Slavic World: Konstantin Vasiliev. Konstantin Vasiliev (Konstantin Velikoross)

Konstantin Alekseevich Vasiliev (09/03/1942 - 10/29/1976)- Russian artist, widely known for his works on military and epic-mythological themes.

The creative legacy of Konstantin Vasiliev, who chose the pseudonym "KONSTANTIN THE VELIKOROSS", is very multifaceted and diverse, with more than 400 works of painting and graphics.

In addition to the works of the above subjects, it contains portraits, landscapes, realistic compositions, paintings of the battle genre. The deep symbolism of painting combined with the original color solution canvases - the wide use of red and silver-gray colors and their shades - make the paintings of Konstantin Vasiliev recognizable and original.

Vasiliev turned to folk art: Russian songs, epics, fairy tales, Scandinavian and Irish sagas, to "Eddic poetry". He created works on mythological subjects, heroic themes of the Slavic and Scandinavian epics, about the Great Patriotic War.

Biography. From the book of Anatoly Doronin "Rus''s Magic Palette"

To understand inner world man, one must by all means touch his roots. Kostya's father was born in 1897 in the family of a St. Petersburg worker. By the will of fate, he became a participant in three wars and worked all his life in leadership work in industry. Kostya's mother was almost twenty years younger than her father and belonged to the family of the great Russian painter I.I. Shishkin.

Before the war, the young couple lived in Maikop. The firstborn was eagerly awaited. But a month before his birth, Alexey Alekseevich went to the partisan detachment: the Germans were approaching Maikop. Claudia Parmenovna was unable to evacuate. On August 8, 1942, the city was occupied, and on September 3, Konstantin Vasilyev entered the world. Needless to say, what hardships and hardships befell the young mother and baby. Klavdia Parmenovna and her son were taken to the Gestapo, then released, trying to uncover possible connections with the partisans. The life of the Vasilyevs hung literally in the balance, and only a swift offensive Soviet troops saved them. Maykop was liberated on February 3, 1943.

After the war, the family moved to Kazan, and in 1949 - for permanent residence in the village of Vasilyevo. And it wasn't an accident. A passionate hunter and fisherman, Alexey Alekseevich, often leaving the city, somehow ended up in this village, fell in love with it and decided to move here forever. Later Kostya will reflect unearthly beauty these places in their many landscapes.

Young Kostya was struck by the beauty of these places. She was special here, created by the great river. In a blue haze rises the right bank, almost steep, overgrown with forest; one can see a distant white monastery on a slope, to the right - the fabulous Sviyazhsk, all located on Table Mountain with its temples and churches, shops and houses, rising above the wide meadows in the floodplain of the Sviyaga and the Volga. And quite far away, already behind the Sviyaga, on its high bank, you can barely see the bell tower and the church of the village of Quiet Ples. Closer to the village - a river, a stream of water, wide. And the water is deep, slow and cool, and the pools are bottomless, shady and cold.

In the spring, in April-May, the flood flooded all this space from ridge to ridge, and then, to the south of the village, water with bushy islands was visible for many kilometers, and distant Sviyazhsk itself turned into an island. By June, the water was leaving, exposing the entire expanse of water meadows, generously watered and fertilized with silt, leaving behind cheerful streams and blue overgrown lakes densely populated with burbots, tenches, loaches, squints and frogs. The ensuing summer heat with irrepressible force drove thick, juicy, sweet grasses out of the ground, and along the banks of ditches, streams and lakes drove up and in breadth the bushes of willow, currant, wild rose.

The meadows on the left bank near the ridge were replaced by light linden and oak forests, which to this day, interspersed with fields, stretch to the north for many kilometers and gradually pass into the coniferous forest-taiga.

Kostya differed from his peers in that he was not interested in toys, ran a little with other children, but always fiddled with paints, pencil and paper. His father often took him fishing, hunting, and Kostya painted the river, boats, his father, the forest apiary, game, Orlik's dog, and in general everything that pleased the eye and struck his imagination. Some of these drawings have survived.

Parents helped the development of abilities as best they could: tactfully and unobtrusively, preserving taste, they selected books and reproductions, introduced Kostya to music, took him to the museums of Kazan, Moscow, Leningrad, when the opportunity and opportunity presented themselves.

Kostin's first favorite book is The Tale of the Three Bogatyrs. Then the boy got acquainted with the painting by V.M. Vasnetsov "Heroes", and a year later copied it with colored pencils. On his father's birthday, he gave him a painting as a gift. The resemblance of the heroes was striking. Inspired by the praise of his parents, the boy copied The Knight at the Crossroads, also with colored pencils. Then he made a pencil drawing from Antokolsky's sculpture Ivan the Terrible. His first landscape sketches have survived: a stump strewn with yellow autumn leaves, a hut in the forest.

