Sergei Ivanovich Schukin was a famous collector and philanthropist. A collection of his paintings is stored in the Hermitage and the Pushkin State Museum. The date of birth of the owner of unique paintings of French painting is July 27, 1854. Schukin died on January 10 in 1936.
Parents of the Patron
The Shchukin dynasty is descended from Kaluga merchants. The ability to trade, business acumen and the ability to anticipate future benefits for Sergei Ivanovich were in the blood. Sergey's father, Ivan Vasilievich, became an orphan at eighteen. Having inherited a family business, Ivan Schukin after a short time increased the financial condition of the family several times. The man was successful in many endeavors.
As a wife, he took the daughter of merchants who were selling tea. A lot of famous personalities were related to Ekaterina Petrovna. Thanks to her, the whole Schukin family joined the high art, which influenced the future fate of Sergei Ivanovich.
Childhood and youth
Despite the fact that Sergey Shchukin was born in the family of a wealthy manufacturer, until the age of eighteen the young man did not receive education. The fact is that only at the age of nineteen, while in Germany, he was finally able to recover from stuttering. In the same year, the young man entered the German Academy of Trade and Commerce, located in the city of Hera. In addition to Sergei, three more sons were raised in the family: Ivan, Peter and Dmitry. However, of all his brothers, it was Sergei who became the most successful and talented in almost everything he touched.
Probably the inferiority complex affected by which the philanthropist fought all his life. In addition to the fact that Sergei had a very small stature, he talked very carefully all his life, carefully pronouncing words. Thus, his stuttering conversation was affected by stuttering, which doctors could not cure before the age of eighteen. All sons continued the work of their father. In 1878, the company "Ivan Schukin with Sons" was created, where all the brothers entered as equal partners.
Production activities
Things were going well with the company. The production of a trading house has noticeably grown and expanded. Now it included most of the textile factories in Moscow and surrounding cities. In those years, the Schukin brothers were quite successful merchants. This is evidenced not only by the biography of Sergei Schukin, but also by the fact that the family trading house was a leader among buyers of cotton and wool products. Just ten years later, Sergey Ivanovich was awarded the title of Commerce Advisor.
Ranks and positions
In 1891, Schukin became a merchant of the first guild. In addition, by that time he was already an adviser to commerce, as well as a member of the department of the trade council of manufactories in Moscow. Six years later, he was elected to the City Duma, where he worked for three years. Until the start of the revolution, Schukin held a position in the Moscow Exchange Society, as well as in the merchant credit community of Moscow. For his iron grip, he was called "porcupine." He was successful both in collecting and in entrepreneurship.
Beginning of gathering
According to the official biography of Sergei Ivanovich Schukin, a desire to collect from him appeared in Paris, where he made his first purchase after acquiring the mansion. Having sold valuable weapons stored in the house, Schukin bought a painting by the Norwegian artist Taulov. It was back in 1882.
Thus was the beginning of the collection. The collector preferred to do all his purchases in Paris. Eight years later, with the help of his brother Ivan, he acquired several paintings by impressionist painters. Over the next six years, his collection was replenished with the works of such masters as Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas. Schukin liked to call himself a philanthropist, supporting artists unpopular at that time. Subsequently, most of the paintings became world masterpieces, and their authors are still enthusiastic.
Also during this period were purchased paintings by Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and Paul Cezanne. It cannot be said that the philanthropist was fond of only one art direction. For example, he often bought works of art created by Fauvist artists. He was friends and corresponded with some masters. Basically, all the works were bought directly in the workshops, and Sergey Ivanovich purchased only a few of his paintings from his brother Peter, when he began to need money because of family circumstances.
Best works
Schukin was fascinated by the ideas of avant-garde artists, but few shared his taste. Most of the friends and visitors to his house in Moscow were shocked by the paintings that he brought. Perhaps the most beloved artists of Sergei Ivanovich were Claude Monet and Henri Matisse. Monet's first painting was Lilac in the Sun, acquired in 1897. And the last - "Lady in the garden." A few paintings, as already mentioned, the philanthropist bought from his brother Peter, when he needed money. These were paintings by Suriname, Raffaello, Renoir, Pissarro and Denis. For his love of art and collecting in 1910, Sergei Ivanovich received an honorary position in the society of artists “Jack of Diamonds”.
Sometimes he acquired paintings in whole series. For example, he bought sixteen canvases of Gauguin, most of which was the theme of Tahiti. After buying eight paintings by Cezanne, four Van Gogh and six works by Russo, Sergei Ivanovich Schukin drew attention to Picasso. A remarkable fact is that the collector was almost not interested in artists of the past. He preferred the young, sometimes almost unknown. He liked the scandalous authors who made a splash in the world of art.
