Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy (1837-1887) – artist.

Becoming in 1863 the leader of student competitors for gold medal, who refused to paint a picture based on a given biblical plot and left the Academy in protest, Ivan Kramskoy first headed the Artel of Artists, and then the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions.

The first exhibition of the Partnership was opened in St. Petersburg in 1871. I.N. Kramskoy participated in it with the film “Mermaids” based on the story by N.V. Gogol's "May Night".

“I became a portrait painter out of necessity,” Kramskoy wrote about himself. In the 1870s. he painted portraits of writers and artists, most of which were painted by order of Pavel Tretyakov. Later, dozens more orders appeared.

It seemed possible to live comfortably. But I wanted to have a family home. During construction, Kramskoy learned that he was seriously ill. He had to get into debt, which he managed to pay off three months before his death.

I.N. Kramskoy was I.E.’s first teacher. Repina. First - at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists, and then - at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts.

Biography of Kramskoy

Ivan Kramskoy. Self-portrait 1867

Ivan Kramskoy. Self-portrait 1874

Kramskoy painting a portrait of his daughter Sophia. Self-portrait 1884

• 1837. May 27 (June 8) - in the city of Ostrogozhsk, Voronezh province, a son, Ivan, was born into the family of clerk Nikolai Kramskoy.
• 1849. Ivan Kramskoy graduated from the Ostrogozhsky district school with a certificate of merit. Father's death. Kramskoy was accepted as a clerk in city ​​council where my father worked. Later, until the age of 16, Kramskoy served as an intermediary in amicable land surveying.
• 1852. At the age of fifteen, Kramskoy became an apprentice to an Ostrogozh icon painter and spent about a year in his workshop.
• 1853. Ivan Kramskoy took up photo retouching. M.B. Tulinov, Kramskoy’s fellow countryman, taught him “to finish photographic portraits with watercolors and retouching.” Meet the Kharkov photographer Yakov Petrovich Danilevsky, who came to the town to photograph military exercises. With him, Kramskoy traveled all over Russia as a retoucher and watercolorist.
• 1856. Arrival in St. Petersburg. Work as a retoucher in Aleksandrovsky’s photo workshop.
• 1857. Kramskoy successfully passed the exams at the Academy of Arts and became a student of Professor A.T. Markova. He works part-time as a retoucher at the Daguerreotype Establishment of the Artist Denyer.
• 1860. Kramskoy received a small silver award for the painting “The Dying Lensky”.
• 1861. Large silver medal for a sketch from life.
• 1863. The Academy of Arts awarded Kramskoy a small gold medal for the painting “Moses Brings Water Out of the Rock” and offered students a theme from the Scandinavian sagas “The Feast in Valhalla” for the competition. The graduates petitioned to be allowed to choose topics as they wished. Professor Tone noted: “If this had happened before, then all of you would have been soldiers!” November 9 – Kramskoy, on behalf of his comrades, told the council that they, “not daring to think about changing academic regulations, humbly ask the council to exempt them from participating in the competition.” The artists formed the "St. Petersburg Artel of Artists". Kramskoy's marriage to Sofya Nikolaevna Prokhorova. Birth of son Nikolai. Start of teaching at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts.
• 1865. Markov invited Kramskoy to help paint the dome of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Due to Markov's illness, the main painting of the dome was done by Kramskoy with the artists Wenig and Koshelev.
• 1867. August 21 - birth of his beloved daughter Sophia, who became an artist.
• 1868. Kramskoy’s departure from the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts.
• 1869. First order from P.M. Tretyakov to create "Portrait of the Writer P.A. Goncharov." Ivan Kramskoy received the title of academician. A trip to Europe to get acquainted with the paintings of the old masters.
• 1870. Kramskoy’s departure from the “Artel of Artists”: tired of the hopeless struggle for “moral unity”. The artel disbanded a year later. Formation of the "Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions". Kramskoy is one of the main organizers and ideologists.
• 1872. Painting by Kramskoy “Christ in the Desert”.
• 1873-1880. "Passion" I.N. Kramskoy portraits.
• 1882. Deterioration of Kramskoy’s relations with the majority of the Wanderers.
• 1883. Beginning of Kramskoy’s two-year work on the coronation album Alexandra III. From a letter from P.M. Tretyakov: “I confess that the circumstances are higher than my character and will. I am broken by life and have not done what I wanted and what I should have done.”
• 1884. Exacerbation of heart disease. Departure for treatment in the south of France, accompanied by his daughter Sophia.
• 1885. Kramskoy’s participation in the development of the project for the monument to Alexander II.
• 1886. Kramskoy’s accusations from the Peredvizhniki group that his work had become “insincere” and that he had “betrayed ideals” by accepting an order to make portraits of members royal family. At the end of his life, Kramskoy wrote: “Almost everyone turned their backs on me... I feel insulted.”
• 1887. March 24 (April 5) - Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy died of a heart attack at his easel.

