DENISOV-URALSKY ALEXEY KUZMICH

(06(18).11.1863, Ekat. - 1926, Usekirko, Finland), painter, stone cutter, jeweler. Genus. in the family of stone cutters, where he acquired his first prof. skills. In 1884 he received Ekat from the Crafts Council. title of master of relief crafts. In 1887-1888 he studied at school. Society for the promotion of art. in St. Petersburg The result is numerous. trips around the Ukraine produced landscapes that convey the unique nature of the region, its vegetation and geology. features: “Lake Konchenevskoye” (1886), “Forest Fire” (variants - 1887, 1888, 1897; Large silver medal at the exhibition in St. Louis, USA, in 1904), “October on the W.” (1894), “From Trinity Mountain” (1896), “Morning on the Chusovaya River” (1896), “Top of Polyuda” (1898), “Narrow Stone on the Chusovaya River” (1909), “Vetryanoy Stone on the River. Visher" (1909), "Tiscos River" (1909). Performed work from the Urals. gems: "composite paintings", slides, paperweights, inkwells, relief cards of U., jewelry, gray. sculptural caricatures "Allegorical figures of the warring powers" (1914-1916). Prod. Control systems were exhibited at exhibitions: Kazan Scientific-Industrial. (1890), All-Russian. industrial arts in Nizh. Novgorod (1896), Society of lovers of fine art in Ekat., Society of Rus. watercolorists and others. A number of personal exhibitions of the DU took place at the end. 1890-1910s in Ekat., Perm and St. Petersburg. DU acted as a champion of the development of the fatherland. horn industry and respect for nature U. In 1903 he participated in the First All-Russian. congress of figures on practical geology and exploration in St. Petersburg, in 1911 he initiated the convening of a congress of miners in Ekat. In 1912 he organized it in St. Petersburg. Society for promoting the development and improvement of handicraft and grinding industries "Russian Gems". In con. 1910s lived in the village. Usekirko near St. Petersburg, on the territory that was transferred to Finland after 1918. In the last gg. life, DU wrote a series of paintings about the Ural Mountains. He worked on the relief painting “Ural Archives from a bird’s eye view.” In 1924 he informed UOLE by telegram that he was donating 400 paintings, collected to his native city. minerals and stone products. The fate of most of this gift until now. time unknown Prod. The remote controls are stored in the State Russian Museum, in EMI, PGKhG in the Irkutsk region. arts museum, other arts. and geol. museums and private collections.

Works: On some obstacles in the development of mining precious stones// Proceedings of the I All-Russian Congress of Workers on Practical Geology and Exploration. St. Petersburg, 1905; Blood on the stone // Argus. 1916.5.

Lit.: Pavlovsky B.V. A.K. Denisov-Uralsky. Sverdlovsk, 1953; Semenova S.V. Fascinated by the Urals. Sverdlovsk, 1978.

G.B. Zaitsev

Encyclopedia of Yekaterinburg. EdwART. 2010.

See what "DENISOV-URAL ALEXEY KUZMICH" is in other dictionaries:

Denisov-Uralsky, Alexey Kuzmich- (06(18).11.1863, Ekat. 1926, Usikirko (Finland) painter, stone cutter, jeweler. Born in a slave family. Studied at the school of the Association for the Encouragement of Arts in St. Petersburg. (1887 88). Painted landscapes by W. : Forest Fire (1887 and 1888), October on the U. (1894), Morning on the River... ... Ural Historical Encyclopedia

Contents 1 1941 2 1942 3 1943 4 1946 4.1 Awards ... Wikipedia

Appendix to the article Medal “For saving the dead” Contents 1 Republic of Bashkortostan ... Wikipedia

Badge of the laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation The State Prize of the Russian Federation has been awarded since 1992 by the President of the Russian Federation for contribution to the development of science and technology, literature and art, for outstanding... ... Wikipedia

Badge of the laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation The State Prize of the Russian Federation has been awarded since 1992 by the President of the Russian Federation for contribution to the development of science and technology, literature and art, for outstanding... ... Wikipedia

Badge of the laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation The State Prize of the Russian Federation has been awarded since 1992 by the President of the Russian Federation for contribution to the development of science and technology, literature and art, for outstanding... ... Wikipedia

Badge of the laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation The State Prize of the Russian Federation has been awarded since 1992 by the President of the Russian Federation for contribution to the development of science and technology, literature and art, for outstanding... ... Wikipedia

Badge of the laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation The State Prize of the Russian Federation has been awarded since 1992 by the President of the Russian Federation for contribution to the development of science and technology, literature and art, for outstanding... ... Wikipedia

Badge of the laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation The State Prize of the Russian Federation has been awarded since 1992 by the President of the Russian Federation for contribution to the development of science and technology, literature and art, for outstanding... ... Wikipedia

Chusovaya River. 1895 Oil on canvas 79.5 x 105.0 United Museum of Writers of the Urals, Admission in 1954 through the museum’s purchasing commission from a private person Inscriptions and signatures

Alexey Kozmich Denisov-Uralsky (1864 - 1926) - Russian painter and stone cutter. Creativity A.K. Denisov-Uralsky found himself in the shadow of his contemporaries for a long time. There are many reasons for this: belonging to the circle of “luxury merchants”, and a wide variety of activities, and the dispersion of the heritage, and the emphasized focus of creativity on the story of one region. As a result, information about Denisov was scattered throughout publications about the culture of stone in Russia and the art of the Ural region, where his name is often found next to the name of Faberge, but always in a somewhat blurred context.

It cannot be said that the Urals did not appreciate Alexey Kozmich - no one disputed the high level of his stone-cutting skills, and his paintings invariably aroused interest among viewers. And yet, for a long time, not only ordinary people, but also art connoisseurs did not fully understand its role in the development of the artistic life of the region. The importance of the master’s personality for the Ural region was first noted in the capitals.
After a number of individual publications in the 1940s, in the significant year 1953 for our country, a monograph by B.V. was published. Pavlovsky. To this day, it remains the most holistic and consistent study of the life and work of our fellow countryman.
S.V. played a significant role in popularizing the life story of Denisov-Uralsky. Semenov. A series of programs on local television, followed by the book “Enchanted by the Urals” published in 1978, as well as its two expanded and expanded re-releases - “Flame and Stone” in 2007 and “Alexey Denisov-Uralsky” in 2011 from the series “The Life of Remarkable People” Uralians" - introduced several generations of viewers and readers to the fictionalized biography of this outstanding personality.
Certain facts and important details of the master’s creative biography were clarified in articles prepared by Ural art historians in the 1970s - 2010s. The preservation of the name of Denisov-Uralsky in Yekaterinburg is also facilitated by the annual competition of jewelry, stone-cutting and lapidary art, organized annually since 1999 regional Museum history of stone cutting and jewelry art.
A new stage of work on the systematic study of the creative heritage of A.K. Denisov-Uralsky, first of all - its applied side, associated with the processing of semi-precious and ornamental stones, coincides with the beginning of the new millennium. The change in the general atmosphere in society, which made it possible to pay close attention to the history of the creation of luxury goods as a separate branch of applied art, and the opening up of opportunities to attract materials from foreign archives and libraries, were able to significantly expand our understanding of the work of Alexey Kozmich, clarify his true role in the development of pan-European fashion in colored stone. The publication of the results of these studies partly contributed to the return of the name of Denisov-Uralsky to the forefront. It seems logical and important that his works were exhibited next to works by the Faberge firm at major international exhibitions in 2005 in Brussels and in 2011 in Moscow.

