Versailles Walk of the King analysis of the painting. Laskina N

Today it is hard to believe that at the end of the nineteenth century, the favorite brainchild of Louis XIV - the magnificent Versailles was in sad desolation. Only the shadows of forgotten kings roamed the empty and dusty halls of the once noisy palace, lush thickets of grass and bushes filled the courtyard and destroyed the alleys.

The revival of Versailles was due to the efforts of two people. One of them is the poet Pierre de Nolac, who has been the guardian of the castle for twenty-eight years since 1892. It was he who stubbornly searched for furniture and items that once belonged to the French royal court at sales and in antique shops. And it was he who found the specialists who re-destroyed the park.

The second savior of Versailles was a very odious character of that time - the collector Robert de Montesquiou, a real dandy and social lion. He managed to breathe new life into the former residence of the Sun King. De Nolac allowed Montesquieu to receive guests in the revived Versailles park. As a result, this park has become a fashionable "dacha" place for all the Parisian nobility. And not only know. It began to be called "a haven for sages and poets."

A. Benois. "Versailles. Walk of the King"

At the end of the 19th century, the Russian artist and art critic Alexander Benois came to Versailles. Since then, he has been simply obsessed with the poetics of the old royal palace, the “divine Versailles,” as he calls it. “I returned from there drugged, almost sick from strong impressions.” From a confession to his nephew Eugene Lansere: “I am intoxicated with this place, it is some kind of impossible illness, a criminal passion, a strange love.” Throughout his life, the artist will create more than six hundred oil paintings, engravings, pastels, gouaches and watercolors dedicated to Versailles. Benoit was 86 years old, and he complains of poor health only because it does not allow him to "walk around the paradise in which he once lived."

The source of inspiration for the artist is not the royal splendor of the castle and parks, but “unsteady, sad memories of the kings who still roam here.” It looks like some kind of almost mystical illusion (“I sometimes reach a state close to hallucinations”). For Benois, those shadows that silently glide through the park of Versailles are more like memories than fantasies. According to his own statement, images of events that once happened here flash before his eyes. He "sees" the very creator of this magnificence, King Louis XIV, surrounded by his retinue. Moreover, he sees him already terribly old and sick, which surprisingly accurately reflects the former reality.

Whatever this "strange obsession" of Alexandre Benois, we should be grateful to him. Indeed, as a result, wonderful, surprisingly emotional, lively paintings from the "Versailles series" were born.

Robert de Montesquieu, fascinated precisely by the desolation of Versailles, dreams of capturing "the complaints of old stones that want to rot in final oblivion." But Benois is indifferent to such historical truth. He clearly found the royal palace in the era of its dilapidation, but does not want to talk about this in his canvases. The artist's favorite theme is the ruthless passage of time, a clear contrast between the park's unshakable sophistication and the figure of Louis himself, an old, hunched man in a wheelchair.

The creator of the grandiose Versailles passes away as a lonely old man, but in Benoit's The Last Walks of the King, he does not appear before us as a tragic character, worthy of only pity. His presence, ghostly, almost ephemeral, emphasizes the grandeur of the beautiful Park of the Kings of France. “He certainly deserves the applause of history,” says Alexandre Benois about Louis XIV.

Benois Alexander Nikolaevich (1870 - 1960)
Walk of the King 1906
62×48 cm
Watercolor, Gouache, Pencil, Feather, Cardboard, Silver, Gold
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

The Last Walks of the King is a series of drawings by Alexandre Benois dedicated to the walks of King Louis the Sun, his old age, as well as autumn and winter in the park of Versailles.

Versailles. Louis XIV feeding the fish

Description of the old age of Louis XIV (from here):
“... The king became sad and gloomy. According to Madame de Maintenon, he became "the most inconsolable person in all of France." Louis began to violate the laws of etiquette established by himself.

In the last years of his life, he acquired all the habits befitting an old man: he got up late, ate in bed, half-lying received ministers and secretaries of state (Louis XIV was engaged in the affairs of the kingdom until the last days of his life), and then sat for hours in a large armchair, placing a velvet chair under his back. pillow. In vain, the doctors repeated to their sovereign that the lack of body movements bored him and drowsiness and was a harbinger of imminent death.

The king could no longer resist the onset of decrepitude, and his age was approaching eighty.

