The “window to Europe” cut through by Peter influenced the whole structure of public and private life in Russia, including culture and art. The flourishing of 19th-century Russian painting would have been unthinkable without artists who embraced the achievements of European culture along the path that began in the Renaissance and enriched them with a national spiritual tradition. The first in a series of such names is called Ivan Nikitin, the beloved artist of the Tsar Reformer. The second is mentioned another truly Russian surname - Matveev. Andrei, whose middle name (Matveevich) is considered unconfirmed, lived a short and stressful life.
Legends instead of facts
The biography of the master has many white spots. From the date of birth, the year 1701 is known, although, according to some sources, he was born a year later. Fragmented information has been preserved about his father: it is known that a clerk named Matveyev served at the court of Empress Catherine I. Andrew and his sister were with his father, and the drawings of the boy could fall into the eyes of the empress. One of the duties of the clerk is to provide correspondence, for which it was necessary to master the art of calligraphy. Perhaps the first experience for the future artist was work under the direction of his father - among the handwritten documents of that time, you can find real masterpieces of graphics.
It was Catherine who initiated the enrollment of fifteen-year-old Andrey into the number of pensioners sent at public expense to study in Europe. There is a more beautiful legend that says that Peter I himself was involved in this. During the tsar’s stay in Novgorod, where Matveyev himself came from, Andrei caught the eye of the emperor when he made portrait sketches of him. Fascinated by the drawing of the boy, the sovereign immediately ordered him to gather in Amsterdam, in the beloved Peter of Holland, as apprentices to the local painters there. And although such actions are considered commonplace for the reformer king, confirmation of this story has not been preserved.
Diligent student
In 1716, among other "Russian nation of disciples," Matveev arrived in Amsterdam. His mentor was the famous Dutch portrait painter Arnold Boonen. To get to him was a great honor, since he was considered a celebrity, a master who embodied the best traditions of the Rembrandt school , and portraits of his brushes, which cost a lot of money, were ordered by the noblest and richest people from all over Europe. Perhaps the protection of Matveev was provided by the wife of the Russian emperor herself. Catherine I personally met Boonen during her trips to Holland.
The curator of the colony of Russian students was Johann Van den Burg, known in Russia as Yagan Fandenburg, the personal agent of Peter I, who performed other missions for the tsar. He very strictly monitored the behavior of young Russians, often engaging in assault on those who were lazy or licentious. In his reports to Peter, he regularly reported that some retirees had free-flowing European air.
Only one of the "chicks of Petrov’s nest" didn’t cause any complaints from Vandenberg - Matveev. Andrei himself regularly sent his works to Russia as a progress report on education. Obviously, his successes were noticed - it is known that by order of the empress he was assigned an additional monetary allowance. The only thing that overshadowed Matveev’s stay abroad was the frequent illnesses caused by overwork from intense studies.
Two periods
Matveev’s training lasted a long eleven years and consisted of two stages. At the first, he studies in detail the art of a portrait painter. Boonen devoted a lot of time to setting up a drawing, developing technical skills among students, mastering various painting techniques, and using various materials. One of the main teaching methods was copying the works of old masters. Boonen did not pay special attention to the transfer of the inner world of the portrayed.
In those days, the transition from one master to another was widely used in training. Matveev also decided to try this method. Andrei Matveevich asked for permission to go to The Hague, to Karel Moor. This master was no less famous (and not only in Holland), and was also known to the Russian imperial family, who ordered Moora his portraits.
Moor's portrait of Peter became the basis for a similar work by Matveyev, done by him at that time. When comparing these two canvases, the nature of the talent that Matveyev possessed becomes clear. Andrei Matveevich paid more attention to the personal qualities of the Russian Tsar. In his pictorial presentation, Peter is more humane, less like a symbol of unwavering power, as he appears in the ceremonial portrait of Moor, known from numerous engravings.
Academy of Arts in Antwerp
In 1724, Matveyev turned to Petersburg with a request to continue his studies at the Art Academy of Antwerp. He intended to master a new genre there - “writing of stories”, that is, plot painting: allegorical, mythological, historical and battle paintings. Given the diligence of the student and his success, in St. Petersburg it was decided to allow the pensioner to extend his stay in Europe, which was unusual at that time.