Paintings and portraits of Kramskoy

From the age of sixteen, Ivan Kramskoy was a photo retoucher. At first I completed “watercolor and retouching photographic portraits” from my fellow countryman M.B. Tulinov, then in Kharkov with the photographer Ya.P. Danilevsky. From 1856 he worked in the famous studio of I.F. Alexandrovsky in St. Petersburg. Kramskoy wrote about that time: “We were more interested in technology and chemistry than in the artistic side of light painting.” But this was school.

Being the ideological leader and leader of the Association of Itinerants, Kramskoy began painting only in adulthood. Best paintings Kramskoy were written after 1870. The first of them was “Mermaids”.

Painting "Moonlit Night" written by I.N. Kramskoy in 1880 Summer night. Silence. Silver moonlight. Nothing breaks the silence. The author gave the woman sitting on a bench and immersed in her thoughts a resemblance to the second wife of Sergei Tretyakov, Elena Andreevna (nee Matveeva). CM. Tretyakov bought the painting immediately after it was painted. Contemporaries argued that both in the composition of the painting “Moonlit Night” and in the color rendering there was a strong influence of his friends - A.I. Kuindzhi and F.A. Vasilyeva. In 1892, after the death of his brother, Pavel Tretyakov donated the painting to the city as part of his collection.

Painting "Mermaids" ("May Night") , written on the plot of Gogol’s story of the same name, was the first of a series intended to illustrate “Evenings on a Farm.” The artist worked on "Mermaids" in Little Russia in the summer of 1871. On a bank overgrown with reeds and on the trunk of a huge poplar in moonlight two dozen drowned women. Their poses are sad, their faces are pale and full of hopeless melancholy. Presented at the exhibition of the Itinerants in the year it was painted, the painting attracted Special attention visitors. Kramskoy wrote about “Mermaids”: “I’m glad that with such a plot I didn’t completely break my neck... something fantastic came out.”

Plot paintings "Inconsolable grief" was close to the author: in a short time he lost two sons. The artist wrote about the painting: “If it is not sold, I turn it towards the wall in the calmest way and forget about it, I have done my job.” Ilya Repin's review was preserved in his "Memoirs": "Not a picture, but a living reality."

In the 1870-1880s. P.M. Tretyakov collected portraits of Russian art figures for his gallery. He gave twelve orders to Kramskoy. Members of the imperial family appeared among the customers. As a result, the portrait artist became popular and in demand. The Rumyantsev Museum ordered several dozen portraits from him.

M.P. Mussorgsky wrote criticism of V.V. Stasov about his impression of one of Kramskoy’s portraits: “Approaching the portrait of Litovchenko, I jumped back... This is not a canvas - this is life, power, what is sought in creativity!”

Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy, artist of the second half of the 19th century, went down in history national painting as the founder of the realistic movement in art. He actively developed the principle of critical realism in his work, as well as in articles devoted to the theory of art. Many of his paintings are recognized as classics Russian painting. The author was a master of portraits, historical and genre scenes.

short biography

Kramskoy, an artist famous for his realistic paintings, was born in 1837 into a bourgeois family. He graduated from the Ostrogorzh real school, but due to the poverty of his family he was unable to continue his education at the gymnasium. While working in the local council, he became interested in retouching photographs. Soon M. Tulinov became his teacher, who taught him the basics of painting. A few years later, Kramskoy, an artist best known for his portraits, moved to St. Petersburg, where his fruitful career began. creative career, which lasted until sudden death in 1887.

