"Mazilka", "monk", "forest king". Curious facts from the life of Ivan Shishkin

07.02.2017

The name of Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin is familiar to everyone, and many learned about him back in the distant preschool years: everyone who grew up in the Soviet Union remembers the delicious Bears in the Forest sweets from the Krasny Oktyabr factory. On their wrapper was placed a reproduction of "Morning in pine forest» Shishkina. What other interesting facts from the life of I.I. Shishkin, the great Russian artist, do we know?

1. The future artist was born in January 1832 in the quiet provincial Yelabuga and spent his childhood there. His father - a poor merchant - was a very educated man, he loved art and literature. He strongly encouraged his son's interest in creativity, bought him paints, taught him to carve on wood. Even when little Vanya painted the fence near the house, neither father nor mother tried to stuff him with moralizing.
2. The artist's father tried to compose books - he wrote a work, dedicated to history native Yelabuga. He participated in historical research and attracted to the excavations young Ivan. The expedition tried to find traces of the ancient Bulgar kingdom on the Volga.
3. Having brilliantly graduated from the Academy of Arts, Ivan goes to Germany, where he improves in his chosen profession. Interestingly, even then he was recognized even abroad: he informed his relatives that they spoke of him like this: “We saw a famous Russian artist on the street who writes wonderful pictures". But the artist loved Russia so much that he returned to his native land without waiting for the end of his "pensioner" (that is, organized at the expense of the Academy) vacation.
4. The most famous painting Shishkin's "Morning in a Pine Forest", it turns out, is not entirely written by him: Ivan Ivanovich's friend, artist Konstantin Savitsky, enlivened the forest landscape with the image of a family of bears. But not everyone knows about this, because when the collector Tretyakov decided to buy the painting, he demanded that the signature of the second author be removed from the painting. Tretyakov did not get along with Savitsky. So Shishkin got all the glory.
5. Ivan Shishkin was called the “noon artist”: he has practically no sunsets and sunrises, a bright day reigns everywhere, sunlight shines. This is a difficult subject for the painter, as there are no shadows. But Shishkin brilliantly coped with the task set for himself: his landscapes are so true that they can be compared with photographs. The summer heat, the breath of the breeze, the frost in winter forest. Each stem and leaf is lovingly written out.
6. There was such an anecdote in the past years: once Emperor Alexander, admiring the art of Shishkin, invited him to teach painting to his heirs. This bothered the artist: he complained to his friends, being with them in a certain drinking establishment, about the mediocrity of the king's children. Then someone approached him and said sternly: “Come with me to the palace!” Not at all frightened, Shishkin took out a pass to the Winter Palace from his pocket: “Always at your service, sir!” The ashamed employee of the Third Division retreated.
7. Shishkin was lucky in his work, he succeeded in everything, they began to appreciate him early and literally “carry on his hands”. But his personal life did not work out: the first wife died, leaving him a son. He married a second time - and again his life partner left him, dying young, having managed to give the artist two daughters.
8. Shishkin died unexpectedly for everyone, at the age of 66. It was an ordinary morning, the artist was working with a student, working on a new painting "Forest Kingdom". Suddenly he sighed, dropped his head on his chest, and the doctor who arrived stated that his heart had broken.

Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin devoted himself entirely to creativity. What power of life did this amazing artist! Find a free moment among the endless series of cases, peer into his bright pictures pierced by sunlight. Perhaps, before such an all-conquering love for life, their own petty everyday troubles will fade and begin to seem less serious ...

In January 2012, somehow undeservedly, a very significant date- 180th anniversary of the birth of our countryman - a native of Yelabuga, a truly great painter, whose masterpieces adorn Tretyakov Gallery and many other Russian and world museums - Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin.

He is known, but how much, in fact, do we know about him? .. Tell about little known facts biography of the artist "Nedelya" asked a writer-historian, author of the book "Shishkin", published in the series "Life wonderful people”, Lev Anisov.