Winter landscape 1886 Oil on canvas 85.0 68.0 United Museum of Writers of the Urals, Admission in 1971 through the museum’s purchasing commission from a private person Inscriptions and signatures

The first known to us creative experiences Alexey Kozmich's works lie on the border between the artistic and the natural sciences. They are associated with the creation of various kinds of collections from mineralogical raw materials: systematic, catalogued, skillfully assembled into lush compositions, slides, demonstrating the nature of the occurrence of rocks, and “bulk” relief icons, where the use of stone-colored material was subordinated to the goal of enhancing the emotional perception of the image.
The earliest examples of works known today as “relief” or “mound” icons were created in the Southern Urals, in Zlatoust. Signed icons created in the 1820s - 1830s are now kept in the Mining Museum of the St. Petersburg State Mining University.
Today there are four known created by A.K. Denisov-Uralsky “bulk” icons. All of them are compositionally extremely close and reproduce the canonical plot of “The Resurrection of Christ” with several variations. A similar interpretation of landscape motifs with a silhouette reading of the foreground, the identical nature of the stone set, and the use of the technique of coloring vegetation fragments with stone chips indicate a certain execution scheme. The figures of the characters, made on cardboard (papier-mâché?), recreate fragments of compositions borrowed from engraved samples.
For the people of the Urals, a sparkling gem or a softly iridescent ornamental stone had a special appeal and was closely connected with the world of the sacred. Evidence of this is the transformation of mineralogical slides into tabernacles. Thus, in the altar of the main temple of the Catherine Cathedral in Yekaterinburg there was a similar “...mound of multi-colored jasper and topaz stones on a marble board lined with malachite; at the bottom in the middle of the slide there was a through recess with a tomb in it, lined with malachite; at the top of the hill there is an image of the Resurrection of Christ in topaz plates with a shine of topaz, aquamarine and amethyst stones in a silver frame.”
The significance of mineralogical hills as a symbol of the wealth of the Ural subsoil was most clearly presented in two expositions of the Ekaterinburg Imperial Lapidary Factory - at the Siberian-Ural (1887) and Nizhny Novgorod (1896) art and industrial exhibitions. Twice the factory made the center of its stand monumental compositions from pieces of rock and colored stones, placing finished works among only slightly polished, but skillfully arranged fragments.
The surviving part of the creative heritage of Alexei Kozmich Denisov-Uralsky contains rare original examples of this traditional craft for the Urals, balancing at the intersection of natural sciences and applied arts.
In addition to the two already designated, small-sized mineralogical grottoes, domestic museums also house a monumental version of the slide by A.K. Denisov-Uralsky. In the Mineralogical Museum named after. A.V. Sidorov of the Irkutsk State Technical University there is a work richly decorated with crystals, ores, natural and polished samples of Ural stones, the height of which exceeds a meter.
The technological features of the manufacture of mineralogical slides determined the small number of them that reached us: the adhesive joints were destroyed, the wooden frames were deformed, the most valuable samples were removed for new use. The extreme fragility of this type of item explains the danger of their transportation and their rare exhibition outside the owning museums. bowels of the earth, riches...
The most important event that determined the development of the artist was the Siberian-Ural Scientific and Industrial Exhibition, held in Yekaterinburg in 1887. It not only brought Alexey Denisov a large silver medal for the presented slides, mound paintings and icons, but also gave him the opportunity to get acquainted with the works of leading masters of Russian painting - Ivan Aivazovsky, Vasily Perov, Ivan Shishkin, as well as Ural residents Alexei Korzukhin, Nikolai Plyusnin, Vladimir Kazantsev , Peter Vereshchagina. Already in the year of the exhibition, the first sketches (1887, cat. 28) and versions (1888, cat. 29) of “Forest Fire” appeared - a canvas associated with one of the most important independent themes in the painting of Alexei Kozmich.
A few years after the completion of the Siberian-Ural exhibition, Denisov came to St. Petersburg, where he became a student at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. At this time, the artist collaborated with several metropolitan magazines, where his pen drawings were published. Thus, in 1892, a series of graphic works “From the outskirts of Yekaterinburg” appeared in the Niva magazine, in which he refers to the image of Stone Tents, the shores of Lake Shartash. These works, chamber in their structure, are devoted to motifs devoid of external showiness, but their subtle, loving rendering gives the works expressive emotionality.
Panorama of the ridge
The two watercolors presented at the exhibition also date back to the nineties: “Birch Tree in a Storm” (1894, cat. 5) and “Forest Landscape” (1896, cat. 9). These sheets indicate a fairly high level of Denisov’s mastery of complex techniques, his ability to use the contrast of dense and blurred plans, creating the effect of depth in the landscape. In the next decade, watercolor, along with oil painting, will occupy a large place in the master’s work.
However, the first attempt to gain a foothold in the capital was not successful - in 1895 the young artist returned to Yekaterinburg, where he was actively involved in the work of the newly created Society of Lovers of Fine Arts. Journalist V.A. Vesnovsky later recalled: “I met Alexei Kuzmich in 1896 at the evenings of the Society of Fine Arts.
Since the mid-1890s, the Ural landscape has become the main theme of Denisov-Uralsky’s paintings. Hard work on mastering painting techniques has yielded results - works created in the nineties are distinguished by increased artistic skill. They can be divided into small studies and first attempts at epic landscapes. Chamber works are distinguished by their focus on details: dense, spread out leaves of water lilies and thin swaying reed stalks in the painting “Environments of Shartash” (1892, cat. 6), wet snags and boulders in the canvas “Landscape” (1893, cat. 7), the contrast between sawn with a powerful trunk and vibrating leaves in “Forest Thicket” (1899, cat. 15).
Whereas in the first large canvases of Alexey Kozmich, the desire for clarity and completeness of the image was embodied. This is his “Middle Urals. Autumn Landscape" (1894, cat. 8), in which one can find a number of features inherent in most of the subsequent
Ural paintings by the master. First of all, this is an image of mountain details - rocky ledges, spurs, treeless peaks that have become distinctive features Ural landscape. In addition, the film used the technique of backstage construction, which was then repeated in different versions in many of the author’s works.
An example of this is the painting “Ural Landscape” (cat. 4) and its version “October in the Urals” (1890-1894), created for an exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod. Before us is not a random modest motif, but a majestic panorama of forested mountains, among which you do not immediately notice the presence of a person - on the bank of a river, at the very edge of the forest, a small hut is buried in the first snow.
A separate group of Denisov’s landscapes consists of images of Ural cities and factory villages. The artist uses wide perspective views in these paintings. He never paints buildings in close-up; architectural elements are usually subordinate to the surrounding landscape and, as a rule, are shown in the background, often closing the first one. Created in different years, these landscapes reproduced the appearance of the Ural settlements located throughout the entire length of the Middle Urals: from Krasnoturinsk in the north to Zlatoust in the south. These are the master’s paintings “From Mount Urenga to the city of Zlatoust (Southern Urals)” (before 1904, known from color reproduction), “View from Trinity Mountain (Cherdyn from Mount Trinity over the Kolva River and the Polyudov stone)” (1896, cat. 13 ) or “First Snow” (before 1911, known from reproduction).
The watercolor “Theological Plant” (before 1904) is known to us, unfortunately, only from the description of the author himself: “The picture is as follows: at the foot of the mountain in the middle ground one can see the residential buildings of the factory population, behind them the Turya River is blue, the opposite bank of which is a fairly large low-lying plain, slightly overgrown in places with coniferous forest, then the ledges of some reliefs gradually stand out - this is the main mountain range, representing the main watershed or the Ural ridge.”
A reproduction of another similar landscape has been preserved, which shows one of the oldest and most typical factories of the old Urals. The village of the Kushvinsky plant, located on the shore of the pond, is placed in the background. On the horizon are chains of mountains, above which ridges of clouds hang. The center of the composition is marked by a white church with a high bell tower and a large stone house. On the other bank, the village is barely outlined. On the left you can see Mount Sinyaya.
At the end of the 1890s, a main line emerged in the depiction of the mountain landscape of the Urals, which was preserved in Denisov’s work for many years. His epic landscapes are distinguished primarily by the choice of vantage point: the artist is located on a hill, opening before him a wide panorama of dramatically alternating plans. Often the first place is given here to spectacular rocky outcrops.
One of the first works of this type can be considered “Polyudov Stone” (1896-1897, known from reproductions, one of the versions is kept in a private collection). In the opening between the huge rocks hanging over the void, we see a forest mass stretching towards the horizon, lost in the haze. “You look at these mountains,” the artist writes, “at the entire forest space in front of us, and it seems that this is where there is no life, but where it’s still good.”
The painting “Shikhan” is known in two versions. The first of them, which we know only from reproduction, is topographical in nature. Before us is an accurate reproduction of the area: just to the right of the center there is a rocky ledge-shikhan, the power and height of which even the tallest pine trees (one of which is painted on the left at the edge of the canvas) cannot compete with. The second version is more epic, conditionally generalized (in the 1950s it was kept in Polevsky, in the library of the cryolite plant club).
In the center of this canvas is the already familiar huge shihan. The lines of the mound on which it rises go from the lower corners of the canvas to the center and, moving to the shihan, sharply soar up to its tip. However, to enhance the impression of depth in the background in this version of the painting, the artist leaves only the tops of the pine trees peeking out to the left above the base of the stone ledge. Far below, forest expanses are marked with several horizontal ribbons. The drama of the image is given by the black birds rising towards the shihan, one of which has already settled on its top.
In this canvas, the painting technique used by the master is very diverse: the foreground and the shihan itself are painted large, almost in relief, using a palette knife, the details are much thinner, and the last ridge of mountains is completely transparent.
The desire to emphasize the harsh beauty of the Urals and to present its romanticized appearance led to the creation of canvases with an accentuated dramatic effect. This is fully inherent in the canvas “On the Top of Taganay” (before 1904, known from reproduction), about which a certain Perm journalist, not without irony, wrote: “Either Mr. Denisov can fly like a bird, or he has at his disposal balloon“Otherwise it is impossible to explain the impression of the picture... painted from a bird’s eye view.”
In preparation for a new exhibition, in 1908 Denisov-Uralsky will write a new work about Taganay, different from the previous one both in mood and manner of execution. “Storm over a quartzite placer” (Irkutsk Regional Art Museum) is a rare monumental watercolor that captures not the epic calm grandeur, but the rampant nature of the elements, no less characteristic of the Urals.