Studying at the academy

In 1857 he became a student of academician A. Markov, who specialized in historical painting. During his studies, he received several medals both for his paintings and for copies of paintings by other painters on religious themes. The future famous painter received his small gold medal for a painting dedicated to a biblical story.

To receive the title of artist with the right to receive a state pension, it was necessary to submit a work dedicated to a scene from the Scandinavian sagas to the competition. However, Kramskoy, an artist who strived for a realistic depiction of events and freedom of creativity, along with other thirteen students appealed to the administration of the academy with a request to remove them from the competition, justifying their desire by the fact that they wanted to write on topics that they themselves preferred. After this, the young painters founded their own artistic artel, which, however, did not last long, since its members very soon decided to switch to state support.

"Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions"

Which is already in early period his work became a landmark event in cultural life empire, became one of the organizers and ideological inspirers of this organization. Its members defended the principles of realism in art and the active social and civic position of artists. In his work, the author defended the principles of realism. He believed that paintings should not only be believable, but also carry a moral and educational meaning. Therefore, his works are imbued with a special drama.

In the 1870s, the author created a number of remarkable portraits of his famous contemporaries: he painted images of Tolstoy, Nekrasov, Shishkin, Tretyakov and others. In this series, a special place is occupied by the portrait of the artist Kramskoy, created by him himself in 1867. This canvas is different high degree realistic, like the rest of his works from this period.

Portrait of N. Nekrasov

Such, for example, is the famous work of the artist “Nekrasov during the period of the Last Songs” of 1877-1878. In this painting, the artist set out to show the famous poet at work in last period his life. In general, the theme of a person’s emotional experiences, his struggle with death or some kind of shock played a big role in the artist’s work. In the master’s works, this theme did not have a social connotation, as in the works of other painters. He always showed the struggle of the spirit with illness and most powerfully managed to convey this idea in the above picture.

Women's portraits

Perhaps the master’s most famous work is the painting “Stranger”. The artist Kramskoy emphasized the beauty of his model. He emphasized that she was an urban fashionista, and therefore prescribed her with special care appearance: a rich fur coat, a flirty headdress, magnificent jewelry and fabrics.

It is significant that the background in this canvas he plays a secondary role: he is presented in a haze, as the author concentrates all his attention on the elegant young woman. The artist Ivan Kramskoy especially loved to draw portraits. The author's paintings have different moods.

If the woman in the above-described picture is depicted in a proud, confident pose, then the model in the canvas “Girl with a Loose Braid,” on the contrary, is shown in a difficult, even painful moment, when she seemed to have renounced everything around her and was completely immersed in herself. Therefore, her face, in contrast to the stranger’s appearance, expresses deep, concentrated thoughtfulness, sadness and light sadness.

"Inconsolable Sorrow"

This painting was painted in 1884, inspired by the personal grief of the artist who lost his son. Therefore, in the image of a woman depicted in a mourning dress, one can discern the features of the author’s wife.

This painting differs from other works of the author by the hopelessness with which it is imbued. In the center of the canvas is a middle-aged woman in a black dress. She stands next to a box full of flowers. Her grief is expressed not in her pose, which is quite natural and even free, but in her eyes and the movement of her hand, with which she presses the handkerchief to her mouth. This painting is perhaps one of the most powerful in the artist’s work and Russian painting in general.

1. Participant in the "Revolt of the Fourteen"
2. Artel of free artists

And van Kramskoy participated in the famous student revolt at the Academy of Arts: he refused to write a competition paper on a given topic. Having dropped out of the Academy, he first founded the Artel of Free Artists, and later became one of the founders of the Association of Itinerants. In the 1870s, Ivan Kramskoy became a famous art critic. His paintings were bought by many collectors, including Pavel Tretyakov.

