Borisov-Musatov is the name of a remarkable, peculiar Russian artist, whose works are instantly recognizable. He is often called the "singer of the noble nests." One could add a “lilac singer” - she is so beautiful on his canvases, and there are so many of her - she can be seen on such canvases as "Self-portrait with sister", "Spring", "May Flowers".
Silver Representative of the Silver Age
The work of this master, the best and most famous representative of the Volga Art School, relates to symbolism, or rather, to its second stage. The artist Borisov-Musatov is part of a galaxy of brilliant creators of the Silver Age. The lines of A. Akhmatova “... and the silver month fell brightly over the silver century ...”, which gave the name to this period, are very suitable for the artist’s canvases. Beauty, clarity, silence and calm ...
The emergence of a famous surname
Who is he - V. E. Borisov-Musatov? The initials of the name and patronymic of the artist are deciphered as Victor Elpidiforovich. The rare name of his father occupies a niche in the military history of Russia - during the First World War, several gunboats bore this name.
April 2, 1870 the railway employee Elpidifor Borisovich Musatov became a father, he had a boy. The future artist was very fond of his family, especially his grandfather, a bright and outstanding person, he was so proud of him that his name - Boris - was taken as a prefix to Musatov’s family name. As a result of this, the world knows an artist whose name is Borisov-Musatov.
Roll call of times
Of course, you can live a century and not know anything about this wonderful master. But if you had a chance to see his paintings, and preferably a retrospective (there are not so many, only 77 — the artist’s life was very short), they are remembered forever, leaving the same trace in his soul as some works of Turgenev, who sang the world of the provincial nobility. Victor Borisov-Musatov was not a contemporary of a genius writer. Some critics accuse his paintings of staging and mannerism. But for such works as “The Noble Nest”, “Asya”, the paintings of this artist - “Pond”, “Waiting for Guests”, “Loneliness” - are the best illustrations. Specialists call his work elegy paintings.
Tragic event
From childhood, the artist himself was surrounded by love, which helped him not to become embittered and grow up as a very pleasant and friendly person. He was always surrounded by people sympathetic to him. A tragic incident that happened to him at the age of three — he fell off the bench, and as a result of damage to the spine of a little Viti, a hump began to grow — it greatly undermined the boy’s health. In the future, Borisov-Musatov, whose biography is so short, could not graduate from the Petersburg Art Academy due to the difficult climate.
The first urge for creativity
The boy tries to draw from the age of 6, at 14 he finally decides to become an artist and in 1886 becomes a student in the private studio of the traveling artist VV Konovalov. Engaged in it for 4 years, while attending the Sunday school of N. Ananyev. After graduating from college in 1898, he continues to gain knowledge in the studio at the Saratov Society of Art Lovers.
In Saratov, a large merchant center (it is known that merchants were patrons), there was a very good collection of works of world painting. Our young creator visited her systematically and took lessons from the visiting Italian artist G. Baracca. So, Borisov-Musatov successfully mastered the technique of academic drawing. By 1898, one of his first works, which has survived to the present day, is a beautiful, carefully painted and fanned by romance painting “Window”.
Beginning of serious training
Since 1890, Borisov-Musatov is a student at the Moscow Art College. But striving to master as much skill as possible, he leaves for Petersburg, to the class of P.P. Chistyakov. Due to poor health, Borisov-Musatov returns to Moscow, where since 1893 he has been studying with V.D. Polenov. Striving for further excellence, the artist went to Paris in 1895 and entered a private school called Atelier of Cormon. Its owner was the famous French painter Fernand Cormon, who was awarded the Legion of Honor in 1880 for his work, and in 1898 he headed the French National School of Fine Arts. And his private school of Russian painters was visited by Roerich and Isaac Batyukov.
Paris period
In Paris, Borisov-Musatov was shocked by the paintings of Puvi de Chavannes, the French Symbolist, in the studio of which he failed to get into as a student. Of course, during his stay in this recognized center of world art, the Russian painter could not help but get acquainted with the work of the impressionists and post-impressionists. Very close to him was the work of Auguste Renoir, Paul Gauguin and Berthe Morisot. How good is the picture painted at that time, “Cabbage and Sails”! How she echoes the work of the Impressionists! But the panel paintings of the symbolist group “Nabis” (which means translated from the Hebrew language “prophet, the chosen one” - so modestly called themselves nabids) become especially close and consonant with him. It included Paul Serusier (leader), Pierre Bonnard, Eduard Vuillard and Maurice Denis.
