Artist Mikhail Vrubel. Mikhail Vrubel: from the icon to the demon, the history of the new style

Mikhail Vrubel became interested in drawing as a child. At the insistence of his father, he was supposed to become a lawyer, but later left this field to enter the Academy of Arts. Mikhail Vrubel painted icons and frescoes, worked with mosaics and drew sketches of theatrical costumes, created scenery and huge paintings. He became the author of the "demonic cycle" - a series of works of paintings, illustrations and sculptures with the main character Demon.

"Real student" Mikhail Vrubel

Mikhail Vrubel was born on March 17, 1856 in Omsk. His father Alexander Vrubel served as a military lawyer. Mother was the daughter of the Astrakhan governor, famous cartographer and admiral Grigory Basargin.

Mikhail Vrubel. Self-portrait. 1904-1905. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Mikhail Vrubel. Anna Karenina's date with her son. 1878. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Mikhail Vrubel. Self-portrait. 1885. Kiev National Museum of Russian Art, Kyiv, Ukraine

In 1859, the mother of the future artist died of consumption. Four years later, Alexander Vrubel married again: his second wife was Elizaveta Wessel from St. Petersburg. The children developed a good relationship with their stepmother: she took up their upbringing, development and even health promotion: from birth, Mikhail Vrubel was weak and sickly, he even began to walk only at the age of three. As an adult, he ironically recalled "diets of raw meat and fish oils."

Engaged in children and relatives of Elizabeth Wessel. Her sister Alexandra taught them music, and her brother Nikolai, a teacher, tried out new techniques on children - educational games. By the age of ten, Mikhail Vrubel was fond of music, theatrical art and drawing.

However, at the insistence of his father, he entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. All expenses for accommodation and study were covered by Nikolai Wessel. In his student years, Vrubel was fond of philosophy and theater, created illustrations for literary works. One of the most famous works of that time is the graphic illustration "Anna Karenina's Appointment with her son", made in black ink on brown paper. Studying at the Faculty of Law did not particularly attract Vrubel: he studied for two years in his second year and could not defend his thesis, which is why he received a lower academic degree - a real student.

Icon painter and restorer

During his university years, the future artist worked as a tutor and tutor. So he got into the family of sugar refiners Papmeley: he became a tutor of their son, with whom he studied together.

“He [Vrubel] lived at the Papmelas like a native: in the winter he went with them to the opera, in the summer he moved with everyone to the dacha in Peterhof. The Papmels did not deny themselves anything, and everything with them was not like the strict and modest way in the family of Vrubel himself; the house was a full bowl, even in an overly literal sense.”

Alexander Ivanov, artist

Papmeli supported Mikhail Vrubel's passion for drawing. He was introduced to the students of the Academy of Arts, soon Vrubel began attending evening classes there and in 1880 entered the Academy. The future artist ended up in the studio of Pavel Chistyakov, and at the same time studied in the watercolor workshop of Ilya Repin. He studied the basics of drawing and painting, mastered watercolor and Chistyakov's special technique: to build volume on canvas, like an architect.

Mikhail Vrubel. Saint Cyril. Iconostasis. 1885. St. Cyril's Church, Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo: artchive.ru

Mikhail Vrubel. Saint Athanasius. Iconostasis. 1885. St. Cyril's Church, Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo: artchive.ru

Mikhail Vrubel. Virgin with Child. Iconostasis. 1885. St. Cyril's Church, Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo: artchive.ru

Mikhail Vrubel. Christ the Savior. Iconostasis. 1885. St. Cyril's Church, Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo: artchive.ru

In the autumn of 1883, Pavel Chistyakov recommended Vrubel to the art historian Adrian Prakhov - he was looking for an artist to restore the ancient St. Cyril's Church in Kyiv. After the end of the academic year, Vrubel moved to Kyiv. He created sketches for the restoration of old frescoes, painted the walls of the church himself, and even painted four icons.

In 1885, the artist left for Italy to get acquainted with Byzantine and late Roman painting. In Ravenna and Venice he studied medieval stained glass and mosaics in Italian churches. During the trip, Mikhail Vrubel worked a lot: he made sketches, painted watercolors, and in one night created a hundred-figure composition “Orpheus in Hell”.

In Venice, Vrubel met Dmitri Mendeleev, who was married to a student of Pavel Chistyakov. The scientist advised the artist to paint icons not on canvas, but on zinc plates in order to protect them from moisture. Over the next month and a half, Vrubel created three such icons - "St. Cyril", "St. Athanasius" and "Christ the Savior".

After returning from Italy, Vrubel briefly went to Odessa, and then again moved to Kyiv. He painted paintings to order, participated in the restoration of the Vladimir Cathedral, gave drawing lessons. At the same time, the first sketches related to his future legendary theme of the Demon appeared.

"Wonderful pathetic symphony" Vrubel

In 1889 Vrubel moved to Moscow. During these years, he, along with well-known artists - Ilya Repin, Ivan Aivazovsky, Ivan Shishkin - worked on illustrations for the Collected Works of Mikhail Lermontov. Among them were drawings for the poem "The Demon". And in parallel, the artist painted a large canvas “Seated Demon”. Later, the artist created a whole "demonic cycle", consisting of drawings, sculptures and paintings.

“... I am painting a Demon, that is, not exactly a monumental Demon, which I will write over time, but “demonic” - a half-naked, winged, young, sadly pensive figure sits, embracing his knees, against the background of a sunset and looks at a flowering meadow, with which branches are stretched out to her, bending under the flowers.

Mikhail Vrubel

During this period, a special style of the artist began to be developed: he painted canvases with filigree angular strokes, reminiscent of a mosaic.

Soon Vrubel moved from Moscow to Abramtsevo - the estate of Savva Mamontov. He became a member of the Abramtsevo circle, designed the fairy-tale operas of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. In the Mamontov estate, the artist headed a majolica workshop, created plaster sculptures and decorative panels to order, traveled to Italy several times - first with Mamontov himself, then with his son Sergei.

Mikhail Vrubel. The Swan Princess. 1900. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Mikhail Vrubel. Demon seated. 1890. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Mikhail Vrubel. Pan. 1899. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

In early 1896, Mikhail Vrubel met his future wife, opera singer Nadezhda Zabela. He made an offer almost on the same day, and Zabela agreed.

“During the break (I remember standing backstage) I was amazed and even somewhat shocked by the fact that some gentleman ran up to me and, kissing my hand, exclaimed: “A lovely voice!” T. S. Lyubatovich, who was standing here, hastened to introduce me: “Our artist Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel,” and said to me aside: “A very expansive person, but quite decent.”