Participant in the "Revolt of the Fourteen"

Ivan Kramskoy was born in Ostrogozhsk into the family of a clerk. The parents hoped that their son would become a clerk, like his father, but the boy early childhood loved to draw. A neighbor, self-taught artist Mikhail Tulinov, taught young Kramskoy to paint with watercolors. Later, the future artist worked as a retoucher - first for a local photographer, and then in St. Petersburg.

Ivan Kramskoy did not dare to enter the capital’s Academy of Arts: there was no initial art education. But Mikhail Tulinov, who by this time had also moved to St. Petersburg, invited him to study one of the academic disciplines - drawing from plaster. The sketch of the head of Laocoon became his introductory work. The Council of the Academy of Arts appointed Ivan Kramskoy as a student of Professor Alexei Markov. The aspiring artist not only learned to write, but also prepared cardboards for painting the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.

In 1863, Ivan Kramskoy already had two medals - Small silver and Small gold. Remained ahead creative competition- those who passed it successfully received a Big Gold Medal and a pensioner's trip abroad for six years.

For the competition work, the council offered students a plot from Scandinavian mythology - “The Feast in Valhalla.” However, at this time, interest in genre works grew in society: paintings depicting everyday life became popular.

Academy students were divided into innovators-genre writers and historians faithful to old traditions. 14 out of 15 candidates for the Big Gold Medal refused to write competition canvases on a mythological subject. At first, they submitted several petitions to the council: they wanted to choose their own topics, demanded that exam papers be examined publicly and give reasoned assessments. Ivan Kramskoy was a “deputy” from the group of fourteen. He read out the requirements before the council and the rector of the Academy and, having received a refusal, left the exam. His comrades followed his example.

“...In the end, just in case, we stocked up on petitions saying that “for domestic or other reasons, I, so-and-so, cannot continue my course at the Academy and ask the Council to issue me a diploma corresponding to the medals with which I was awarded.” .
<...>
One by one, the students came out of the Academy's conference rooms, and each took out a four-fold request from the side pocket of his coat and placed it in front of the clerk, who was sitting at a special table.
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When all the petitions had already been submitted, we left the board, then from the walls of the Academy, and I finally felt myself in this terrible freedom for which we all so greedily strived.”

Ivan Kramskoy

Artel of free artists

Ivan Kramskoy. Self-portrait. 1867. State Tretyakov Gallery

Ivan Kramskoy. Girl with a cat. Portrait of a daughter. 1882. State Tretyakov Gallery

Ivan Kramskoy. While reading. Portrait of Sofia Nikolaevna Kramskoy, the artist’s wife. 1869. State Tretyakov Gallery

After graduation, young artists had to leave the Academy's workshops, where they not only worked, but also lived - often with relatives or friends. There was no money to rent new apartments and workshops. To save his comrades from poverty, Kramskoy proposed creating a joint venture - the Artel of Free Artists.

Together they rented a small building where they each had their own workshop and a common spacious meeting room. The household was run by the painter's wife, Sofya Kramskaya. Soon the artists received orders: they drew illustrations for books, painted portraits, and made copies of paintings. Later, a photo studio appeared in Artel.

The association of free artists flourished. Ivan Kramskoy was involved in the affairs of Artel: he looked for customers, distributed money. At the same time, he painted portraits and gave drawing lessons at the Society for the Encouragement of Artists. One of his students was Ilya Repin. He wrote about Kramskoy: “That’s it, teacher! His sentences and praises were very weighty and had an irresistible effect on his students.”.

In 1865, the painter began painting the domes of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow using cardboards that he created during his years of study at the Academy.

At the end of 1869, Ivan Kramskoy left Russia for the first time to get acquainted with Western art. He visited several European capitals, visited museums there and art galleries. Kramskoy’s impressions of Western painters were contradictory.

“Today I looked around the royal museum... Everything I saw made an overwhelming impression.”