Another sacred place for the indigenous population is depicted on the canvas “Mount Iremel” (1897, known from reproductions). In the foreground we see rocks, destroyed by winds and rains, but still majestic, part of a long mountain range. We find a more lyrical look at this stone ridge in the canvas “From Mount Iremel” (1908, private collection): the exquisite combination of lilac and blue colors of the mountains softly complement the green shades of grass and tree crowns. The silhouettes of tall, powerful pines, whose branches and twigs sticking out in different directions make one remember storms and thunderstorms, add a romantic note to the landscape.
The painting “River Tiscos” (1909, cat. 21) was painted from the same high point of view. The bend of the river, surrounded by wooded banks, glows with unexpected shimmers of golden tones under pearl-gray clouds. On the right is a rocky section of a high bank, familiar to Denisov-Uralsky’s paintings, seemingly hovering above the forest.
When choosing a subject for the film, Alexey Kozmich was guided not only by personal tastes. He sought to capture places associated with the life of the peoples of the Urals, reflected in the legends of its inhabitants.
Thus, in the Northern Urals, Denisov painted the painting “Telpoz Stone” (known from reproductions). Above the forested bank of a wide, full-flowing river rises a majestic mountain, covered here and there with snow stripes, with gloomy clouds hanging over the very top. In the guide to the review of his 1911 exhibition, the artist writes: “Tel-poz-iz is a Zyryan name, beautiful and poetic: tel - wind, pos - nest, iz - stone.
The mountain fully justifies its name. It is rare to see it clear and bare of clouds. The wind whistles uncontrollably with terrible force among the bare rocks of Tel-poz-iz, which towers alone over the entire northern Russian space.”
The canvas “Forest Wilderness” (before 1901, known from reproductions) is permeated with lyrical notes, where we see a small river valley typical of the Urals, sandwiched between steep spurs covered with tall spruce trees. A more detached and generalized reading of this topic gives us the painting “Ural. A dense forest near the Chusovaya River” (before 1911, known from reproductions). The interpretation of individual elements here is reminiscent of the paintings of German romantic artists of the 19th century: an array of dark forest breaks the horizon line with sharp teeth of spruce peaks, a deserted rocky slope in the foreground.
In the artist’s canvases she appears before us at different times of the day (“Morning on the Chusovaya River”, cat. and; “Hot afternoon near the village of Sulem near the Chusovaya River” and “Moonlit night over the Chusovaya River”) and in different seasons (“Chusovaya River in winter”, cat. 12).
It is no coincidence that one of the first canvases dedicated to this river was given by the author to the writer (“Chusovaya River, 1895, cat. yu”). The artist probably captured most of the rocky outcroppings along the Chusovaya riverbed: the stones Georgievsky, Omutnoy, Dyrovaty, Dyuzhonok (known from descriptions), Kosoy (before 1904, known from reproductions) and Vysoky (the first version - before 1904, the second - 1905-1911 , known from reproductions).
Repetitions of many early paintings became necessary after the loss of the first versions as a result of exhibiting at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. Fifty paintings and a series of twenty-nine watercolors depicting minerals were lost, including large group views of the Chusovaya River. Preparing for a new large exhibition, the artist performs original repetitions of some of the paintings, while he moves away from sketch precision and enhances their effectiveness.
Such revised “portraits of stones” include “Narrow Stone on the Chusovaya River” (the first version - before 1904, known from reproduction, repetition - 1909, Irkutsk Regional Museum of Local Lore). If in the first version the colors are soft and the composition has a certain intimacy (in the foreground we see a boat with a stretched awning), then the repetition is done with emphasized drama: the entire right side of the picture is filled with a huge rock, the brightly illuminated end of which in the center of the picture is Narrow stone.
Alexey Kozmich created “Portraits of Stones” not only on his beloved Chusova. One of them is known as “Wind stone along the Vishera River” (1909, cat. 22). In the Perm Art Gallery this painting is kept under the name “Chusovaya River”, although once - in the publication “Molotov State Art Gallery” (1953) - the painting was designated under its original name. A source for clarifying the attribution can be the catalog of the exhibition “The Urals and Its Riches” of 1911, where the canvas is reproduced in one of the illustrations.
The artist’s friendship with Mamin-Sibiryak owes its appearance to the unusual for Denisov painting “Visimo-Shaitan Plant” (1903, State Literary Museum, Moscow), depicting the writer’s homeland. An unexpectedly large space here is occupied by buildings - a church and factory buildings. This canvas is dedicated to “D. Maminu - Denisov-Uralsky. “To my dear fellow countryman, in memory of his dear homeland - the Urals,” was presented by the artist on the day of Dmitry Narkisovich’s fiftieth birthday. This is how Mamin wrote to his sister about this: “The other day Denisov drew me oil paints a wonderful view of Visim from a photograph that my mother had, the size of the picture in length is an arshin. Every day I admire, and everyone else admires.”
Alexey Kozmich writes not only about large factory settlements. Reproductions of paintings related to the gem craft that was so close to him have been preserved. One of them depicts a snow-covered landscape with lonely huts and it is difficult to imagine that in front of us is a famous center for the mining of Ural tourmalines.
In another picture we see the ancient (founded in 1639-1640) village of Murzinskoye, the capital of the world-famous Murzinka - an entire region lying north of Yekaterinburg, where, according to A.E. Fersman, there are more precious stones concentrated than in any other corner of the globe. In the foreground, the artist depicted the slope of the high right bank of the Neiva River and its wide bend. Along the shore, houses stretch into the distance; the vertical dominant feature is a large stone church with a high bell tower. Such a significant structure testifies to the high level of prosperity of the village residents, which is fully explained by the wealth of this land.
For the exhibition “The Urals and Its Riches” in 1902, Denisov-Uralsky prepared a special section - “geological details”. The paintings presented in it can be called a kind of hybrid of a work of art and a scientific manual. Some paintings were painted immediately before the exhibition, others many years before it. Thus, in the magazine “Niva” for 1902, reproductions of several works from this circle are given, which are all the more interesting because the paintings themselves, like the views of Chusova, were sent to an exhibition in St. Louis and are known only from descriptions or later repetitions.
In the painting “Geological section of the Nizhne-Gubakhinsky coal seams with a mine,” the artist paints parallel layers of coal on both sides of the mine shaft, alternating with sedimentary rocks: sandstones, shales. However, Denisov is not limited to accurately reproducing the appearance of the mine, but strives to give the canvas artistic expressiveness: at its bottom there is a light source that illuminates the entire picture.
In the watercolor “Elizabethan Iron Mine” the artist pays Special attention conveying the geological features of the landscape: he identifies layers of brown iron ore with different colors, to the right of the main deposit he writes weathered serpentines, and to the left - ocher iron ore, turning into clay rocks.
The same magazine contains a description of two images of geological sections of an amethyst vein in an original frame made of birch trunks. This frame reproduced the fortification that is installed by mining workers to support the ground during work. The sections themselves, which look like relief soil pictures, reveal to us the passage of three underground cracks (or “veins”) in which amethysts lie.
We see a combination of landscape and display of the deposit in the work “Topaz Deposit. Geological section. Mokrusha." The upper part of the work is a snow-covered landscape, in the foreground of which there is a prospector’s hut, and near it there is a gate that raises and lowers buckets into the mine, and two miners. Another one stands at the bottom of the shaft. In the lower part of the canvas, a section of rocks with a wide vein is reproduced, into the thickening of which the shaft leads. The famous Mokrushinskoye deposit supplied topazes of such high quality that they were distinguished from others, and when selling they tried to pass off any Ural topazes as those found exactly here.
Painting “Geological section. Amethyst Mining" shows another aspect of Ural life - the difficult and dangerous everyday life of miners. It shows part of a mined out vein - a deep narrow gorge, below - a vein that has not yet begun to be mined. The description of the painting given in the Niva magazine is given in his monograph by B.V. Pavlovsky: “The soil all around consists of granite, the strong mass of which, during mining, is destroyed by dynamite explosions. The picture represents the moment of such an explosion: the worker went down into the tub - to the very bottom of the mine, and there, crouched, he lights the fuse of a dynamite cartridge. The light of the wick blinks strangely and terribly in the darkness, and the worker hurries to quickly get back up in his tub so as not to get hit by the explosion.”
The hard work of the miners is captured in the sketch “Prospector of the Berezovsky Plants”, solved in a very general outline and does not convey details, however, we see in the center of the canvas a gate similar to the one we have already seen in the painting “Topaz Deposit. Geological section "Mokrusha". Near him on the right is a worker, around whom there is a support supported on pillars.
Another mining production is reflected in the landscape “Extraction of gold by freezing from the Ivdel River.” In the depths, at the foot of sharp snow-covered rocks, we see dredges standing in the riverbed, and in the foreground - depressions in the ice in which precious metal is frozen out.
It is known that Alexey Kozmich also painted portraits of fellow miners, which were certainly accompanied by images of gem mining sites. Thus, at the 1911 exhibition, St. Petersburg residents met two representatives of the Yuzhakov family - almost monopolists in the extraction of famous amethysts.
Also interesting are more ethnographic portrait works, known, unfortunately, only from descriptions and reproductions. So, we know that portraits of a Ural Cossack and a Zyryanin remain in the United States. At the entrance to Denisov-Uralsky’s exhibition, visitors were greeted by busts of a Vogul and a Vogul made by the artist. A little further on one could see how in the painting “Vogul Vaska Tuikov at his winter home” the artist great attention conveyed the ethnic features of a descendant of the indigenous inhabitants of the Urals, the special squatness of his hut.
Ekaterinburg and its environs occupied a special place in the master’s work. Many sketches were written on the shores of Lake Shartash and the rocks of the Stone Tents. One of them - “The effect of a cloud near Yekaterinburg, July 1890” - was especially dear to the artist as a memory of a dear friend: “In 1890, July 1890, we had to observe in Yekaterinburg a cloud of extraordinary height and appearance, which turned towards itself the attention of many. By the way, ours, who lived in Yekaterinburg at that time, admired it famous writer, expert on the Urals, D.N. Mamin-Sibiryak.”
In the freely written sketch “Ekaterinburg from the south-eastern side from the Observatory Mountain “Bald”” (known from reproduction), the artist remains faithful to his system: the foreground is left free, a pine forest is depicted in the left and right wings, in the depths of the picture the city is visible, among the roofs of which two churches with bell towers stand out with their elegant light verticals.

