Apollinary Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov (; – 23 January 1933) was a Russian painter and graphic artist. He specialised in scenes from the medieval history of Moscow.
Vasnetsov did not receive a formal artistic education. He had studied under his older brother,
Viktor, also a famous painter. From 1883, he along with his brother lived and worked in
Abramtsevo where he fell under the influence of
Vasily Polenov. In 1898–1899, he travelled across Europe. In addition to epic landscapes of Russian nature, Apollinary Vasnetsov created his own genre of historical landscape reconstruction on the basis of historical and archaeological data. His paintings present a visual picture of medieval Moscow. He was a member of the
Association of Travelling Art Exhibitions (Peredvizhniki) from 1899, and an
academician from 1900. He became one of the founders and supervisors of the
Union of Russian Artists.
Early life
Vasnetsov had three elder and two younger brothers. His only sister died at the age of four months. Vasnetsov's father played an important role in the upbringing and education of his sons, teaching them to love nature and to become familiar with the life of birds and animals. Vasnetsov's father died in 1870, which came as a terrible blow for him.
The Caucasus and the Urals
In 1890, Vasnetsov made a journey across the North of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
and was able to record beautiful views of
Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
and the
Urals, including the paintings:
* Forest on the Slopes of Mount Blagodat, Mid-Urals (1890)
*
Boreal forest
Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by pinophyta, coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. I ...
in the Urals (1890)
* Mountain lake in the Urals (1892)
* The Steppes of
Orenburg (1895)
* "Koma" (1895)
In 1895, Vasnetsov visited
the Caucasus. He was deeply impressed by the beauty of the rugged Caucasus mountains. While there, he climbed the glaciers of Mt.
Elbrus, visited
Tiflis
Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...
and lived in the
Darial Gorge. He created a great number of his
sketches during this period, including:
* View of Elbrus from Bermomut (1895)
* Red
Cliffs in
Kislovodsk (1896)
* Elbrus before Sunrise (1897)
* Darial (1897)
In 1890, Vasnetsov made a journey across Europe, visiting France and Italy, where he studied the works of famous masters.
At the beginning of 1920, the Committee of Archaeology (the predecessor of the Community for the Saving of Art Monuments) invited Vasnetsov and several other painters (including
Vikentii Trofimov) to draw the old places of
Voronezh.
A minor planet,
3586 Vasnetsov, discovered by Soviet astronomer
Lyudmila Zhuravlyova in 1978, is named after
Viktor Vasnetsov and Apollinary Vasnetsov.
Gallery
File:Boreal forest in the Urals mountaing.jpg, Boreal forest in the Ural mountains (1890)
File:Mountaing lake.jpg, Mountain Lake (1892)
File:Аполлинарий Васнецов Кремль.jpg, Kremlin
The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...
(1892)
File:Oprichnik by Vasnetsov.jpg, Set for the opera '' The Oprichnik'' by Tchaikovsky (1911)
File:VasnecovA VMoskovskom.jpg, In the Moscow Kremlin
File:Novgorod torg.JPG, Novgorod
Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...
marketplace
File:Vasnetsov Krasnaya Plocshad 17 vek.jpg, Red Square in the second half of the 17th century
File:'Kama'.jpg, Kama River
File:Stamp of USSR 1173.jpg, Painting of "Old Moscow" by Vasnetsov, depicted on a 1947 stamp
See also
*
List of Russian artists
References
Sources
*''Apollinary Vasnetsov'' by Vasnetsova, Yekaterina & Schmidt, Igor (eds.), Izobrazitelnoye Iskusstvo, Moscow, 1980, (Russian/English), Book ID V 1121 31.
* ''Great painters'' by Gordeeva M., "Direct media", Kyiv, 2011, (Russian)
Further reading
Short biography 1Short biography 2
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasnetsov, Apollinary
1856 births
1933 deaths
People from Zuyevsky District
People from Vyatsky Uyezd
19th-century painters from the Russian Empire
Soviet painters
Watercolorists
Peredvizhniki
Burials at Vvedenskoye Cemetery
Russian male painters
20th-century Russian painters
Russian watercolorists
19th-century male artists from the Russian Empire
20th-century Russian male artists
Mir iskusstva artists