Ivan Kramskoy, from a letter to his wife

When Ivan Kramskoy returned to Russia, he had a conflict with one of his comrades: he accepted a retirement trip from the Academy, which was against the rules of the “fourteen”. Kramskoy left the Artel, and soon the association of free artists disintegrated.

Founder of the Association of Itinerants

Ivan Kramskoy. Portrait of Ilya Repin. 1876. State Tretyakov Gallery

Ivan Kramskoy. Portrait of Ivan Shishkin. 1880. State Tretyakov Gallery

Ivan Kramskoy. Portrait of Pavel Tretyakov. 1876. State Tretyakov Gallery

Soon Ivan Kramskoy became one of the founders of a new creative association - the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions. Among its founders were also Grigory Myasoedov, Vasily Perov, Alexey Savrasov and other artists.

“The partnership has the goal of: organizing... in all cities of the empire traveling art exhibitions in the following forms: a) providing residents of the provinces with the opportunity to get acquainted with Russian art... b) developing a love for art in society; c) making it easier for artists to sell their works.”

From the Charter of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions

Ivan Kramskoy. May night. 1871. State Tretyakov Gallery

Ivan Kramskoy. Christ in the desert. 1872. State Tretyakov Gallery

At the first exhibition of the Itinerants in 1871, Ivan Kramskoy presented his new job- “May Night.” A painting with mermaids flooded moonlight, the painter wrote in Little Russia based on Gogol's story. The canvas with a mystical plot did not correspond to the program of the Wanderers, but the work was a success among both artists and critics, and immediately after the exhibition it was bought by Pavel Tretyakov.

“I’m glad that I didn’t completely break my neck with such a plot, and if I didn’t catch the moon, then something fantastic still came out...”

Ivan Kramskoy

In 1872, Kramskoy completed the painting “Christ in the Desert.” “For five years now He has stood relentlessly before me; I had to write it to get rid of it.", he wrote to his friend, artist Fyodor Vasiliev. For this painting, the Academy of Arts wanted to award Kramskoy the title of professor, but he refused. The painting was bought by Pavel Tretyakov for a lot of money - 6,000 rubles.

In the 1870s, Kramskoy created many portraits - of the artist Ivan Shishkin, Pavel Tretyakov and his wife, writers Leo Tolstoy, Taras Shevchenko and

In the 1880s, one of the artist’s sensational works was “Unknown.” The heroine of the canvas - a beautiful lady dressed in the latest fashion - was discussed by both critics and the public. The audience was intrigued by her personality, slightly arrogant look and impeccable outfit in the fashion of those years. In the press they wrote about the painting as the “Russian Mona Lisa,” critic Vladimir Stasov called the painting “Cocotte in a Stroller.” However, art connoisseurs paid tribute to the skill of Kramskoy, who subtly painted both the face of the unknown lady and her exquisite clothes. After the 11th exhibition of the Itinerants, where the painting was exhibited, it was bought by a major industrialist Pavel Kharitonenko.

In 1884, Kramskoy completed the canvas “Inconsolable Grief,” which depicted a grieving mother at a child’s coffin. The artist worked on it for about four years: he made pencil sketches and sketches, and changed the composition several times. Kramskoy presented a painting with a tragic plot to Pavel Tretyakov.

Ivan Kramskoy died in 1887. The artist died in his studio while painting from life by Dr. Karl Rauchfuss. The doctor tried to resuscitate him, but to no avail. The painter was buried at the Smolensk Orthodox cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions

Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy (May 27, 1837, Ostrogozhsk - March 24, 1887, St. Petersburg) - Russian painter and draftsman, master of genre, historical and portrait painting; art critic.

Self-portrait. 1874

Kramskoy was born on May 27 (June 8, new style) 1837 in the city of Ostrogozhsk, Voronezh province, in the family of a clerk.

After graduating from the Ostrogozh district school, Kramskoy was a clerk in the Ostrogozh Duma. From 1853 he was a photo retoucher; First, the future artist was taught in several techniques how to “finish photographic portraits with watercolors and retouching” by his fellow countryman M. B. Tulinov, then he worked for the Kharkov photographer Ya. P. Danilevsky. In 1856 he came to St. Petersburg, where he was engaged in retouching in the then famous photography of Alexandrovsky.

