VERESHCHAGIN Vasily Vasilievich

October 14, 1842 (Cherepovets) — March 31, 1904 (near Port Arthur)

Painter, graphic artist

Vereshchagin was born to a family of Russian landowner, marshal of the nobility. In 1850–1852 he studied at the Alexander cadet corps in Tsarskoe Selo, and then in 1853–1860 the artist entered the naval school at St. Petersburg. He graduated with the rank of a navy midshipman, but left the service in order to devote himself to the art.

Since 1853 Vereshchagin studied at the Drawing School under the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts (OPKh). In 1960 he entered the Imperial Academy of Arts (IAKh), where he studied historical painting under A.T. Markov, and then under A. E. Beideman. In 1861 he was awarded small silver medal for the sketch of the composition Beating the suitors of Penelope returning Ulysses.

In 1863 Vereshchagin left the Academy, but attended the lectures as a noncredit student till 1865. In 1863 with L. Lagorio’s assistance, he made a trip to the Caucasus. In 1864 Vereshchagin moved to Paris, where he studied under Jean-Léon Gérôme at the Academy of Fine Arts. He also followed A. Bid’s advices.

In the spring of 1865 Vereshchagin made a trip to the Caucasus; in 1866 he spent the summer at his parents’ estate in the village of Lyubets on Sheksna River.

In the winter of 1867 Vereshchagin returned to St. Petersburg. In the next year he accompanied General Kaufman’s expedition to Turkestan, where he took part in the defense of Samarkand. He was awarded the Cross of St. George 4th class for it. In 1868–1870 he made the second trip to Turkestan.

In early 1871 Vereshchagin settled in Munich, where he worked on paintings, based on sketches and drawings, brought from Turkestan. In 1873 he exposed them at the personal exhibition in London, and a year later — in St. Petersburg and in Moscow.

In 1874–1876 he travelled around India.

In 1874 Vereshchagin was conferred the title of the professor of the Imperial Academy of Arts (IAKh), but he publicly rejected it, being convinced of the harmfulness of all ranks and distinctions in art. Since 1876 he lived in Paris.

During the Russo–Turkish War of 1877–1878 Vereshchagin was with the Russian army; he was reckoned among the chief aides of the Commander in Chief of the Danube Army. He was present at the crossing of the Shipka Pass, at the Siege of Plevna, and at military operations in Adrianople. He was seriously wounded. In 1878–1880 Vereshchagin created the so-called Balkan series of paintings, which was presented at personal exhibitions in Paris (1879–1880), St. Petersburg (1880), Berlin, Hamburg, Dresden, Dusseldorf and Brussels (all — 1882).

In 1882–1883 Vereshchagin made the second trip to India, in 1883–1884 he travelled around Syria and Palestine. He made the Palestine (1883–1884) and Himalayan (1885–1886) series of paintings, based on his trips.

Vereshchagin held personal exhibitions in Vienna (1885), Budapest, Berlin, Frankfurt on the Main, Prague, Leipzig, Konigsberg (all — 1886), Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, London, Liverpool (all — 1888) and other European cities.

In 1888 Vereshchagin visited Yaroslavl, Rostov, Kostroma, Makariev, where he drew series of sketches depicting architectural monuments and a series of portraits of unremarkable Russian people.

In 1888–1891 Vereshchagin held personal exhibitions in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Boston.

In 1891 he moved to Moscow. In the summer of 1894 he travelled around the Northern Dvina, visited the Solovetsky monastery. In 1891–1900 he worked on the series 1812. In 1901 Vereshchagin had been to the Philippines, in 1901 — to Cuba and the USA, in 1903 — to Japan. In 1901 he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

In early 1904 after the beginning of the Russo–Japanese War, he was invited by Admiral S. Makarov to join him aboard Makarov’s flagship Petropavlovsk. Vereshchagin was tragically killed in the explosion of the Petropavlovsk near the Port Arthur. The memorial exhibition of Vereshchagin’s works was held in Moscow in 1904. Retrospective exhibitions of the master were held in 1935, 1989, 1002 in Moscow, in 1941, 1955 — in Kiev, in 1958 — in Leningrad, in 1962, 1964, 1992 — in Nikolayev and others cities.

Vereshchagin was the author of numerous literary and journalistic works.

Vasily Vereshchagin was one of the greatest masters of the Russian Art of the second half of the 19th century, prominent master of battle scene painting. The artist tried to solve not so artistic, but social problems. Being a participant of several campaigns, Vereshchagin spoke out against the cruelty of the war, depicting its horrors with the utmost naturalism and dispassion in his works. He organized his works in series, according to the principle of the photographic reporting.

Vereshchagin also created ethnographic works, based on his numerous trips to the Minor and Central Asia, and the Far East. His manner was characterized by the thoroughness of performing, attention to details that attaches the value of documentary evidence to many paintings and sketches of the artist.

Works by Vasily Vereshchagin are in many museum and private collections, including the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, the State Historical Museum, Kiev Museum of Russian Art, and the Nikolaevsky Art Museum named after V. V. Vereshchagin, and others.