Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel is one of the most extraordinary and beloved Russian artists. The landscapes and images he created reveal a magnificent world that is as if on the border between everyday life and magic. Best of all, this ephemeral reality reveals the “Lilac” - one of Vrubel’s fabulous “nocturnes” that the audience loves so much.
Fairytale world of Vrubel
Mikhail Vrubel possessed an incredibly multifaceted artistic gift, as evidenced by temple murals, decorative panels, stained glass windows, sculptures, easel paintings and graphic drawings. Loyalty to vocation and focus on work allowed Vrubel to create many magnificent works, but the most beloved is his series of fabulous "nocturnes" - a series of paintings depicting magical characters against the backdrop of night or twilight landscapes.
Vrubel's unique talent was an original vision of mythological and fairy-tale characters and plots. Satyrs and dryads, goddesses and mermaids, a demon and a captive princess - all of them in the artist’s paintings do not appear as they look according to public opinion and familiar descriptions. In addition to the fact that Vrubel endowed with “the Russian spirit” practically everything that his brush touched, the artist’s imagination was incredibly rich and self-sufficient, and therefore did not need clues and prejudices.
Mikhail Vrubel, “Lilac”: description of the painting
One of the most delicate and gentle "nocturnes" that Vrubel ever wrote - "Lilac" - creates a small corner in which the real is mixed with the fabulous. Because of the spreading bush of lilacs at the very moment when twilight turns into night, it is as if a tender, frightened girl comes up. Long hair completely hides her figure and outfit, and her skin reflects moonlight, creating a magical image of a mermaid or forest fairy.
Vrubel lilac painted with a palette knife (both foliage and inflorescences), and a female figure with a brush, due to which the volumetric texture of flowers and leaves is created in the picture, which contrasts with the smooth and soft form of the girl. Against the background of bright, as if lively colors, the young lady, sheltered by a cascade of long black hair, merges with the shadow and seems to peer out from under the cover of night, trying to make out something.
M. Vrubel, “Lilac”: analysis of the picture
Many art critics associate Lilac with another Vrubel painting from the Nocturne series - Pan. In the long-haired beauty, they guess the nymph Satyr was in love with. This assumption is confirmed by the words of Vrubel himself, who said that “Lilac” is an alliteration of the name of the same nymph, who was called Syringa.
Like Pan, Vrubel’s nymph is more Russian than Greek. It does not have the ease and serenity inherent in the classic mythical dryads and mollusks. Woven from twilight light and hidden in the thick inflorescences of Syring, more like a nap, a mermaid or another representative of Navi; like Vrubel Pan - more Russian goblin than the Greek Satyr.
Options "Lilacs"
When Vrubel’s painting “Lilac” is mentioned, the canvas painted in 1900 and described above is almost always the first to come to mind, however this is not the only painting by the artist that depicts lush purple inflorescences. There are two more works by Mikhail Vrubel of the same name, one of which the author could not finish.
At the very beginning of the 20th century, the artist decided to show the world his vision of Tatyana Larina from Pushkin's poem “Eugene Onegin”. Vrubel planned to portray a girl sitting on a bench by a lush bush of lilacs. In 1900, the sketch for the painting, which is also called "Lilac" , was completed.
In 1901, Vrubel began work on a large picture, the plot of which was again based on a girl hidden in the shadow of a flowering lilac bush. Unfortunately, the artist did not have time to finish work on the canvas, and the audience did not see what Tatyana Larina was in the view of the great painter. However, in the figure, posture and obscure portrait outline, Vrubel’s favorite model is guessed - his muse and wife Nadezhda Zabela-Vrubel.