The parents saw that the boy was gifted, he could not live without drawing, and therefore, more than once, they thought about the advice of teachers - to send their son to an art school. Why, where, in what, after what class? There was no such school in the village or in Kazan. The case helped.

In 1954, the newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda" placed an announcement that the Moscow secondary art school at the Institute named after V. I. Surikov accepts children gifted in the field of drawing. Parents immediately decided that this was exactly the kind of school Kostya needed - he showed a talent for drawing very early. The school accepted five or six children from other cities a year. Kostya was one of them, having passed all the exams with excellent marks.

The Moscow secondary art school was located in the quiet Lavrushinsky Lane of the old Zamoskvorechye, opposite the Tretyakovskaya galleries. There were only three such schools in the country: in addition to Moscow, also in Leningrad and Kyiv. But the Moscow Art School was revered beyond competition, if only because it existed at the Surikov Institute, and had the Tretyakov Gallery as an educational base.

Of course, Kostya did not wait for the day when the whole class headed by the teacher went to the Tretyakov Gallery. He went to the gallery alone as soon as he was enrolled in school. The personal interest laid down by life, on the one hand, and the living active force of the pictures, on the other, clashed in his excited mind. Which picture should I go for? No, not to this one, where the night sky and the dark shadow of the house, and not to the one where the sandy seashore and the scow in the bay, and not to the one where female figures are depicted ...

Kostya went further and heard a call in himself when he saw three bright familiar figures on Vasnetsov's large, half-wall canvas "Bogatyrs". The boy was delighted to meet the source of his recent inspiration: after all, he studied the reproduction of this picture in centimeters, looked at it countless times, and then diligently redrawn it. So here it is - the original!

The boy dug into the resolute faces of the bogatyrs, the brilliant, reliable weapons, the cast-metal chain mail, the shaggy horse manes. Where did the great Vasnetsov get all this from? From books, of course! And all this steppe distance, this air before the fight - also from books? And the wind? After all, the picture feels the wind! Kostya became agitated, having now opened a feeling of wind in front of the original. Indeed, horse manes, and even blades of grass move the wind.

Having recovered from the first overwhelming impressions of the giant city, the boy did not get lost in an unusual space for him. Tretyakov Gallery and Pushkin Museum, Grand Theatre and the conservatory - these are the main gates to the world that have become for him classical art. With childish seriousness, he also reads Leonardo da Vinci's "Treatise on Painting", and then studies the paintings of this great master and the "Napoleon" of the Soviet historian Yevgeny Tarle, with all the ardor of a young soul, he plunges into the music of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mozart and Bach. And the powerful, almost materialized spirituality of these giants is fixed in his mind by crystals of precious rock.

Quiet, calm Kostya Vasiliev always behaved independently. The level of his work, declared from the first days of study, gave him the right to do so. Not only boys, but even teachers were amazed by Kostya's watercolors. As a rule, these were landscapes, with their clearly distinctive themes. The young artist did not take something large, catchy, bright, but always found some touch in nature, which you can pass by and not notice: a twig, a flower, a field blade of grass. Moreover, Kostya performed these sketches with minimal pictorial means, sparingly selecting colors and playing with subtle color ratios. This shows the character of the boy, his approach to life.

Miraculously, one of his amazing productions survived - a still life with a plaster head. Having almost completed the work, Kostya accidentally spilled glue on it; immediately he removed the cardboard from the easel and threw it into the dustbin. This watercolor would have disappeared forever, like many others, if it were not for Kolya Charugin, also a boarding boy who studied later in the class and always watched Vasilyev’s work with delight. He saved and for thirty years kept this still life among his most valuable works.

All the components of this still life were tastefully selected by someone in the subject fund of the school: as a background - a medieval plush caftan, on the table - a plaster head of a boy, an old book in a shabby leather cover and with some kind of rag bookmark, and next to it - not yet withered rose flower.

Kostya did not have to study for long - only two years. His father died and he had to return home. He continued his studies at the Kazan Art College, enrolling immediately in the second year. Kostya's drawings did not look like the work of a student. He made any sketch with a smooth and almost continuous movement of his hand. Vasiliev made many living and expressive drawings. It is a pity that most of them are lost. Of the surviving ones, the most interesting is his self-portrait, written at the age of fifteen. The contour of the head is built with a smooth thin line. With one movement of the pencil, the shape of the nose, the bend of the eyebrows are outlined, the mouth is slightly marked, the chiseled bend of the auricle, the curls at the forehead. At the same time, the oval of the face, the slit of the eyes and something else barely perceptible resemble Sandro Botticelli's Madonna with a Pomegranate.