Elabuga - "God's backwater"

- In order to understand the artist, first of all, you need to turn to the study of the world that surrounded him in the first years of his life - family, nature, church, - says Lev Anisov. - Quiet, provincial town, father's house, a church that was nearby ... One Elabuga woman told me about the local beauties - "the backwater of God." More precisely, in my opinion, you can not imagine. This is what formed little Vanechka.

The Shishkins are an old merchant family. All of these were honest, skilled people: someone poured bells, someone collected watches ... Shishkin's grandfather was very fond of the old book, his father was the mayor, a well-read and enlightened man. Although he is a merchant, he is a very interesting person, unlike modern “merchants”. Merchants in the 19th century were people who always remembered that they lived in Russia and for Russia. Of course, they "thrown" an extra penny on their goods, but they did not forget to build a temple or build a water pipe for their native city.

On holidays, the Shishkins always welcomed the poor, fed and watered them, thus paying tribute to the dead, because at that time it was believed that their souls came to the house with the poor. Shishkin's father was very fond of history, often brought books on art to Vanyusha and was the first Elabuga citizen to publish a book about hometown. Of course, he made a huge impression on little Vanya with stories about Russian antiquity.

Needless to say, little Ivan fell in love with drawing very much? As a child, he was called a "mashilka", because he even managed to paint the fence of his house! Wherever Ivan Ivanovich was later - whether he studied at the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture, whether he attended the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts - he still missed his native Yelabuga and looked for places similar to his own.

Influenced by the priest

There was another one from Yelabuga amazing person- Kapiton Ivanovich Nevostroev. He was a priest, served in Simbirsk. Noticing his craving for science, the rector of the Moscow Theological Academy suggested that Nevostroev move to Moscow and start describing the Slavic manuscripts stored in the synodal library. They started together, and then Kapiton Ivanovich continued alone and gave scientific description all historical documents.

So, it was Kapiton Ivanovich Nevostroev who had the strongest influence on Shishkin (as Elabuga residents, they also kept in touch in Moscow). He said: “The beauty that surrounds us is the beauty of the divine thought poured into nature, and the task of the artist is to convey this thought as accurately as possible on his canvas.” That is why Shishkin is so scrupulous in his landscapes. You can't confuse him with anyone.

Tell me as an artist to an artist...

- Forget the word "photographic" and never correlate it with the name of Shishkin! - Lev Mikhailovich was indignant at my question about the amazing accuracy of Shishkin's landscapes. – A camera is a mechanical device that simply captures a forest or field in given time under this lighting. Photography is soulless. And in every stroke of the artist - the feeling that he has for the surrounding nature.

So what is the secret of the great painter? After all, looking at his “Stream in a birch forest”, we clearly hear the murmur and splash of water, and admiring the “Rye”, we literally feel the breath of the wind with our skin!

“Shishkin knew nature like no one else,” the writer shares. - He knew the life of plants very well, to some extent he was even a botanist. Once Ivan Ivanovich came to Repin's studio and, examining him new picture, which depicted rafting on the river, asked what kind of wood they were made of. "Who cares?!" Repin was surprised. And then Shishkin began to explain that the difference is great: if you build a raft from one tree, the logs can swell, if from another, they go to the bottom, but from the third, you get a good floating craft! His knowledge of nature was phenomenal!

You don't have to be hungry

"An artist must be hungry" - says famous aphorism.

“Indeed, the belief that an artist should be far from everything material and engage exclusively in creativity is firmly entrenched in our minds,” says Lev Anisov. - For example, Alexander Ivanov, who wrote The Appearance of Christ to the People, was so passionate about his work that he sometimes drew water from a fountain and was content with a crust of bread! But still, this condition is far from obligatory, and it certainly did not apply to Shishkin.

Creating his masterpieces, Ivan Ivanovich, nevertheless, lived full life and did not experience major financial difficulties. He was married twice, loved and appreciated comfort. And he was loved and appreciated beautiful women. And this despite the fact that the artist gave the impression of an extremely closed and even gloomy subject to people who did not know him well (in the school for this reason they even called him “monk”).