Hope Zabela

By the time of his marriage, Vrubel had practically no money, and he began to create custom-made theatrical costumes and scenery. At the same time, the artist painted pictures on fabulous mythological subjects - "The Swan Princess", "Pan", "Bogatyr".

In search of greater spirituality, monumentality and plastic expressiveness of his works, Vrubel turns to the experience of classical art. However, it is far from stylization or imitation. In the characteristic manner of Vrubel, a painter and draftsman, the decorativeness and heightened expression of Byzantine and Old Russian art, the color richness of Venetian painting were creatively refracted. A sharp, breaking stroke, a juxtaposition of several plans in the image of an object, a division of the volume into many interconnected intersecting faces and planes, a wide mosaic stroke that molds a shape, the burning of colors reminiscent of stained glass and emotional color combinations become in Vrubel's work (Vrubel's style was finally formed in the early 1890s 1990s) by plastic means of expressing that disturbing and dramatic perception of the world, which largely determines the originality of his work.
In the work of Vrubel of the Kiev period, for the first time, the contradiction characteristic of Vrubel manifested itself between the dream of art, the transformation of the world, the embodiment of the high and beautiful in man in the majestic images of monumental art and bourgeois reality, which did not give Vrubel the opportunity to assert humanistic ideals by means of his art (the majestic monumental designs Vrubel were not implemented, he only made panels for bourgeois mansions).
Decorative searches are connected with Vrubel's craving for monumental art, which determine his work in the 1890s, when Vrubel, having moved to Moscow (at the end of 1889), entered the Abramtsevo art circle of patron S. I. Mamontov. During these years, Vrubel performed panels and easel works ("Venice", 1893, Russian Museum; "Spain", circa 1894 and "The Fortune Teller", 1895, both in the Tretyakov Gallery), participates in the design of performances (operas by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov "Sadko", 1897, "The Tsar's Bride", 1899, "The Tale of Tsar Saltan", 1900 - all in the Moscow Private Russian Opera by S. I. Mamontov), ​​creates sketches of architectural details and majolica sculpture for Abramtsevo ceramic workshop ("Egyptyanka", "Mizgir", "Kupava" - all 1899-1900, Tretyakov Gal.), acts as an architect (project of the facade of the house of S. I. Mamontov on Sadovo-Spasskaya street in Moscow, 1891) and master of applied arts.
In the same years, Vrubel worked on illustrations for the works of M. Yu. Lermontov ("Izmail Bay", watercolor, white, ink, sepia, Tretyakov Gal. and Literary Museum, Moscow, and "Hero of Our Time", watercolor, white , Tretyakov Gal., - all 1890-91).
The main theme of Vrubel's work in the Moscow period was the theme of the Demon. In The Demon (1890, Tretyakov Gal.) and illustrations for the poem of the same name by M. Yu. Lermontov (watercolor, whitewash, 1890-91, Tretyakov Gal., Russian Museum and other collections), Vrubel symbolically puts "eternal "questions of good and evil, puts forward his ideal of a peculiarly understood heroic personality, a rebel who does not accept the routine and injustice of reality, who tragically feels his loneliness.
The era of severe social contradictions and social discord, the rebellious moods of the pre-revolutionary era - all this had an impact on Vrubel's work on the theme of the Demon, which ended with The Demon Downcast (1902, Tretyakov Gallery).
The singularity of the broken forms of the "Defeated Demon" emphasizes his death, doom, and also reflects the artist's great inner tension, his feverish search for an image of a truly tragic force. Vrubel executed a number of portraits, distinguished by the philosophical depth of the image, the desire to emphasize the unusual in the model (portraits of S. I. Mamontov, 1897, K. D. Artsybushev, 1897, N. I. Zabela-Vrubel, 1898 - all in the Tretyakov Gallery .; portrait of a son, watercolor, whitewash, graphite pencil, 1902, Russian Museum).
In the 1900s Vrubel's work takes on the character of a tragic confession, the drama of the worldview and the expression of forms grow in it, and sometimes the features of a painful breakdown (since 1902 Vrubel suffered from a serious mental illness and went blind in 1906).
During these years, Vrubel's best works are graphic portraits, remarkable for their sharp insight of characteristics and constructive clarity of form construction (portrait of F. A. Usoltsev, pencil, 1904, private collection, Moscow; "After the concert. Portrait of N. I. Zabela-Vrubel", pastel, charcoal, 1905, portrait of V. Ya. Bryusov, charcoal, sanguine, chalk, 1906, both in the Tretyakov Gal.).
Human spirituality is also characteristic of Vrubel's relatively few landscape works ("Tree by the Fence", graphite pencil, 1903-04, Tretyakov Gal.), still lifes ("Still Life. Candlestick, decanter, glass", graphite pencil, Russian Museum, Leningrad).

I thought it was an interesting post.
Often biographies are accompanied by rare selections of works, and I have collected each mention in the text.
Something I could be wrong about.

VRUBEL Mikhail Alexandrovich (1856-1910)

Monumental painter, theater artist, sculptor, graphic artist, illustrator, representative of the romantic direction of Russian Art Nouveau, M.A. Vrubel was born on March 5 (17), 1856 in Omsk. His father, Alexander Mikhailovich, a former military officer, a participant in the Crimean War and hostilities in the Caucasus, was a military lawyer, the family often moved from city to city: Omsk, Astrakhan, St. Petersburg, Saratov, Odessa and again St. Petersburg, where Vrubel spent his childhood . The future artist did not have a native nest and memories associated with it. The artist's mother, Anna Grigorievna, nee Basargina, a relative of the famous Decembrist, gave birth to four children and died when little Misha was only three years old. After 4 years, his father remarried - to E.X. Wessel. She was a pianist, so the future artist became closely acquainted with classical music. Mikhail had a good relationship with his stepmother - she turned out to be kind and loving, the boy's childhood was happy.

His artistic abilities showed up very early. From the age of 5, he was enthusiastically engaged in a drawing school. Nine years old, he copied Michelangelo from memory. While living in St. Petersburg, in 1864 and 1868-1869, the father took the boy to classes at the school of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts. In 1870, the Vrubel family moved to Odessa, where in 1874 Mikhail graduated with a gold medal from the famous Richelieu Gymnasium, where he seriously studied literature, history, French, German, Latin, attended the drawing school of the Society of Fine Arts. His father considered it useful for general development, but he looked at the future of his son from the point of view of "positive views" - an indispensable condition for choosing a profession was "benefit to society." Therefore, after the next arrival of the family in St. Petersburg, M. Vrubel in 1874 entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. Studying as a lawyer, he was indifferent to jurisprudence, but did not give up his dream of becoming an artist - he read a lot, visited exhibitions, and studied in the evening classes at the Academy of Arts. It was during his university years, often visiting the Hermitage, having made acquaintances with artists, that he began to draw a lot himself and realized his real vocation.