Later works, created after 1911, are known to us only from a few works. These include the watercolor “Landscape” (1913, cat. 27) - an almost monochrome image of a tall pine tree. The general sad mood of this sheet was evident in the artist’s works before. Thus, in 1907, the canvas “Under Autumn” was created (State Museum Association “Artistic Culture of the Russian North”, Arkhangelsk), where gusts of humid wind sway a shaky fence of poles and tear off the last leaves from the trees. “A typical picture for the Urals, but it is no less typical for the entire north of Russia and Finland, where exactly the same hedges are found,” is how the author himself described the landscape. The reduced repetition of this picture creates a no less melancholy impression, as if by creating this “Landscape” (1910, cat. 23) Alexey Kozmich had a presentiment of impending losses.

In the pictorial heritage of A.K. Denisov-Uralsky’s sketch works, which were the result of annual trips to his native Urals and represent valuable evidence of the search for a mood (“Autumn motif in the mountains”, 1900s, cat. 16) or an image (“Autumn landscape”, 1900s) occupy a large place ).
It is known that after the revolution Denisov-Uralsky continued to work hard and fruitfully. Unfortunately, of the paintings of the post-revolutionary years, we know only the sketch “In the Forest” (1918, private collection), which depicts a large granite boulder overgrown with moss.
Of course, this is not the best painting by Alexey Kozmich, but it very accurately characterizes the artist’s view of his native land. He saw the Urals as an important part of the continent and made every effort to “...albeit with a little work, to make his feasible contribution to the general treasury of information about his native country, once again illuminating the rich and original, beautiful outskirts of Russia, little known to most of Russian society.” "
The theme of a burning forest has occupied the artist for more than twenty years. He turns to it again and again, rethinking what he has achieved, again going through the path from a sketch to an easel work, from a chamber painting to an epic canvas.
In 1887, Denisov wrote the sketch “Burning Grass” (cat. 28). Quick strokes of the brush outline blades of grass scorched by fire, tongues of flame peek through dense clouds of smoke. A year later, the first completed canvas appears: a small, almost miniature work for the author (cat. 29) does not directly show a fire in the forest, it is somewhere far away - we see only the sky, engulfed in a fiery glow, its reflections illuminating the forest, and reflections on water. Openwork black silhouettes, reminiscent of the works of German romantic landscape painters, depict the trees in the foreground against a bright background. However, this option did not satisfy the artist - he continues to search for a more expressive composition and collects natural material.
Nine years later, the master again turns to a topic that excites him: a sketch dated 1897 (cat. 30), which, unlike the earlier work, has a vertical format and a low horizon line, which leaves significant space for depicting the sky. In the foreground is a young pine tree, untouched by the fire and illuminated by a ray of sunlight, behind it is a burning tree, which is the center of the entire composition. A column of thick smoke crosses the painting diagonally. In the upper right corner is a piece of bright blue sky, which is a symbol of hope.
The work uses another technique of romantic painting, when light comes from two sources at once: the sun - in the foreground and the sky, and fire - in the central part of the canvas. Thanks to this, Denisov manages to express the struggle of two elements - the life-giving rays of the sun and the destructive fire. This successfully found contrast gives the work a special drama. In the same year, Alexey Kozmich will repeat the composition found here in a large painting (cat. 31). The main difference between the painting and the sketch is the new interpretation of the forest: a large, slender pine tree appears in the foreground. Obviously, the author considered this composition successful, since the next year he repeated it in watercolor, donated by D.N. Mamin-Sibiryak (cat. 32).
The need to connect the image of a natural disaster with a specific area forces the artist to return to a horizontally unfolded canvas. In 1899, the magazine “New Time” published a reproduction of the next version of the painting. This painting was exhibited at the spring exhibition of the Academy of Arts, where it attracted everyone's attention. This time before us - epic work, the size of which corresponds to the scale of the design. The high vantage point so beloved by Denisov reveals a rocky ledge, on it are powerful spruce trees and fallen trunks of old giants. Next - a dense lush forest, and then - tongues of flame devouring stately trees. A huge column of black smoke hangs in the sky, spreading the news of a forest fire far away.
Unfortunately, prepared by A.K. Denisov-Uralsky’s collection of paintings and graphic works did not return to Russia for an exhibition in St. Louis. Forest Fire also remained in America. For Robert Williams's 1980 book Russian art and American money. 1900-1940”, the history of the painting’s stay in the USA became the starting point of the entire study. The author was able to establish that the work, which remained in the hands of an unscrupulous representative after the exhibition, was acquired by Adolph Busch in the 1920s for a hotel he owned in Dallas.
In March 1979, the American National Endowment for the Humanities, on behalf of Augustus Bush Jr., solemnly transferred “Wildfire” to the Soviet government. University of California professor Stefan Pyne, a forest fire extinguishing expert, spent several years studying the history of this painting and its interpretations.” Long time it was believed that the painting either did not reach Russia and remained at the embassy in Washington, or was stored in one of the government residences. A long search was crowned with unexpected success: it turned out that the painting was transferred to the Tomsk Regional Art Museum in 1982, and in 1993 it was included in the published catalog of its collection. Moreover, the staff carried out attribution work, comparing an image dated 1898 on a large canvas (198 cm x 270 cm) with a publication in the magazine “Novoye Vremya” and making sure that this exhibit was the famous loss. Thus, the first monumental version of the fire, exhibited in 1899 at the State Duma Academy of Arts, in 1902 - at the St. Petersburg and in 1904 - at the Moscow exhibition “Pictures of the Urals and Its Wealth”, was considered lost by the author after the World Exhibition in St. Louis , today stored in Tomsk.