The preserved small still life of that period is characteristic - “Kulik”, painted in oil. It is a clear imitation of the Dutch masters - the same strict gloomy tone, filigree painted texture of objects. On the edge of the table, on a rough canvas tablecloth, lies the hunter's prey, and next to it is a glass of water, an apricot pit. And transparent well water, and a bone that has not yet dried up, and a bird left for a while - everything is so natural that the viewer can easily mentally push the frame of the picture and finish in his imagination some everyday situation accompanying the artist’s production.

By this period of his life, Vasiliev could write in any manner, under anyone. The craft was masterful. But he had to find his own way and, like any artist, he wanted to say his own. own word. He grew up and looked for himself.

In the spring of 1961, Konstantin graduated from the Kazan Art College. Graduation work there were sketches of scenery for Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Snow Maiden. The defense passed brilliantly. The work was rated "excellent", but unfortunately it has not been preserved.

In a painful search for himself, Vasiliev "had been ill" with abstractionism and surrealism. It was interesting to try out the styles and trends led by such fashionable names as Pablo Picasso, Henry Moore, Salvador Dali. Vasiliev quite quickly comprehended the creative creed of each of them and created new ones. interesting developments in their key. Having plunged into the development of new directions with his inherent seriousness, Vasiliev creates a whole series of interesting surrealistic works, such as "String", "Ascension", "Apostle". However, Vasiliev himself was quickly disappointed by the formal search, which was based on naturalism.

“The only thing that is interesting about surrealism,” he shared with friends, “is its purely external showiness, the ability to openly express momentary aspirations and thoughts in an easy form, but by no means deep feelings.

Drawing an analogy with music, he compared this direction with a jazz arrangement of a symphonic piece. In any case, delicate subtle soul Vasilyeva did not want to put up with a certain frivolity of the forms of surrealism: the permissiveness of the expression of feelings and thoughts, their imbalance and nakedness. The artist felt his inner failure, the destruction of something important that is in realistic art, the meaning, the purpose that it carries.

A little longer continued passion for expressionism, relating to non-objective painting and claiming great depth. Here, the pillars of abstractionism declared, for example, that the master, without the help of objects, depicts not longing on a person’s face, but longing itself. That is, for the artist, the illusion of a much deeper self-expression arises. This period includes such works as: "Quartet", "Sadness of the Queen", "Vision", "Icon of Memory", "Music of Eyelashes".

Trying to comprehend the essence of the phenomena and suffer the general structure of thoughts for future works, Konstantin took up landscape sketches. What a variety of landscapes he created in his short creative life! Undoubtedly, Vasilyev created landscapes of unique beauty, but some new strong thought was tormented, beat in his mind: “ inner strength of all living things, the strength of the spirit - that's what the artist should express! Yes, beauty, greatness of spirit - that's what will be the main thing for Konstantin from now on! And the "Northern eagle", "A man with an owl", "Waiting", "At someone else's window", "Northern legend" and many other works that have become the embodiment of a special "Vasilyevsky" style that cannot be confused with anything.

Konstantin belonged to the rarest category of people who are invariably accompanied by inspiration, but they do not feel it, because for them this is a familiar state. They seem to live from birth to death in one breath, in increased tone. Konstantin loves nature all the time, loves people all the time, loves life all the time. Why does he observe, why does he catch a glance, the movement of a cloud, a leaf. He is always attentive to everything. This attention, this love, this desire for everything good was Vasiliev's inspiration. And that was his whole life.

But it is unfair, of course, to assert that the life of Konstantin Vasilyev was devoid of inescapable human joys. Once (Konstantin was then seventeen years old), his sister Valentina, returning from school, said that a new girl had come to them in the eighth grade - a beautiful girl with green slanting eyes and shoulder-length hair. She came to live in a resort village because of her sick brother. Konstantin offered to bring her in for a pose.

When fourteen-year-old Lyudmila Chugunova entered the house, Kostya suddenly became confused, fussed, and began to rearrange the easel from place to place. The first session was long. In the evening Kostya went to see Luda home. A gang of guys who came across them brutally beat him: immediately and unconditionally, Luda was recognized as the most beautiful girl in the village. But how could beatings cool the ardent heart of an artist? He loved the girl. Every day he painted her portraits. Lyudmila retold her romantic dreams to him, and he made color illustrations for them. They both disliked yellow(maybe just youthful dislike for the symbol of treason?), and one day, drawing blue sunflowers, Kostya asked: “Do you understand what I wrote? If not, it’s better to be silent, don’t say anything…”

Konstantin introduced Luda to music and literature. It seemed that they understood each other from a half-word, from a half-look. Once Lyudmila went to Konstantin with a friend. At that time, together with his friend Tolya Kuznetsov, he was sitting in the twilight, listening with enthusiasm to classical music and did not react at all to those who entered. For Luda's friend, such inattention seemed insulting, and she dragged Luda by the hand.

