VERESHCHAGIN Vasily Petrovich

January 1, 1835 (Perm) — October 9, 1909 (St. Petersburg)

Painter, graphic artist

Vasily Vereshchagin was born to a family of the painter P. P. Vereshchagin, and was a brother of the painters P. P. and M. P. Vereshchagins. Firstly he studied drawing and painting under the guidance of his father and grandfather — icon painter I. V. Babin. At the same time he studied under A. U. Orlov; they painted the Transfiguration of Our Saviour Cathedral in Perm.

In 1856 Vereshchagin moved to St. Petersburg and entered the Imperial Academy of Arts (IAKh). He attended the class of historical painting of A. T. Markov. In 1860 the artist was awarded small gold medal for the painting Scenes of Olympic games. Wrestling. In 1861 Vereshchagin was awarded big gold medal, and was conferred the title of class artist and pensioner’s trip abroad for his painting Grand Duchess Sophia of Lithuania snatching the belt from hands of Grand Prince of Moscow Vasily Kosoy at the wedding of Vasily II Tyomny (Blind). From 1860 till 1903 the artist often took part in the exhibitions of the Academy.

In 1862 the artist with his brother M. P. Vereshchagin and K. F. Gun worked together on wall painting of the Pokrovsky Cathedral in Elabuga.  In the same year the artist joined Moscow Society of Art Lovers. In 1863 Vereshchagin travelled to Europe as a pensioner of the IAKh. He visited Berlin, Dresden, Vienna, Munich, and settled in Paris. In 1864 he moved to Rome.

After returning to St. Petersburg, Vereshchagin was granted pensioner’s scholarship of the Imperial Academy of Arts for five years. In 1868 the artist was awarded the prize of Rome Society of Art Lovers for his painting Prisoner meeting his family. A year later Vereshchagin was appointed to the rank of professor for the paintings Saint Grigory damning a died monk for breaking the vow of poverty and Night at Golgotha. In the meantime the artist was appointed the staff professor of the 2nd degree, in 1883 — staff professor of the 1st degree. Till 1894 he taught in the Imperial Academy of Arts.

In 1870 Vereshchagin made a trip to Rome.

In 1873 works by the painter were shown at the Russian department of the World exhibition in Vienna, he also took part in the World exhibitions in Paris (1878) and in Antwerp (1885).  In early 1870s Vereshchagin was engaged in design of the palace of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia in St. Petersburg, in particular he executed a series of paintings depicting Russian bylinas (heroic epic) and history.

In 1879 the artist painted a series of biblical compositions for the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.

Vereshchagin worked a lot in watercolor; since 1882 he always participated in the exhibitions of the Society of Russian Watercolorists (ORA). He was also engaged in lithography.

Memorial exhibitions of the artist were held in 1910 in the halls of the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg and in 1912 in the gallery Lemercier in Moscow. Retrospective exhibition of works by Vereshchagin was organized in 1935 in Perm State Art Gallery. In 1984 the joint exhibition of painting and drawing by V. P. and P. P. Vereshchagin was held in the same Gallery in Perm.

Vasily Vereshchagin is one of the leading masters of academic art of the second half of the 19th century. His works are characterized by graceful composition based on detailed drawing. The time when the artist’s career reached its peak was in 1860s, when he performed all his famous paintings. Vereshchagin continued pictorial traditions of K. P. Bryullov, F. A. Bruni and his teacher A. T. Markov. The artist wasn’t close to modern art trends of that time; the Itinerants had practically no influence on his manner of painting.

Works by Vasily Vereshchagin are in many museum and private collections, including the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Kiev Museum of Russian Art, and Perm State Art Gallery.