In 1879, Vrubel graduated from the university with a gold medal, but never became a lawyer. By this time, the future artist had already firmly decided to devote himself to art. He served his military service with sin in half and already in 1880 entered the Academy of Arts, where he studied in the class of the famous teacher Pavel Chistyakov. At the Academy, Vrubel worked hard and seriously. “You can’t imagine,” he wrote to his sister in 1883, “to what extent I am immersed in art with all my being: no thought or desire extraneous to art fits in, does not take root. I was so busy with work that I almost entered Academy in the proverb. If you didn’t work, then you thought about work.” Own works of P.P. Chistyakov are few and little known. But as a teacher, he played a huge role. Becoming a student of Chistyakov, Vrubel trained his eye so much that he could distinguish "facets" not only in the structure of the human body or head, but also where it is almost imperceptible, for example, in crumpled fabric, a flower petal. You can see how he did this, on the example of "The Model in the Renaissance" (1883)

which testifies to the artist's ability to convey the variety of material forms and the richness of shades of color. Already at the Vrubel Academy, universal, philosophical topics begin to interest him, he is attracted by strong, rebellious, often tragic personalities. It is no coincidence that Vrubel's first painting is connected with Shakespeare's tragedy:
This is Hamlet and Ophelia

(1884, Russian Museum). Chistyakov discerned the extraordinary giftedness of the student and singled him out among others. Therefore, when Chistyakov was approached by his old friend Professor A.V. Prakhov with a request to recommend one of the capable students for the restoration of ancient frescoes in the church of the St. Cyril Monastery (XII century) near Kiev, Chistyakov without hesitation introduced Vrubel to him with the words: "I can not recommend anyone better, more talented to fulfill your order." In the spring of 1884, not having time to graduate from the Academy, Vrubel went to Kyiv, where he began his independent artistic life.

From 1884, for six years, M. Vrubel lived in Kyiv, where he worked on sketches for the murals of the St. Cyril's Church; studied Byzantine icon painting, made a number of monumental compositions on his own. But in the summer of 1884, the artist remained in a strange city without any means. I even had to go to tutors. They say that one summer day in 1884, having entered a Kiev restaurant, Vrubel could not pay for dinner, saying to the waiter: "I have no money, but if you please, offer this watercolor to the owner." The owner, without even looking at the drawing, raised a scandal. His daughter came out to the noise, picked up a "strange" picture. "I can't understand anything," she shrugged. - But... it's beautiful. Are you an artist? Okay, go. That dinner of 28-year-old Vrubel cost only two rubles. But with what joy they returned the watercolor to him when he brought the debt. Meanwhile, it was a study for the "Eastern Tale",which has adorned the Russian Museum for a hundred years.

In November 1884, Vrubel left work for a while for a trip to Venice, where he stayed until May 1885. There he studied the work of the masters of the 15th century, painted four icons for the iconostasis of the St. Cyril's Church ("St. Athanasius", "The Virgin and Child",

"The Descent of the Holy Spirit", etc.).
The best of these works is the icon "The Mother of God" (1885, State Museum of Russian Arts, Kyiv) - a tender and at the same time sad image of a mother, anticipating the tragic fate of her son. The prototype for the face of the Mother of God was the face of Emilia Lvovna Prakhova, the wife of Professor A.V. Prakhov, with whom Vrubel was secretly in love.

Returning to Kyiv, Vrubel rushed about. It was as if he could not find a place for himself - either he made a decision to leave Kyiv (and indeed he left for Odessa for several months), then he returned again. He was violently fond of some visiting dancer, drank a lot, lived unsettled, feverishly, and besides, he was severely poor, while relations with Prakhov became colder and more distant. There is no direct evidence of the artist's state of mind at that time, but it is obvious that he was going through more than just a financial crisis.

In the end, he continues the restoration work, and in 1887 he was entrusted with the execution of frescoes for the Vladimir Cathedral according to sketches made by him part of even earlier. In the same year he began to study sculpture and created wonderful works in this area. In Kyiv, Vrubel creates paintings "Oriental Tale"

as well as the first versions of the "Demon".

Vrubel painted several figures of angels, the head of Christ, the head of Moses and two independent compositions on the walls of the St. Cyril's Church -

"Descent of the Holy Spirit"

and "Lamentation".

In total, he completed work on updating 150 fragments of ancient frescoes and created four new compositions in place of the lost ones. In his works, he tried to modernize Byzantine aesthetics by introducing elements of a modern worldview into them, which could hardly be called traditionally religious. According to Nesterov, Vrubel "hovered in his visions, dreams, and these dreams, visiting him, did not remain his guests for a long time, giving way to new dreams, new images, unprecedented, unexpected, unexpected, beautiful visions of life and the fantasy of a wonderful artist "outsiders countries". Be that as it may, his icon-painting "daring" caused bewilderment. Vrubel put such philosophical depth into his sketches that he was accused of violating the canons of the church and in 1889 was suspended from work. Only after his death did the church admit that Vrubel's sketches of cathedral murals are as valuable as biblical studies Alexandra Ivanov. In the same days, expelled from the Vladimir Cathedral, reading Lermontov's lines, Vrubel feels the "spirit of exile" in himself. And he is taking to Moscow, towards fate, the image of the "Demon", which will become a symbol of his life.

The migration was sudden, almost accidental. In the autumn of 1889, Vrubel went to Kazan to visit his ill father and stopped in Moscow on the way back - just for a few days. But Moscow dragged him in and forever tore him away from Kyiv. Misunderstood in the provinces - in Odessa, Kyiv, Poltava - Mikhail Vrubel hoped that things would be different in Moscow. So it was at first. Brilliantly educated, always tastefully dressed, Vrubel was accepted everywhere. Through V. Serov, Vrubel met the famous philanthropist Savva Ivanovich Mamontov. In 1890, a year after Vrubel's arrival in Moscow, The Demon Seated will be written.

And only one person will immediately understand where this image came from. The artist Konstantin Korovin met Mikhail Vrubel back in his Ukrainian period, in an estate near Poltava, where he lived as a tutor in the summer. And he was fascinated by his thoroughbred face, thin strong hands, the way he holds himself, how he eats, how easily and deftly he rides ... And then, while swimming, noticing large white scars on Vrubel's chest, in response to his own question, heard: "I loved a woman and suffered greatly. And when I cut myself with a knife, the suffering decreased." Later he understood the main suffering of this man. "I'm an artist," Vrubel said, "but nobody needs me. Nobody understands what I'm doing, but... I want to!"