Everything he agreed to was limited to trips through the gardens of Versailles in a small controlled carriage.

Versailles. By the pool of Ceres

Walk of the king

“The source of inspiration for the artist is not the royal splendor of the castle and parks, but rather “unsteady, sad memories of the kings who still roam here.” It looks like some kind of almost mystical illusion (“I sometimes reach a state close to hallucinations”).

For Benois, those shadows that silently glide through the park of Versailles are more like memories than fantasies. According to his own statement, images of events that once happened here flash before his eyes. He "sees" the very creator of this magnificence, King Louis XIV, surrounded by his retinue. Moreover, he sees him already terribly old and sick, which surprisingly accurately reflects the former reality.

Versailles. Greenhouse

Versailles. Trianon Garden

From an article by a French researcher:

“The images of The Last Walks of Louis XIV are certainly inspired, and sometimes even borrowed from the texts and engravings of the time of the “Sun King”.

However, such a view - the approach of an erudite and connoisseur - is by no means fraught with either dryness or pedantry and does not force the artist to engage in lifeless historical reconstructions. Indifferent to Montesquieu’s “complaints of stones that dream of decaying into oblivion,” so dear to Montesquieu’s heart, Benois did not capture either the dilapidation of the palace or the desolation of the park, which he still certainly found. He prefers flights of fantasy to historical accuracy - and at the same time, his fantasies are historically accurate. The artist's themes are the passage of time, the "romantic" intrusion of nature into the classic park of Le Nôtre; he is occupied - and amused - by the contrast between the sophistication of the park scenery, in which "every line, every statue, the smallest vase" reminds "of the divinity of monarchical power, the greatness of the sun king, the inviolability of the foundations" - and the grotesque figure of the king himself: a hunched old man in a gurney pushed by a footman in livery.

Curtius

Allegory of the river

A few years later, Benoit would draw an equally irreverent verbal portrait of Louis XIV: "a gnarled old man with drooping cheeks, bad teeth, and a face eaten away by smallpox."

The king in Benois' Walks is a lonely old man, left by the courtiers and clinging to his confessor in anticipation of imminent death. But he appears rather not as a tragic hero, but as a staff character, an extra, whose almost ephemeral, ghostly presence emphasizes the inviolability of the scenery and the stage from which the once great actor leaves, "having uncomplainingly endured the burden of this monstrous comedy."

The king walked in any weather ... (Saint-Simon)

At the same time, Benois seems to forget that Louis XIV was the main customer of the Versailles performance and was not at all mistaken about the role that he appointed himself to play. Since the story seemed to Benois to be a kind of theatrical play, the change of bright mise-en-scenes by less successful ones was inevitable: “Louis XIV was an excellent actor, and he deserved the applause of history. Louis XVI was only one of the "grandchildren of the great actor" who got on stage - and therefore it is very natural that he was driven away by the audience, and the play, which had recently had a huge success, also failed.

... the worst thing is that Mr. Benois, following the example of many, chose a special specialty for himself. Now it is very common among painters and young poets to find and defend their original individuality, choosing some kind of plot, sometimes ridiculously narrow and deliberate. M. Benois took a fancy to the Versailles park. A thousand and one studies of the Versailles park, and all more or less well done. And yet I want to say: "Strike once, strike twice, but it is impossible to insensibility." For Mr. Benois caused in the public a kind of special psychic stupor: Versailles ceased to function. "How good!" - says the audience and widely, widely yawns.

The cycle of drawings by Alexandre Benois, dedicated to the walks of King Louis the Sun, his old age, as well as autumn and winter in the park of Versailles, is perhaps one of the most memorable - both sad and beautiful - in the artist's work.

A. Benois. "The King's Last Walks". 1896-1898 (there are also later drawings)

"Versailles. Louis XIV feeds the fish"

Description of the old age of Louis XIV from here:
"... The king became sad and gloomy. According to Madame de Maintenon, he became "the most inconsolable person in all of France." Louis began to violate the laws of etiquette established by himself.
In the last years of his life, he acquired all the habits befitting an old man: he got up late, ate in bed, half-lying received ministers and secretaries of state (Louis XIV was engaged in the affairs of the kingdom until the last days of his life), and then sat for hours in a large armchair, placing a velvet chair under his back. pillow. In vain, the doctors repeated to their sovereign that the lack of body movements bored him and drowsiness and was a harbinger of imminent death.
The king could no longer resist the onset of decrepitude, and his age was approaching eighty.
Everything he agreed to was limited to trips through the gardens of Versailles in a small controlled carriage.

