Not everyone knows that the father of the famous Russian poet and writer Boris Pasternak is no less talented person, namely the artist Pasternak Leonid Osipovich. His work will be discussed in this article.
Childhood
The young artist Pasternak Leonid Osipovich (1862-1945 - years of life), whose real name sounds like Avrum Yitzhok-Leib, grew up in a poor Odessa family. The future talented painter was the youngest of six children. The boy began to show creativity very early . However, despite the obvious giftedness of their child, parents took Leni's enthusiasm without enthusiasm. And yet, the young artist did not give up classes at an art school. The boy continued to study fine art after graduating from high school. Although Leonid chose medicine as his specialty, he combined with his studies at the university combined visits to the studio of master E. Sorokin. Moreover, study in the specialty gave the future artist the opportunity to thoroughly study the features of the human body, its specifics in motion and statics.
Further, the masterās studies took an even more unexpected turn. At twenty-one, Leonid suddenly changed his profession and continued his studies at the law faculty. However, life searches did not end there, and after a short time he left his hometown and left to try his luck in Germany.
Life abroad
Having settled in Munich, Pasternak Leonid Osipovich devoted several semesters to the study of painting at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. It was there that the life brought the master with the mother of the famous Russian artist Serov, who at that time organized a circle. It was this meeting that became significant both for the Pasternak family and for the Serov family. The acquaintance of Leonid Osipovich with this woman laid the foundation for many years of friendship between several generations.
First publications
During the session, the artist returned to Odessa for a while, where he first published his work in humorous magazines. These were sketches, cartoons, sketches, sketches. As Maxim Gorky himself admitted to the artist much later, it was at that time that Pasternak captured the first, in the words of the writer, ātrampā in Russian literature.
At this, the masterās training did not end. After graduating from university, Pasternak Leonid Osipovich, whose biography was replenished with another important achievement, served as a volunteer. Even during the passage of military duties, he did not stop making sketches and small sketches. So his authorās style was formed.
Personal life
In his hometown of Pasternak, Leonid Osipovich met Rosa Kaufman, an incredibly talented pianist. Already in 1889, the lovers got married and moved to live in Moscow. There Rosa gave one concert after another, and Leonid became interested in the Polenovsky circle.
A year later, the newlyweds had their first son. It was he who later became a famous Russian poet. It was Boris Pasternak. Three years later, the couple gave birth to a son, Alexander, who became a successful architect.
In addition to the boys, the Pasternak family included women. In 1990, the daughter of a daughter Josephine was born to a young artist, two years later her beloved wife, Rosa, presented her husband Lydia. Pasternak dedicated a separate gallery to his children. On these canvases the whole soulfulness and warmth of the family nest, which the young spouses twisted, is captured.
Confession
In the year 1889, which was significant for the young artist, luck smiles at him again, and the first known painting by the master, āLetter from the Motherlandā, is bought by a respected collector Pavel Tretyakov. It was a successful year for Pasternak. After the exhibition of this painting, the artistās name was forever fixed in the same row with his no less famous contemporaries.
After a deafening triumph in the Moscow society of connoisseurs of painting, Pasternak Leonid Osipovich became popular among artists of that time. He began to collaborate with no less famous collectors and craftsmen. Moreover, the artist himself began to give lessons to novice painters. So, even Ilya Repin sent young students to study with Pasternak. Later, the master began to give private lessons in Moscow. Seeing success, he decided, together with his friend artist Stemberg, to open a personal studio for teaching painting. While working with students, Pasternak established himself as a progressive artist and teacher. So, teaching, he not only taught students the basics of fine art and academic drawing, but also showed young people new tricks that were never used before. The master learned all this earlier, while studying in Germany. So, Russian art gradually developed in the direction of European.
Work in the magazine
Since 1890, Leonid Osipovich, under the patronage of Russian writer, playwright and publicist Fyodor Sologub, became the art editor of the new magazine "Artist". A year later, Pasternak took charge of publishing the works of Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov with illustrations. The artist not only decorated this collection with his illustrations, but also made it possible for other talented but lesser-known artists to work on it. Among them was Mikhail Vrubel, who was not very famous at that time, but no less talented from it.
