Essay based on the painting by K.E. Makovsky “Boyar wedding feast of the 17th century”
Konstantin Egorovich Makovsky
Boyar wedding feast in the 17th century. 1883
Oil on canvas. 236x400 cm
Hillwood Museum, Washington
Painting "Boyar wedding feast in the 17th century"
Painting "Boyar wedding feast in the 17th century", one of the best masterpieces Makovsky, enjoyed dizzying success in 1883 at World's Fair in Antwerp and was awarded the most high award- Big gold medal. The artist himself was awarded the Order of King Leopold. While working on this painting, the artist’s wife Yulia Pavlovna (the bride’s face), her sister Ekaterina and eldest son Sergei posed for the artist.
Painting "Boyar wedding feast in the 17th century", fragment The best beauties vied with each other to pose for me. I earned enormous amounts of money and lived in royal luxury. “I managed to paint a countless number of paintings,” Makovsky himself wrote. “I didn’t bury my God-given talent in the ground, but I didn’t use it to the extent that I could have. I loved life too much, and this prevented me from completely devoting myself to art.
K. Makovsky. Russian beauty in kokoshnik 
K. Makovsky. Birth of Venus Russian artist Konstantin Makovsky asked Pavel Tretyakov for "Boyar wedding feast in the 17th century" 20 thousand rubles. An unimaginable price for those times! Tretyakov refused, which did not upset the artist at all. Unlike many of his contemporaries, for him the light did not converge on Tretyakov. And he successfully sold “The Boyar Feast” to the American jeweler Schumann for 60 thousand. Moreover, the buyer was completely delighted, immediately ordered another canvas - “The Choice of a Bride by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich” (1887) - and launched the production of postcards with reproductions of “The Feast”.
“The choice of a bride by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich” (1887) “The Boyar Feast” was first presented in the house of Konstantin Makovsky in the form of a so-called “living picture”. This kind of fun was extremely popular at that time. high society. The participants were divided into teams, and each showed something painting, which the opponents had to guess. It was especially interesting to play this in the house of Konstantin and Yulia Makovsky: there was something, and there was enough surroundings for such things, and the warm, comfortable atmosphere attracted many people to their living room. interesting people. Visiting the Makovskys became in some way a matter of prestige and at the same time remained a very pleasant pastime. Moreover, for Konstantin Makovsky, “living pictures” were not only fun, but also a method creative tool. He often swapped the elements of the game, and first composed a picture in his imagination, then recreated it with the guests, this production was photographed, then Makovsky painted a picture based on the photograph. This is exactly what happened with the “Boyarsky Feast”. With this large canvas, the stage of Makovsky’s famous “boyar paintings” began, which were most often preceded by the creation of “living paintings”
K. MAKOVSKY. RUSSIAN BEAUTY Experts note high degree historical authenticity in Makovsky’s depiction of clothing, decoration, accessories, and furnishings in general. Before us - wedding ceremony V Russia XVII century. The artist's wife Julia acted as the bride; he himself is shown as the groom. Their son Seryozha is sitting at the table next to him. Richly decorated palaces are filled with luxurious chests, precious cups, and luxurious dishes. We are shown one of key points wedding feast, which concludes the celebration: the introduction of the traditional Swan dish. And in front of the young couple there is fried chicken on a plate. The fact is that, according to tradition, newly-made spouses were not supposed to eat at the wedding. And only at the end of the meal they were sent to the bedroom, handed this very chicken to strengthen their strength. Judging by the girl’s embarrassed face and the laughing guests, the young people are being given “advice” about behavior in the bedroom.
Artist K. Makovsky Finally, that peculiar phenomenon, which can be called the “phenomenon of Konstantin Makovsky,” was formed only in the 80s, when the artist moved away from the Peredvizhniki and began to organize personal exhibitions of their works. In 1883, he thus showed the painting “Boyar Wedding Feast in the 17th Century,” which was soon bought to America. This work is rather interesting from an ethnographic point of view: the artist carefully describes the costumes of the characters, accessories, and details of the everyday environment.
