashion house "Pierre Cardin". Paris. 1973;
- Ensemble made of printed silk, trimmed with flounces. Fashion house "Pierre Cardin". Paris. Late 1980s;
- Costume made of two-layer quilted silk “space”, presented to the ballerina personally by Coco Chanel.

These wardrobe fragments became exhibits at the exhibition “Fashion for iron curtain. From the wardrobe of the stars Soviet era", and also ended up in the illustrated catalog of the same name (ISBN 978-5-9903435-1-1), compiled by Alexander Vasiliev.

Vasiliev’s plans include creating a Museum of Historical Costume in Russia, in which his collection would be open to permanent public access.

In 2011, Alexander Vasiliev established the first international prize for the interior "Lilies of Alexander Vasiliev". The award winners are establishments in Russia and abroad that meet his high ideas about style. The winners are awarded a brand name - a ceramic lily self made. Each lily has an individual number and an original passport, which guarantees its authenticity. Establishments in Russia, Italy, France, Latvia, Lithuania and other European countries have already received lilies for the interior, atmosphere, light, music and design details.

He was awarded non-state awards - the S. P. Diaghilev medal for the promotion of Russian art, the V. Nijinsky medal, the Order of Maecenas, and the Gold Medal of the Russian Academy of Arts. Twice winner of the Tobab Prize in Turkey. He was presented in the category “Fashion Legend” at the World Fashion Awards in 2010. In 2011, residents of the Samara region awarded Vasiliev the regional People's Recognition award. In the same year, Vasiliev became an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Arts.

Author of three dozen books. His book “Beauty in Exile,” published by Slovo/Slovo, went through six reprints in Russian from 1998 to 2008, and in 2000 it was published in New York on English language. Vasiliev is the author of the book “Russian Fashion. 150 years in photographs" (also publishing house Slovo/Slovo, 2004), which presents over 2000 photographs on the history of Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet fashion from the mid-19th century to beginning of the XXI century.

Most books are illustrated with photographs from the author's collection.

On the pages of the book “Russian Interiors” Vasiliev recreated the decoration of Russian palaces, noble estates, merchant and bourgeois houses, public interiors of Tsarist Russia.

Condition of Alexander Vasiliev

Alexander Vasiliev is a fairly wealthy man. He owns houses in France, Turkey and Lithuania.

He owns real estate in Europe and Russia. All of the star’s apartments have maids, gardeners, and are furnished with antique furniture. His property and real estate are estimated, according to some sources, at one and a half million euros.

Alexander Vasiliev owns a house in the central part of France, the province of Auvergne, a house in Lithuania, apartments in Antalya, Moscow and Kaliningrad, on the Curonian Spit. In addition, on a lifetime annuity basis, he owns apartments in Paris that cost half a million euros.

“I have a three-room apartment in Paris. But it is not what is valuable in itself, but what is in it. Me, my dog, collections,” said the fashion historian. Museums around the world are ready to fight for what was collected in Vasiliev’s Parisian apartment. Everything there is valuable exhibits: chandeliers, candlesticks, paintings in gilded frames, silver goblets, a mahogany bed, an oak table.

Vasiliev, as a rule, spends the summer on an estate in Auvergne, consisting of three houses.

The TV presenter inherited the house in Lithuania from his grandfather. Main value estates in the Baltics - an ancient library, a nineteenth-century bath and a luxurious garden. “The house was built in 1912. My cousin and cousin live on the top floor. They have three rooms with a separate entrance. I have seven rooms downstairs. The house has preserved furniture, an antique stove, and many old things. I love it all. I restored everything myself,” said Alexander Vasiliev.

The fashion historian said about the apartment in Antalya that it was given to him as a fee.

Every home of Alexander Vasiliev has antiques: “I have a lot of paintings, two thousand canvases from the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I know how to buy cheap. I have the gift of bringing down the price, explaining to people that this is nonsense. I’m not a millionaire, I’m Vasiliev,” he shared.

Alexander Vasiliev. Alone with everyone

Personal life Alexandra Vasilyeva:

In 1982 he married a French woman. The marriage was fictitious, with the goal of leaving for France. Lasted five years.

