It seems that from his very first breath, the Russian artist Valentin Aleksandrovich Serov was doomed to become a uniquely educated and exceptionally developed personality.
In the air saturated with art
He was born in St. Petersburg on January 7, 1865 into a musical family belonging to the creative elite of Russian society. Father, Alexander Nikolaevich, was a well-known composer and music critic, and his mother, Valentina Semenovna, was also a professional composer and wrote articles about music. Their house was always crowded, there were lively conversations about art, interesting scientific and cultural disputes. In addition to music, his father was fond of the natural sciences, architecture and drew well. He managed to instill this love with his son from early childhood. Perhaps the famous Serov artist, whom the whole world recognized at the beginning of the twentieth century, originates from this spiritually nourishing wonderful atmosphere.
The birth of mastery
In the fifth year of his life, the boy first went abroad with his parents. It was a trip to Switzerland, where Alexander Nikolayevich met with the great German composer and art theorist Richard Wagner. Perhaps the impressions of those days in their own way honed the peculiar and original gift that the Serov artist would have.
The boy’s biography unexpectedly changed direction when his father suddenly died. It happened in 1871. The harmonious life of the family suddenly went wrong. Valentina Semenovna went abroad, but she did not take her son with her, left him in Russia. At the Nikolsky farm in the Smolensk province there was a commune of six people, where everything was common. It was organized by commoners. During the day, people worked in the fields, and in the evenings they taught the peasants to read and write. It was then that little Tosha Serov began to draw a lot - an artist from God. At the Nikolsky estate, the boy recognized the beauty and magic of Russian nature. However, a year later the commune ceased to exist, and the child was sent to his mother in Munich. Here, a year later, eight-year-old Valentin Serov began to take drawing lessons from the engraver Karl Kepping. The German master was able to discern in a zealous student of what Serov would become after a decade. The artist gave lessons to a Russian boy every day.
Brilliant Patrons
Someone from my friends advised Valentina Semenovna to take her son to Ilya Repin, who in 1874 worked on the painting "Sadko" and lived in Paris on Montmartre. The famous painter eagerly took up the training of a budding artist.
In 1875, the Serovs returned to their homeland. The summer that mother and son spent in the estate of Savva Mamontov, Abramtsevo was amazing and fruitful. Here the unique style began to take shape, in which the artist Serov painted in different genres and techniques.
First confession
In autumn, the boy was assigned to the St. Petersburg gymnasium boarding school. But in the spring he fell ill, and Valentina Semenovna felt that for the health of her son they needed to move to the south. For two years, the family, headed by the new mother’s husband, Vasily Ivanovich Nemchinov, lived in Kiev, where Valentin attended a gymnasium and continued to study painting. The successes of the boy did not go unnoticed by teachers, and the young Valya Serov was awarded a silver medal at the drawing school. The artist, whose biography is full of meetings and communication with great predecessors, developed very quickly as a master of easel painting.
When the family moved to Moscow in 1878, Repin already lived and worked there, returning from abroad. Classes resumed. The boy went to the Repins for the weekend, on Saturday the master gave the student drawing lessons, and on Sunday taught his painting.
In 1880, Ilya Repin took a trip to the Crimea in order to collect material for the monumental canvas "Cossacks". The novice artist Serov also went on a journey with the master. Pictures, sketches, sketches of a sixteen-year-old youth were not yet fully formed, but already here he manifests himself as a mature and gifted draftsman. The self-portrait created in these years amazes the viewer with the depth of introspection of the young artist. A thoughtful look, tightly closed lips, a sharp play of light and shadow convey the difficult character and creative daring of the future master.
Young student
Repin was preparing a talented student for admission to the Academy of Arts. Serov was too young, but Ilya Efimovich wrote a convincing letter to the conference secretary of the Academy, and his ward was enlisted there as a volunteer. His current teacher, Pavel Chistyakov, demanded a real feat from a young student, and he worked selflessly, sparing no time and effort.
In the summer of 1884 Serov again visited Abramtsevo near Moscow. Here at this time Victor Vasnetsov worked on the panel for the Historical Museum. That summer, the young artist Valentin Serov created one of the remarkable lyrical portraits; he painted Lyudmila Mamontov, the niece of the famous philanthropist.
Self swimming
In 1885, Serov and his mother again visited Munich, after which the young man visited the Netherlands. Returning to St. Petersburg, Valentine, after some hesitation, left the Academy of Arts. This year he painted a picture of "Ox" and a portrait of his bride Olga Trubnikova.
The year 1886 was noted in the artist’s work with Abramtsevo motifs. Serov created the landscapes Autumn, Winter in Abramtsevo, Pond, and again painted a portrait of his beloved by the window.
1887 glorified Serov. He painted the famous “Girl with Peaches” (portrait of young Vera Savvishna Mamontova). The picture pleases with the spontaneity and freshness of colors, unusually optimistic mood. Another famous work entitled “The Girl Shined by the Sun” (portrait of a cousin - Maria Simonovich) was written a year later by Serov.
The artist, whose biography was formed under the influence of a strong friendship with Vladimir Derviz, who acquired the estate in the picturesque place of Domotkanovo, could not depict this corner of nature on canvas. Painting “Autumn. Domotkanovo ”is a special look at Russian autumn, thoughtful and mysterious. The wonderful landscape "Overgrown Pond", created in the same year, is filled with rare admirement.
So glory comes
In the winter of 1888, Serov married and left with his wife for France. The next winter, the young people spent in Moscow. The already famous artist agreed to pose for an Italian celebrity - opera singer Angelo Mazini. In the early 1890s, Serov painted several more skilful portraits, including portraits of the teacher Ilya Repin, Isaac Levitan, Nikolai Leskov.
Social and professional activities
1894 - the time of Serov’s travel to the north of Russia, together with his other talented contemporary - Konstantin Korovin. Artists bring a lot of fresh and interesting sketches and sketches. This year, Valentin Aleksandrovich becomes a member of the Association of Wanderers. Since 1897, the artist gave mastering classes at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, fostering celebrities such as Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Nikolai Sapunov, Konstantin Yuon, Martiros Saryan.
Since the second half of the 1890s, Serov’s work was marked by excellent genre works “Woman in a Cart”, “Gray Day”, “From the Manor’s Window”, “Meeting”, “Woman with a Horse”. In 1899, the artist created the famous painting "Children", which captured his sons - Sasha and Yura.
The beginning of the 1900s brought Russian culture a number of remarkable portraits of Serov, perpetuating actress Maria Ermolova, writer Maxim Gorky, singer Fedor Chaliapin, engineer Emanuel Nobel, and ballerina Anna Pavlova. In the same years, the gifted master became interested in historical subjects. Reflections on the extraordinary fate of Russia prompted Serov to create a series of magnificent paintings about the era of Peter the Great, his associates and successors. Famous paintings such as "Peter the Great in Monplaisir", "Departure of Peter II and Elizabeth Petrovna to hunt."
World recognition of the Russian genius
In 1904, Valentin Alexandrovich stayed in Italy, three years later he went to Greece. Serov's works were recognized as the best at the 1911 Rome exhibition and demonstrated to the whole world the mastery of the pan-European scale that Serov possessed. The artist, whose brief biography is set out in our article, was full of great ideas and great undertakings, when a sudden death from a heart disease cut his life short. Valentin Serov died on November 22, 1911 in Moscow. For 46 years of a bright and expressive creative life, the artist created about two hundred magnificent unique creations.