In 1857, Kramskoy entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts as a student of Professor Markov.

In 1863, the Academy of Arts awarded him a gold medal for his painting “Moses Bringing Out Water from a Rock.” Before finishing his studies at the Academy, all that remained was to write a program for a big medal and receive a pension abroad. The Academy Council proposed a theme from the Scandinavian sagas “A Feast in Valhalla” to the students for the competition. All fourteen graduates refused to develop this topic, and petitioned to be allowed to each choose a topic of their own choosing. Subsequent events went down in the history of Russian art as the “Revolt of the Fourteen.” The Academy Council refused them, and Professor Tone noted: “if this had happened before, then all of you would have been soldiers!” On November 9, 1863, Kramskoy, on behalf of his comrades, told the council that they, “not daring to think about changing academic regulations, humbly ask the council to exempt them from participating in the competition.” Among these fourteen artists were: I. N. Kramskoy, B. B. Wenig, N. D. Dmitriev-Orenburgsky, A. D. Litovchenko, A. I. Korzukhin, N. S. Shustov, A. I. Morozov , K. E. Makovsky, F. S. Zhuravlev, K. V. Lemokh, A. K. Grigoriev, M. I. Peskov, V. P. Kreitan and N. V. Petrov. The artists who left the Academy formed the “Petersburg Artel of Artists”, which existed until 1871.

In 1865, Markov invited him to help paint the dome of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Due to Markov's illness, the entire main painting of the dome was done by Kramskoy, together with the artists Wenig and Koshelev.

From 1863 to 1868 he taught at the Aid Society Drawing School applied arts. In 1869, Kramskoy received the title of academician.

In 1870, the “Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions” was formed, one of the main organizers and ideologists of which was Kramskoy. Influenced by the ideas of Russian democratic revolutionaries, Kramskoy defended the view of high public role the artist, the principles of realism, the moral essence and nationality of art.

Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy created a number of portraits of outstanding Russian writers, artists and public figures(such as: Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, 1873; I. I. Shishkin, 1873; Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov, 1876; M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, 1879 - all are in Tretyakov Gallery; portrait of Botkin[specify] (1880) - private collection, Moscow).

One of famous works Kramskoy - “Christ in the Desert” (1872, Tretyakov Gallery).

A successor to the humanistic traditions of Alexander Ivanov, Kramskoy created a religious turning point in moral and philosophical thinking. He gave the dramatic experiences of Jesus Christ a deeply psychological life interpretation (the idea of ​​heroic self-sacrifice). The influence of ideology is noticeable in portraits and thematic paintings - “N. A. Nekrasov during the period of “The Last Songs,” 1877-1878; "Unknown", 1883; “Inconsolable Grief”, 1884 - all in the Tretyakov Gallery.

The democratic orientation of Kramskoy's works, his critical insightful judgments about art, and persistent research into objective criteria for assessing the characteristics of art and their influence on it, developed democratic art and a worldview on art in Russia in the last third of the 19th century.

Moses' prayer after the Israelites crossed the Black Sea. 1861

While reading Portrait of Sofia Nikolaevna Kramskoy, the artist’s wife. 1866–1869

Female portrait. 1867

Portrait of the artist K. A. Savitsky. 1871

Mermaids. 1871

Portrait of the artist M. K. Klodt. 1872

Christ in the desert. 180 x 210 cm. 1872

Portrait of A. I. Kuindzhi. 1872

Beekeeper. 1872

A girl with a loose braid. 1873

Portrait of I. I. Shishkin. 1873

Portrait of the writer Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy. 1873

An insulted Jewish boy. 1874

Forest worker. 1874

Portrait of the writer Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov 1874

Peasant's head 1874

Portrait of Sofia Nikolaevna and Sofia Ivanovna Kramskoy, the artist’s wife and daughter. 1875