While preparing the second exhibition “The Urals and Its Riches,” which opened in the spring of 1911 in St. Petersburg, the artist decides to create a new monumental canvas on a subject that excites him.
The search for a fresh interpretation of the topic was reflected in the relatively small canvas “Fall Came Up,” also demonstrated at the said exhibition. For the first time in this work, Denisov changes the direction of the smoke column and slightly moves the fire deeper into the composition. Unfortunately, the storage location of this work is unknown to us. The only documentary evidence of its existence is a line in the catalog of the exhibition “The Urals and Its Riches” and an image in a photograph taken at the exhibition.
In 1910 it was written new option“Forest fire” (cat. zz). Closing the visual part of Alexey Kozmich’s personal exhibition, this canvas, like its predecessor, did not leave the viewer indifferent.
Acquired for the collection of the Yekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts in the mid-20th century, this painting became centrally current anniversary exhibition.
Since the 1880s, a new direction in the design of mineral collections has been developing in Yekaterinburg, when small samples selected in strict accordance with classifications were kept in neat boxes and boxes equipped with cells. Such collections were widely in demand by educational institutions of various levels (from provincial gymnasiums to major universities).
The pioneer of this trend in Yekaterinburg is considered to be Alexander Vasilyevich Kalugin, a retired employee of the office of the Ural Mining Administration, who has close family ties with several generations of craftsmen of the Yekaterinburg lapidary factory. Since the mid-1890s, the production of systematic collections from small samples of minerals has been carried out in the workshop of the Ural Society of Natural History Lovers; they are produced by the Ural Mineralogical Office of L.I. Kryzhanovsky.
Mineralogical collections are becoming one of the sought-after types of products created by A.K. Denisov-Uralsky at the beginning of the 20th century of the Mining Agency. Of varying sizes and quality (some types included precious stones, others could number hundreds of samples), the collections were actively exhibited by the master at international and domestic exhibitions, consistently bringing him awards.
Mineralogical samples become not only exhibits of collections, but also heroes of graphic works. Thus, trying to most fully present the wealth of the Urals at the 1904 World Exhibition in St. Louis, America, the artist creates the exhibition “Russian California”. The appeal to the image of the wealth of the subsoil, understandable to the residents of the United States, was reinforced by the demonstration of not only landscapes of the native land, but also almost three dozen watercolor “portraits” of minerals. Unfortunately, these graphic sheets, as well as part of the pictorial exhibits of the American exhibition, are known to us today only from color reproductions on open letters printed with clichés by S.M. Prokudin-Gorsky.
The desire to perpetuate the natural beauty of the Ural gems, so characteristic of Alexey Kozmich, was manifested in the creation of a series of unusual table buttons for calls, preserved in the collection of the Mineralogical Museum of the Perm State National Research University. Completed by A.K. Denisov-Uralsky in collaboration with an unknown St. Petersburg jeweler with the mark “M.D.”, they are bases made of mica ores with beryl crystals of varying degrees of transparency and color, in which the bell mechanisms are hidden and on which the buttons themselves are attached from cloudy cabochons bright green emeralds.
The appearance of such works is all the more interesting because in the summer of 1916 Denisov-Uralsky leased the Tokovsky (Lublinsky) emerald mine, work on which was carried out in 1916 and January 1917. Perhaps it was the presence at the artist’s disposal of not only prepared raw materials (emerald crystals), but also the rock containing it, that made it possible to invest a cognitive meaning into a functional object. One of the largest collections was presented at the exhibition “The Urals and Its Riches”, which opened in January 1911 in St. Petersburg, on Bolshaya Konyushennaya, 29. Emperor Nicholas II, who visited it on January 24, accompanied by Empress Maria Feodorovna and a group of grand dukes, Denisov- Uralsky presented a collection of Ural minerals for the heir to the Tsarevich.

