Fyodor Vasilyev

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Feodor Vasilyev. Self Portrait 1873

Feodor Alexandrivich Vasilyev (Russian: Фёдор Александрович Васильев, 1850-1873) was a Russian landscape painter who introduced the lyrical landscape style in Russian art.

[edit] Biography

Feodor Vasilyev was born in the family of a low level government official Alexander Vasilyevich Vasilyev and Olga Emelyanova Polyntseva on 22 February N.S. 1850. His parent married four years later, so he was always consider an illegitimate child. Feodor had to earn his living from the age of 12 years – he worked as a mailman, scribe, assistant to a restorer of pictures. After his father’s untimely death, he became the sole supporter of the family.

In 1863, he managed to enter the evening classes of the School of Painting at Society for Promotion of Artists (Russian: Школа Поощрения Художеств). While at School, Vasilyev got acquainted with many painters, who took care of him.

In 1866 famous landscape painter Ivan Shishkin fell in love with Feodor's sister Eugenia Vassilyev. So Shishkin became acquainted with Feodor and started to teach him landscape painting. In (July-November) 1867 Shishkin and Vassilyev worked together on island of Valaam. Some places on Valaam were subjects of both artist's paintings. Later Shishkin introduced Feodor to Ivan Kramskoi, Ilya Repin, art collectors Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov and Pavel Sergeevich Stroganov. Later Vasilyev became a major competitor to Ivan Shishkin and the later was often accused on using intrigues and administrative influence trying to win over Vasilyev on different art competitions.

Illumination in St. Petersburg. 1869

In Vasilyev’s early works, such as After a Thunderstorm (1868), Near a Watering Place (1868) and others, one can feel the influence of the Barbizon school; it affected his art but never resulted in a non-creative borrowing of the motifs. Though, at first, Vasilyev was somewhat inferior technically to the Barbizon painters, most critics agree that he eventually found his own way of handling the subject and After a Rain (1869) and After a Rain. Country Road exceed in many respects, the Barbizon stormy scenes in their expressiveness and deeply national sound.

In 1870, Vasilyev traveled on the Volga with Ilya Repin, the picture Volga View. Barges(1870) was a great success. In 1870 he became a member of Peredvizhniki movement (one of the original twenty members).

In 1871, Vasilyev painted Thaw (1871), which made him famous immediately, even the tzar family (prince Alexander, future Alexander III of Russia) ordered a copy, and the Society for Promotion of Artists awarded him first prize. Later the prince Alexander's copy was exponated on 1872 London World Fair and won a medal. Vasilyev was admitted, as an intern, to the Imperial Academy of Arts (that among other things gave him an exception from conscription to Army).

Wet Medow 1872

The boy-genius as he was called in the artistic circles of Russia had not time to enjoy his popularity – he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and had to leave St. Petersburg forever. He moved to Crimea. The Society for Promotion of Artists sponsored his stay there, but he was obliged to pay with his paintings.

First Vasilyev could not get used to new scenery. He goes on to paint Russian plains; his works, such as his masterpiece Wet Meadow (1872), were done from memory, old sketches and imagination. After some time Vasilyev started to draw Crimea, gradually beginning to feel the attraction to its mountain views. In the Mountains of Crimea (1873) was an outstanding work and the last work of the artist.

He died in Yalta on October 6 N.S. 1873 at the age of 23 years old. His posthumous exhibition in Saint Petersburg was a great success, all his works were sold prior to the exhibition. His works had strong influence on the next generation of Russian landscape painters. Nikolai Ge said that He discovered for us the Sky. Many art historians emphasize Fedor Vasilyev's influence on Isaac Levitan, Valentin Serov, Viktor Borisov-Musatov.

[edit] Works

The Cloud, 1860ies	Near a Church. Valaam. 1867	After a Rain. 1867	Before a Thunderstorm. 1868
After a Thunderstorm. 1868	Dawn in Saint Petersburg	Illumination in Saint Petersburg. 1869	Logs By the Road. 1867-1869
Barges on Volga 1870	After a Heavy Rain. 1870	Lakuna on Volga 1870-1871	Thaw 1871
Pond at the Sunset. 1871	Wet Meadow. 1872	Lombardy Poplars on the Bank of a Lake. Evening.	Swamp in the Forest, 1872
In the Mountains of the Crimea. 1873