The central work, the quintessence of his work, was the trilogy "Demon" - sitting, flying and defeated.

In the famous painting "Seated Demon" (1890, State Tretyakov Gallery), Vrubel paints a "young, sadly pensive figure" among a fantastic lilac-terracotta landscape, crystalline, precious flowers. The purple sky in the picture is written in that mysterious color that was so loved in the "era of fading", as they called the end of the 19th century. The powerful beautiful body does not seem to fit in the frame, the hands are wrinkled, the face is touchingly beautiful, inhuman sorrow in the eyes. Vrubel's "Demon" is a combination of contradictions: beauty, grandeur, strength and at the same time stiffness, helplessness, melancholy; it is surrounded by a beautiful, but petrified, cold world.

In Moscow in 1891, Vrubel became close to a circle of artists and musicians who had gathered around Savva Mamontov, primarily with V.A. Serov, K.A. Korovin, V.D. Polenov. Vrubel lived in Mamontov's house and worked as a sculptor, designer, muralist, theater decorator, creating a huge number of works. Savva Mamontov gave Vrubel one of his best workshops at his full disposal. And a week later, shocked, he told Korovin: "Did you see what he writes? I have never seen anything like it. Horror takes!" The artist creates in his works a kind of fantasy world filled with unreal creatures. In 1890, he showed his "Seated Demon", conceived back in Kyiv. This picture has become a symbol of the coming era - the era of symbolism and religious reformation. Mamontov was horrified. Valentin Serov (who became Vrubel's friend over the years and won a place for his paintings in the Tretyakov Gallery), who looked into Vrubel's studio, frankly admitted: "I don't understand this." Finally, Tretyakov himself, hastening to the painter, who was talked about in all the salons, seeing his work, only shrugged. Everyone was struck and... repelled by the mystical coloring of his works: "Resurrection", "Tombstone", "Angel with a censer and a candle..." him a world suffering from human imperfection. “It was Vrubel himself, who aroused great envy with his brilliant talent,” K. Korovin recalled. “I don’t know another artist who would be so viciously persecuted during his lifetime.” "The Seated Demon" was presented to the Moscow artistic elite in January 1891 and met with cold silence. To which Vrubel said: Your denial gives me faith in myself!

In 1891, Vrubel was offered to make illustrations for the collected works of Lermontov, published under the editorship of Konchalovsky by Kushnerev's firm. Thus, he could return to the form of the Demon. For many years, Vrubel was attracted to him: the Demon was for him not an unambiguous allegory, but a whole world of complex experiences. Having finished the painting "The Demon Seated", he set about illustrations for Lermontov. In general, the Lermontov cycle, in particular the illustrations for "The Demon", can be considered the pinnacle of Vrubel's skill as a graphic artist. Since then, no one has tried to illustrate the "Demon": in our view it has grown too much together with Vrubel's Demon - we, perhaps, would not have accepted another. In addition to "The Demon", Vrubel made several illustrations for "A Hero of Our Time",

He saw and heard her in St. Petersburg, on the stage of the Panaevsky Theater, where the Moscow private opera organized by Mamontov gave performances. It is impossible to speak of Zabela simply as "Vrubel's wife", just as it is strange to read that Vrubel was simply called "the husband of the artist Zabela" in theater circles. Both husband and wife were each great artists in their field, and their marriage meant a commonwealth of people of art who understood and inspired each other. Vrubel was very musical and took the closest part in Zabela's work, she always listened to his advice. He invented all her costumes and makeup himself - after becoming his wife, Zabela never used the services of another theater artist. True, she could not take such a direct part in Vrubel's work on paintings, but her singing, her artistic individuality meant a lot to him, so that, in the end, she helped him even more than he helped her. In it, Vrubel found the image that he had long dreamed of and eluded him. Zabela became his muse: her portrait-fantasy, written in the year of marriage, and is called - "Muse".

The next five years (1896-1901) became for Vrubel the most fruitful in creative terms and prosperous in terms of everyday life.

In 1897, Vrubel wrote the Morning panel for Morozov,

"Noon"

And "Evening", creates paintings on the themes of Russian fairy tales, his best picturesque things ("Pan",

"Lilac",

portraits of S.I. Mamontov,

N.I. Zabela

and others. He is engaged in almost everything: painting, graphics, sculpture, monumental compositions, theatrical scenery, interior design, becoming that multifaceted figure, without which Russian culture at the turn of the century is inconceivable. Moreover, "everything that Vrubel did wasclassically good,” wrote the artist A. Golovin. During these years, Vrubel created almost all of his famous paintings. ", the Vienna Secession, etc. The main organizer of the "World of Art" was the energetic, enterprising S. Diaghilev, the soul and theorist - Alexander Benois; the core of the "World of Art" was the artists K. Somov, M. Dobuzhinsky, E. Lansere, L. Bakst , and later V. Serov. Levitan, Korovin, Nesterov, Ryabushkin and many others, including members of the Association of Traveling Exhibitions, took part in the exhibitions of the World of Art. And Vrubel began to exhibit for the first time. Until then, his works were acquired by private individuals, and "Exhibition of Russian and Finnish Artists", organized in St. Petersburg by S. Diaghilev in 1898, was in fact the first where some of Vrubel's works appeared on public display. The magazine "World of Art" began to publish reproductions of his works. Then they began to appear at Moscow exhibitions.

At the turn of the century, his fate seemed to smell like a thunderstorm. In 1899, Vrubel lost his father, whom he loved devotedly. In his behavior, acquaintances began to notice oddities: he grew up in his own opinion, not putting a penny on his former friends and associates. In the same year, Vrubel wrote The Flying Demon (1899, Russian Museum). The image is permeated with a premonition of death, doom. This is the last, desperate flight over the mountains. The demon almost touches the peaks with his body. The color of the picture is gloomy. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were few connoisseurs of Vrubel's art, and there were a lot of vilifications. One of the most difficult was the review of the most influential Russian critic V.V. Stasov. He irritably called his paintings ridiculous decadent rubbish, saying: "In his "Demons" Vrubel gives terrifying examples of impermissible and repulsive decadence." In such an atmosphere, in 1900, Vrubel began work on the long-planned "monumental Demon" - his most pathetic creation. In September 1901, a son was born to Vrubel, in honor of Mamontov he is called Savva. The child was born with a congenital defect - "cleft lip" - which made a painful impression on the artist. Around the same time, after a whole series of graphic, sculptural works dedicated to the Demon, the artist begins another painting, terrible in its doom, to which he attaches special importance. He calls him "Demon Downtrodden". The artist worked hard, 17 hours a day, sometimes all night long, worked hard and painfully. A. Benois recalled that the picture was already at the World of Art exhibition, and Vrubel still continued to rewrite the face of the Demon, changing color. The broken, deformed body of the Demon with broken wings is stretched out in the gorge, eyes burn with anger. The world plunges into dusk, the last ray flashes on the crown of the Demon, on the tops of the mountains. The rebellious spirit is overthrown, but not broken.