Foreign collectors willingly bought exotic “boyar genres”, so most of the artist’s similar works left Russia.
Painting "Boyar wedding feast in the 17th century" Konstantin Egorovich Makovsky
Boyar wedding feast in the 17th century
1883, 236?400 cm. Oil, Canvas
Description of the artwork “Boyar wedding feast in the 17th century”
Russian artist Konstantin Makovsky asked Pavel Tretyakov for 20 thousand rubles for “Boyar wedding feast in the 17th century.” An unimaginable price for those times! Tretyakov refused, which did not upset the artist at all. Unlike many of his contemporaries, for him the light did not converge on Tretyakov. And he successfully sold “The Boyar Feast” to the American jeweler Schumann for 60 thousand. Moreover, the buyer was completely delighted, immediately ordered another canvas - “The Choice of a Bride by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich” (1887) - and launched the production of postcards with reproductions of “The Feast”.
“The Boyar Feast” was first presented in the house of Konstantin Makovsky in the form of a so-called “living picture”. Such fun was extremely popular at that time in high society. The participants were divided into teams, and each showed a certain painting that the opponents had to guess. It was especially interesting to play this in the house of Konstantin and Yulia Makovsky: there was something, and there was enough surroundings for such things, and the warm, comfortable atmosphere attracted many interesting people to their living room. Visiting the Makovskys became in some way a matter of prestige and at the same time remained a very pleasant pastime. Moreover, for Konstantin Makovsky, “living pictures” were not only fun, but also a method, a creative tool. He often swapped the elements of the game, and first composed a picture in his imagination, then recreated it with the guests, this production was photographed, then Makovsky painted a picture based on the photograph. This is exactly what happened with the “Boyarsky Feast”. With this large canvas, the stage of Makovsky’s famous “boyar paintings” began, which were most often preceded by the creation of “living paintings” (1, 2, 3).
Experts note a high degree of historical authenticity in Makovsky’s depiction of clothing, decoration, accessories, and furnishings in general. Before us is a wedding ceremony in Russia of the 17th century. The artist’s wife, Julia, acted as the bride; he himself is shown as the groom. Their son Seryozha is sitting at the table next to him. Richly decorated palaces are filled with luxurious chests, precious cups, and luxurious dishes. We are shown one of the key moments of the wedding feast, which concludes the celebration: the introduction of the traditional Swan dish. And in front of the young couple there is fried chicken on a plate. The fact is that, according to tradition, newly-made spouses were not supposed to eat at the wedding. And only at the end of the meal they were sent to the bedroom, handed this same chicken to strengthen their strength. Judging by the girl’s embarrassed face and the laughing guests, the young people are being given “advice” about behavior in the bedroom.
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About the picture:
Being a passionate collector of rare items different cultures And historical eras, the painter often used them to create the desired interior in his works. Using the same method, a “living picture,” this wonderful work was created, embodying a boyar wedding feast.
To faithfully recreate the surroundings, the author used his collection of antiques, and also visited many collectors and invited aristocrats as extras. The construction of the composition was preceded musical evenings, changing clothes, and then Makovsky “assembled” his silent actors into the scene in detail and explained to everyone what they should portray. A truly innovative method of that time!
This work was created specifically for exhibition in Europe. Makovsky was looking for recognition abroad, and it was no coincidence that he chose the subject - Europeans were very interested in the original Russian history at that time, so the work, which so reliably and colorfully described a scene from the life of the 17th century, was well received. However, success only strengthened the split between Makovsky and many of his artist friends, especially the Wanderers, who saw, first of all, social role art and believed that it was not right for a Russian artist to seek fame from a foreign audience.
First of all, the luxurious outfits of the boyars attract attention - rich caftans, embroidered with patterns, tall women's headdresses, heavy folds men's clothing. The walls are painted, there are cups on the tables, and the servants are already rushing with food - everything here is imbued with the Russian spirit with an incredibly unique culture.