"Versailles. By the pool of Ceres"

I also put here other drawings by Benois, in which the king does not appear, but there is simply Versailles.
"Flora's Pool at Versailles"

From the article "Versailles in the works of Benois"

Alexandre Benois first visited Versailles in his youth, back in the 1890s.
Since then, he has remained obsessed with the poetics of the ancient royal palace, the “divine Versailles,” as he calls it. "I returned from there drugged, almost sick from strong impressions."

From a confession to his nephew Eugene Lansere: “I am intoxicated with this place, it is some kind of impossible illness, a criminal passion, a strange love.”

"King Louis XIV in an armchair"

Throughout his life, the artist will create more than six hundred oil paintings, engravings, pastels, gouaches and watercolors dedicated to Versailles.
When Benoit was 86 years old, he complained of poor health only from the point of view that it did not allow him to "walk around the paradise in which he once lived."

And this is a real lifetime portrait of the old Louis the Sun, drawn by A. Benois. Only not by our artist, but Antoine Benoist (1632-1717), who worked at court. He was not a relative of our Benois, and not even a namesake (another spelling), but I am sure that such a clever person as Alexander knew about him and perhaps felt some kind of spiritual kinship thanks to the magic of the name.

"King's Walk"

"The source of inspiration for the artist is not the royal splendor of the castle and parks, but rather "unsteady, sad memories of the kings who still roam here." It looks like some kind of almost mystical illusion ("I sometimes reach a state close to hallucinations") .
For Benois, those shadows that silently glide through the park of Versailles are more like memories than fantasies. According to his own statement, images of events that once happened here flash before his eyes. He "sees" the very creator of this magnificence, King Louis XIV, surrounded by his retinue. Moreover, he sees him already terribly old and sick, which surprisingly accurately reflects the former reality.

"Versailles. Orangery"

"Versailles. Garden of Trianon"

From an article by a French researcher (there is an interesting angle in general):

"The images of The Last Walks of Louis XIV are certainly inspired, and sometimes even borrowed from the texts and engravings of the time of the" Sun King ".
However, such a view - the approach of an erudite and connoisseur - is by no means fraught with either dryness or pedantry and does not force the artist to engage in lifeless historical reconstructions. Indifferent to Montesquieu’s “complaints of stones that dream of decaying into oblivion,” so dear to Montesquieu’s heart, Benois did not capture either the dilapidation of the palace or the desolation of the park, which he still certainly found. He prefers flights of fantasy to historical accuracy - and at the same time, his fantasies are historically accurate. The artist's themes are the passage of time, the "romantic" intrusion of nature into the classic park of Le Nôtre; he is occupied - and amused - by the contrast between the sophistication of the park scenery, in which "every line, every statue, the smallest vase" reminds "of the divinity of monarchical power, the greatness of the sun king, the inviolability of the foundations" - and the grotesque figure of the king himself: a hunched old man in a gurney pushed by a footman in livery."

"At Curtius"

"Allegory of the river"

A few years later, Benoit would draw an equally irreverent verbal portrait of Louis XIV: "a gnarled old man with drooping cheeks, bad teeth, and a face eaten away by smallpox."
The king in Benois' Walks is a lonely old man, left by the courtiers and clinging to his confessor in anticipation of imminent death. But he appears rather not as a tragic hero, but as a staff character, an extra, whose almost ephemeral, ghostly presence emphasizes the inviolability of the scenery and the stage from which the once great actor leaves, “having uncomplainingly endured the burden of this monstrous comedy.”

"The king walked in any weather ... (Saint-Simon)"

“At the same time, Benoit seems to forget that Louis XIV was the main customer of the Versailles performance and was not at all mistaken about the role that he appointed himself to play. XIV was an excellent actor, and he deserved the applause of history. Louis XVI was only one of the "grandchildren of a great actor" who got on stage - and therefore it is very natural that he was driven away by the audience, and the play, which had recently had a huge success, also failed. ".