"Demon Defeated" was a mournful milestone in Vrubel's biography. The picture was still hanging at the exhibition when its author had to be placed in one of the Moscow psychiatric hospitals. In March 1902 V. Bekhterev discovered that he had an incurable disease (tapes of the spinal cord), which threatened insanity. The predictions of the great psychiatrist came true very soon. For six months, his condition was so severe that no one was allowed to see him, even his sister and wife. Then he began to get better, write quite sensible letters to relatives, tried to draw, but it was difficult for him - after the euphoric upsurge that accompanied the work on the "Demon", a long depression set in, the artist's condition was depressed all the time, he now considered himself which is unsuitable. So he was set when he left the hospital (in February 1903) and went on vacation to the Crimea. Nothing interested him, he did not like the Crimea, he could hardly work. In May 1903, the Vrubels reached Kyiv and stayed at a hotel. Suddenly, a child fell ill - little Savvochka, who was just starting to speak. Two days later he was gone.

Soon the artist began to have bouts of illness again. After the death of his son, Vrubel became an almost permanent resident of psychiatric clinics. He was taken first to Riga, then transferred to Serbsky's clinic in Moscow. He was sad, weak, helpless and physically completely exhausted, since he did not eat anything, wanting to starve himself to death. By the beginning of 1904, he was almost dying. Those who saw the history of his illness testify: everything was very scary. For some time, Mikhail Alexandrovich suffered from delirium, auditory hallucinations. An unknown voice whispered in his ear that he was a nonentity, not an artist, the grief of his loved ones. He considered himself a criminal worthy of punishment for writing both Christ and the Demon. The artist fell into delusions of grandeur, then into complete self-abasement. But the crisis passed, he was placed in the private hospital of Dr. F.A. Usoltsev near Moscow. It was there that his last resurrection took place. He began to eat and sleep, his thoughts cleared up, he began to draw a lot, with the same enthusiasm - and a few months later he left the hospital as a healthy man.

The most remarkable among the drawings made in the hospital are several portraits of Dr. Usoltsev and members of his family. The pencil portrait of Usoltsev, in terms of beauty and hardness of technique and psychological expressiveness, is at the level of the best works of Vrubel.

according to the idea associated with Pushkin's poem "The Prophet". A mighty angel in a sparkling iridescent plumage to a certain extent continues the theme of the Demon, but this image is notable for its integrity and harmony. He is either punishing, ready to punish the prophet for the gift wasted aimlessly, or as if able to give healing. Several beautiful things will still appear under Vrubel's brush, but all of them will be written, as it were, on the way to another world. And a portrait of a little son,

and graveyard scenes from Romeo and Juliet,

and "Six-winged Seraphim" appeared to Vrubel already losing his mind.

In 1905, Vrubel was elected an academician of painting. This was the last event perceived by his mind. In the spring of 1905, Vrubel again felt the symptoms of an approaching illness. Now, about to return to the clinic again, he, as his sister recalled, "says goodbye to what is especially close and dear to him." Before leaving, he invited friends of his youth to his place, as well as his old teacher Chistyakov; visited the exhibition of the "New Society of Artists", which he sympathized with; went, accompanied by his wife and Usoltsev, called from Moscow, to the Panaevsky Theater, where he first saw Zabela. The circle of life is closed. The next morning, Usoltsev took Vrubel to Moscow, to his "sanatorium". There Vrubel began to paint a portrait of V. Bryusov (1906, Russian Museum), but the disease inevitably worsened, in 1906 the artist went blind, the portrait remained unfinished. Vrubel tragically experiences a terrible blow, in a difficult hospital situation he dreams of the blue of the sky, of the colors of spring. Music was the only consolation.

He died in St. Petersburg on April 1 (14), 1910 in Dr. Bari's hospital for the mentally ill, died of pneumonia. Or was it suicide? It is known that he deliberately caught a cold, standing for a long time on frosty days under an open window. His last words were: "Stop lying, get ready, Nikolai, let's go to the Academy..."

Vrubel was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery. An inspirational speech at the funeral was delivered by A. Blok, calling the artist "a messenger of other worlds." A. Blok over Vrubel’s grave said: “He left us his Demons, as spellcasters against purple evil, against the night. Before Vrubel and his ilk reveal to humanity once a century, I can only tremble. Those worlds that they saw, We can not see". In 1913, his wife N.I. was buried nearby. Zabelu-Vrubel. In 1935-1936, it was planned to transfer Vrubel's grave to the museum necropolis of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, but this plan was not implemented. M.A. Vrubel was distinguished by a rare versatility of talent.

He is known as a master of monumental paintings, paintings, theatrical scenery, as a graphic artist, sculptor and even an architect. In whatever field the artist worked, he created first-class works. "Vrubel," writes Golovin, "expressed his thought perfectly. There is some sort of infallibility in everything he did." "What a disaster the whole life of this long-suffering man," I.E. Repin recalled, "and what are the pearls of his brilliant talent." The life and work of Mikhail Vrubel became a legend during his lifetime. The unusual fantasy of his works, imbued with either aching sadness, or gloomy grandeur, or rare tragedy, gave rise to many rumors and conjectures, which involuntarily surround the life of any outstanding person. After all, the worlds born of the artist's creative imagination have become a revelation of an era whose spiritual heritage has a significance that goes far beyond its time frame.

A large selection of paintings by M.A. Vrubel.

I was very struck by the painting "Pan". Before writing my feelings, I got acquainted with the life of the author, and the history of the character.

"Before the fact that Vrubel Mikhail Alexandrovich and his like reveal to humanity once a century - I can only tremble. We do not see those worlds that they saw ...". A.A. Block. From a speech at the funeral of M.A. Vrubel on April 16, 1910.

The tragic fate of Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel for many decades after his death casts a special light on the works of the artist, recognized as one of the greatest masters of Russian art. His paintings, watercolors, ceramics, decorative panels, sparkling with pure paint, like precious stones, attract the eye, make you think again and again about him. The connection between Vrubel's personality and the era in which he lived turned out to be more complex than that of many of his contemporaries. The artist had to capture the contradictions, struggles, tragedy and spiritual searches of his time in the symbolic images of his works. He passed them through his own soul - and the soul tore itself into an unbearable weight.

