Vladimir Egorovich Makovsky is a prominent Russian artist-itinerant of the 19th – early 20th centuries, a teacher, an unsurpassed master of the so-called “novella painting”. Vladimir Makovsky is considered one of the pillars of itinerant movement: the artist’s work and his biography are true testimonies of devotion to the ideals of the Partnership. It is symbolic that the death of the artist coincided with the end of the “gang of the Itinerants”.
Vladimir Egorovich Makovsky worked in the genre of everyday life. Its heroes are recognizable – they are merchants, nobles, commoners, officials, workers and peasants, soldiers, bourgeoisie, clerks, vagabonds, gendarmes and prisoners. Striving for the truth of life, the artist fought against academism and the avant-garde, considering them distorting reality.
Biography of Vladimir Makovsky
Vladimir Egorovich Makovsky grew up in a creative family. He was born in Moscow on February 7, 1846. Father, Yegor Ivanovich, considered art to be the second religion. Mom, Lyubov Kornilievna, was a singer with an exceptionally beautiful and strong voice. Vladimir’s brothers and sister also became artists.
The Makovskys lived in an apartment on the embankment of the Moskva River, and were visited by many prominent personalities. His mother taught Volodya music (he was especially fascinated by playing the violin). The first drawing of the boy is a portrait of one of the guests of the house.
In 1861, the young man was enrolled in the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where talents from all over the vast country flocked. In the atmosphere of a heated discussion of art, under the influence of the work of Vasily Grigorievich Perov, his style was formed.
The young man studied with Sergei Konstantinovich Zaryanko (1818-1871) and the master of historical painting Evgraf Semenovich Sorokin (1821-1892), representatives of the Venetian school. In 1862, the work of Vladimir Makovsky “Kvasnik”, written under the direction of Vasily Andreevich Tropinin (1776-1857), participated in the exhibition.
In 1866, the artist completed his studies with a silver medal. Success was not long in coming. “Peasant Boys Guarding the Horses” – a picture created under the influence of Turgenev’s story “Bezhin Meadow” – brings the author a gold medal. Watercolors and drawings attract the attention of the general public with their acute social orientation. The painter participates in the production of the “Album of Views and Scenes from Russian Life.”
Artist career
After their marriage in 1869 and the birth of their first child, children became the artist’s favorite theme for a whole decade. Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov (1832-1898), a philanthropist, bought the painting “The Game of Grandma”, which depicts peasant children, for his gallery.
Accuracy, attentiveness, thoughtfulness and utmost conscientiousness are inherent in all the early works of Vladimir Makovsky. Later, the manner of expression changes, becomes more flexible and free.
In 1872, he was unanimously accepted into the Association of the Wanderers, and a year later he was elected to the Board. Genius is adored by the public, appreciated by critics. Unlike his brother, Konstantin, who sometimes blindly pleasing the “golden calf”, glory did not turn Vladimir Yegorovich’s head.
He works hard, the studio is overflowing with sketches, sketches, sketches, sketches. In search of characteristic images, Makovsky visits almshouses, slums and markets, does not disdain the godforsaken Moscow backwoods. He can be found anywhere – both at the flea market, and at a high-society ball and in a theater box.
In 1882-1894, the master taught at his alma mater, and then moved to St. Petersburg. In 1894-1918 he directed a class at the Imperial Academy of Arts. The painter accepted the October Revolution at once. He lived after her for two years, and all this time he received a government pension. Vladimir Egorovich Makovsky died on February 21, 1920, the eldest son Alexander followed in his footsteps and became a famous landscape painter.
The most famous paintings by Vladimir Makovsky
The paintings of Vladimir Makovsky are touchingly true. Thanks to the disarming sincerity, the viewer perceived the ideological meaning of the works as his own opinion. Among the best works:
“In the doctor’s office” (1870) – the artist makes fun of the popular belief in the miraculous power of home remedies.
Lovers of Nightingale Singing (1873) is a poetic painting. With bated breath, people enjoy the nightingale trills.
“The Condemned” (1879) – a work that caused a wide public response. According to Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy (1837-1887), the audience cried in front of this picture.
“The collapse of the bank” (1881) – a plot on the topic of the day. “Khodynka” (1901) – the work was banned for a long time. The Governor-General of Moscow called it “salt sprinkled on a fresh wound.”