In addition to working in the field of journalism, the master excelled in painting. In 1892, Leonid Osipovich Pasternak writes "Flour of Creation". The painting became a landmark in the piggy bank of the artist.
Create portraits
Despite the fact that Leonid Osipovich Pasternak is known as a painter, portraits make up a considerable part of his creative heritage.
Even in this form of fine art, the artist embodied his own innovative ideas. The most striking feature of Pasternak's portraits is that the master not only portrayed a bust of a person, but also turned to the inner world of the depicted. In his paintings, the artist sought to convey the whole character, the mood of the portrayed, his experiences, sorrows, change of mood. Pasternak wrote in an impressionistic manner. Despite the fact that such a style can be attributed to the entire work of the artist, nevertheless it is in portraits that this property manifests itself most powerfully.
International success
Pasternak continued to develop as a master, and already in 1894 he took the post of teacher in an art school. At the same time, with Pasternak, teachers became other outstanding masters, among them Serov, N. Kasatkin and K. Korovin. Thanks to their activities in the teaching field, the school became one of the most progressive not only within Russia, but even became famous abroad. Young initiative teachers, many of whom received education abroad, introduced new standards in the teaching of painting. In addition, it was this group of teachers that contributed to the introduction of courses for general education. So, Vasily Klyuchevsky became a teacher of Russian history. Later, Leonid Osipovich captured it in one of his portraits. It is worth noting that the school was not in vain to gain great fame: thanks to the dedicated work of teachers, many of the students subsequently became great masters. Among them are such famous artists as Gerasimov, Konchalovsky, Krymov, Shcherbakov and others.
However, the glory of Pasternak is not limited to this. In 1894, the artistās painting āOn the Eve of the Examsā won first place at the international exhibition in Munich. It was also acquired in 1890 to decorate the Luxembourg Museum directly from an exhibition in Paris.
After such a resounding success, the demand for Pasternak's work became quite logical . Already in 1901, the Luxembourg Museum ordered several painters known at that time, including Leonid Osipovich, to depict scenes from Russian life. Pasternak painted one of his most famous creations, the beautiful painting "Tolstoy in the Family". It was even appreciated by Prince George Alexandrovich himself, watching the exhibition "World of Art".
Later, Pasternak himself became the founder of the department of Russian art in the city of Dusseldorf. During his work abroad, the master fruitfully used the time allotted to him and visited the Mediterranean coast. While in Italy, the artist made many sketches of landscapes.
Life outside the homeland
During the events of 1905, Leonid Osipovich spent a whole year in Berlin. The job he liked at the school had to be stopped, since the school was closed. At this time, Pasternak participated in many European exhibitions, including in Berlin. In parallel, the master painted for many foreign customers.
Since 1912, during the treatment of Rosa Pasternak in Kissingen and near Pisa, the master began his large canvas āCongratulationā. According to the idea, the children came to please their parents with gifts for the anniversary of the silver wedding, as the artist depicted them. Leonid Osipovich Pasternak finished painting in 1914. She had a resounding success.
During this period, the master lived in Moscow. It was here that Pasternak Leonid Osipovich wrote āPortrait of a Sonā - one of his most famous creations.
Since 1921, Pasternak lived in Berlin. Despite the deterioration of his health and impaired vision, he felt a surge of creativity and painted during this time a series of portraits of famous personalities, including A. Einstein, M.R. Rilke and many others. In 1924, he went on a trip to Egypt and Palestine for company with friends. During the trip, Pasternak wrote a series of vivid sketches.
During the seizure of power by the Nazis, most of the artist's works were publicly burned, and exhibitions were banned. In this regard, in the late thirties, Pasternak moved to London, where he writes a series of paintings, subsequently transferred to the British Museum. Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, the master died in Oxford.
At the moment, the artistās rich heritage is stored in many of the most famous museums in the world, including the Moscow Tretyakov Gallery. It is difficult to assess what contribution Leonid Osipovich Pasternak made to Russian and world art. The masterās paintings still take pride of place at international exhibitions.