In 1725, Peter the Great died. Andrei Matveev, whose biography began during the time of the Tsar Reformer, sends his condolences to Catherine and appends to him the message “Allegory of Painting” written by him. This small painting painted on a wooden board is considered to be the first in the history of painting plot story of a secular nature, the first painting in the European sense of the word.
Some uncertainty is visible in it when depicting nudity, but the striving most important for Matveev’s creativity is also the desire to fill the drawing with internal content and high pictorial craftsmanship - a rich palette and light brushstroke. The goddess posing for the portrait, Matveyev gave the features of Catherine I.
Return to Russia
Studying at the academy was interrupted for Matveyev in the spring of 1727, after the death of the Russian Empress. He returns to Russia, where he now had neither patrons, nor friends. According to the established procedure, he was to be assigned to the painting department of the Chancellery of buildings, which was engaged in the implementation of a wide variety of court art orders. According to the same order established by Peter, all who arrived after studying in Europe had to pass the test, after which the level of skill they achieved was clear.
Matveyev’s opinion on professional suitability was given by the then-head of the picturesque team, Louis Caravac, a Frenchman who had settled in Russia since 1716. He was, as contemporaries testify, an outstanding artist, but he was able to paint portraits, striking similarities, which was an amazing phenomenon for Russian customers. Karavak praised Matveev’s mastery, noting that he was “more skilled in painting than in drawing.”
Portrait of the Golitsins
Despite this certification, Andrei Matveev, an artist of European studies, was enrolled in the Chancellery only a year later, and for now remained without a livelihood. His order for a pair full dress portrait of the princely couple of the Golitsins helped out.
Particularly expressive is the image created by Matveyev of Anastasia Petrovna Golitsyna. She was called the "drunk and stupid woman," but experienced a lot. A former cracker of Catherine, suffering bullying and humiliation from the courtiers, Golitsyna under Peter was deprived of all his fortune and expelled for participating in the plot of the tsar’s son Alexei. Only after the death of Peter and Catherine was she restored to her rights, her condition was restored. The artist managed to express complex and ambiguous feelings about the model, making the front portrait deeply psychological.
Most famous painting
After receiving a position in a picturesque team, the artist’s financial situation improved slightly. His personal life soon changed - he marries Irina Stepanovna Antropova, the cousin of the famous painter. With this event, it is customary to associate the appearance of the most famous painting by Matveyev. Many people know Andrei Matveevich by his self-portrait with his wife, written in 1729.
Much has been innovative here. This is one of the first self-portraits in the history of Russian painting, for the first time a Russian artist portrays himself with his wife. Of course, Matveev saw similar stories in Rembrandt and Rubens, but he fills his picture with a special feeling. The young wife was about 16 years old, and the master openly and carefully admires her freshness. The artist does not hide his happiness. Everything matches this mood: composition, drawing, light aerial painting, warm sonorous palette. This is a real masterpiece, a painting by a highly trained artist, but filled with a feeling of such power that was rare for European masters.
Head of the painting team
In 1730, the head of the painting department at the Chancellery of buildings for the first time became a Russian artist - Andrei Matveevich Matveev. Paintings for the decoration of ceremonial halls and private chambers, decorative painting of facades, interiors and furniture, icons for newly built cathedrals and churches - the volume and variety of works carried out under the supervision of Matveev are huge. The scale of the objects, the design of which was painted by his painting team, is changing dramatically: from the Peter and Paul Cathedral to the royal dovecote, from the Senate Hall of the Twelve Colleges (Peter's Hall of the University) to the painting of the royal carriages.
His department also became the prototype of the future Academy of Arts. Matveev’s great experience and human qualities (patience and attentive attitude to the young) helped him prepare new, skillful and responsible personnel for his team from the local, Russian environment.
Weak health was finally torn by hard work. In the spring of 1739 he died. Matveev’s material heritage, which has come down to us, is very small in volume. But it is enough to appreciate the outstanding contribution of the artist to domestic painting.