About the jewelry works of A.K. Very little is known about Denisov-Uralsky today: surviving works are extremely rare, and documentary evidence of specific orders is scattered in the archives of the artist’s buyers and correspondents. One of the reasons for this state of affairs is the practice of accepting jewelry for scrap, widely used by the State Bank of the USSR in the 1920s and 1930s (in this case, stones were removed from their settings, thrown away or returned to the donor, and the precious metal was accepted by weight).
An example of such treatment of the master’s works is recorded in the “Book of Property” of the Perm University Museum for 1928. Among other items from the workshop of Alexey Kozmich, which arrived at the museum from boxes discovered on the pier, two “silver caskets with stones” were listed with a note about their delivery to the State Bank. Probably, these lost things were similar to the “casket in the ancient Russian style, decorated with precious stones,” presented to Empress Maria Feodorovna after visiting the exhibition “The Urals and Its Riches.”
Another reason can be considered the lack of published works bearing the mark of Denisov-Uralsky (the so-called “name book”).
At the same time, there are many documents testifying to the wide scope of jewelry production, which, along with the creation of educational collections and stone-cutting works, popularized the wealth and beauty of the Ural region, one of the main activities of the company created by the artist.
It is known that at the World Exhibition of 1900, Alexei Kozmich exhibited objects with cut amethysts. The catalog for the 1911 exhibition “The Urals and Its Wealth” states that the Ural Stones store offers “Original jewelry items based on drawings and models by A.K. Denisov-Uralsky". In addition, the “Jewelry Department” operated at the exhibition, offering to purchase products “based on the drawings and models of A.K. Denisov-Uralsky". Visitors to the exhibition could get acquainted with the work of the jewelry workshop thanks to the special organization of the exhibition space, which included interactive corners where craftsmen created works directly in front of the public.
The names of the workshop's clients known to us, among whom were members of the imperial family, the highest aristocracy, and the richest industrialists, speak about the quality of the jewelry made.
Extremely interesting material for studying this side of Alexey Kozmich’s activity is provided by objects stored in the Mineralogical Museum of Perm University. A detailed study of these works, carried out in 2000, revealed a number of marks on their metal parts. Some of them were able to be deciphered completely (assay and nominal components), for other items only the place and time of their creation were determined. It must be emphasized that none of the identified marks are A.K. Denisov-Uralsky. This circumstance seems to us quite natural: in all documentary sources we find indications that the works were made according to the artist’s drawings. This practice (the execution of design, stone and metal by different masters) can be considered typical of that time.
One of the marks deciphered and compared with a specific master was the name mark L.A. Pyanovsky, found on objects in two versions - full and short, three-letter, always standing next to the Moscow hallmark of 1908-1917. Thanks to archival materials, it was possible to establish that Leonid Adamovich Pyanovsky was born on May 2, 1885 in a military family, and studied at the Volskaya Military School in 1901-1902. Then, in 1902-1905, he was a student at the Imperial Stroganov Central Art School. Perhaps it was at this time that the artists met at an exhibition organized by Denisov-Uralsky in Moscow in 1904. Leonid Pyanovsky received a diploma conferring the title of scientific draftsman in 1907. During the last year of study and during the First World War, Leonid Adamovich worked as an assistant curator of the Museum named after Emperor Alexander II at the Imperial Stroganov School. Between graduating from college and returning to work at his museum, Pyanovsky taught drawing for seven years and headed the school’s branch in Sergiev Posad.
Obviously, during the years of work at the Stroganov School, the artist met A.V., who taught there in 1913-1918. Shchusev, which resulted in a fruitful collaboration: part of the furniture for the Russian Pavilion at the IX International Exhibition in Venice (currently the International Biennale contemporary art), built in 1913-1914 according to the design of the famous architect, was executed in the Moscow studio of the artist L.A. Pyanovsky. The use of motifs from Russian architecture of the 17th century in the architectural design of the pavilion also determined the main direction in interior decoration.

