Chernyshev Alexei Filippovich

1824 (some sources - 1827; Orenburg) - May 7, 1863 (St. Petersburg)

Painter, graphic artist

From "Soldiers' Children", the artist's father served as a clerk in the Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, then with the engineering management in Orenburg. Educated in the godmother's house, where they often visited Governor-General VA Perovsky interested in their abilities. Initial artistic skills has led Orenburg iconographer A. streams later - his cousin, self-taught artist, AI Chernyshev. In October of 1840 was expelled from the military department for education "according to his abilities».

In December 1841 Perovsky sent to St. Petersburg and enrolled in the IAH volnoprihodyaschim student. Engaged in landscape class in MN Vorobyov. He received a pension from the Society for the Promotion of Artists. Through graph IA Tolstoy became acquainted with the art lover and collector AR Tomilov, the summer months he lived and worked in his estate Uspenskoe. In 1845 he traveled to Nizhny Novgorod, in 1848 - to Vyborg for "removal of species from nature. In 1848, received a small silver medal in 1849 - a large silver medal for the program of "domestic scene of a simple life in Finland" ( "Inside chuhonskoy house") in 1850 - a small gold medal for the painting "Farewell to an officer who is leaving with his family" ( "Check"). In 1851 for the painting "The father blesses his daughter in marriage in the presence of native was awarded a large gold medal and was awarded the title of class artist" for painting domestic scenes ».

been well received in many wealthy aristocratic families, did many portraits and genre sketches in Gatchina and Tsarskoe Selo. In the 1840's - early 1850's made several albums depicting scenes from the life of the imperial family and court environments. In March 1849 was appointed to serve in the Cabinet of His Imperial Majesty with the title of the court draftsman.

In 1853 the means of Society for the Promotion of artists sent to Italy for six years. Along the way, visited Germany and France, in April 1854 arrived in Rome. He painted views from nature in the vicinity of Rome, worked in Naples and Sorrento. Created paintings "praying before the Madonna pifferari", "Return of the Italian family with work, sketches for the painting" Dance of the Tarantella in one of the coastal vineyards. In connection with the eye disease not worked for two years, traveled to Germany for treatment, spent some time in Paris. In February 1858, together with AP Bogolyubov and LF Lagorio undertook a trip to the East, visited Constantinople. In 1859, received permission for the extension of the pension for one year to complete the job. In 1860, over represented in the Council IAH picture "of the Italian attack on the stagecoach robbers" and "Channel fishermen" was awarded the title of academician.

In 1861 (1862) returned to St. Petersburg. In February 1863 seriously ill and died suddenly at the St. Petersburg hospital for the mentally ill Stein.

Chernyshev - one of the greatest masters of genre painting in Russia in the mid XIX century, the representative of academic art. "A true talent and a cute, humorous, observant and true feelings" - so spoke of him art critic Stasov. In his work has been influenced by GP Fedotov, which affected primarily in the method of disclosure themes - the life of the capital's bureaucracy, the urban poor, the petty provincial nobility. Proximity to Fedotov felt not only in direct some similarities with the characters Fedotovsky types of pictures, but in the sense Chernyshev genre paintings as artistic organism - in the construction, methods of deployment of the plot by dividing the actors into separate groups, each with its content reveals a of the parties to the plot plan and at the same time an organic part of the overall composition. Recall Fedotov and drawings Chernysheva. However, unlike in the pictures Fedotova Chernysheva dominates benevolent mood, moralizing on the themes of family virtues, or passive sympathy for the disadvantaged.

artistic heritage of the artist is relatively small; works are in many museum collections, including the State Tretyakov Gallery, State Russian Museum, Pushkin Museum im. Pushkin and others.