VASNETSOV Viktor Mikhailovich

May 3, 1848 (Lopyal village, Vyatka province) — July 23, 1926 (Moscow)

Painter, graphic artist, architect, master of applied arts, sculptor

Viktor Vasnetsov was born to a family of village priest, was an elder brother of the artist Apollinary Vasnetsov. He studied at Vyatka religious school, later at the Theological Seminary in Vyatka (not finished), where he took first lessons in drawing by N. A. Chernyshov.

In 1867 Vasnetsov moved to St. Peterburg, attended for some months the classes of I. N. Kramskoy at the Drawing school under the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts (OPKh). In 1868 he entered the Imperial Academy of Arts (IAKh), studied under the guidance of the artists P. V. Basin, V. P. Vereshchagin, S. M. Vorobiev and P. P. Chistyakov. In 1869 Vasnetsov was awarded small silver medals for the Two Male Nudes and a drawing from nature. A year later the artist was awarded big silver medal for sketch to the painting Christ and Pilatus. Vasnetsov graduated form the Academy in 1874. Since the same year he began to participate in the exhibitions of the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions (TPKhV), and became member of the Society in 1878.

In 1876–1877 the artist made a trip to Paris, in 1877 he showed his works at the Salon in Paris. After returning from France, he lived for some time in Vyatka and in St. Petersburg, in 1878 he moved to Moscow. Vasnetsov became good friends with S. I. Mamontov. Summers times in 1879–1880 the artist spent in the village of Akhtyrka, not far from Mamontov’s estate Abramtsevo near Moscow. In 1881–1885 he often worked in the Mamontov’s estate during summer months. Vasnetsov took part in the Abramtsevo art circle, in theatrical and literary soirees in the house of Mamontov. In 1881–1882 the artist designed the home performance The Snow Maiden after the play by A. N. Ostrovsky. In the same years Vasnetsov with V. D. Polenov performed the project of the Church of the Vernicle with chapel in Abramtsevo. The artist was engaged in construction and design of the Church, in particular he painted a series of icons for iconostasis, painted choir-places, created a sketch of mosaic floor. In 1883 the summerhouse Hut on Chicken Legs was built under the Vasnetsov’s design in the park of Abramtsevo. In 1883-1884 Vasnetsov worked on pictorial panel frieze The Stone Age by the order of the Russian State Historical Museum.

The artist became very popular due to his paintings. Vasnetsov’s works were in the largest private collections of Russian art of the second half of the 19th — beginning of the 20th centuries: collections of P. M. Tretyakov, K. T. Soldatenkov, I. S. Ostroukhov, S. A. Bakhrushin, S. I. Mamontov, I. E. Tsvetkov, M. P. Ryabushinsky, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia and many others.

Vasnetsov worked as a scene-designer for the Russian private opera of Mamontov; he created scene and costume designs for the performances The Snow Maiden by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, Rusalka by A. S. Dargomyzhsky, The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini (all — 1885), Scarlet Rose by N. S. Krotkov (1886), The Enchantress by P. I. Tchaikovsky. Since 1885 the artist worked in joinery and engraving workshop, since 1890 — in pottery in Abramtsevo; he was also one of the founders of the Museum of Folk Art. In 1890s–1900s Vasnetsov worked on the furniture designs for the Handicraft Museum of Moscow Province Zemstvo and for the workshops in Sergiev Posad.

In 1885 Vasnetsov made a trip to Italy, where he studied Byzantine mosaic and painting of Italian Renaissance; he visited Venice, Ravenna, Florence, Rome and Naples. From 1885 till 1891 the artist lived in Kiev, where he was engaged in wall painting of the St. Vladimir’s Cathedral; summer months he spent in Abramtsevo. In 1891 Vasnetsov returned to Moscow; till 1896 he made a trip to Kiev every year in order to finish works in the St. Vladimir’s Cathedral. In 1891 Vasnetsov with V. D. Polenov designed a chapel over the tomb of A. S. Mamontov.

In 1892 Vasnetsov was appointed to the rank of professor. In 1893–1894 he built a house with workshop for himself by his own design in Moscow. Vasnetsov was elected the honorary member of Reims Academy of Arts. In 1901 the artist executed sketches of mosaic for the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg, having begun to work on it in 1883. In 1896–1904 Vasnetsov drew sketches of iconostasis for the St. George Cathedral in Gus-Khrustalny, in 1899–1901 — sketches of mosaic for the Orthodox Church in Darmstadt, in 1901–1903 — sketches of exteriors at the Palace of the Facets in the Moscow Kremlin. In 1900–1901 Vasnetsov executed design of facade and sketch of majolica frieze for the Tretyakov Gallery; frieze was made in pottery Abramtsevo in Butyrki and was installed in 1903. In 1899-1903 Vasnetsov worked on a project of I. E. Tsvetkov’s house on Prechistenskaya quay and on sketches of majolica frieze for its design. In 1904–1913 the artist painted icons for iconostasis in the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia; in 1906–1911 — mosaic sketches for the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Warsaw.

In 1899 the first personal exhibition of the artist was held in St. Petersburg. Later several exhibitions of Vasnetsov’s works were organized in 1903 and in 1905 in St. Petersburg, in 1904, 1910, 1911–1912 — in Moscow.

In early 1900s Vasnetsov bought an estate in the village of Van’kovo in Dmitrov district, which he renamed Novoe Ryabovo and lived there during summer months. In 1900 the artist became a member of the Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, in 1902 — honorary member of the Stroganov School of Industrial Art, in 1903 — honorary member of Kiev society of art and antiquities, in 1908 — honorary member of the Russian Historical Museum. Viktor Vasnetsov with his brother Apollinary was one of the founders of the Museum of Art and History in Vyatka. After the revolution of 1917, Vasnetsov joined the art association Izograf.

In 1924–1925 works by the artist were exposed at the Travelling exhibition of the Russian art in USA and in Canada. In 1926 the last lifetime personal exhibition of the artist was held in the museum-estate Abramtsevo. In 1927 the memorial exhibition of Vasnetsov’s paintings and drawings was organized in the State Tretyakov Gallery. Retrospective exhibitions were held in 1948 and in 1990–1991 in the State Tretyakov Gallery, in 1980 — in the State Museum-Reserve “Abramtsevo”.

Viktor Vasnetsov is an outstanding representative of Russian art of the last third of the 19th — the beginning of the 20th centuries. During early period (late 1860s — the first half of 1870s) Vasnetsov’s works were close to the art by the Itinerants; he was under the influence of I. E. Repin’s art. Later the artist tried to find and develop national style in Russian art. He developed his own recognisable style based on Byzantine and Old Russian painting and architecture, folklore, the traditions of folk visual and applied arts, in particular ornament, native costume, wood carving etc. Vasnetsov’s easel paintings could be characterized by narrative and literary message, decorative colours, and academic traditions in composition. The artist’s works are based on realism style, art nouveau and historical painting, but it’s difficult to attribute his art or period of his art to any concrete style of painting.

Vasnetsov had a great influence on the art of many artists of the Abramtsevo circle, where he became one of the founders of New Russian style of painting. Meanwhile, Vasnetsov’s art was perceived as ambiguous and was sometimes subjected to criticism, evoking contentious debates in the art society.

Works by Viktor Vasnetsov are in many museum collections in Russia and abroad, including the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, the State Historical Museum, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum, Kiev Museum of Russian Art, the National Art Museum of the Belarus Republic in Minsk, the State Museum-Reserve “Abramtsevo” and others. The House-Museum of V. M. Vasnetsov was opened in Moscow.