Portrait of the writer Dmitry Vasilyevich Grigorovich 1876

Portrait of Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov. 1876

Portrait of the sculptor Mark Matveevich Antokolsky. 1876

N. A. Nekrasov during the period. The last songs. 1877–1878

Portrait of the writer Mikhail Evgrafovich Saltykov (N. Shchedrin). 1879

Portrait of Adrian Viktorovich Prakhov, art historian and art critic. 1879

Moonlit Night 1880

Portrait of Doctor Sergei Petrovich Botkin 1880

Portrait of actor Vasily Vasilyevich Samoilov. 1881

Portrait of the publisher and publicist Alexey Sergeevich Suvorin. 1881

Portrait of Anatoly Ivanovich Kramskoy, the artist’s son. 1882

Portrait of Sofia Ivanovna Kramskoy, the artist’s daughter. 1882

Girl with a cat. 1882

Unknown. 1883

Peasant with a bridle Mina Moiseev. 1883

Actor Alexander Pavlovich Lensky as Petruchio in Shakespeare's comedy "The Taming of the Shrew." 1883

Bouquet of phlox flowers. 1884

Inconsolable grief. 1884

Kramskoy painting a portrait of his daughter, Sofia Ivanovna Kramskoy, married to Junker. 1884

Portrait of the philosopher Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov. 1885

Portrait of Alexander III. 1886

Children in the forest. 1887

Fully

RUSSIAN PAINTING

Russian painter and draftsman, master of genre, historical and portrait painting, art critic - Kramskoy Ivan Nikolaevich (1837-1887)

Unknown. 1883

Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy. Self-portrait. 1867

Portrait of L. N. Tolstoy. 1873

Portrait of Empress Maria Feodorovna

Portrait of Alexander III. 1886

Female portrait. 1881

Portrait of the artist and photographer Mikhail Borisovich Tulinov. 1868

While reading. Portrait of Sofia Nikolaevna Kramskoy, the artist’s wife. 1863

Portrait of the artist Shishkin. 1873

Portrait of Vera Nikolaevna Tretyakova. Fragment. 1876

Portrait of the artist I.I. Shishkin. 1880

Portrait of Sofia Ivanovna Kramskoy, the artist’s daughter. 1882

Portrait of the artist F.A. Vasilyev. 1871

Moonlight night. 1880

Portrait of the philosopher Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov. 1885

Portrait of Sofia Nikolaevna Kramskoy. Fragment. 1879

Portrait of the poet and artist Taras Grigorievich Shevchenko. 1871

Russian girl in a blue scarf. 1882

Portrait of Yu.F. Samarin. 1878

Portrait of the writer Saltykov-Shchedrin

Kramskoy Ivan Nikolaevich (1837-1887)

Studied at the Academy of Arts. Was at the head of a group of 14 graduates who refused to write graduation papers on topics set by the Academy, thereby opposing the traditions of academicism, for which he was expelled from the Academy. He organized the Artel of Free Artists, the purpose of which was to fight for realistic principles in art. Subsequently - Chairman of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions.

Biography and creative activity

Russian artist Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy was born in 1837 in the city of Ostrogozhsk, Voronezh province. The artist's father was a clerk. The boy’s artistic abilities were discovered by one of the city’s residents, retoucher Tulinov, whose friendship brightened up his dull childhood in a provincial town. When Ivan was fifteen years old, his mother apprenticed him to a local icon painter, and a year later the young man became a retoucher for a Kharkov photographer, with whom he traveled extensively throughout Russia. In 1856, Kramskoy moved to St. Petersburg, where he worked with the best photographers in the capital.

In 1857, Kramskoy entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. From the first year of study, Ivan Nikolaevich rejected the conservative foundations and canons adopted at that time at the Academy. Kramskoy developed views on art that were close to the realistic views of Belinsky, Chernyshevsky, and Dobrolyubov. In 1861, while working on a sketch of the program for the Second Gold Medal, “Oleg’s Campaign to Tsar Grad,” the artist studied this historical era, trying to develop his creative imagination. This method of work, based on revealing the expressiveness of the life situation, Kramskoy contrasts the previously established academic method - the search for beautiful, but conventional forms. The painter receives his second silver medal for the painting “The Mortally Wounded Lensky.”

