Vrubel Mikhail Alexandrovich

Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel is one of the most striking and tragic artists of the turn of the 19th—20th centuries, a key figure of Russian Art Nouveau and symbolism.

Biography

He was born on March 17, 1856 in Omsk in the family of a military lawyer. He was a weak and sickly child (he started walking only at the age of three). At the age of ten, he became interested in music, theater, and drawing.

Education. At his father's insistence, he entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University, but he was not interested in studying — he could not defend his diploma. At the same time, he attended evening classes at the Academy of Fine Arts, and from 1880 studied in the workshop of Pavel Chistyakov. Vrubel was brilliantly educated: he spoke several foreign languages, had a deep knowledge of literature, philosophy and music.

Transfer to Kiev. In 1884, he was invited to Kiev: he created sketches and executed frescoes for St. Cyril's Church, and later worked on sketches for St. Vladimir's Cathedral. It was during this period that the first sketches related to the theme of the Demon appeared.

Moscow and patronage. In 1889, Vrubel moved to Moscow. He joined Savva Mamontov's Abramtsevo circle: he designed performances, worked in a ceramic workshop (created majolica), and painted paintings.

Personal life. In 1896, at an opera rehearsal, he met opera singer Nadezhda Zabela and soon married her. In 1901, the couple had a son, Savva, who had a birth defect ("harelip") — this was a heavy blow for the artist. Later, in 1903, two-year-old Savva died.

Illness and recent years. Personal tragedies (illness, death of his son) and the rejection of the public greatly affected his state of mind. Since 1901, Vrubel began to show signs of mental disorder. In 1902, he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. During periods of remission, he continued to work. In 1906, the artist became blind. He spent the last years of his life in the care of his wife and older sister. He died on April 14, 1910 in the St. Petersburg clinic of Bari. Interestingly, he was awarded the title of academician after his death.

Creation

Vrubel worked in almost all genres: he painted easel paintings and frescoes, created theatrical decorations, was engaged in graphics, sculpture and decorative and applied arts (ceramics, majolica).

One of the central themes of his work is the "demonic cycle". The image of the Demon is inspired by a poem by Mikhail Lermontov. The artist himself explained: for him, a Demon is not so much an evil spirit as a suffering, mournful, but domineering and majestic, the personification of a restless human soul. This cycle includes:

"The Sitting Demon" (1890, Tretyakov Gallery). On the canvas, a semi-naked figure sits hugging his knees against the sunset. Vrubel conveyed the severity of internal contradictions, longing and impotence.

"The Flying Demon" (1899, GRM). A monumental work that the artist worked on rapidly.

"The Defeated Demon" (1902, Tretyakov Gallery). This painting became an important milestone: in it, the image reached an extreme degree of tragedy. At the World of Art exhibition, Vrubel continued to redo the canvas right in the hall. After this work, the artist no longer painted.

Among other iconic works:

"The Swan Princess" (1900, Tretyakov Gallery) is an image that combines tenderness and inaccessibility, magic and cold, unearthly beauty.

"The Six-Winged Seraphim (Azrael)" (1904, Russian Academy of Fine Arts) — in this work, the theme of the Demon is transformed: the hero no longer acts as a tormented spirit, but as the executor of a higher will.

Illustrations to Lermontov's works.

Decorative panels (for example, "Princess of Dreams" for the facade of the hotel "Metropol").

A special feature of Vrubel's style is the "crystalline" technique. He applied the paint with a palette knife in short, angular strokes, creating a mosaic or stained glass effect. But his work often caused controversy and misunderstanding among his contemporaries.