Another evidence of cooperation between L.A. We find Pyanovsky with outstanding masters of the national movement of Russian Art Nouveau on the pages of the book “Moscow at the beginning of the 20th century”. Article by I.A. Pavlova “Silver utensils from Moscow firms” late XIX- early 20th centuries" is illustrated with an image of a dish and a salt shaker (a gift from the Nizhny Novgorod merchants to the city branch of the State Bank), made in 1913 according to a drawing by L.A. Pyanovsky69.
Perhaps the beginning of collaboration between A.K. Denisov-Uralsky and Moscow artist is primarily associated with the manufacture of furniture stylized as Russian antiquity. In the catalog of the exhibition “The Urals and Its Riches”, held in St. Petersburg in 1911, among the sales departments we find: “Stylish ancient Russian furniture, decorated with Ural colored stones.”
Most of the items from the collection of MM PSU, bearing Pyanovsky’s marks, are also made in the “Old Russian” style. Turning to a graduate of a Moscow school for help in creating works in the spirit of national-romantic modernity seems natural. Exactly this educational institution, as opposed to the more pro-European-oriented St. Petersburg school of Baron Stieglitz, was the center of the formation of a new direction in Russian applied art, based on a fusion of national tradition and modernity. Perhaps the already mentioned caskets were associated with the same collaboration.
Interior items from the Perm collection - mainly photo frames - are made of ornamental stones set in silver (rhodonite with beryls, rhodonite with amethysts, lapis lazuli with beryls). Stylization was manifested in these works not only in the frames (for example, in the design of stands in the form of clawed paws squeezing stones; the knobby ends of pins on which drilled stones are attached), but also in the stone parts themselves: the deliberately uneven surface of plates made of ornamental stone, cabochons irregular shape from semiprecious stones. The coloring of these works is also subordinated to the solution of stylistic problems.
Thus, the combination of a pattern of fabulous birds and a vine in polished and blackened silver with a restrained pink background of rhodonite is complemented by drops of purple amethysts. The same metal of different textures and light blue lapis lazuli with white spots in combination with cloudy light green beryls reveal the image of the underwater kingdom created in the design of the frame. The combination of bright pink rhodonite with green beryls and gilded applied filigree ornament looks extremely elegant. It is known that a similar frame - “with Siberian stones” - was received in 1911 as a gift for her sixteenth birthday from Countess EL. Komarovskaya was received by Princess Olga Nikolaevna, daughter of Emperor Nicholas? Another photo frame with Pyanovsky’s mark, made of colored stones and enclosed in a stylized silver frame, belonged to the emperor himself. Among her personal belongings, she accompanied the Romanov family to Tobolsk. After long wanderings through museums and shops, the item returned to the former suburban residences and today is kept in the collection State Museum-Reserve"Pavlovsk".
Another work in the collection of the university museum with the mark of a Moscow artist is a matchbox in the shape of an elephant, on the back of which there is a blanket and a gazebo for traveling. The figure of the animal is skillfully carved from one piece of dark gray Kalkan jasper, the surface of the stone is left without polishing, which creates the feeling of the roughness of the thick skin of the animal. The elephant's eyes are inlaid with faceted bright green emeralds, and the tusks are carved from ivory. The blanket with the gazebo forms a single structure, which is attached to the back of the figure due to the springing of a tightly fitted plate from which the blanket is made.
It is covered with colorful paintings imitating the colors of oriental carpets. The gazebo, which is actually a matchbox, is made of silver using embossing and graining; small cabochons of turquoise and pink tourmaline are fixed in the metal in the blind castes. The top of the gazebo - a kind of openwork dome - is hinged, opening access to a cavity in which a matchbox can be installed. The dome is decorated with rows of freely suspended river pearls and is crowned with an irregularly shaped bead made of light green translucent chrysoprase. The matchbox is a stylized interpretation of the Indian artistic tradition, which is greatly facilitated by the use of pearls of various shapes and turquoise, which is extremely popular in the East, as well as the design of translucent stones in the form of cabochons.
Laconic silver frames of a large group of interior items from the collection of the same university museum, the origin of which is connected with the name of Denisov-Uralsky, these are marked with the name of an unknown master “MD”, buttons for bells with beryl ores and cut pieces of rhodonite, a multi-item writing instrument with red-brown jasper, elegant laconic frames for miniature photographs made of thin plates of jade, lapis lazuli, quartzite. A guide for dating all items can be the St. Petersburg hallmark of 1908-1917, with which they are marked along with the jeweler's mark.
Jewelry by A.K. Denisov-Uralsky for a long time were known to researchers only from photographs published in 1912 in the magazine “Jeweler”. To date, several more works have been identified: a pair of cufflinks with amethysts of a laconic design and several pendants with large drop-shaped aquamarines - one of them is in the collection of the University of Perm, two more were sold at Christie's auction in 1988 and 2006.
One of the old photographs shows an extremely elegant tiara consisting of alternating leaf-like elements and five-petaled flowers. The nature of the exquisite fine design of this decoration makes it similar to the best examples of the so-called “garland style” - a reminiscence of the style of Louis XVI, popular at the turn of the century.
In two images we see brooches, the design of which is determined by the shape of large faceted stones, which are the basis of the compositional solution. The clarity of the silhouette and the minimum of decoration allow us to consider these works on a par with the later works of the Faberge firm and contemporary jewelry from leading European jewelry houses. The works of this circle also differ in the range of materials used: they are usually based on large colored transparent stones of a clear geometric shape, set in platinum. A similar brooch-pendant was purchased on January 24, 1911 by Emperor Nicholas, who visited the exhibition.
Three more reproductions from the magazine show objects made in the “Russian style”: the silhouettes of a tiara and two pendants resemble the profiles of onion domes, characteristic of Russian architecture of the pre-Petrine era.
Both “pendants” shown in the photographs have large aquamarines as central elements. In one of the pieces, a pear-cut stone is surrounded by an ornament filled with small diamonds and rose diamonds in a fandan-grisant setting. The color scheme is complemented by small faceted sapphires.
The center of the second item is a large aquamarine cabochon of irregular drop-shaped shape. On both sides of the central stone descend chains with small and also irregularly shaped aquamarine cabochons mounted in pairs, one above the other. The top of the pendant, similar to a kokoshnik, is made of silver and platinum, in which pearls, small diamonds and rose diamonds are set, and three more aquamarine cabochons are placed one above the other in the center.
Three decorations known to us today are consonant with the item from the last of the photographs examined.
The pendant from the collection of the Perm University Museum is a large (9 cm) irregular teardrop-shaped cabochon made of bright blue with internal inclusions of aquamarine. A through hole is drilled in its narrow part through which the pin for fastening the suspension ring is threaded. The metal bears the hallmark of St. Petersburg, which was in use after 1908, and the name “8A”, which belonged to the eighth St. Petersburg artel of jewelers. In 1915, it was located on the Catherine Canal. As evidenced by advertisements, the artel consisted of “former masters of the Faberge company.” Two of the pendants sold at auction are aquamarine crystals cut into an irregular drop and equipped with gold pendants, inlaid in one case with several diamonds, in the other with peridots and rubies.
Such a passion of A.K. Denisov-Uralsky’s use of aquamarines in his jewelry was not accidental. Already at the exhibition in 1897, among the many exhibits, observers especially noted the “huge aquamarine” exhibited by the master. In the catalog of the exhibition “The Urals and Its Riches”, which worked in St. Petersburg in 1902, among a small number of exhibits with processed stones, the following are indicated: “No. 481. Aquamarine knob for a cane; No. 482. Aquamarine cut with triangular facets in the shape of a rose (Greek facet); No. 483. Faceted aquamarine in the shape of two connected pyramids with one truncated.
Aquamarine products are listed on a separate line in the letter to E.L. Nobel. An invoice issued by the artist to Emperor Nicholas II in March 1911 for a half-necklace made of aquamarines and aquamarine earrings has been preserved79. In an interview given by A.K. Denisov-Uralsky to the Jeweler magazine in 1912, the artist emphasizes the importance of these Russian stones: “Our aquamarines, which were previously ignored, are now the most fashionable stones, due to the fact that 16 years ago they were very popular at court. The demand for aquamarines... is so great that we were unable to meet all the demands.”
A stylistic analysis of the jewelry works known to us, made according to the models and drawings of Denisov-Uralsky, allows us to say that the master kept pace with the times and was able to offer his demanding clientele jewelry that could satisfy the most demanding taste.
Often next to the name of Denisov-Uralsky you can find the definition - “artist-stone-cutter”. This is exactly how many researchers characterize his occupation, placing the main emphasis on one of the areas of activity of this amazing man of rare versatility and efficiency.
The master's stone-cutting heritage, with the exception of the series of Allegorical sculptures completed at the beginning of the First World War, has long been described rather conventionally. Today, the most complete picture of the stone-cutting work of Alexei Kozmich is provided by a comparison of surviving works and archival materials of his clients and customers.
An interesting collection of objects has been preserved in Perm - in the state art gallery and mineralogical museum of the university. Extensive documentary material is provided by the inventory books of the Parisian Jewelry House of Cartier. Over the course of four years (1911-1914), Denisov-Uralsky supplied to France about 100 various objects made of colored stone, including animal figurines, ashtrays, vases, and paperweights.
Denisov-Uralsky was no less active in saturating the ever-increasing market with stone-cut animal paintings. The works of the master known to us are distinguished by a wide palette of materials used and a variety of textures.
In the collection of the Perm University, along with a small turtle made of aquamarine and a shaggy dog ​​masterfully carved from dark green jade, two figures of eagles made of dark brown obsidian attract attention. The surface of the stone, in which the glassy shine of polishing is traditionally valued, is left matte. Both birds (one of the eagles is represented sitting with its wings tightly compressed, the other - diving with its wings spread along the body) are distinguished by the care of carving, conveying the nature of their plumage and musculature. We find an analogue of one of the eagles among the sketches in the margins of Cartier’s inventory book.
It is impossible not to dwell on the important feature of mono-stone animal painting, which distinguishes the works created in the workshop of A.K. Denisov-Uralsky. Formed surrounded by masters of the Yekaterinburg lapidary factory, the artist also adopted the typical Ural style of combining different textures on the surface of one product. Since the beginning of the 19th century, the factory widely used first mechanical (grinding with abrasives), then chemical (using acid vapors) matting of object parts.
Monumental vases and floor lamps made in Yekaterinburg made of rhodonite and jasper almost always contain matte details, emphasizing the shine of the polished surface and indicating the highest skill of the performers. Gradually this manner penetrates into the artisanal environment. Evidence of this is the numerous seals created in the middle - second half of the 19th century: costume details on busts, fragments of skins in animal figurines, acanthus leaves stood out against a polished background thanks to a carefully applied “mat”. The use of a similar technique when creating chamber decorative animal sculptures made it possible to convey the tactile sensation of animal fur or skin, or bird plumage. An example of this is “Elephant with a Gazebo” or eagles from the collection of the Mineralogical Museum of Perm University. The combination of textures allows the master to enhance the dramatic effect, which can be seen in the figure of a pig - the only surviving detail of the composition “The Expulsion of Germany”. The contrast between the matte sanded surface of the figure and the carefully polished heels on the hind legs creates a brilliant illustration of the expression “heels are on fire.”
In addition to independent animalistic sculpture, Denisov-Uralsky also created numerous details for Easter souvenirs. Figures of chicks, rabbits, crows, sitting with folded wings or soaring birds made of amethyst, heliodor, aquamarine, purple, smoky quartz and tiger's eye did not exceed two centimeters. These miniatures, fitted with holes for pins, would then be mounted inside egg-shaped gold bands. Such cute little things added variety to the assortment of Easter gifts covered in multi-colored enamel or carved from stone, which had already become traditional by the 1910s.
Simultaneously with the masters of the Faberge company, Denisov-Uralsky introduces at his enterprise not only figurines of animals carved from one piece of stone, but also begins to create complex mosaic figures - primarily birds. Thanks to the documents of the Cartier company, we can get some idea about this range of products.
Against the background of such naturalistic figures, several joke sculptures stand out due to their unusual plot solutions. These are three small-sized works made with bases in the form of stone eggs. One of them is the head of an elephant, carved from rock crystal and attached to an inclined section at the sharp end of an egg made of light gray jasper. It is difficult to say whether they are a development of the theme of the Easter souvenir or variations on the theme literary character Humpty Dumpty. Unfortunately, one of these figurines (with a base made of dark red jasper) has been lost - we can only judge it from surviving photographs.
If the use of images of birds using the three-dimensional mosaic technique can be considered a natural continuation of the traditions of European stone-cutting art, then the creation of inlaid snails should be noted as an innovation.
One of their largest samples is kept today in the museum of Perm University. The snail shell is carved from an unusual gray with a vibrant brown hematite pattern. The body is made of obsidian in such a way that the contrast between the polished “back” and the matte “belly” creates the feeling of wet skin of a mollusk. Placed on a base of fractured quartz, the snail figure serves as decoration for a functional item - a button for an electric bell.
The work “Pig-Radish” consists of two naturalistic components: the animal’s head, entirely carved from pink quartzite with a transition from a darker (ears and back of the head) to a lighter (pigtail) shade of the stone, and a root crop made from two types of quartz - white in “cleaned” place and greenish in the upper, “peeled” part. The two pieces are joined under a yellow metal collar that holds a dense array of faceted, clear, colorless stones.
We are just beginning to study the stone-cutting and jewelry creativity of Alexey Kozmich Denisov-Uralsky, which provided him with recognition and created the basis for continuing such important work for him to popularize his native land. Gradually, the name of the master comes out of the shadow of his contemporaries who have eclipsed him and is once again gaining recognition among connoisseurs and lovers of Ural stone.
The works are reproduced in the order proposed by the author himself in his article. The exception is the sculpture “Soldier” that precedes the series and is included in the group of allies “Japan”. Unsurvived compositions are presented archival photographs, and those that were not included in the exhibition due to the state of preservation are modern reproductions. The images are accompanied by fragments of the article “Blood on the Stone” by A.K. Denisov-Uralsky.
Exhibition activities occupied a prominent place in the life of Alexey Kozmich. From the very beginning of his creative activity, Denisov-Uralsky successfully used various exhibitions as a tool for promoting stone-cutting and jewelry works and mineralogical collections on the Russian and international markets. The first success of his paintings and graphic works is associated with participation in exhibitions of the Watercolor Society and the Academy of Arts. More than thirty shows of different levels, scales and nature - this is the master’s exhibition baggage.
The exhibition “The Urals and Its Riches”, opened at the beginning of 1911 in St. Petersburg, deserves special attention - it demonstrated a previously unprecedented format of a display organized on a private initiative. Paintings and mineralogical collections, jewelry and quarry models, furniture and stone-cutting works showed the artist’s varied interests. It is necessary to note the care with which Denisov-Uralsky approached the preparation of his exhibitions: it was not enough for him to select works, transport them and mount the exhibition - he considered it necessary to make a catalog with detailed explanations and to be personally present at the exhibition during its work in order to be able to personally respond to questions from visitors. The inclusion of stone-cutting and jewelry workshops in the exhibition, as well as demonstrations of gold panning, made it possible to turn the exhibition-sale into an interactive educational center, one could find out where the raw materials come from, how they are mined and processed, how an object purchased to decorate a visitor’s desk or an elegant visitor's wrists.
The exhibition was a success, supported by visits from crowned guests. Thus, the newspaper “Government Gazette” reported that “On January 24, Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress Maria Feodorovna” arrived at the exhibition. Nicholas II wrote in his diary on this day: “Mom and I looked at Denisov-Uralsky’s collection of stones and paintings. This is a large and very interesting collection.” In addition to the top officials, the exhibition was “surveyed” for more than an hour and a half by the princes of the imperial family, who were extremely interested and satisfied with what they saw.
Variety of exhibition activities of A.K. Denisov-Uralsky made it necessary to include in this publication a list of exhibitions in which the artist was a participant or initiator. In addition to the date, name, location (city, country and, if necessary, organization), nature of participation, a brief summary of the exhibits presented, the result obtained and sources of information are given.