Perhaps this behavior is explained by the merchant's view of Schukin on everything that happens. One of his favorite sayings was: "A good picture is, first of all, a cheap picture." Acquiring works of art, he loved to bargain. He knew that in the future the collection would bring him good profits and ensure a comfortable life for posterity. As always, Schukin was not mistaken. It is known that once he bought fifteen paintings for one million francs. Now just one picture of these fifteen costs a lot more.
East in his collection
Collector Sergei Schukin was an avid traveler. And he was extremely attracted to the East. No wonder his beloved wife Lydia had an oriental appearance and received the nickname "Shamakhan Queen" in Moscow. He had a lot of business with companies in India, Japan and China. In addition, his enterprises traded with all of Central Asia and Morocco.
The personification of the eastern world for him was, of course, Henri Matisse. One of the main paintings of the collection was the Red Room, which is now in the Museum of St. Petersburg. Having become a fan of the artist, Schukin ordered Henri Matisse the panels “Music” and “Dance”, with which he designed his house.
The fate of the meeting
The collection of Sergei Schukin grew extremely fast. In order to make it more convenient to pay artists, he opened a bank account in Berlin. Already during the emigration, Sergei Ivanovich continued to use it. Schukin admitted to his daughter that he acquired paintings spontaneously. As soon as he saw some worthy creation, he immediately had a desire to make a purchase. If at the beginning of his collecting he paid a lot of attention to the impressionists, then after his eyes he switched to post-impressionists.
As the story goes, Sergei Schukin, even during his lifetime, opened a mansion for everyone who wanted to get acquainted with the creations of the great French. Being in exile, he, like many other manufacturers who remained out of work, tried to take his collection through the courts. However, according to the testimony of friends, he reconciled to the loss and decided to leave the paintings to their former homeland. A remarkable fact is that in the twenties of the last century, the husband of the daughter of Sergei Schukin, who wished to stay with the new government, became the first director of the museum.
By the way, the entire nationalized collection remained completely untouched, and in the beginning of November of the eighteenth year, that is, three months after the owner’s emigration, moved to the museum. Beginning in the spring of the nineteenth year, paintings by the philanthropist Schukin could be seen in the first museum of Western painting. After the war, the collection was divided between Leningrad and Moscow. Schukin’s biographer claims that over twenty years of collecting, the philanthropist has collected almost three hundred paintings. The complete collection can only be seen in the album. During the exhibitions, only half of the paintings can be exhibited.
Personal life
The famous philanthropist Sergei Ivanovich Schukin was married twice. Each spouse gave him children. The first wife Lidia Koreneva was the daughter of Yekaterinoslav landowners. Lydia was a real beauty. She loved outfits, and her hobby was psychology.
Unlike his wife, Sergei was a real ascetic and preferred ordinary food and sleep by the open window. From the marriage, a daughter was born Catherine and sons Sergey, Ivan and Gregory. In 1907, Schukin was widowed and a few years later remarried. The second wife was the pianist Nadezhda Mirovotseva, who bore him a daughter, Irina. In addition, following the aristocratic fashion, Schukin took two girls-pupils into the house: Varvara and Anna.
Family troubles
However, in the biography of Sergei Ivanovich Schukin, there were black stripes. Unfortunately, the life of some loved ones was unsuccessful. At the age of eighteen, his beloved son Sergey drowned. Two years later, the wife of the philanthropist, the beautiful Lydia, committed suicide, and could not cope with grief. Another son of Shchukin, Grigory, who hanged himself, did the same. However, the troubles did not end there, and after a while his brother and no less beloved brother Ivan shot himself.
These events very seriously affected the psyche of the patron. Sergei Ivanovich Schukin was very upset by the loss of loved ones and at one time tried to become a pilgrim or go into retreat. To compensate for the pain of loss, Schukin began to pay increased attention to his collection. It was during this difficult period that most of the most successful paintings were acquired.
Life in exile
As the grandson of Schukin, Andre-Marc Deloc-Fourco recalls, the life of his grandfather in Paris was quite happy and measured. His last daughter was born when Shchukin was almost seventy years old. The whole family lived a fairly quiet and comfortable life, traveling a lot and talking with friends. According to some reports, in 1918 Sergei Ivanovich managed to transfer a decent amount to a Swiss bank, which allowed his relatives not to be in poverty.
Sergei Ivanovich Schukin no longer engaged in collecting, confining himself to buying several paintings that he hung in his room. He lived in Nice, a picturesque Mediterranean city. Despite the fact that the revolution robbed him of the work of his whole life, he did not regret anything and was quite philosophical about this fact.
In 2016, a documentary was released, which is called: “Sergei Schukin. The history of the collector. " The project was created in France. Tatyana Rakhmanova acted as the director.