"Allegory of the river"

"King"(not in the chair yet)

"A Walk in the Garden of Versailles"

"Pond at Versailles"

"Fantasy on the Versailles theme"

Anatoly Lunacharsky, the future Soviet "Minister of Culture", swore at the cycle when he saw the drawings at an exhibition in 1907:
...worst of all, Mr. Benois, following the example of many, chose a special specialty for himself. Now it is very common among painters and young poets to find and defend their original individuality, choosing some kind of plot, sometimes ridiculously narrow and deliberate. M. Benois took a fancy to the Versailles park. A thousand and one studies of the Versailles park, and all more or less well done. And yet I want to say: "Strike once, strike twice, but it is impossible to insensibility." For Mr. Benois caused in the public a kind of special psychic stupor: Versailles ceased to function. "How good!" - says the audience and widely, widely yawns.

Indeed, it is not easy to determine who this brilliant man was: the circle of interests of Alexander Benois is very wide. He is also an easel painter, graphic artist and decorator.

Childhood
Alexander Nikolaevich Benois was born on May 3, 1870 in St. Petersburg, a city for which throughout his life he had a “tender and deep feeling”. Moreover, the cult of the native city included its surroundings - Oranienbaum, Pavlovsk and, most importantly, Peterhof. Later, in his memoirs, Benois writes: “My novel of life began in Peterhof” - for the first time he came to this “fabulous place” when he was not even a month old, and it was there that he first began to “be aware” of his surroundings.
In the house where little Shura grew up, a very special atmosphere reigned. From childhood, Benois was surrounded by talented, extraordinary people. His father Nikolai Leontyevich and brother Leonty were "brilliant masters of architecture", both graduated from the Academy of Arts with a gold medal, which, according to Benois himself, was "a rare event in the life of the Academy." Both were "virtuosos of drawing and brush". They inhabited their drawings with hundreds of human figures, and they could be admired like paintings.
Father Benois participated in the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow and the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. His most grandiose project is the court stables in Peterhof. Brother Leonty later took the post of rector of the Academy of Arts. Another brother, Albert, painted wonderful watercolors that sold like hot cakes in the 1880s and 1890s. Exhibitions of his paintings were attended even by the imperial couple, in the Society of Watercolorists he was appointed chairman, and at the Academy he was given a watercolor class to teach.
Benoit began to draw almost from the cradle. Family tradition preserved
about the fact that, having received a pencil at the age of eighteen months, the future artist grabbed it with his fingers exactly as it was considered correct. Parents, brothers and sisters admired everything that their little Shura did, and always praised him. In the end, at the age of five, Benoit tried to make a copy of the Bolsen Mass and felt ashamed and even a kind of resentment towards Raphael for not being given to him.
In addition to Raphael - in front of copies of huge paintings in the hall of the Academy, the boy was downright numb - little Benoit had two more serious hobbies: dad's travel albums, in which landscapes alternated with sketches of valiant military men, sailors, gondoliers, monks of various orders, and, without doubts, - theater. As for the first, looking at "daddy's albums" was a great holiday for both the boy and the father. Nikolai Leontyevich accompanied each page with comments, and the son knew his stories in all details. As for the second, according to Benois himself, it was the “passion for the theater” that played perhaps the most important role in its further development.
Education
In 1877, Camilla Albertovna, Benois's mother, seriously thought about the education of her son. And I must say that by the age of seven, this pet of the family still could not read or write. Later, Benois recalled the attempts of his relatives to teach him the alphabet: about “folding cubes” with drawings and letters. He willingly added pictures, and the letters only irritated him, and the boy could not understand why M and A, placed side by side, formed the syllable "MA".
Finally, the boy was sent to kindergarten. As in any exemplary school, there, in addition to other subjects, they also taught drawing, which was led by the itinerant artist Lemokh.
However, as Benoit himself recalls, he did not learn any benefit from these lessons. Already a teenager, Benois met Lemokh more than once at the house of his brother Albert and even received flattering reviews from his former teacher. “You should seriously take up drawing, you have a noticeable talent,” said Lemokh.
Of all the educational institutions that Benois attended, it is worth noting the private gymnasium of K. I. May (1885-1890s), where he met people who later formed the backbone of the "World of Art". If we talk about artistic professional training, then Benois did not receive the so-called academic education. In 1887, while still a seventh-grader, he attended evening classes at the Academy of Arts for four months. Disillusioned with the methods of teaching - teaching seems to him official and boring - Benoit begins to paint on his own. He takes watercolor lessons from his older brother Albert, studies art history literature, and later copies old Dutch paintings in the Hermitage. After graduating from the gymnasium, Benois enters the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. In the 1890s he began to paint.