Among everything, you don’t immediately notice the young people, because their personalities are not so large-scale compared to the real event - two boyar families are uniting. The toast was made, and to the shouts of “Bitter!” the young man tries to kiss the girl, and she bashfully averts her face, embarrassed and timid. Experienced matchmaker left hand the young man seems to be pushing his indecisive new wife. The characters look at this scene differently - a girl of marriageable age looks at her friend with envy, but the nanny looks sad, as she knows the hard life very well married woman.
In Rus' there were many rituals and traditions that were passed down from generation to generation. Many of them have survived to this day. But in Rus' there were also such rituals, the attitude towards which, for natural reasons, was contradictory. They have survived to this day exclusively in the form of informational historical information, they say, this is how it was in Rus'...
Today we will analyze one of these “peculiar” rituals - the kissing ritual - an old Russian ritual of honoring guests. Appeared in the 15th-17th centuries. Several sources testify to this. The first one - the revelations of the Austrian adviser and diplomat Augustin Meyerberg, which resulted in the book “Journey to Muscovy.”
He in 1661–1662. visited Russia on a diplomatic mission. The baron wrote an official report about his trip, speaking in this essay not as an observer, but as a researcher.
According to Baron Meyerberg, the ritual was as follows: “after the end of the table, the wife of the owner of the house comes out to the guests, accompanied by two or three girls, in her best clothes. Touching the cup with her lips, she passes the cup with the drink to the guest. While the guest is drinking, the hostess goes into another room and changes her outerwear there. In new clothes, she presents the cup to another guest. After the drink has been served to all the guests, the hostess, with downcast eyes, stands against the wall (or stove) and receives a kiss from all the guests...”
Second source — domestic “Domostroy” — a collection of rules, advice and instructions on all areas of human and family life, including social, family, economic and religious issues. This book was especially revered by the Novgorod boyars and merchants.
I will give several excerpts from the book by Ivan Yegorovich Zabelin “Home Life of Russian Queens in the 16th and XVII centuries", in which he equates the kissing ritual with pagan worship:
“At the beginning of the 16th century, the seclusion of women was a completely decided matter and not subject to any doubt or hesitation. For example, the well-known Domostroy does not suggest that wives, not to mention daughters, can attend men’s conversations. He only gives advice to his wife on how to behave when visiting other wives, how to behave with guests at home, and strictly punishes, “if guests happen, then drinking and eating and all other household items are brought (into the room) by one peer, to whom ordered...
Regarding friendly conversations, Domostroy notes: “and go on a visit and invite the exile with whom the husband orders...”
Only the most friendly relations of the owner of the house towards his guests sometimes dissolved the women's mansion and called from there his treasure - the mistress of the house - to show the male society. There was a custom according to which the identity of a woman, namely the owner’s wife, as well as the wife of his son or married daughter, was honored with some special, almost pagan worship.
“The Hawthorn with a Tray” - Makovsky Konstantin Egorovich
This custom consisted in the fact that when guests gathered at a holiday or at other times and dinner or an honest feast began, the owner of the house ordered his wife to go out and greet the guests. She came to the dining room and stood in a large place, that is, in the front corner; and the guests stood at the door.
The hostess bowed to the guests in the small custom, i.e., to the waist, and the guests bowed to her in the greater custom, i.e., to the ground. Then the master of the house bowed to the guests in the same manner, to the ground, with a request that the guests would deign to kiss his wife.
The guests asked the owner to kiss his wife first. He yielded to the request and kissed his mistress first; behind him, all the guests, one by one, bowed to the hostess on the ground, came up and kissed her, and after leaving, bowed to her on the ground again. The hostess answered everyone with a bow from the waist, that is, she bowed in the small custom. After that, the hostess brought the guests a glass of double or triple wine with a potion, and the owner bowed to each (however many guests there were, each with a bow), to the ground, asking them to eat the wine. But the guests asked the hosts to drink. Then the owner ordered his wife to drink in advance, then he drank himself and then brought the guests with the hostess, each of whom bowed to the ground to the hostess, drank wine and, having given the glass, bowed to the ground again.
