In 1889, a star of one of the most outstanding and progressive creators of the nineteenth century was lit. This year, Annenkov Yuri Pavlovich was born - a Russian artist, portrait painter, writer.
Origin
The famous master was born in the family of a Russian national volunteer. Yuri Annenkov spent his earliest childhood with his parents in the Kamchatka Territory. His father was there and worked, exiled for participating in the organization "Narodnaya Volya". In 1893, the family finally managed to return to live in St. Petersburg. At this time, they were located in a small village next to the estate of Ilya Efimovich Repin.
Such an environment had a great influence on the subsequent creativity and worldview of Annenkov. He was constantly surrounded by a society of people of all possible creative professions, which could not but affect his choice of profession.
Study
Yuri began to draw Annenkov from childhood. Moreover, as a teenager, he became very interested in politics. At this time, the artist tried himself in the genre of cartoonist. His ironic sketches for an underground magazine caused a big scandal. For freethinking, Annenkov was expelled from the institution. However, this did not undermine the artist’s faith in himself. He independently enters the legal specialty at St. Petersburg University.
Creative career
Despite his early hobby for drawing, the master never received a full-fledged art education. Even while studying at the gymnasium, the artist attended classes at the Alexander Ludwigovich Stieglitz St. Petersburg Art and Industry Academy. In his student years, Yuri Annenkov studied in the studio of the famous master Savely Moiseevich Seidenberg. It is noteworthy that another outstanding artist studied with him - Mark Zagarovich Chagall.
Unfortunately, despite the diligence and desire to study, Annenkov could not qualify for the Moscow Academy of Arts. After his debacle, Yuri continues his studies at the studio of Yan Frantsevich Zionglinsky.
Life abroad
Annenkov’s fate was already taking shape outside the homeland. It was thanks to the advice of his mentor, Jan Frantsevich, that the young artist left the country in which he was born and moved to Paris. There, Annenkov Yuri continued his studies. At this time, he went to study with such foreign masters as Maurice Denis and Felix Vallotton. These symbolists belonged to the popular Nabi group. It was under the auspices of his mentors in 1913 that Yuri first participated in an art exhibition with his canvases. The exposition was called the “Salon of Independents”. The debut of the artist was successful.
Symbols of creativity
At the very beginning of his artistic career, the author was mainly engaged in painting. It was to this period that his famous works “Adam and Eve”, “Yellow Mourning”, “Self-portrait”, written in early 1910, belong. After returning to his homeland in 1913, Yuri Annenkov, whose photos can be seen in our review, begins to get involved in such art as graphics. Increasingly, his works began to be published on the pages of such publications as Lukomorye, Argus, Fatherland, Satyricon, and many others.
In addition, during the period of his enthusiasm for graphics, the master maintained close creative ties with the then-popular publishing houses Krasnaya Nov, World Literature, Rainbow and others. The artist was invited as an illustrator to the works of Korney Chukovsky, Jack London, Nikolai Evreinov. Also, the author continues the long tradition of being published in satirical publications as a cartoonist. Fortunately, now his work has been appreciated.
Political Views
During both revolutions, the artist, indifferent to social changes in society, was passionately passionate about politics. We can say that the upheavals in the social system had a very great influence on the further work of the master. This is evidenced by the flowering of his artistic activity after the coup. It was at this time in the artistic environment that new trends and societies appeared. Annenkov Yuri becomes their active participant. For example, the artist was elected one of the members of the board of the House of Arts in Petrograd.
Even in his works, the master constantly touched on the theme of revolution. It is in a special manner of depicting interconnected details that Annenkov’s attitude to the revolution as a new order is revealed. The artist passionately worried and contributed to the abolition of past attitudes, both in public life and in creativity.
The successes of the young master did not go unnoticed and already in 1920 Yuri was appointed professor at the Moscow Academy of Arts.
Prose and journalism
In addition to his artistic activities, Annenkov was also engaged in writing. After 1917, he repeatedly tried himself as a publicist. As they say, a talented person is good at everything. This path succeeded Yuri no worse than painting. Soon, he published his articles in print media such as The Life of Art.