Oranienbaum

The painting "Oranienbaum" became one of the first works of the "Russian series" - everything here breathes calmness and simplicity, but at the same time the canvas attracts the eye.
For the first time, Benois's works were presented to the public in 1893 at the exhibition of the Russian Society of Watercolorists, chaired by his elder brother Albert.
In 1890, Benoit's parents, wishing to reward their son for the successful completion of the gymnasium, provide him with the opportunity to travel around Europe.
From his trip, Benois brought over a hundred photographs of paintings acquired in the Berlin, Nuremberg, and Heidelberg museums. He pasted his treasures into large format albums, and subsequently Somov, Nouvel and Bakst, Lansere, Philosophers and Diaghilev studied from these photographs.
After graduating from university in 1894, Benois
park" - then leave the hands of the collector and are kept in private collections for a long time.

Versailles series

Impressed by a trip to France, Benois created a cycle of watercolors in 1896-1898: "By the pool of Ceres", "Versailles", "The King walks in any weather", "Masquerade under Louis XIV" and others.
makes several more trips abroad. He travels again in Germany and also visits Italy and France. In 1895-1896, the artist's paintings regularly appear at the exhibitions of the Society of Watercolorists.
M. Tretyakov acquires three paintings for his gallery: "Garden", "Cemetery" and "Castle". However, the best works of Benois are paintings from the cycle “Walks of King Louis XIV in Versailles”, “Walking in the Garden of Versailles”.
From the autumn of 1905 to the spring of 1906, Benois lived in Versailles and could observe the park in any weather and at different times of the day. Oil sketches from nature belong to this period - small cardboards or boards on which Benois painted this or that corner of the park. Made on the basis of natural sketches in watercolor and gouache, this painting by Benois is stylistically fundamentally different from the fantasies of the early Versailles cycle. Their colors are richer, landscape motifs are more varied, compositions are bolder.
"Versailles. Greenhouse"
Paintings of the "Versailles series" were exhibited in Paris at the famous exhibition of Russian art, as well as in St. Petersburg and Moscow at exhibitions of the Union of Russian Artists. Critics' reviews were not flattering, in particular, they noted the abuse of French Rococo motifs, the lack of novelty in themes and polemical sharpness.

Love for Petersburg
The artist turns to the image of his beloved city for most of his career. In the early 1900s, Benois created a series of watercolor drawings dedicated to the suburbs of the capital, as well as old St. Petersburg. These sketches were made for the Community of St. Eugenia at the Red Cross and published as postcards. Benois himself was a member of the editorial commission of the community and advocated that postcards, in addition to charitable purposes, also serve a cultural and educational purpose.
Contemporaries called the postcards of the community an artistic encyclopedia of the era. Starting from 1907, postcards were issued with a circulation of up to 10 thousand copies, and the most successful ones withstood several reprints.
Benois returned to the image of Petersburg again in the second half of the 1900s. And again, the artist paints pictures of historical subjects close to his heart, including “Parade under Paul I”, “Peter I on a walk in the Summer Garden” and others.

The composition is a kind of historical staging, conveying a direct feeling of the past era. Like a performance in a puppet theater, the action unfolds - a march of soldiers in Prussian-style uniforms in front of the Mikhailovsky Castle and Connable Square. The appearance of the emperor echoes the figure of a bronze horseman, which is visible against the background of the unfinished castle wall.
And the prehistory of their creation is as follows. In the early 1900s, the Russian publisher Iosif Nikolaevich Knebel had an idea to publish the brochure "Pictures of Russian History" as a school manual. Knebel relies on the high printing quality of reproductions
(by the way, their size practically corresponded to the originals) and attracts the best contemporary artists, including Benois, to work.

Benois more than once in his work will turn to the image of St. Petersburg and its suburbs. We also see him in the painting “Peter on a Walk in the Summer Garden”, where Peter, surrounded by his retinue, walks around this wonderful corner of the city he built. St. Petersburg streets and houses will appear on illustrations for the works of A. Pushkin, and "Petersburg Versailles" - on canvases painted during the period of emigration, including "Peterhof. Main Fountain" and "Peterhof. The lower fountain at the cascade.