After the treat, having bowed to the guests, the hostess went to her half, to her women's conversation, to her guests, to the guests' wives. At lunchtime, when round pies were served, the wives of the owner’s sons or his married daughters or the wives of relatives came out to the guests. And in this case, the ritual of drinking wine happened in exactly the same way. At the request and with the bows of the husbands, the guests left the table to the door, bowed to the wives, kissed them, drank wine, bowed again and sat down; and the wives retired to the women's quarters.
Maiden daughters never came out to such ceremonies and never showed themselves to men.
This ritual, in fact confirming all the stories about the seclusion of Russian women, about the separation of ancient Russian society into special halves, male and female; at the same time, it shows that the personality of a married woman, the mistress of the house, acquired for the friendly home society high meaning housekeepers and personified with her appearance and treats the highest degree of hospitality.
This ritual also expressed a purely Russian form of respect for the female personality in general, for bowing to the ground was the primordial form of the highest honor of the individual.”
Third source of the ritual meets in historical novel Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy “Prince Silver” (1863), dedicated to the era of Ivan the Terrible (1547-1584). The writer describes the “kissing ritual” in the house of the disgraced boyar Druzhina Morozov, according to which his young wife Elena was obliged to go out to the guests - strangers - in festive attire and kiss everyone, after having previously presented him with a glass of wine on a tray:
“When Elena walked around everyone without exception, Morozov, who was closely watching her, turned to the guests:
Dear guests,” he said, “now, according to the old Russian custom, I ask you to respect my house, not to blaspheme my household, I ask you, dear guests, would you not disdain to kiss my wife!.. Dmitrievna, stand in a large place and give all the kisses, to everyone in turn!
The guests thanked the owner. Elena stood near the stove with trepidation and lowered her eyes.
Prince, come! - Morozov said to Vyazemsky.
- No, no, as usual! - the guests shouted, - let the owner kiss the hostess first! Let it be according to custom, as it was from our ancestors!..”
Based on the plot of the novel in 1895, Russian artist K.E. Makovsky wrote his famous painting"Kiss Rite"
In general, the artist Makovsky dedicated boyar life tens wonderful paintings. He has another picture, which also testifies to the existence of a “kissing ritual.” Today it is located in the State Russian Museum of St. Petersburg:
"From everyday life Russian boyar of the late seventeenth century. 1868" How exactly the kissing ritual appeared in Rus', historians do not give exact answers. Russian historian Gavriil Petrovich Uspensky believed that the ritual could have been borrowed from foreigners living in Russia. There were versions that we adopted the ritual from the Tatars. But the same Ivan Egorovich Zabelin, whose excerpts we shared above, believes that
“This ritual expressed a purely Russian form of respect for the female personality! ... The seclusion of the female personality, her removal from male society was the vital conclusion of those moral principles of life that were laid down in our life by Eastern, Byzantine, but not Tatar ideas.
We did not borrow our tower from the Tatars, but it developed little by little by itself, in the course of life itself, as a real form of those ideas and teachings about the female personality with which we became acquainted at the very beginning of our history and which over the centuries have governed upbringing and education , the whole development of the Russian woman..."
Whether it was borrowed or formed on its own, we will never know. But the impression of him is still twofold. It’s interesting to hear your opinion in the comments: “Was the kissing ritual wild or something beautiful, natural and decent?”
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“If any artist was popular in Rus', it was him. Perhaps they didn’t pray to him, they didn’t call him a god, but everyone loved him, and they loved his very shortcomings - the very thing that brought the artist closer to his time.” Alexander Benois
In his book “My Dagestan,” reflecting on human talent, the world-famous poet voiced an interesting thought: “Talent is not inherited, otherwise dynasties would reign in art...”. Perhaps this is the only thought of the great Avar with which one can disagree or challenge it.