After that, the girl was afraid of meetings for a long time, feeling that she offended Kostya. Her whole being was drawn to him, and when it became completely unbearable for her, she went up to his house and sat on the porch for hours. But friendships broke down.

Several years have passed. Once, on the train, Konstantin was returning from Kazan with Anatoly. Having met Lyudmila in the car, he approached her and invited her: “I have opened an exhibition in Zelenodolsk. Come. There is also your portrait.

A ringing, joyful hope awoke in her soul. Of course she will come! But at home, the mother categorically forbade: “You won’t go! Why dangle somewhere, you already have a lot of his drawings and portraits!

The exhibition closed, and suddenly Konstantin himself came to her house. Having collected all his drawings, he tore them up in front of Lyudmila's eyes and silently left. Forever…

Several works of semi-abstract style - the memory of youthful quest pictorial forms and means dedicated to Lyudmila Chugunova are still preserved in the collections of Blinov and Pronin.

Warm relations at one time connected Konstantin with Lena Aseeva, a graduate of the Kazan Conservatory. The oil portrait of Lena is successfully shown at all posthumous exhibitions of the artist. Elena successfully completed educational institution in piano and, of course, was well versed in music. This circumstance especially attracted Konstantin to the girl. One day he made up his mind and proposed to her. The girl replied that she should think ...

Well, which of us, mere mortals, can imagine what passions boil and disappear without a trace in the soul great artist What sometimes insignificant circumstances can radically change the intensity of his emotions? Of course, he did not know with what answer Lena came to him the next day, and, apparently, he was no longer interested in this, since he did not immediately receive the desired answer.

Many will say that this is not serious and that it is important questions do not decide. And they will, of course, be right. But let's remember that artists, as a rule, are easily vulnerable and proud people. Unfortunately, the failure that befell Konstantin in this matchmaking played another fatal role in his fate.

Already a mature man, at the age of about thirty, he fell in love with Lena Kovalenko, who also received musical education. A smart, subtle, charming girl, Lena disturbed Konstantin's heart. Again, as in his youth, a strong, real feeling woke up in him, but the fear of being refused, of meeting misunderstanding did not allow him to arrange his happiness ... But in the fact that his only chosen one before last days life remained painting, you can see the special purpose of the artist.

There are, of course, objective reasons for this. One of them is unrepentant mother's love Claudia Parmenovna, who was afraid to let her son out of her native nest. Sometimes too captiously, with a critical eye, she could look at the bride and then express her opinion to her son, to which Konstantin reacted very sensitively.

Extraordinary gift, rich spiritual world and the education he received allowed Konstantin Vasiliev to leave his incomparable mark in Russian painting. His paintings are easily recognizable. You can not recognize him at all, some of his works are controversial, but once you see the work of Vasiliev, you can no longer remain indifferent to them. I would like to quote an excerpt from the story of Vladimir Soloukhin "Continuation of time": - ... “Konstantin Vasiliev?! the artists protested. But that's unprofessional. Painting has its own laws, its own rules. And this is illiterate from the point of view of painting. He is an amateur ... an amateur, and all his paintings are amateurish daub. In the same place, not a single picturesque spot corresponds to another picturesque spot! — But excuse me, if this painting is not even art at all, then how and why does it affect people? but there is no professional painting. - Yes, thoughts and symbols cannot affect people by themselves in their naked form. These would be only slogans, abstract signs. And poetry cannot exist in an unembodied form. And vice versa, if the picture is super-literate and professional, if every pictorial spot in it, as you say, correlates with another pictorial spot, but there is neither poetry, nor thought, nor a symbol, nor its own view of the world, if the picture does not touch no mind, no heart, boring, dull or simply dead, spiritually dead, then why do I need this competent relationship of parts. The main thing here, apparently, is precisely in the spirituality of Konstantin Vasiliev. It was spirituality that people felt ... "

Kostya died under very strange and mysterious circumstances. Official version- was hit with a friend at a railway crossing by a passing train. It happened on October 29, 1976. Relatives and friends of Kostya do not agree with this - there are too many incomprehensible coincidences associated with his death. The misfortune shocked many. They buried Konstantin in a birch grove, in the very forest where he loved to visit.

Fate, so often evil in relation to great people from the outside, always carefully treats what is inside, deep in them. The thought that has to live does not die with its bearers, even when death overtakes them unexpectedly and accidentally. And the artist will live as long as his paintings are alive.