On this canvas, the artist masterfully depicted the grandeur of the fountains of Peterhof and the beauty of park sculptures. Fascinating jets of water beating in different directions and captivating a wonderful summer day - everything around is as if penetrated by the rays of the invisible sun.

From this point, the artist painted his landscape, correctly defining its composition and focusing on the image of the Lower Park in inseparable connection with the bay, which is perceived as a continuation of the entire ensemble.
“Peterhof is the Russian Versailles”, “Peter wished to arrange a semblance of Versailles” - these phrases were constantly heard at that time.
HARLEQUIN

It is impossible to ignore another character that Benoit repeatedly refers to in the 1900s. This is Harlequin.
I would like to note that the masks of the commedia dell'arte are typical images of works of art from the beginning of the 20th century. If speak about
Benois, between 1901 and 1906 he created several paintings with similar characters. In the paintings, a performance is played out in front of the viewer: the main masks are frozen on the stage in plastic poses, secondary characters are peeking out from behind the curtains.
Perhaps the appeal to masks is not only a tribute to the time, since the performances with the participation of Harlequin, which Benoit had a chance to see in the mid-1870s, can be attributed to one of his most vivid childhood impressions.

BENOIT IN THE THEATER
In the first decade of the twentieth century, Benoit manages to make his childhood dream come true: he becomes a theater artist. However, he himself jokingly attributes the beginning of his theatrical activity to 1878.

Returning to the 1900s, it is worth noting that the first work of the artist in the theatrical field was a sketch for A. S. Taneyev’s opera “Cupid’s Revenge”. Although truly the first opera for which Benois created sketches for the scenery, Wagner's Doom of the Gods should be considered his genuine theatrical debut. Its premiere, which took place in 1903 on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater, was held to a standing ovation from the audience.
The Pavilion of Armida is considered to be Benois' first ballet, although a few years earlier he worked on sketches for the scenery for Delibes' one-act ballet Sylvia, which was never staged. And here it is worth returning to another childhood hobby of the artist - his ballet mania.
According to Benois, it all started with improvisations by his brother Albert. As soon as the twelve-year-old boy heard the cheerful and resonant chords that were heard from Albert's room, he was unable to resist their call.
BALLETOMANIA AND DIAGHILEV SEASONS

Fair". Sketch of the scenery for I. Stravinsky's ballet "Petrushka". 1911
Paper, watercolor, gouache. 83.4×60 cm Museum of the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow

The artist proposes to write music for the ballet to the husband of his niece N. Cherepnin, a student of Rimsky-Korsakov. In the same 1903, the score for the three-act ballet was completed, and soon the Pavilion of Armida was offered to the Mariinsky Theatre. However, its staging never took place. In 1906, the novice choreographer M. Fokin heard the suite from the ballet, and in early 1907, based on it, he staged a one-act educational performance called “The Tapestry Revived”, in which Nijinsky plays the role of Armida's slave. Benois is invited to a rehearsal of the ballet, and the spectacle literally stuns him.
Soon it was decided to stage The Pavilion of Armida on the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, but in a new version - one act with three scenes - and with Anna Pavlova in the title role. The premiere, which took place on November 25, 1907, is a huge success, and the ballet soloists, including Pavlova and Nijinsky, as well as Benois and Tcherepnin, are called on stage for an encore.
Benois not only writes the libretto, but also creates sketches of scenery and costumes for the production of The Pavilion of Armida. The artist and choreographer do not get tired of admiring each other.
We can say that it is with the "Pavilion of Armida" that the history of Diaghilev's "Russian Ballet Seasons" begins.
After the triumphant success of M. Mussorgsky's opera "Boris Godunov", shown in Paris in 1908, Benois suggests that Diaghilev include ballet performances in the next season. On May 19, 1909, the premiere of The Pavilion of Armida at the Châtelet Theater was a resounding success. The Parisians were amazed both by the luxury of costumes and scenery, and by the art of the dancers. So, in the capital's newspapers on May 20, Vaslav Nijinsky was called "a soaring angel" and "the god of dance."
In the future, for the "Russian Seasons" Benois designs the ballets "La Sylphide", "Giselle", "Petrushka", "The Nightingale". From 1913 until his emigration, the artist worked in various theaters, including the Moscow Art Theater (designing two performances based on Molière's plays), the Academic Opera and Ballet Theater (The Queen of Spades by P. I. Tchaikovsky). After emigrating to France, the artist collaborates with European theaters, including the Grand Opera, Covent Garden, La Scala.
"Fair" and "Arap Room".
Sketches of scenery for Igor Stravinsky's opera "Petrushka"
Sketches of scenery for Igor Stravinsky's ballet "Petrushka" are considered one of the highest achievements of Benois as a theater artist. They feel closeness to the expressive means of popular prints and folk toys. In addition to the scenery, the artist creates sketches of costumes for the ballet - while carefully studying historical material - and also takes part in writing the libretto.
BOOK GRAPHICS