In contrast to Rasul Gamzatov, no less interesting wisdom comes to mind: “The beauty of the branches depends on the roots”. Ironically, this idea belongs to the Soviet Avar poetess, the people's poetess of Dagestan - Faz Gamzatovna Aliyeva.
There really are few reigning dynasties in art, but there was one of them, and in Russian art, and a very talented one. So much so that everyone - both father and children - all became famous artists. Of course, this is the Makovsky dynasty. The founder of the dynasty of painters was Yegor Ivanovich Makovsky. The successors were his children - Alexandra Egorovna, Konstantin Egorovich, Nikolai Egorovich, and his grandchildren.
All of them were very famous in artistic circles, but world famous and most dear artist The eldest of the sons, Konstantin, left the dynasty.
In the second half of the 19th century Konstantin Makovsky was one of the most fashionable and expensive portrait painters in Russia. His contemporaries called him “the brilliant Kostya,” and Emperor Alexander II called him “my painter.” They say that it was because of K. Makovsky’s “naked Mermaids” that Alexander II first visited the exhibition of the Wanderers.
In terms of sales volumes, the works of Konstantin Egorovich Makovsky are comparable only to the paintings of one of the most prolific Russian masters.
Makovsky’s world fame was so great that it was him who the Americans invited to paint the first presidential portrait of Theodore Roosevelt.
In Russia, envious people called him a superficial artist who did not want to “dig deep,” but they could not deny his genius light hand competitor. The lion's share of his works ended up in private collections...
Mermaids. 1879, Demonstrated at the VII Traveling Exhibition in 1879 Do you know why in domestic museums Are there practically no works by Makovsky? Because Russian collectors simply couldn’t afford them.
So Makovsky asked Tretyakov for his “Boyar Wedding Feast in the 17th Century” for no less than 20,000, and this was the normal price for his work. Tretyakov couldn’t afford such prices, and “The Feast” went to the American jeweler Schumann for... 60,000. At the same time, the jeweler was simply happy, ordered another canvas and began producing postcards with Makovsky’s paintings in the USA.
Boyar wedding feast in the 17th century. 1883, Hillwood Museum, Washington, USA The painting “Boyar Wedding Feast in the 17th Century,” one of Makovsky’s best masterpieces, enjoyed dizzying success in 1883 at the World Exhibition in Antwerp and was awarded the highest award - the Great Gold Medal. The artist himself was awarded the Order of King Leopold.
While working on this painting, the artist’s wife Yulia Pavlovna (the bride’s face), her sister Ekaterina and eldest son Sergei posed for the artist.
IN Soviet era Makovsky was declared a “harmful” artist and was forgotten; his works were stuffed into storage rooms and then given away to friendly foreign leaders. Thus, even the Indonesian President Sukarno received several paintings from the generosity; today they are the pride of the local government art gallery.
Eastern woman(Gypsy). 1878 
Arab in a turban. 1882 “The best beauties vied with each other to pose for me. I earned enormous amounts of money and lived in royal luxury. “I managed to paint a countless number of paintings,” Makovsky himself wrote. “I didn’t bury my God-given talent in the ground, but I didn’t use it to the extent that I could have. I loved life too much, and this prevented me from completely devoting myself to art.”
He also loved women. Konstantin Egorovich was a very loving man. By the time he met his first wife, he already had illegitimate daughter Natalya, Natalya Lebedeva, who only received the surname Makovskaya in 1877, is the fruit of his student hobby.
In 1867, he married a young, promising actress of the Alexandria Theater, Elena Timofeevna Burkova, who was educated in Switzerland. Helen brought a lot of love and sensitive sociability into his absent-minded “bohemian” life. She was fragile, sickly and could not be considered beautiful, but her appearance and her whole “manner of being” emanated an inexplicable charm.
It was happy marriage people who have common interests and spiritual needs, but happiness did not last long. First, almost immediately after his birth in 1871, his son Vladimir died. That same year, Elena was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Doctors said that a warm, dry climate could save her, and Makovsky took his wife to Egypt. However, nothing helped, and in March 1873 the artist was widowed. It is still unknown what the artist’s wife looked like. Perhaps she is the one in one of the next portraits?