Ekaterinburg (encyclopedia)

DENISOV-URALSKY ALEXEY KUZMICH

(06(18).11.1863, Ekat. - 1926, Usekirko, Finland), painter, stone cutter, jeweler. Genus. in the family of stone cutters, where he acquired his first prof. skills. In 1884 he received Ekat from the Crafts Council. title of master of relief crafts. In 1887-1888 he studied at school. Society for the promotion of art. in St. Petersburg The result is numerous. trips around the Ukraine produced landscapes that convey the unique nature of the region, its vegetation and geology. features: “Lake Konchenevskoye” (1886), “Forest Fire” (variants - 1887, 1888, 1897; Large silver medal at the exhibition in St. Louis, USA, in 1904), “October on the W.” (1894), “From Trinity Mountain” (1896), “Morning on the Chusovaya River” (1896), “Top of Polyuda” (1898), “Narrow Stone on the Chusovaya River” (1909), “Vetryanoy Stone on the River. Visher" (1909), "Tiscos River" (1909). Performed work from the Urals. gems: "composite paintings", slides, paperweights, inkwells, relief cards of U., jewelry, gray. sculptural caricatures "Allegorical figures of the warring powers" (1914-1916). Prod. Control systems were exhibited at exhibitions: Kazan Scientific-Industrial. (1890), All-Russian. industrial arts in Nizh. Novgorod (1896), Society of lovers of fine art in Ekat., Society of Rus. watercolorists and others. A number of personal exhibitions of the DU took place at the end. 1890-1910s in Ekat., Perm and St. Petersburg. DU acted as a champion of the development of the fatherland. horn industry and respect for nature U. In 1903 he participated in the First All-Russian. congress of figures on practical geology and exploration in St. Petersburg, in 1911 he initiated the convening of a congress of miners in Ekat. In 1912 he organized it in St. Petersburg. Society for promoting the development and improvement of handicraft and grinding industries "Russian Gems". In con. 1910s lived in the village. Usekirko near St. Petersburg, on the territory that was transferred to Finland after 1918. In the last gg. life, DU wrote a series of paintings about the Ural Mountains. He worked on the relief painting “Ural Archives from a bird’s eye view.” In 1924 he informed UOLE by telegram that he was donating 400 paintings, collected to his native city. minerals and stone products. The fate of most of this gift until now. time unknown Prod. The remote controls are stored in the State Russian Museum, in EMI, PGKhG in the Irkutsk region. arts museum, other arts. and geol. museums and private collections.

Works: On some obstacles in the development of mining of precious stones // Proceedings of the I All-Russian Congress of Workers on Practical Geology and Exploration. St. Petersburg, 1905; Blood on the stone // Argus. 1916.5.

Lit.: Pavlovsky B.V. A.K. Denisov-Uralsky. Sverdlovsk, 1953; Semenova S.V. Fascinated by the Urals. Sverdlovsk, 1978.

• - town, Perm region. The settlement Kamskoye Poselye, i.e. “a settlement, a small village on the Kama River”...

  Geographical encyclopedia

• - 11.1863, Ekat. - 1926, Usikirko painter, stone cutter, jeweler. Genus. slave in the family He studied at the school of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts in St. Petersburg. ...

  Ural Historical Encyclopedia

• - born on May 16, 1790 in Moscow, into a poor family of a retired collegiate registrar. Due to the death of his father and the family turmoil that followed, young Davydov remained illiterate until the age of 13...
• - fighter pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union, guard major. Fought in Spain, shot down 7 planes. Participant of the Soviet-Finnish war. Commanded the 12th Air Force of the Baltic Fleet Air Force. Made several combat missions to attack...

  Large biographical encyclopedia

• - Former CEO JSC "Kirovo-Chepetsk Chemical Plant"; born June 14, 1938 in the village. Davydovka, Nizhegorsk district, Crimean region...

  Large biographical encyclopedia

• - art. operas. In 1907-11 - a choir member, from 1911 - an artist in St. Petersburg. Mariinsky district. 1st isp. in Maria the required number of parties: 2nd godfather, Dato. Dr. parts: Ingerd, Foma; Nereo...

  Large biographical encyclopedia

• - artist, author "The Urals and its riches" ...

  Large biographical encyclopedia

• - 1824 Novgorod. lips architect...

  Large biographical encyclopedia

• - Chairman of the agricultural production cooperative "Zavety Ilyich"; born April 13, 1937 in the village. An ancient settlement in the Shatalovsky district of the Belgorod region...

  Large biographical encyclopedia

• - an urban-type settlement in the Nytvensky district of the Perm region. RSFSR. Located on the right bank of the river. Kama, 7 km from the railway. Sukmany station. Plywood mill...

  Great Soviet Encyclopedia

• - Russian scientist, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Works on gas dynamics, thermophysical substantiation of systems of the astrophysical observatory "Saturn"...

  Large encyclopedic dictionary

• - ...

  Spelling dictionary of the Russian language

• - URAL, Ural, Ural. adj. to the Urals. Ural gems. Ural Cossacks...

  Dictionary Ushakova

• - Ural adj. 1. Related to the Urals, associated with it. 2. Peculiar to the Urals, characteristic of them. 3. Occurring, widespread in the Urals. 4. Living, living in the Urals...

  Explanatory Dictionary by Efremova

• - ur"...

  Russian spelling dictionary

• - ...

  Word forms

"DENISOV-URALSKY ALEXEY KUZMICH" in books

DENISOV Ilya Danilovich