"Northern Eagle"

"Marshal G. Zhukov"

The work of a highly gifted artist, who passed away early under unclear circumstances, causes fierce controversy. Art historians dismiss his works, and the public that visits his museum in Moscow in Lianozovsky Park has a completely different opinion: the paintings of Konstantin Vasilyev bewitch and enchant, plunging into completely different worlds.

Creativity K. Vasiliev

The legacy of the artist, who worked for only fifteen years, has preserved more than four hundred works. We can distinguish the main areas that affect the soul:

• Paintings by Konstantin Vasilyev about the Patriotic War.
• Themes of Russian epics, songs, fairy tales.
• Scandinavian epic.
• Scenery.
• Portrait.

Paintings by Konstantin Vasiliev are so unusual and amazing that they cannot be confused with the works of other artists.

Eternal theme - war

People do not stop fighting, they only have a dream of peace. The heroes of K. Vasiliev's paintings go out to fight to protect their home, their loved ones. At the same time, it does not matter at what time it happens, who came to Russian soil. For the invader, the people who stood up to protect the land dear to their hearts will leave a place only for his grave. A warrior who draws a sword or takes a machine gun or rifle has no fear of death, no matter how terrible the enemies may seem. Russian pathos heroic people reflect paintings by Konstantin Vasiliev with the titles: “Farewell of the Slav”, “Parade of the forty-first”, “Unter den Linden on fire”, “Duel of Peresvet with Chelubey”, “Ilya Muromets frees the prisoners”, “Fight with a snake”. "Invasion" stands apart.

In it, under a leaden sky, columns are marching, to which there is no end, already on the devastated Russian land. In the temple they destroyed, on the ruins of the altar, the saints of the Russian land stood in formation. They, together with the soldiers who will give all their blood for the Motherland to the last drop, will help to liberate the Fatherland in this bad times for every Russian, when enemy forces seek not only to physically destroy the people, but to break their spirit, to eradicate culture. Our warrior is calm in mortal combat, although death circles over him, but his beloved believes in him, and this faith saved him from death, from a whistling bullet.

"Forty-first Parade"

All the strength of the spirit of the Russian people is reflected in this canvas. Forty kilometers from Moscow, the hardest battles are going on for every piece of land, for every height. Other Russian patriots will go to their aid right from the parade to the battlefield, who often do not even know how to shoot and have never killed anyone in their lives, not even a kitten or a puppy. And now it's time to fight the black horde. The artist took the view from above not by chance. Close-up are people who defended the Motherland in Time of Troubles from the Polish intervention: the tradesman Kozma Minin and Prince Dmitry Pozharsky. Their images merged into a single whole in historical memory people. It is they who bless the people going into battle, and not the "leaders" who are hidden behind the stands of a barely visible Mausoleum.

Cold canvases

Paintings by Konstantin Vasiliev are often called cold. But you can see from inside the coming, barely contained fire. Take a close look at the reproductions that were given. Paintings by Konstantin Vasiliev, photos of which will appear below, can you really call them lifeless and cold? We live not in the east, but in harsh north that shaped our mentality: eternal struggle with a scarce nature that does not provide enough food to survive. Frosts that come already in early autumn, and in the spring are not going to recede. What kind of people grew up on this earth? Firm, steadfast, not fond of expressing emotions, hiding their pain and tears, laughing at their situation, no matter how hopeless it may seem. Brightness and warmth, playfulness can be found in French or Italian masters, and Konstantin Vasiliev, the artist whose paintings with the names we are considering, is completely different. Look at the Northern Eagle. In severe frost, in an open sheepskin coat, without a hat, covered with a shock of hair on his head, a stern mature man will now warm up to the point that he will throw off his sheepskin coat, preparing firewood. But if a covetous man approaches, then his ax is sharp. Great is the strength of his human spirit.

"Unexpected meeting"

And what could be the meeting of two proud people? Outwardly they are impassive. There is a silent conversation with the eyes. If a woman decides that a man is worthy of her, then she will not look at the conventions. You won’t wave a pen at such a pen: “Go, they say, it’s not up to you,” and you won’t shut it up in your belt. Two characters, one cooler than the other, were written by K. Vasilyev, depicting a beautiful couple in appearance. Both images are complete. You can stand by the painting for hours.

Russian legends and traditions

The artist Vasiliev Konstantin painted very controversial paintings. Take, for example, the canvas "Ilya Muromets - a fighter against the Christian plague."