Portrait of a woman. 1878 
Portrait of a woman. Early 1880s, Far Eastern art museum, Khabarovsk 
Portrait of a woman. 1880s, National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus, Minsk In his youth, Konstantin Egorovich had a charming appearance, a carefree, festive gaiety of disposition, a habit of making quick decisions, hard work and greed for the joys of life. He was always in good spirits, friendly, smart, well-groomed, smelling of cologne and fine tobacco, carefree, charming, dexterous, and in unusually good health.
The lush, curly head thrown back with a prematurely bald forehead compressed at the temples gave the purely Russian face with a dark brown beard an open and independent look. Attention to the famous, pampered artist always acquired a tinge of enthusiastic worship. In society he was invariably pleasant and talkative; a smile appeared on their faces when Konstantin Yegorovich entered the room.
Konstantin Makovsky did not remain an inconsolable widower for long. In 1874, at a ball in the Marine Corps, he met Yulia Pavlovna Letkova , who came to enter the conservatory (she had beautiful voice, lyric soprano), who soon became his wife.
She was only sixteen years old, but with her ability to behave in society and mental maturity, she seemed older. Judging by the bad photographs of that time, she was very beautiful. Konstantin Egorovich fell in love at first sight and did not leave her all evening. The next day, the loving “professor of painting” hastened to invite everyone to his place to “play music.” For dinner, Konstantin Yegorovich led young Letkova by the arm and, seating her at the table next to him, said loudly so that everyone could hear: “That’s great... Be my mistress!” . Thus began their engagement...
Two weeks after the evening on Gagarinskaya Embankment, it was decided to have a wedding as soon as the bride turns sixteen. On January 22, 1875, the wedding took place in the Post Office Church. The bride was 16, the groom was 36 years old.
For a decade and a half, Yulia Pavlovna Makovskaya, the artist’s wife, was his muse, a model for portraits, historical paintings and mythological compositions.
By family legend, appearance famous portrait the artist's wife was accidental. Yulia Pavlovna went up to her husband’s workshop, dressed in a dark red velvet hood and a blue ribbon. Konstantin Yegorovich, enthusiastically working on some canvas, at first did not pay attention to her, and she, sulking, sat down in a chair and began absentmindedly cutting the pages of the book with an ivory knife.
The artist turned around, immediately placed the first narrow canvas that came to hand on the easel and sketched the silhouette of his wife with a book in her hands. In three sessions the portrait was completed, and the whole city was talking about it.
“This crimson dress just rings - sharp high note among the dull tones of our gray everyday life,” wrote one of his contemporaries.
In the spring of 1875, the couple went to Paris. Konstantin rented a workshop at famous boulevard Clichy and an apartment on Brussels, diagonally from the Viardot couple. Turgenev, whose portrait Makovsky painted earlier, was their frequent guest. Artists - Russians and Parisians - gathered in Viardot's house, and artists often visited.
The Makovskys returned from Paris a year later with a newborn daughter, and at the end of the summer grief happened - the girl died of scarlet fever. The seventeen-year-old mother took the death of her first-born very hard, but youth took its toll, and soon she again began to expect an addition to the family, and to recover she went to Nice.
On August 15, 1877, in the house of Pereyaslavtsev on the embankment near the Nikolaevsky Bridge, his son Seryozha was born - the future art critic, essayist, poet, editor and publisher of Apollo, a wonderful Russian magazine, almanac.
Seryozha (Portrait of a son in a sailor suit). 1887 We can say that Sergei literally became a model for his father’s paintings from the cradle. He later recalled that for a very long time they dressed him in the children's fashion of those years and grew the curls that Konstantin Makovsky liked so much. You can recall the paintings “In the Artist’s Studio” (which Konstantin Makovsky himself called “The Little Thief”), “The Little Antiquarian”, “Seryozha”.