In fact, Shishkin was a bright, deep, versatile personality. But only in a narrow company of close people did his true essence manifest itself: the artist became himself and turned out to be talkative and playful.

Glory caught up very early

Russian - yes, however, not only Russian! - history knows many examples when great artists, writers, composers received recognition from the general public only after death. In the case of Shishkin, everything was different.

By the time he graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, Shishkin was well known abroad, and when the young artist studied in Germany, his works were already well sold and bought! There is a case when the owner of a Munich shop did not agree to part with several drawings and etchings by Shishkin that adorned his shop for any money. Fame and recognition came to the landscape painter very early.

ARTIST OF NOON

Shishkin is an artist of noon. Usually artists love sunsets, sunrises, storms, fogs - all these phenomena are really interesting to write. But to write noon, when the sun is at its zenith, when you do not see shadows and everything merges, is aerobatics, the top artistic creativity! To do this, you need to feel nature so subtly! In all of Russia, perhaps, there were five artists who could convey the beauty of the midday landscape, and Shishkin was among them.

In any hut - a reproduction of Shishkin

Living not far from the native places of the painter, we, of course, believe (or hope!) that he reflected precisely them on his canvases. However, our interlocutor was quick to disappoint. The geography of Shishkin's works is extremely wide. While studying at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, he painted Moscow landscapes - visited the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, worked a lot in the Losinoostrovsky forest, Sokolniki. Living in St. Petersburg, he traveled to Valaam, to Sestroretsk. Having become a venerable artist, he visited Belarus - he painted in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. Shishkin also worked a lot abroad.

However, in last years During his life, Ivan Ivanovich often visited Yelabuga and also painted local motifs. By the way, one of his most famous textbook landscapes - "Rye" - was painted just somewhere not far from his native places.

“He saw nature through the eyes of his people and was loved by the people,” says Lev Mikhailovich. - In any village house, in a conspicuous place, one could find a reproduction of his works “Among the Flat Valley ...”, “In the Wild North ...”, “Morning in a Pine Forest”, torn from a magazine, torn from a magazine.

Who drew the Toptygins?

By the way, about "Morning ...". The history of the creation of this masterpiece is curious. The fact is that Shishkin was close friends with the artist Konstantin Savitsky, after whom he even named his son (and whom he entrusted to be the godfather of his children). Naturally, they visited each other in workshops. Once Savitsky shared an idea with Shishkin: he wanted to portray bears. This idea of ​​the landscape painter was very excited, and, pushing off from it, he, in turn, decided to paint a pristine corner of nature, where no man had set foot. Shishkin wanted to convey the symphony, the music of this forest untouched by civilization. So a wonderful, fabulous forest appeared on the canvas. The family of bears “registered” in it thanks to the brush of Savitsky.

When the painting saw the light of the day and was bought by the art collector Pyotr Tretyakov, Savitsky did not claim authorship at all, because he only helped a friend a little (then it was in the order of things: for example, the lady in the painting by Isaac Levitan “Autumn Day. Sokolniki” was painted by Nikolai Chekhov, and the sky on the famous canvas of Vasily Perov "Hunters at rest" - Alexey Savrasov). Shishkin nevertheless indicated his last name. However, Tretyakov and Savitsky had friction at that time, and he said: “I only bought a painting by Shishkin - I didn’t buy Savitsky!” And so it happened that Shishkin turned out to be the sole author of, perhaps, the most famous landscape in Russia ...

Interesting Facts about the artist I. Shishkin

Did you know that Ivan Shishkin did not write his masterpiece dedicated to bears in the forest alone.

An interesting fact is that for the image of bears, Shishkin attracted the famous animal painter Konstantin Savitsky, who coped with the task excellently. Shishkin quite fairly appreciated the contribution of the companion, so he asked him to put his signature under the picture next to his own. In this form, the painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” was brought to Pavel Tretyakov, who managed to buy a painting from the artist in the process of work.