An outstanding painter of world renown was born in the city of Omsk in 1856. Vrubel was three years old when his mother passed away. To some extent, she was replaced by Anna Alexandrovna, his older sister, who became his close friend, played a significant role in her brother's life, took care of him and was the main support in recent years. The most confidential letters of M.A. are addressed to her. Vrubel.

The Vrubel family lived either in St. Petersburg or in the provinces - frequent moves were connected with the father's military career. Mikhail Vrubel began to draw at the age of five and periodically took drawing lessons. Already in his early youth, faced with a provincial philistine environment, indifferent to everything except cards and gossip, Mikhail Alexandrovich seeks refuge from vulgarity in art. Not yet feeling like an artist, he was already "on the side" of the bright creative world, where the great masters of the Renaissance reigned - Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci.

After graduating from the gymnasium, at the request of his father, he entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University, not feeling interested in this profession. Nevertheless, he graduated from the university and this became the basis of his deep education, which was noted by all who knew him and which was, in general, rare in the artistic environment of that era. Only at 24 Mikhail Vrubel finally determined his life and from the autumn of 1880 he studied at the Academy of Arts.

In search of his own creative path, classical art became a support for Vrubel. The young artist saw his task in developing his own manner and technique of writing. At the Academy, his interest in watercolor is born - a technique that is both subtle and powerful, capable of solving complex artistic problems. One of the best teachers of the Academy, Professor P.P. Chistyakov was the first to realize the unusual, powerful artistic gift of his student and guessed his desire for monumental forms of painting. In 1884, on his recommendation, Chistyakov, Vrubel went to Kyiv to take part in the restoration of the ancient St. Cyril's Church with frescoes of the 12th century and in the creation of murals in the Vladimir Cathedral. Several years of work in Kyiv became the time of artistic development Vrubel, determined his entire future fate.

This one of the most mysterious painters belongs to the type of creators of his time, whom S.P. Diaghilev called " beauty-hungry generation". Works written in 1886 in Kyiv - "", "", - speak of the artist's admiration for the beauty of the world.

In Vrubel's works, a huge decorative gift sounded with all its might - for him, any image of a person or object on canvas, paper was also a pattern, an ornament of forms. That is why Vrubel's passion for studies of precious fabrics was so great. The image of a bright carpet, on which works of the real world appear in luxurious patterns and colors, is the main essence and idea of ​​many of his picturesque panels and paintings. Along with fabrics, Vrubel is looking for the embodiment of a decorative form in flowers: in Kiev, he created magical watercolors depicting irises, orchids, azaleas, emphasized the living, as if continuing to bloom and blossom on a sheet of paper.

From the iconostasis of St. Cyril's Church, created in the Kievan period, Vrubel went to Venice to paint the icons. Here he was inspired by ancient monuments of art, frescoes and Byzantine mosaics, paintings by old masters - and the very vital life of the Italian city: people, streets, music, people, channels. From that moment on, she engendered in him the greatest and eternal love for Italy. Vrubel did not tire of remembering her even at the very end of his life, broken by a serious illness. The icons of the St. Cyril's Church, first of all "", carry a purely vrubel, a personal combination of images of Byzantine antiquity with dramatic thinking of the era at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries.

tragic eyes Our Lady(the prototype of which was portrait of a real woman - Z.L. Prahova) as a special sign of the soul will constantly appear in other Vrubel images. These eyes can be seen in the image Demon.

Appeal to the theme of the Demon happened here, in Kyiv, under the influence of Lermontov's poetry and A.G. Rubinstein, which made a great impression on Vrubel. The image of the Demon in the creative worldview of the artist has become a key one, containing the most diverse facets of his art. The artist argued that "the Demon is not understood - they are confused with the devil and the devil, ... and" Demon "means" soul "and personifies the eternal struggle of the restless human spirit, the ongoing reconciliation of the passions that overwhelmed him, the knowledge of life and not finding an answer to his doubts neither on earth nor in heaven." Here, the philosophical program of Vrubel's numerous works dedicated to the image of the Demon is contained in the words.

Having been refused participation in the painting of the Vladimir Cathedral, for Vrubel this was the first deep and serious blow. Sketches he created - "", " Angel with a censer and a candle"- the commissions seemed too uncanonical.

Their emotional intensity, drama and the very manner of Vrubel's painting were defiantly brightly individual. In 1889 the painter leaves Kyiv and comes to live in Moscow. In Moscow, he meets with an old friend V.A. Serov, presented by K.A. Korovin, settles in his workshop, needs, starves. In their memoirs, many, including K.A. Korovin, wrote about Vrubel's disinterestedness, the ability to be content with little and indifference to money. This manifested his desire to preserve his freedom, the freedom of an artist and a person, at all costs.

Korovin introduced Vrubel to S.I. Mamontov, who became his patron and friend.

In Moscow, in the house of Mamontov on Sadovo - Spasskaya Vrubel lived, worked on Demon (sitting)"(1890). After the Kiev "reclusion" the artist finds himself in a rather stormy Moscow artistic life. He works on scenery for theaters, on costumes in the Private Opera of S.I. Mamontov. He travels to Italy many times with Mamontov, lives and works in Abramtsevo "Here he is interested in ceramics, which became one of his significant creative manifestations. One of the first Moscow works, which clearly showed the difference between Vrubel's art and the usual artistic norms, was the anniversary edition of the works of M. Y. Lermontov (1891) illustrated by him. Decoratively exquisite and complex images poems" Daemon"were negatively rejected by an educated and aesthetically moral society. According to Korovin," everyone got angry".

In a new way, Vrubel realizes the modern type of decorative painting, moving from its monumental religious forms to decorative romantic panels - " Venice"(1893), "" (1894), triptychs for country houses by A.V. and S.T. Morozov.

But even on this path, he encounters misunderstanding. Especially difficult for Vrubel was the story of the creation of two large panels by order of Mamontov for the art department in Nizhny Novgorod of the All-Russian Exhibition of 1896. Sketches of Vrubel panels " Mikula Selyaninovich" And " Dream Princess"were not only rejected, but also ridiculed in the press. In response, Mamontov built a separate pavilion to show them. The panels, despite this dramatic episode, were forced to talk about Vrubel.

Like many people of this era, Vrubel enjoyed vivid aesthetic impressions in music. But he was also distinguished by a mysterious susceptibility to singing and music. His sister recalled how, as a child, he could stand "chained" to the piano for hours, enjoying the game. Many themes of his works were born under the influence of music, Vrubel's marriage is also connected with it.