Sketch of an illustration for "The Bronze Horseman" by A. S. Pushkin. 1916 Paper, ink, brush, whitewash, charcoal.
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

An important place in the work of Benois, as well as other masters of the World of Art, is occupied by book graphics. His debut in the field of the book is an illustration for The Queen of Spades, prepared for the three-volume anniversary edition of A. Pushkin. It was followed by illustrations for "The Golden Pot" by E. T. A. Hoffmann, "ABC in Pictures".
It must be said that the Pushkin theme is dominant in the work of Benois as a book graphic artist. The artist has been turning to Pushkin's works for more than 20 years. In 1904, and then in 1919, Benois made drawings for The Captain's Daughter. In 1905 and 1911, the artist's attention was once again riveted to The Queen of Spades. But of course, the most significant of Pushkin's works for Benois is The Bronze Horseman.
The artist made several cycles of illustrations for Pushkin's poem. In 1899-1904, Benois creates the first cycle, consisting of 32 drawings (including intros and endings). In 1905, while in Versailles, he redraws six illustrations and completes the frontispiece. In 1916, he begins work on the third cycle, in fact, he reworks the drawings of 1905, leaving only the frontispiece intact. In 1921-1922 he created a series of illustrations that supplemented the cycle of 1916.
It should be noted that prints were made from ink drawings in the printing house, which Benois painted with watercolors. Then the prints were sent back to the printing house, and they were used to make clichés for color printing.
The illustrations of the first cycle were published by Sergei Diaghilev in the 1904 issue of the World of Art, although they were originally intended for the Society of Lovers of Fine Editions. The second cycle was never fully printed; individual illustrations were placed in various editions of 1909 and 1912. The illustrations of the last cycle, included in the 1923 edition of The Bronze Horseman, have become classics of book graphics.
in the German settlement "Mons, the daughter of a German winemaker. The painter created his work on the basis of descriptions found in the archives of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. It is known for certain that the famous courtesan was very disliked in Moscow, considering her the reason for the exile of Tsarina Evdokia and Peter's quarrel with Tsarevich Alexei, who was subsequently executed. By the name of the German settlement (Kukuyu), she received an odious nickname - the Kukui queen.
EMIGRATION
The post-revolutionary years are a difficult period for Benoit. Hunger, cold, devastation - all this does not correspond to his ideas about life. After the arrest in 1921 of his elder brothers Leonty and Mikhail, fear firmly settled in the soul of the artist. At night, Benoit cannot sleep, he constantly listens to the creak of the latch on the gate, to the sound of footsteps in the yard, and it seems to him that “the Arkharovites are about to appear: here they are heading to the floor.” The only outlet at this time is the work in the Hermitage - in 1918 Benois was elected head of the Art Gallery.
In the early 1920s, he repeatedly thought about emigration. Finally, in 1926, the choice was made, and Benois, having gone on a business trip from the Hermitage to Paris, did not return to Russia.

Marquise bath. 1906 Paper on cardboard, gouache. 51 x 47 cm State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

The watercolor world of art by Alexandre Benois

The work of Alexander Nikolaevich Benois still remains closed to Russia, because. most of his work is located outside of Russia. Basically, those who are interested in art know his literary works, dedicated to both Russian and foreign artists. However, Alexandre Benois was an extremely versatile person - he is a painter, a graphic artist, a theater decorator, a stage director, and an art historian. And this is not surprising, because he comes from a family that has given the world many artistically gifted people.