Renaissance - the foundation of painting
Absorbing all modern trends, based on the artistic traditions of the old masters, Victor Borisov-Musatov, whose paintings are a reflection of this interpenetration, developed his own recognizable style of writing. And, of course, like all artists of the world, he studied the works of famous creators in the Louvre. His idol was Leonardo da Vinci, who, among other things, like no one else, managed to sphumato (transparent shadows). According to contemporaries, the Russian painter never parted with a reproduction of "The Mona Lisa".
But most of all, the geniuses of the Italian Renaissance such as Fra Angelico and Sandro Botticelli influenced the paintings of Borisov-Musatov. The works of the talented man, whose life belongs entirely to art, could not but be reflected in the works of the representatives of the great Venetian school - Tintoretto, Titian and Veronese. Some of Borisov-Musatov’s later paintings were inspired by the Italians (tempera was applied to a coarse-grained canvas).
Homecoming
One of the first paintings of the artist returning to his homeland was the painting "Self-portrait with Sister", in which he first tries to present his creative credo - an image of the real world in the form of an echo of a bygone beautiful past. His paintings, according to some authors, are full of enchanted contemplation of life. For the creation of "Tapestry", the model for which was served by the same sister Elena, at the exhibition of the Moscow Association of Artists Borisov-Musatov in 1902 received an award.
In order to fully present the general picture of the countries, times and masters that influenced the formation of the artist's artistic creed, one cannot fail to mention the great F.S. Rokotova, as well as Japanese engraving, which in the era of Russian Art Nouveau was extremely popular.
Mastery
After “Self-portrait with my sister” a couple of paintings, namely, “Autumn Motive” and “Harmony”, experts attribute to the author’s failures - they look like magnificent costumed productions. At the beginning of the 20th century, Borisov-Musatov, whose biography, unfortunately, was already approaching the end, was especially happy. In Saratov, he had a school of like-minded artists who exhibited their works in 1904 at the exhibition “Scarlet Rose”. These included P. Kuznetsov, A. Matveev, M. Matyushin, Utkin and K. Petrov-Vodkin. At this time, he became very friends with Andrei Bely and Valery Bryusov. They dedicated Borisov-Musatov paintings to cycles of poems. The relationship of the famous poets of the Silver Age can be judged by the posthumous article by Andrei Bely dedicated to Borisov-Musatov, "Lilac garlands."
Happiest years
In 1903, the artist marries his colleague Elena Alexandrova, a beloved and loving woman who became his friend, muse, mother of the daughter of Marianne, born in 1904. Pictures of these years are becoming masterpieces. They are not bought much, but the artist is recognized all over the world. Everything develops, he energetically and selflessly works, painting 6-7 paintings a year. The family moves to Podolsk, but the summer is always spent at the cottage in Tarusa. The artist himself, describing his life and work of that time, said that he lives in a world of dreams and fantasies "among birch groves dozing off in a deep sleep of autumn fog."
The most beautiful paintings
Of particular note is the canvas, which was written by Borisov-Musatov in 1901. "Spring" is believed to have marked the beginning of a new period in the artist's work. It already completely lacks a narrative line. About her, one of the pre-revolutionary biographers says that there is completely "no historical element." The work of Borisov-Musatov is the quintessence of everything ... He is “the last sound of an infinitely distant melody that has broken off today”.
Specialists, thanks to this continuity of the melody, compare it with Wagner. The paintings “Tapestry”, “Pond”, “Requiem” (the latter is dedicated to the untimely death of Nadezhda Stanyukevich, the wife of the writer’s closest friend) are infinitely beautiful.
Death puts everything in its place
But, as always, true recognition comes after death. The artist dies suddenly in the summer of 1905 at a cottage in Tarusa. He was not old at all, but numerous painful operations could not but affect his health. Borisov-Musatov was buried here, in his beloved Tarusa, on the high bank of the Oka. In 1907, the exhibition "Blue Rose" opens, the name of which was given by Andrei Bely, and the backbone of which was composed of representatives of the closest associates of Borisov-Musatov, he was recognized as their ideological leader. The paintings saw the light, exhibitions were held in many European countries, one of the paintings was bought by Andre Gide - a star of French modernism. And, of course, his work affected the work of subsequent masters, especially avant-garde artists.