BOGOLYUBOV Aleksey Petrovich

March 16, 1824 (Pomeranie, Novgorod province) — October 27, 1896 (Paris)

Painter, graphic artist

Bogolyubov was born to a family of Colonel P. G. Bogolyubov, participant of the Great Patriotic War 1812; he also was a grandson of A. N. Radishev. Bogolyubov was educated at the Alexander Cadet Corps in Tsarskoe Selo (1832–1834), later — at Sea Cadet Corps in St. Petersburg (1835–1841). He graduated with the rank of warrant officer. He served in the Baltic Fleet. Bogolyubov repeatedly participated in voyages across the Baltic and North Seas, the Atlantic; he visited England, Holland, and Portugal. During service, the artist studied drawing on his own. In 1850 Bogolyubov entered the Imperial Academy of Arts as a noncredit student on the advice of the president of the Academy Maximilian Duke of Leuchtenberg, whom he accompanied during the voyage to the island of Madeira on the ship Kamchatka.

Bogolyubov attended classes of landscape and battle-scene painting of the Academy of Arts, where he studied under M. N. Vorobiev and under B. P. Villevalde. In 1852 he was awarded a small gold medal for paintings View of the Smolny Convent from Bolshaya Okhta, Battle of the brig “Mercury” with two Turkish ships, Departure of E. I. V. Duke of Leuchtenberg from Lisbon. In 1853 Bogolyubov was awarded big gold medal, was conferred title of the 1st degree class artist and was granted the right for pensioner trip abroad for the paintings St. Petersburg seacoast on summer night, View of Revel city from the island of Carlos, View of Revel city from Catherinethal, View of Revel city from the sea. At the same year he was appointed an artist to the Navy headquarters.

From 1854 till 1860 Bogolyubov lived abroad as pensioner of the Imperial Academy of Arts (in 1857 pensioner maintenance was extended). In 1854 he attended the studio of A. Calame in Geneva; in 1856–1858 he studied at the School of T. Couture and E. L. Isabey in Paris. In Dusseldorf Bogolyubov took lessons from the painter A. Achenbach. The artist visited Italy, Greece, Holland, and Turkey. In 1858 Bogolyubov was conferred the title of academician for paintings View of Constantinople from the cemetery Galata Saray; View of Marino di Vico, near Rome. Morning; View of the cape Nettuno, near Rome; Night; View from the Villa Doria Pamphili in Rome; View of the Chillon Castle at Lake Geneva. In 1860 Bogolyubov was conferred title of professor. In 1861–1865 he taught landscape painting at the Imperial Academy of Arts as a free professor. Among his students were F. F. Bogants, D. V. Velezhev, I. V. Volkovsky, P. P. Dzhogin, E. E. Duker, E. A. Oznobishin, and I. I. Shishkin. In 1868 Bogolyubov proposed to establish landscape class at the Academy. Since 1871 he was a member of the Board; in 1890–1893 — member of the Commission on new articles of the Imperial Academy of Arts; since 1893 — full member of the Academy.

On the instructions of Ministry of Navy, Bogolyubov worked on the atlases of the Caspian Sea shore (1861) and Gulf of Finland shore (1862, 1864). The artist was close to Imperial court; he gave painting lessons to the Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich and future Empress Maria Fedorovna. Bogolyubov often accompanied members of the royal family in journeys around Russia and Europe.

Since 1872 Bogolyubov lived in Rome and Paris, but he visited Russia every year. In 1870s many artists worked in Bogolyubov’s studio, which became a center of the colony of Russian artists: I. Y. Repin, V. D. Polenov, K. A. Savitsky, I. N. Kramskoy, V. M. Vasnetsov, A. K. Beggrov and others. In 1872–1874 Bogolyubov headed pensioners’ group of the Academy in Rome, Paris and Dusseldorf on the instructions of the Imperial Academy of Arts. In 1885 the artists proposed to set up Saratov State Art Museum named after A. N. Radishchev; he became lifelong guardian of the Museum. He was founder of Saratov Bogolyubov’s Painting School (opened after death of the artist in 1897). Since 1880 Bogolyubov became honorary citizen of Saratov, since 1899 — honorary member of Saratov Society of Fine Arts.

Bogolyubov worked as landscape and seascape painter. He painted scenes from the history of Russian Fleet. Bogolyubov worked in the technique of watercolor, drawing, lithography, and etching. He participated in academic exhibitions (1852–1874, with interruptions); exhibitions of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts (OPKh, 1862–1869, with interruptions; since 1864 — member of the Society); the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions (TPKhV, 1871–1896, with interruptions; since 1873 — member of the Society); exhibitions of Moscow Society of Art Lovers (1880–1894, with interruptions); the Society of Art Exhibitions (1881). Bogolyubov exposed his works at the international exhibitions in London (1862, 1872, 1874), Vienna (1873), Philadelphia (1876), Paris (1878). In 1860 he held a personal exhibition in St. Petersburg for benefit of artists’ widows and orphans. In 1871 Bogolyubov became one of the founders of the Society of Russian Acquaforte Engravers, in 1877 — the Society for mutual aid and charity for Russian artists in Paris. Since 1889 he was honorary member of the Society of Russian Watercolorists.

Bogolyubov was author of memoirs Notes of the sailor-artist (Russian antique, Novermber 1888). The artist was buried at the Tikhvin Cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St. Petersburg.

Retrospective exhibitions of the artist were held in Saratov (1940, 1946, 1974/1975, 1987), Volsk (1941), Moscow (1949, 1974/1975), and Khvalynsk (1949).

Bogolyubov was an outstanding landscape painter of the second half of the 19th century, representative of the academic school. Influence of the artist I. K. Ayvazovsky could be noticed in Bogolyubov’s early works (Golden Horn in Constantinople, 1864). Two almost independent directions existed in artworks of the artist. The first one was associated with traditions of documentary and historical sea battle-scene painting (The Battle of Grengam, 1866) and landscapes in the manner of academic romanticism (Neva outfall, 1872). The second direction was formation of realistic open air landscape in the European art of the second half of the 19th century (Forest in Vele. Normandy, 1871; In park, 1872; Auvers near Paris, 1881). Bogolyubov was close to the masters of the Barbizon School.

Works by Aleksey Bogolyubov are in many museum and private collections, including the State Russian Museum, the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Saratov State Art Museum named after A. N. Radishchev and others.