In Catholic good times he would have been immediately poisoned at the stake, the Orthodox would have hesitated for a week, but they would not have been ashamed of reprisals either. And so good fellow fights for native paternal institutions. And what does he do? He knocked down golden domes from Kyiv churches, full of faith that he was fighting for a just cause. Terrible is his face. He looks around, where else to put his strength. He is confident in his rightness, strength, moral and worldly wisdom. At the feast, he became angry with Prince Vladimir, went to prison for impudence, went out and began to avenge the unjust reproach. Ilya Muromets is an indomitable free Russian soul who will renounce forced baptism for a long time to come, remember his primordial gods, pray to them, hiding in the dense northern forests.

Scandinavian sagas

Scandinavian subjects were well mastered by Konstantin Vasiliev. Paintings "Valkyrie", "Wotan", drawings " Scandinavian warrior”,“ Siegfried ”are the embodiment of military stamina.

"Valkyrie"

Before us stands over the dead warrior, the Valkyrie, perfect in her beauty. Behind her is her faithful snow-white horse. She radiates from her. Her figure is static, as is the motionless deceased, who tightly grips his sword. A few more minutes of thought, and the maiden will take him to Valhalla.

Virgo is beautiful and strong. Her eyes look firmly into the distance, and her armor and sword say that she will rebuff anyone who dares to approach her. Separate portrait of Valkyrie close-up shows her ice-blue eyes. Golden curls came out from under the winged helmet, they were scattered by the wind. The daughter of Odin is beautiful in her equanimity.

Will

The last picture painted by Vasiliev is "A Man with an Owl".

A wise old man stands against the backdrop of a snow-covered plain. He raised his hand with a whip, and a huge owl sat on it. In his right hand, he holds a lit candle, when it melts, the parchment with the scarlet inscription "Konstantin the Great Russian 1976" will also burn out. Vasiliev often called himself by this name. How did it happen that he predicted the year of his death along with the destruction of the parchment in the fire? Nobody will know this anymore. But the smoke from the fire turns into a growing oak, which is destined to become a mighty tree.

Having finished this canvas, K. Vasiliev told a friend that now he knows how to write. But we can't wait for his new works.

Alekseevich, whose paintings will be considered in this article, is not one of the well-known artists whose works are sold at auctions for fabulous sums. However, this fact does not at all diminish his merits to domestic art. During his short life, the painter, also known under the pseudonym Konstantin Velikoross, left about 400 works, among which the most interesting are paintings on fabulous and historical plots, portraits, landscapes, graphics, canvases in a surreal style.

short biography

The Soviet artist Konstantin Vasiliev was born in 1942 in the German-occupied city of Maykop ( Krasnodar region). His father Alexei Alekseevich is a native of St. Petersburg, an engineer, a lover of literature and nature. The mother of the future Claudia Parmenovna was from a family of Saratov peasants.

After the war, the boy with his parents moved to Kazan, and in 1949 - to the picturesque village of Vasilyevo located under it. Since childhood, Konstantin was fond of drawing, showed an unprecedented talent for his age in writing watercolor paintings. For four years(from 1957 to 1961) he studied at the Kazan Art College. After graduation, he taught at high school drawing and drafting, and also worked as a graphic designer.

Appeal to surrealism and expressionism

Like many painters, Vasiliev Konstantin Alekseevich was in search of his artistic style for some time. The paintings of his early period are reminiscent of the surrealist works of Picasso and Dali. These include "Apostle", "String", "Ascension". Fascinated by surrealism, Vasiliev quickly lost interest in him, believing that with his help it was impossible to achieve expression of deep feelings on the canvas.

The next stage of your creativity soviet artist associated with expressionism. During this period, such paintings as “Icon of Memory”, “Sadness of the Queen”, “Music of Eyelashes”, “Vision” come out from under his brush. However, soon the master also abandoned expressionism, considering this direction in art to be superficial and incapable of expressing deep thoughts.

Creating paintings in the Russian style

The artist Konstantin Vasilyev, whose biography and work are described in this publication, was able to truly open up only after he began to paint landscapes of his native land. Nature inspired him to create paintings in the original Russian style. Gradually, he began to supplement landscapes with images of people. In parallel, Konstantin Alekseevich became interested in studying historical literature, Russian epics and myths. The more he learned about the past of his people, the more he wanted to reproduce scenes from his life on canvas. It was here that the artist managed to maximize his talent. Drawing inspiration from Russian culture, Vasiliev writes his most famous works: "The Northern Eagle", "Waiting", "The Man with the Owl". Konstantin Alekseevich became famous as a battle painter. His authorship is the portrait of Marshal Zhukov, the painting "Farewell of the Slav", "Parade of the 41st", "Longing for the Motherland".