In 1879, Elena was born to the Makovskys, and in 1883, a son, Vladimir, was born, whom he baptized Grand Duke Alexey Alexandrovich, brother of Alexander III. They were also destined to become models for Konstantin Yegorovich.
The workshop in which the children posed for their father was itself a source strong impressions: it was all hung with Persian carpets, African ritual masks, ancient weapons, cages with songbirds. Chinese vases contained brushes, ostrich and peacock feathers, the sofas were decorated with numerous brocade pillows, and the tables were decorated with ivory boxes. Naturally, the children were drawn to their father’s office, and posing was not a burden to them.
In 1889, Konstantin Makovsky went to the World Exhibition in Paris, where he exhibited several of his paintings. There he met 20-year-old Maria Alekseevna Matavtina (1869-1919) and became interested in her. The fruit of this hobby was born in 1891 illegitimate son Konstantin. The artist was forced to confess everything to his wife. And she did not forgive the betrayal.
On November 18, 1892, Yulia Pavlovna filed a petition “to grant her the right to live with three children using a separate passport from her husband and to remove the latter from any interference in the upbringing and education of children.” On May 26, 1898, the official divorce was filed. Yulia Pavlovna was only 39 years old! Konstantin Egorovich is 59 years old.
Family portrait. 1882, Depicted Yu.P. Makovskaya with children Sergei and Elena Yulia Pavlovna lived the remaining 56 years of her life in the family of her son Sergei. She was in exile, in France, helping her son write an essay about his father, which was especially difficult for him to write; he was never able to forgive him.
And Konstantin Makovsky married Maria Matavtina on June 6, 1898, and the court legitimized their children. By that time, daughters Olga and Marina were also born. Afterwards, a son, Nikolai, was born. The artist continued to use children from his third marriage and his new wife as models.
Konstantin Egorovich Makovsky died on September 17, 1915 as a result of an accident. He was returning to his Vasilyeostrovsk workshop in a cab. The horses got scared of the tram, a new type of transport, and bolted, overturning the carriage. Konstantin Egorovich fell out of this carriage, receiving a blow to his head on the pavement, which caused a very serious injury that required surgery. After the operation he came to his senses, but his heart could not withstand too strong a dose of chloroform. This is how the 74-year-old ended brilliant life, full of work, joy and success.
Facts from the life of K. Makovsky
“For what came out of me, I consider myself obliged not to the academy, not to the professors, but exclusively to my father,” K. Makovsky wrote in his declining years.
Everything is interesting in childhood. A mangy crow funny drank from a puddle. On Lenivka, a clean man was selling delicious raspberry kvass. In a store on Tverskaya, the Italian Giuseppe Artari was laying out prints ordered from abroad.
“Admire and remember!” father instilled in his son, and demanded that Kostya sketch in his pocket album street scenes, sketched portraits of passers-by, and at home asked the boy, “Has the man forgotten that he treated you to kvass?” And that crow was remarkable. Come on, draw them for me... Art is a religion, art exists for this purpose, to ennoble people, making them kinder and better.”
Kostya Makovsky, from the age of four, drew everything that caught his eye, and immediately showed the ability to easily “grasp nature.” At the age of twelve he entered the School of Painting and Sculpture, where his first mentors were Scotti, Zaryanko, and Tropinin. He mastered the latter’s painting style to perfection—a copy of Makovsky from Tropinin’s portrait was indistinguishable from the original. While still at the School, he received a small silver medal from the Academy for a pencil sketch (1857).
Particularly famous in the artist’s work was the painting "Children Running from a Thunderstorm" , depicting a simple but dramatic plot from rural life.
Children running from a thunderstorm. 1872, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow The children here remind fairy-tale heroes- sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka. The artist was attracted by the feeling of anxiety before a thunderstorm, which united nature and children. The landscape, permeated by the wind, captures the changing state of nature: alternation of light and shadow, a variety of shades of the sky - from dark purple to golden yellow. The swaying tops of plants and running clouds emphasize the movements of children driven by the wind. The shaky bridge bends under the girl’s hasty steps - a thunderstorm will break out very soon. And below, near the ground, where marsh grasses and flowers intertwine, there is peace and quiet.