Benois A.N. Chinese Pavilion at Versailles. Jealous 1906

In 1794, confectioner Louis-Jules Benois (1770-1822) arrived in Russia from France. His son Nikolai Leontievich, the father of Alexander Benois, became a famous architect. Alexander took only a few months in 1887 in the evening classes of the Academy of Arts, then studied at the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. He was a self-taught artist, but continuously worked on himself, calling himself " the product of an artistic family". The technique of watercolor painting was taught to him by his elder brother Albert Benois, also a famous artist.

Benois A.N. Versailles

Benois A.N. Versailles. At Curtius 1898

In 1894, Alexander Nikolaevich Benois began his career as a theorist and art historian, writing a chapter on Russian artists for the German collection History of Painting of the 19th Century. In 1896, he first came to Paris, and his French impressions were so strong that a whole series of watercolor drawings from the history of France was born. Fantastic, fabulous world. Trips to Paris will become regular for the artist and his famous series of works under the general conditional name "Versailles" will be born, which includes works from 1896-1922.

Benois A.N. Dance. Pavilion of Versailles

Benois A.N. scene in the garden

Benois A.N. On a walk

Benois A.N. Spring Day at Trianon 1921

Benois A.N. Walk in the park of Versailles

Benois A.N. Walk of the King 1906

"Versailles for Alexandre Benois is the embodiment of the harmonious unity of man, nature and art. In the "harmony of external forms of life" the artist sees not a superficial stratification, but an expression of a "culture of human dignity", that is, an ethical principle. The protagonist of Benois' paintings is invisible. This is an artist, creator of the Versailles Ensemble. He is the changer of nature, the director of life. He established that solemn mood to which the life of the era is subject. It would be even more accurate to say that there are two heroes in the Versailles paintings. The second is Benois himself, a philosopher and a dreamer, a typical artist of the "World of Art", in which the vanity and chaos of petty-bourgeois life give rise to a craving for beauty, harmony, grandeur.

The cycles of works dedicated to Versailles of the 17th century - the residence of King Louis XIV - were written on the basis of numerous natural observations. Under the influence of old memoirs, diaries, paintings, engravings, drawings, poems, and especially music of the 17th - early 18th centuries, "vague, slightly poignant memories" are born in the artist's soul, he sees the past. The "Versailles Series" is an opportunity to recall how many generations have already seen the Versailles park in their lifetime, and thus speak about the immortality of art and the transience of human life. But art is nothing but one of the manifestations of the greatness of the human spirit.".

A. P. Gusarova "World of Art"

Benois A.N. Rainy day at Versailles

Benois A.N. Walk

Benois A.N. Wedding walk 1908

Benois A.N. Alley of Versailles

Benois A.N. Fish feeding

Benois A.N. masks

Benois A.N. Bathing Marquise

Benois A.N. Masquerade under the king

Benois A.N. Italian comedy 1905

Benois A.N. Versailles

Benois A.N. In the park of Versailles

Benois A.N. Comedy. musical farce

Stylistically, watercolor works are very similar to the works of Konstantin Somov, and this is not surprising, it was with him that Alexander Nikolaevich Benois created the famous art association "World of Art" and founded the magazine of the same name. Miriskussniki entered the history of Russian painting as propagandists of the 18th century, the century of costume, love, the century of beauty. For this departure into the past, Benois was repeatedly scolded, as was scolded by his entire artistic association. So Ilya Efimovich Repin spoke rather caustically about Benois: " half-educated, amateur, never seriously studied the form"...

Benois A.N. The Bronze Horseman 1916

Benois A.N. Peter the Great thinking about the construction of St. Petersburg

Benois A.N. Petersburg

Benois A.N. Parade under Paul I 1907

Benois A.N. Alleys of the Summer Garden

Benois A.N. Summer garden

Benois A.N. Hermitage of Peter the Great

Benois A.N. On the streets of Petersburg

Benois A.N. Grand Cascade of Peterhof

Benois A.N. Peterhof 1900

In 1916-1918, Benois created illustrations for A. S. Pushkin's poem "The Bronze Horseman" and a series of works dedicated to St. Petersburg and its suburbs. In 1918, the artist became head of the Hermitage art gallery and became its curator. In 1926, Alexander Nikolaevich Benois left the USSR without returning from a business trip abroad. He lived in Paris, worked mainly on sketches of theatrical scenery and costumes. Benois died on February 9, 1960 in Paris.

Landscape series of watercolors by A.N. Benois