At one of the operettas, he was so impressed by the voice of Nadezhda Ivanovna, an artist from the Private Opera, that he fell in love with him, not seeing her at all on the darkened stage. Subsequently, in 1896, the opera actress became the artist's wife and his favorite model. " Other singers sing like birds, but Nadia sings like a person", Vrubel said about his wife's voice.

For him, she was also the embodiment of the musical images of his beloved composer and friend - N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, in whose operas she was often the first female performer. In the role of Princess Volkhova in the opera "" the artist's wife is depicted in a watercolor of 1898. Vrubel listened to his wife in this opera about 90 times.

Several times he was able to enjoy the playing of the orchestra, especially SEA and he didn't get bored, which surprised his wife. Each time the artist found new delights and saw fantastic tones.

Many magnificent theatrical scenery, graphic sheets, sculptural works were created under the influence of musical images. Among them is a series of majolica sculptures on the themes of the operas "" and " Snow Maiden". The fabulous appearance of Spring, Kupava, Lel, Sadko, playing the harp, Tsar Berendey, is embodied in the current forms of ceramics, covered with sparkling glazes.

Thanks to Rimsky-Korsakov, Vrubel begins to feel the national note in art especially subtly. The images of Russian folklore become an important poetic theme of his work - the panel "" (1898), "" (1900) appears.

Symbolism - the artistic direction of the early 20th century - is reflected in many of the artist's paintings. "", "", "" are not landscapes, although the artist captured images of natural scenes. The images of these creations are symbols of the mysterious, enigmatic nature hidden from human life.

Symbolic meaning in Vrubel's painting is endowed with female images. Whether it is a vaguely distinguishable image of a "fairy" of lilacs, fabulous princesses or portraits of his wife, the poetic brush of the artist makes them images of eternal, sublime, romantic beauty.

Symbolic pictures led to the ultimate Demon - " Demon defeated"(1902), the most incomprehensible for the viewer of those years.

Vrubel wrote it feverishly, rewriting it many times, continuing to work even at the exhibition and in the house of the new owner of the painting. He seemed to want to convey something important, final, anticipating his fate. The feeling of catastrophe, the collapse of life, immeasurable suffering and death permeated the audience in front of this picture. It was from the spring of 1902 that the long and gloomy years of mental illness began. The artist was strongly affected by the refusal of the Tretyakov Gallery to acquire " Downtrodden Demon"(The painting was acquired by V.V. von Meck, and only after Vrubel's death did it enter the gallery). Vrubel felt the "Demon" as a result, as deeply suffered knowledge and was offended by misunderstanding.

1903 was a tragic year for the artist. His little son Savva died, which led to a strong impetus to the development of the disease.

This tragic moment in time, the artist spends most of his life in clinics. At rare intervals, he returns to work - he paints a portrait, graphic still lifes, one of his most beautiful masterpieces - pastel " Pearl

In the process of creating work on it, the artist lost his sight. The last few years have passed in darkness. During the terrible and sad illness of N.I. Zabela - Vrubel sang him old arias and new ones, just prepared. According to her - " here he sometimes forgot for a moment about his misfortune". F.A. Usoltsev, the artist's psychiatrist, who carefully and carefully treated Vrubel, stated in his memoirs, which were written immediately after the death of the artist, that "his work is not only quite normal, but so powerful and durable that even a terrible illness couldn't destroy it."

One of the hardest lessons of life for Vrubel was a collision with moral and emotional deafness, with philistine views on art. He was not understood. Worse, they didn't want to understand him. " It is better to fight arbitrariness than herd stupidity", he once wrote bitterly. Korovin, deeply worried about a friend, wrote that "the whole life of an artist, a man with a brave and tender soul" was surrounded by "a sour swamp of petty, vile and vile laughter."

Paper, watercolor, whitewash, bronze, pencil.

We are publishing the story of the brilliant Mikhail Vrubel, who was faithful to creativity until the end of his life.

"Demon defeated", 1901-1902

1901 was marked by a major family event - Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel and his wife Nadezhda Ivanovna had a son. The couple was preparing for this event very cheerfully, it seemed to them that the birth of a child would not interfere with their elegant and secular life, they fantasized about how they would go abroad with the child to exhibit "Demon".

"Seated Demon", 1890 (before illness)

The spouses were in for a terrible disappointment - the boy was born with a split upper lip, this deeply struck Mikhail Vrubel. From that moment on, his relatives and friends began to notice that something was wrong with the artist.

Mikhail Vrubel with his wife, Nadezhda Ivanovna Zabela-Vrubel, 1892 (before illness)

Vrubel paints a portrait of his son, who was named Savva, and gives his appearance that expression of extreme anxiety, which he himself probably experiences.

"Portrait of the artist's son", 1902 (beginning of illness, but before the first hospitalization)

At the beginning of 1902, the painting "Demon Defeated" was shown to the public at the exhibition "World of Art" in St. Petersburg. Here is what Vrubel’s wife’s sister, Ekaterina Ivanovna Ge, recalls about that exhibition: “Mikhail Alexandrovich, despite the fact that the picture was already on display, rewrote it every day from early morning, and I was horrified to see the change every day. There were days when the “Demon” was very scary, and then deep sadness and new beauty again appeared in the expression of the Demon’s face ... In general, despite the illness, the ability to create did not leave Vrubel, it even seemed to grow, but to live with him already became unbearable."

"Demon Defeated", 1901-1902 (started before illness, rewrote many times)

In March 1902, the artist was first placed in a private psychiatric hospital. The picture of the disease was dominated by ideas of one's own greatness, a period of such strong excitement set in that meetings were interrupted for six months even with the closest people - his wife and sister.

"Pan", 1899 (before illness)

In September of the same year, Vrubel was transported to the clinic of the psychiatrist Serbsky, in one coat and hat, even without underwear, as they said that he had destroyed all his belongings.

"The Swan Princess", 1900 (before illness)

In this hospital, things went much better, he wrote perfectly logical letters to his relatives, and on the advice of the doctor he began to paint again.

"Lilac", 1900 (before illness)

On February 18, 1903, Mikhail Vrubel left the clinic, but he was very sad, and by April he had completely “fallen apart”: he often cried, yearned, said that he was good for nothing, could not work at all, although he was offered various orders. On May 3, 1903, a misfortune happened - Savvochka, the only child of the Vrubels, died. In the face of this grief, Mikhail Alexandrovich behaved very courageously, personally took care of organizing the funeral, tried to support his wife, who was in despair.