Riot of the Fourteen - on November 9 (21), 1863, the scandalous refusal of the fourteen best graduates of the Imperial Academy of Arts, headed by I. N. Kramskoy, to participate in the competition for a large gold medal, held for the 100th anniversary of the Academy of Arts.
While studying at the Moscow School of Painting, Konstantin Makovsky was the first student to receive all available awards. But later, while studying at the Academy, he, along with other students, refused to paint a competition picture on the topic “ Scandinavian mythology" - took part in the so-called "revolt of fourteen" , and in the end did not receive a diploma. And yet, a few years later the artist was awarded the titles of academician, professor, and full member of the Academy of Arts.
Makovsky’s brush includes the largest easel canvas in Russia – the painting “Minin’s Appeal to the People of Nizhny Novgorod,” which he painted for six years.
Minin on the square Nizhny Novgorod calling on people to donate. 1890s. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg A particularly interesting direction in the artist’s work was the image of “Boyaryshen” and Russian beauties in national costumes— more than 60 paintings, and all of them are bright, rich and unique. Some of the most famous:
The noblewoman at the window. 1885 
Down the aisle. 1884 
Hawthorn, Study for the 1901 painting “Sprinkled with Hops” 
Hawthorn. 1880s 
"Fortune telling" (1915) The 1880s revealed Makovsky as the author of portraits and creator historical paintings. At the Paris World Exhibition of 1889, the artist received a Grand Gold Medal for his paintings “The Death of Ivan the Terrible” (1888), “The Judgment of Paris” and “The Demon and Tamara” (1889).
The quirks of Mikhail Vrubel
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Boyar wedding feast - Konstantin Egorovich Makovsky. 1883. Oil on canvas. 236x391 cm
Persian carpets, cages with amazing songbirds, Chinese vases from which ostrich and peacock feathers protruded, ancient weapons, original African ritual masks, brocade pillows and ivory boxes - all this is not a description of a museum collection, but the home furnishings of Konstantin Makovsky.
Being a passionate collector of rare objects from various cultures and historical eras, the painter often used them to create the desired interior in his works. Using the same method, a “living picture,” this wonderful work was created, embodying a boyar wedding feast.
To faithfully recreate the surroundings, the author used his collection of antiques, and also visited many collectors and invited aristocrats as extras. The construction of the composition was preceded by musical evenings, changing clothes, and after that Makovsky “assembled” his silent actors into the stage in detail and explained to everyone what they should portray. A truly innovative method of that time!
This work was created specifically for exhibition in Europe. Makovsky was looking for recognition abroad, and it was no coincidence that he chose the subject - Europeans were very interested in the original Russian history at that time, so the work, which so reliably and colorfully described a scene from the life of the 17th century, was well received. However, success only strengthened the split between Makovsky and many of his artist friends, especially the Peredvizhniki, who saw, first of all, the social role of art and believed that it was not right for a Russian artist to seek fame from a foreign audience.
First of all, the luxurious outfits of the boyars attract attention - rich caftans, embroidered with patterns, tall women's headdresses, heavy folds of men's clothes. The walls are painted, there are goblets on the tables, and the servants are already rushing with food - everything here is imbued with the Russian spirit with an incredibly original culture.
Among everything, you don’t immediately notice the young people, because their personalities are not so large-scale compared to the real event - two boyar families are uniting. The toast was made, and to the shouts of “Bitter!” the young man tries to kiss the girl, and she bashfully averts her face, embarrassed and timid. The experienced matchmaker on the left hand of the young man seems to be pushing the indecisive new wife. The characters look at this scene differently - a girl of marriageable age looks at her friend with envy, but the nanny looks sad, since she knows very well the difficult life of a married woman.
Ironically, one of Makovsky’s most Russian works, having changed several owners, today belongs to the Washington Museum.