He officially does not have his own children. According to Alexander Vasiliev, he has three goddaughters. He maintains constant communication with only one of them - Marfa Milovidova. He became the girl’s godfather at the request of her mother, classmate and longtime friend.

Marfa herself said: “I tell everyone that Alexander Vasiliev is my godfather, because I am very proud of him. He is an incredible person, he is my motivator in life. Alexander often gives me fashionable clothes. I have three brothers, and as a child I often imitated them, wore trousers, and my godfather taught me to dress femininely.”

According to Alexander, he has already made a will. Part of his property will belong to the foundation he manages. Also mentioned in the document and God daughter Marfa Milovidova.

According to rumors, Alexander Vasiliev has an illegitimate child. This is indirectly confirmed by him. “You will learn everything from my memoirs; not everything can be told publicly,” Vasiliev snapped.

Alexander Vasiliev. Million dollar secret

Filmography of Alexander Vasiliev:

1990 - Russian ballet without Russia (documentary)
2007 - Soviet-style beauty. The fate of a fashion model (documentary)
2008 - A film about a film. Dog in the manger. Not soviet history(documentary)
2009 - Alla Larionova. The Tale of the Soviet Angel (documentary)
2012 - Lyudmila Gurchenko. How I became a goddess (documentary)
2012 - Goddesses of Socialism (documentary)
2013 - Lapin List. Forbidden Variety (documentary)
2016 - Hero - fashion historian

Bibliography of Alexander Vasiliev:

1998 - Beauty in Exile
2004 - Russian fashion. 150 years in photographs
2006 - European fashion. Three centuries. From the collection of A. Vasiliev
2006-2012 - Carte Postale. Fashion history. Issue 1. Russian beauties
2006-2012 - Carte Postale. Fashion history. Issue 2. Costumes of Diaghilev’s “Russian Seasons”
2006-2012 - Carte Postale. Fashion history. Issue 3. Costumes of the Russian Imperial House
2006-2012 - Carte Postale. Fashion history. Issue 4. Stars of the world silent cinema
2006-2012 - Carte Postale. Fashion history. Issue 5. Fashion and travel
2006-2012 - Carte Postale. Fashion history. Issue 6. Beach fashion
2006-2012 - Carte Postale. Fashion history. Issue 7. Wedding fashion
2006-2012 - Carte Postale. Fashion history. Issue 8. Russian beauties-2
2006-2012 - Carte Postale. Fashion history. Issue 9. Christmas fashion
2006-2012 - Carte Postale. Fashion history. Issue 10. Children's masquerade
2006-2012 - Carte Postale. Fashion history. Issue 11. Russian dandies
2006-2012 - Carte Postale. Fashion history. Issue 12. Stars of the Stalin era
2006-2012 - Carte Postale. Fashion history. Issue 13. Our pets
2006-2012 - Carte Postale. Fashion history. Issue 14. Christian Dior
2006-2012 - Carte Postale. Fashion history. Issue 15. Furs and fashion
2006-2012 - Carte Postale. Fashion history. Issue 16. Ladies' hats
2006-2012 - Carte Postale. Fashion history. Issue 17. Costumes of Russian theater of the 19th-20th centuries
2006-2012 - Carte Postale. Fashion history. Issue 18. Parisian fashion of the 1910s
2007 - Sketches about fashion and style
2008 - I'm in fashion today...
2009 - The Fates of Fashion
2010 - Little Ballerina: Confession of a Russian Emigrant (co-authored with Ksenia Tripolitova)
2010 - Russian Hollywood
2013 - Children's fashion of the Russian Empire
2013 - Paris-Moscow: long return

In 1997, the widow of the artist Alexander Pavlovich Vasiliev, actress Tatyana Ilyinichna, and son, fashion historian Alexander Alexandrovich, donated art museum more than three hundred paintings and objects from the workshop: sketches of theatrical productions and costumes by A.P. and A.A. Vasilievs, costumes, household items, books and photographs late XIX- beginning of the twentieth century.

Alexander Pavlovich Vasiliev (January 11, 1911, Samara - November 10, 1990, Moscow) - theater artist, People's Artist of the RSFSR, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Arts. Graduated from the Moscow State Academic Art School in Memory of 1905. He worked in drama theaters in Arkhangelsk, Vladivostok, Kirov, Rostov-on-Don.

