Kapkov Yakov Fyodorovich
Yakov Fyodorovich Kapkov is a Russian painter, master of historical paintings, genre painter and portraitist.
Biography
Born in 1816 in the family of a contractor, he was a serf of Prince M. S. Vorontsov. He received his first artistic skills in the workshop of Alexei Egorov. Prince Vorontsov, having seen the young man's talent, released him without ransom (around 1832).
In 1832, Kapkov entered the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg.‑In St. Petersburg, as a pensioner of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists. Since 1836, his mentor was Karl Bryullov. At the Academy, the artist achieved notable success: in 1842, he received a small gold medal for his painting "The Death of Alcibiades", and in 1845, a large gold medal for his work "The Font of Siloam" and the title of class artist of the XIV class.
In the late 1840s, Kapkov visited Italy (as part of a retirement trip), but returned to Russia due to the European revolutions of 1848-1849. In 1850, he was sent abroad again, this time to Holland and Spain, but after reaching Warsaw, the artist returned to St. Petersburg for personal reasons.‑Petersburg made no further attempts to leave.
He died at the age of 38, on March 29, 1854, from a fleeting cold; he was buried at the Smolensky Cemetery in St. Petersburg.‑St. Petersburg.
Creation
Kapkov is often associated with the line of "romantic academicism" and the influence of Bryullov, but over time he found his own niche. He was particularly famous for his lyrical images and so—called "women's heads" - small portraits with a touch of exoticism and romance; these works were readily bought, orders were received even from the imperial family. In these small works, he was able to convey a subtle emotionality that contrasted sharply with the "cold" academic manner of the time. For example, the painting "The Widow" (1851) is often called his calling card by art critics: it combines everyday authenticity and touching poetry. The artist repeatedly returned to this motif and created more than a dozen author's repetitions of the canvas — therefore, different versions of the "Widow" can be found in several museums.
Among the significant works:
The Death of Alcibiades (1842),
The Siloam Font (1845),
"Tatiana reading her letter to Onegin",
"Maria and Zarema",
"The widow."
Where can I see the works
In addition to the Russian Museum and the Pskov Museum-Reserve, Kapkov's works are in the Tretyakov Gallery ("The Widow", "The Turkish Woman", "The Bather", "The Praying Girl"), Serpukhov History and Art Museum, the Irkutsk Art Museum ("Behind the Prayer"), in the North Ossetian Republican Art Museum ("Portrait of the artist's Sister") and a number of other meetings.