Moreover, during his life abroad, Yuri Annenkov, an artist and graphic artist, discovered himself from a new angle for everyone: for the first time he tried his hand in the role of a writer. From the pen of the author came such works as "Diaries of my meetings." In them, Annenkov describes portraits of many Russian artists. Among them you can find Russian writers, artists, musicians. In addition to essays about famous personalities, Annenkov wrote a lot of fiction. So, it was Yuri who became the author of the books The Tale of Trivia, The Torn Era. When writing them, the artist took a pseudonym - Bogdan Temiryazev.
Gallery
Yuri Annenkov, whose paintings at the beginning of his career were made mainly in the technique of painting, after success at the Paris exhibition, set about creating his own gallery of portraits. The main field of activity of the master became famous personalities of that time. For a short period, Annenkov managed to capture the writer Maxim Gorky, the famous poets Vladislav Khodasevich and Anna Akhmatova, as well as Viktor Shklovsky, Mikhail Kuzmin, Velimir Khlebnikov and many others.
But a separate significance in the artist’s work was occupied by canvases with political persons. So, Yuri Annenkov, whose portraits were extremely successful, released canvases with such prominent people as Vladimir Lenin, Lev Trotsky, Grigory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev, Karl Radeki, Isaac Babel, Ilya Erenburg, Jean Cocteau, Maurice Ravel , Russian ballerina Olga Aleksandrovna Spesivtseva and many others.
Departure abroad
In mid-1924, Annenkov traveled to the Mediterranean coast to participate in an international exhibition. In Venice, the artist was honored to represent the pavilion of Soviet art. After this event, Annenkov’s life paths never returned him to Russia.
After participating in the exhibition, Yuri permanently settled in Paris. There, the artist’s recognition curve crept upward. At this time, he works mainly as a decorator in the theater and collaborates with such outstanding personalities as Nikita Fedorovich Baliev, choreographer Borislav Fominichna Nizhinskaya, actor Chekhov Mikhail Alexandrovich, Sergey Mikhailovich Lifar.
Theater and movie work
In addition to active artistic activity, the master earned recognition in another field. Yuri Annenkov, whose biography is replete mainly with successes in the field of painting and portraits, achieved great success and fame in the theatrical sphere. In addition to publishing his articles in publications devoted to this type of art, the artist made a huge contribution as a decorator of almost all the performances in the theater named after the famous Russian actress Vera Fedorovna Komisarzhevskaya. Annenkov also painted the scenery for the tetra of his longtime acquaintance Nikolai Evreinov.
However, this did not end his influence on art. The artist became one of the first among the reformers of the old order in the theater. So, already at the beginning of 1920, currents began to appear in which young Annenkov took an active part. For example, in 1921 his article was published on the need to proclaim a new theater. It was a breakthrough, picked up by the same enthusiasts.
Moreover, the artist soon had the opportunity to bring his bold ideas to life. In preparation for staging a play by Georg Kaiser at the Maxim Gorky Bolshoi Drama Theater, Annenkov first proposed an unprecedented innovation, namely, to use new ones with moving elements instead of the usual scenery. Thus, the scene seemed to interact with the actors. At that time, this approach in the design of the play was an unexpected success.
In total, for his long-term work in the theater field, the artist was able to decorate more than sixty performances with decorations. In addition to decorating the scene, the master was engaged in the development of new images for the troupe. Annenkov also tried his hand at cinema. Here he managed to achieve even greater recognition than in any other areas of his activity. The master was able to provide the scenery for more than fifty films made. For the preparation of costumes for the film crew, the artist even won the Oscar, which was unusually prestigious at that time.
Criticism
Among the many-sided works of Annenkov it is difficult to single out the most outstanding work or even direction. For example, among the artist’s legacy in the graphic industry, his sketches by critics and contemporaries unanimously recognized the author’s sketches for the next edition of Alexander Blok’s poem, The Twelve. Even the poet himself spoke flatteringly about the artist’s abilities and repeatedly admitted that they had a deeper meaning. In general, Annenkov’s schedule was evaluated as performed in an unusual, bold and easy manner. He successfully applied strict lines, and played with naughty shadows. With such tactics, the author was able to notice the most important in his heroes, to raise to the surface those features that threatened to go unnoticed.
As for the successes in painting, here the style of the artist is fully revealed in the direction of cubism. Moreover, the master perfectly and easily combines modernist motifs with a traditional academic style. Annenkov Yuri Pavlovich, whose paintings are still particularly popular among collectors, made a truly huge contribution to the art of the 20th century.