In the year of graduation from the Academy, in 1863, a group of graduates, fourteen in total, led by Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy, refused to paint a picture on a given theme - “A Feast in Valhalla,” taken from Scandinavian mythology. This event showed the birth of a new direction in art, a new force capable of resisting inert academic art, divorced from life. This scandal received wide publicity. Kramskoy was placed under police surveillance. The "Fourteen Rebels" were expelled from the Academy. finding himself in a hopeless situation. However, in this situation, Kramskoy’s remarkable organizational talent emerged. The artists expelled from the Academy formed an independent Artel, headed by Kramskoy. The “rebels” settled in one apartment; Each member of the Artel was engaged in independent work. In the evening, the artists got together and spent time reading, drawing, and exchanging creative plans and ideas. The artel of artists was independent from official circles; its goal was to fight for realistic methods in art.

During the same period, Ivan Nikolaevich taught at the school of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists. Here among his students was Repin. Kramskoy enjoyed unquestioned authority among young people. He was knowledgeable on many issues, objective in his assessments, and possessed a magnificent gift of storytelling.

At the beginning of his independent creative activity, Kramskoy mostly painted portraits commissioned by private individuals and public figures. The artist also painted images for churches and painted temples. In the 1860s, Ivan Nikolaevich developed a new technique for making portraits - using wet sauce with the addition of white. During this period, Kramskoy painted portraits of Koshelev, Myasoedov, Shishkin, many other Artel comrades, his wife, S.N. Kramskoy, self-portrait.

At first, the artel's business was excellent. However, over time, some artist members of the artel begin to develop personal ambitions and a desire to establish connections with the Academy of Arts. Kramskoy could not accept this, although he understood that the independent existence of such an organization in those days was utopian. Soon Kramskoy leaves the artel.

The artist’s departure from the Artel coincided with the birth of another organization - the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions. The main goal The partnership was to bring art closer to the people through the movement of exhibitions throughout the cities of Russia. Kramskoy became interested in this idea and became the chairman and ideological leader of this organization, participating in exhibitions of the Partnership from 1871 to 1887.

In 1872, Kramskoy created a large canvas, “Christ in the Desert,” the first sketches of which were made back in 1867. The painting was exhibited at the second exhibition of the Association of Itinerants.

Recognition for Kramskoy as a portrait painter came in the 1870s and 80s. During this period P.M. Tretyakov decided to collect portraits for his gallery prominent representatives Russian art. The famous philanthropist gave most of the orders to Kramskoy. Among them were portraits of Griboyedov, Shevchenko, Koltsov, JI. Tolstoy, Shishkin, Repin, Nekrasov, Saltykov-Shchedrin.

In 1883, Ivan Nikolaevich painted the painting “Unknown”. “Unknown” is one of the most striking portraits in Russian painting. Female image in this picture he gives the impression of extraordinary grace and nobility. Thick eyelashes, velvety skin, shimmering satin ribbons, silky fur - all the details harmoniously complement each other.

In the 1870-80s, except large quantity Kramskoy paints portraits in a number of paintings of other genres. Among them we can note the painting “Mermaids” (1871), created based on Gogol’s “May Night”; genre painting"The Village Smithy" (1873); landscapes “Zhukovka. Lake" (1879), "Siverskaya. Oredezh River" (1883).

Last thing great work Kramskoy - “Inconsolable Grief”, written in 1884. This painting is dedicated to the tragedy human life, embodied in the image of an inconsolable woman who lost her children.

IN last years Throughout his life, Kramskoy’s health became worse and worse, and he was oppressed by a heavy feeling from life. In 1883, the artist wrote to Tretyakov: “After 20 years of tension, I admit that circumstances are higher than my character and will. I am broken by life and have not done what I wanted and what I should have done..."

Russian artist Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy died on March 25, 1887.