Seeing the signatures, Tretyakov was indignant: they say that he ordered the painting to Shishkin, and not to a tandem of artists. Well, he ordered to wash off the second signature. So they put up a picture with the signature of one Shishkin. Autobiography Ivan Shishkin was born on January 13 (January 25 - according to the new style), 1832 in Yelabuga Vyatka province(now - the Republic of Tatarstan) in the family of a merchant of the second guild Ivan Vasilyevich Shishkin. I. V. Shishkin was outstanding personality. Thanks to his incorruptible honesty, he was respected by his fellow countrymen and for eight years was the mayor of Yelabuga, having worked hard for the good of the city. The wooden aqueduct he built is still partly in operation. The artist's talent It was the father, noticing his son's passion for art, who began to subscribe him to special articles and biographies of famous artists.

It was he who, having decided his fate, let go young man in 1852 to Moscow to study at the School of Painting and Sculpture.

Shishkin early thought about the artistic "field". Four years spent in father's house after "escape" from Kazan (1848-52), he kept notes in which, as it were, he guessed his future life. We quote: "The artist must be a higher being, living in ideal world art and striving only for perfection. Properties of the artist: sobriety, moderation in everything, love of art, modesty of character, conscientiousness and honesty.

From 1852 to 1856, Shishkin studied at the recently opened (in 1843) Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture. His mentor was A. Mokritsky - a thoughtful and attentive teacher who helped the novice painter to find himself. In 1856, Shishkin entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. At the Academy, Shishkin stood out noticeably for his talents; his successes were marked by medals; in 1860 he graduated from the Academy with a large gold medal, received for two paintings "View on the island of Valaam. Kukko area" and giving the right to study abroad. But he was in no hurry to go abroad, instead in 1861 he went to Yelabuga. In his native places, Shishkin worked tirelessly. Work abroad From 1862 to 1865 Shishkin lived abroad - mainly in Germany and Switzerland, while visiting the Czech Republic, France, Belgium and Holland. In Düsseldorf he wrote extensively in the Teutoburg Forest and among local residents enjoyed great popularity. He himself ironically recalled: "Wherever and wherever you go, everywhere they show - this Russian has gone, even in stores they ask if you are the Russian Shishkin who draws so superbly?"

Creativity Shishkin

In 1836, a group of young realist specialists headed by I. Kramskoy left the Academy with great noise, refusing to paint a picture on a given topic. "Rebels" founded the Artel of Artists. At the end of the 1860s, Shishkin became close to this Artel.

From the Artel in 1870, the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions grew up, which became a symbol of a new artistic era.

The personal life of the artist The personal life of Shishkin developed tragically. He was married twice for love: first, to the sister of the talented landscape painter F. Vasilyev, who died early (whom he took care of and taught the basics of craftsmanship), Elena; then - on the artist Olga Ladoga. Both of them died young: Elena Alexandrovna - in 1874, and Olga Antonovna - in 1881. Lost Shishkin and two sons. Death especially concentrated around him by the mid-1870s (his father also died in 1872); the artist, who fell into despair, stopped painting for a while and became addicted to libations. Devotion to art But the mighty nature and devotion to art took their toll. Shishkin was one of those who could not help but work. He returned to creative life, which in his last two decades almost without gaps coincided with his life in general. He lived only by painting, only native nature which became its main theme.

He traveled a lot in Russia: he painted sketches in the Crimea, in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, on the Volga, on the Baltic coast, in Finland and present-day Karelia. Constantly exhibited - at personal, academic, traveling, commercial and industrial exhibitions. The death of the artist Shishkin and died at work. On March 8 (March 20 - according to the new style), 1898, he painted in the studio in the morning. Then he visited his relatives. Then, complaining of being unwell, he returned to the workshop. At some point, the assistant saw the master fall from his chair. Running up to him, he saw that Shishkin was no longer breathing.

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