Konstantin Vasiliev is an artist who created his masterpieces to music. When he painted, Russians sounded in his studio folk songs, patriotic works of the war years, compositions by Shostakovich and other classical composers. Love for music found its reflection in the work of Konstantin Alekseevich. In the early 60s, he created a whole series graphic portraits famous composers("Rimsky-Korsakov", "Shostakovich", "Beethoven", "Mozart", "Debussy", etc.).

Criticism of the artist, his death

Unfortunately, Vasiliev Konstantin Alekseevich could not achieve recognition of his talent. His paintings, accused of Russian fascism, were persecuted by the communist authorities. They were mercilessly criticized, called "non-Soviet". The masters repeatedly urged to stop painting. Only a few times in his life the works of the artist were lucky enough to visit exhibitions held in Moscow, Kazan and Zelenodolsk.

The death of Vasiliev Konstantin put a fat point in his work. The artist, who was only 34 years old, was hit by a train. It happened on October 29, 1976, a few days after he finished work on his own famous painting"The Man with the Owl". They buried Konstantin Vasilyevich in his native village of Vasilyevo, in the same birch grove where he liked to draw inspiration from nature.

early stage of creativity

By pictures different periods It is interesting to follow how Vasiliev's skill has improved over the years. In his work "Ascension", written in 1964, one can trace the imitation of Salvador Dali, who has a work with a similar theme. However, looking more closely at the picture of the Soviet artist, you can see a completely new interpretation of the story of the ascension of Christ. Vasiliev's Jesus is depicted not dead, as is customary, but alive. His face expresses concern future fate humanity. Konstantin Vasiliev is an artist who, with the help of his canvas, declared: not only the soul of the Savior, but also his body, is not subject to death.

"Icon of Memory" was created in the years when Konstantin Alekseevich was in search of his own style and created paintings in the genre this work artist is not just a romantic collage, it is a memory of his tender feelings for a girl named Lyudmila. Konstantin fell in love with her at the age of 20. After breaking up with the young lady, he destroyed all her photographs. Fragments of Lyudmila's photographs were kept by the artist's mother. They subsequently served as the basis for the creation of the "Icon ...", symbolizing the image lost love creator.

Vasiliev Konstantin Alekseevich: paintings of the last years of his life

Shortly before his death, Vasiliev paints the picture "Waiting", which depicts a Russian beauty with a candle in her hands. The girl looks out the frost-covered window, waiting for someone from her family. It is not known who the heroine of the picture looks out to. Probably a fiancé who was delayed somewhere on the road, but maybe also a husband who does not return from the war for a long time. In the face of the girl, lit by the flame of a candle, one can see anxiety for loved one. The master painted the fire on the canvas with luminous paint, making it look very realistic. Vasiliev painted this picture for his mother's birthday, which is why many people think that he portrayed her as a young lady at a young age.

"The Man with the Owl" is the pinnacle of the work of Konstantin Alekseevich and, by a sad coincidence, his latest work. On it, the master depicted a gray-haired old man, wise by life experience, holding a candle in his right hand. He is tired, but he has a long road ahead of him. An owl sits on his outstretched left hand. The old man rises above the snowy ground, looking into the distance with a stern look. Above his head is a starry sky, and at his feet a fire is made from a paper scroll with the name of the artist. Viewers perceive the plot of the picture in different ways. Someone sees God in the old man, and for someone he is the embodiment of earthly wisdom. The picture makes an indelible impression on others. Near it, I want to stay longer and try to see what the artist wanted to tell humanity.