During the 1932-1933 season, A.P. Vasiliev lived in Samara, where on the stage of the Samara Regional drama theater(now Samara academic theater dramas named after M. Gorky) designed the performances “Prince Mstislav the Udaloy” by I. Prut, “Krechinsky’s Wedding” by A. Sukhovo-Kobylin and “Truth is good, but happiness is better” by A. Ostrovsky.

During the Great Patriotic War Alexander Pavlovich Vasiliev was a fighter on the labor front in Karelia, then, as the chief artist of the front-line theaters of the All-Russian Theater Society, he visited all fronts with creative groups. Using minimal resources, Alexander Pavlovich knew how to create costumes for wartime productions, and came up with a system of dismountable scenery that was convenient for field conditions.

In 1945, A.P. Vasiliev began working in the capital's theaters - named after. M.N. Ermolova, named after. Mossovet. He created the scenery for many performances, including stagings of the plays “The Endless Distances” by N.E. Virts, “The Goblin” by A. Chekhov, “Vasily Terkin” by A. Tvardovsky, “Dear Liar” by J. Kilty, “Uncle’s Dream” by F. Dostoevsky, “The Last Victim” by A. Ostrovsky.

A.P. Vasiliev came to easel painting quite late, painting portraits of relatives, friends and simply fictional characters.

One of the important themes of his work was the theme of human loneliness, including the theme of hopeless, lonely old age (“Peer”, 1977; Spring, 1978). The cycle of his works “The Hermits” reveals bright and expressive social types, subtly noted by the author (“The Hermit Bob”, 1978; “The Artist”, 1978; “Borya”, 1978).

A series of portraits of contemporaries reflects the spirit of the time and the characters of the people around the artist (“Portrait of an Artist”, 1985; “Portrait of Olga Vasilyeva in a theatrical costume”, 1979; “Portrait of a Girl”, 1979). Portraits of my son famous historian fashions by Alexander Vasiliev, six in total. One of them is in our congregation. As Alexander Alexandrovich says, no one could write it better than his father, since he is his brainchild in every sense.

Alexander Pavlovich often turned to landscapes “without an actor,” that is, without the presence of a person, pure landscapes, since they allow the viewer to plunge into the world of creative trips and, together with the author, visit the Netherlands (“Remembering Amsterdam”, 1986), Japan (“Tokyo ", 1984, "Expo-70. Osaka", 1971), Afghanistan ("Kabul. Market Street", 1967), Canada ("Bridge in Montreal", 1967), to feel the atmosphere of celebration and travel.

In the still lifes of A.P. Vasilyeva with special attention and bouquets of wildflowers are depicted with love (“Field bouquets and two tomatoes”, 1980), objects from the artist’s studio, which emphasize the artist’s interest in the ordinary world of things in which he sees something unusual, reveals their nature, their “soul”.

In any of his works you can feel the designer. The plasticity and proportions of any object, the space of the picture create the impression of an organized mise-en-scène. Forms are compressed, enlarged, distorted depending on the requirements of the stage perspective, on the role of the object in the stage action. The artist creates his own theater, where he himself is the author, director and performer.

A striking expression of this attitude towards painting was the series of the mid-1970s with “balbettes” invented by A.P. Vasiliev characters. These are objects of various shapes, carved from wood and painted by the artist, reminiscent of skittles or kitchen utensils. Their name combines two concepts: “boob” and “babette” - a hat that was fashionable in the 1960s. “Balbets” play in the films of A.P. Vasiliev plays a variety of roles: either they serve as part of a still life, or they act as grotesque inhabitants of the “human” world. With their help, the artist plays plays alone in his own theater. In a series of ironic fantasy works showing the fictional country of Balbetinia, an attentive viewer will easily recognize a parody of real world with his complex relationships and life situations.

The museum's theatrical collection is complemented by works by Alexander Vasiliev Jr., a famous fashion historian and theater artist. The collection includes costume designs for the ballets “The Sleeping Beauty” by P.I. Chakovsky (Ankara, Türkiye, 1993), “Cinderella” by S.S. Prokofiev (Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 1995), La Bayadère by L. Minkus (Ankara, Turkey, 1997) and the opera by A.P. Borodin “Prince Igor” (Santiago, Chile, 1994).