Painting. Russian artists. Vassily Vereshchagin (1842-1904)

Vassily Vereshchagin was the most accomplished Russian 19th century battle painter. The son of a landlord, he was educated in the cadet corps in St. Petersburg. In 1858-59 Vereshchagin was a naval officer, and on the frigate Kamchatka and other vessels he sailed to Denmark, France and Egypt.
In 1860 having abandoned his naval officer career, Vereshchagin entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. But dissatisfied with the conservatism and idealistic conventions of the academic system, he left the Academy in 1863. 'The revolt of the fourteen artists' who opposed the Academic teaching and later formed the Wanderers took place at this time. The critical realism of the Wanderers always elicited Vereshchagin's sympathy. He participated in some of their exhibitions.
In 1864 when in Paris, Vereshchagin was influenced by Jean - Leon Gerome's historical paintings and his effective handling of details.

Vereshchagin made frequent trips across Russia and to Western Europe. He also visited Syria and Palestine (1884), the USA (1888-9 and 1902), the Philippines (1901), Cuba (1902), and Japan (1903). He took part in the military actions of the Russian army and was wounded in 1878-9 in the Russo-Turkish war.
The artist made numerous studies from life. Romantic thought-fulness and pleasure in the beauty of the world are characteristic of his landscapes and genre scenes. But in his battle paintings he adhered to the tradition of Critical Realism. Vereshchagin depicted war not as a romantic adventure, but as a tragic error. His battle paintings are famous for their monumental pathos and passionate pacifism.

The best-known work of Vereshchagin's Turkish series (1869-73) is the Apotheosis of War (1870-71.) It shows a pile of skulls against the devastated city. On the frame there is an inscription: "Dedicated to all great conqueror: past, present, future". The subject of the painting, distinguished for anti-war symbolism, was repeated numerously in the 20th century anti-war poster.
After his trips to India (1874-6, 1882) Vereshchagin made Indian series which depicted the colonial expansion of the English. In 1878-80 the painter created the Balkan series, devoted the Russo-Turkish war. Although a pan-slavist mood prevailed in Russian society at that time and there was a movement of solidarity with the Bulgarian people who were struggling against the yoke of the Ottoman empire, Vereshchagin produced terrifying scenes of battles that have no trace of patriotic bias. The painting Conquered: Funeral (1878) greatly impressed his contemporaries.

Vereshchagin's anti-Napoleonic series were very popular. The huge paintings of his series are not entirely free from the theatrical effects and the pomposity, but certain images are memorable because of their dramatism. Keep away I'll Take Care of Him, of 1888-95, depicts the Russian partisans in an ambush, surrounded by the branches of a snow-covered forest.
During the 1880s Vereshchagin frequently returned to an evangelical theme, depicted with realism, which is characteristic of all his work.
From 1870 to 1890 exhibitions of Vereshchagin's work travelled through Europe and the USA. By the turn of the century he became the most popular Russian artist abroad.
In Russia too, Vereshchagin appealed for pacifism and his social concern attracted the sympathy of the liberally minded circles.
Vereshchagin was killed in the Russo-Japanese war zone in an explosion on the battleship Patropavlovsk.
 

Literature: Book "Russian art" A.P. Minyar-Belorucheva