"Portrait of N. I. Zabela-Vrubel", 1904 (during illness)

After the funeral of their son, the Vrubels left for their estate near Kiev, where the artist became very nervous, demanding that he be taken to the hospital as soon as possible. Someone advised to send Vrubel to one of the psychiatric clinics in Riga.

One of the versions of the work "Pearl", written in pastel, approximately 1904 (during illness)

This time the disease was of a completely different nature: there was no trace of megalomania, on the contrary, it was replaced by complete oppression. Vrubel was dull and sad, considered himself a nonentity and wanted to lose his life.

"Self-portrait with a shell", 1905 (during illness)

In autumn, the artist's sister moved him from Riga to Moscow. In a Moscow clinic, he began to draw very successful portraits of patients, but his thoughts were confused, it seemed to Vrubel that both his wife and sister were also patients in a psychiatric hospital.

Water Lilies, 1890 (before illness)

The drawings made in the clinic were presented at an exhibition of Moscow artists, they did not show even a shadow of the disease.

"Hamlet and Ophelia", 1884 (before illness)

During this period, Vrubel painted the painting “Six-winged Seraphim”, depicting an angel with a burning lamp, a very beautiful thing, made with burning and bright colors.

"Six-winged Seraphim (Azrael)", 1904 (during illness)

By the spring of 1904, the artist was so ill that doctors and relatives thought that he would not live to see the summer, they wanted to take him abroad, but then abandoned these plans. Moscow clinics were closed for the summer, so the psychiatrist Serbsky advised Vrubel to be placed in the psychiatrist Usoltsev's hospital, recently opened in the vicinity of Moscow. The patients in this hospital lived with the doctor's family and enjoyed great freedom.

"Portrait of Dr. F. A. Usoltsev", 1904 (during illness)

Moving to Usoltsev’s clinic brought amazing benefits: Vrubel began to eat (before that he denied himself food, considering himself unworthy of food), his thoughts cleared up, he drew, wrote letters to relatives and friends, and two months later he recovered so much that he returned home.

The fence of a psychiatric hospital, on this site was Usoltsev's clinic.

After the artist was discharged from the hospital, the Vrubels moved to St. Petersburg, where Mikhail Aleksandrovich led the life of an absolutely healthy person: he rented an apartment, installed electricity in it and worked very hard.

"Morning", 1897 (before illness)

During this period, Vrubel began to paint his amazing "Pearl", which is now in the collection of the Moscow Tretyakov Gallery.

"Pearl", 1904 (during illness)

By the beginning of 1905, Vrubel's wife began to notice a strong excitement in Vrubel, he became intractable, irritable, and spent exorbitant money on completely unnecessary things. The artist's wife had to "discharge" psychiatrist Usoltsev from Moscow, who took Vrubel to his Moscow hospital.

"After the concert" (Portrait of the artist's wife), 1905 (during illness)

Usoltsev had a calming effect on the patient. Once in the clinic, Vrubel began to sleep, and insomnia has always been one of the dangerous symptoms of his illness. Relatives hoped that this time the illness would not be long, alas, but they were mistaken - excitement once again gave way to oppression. Despite his illness, Vrubel did not stop working: he painted a portrait of the entire Usoltsev family, many patients and the poet Bryusov, who visited the artist.

"Portrait of the poet V. Ya. Bryusov", 1906 (during illness)

Bryusov left very interesting memories of his first meeting with Mikhail Vrubel, which took place at Usoltsev's clinic: “To tell the truth, I was horrified when I saw Vrubel. It was a frail, sick man, in a dirty, wrinkled shirt. He had a reddish face; eyes like a bird of prey; sticking out hair instead of a beard. First impression: crazy! After the usual greetings, he asked me: “Is it you I should write?” And he began to examine me in a special way, in an artistic way, intently, almost penetratingly. Immediately his expression changed. Genius peeked through the madness."

Photo of the poet Bryusov.

When Vrubel painted Bryusov, those around him began to notice that something strange was happening to his eyes, the artist had to come very close to see the model. A new suffering was approaching at a terrifying speed, after finishing the portrait of Bryusov, Vrubel hardly saw his work.

"Fortuneteller", 1894-1895 (before illness)

Mikhail Vrubel understood the horror of his situation: the artist, whose world was fabulously beautiful, is now almost blind ... He began to refuse food, saying that if he starves for 10 years, he will see clearly, and his drawing will be unusually good.

"Six-winged Seraphim", 1905 (before illness)

The unfortunate artist was now embarrassed by his acquaintances, he said: “Why should they come, I don’t see them.”

"Valkyrie (Portrait of Princess Tenisheva)", 1899 (before illness)

The outside world came into contact with Mikhail Vrubel less and less. Despite all the efforts of his sister and wife, who regularly visited the artist, he plunged into the world of his own dreams: he told something like fairy tales that he would have emerald eyes, that he created all his works during the Ancient World or the Renaissance.

"Hansel and Gretel", 1896 (before illness)

For the last year of his life, the artist more and more insistently refused meat, saying that he did not want to eat "slaughter", so they began to serve him a vegetarian table. Forces gradually left Vrubel, sometimes he said that he was "tired of living."

"Seraphim", 1904-1905 (during illness)

Sitting in the garden in his last summer, he once said: "The sparrows chirp to me - a little alive, a little alive." The general appearance of the patient became, as it were, more refined, more spiritual. Vrubel went to the end with complete calm. When he developed pneumonia, which then turned into transient consumption, he took it calmly. On his last conscious day, before the agony, Vrubel especially carefully put himself in order, passionately kissed the hands of his wife and sister, and no longer spoke.

Photo by M. A. Vrubel, 1897 (before illness)

Only at night, having briefly come to his senses, the artist said, referring to the person who looked after him: "Nikolai, it's enough for me to lie here - let's go to the Academy." There was some sort of prophetic premonition in these words: a day later, Vrubel was solemnly brought in a coffin to the Academy of Arts - his alma mater.

"Bed" (from the cycle "Insomnia"), 1903-1904 (during illness)

I would like to end the story with the words of the psychiatrist Usoltsev, who, like no one else, appreciated Mikhail Vrubel, understanding the complexity of his brilliant personality: “Often I heard that Vrubel's work is a sick work. I studied Vrubel for a long time and carefully, and I believe that his work is not only quite normal, but so powerful and durable that even a terrible illness could not destroy it. Creativity was at the core, in the very essence of his mental personality, and, having reached the end, the disease destroyed him himself ... He died seriously ill, but as an artist he was healthy, and deeply healthy.

"Rose in a glass", 1904 (during illness)