How did Vasiliev and his friend Arkady Popov end up there? Why was the family not informed about the death of Konstantin for two days, although all the documents were with him? And how did the most famous artist die today? Many still believe that it was a murder.
But if there was a crime, then there must be a criminal case? Having called the press center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Tatarstan, I heard a quick and peremptory answer to my question: "Vasilyev was stabbed to death in an electric train and thrown out of the car." "Do you have proof of this?" - "Of course! Send an official request." A request (and more than one) has been sent, but no clarity on this dark history Unfortunately, the answers were not included.
“I inform you that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Tatarstan does not have information about whether a criminal case was initiated into the death of the artist Konstantin Vasilyev. This crime was committed on the territory served by the linear department of internal affairs, on railway transport. Crimes of this category are registered in the Volga-Vyatka department of internal affairs in railway transport with a deployment in Nizhny Novgorod.
Head of the Information Center under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Tajikistan, police colonel R.R. Fakhrutdinov".
"I inform you that in 1976 the prosecutor's office Kirovsky district Kazan, a criminal case on the death of Konstantin Vasilyev was not initiated. Materials on the facts of the death of citizens for the specified year were destroyed due to the expiration of the storage period.
Prosecutor of the Kirovsky District, Senior Counselor of Justice O.A. Drozdov.
I could not remember anything about this case and the former transport prosecutor of the republic, Yuri Gudkovich, whom I had found. There were no eyewitnesses to the very moment of the death of the artist. A few days after the incident, the dispatcher and track workers said that two young people were hit by the locomotive of the Omsk-Moscow fast train. Both were allegedly drunk. With a monstrous blow, they were thrown tens of meters along different sides way. A bottle of port wine was found in the pocket of Vasiliev's coat. Whether alcohol tests were done in the morgue is unknown: the protocols of the forensic autopsy have long been destroyed.
What did two friends forget on Lagernaya two stops before Kazan? Did you get off the train on purpose to buy a bottle at the railroad store, which was open until night (in those years, alcohol was not sold after 8 pm)? At the wake there were persistent conversations that someone else was with them that evening.
Even if the immediate cause of his death is a ridiculous traffic accident, it cannot be said that the tragic outcome was so accidental. The artist was "killed" prudently and methodically, as they could then deal with an original talent that did not fit into the generally accepted framework: they were not allowed to see the audience, they were not accepted into a creative union, into the Khudfond, they were not supported by state orders. Lack of money and poverty killed him: in order to somehow feed himself, he painted posters and slogans at a local glass factory.
Of course, Konstantin had envious people. Several dozens of artists participated in that same Zelenodolsk exhibition, and in the guest book there are entries exclusively about his paintings - and how enthusiastic! He was not only envied, he was also ... suspected! At the beginning of 1976, together with his friends, he was summoned to the Black Lake (in Kazan, this is the address of the KGB building, which had recently burned down). One of them, Gennady Pronin, recalls: “Why were we invited there? One of the neighbors ratted out that we were listening to fascist marches. Kostya was a fan of the monumental, sublime style in art. Take his portraits of Marshal Zhukov, paintings based on Wagner, ancient sagas... And this style was also vividly expressed in the old German marches written long before the Nazis. they could not know, but the newsreel was ours, Soviet: documentary Romm's "Ordinary Fascism" - we really watched it more than once.
And how could Vasiliev be an anti-Soviet? His father is a party worker, he served as a partisan during the war. But, in my opinion, no one has so clearly expressed on canvas secret life Russian national spirit under the icy breath of the so-called stagnation. In general, Vasiliev broke out of genre formats: not a portrait painter, not a landscape painter, not a writer of everyday life. He, like Vrubel, is a painter of the Spirit! In general, the KGBists “sewed” an “organization” for us, and we were just a company of people who love real art, literature, philosophy.”
Soon after this, the artist died, and this gave reason to associate his death with the machinations of the then all-powerful organization. Meanwhile, the father of Arkady Popov, who died with him, served in the state security system, and in no small rank. They say he tried to own investigation the death of his son in "hot pursuit", but even he did not succeed.
The finest hour of the artist came after his death. In September 1977, an exhibition was opened at the Kazan Youth Center, which he had never been honored with during his lifetime. Two months to the pictures was a real pilgrimage! Then - the film by Leonid Christie "Vasilyev from Vasilyev", which was shown at the Rossiya cinema for about six months - an unprecedented case in documentary filmmaking! Paintings traveled triumphantly through exhibition halls Moscow, country, abroad...
After a resounding success hit the untimely deceased fellow countryman, the Kazan Museum visual arts decided to purchase his work and asked his mother to evaluate his son's paintings. Claudia Parmenovna completely trusted the evaluation commission, which consisted mainly of Konstantin's colleagues. Her decision sounded like a death sentence for the paintings: buying them was not recommended as "not having artistic value". However, they advised to take it for state storage. The paintings were demolished in the storeroom of the museum, a lock was hung on the door. And they would have been gathering dust there, perhaps to this day, if it were not for Colonel Yuri Mikhailovich Gusev - a tanker, a war veteran, a front-line newspaperman. Shocked by what he saw at one of the Moscow exhibitions of canvases, he vowed to elevate their author to a well-deserved place in Russian painting.In full dress, with all military regalia, he, along with Konstantin's sister Valentina, appeared at the Tatar regional committee of the CPSU. And after this visit, the paintings were returned to the family.
But all this was already after the death of the nugget artist. Did anyone help him while he was alive? Gennady Pronin drove a covered MAZ-500 to his house for a new one, 1975, loaded the paintings into the back, pushed Kostya into the cab, and they moved to Moscow, where Svetlana Melnikova, an employee of the Society for the Preservation of Monuments, promised them to arrange a meeting with Ilya Glazunov. They were met by the wife of Ilya Sergeevich (they lived then on Arbat Square), asked to unpack the paintings brought from the frost. Glazunov without special interest looked at one, at the other ... Interest in his eyes ignited only when the wrapping paper was pulled off the "Northern Eagle". “Master,” Pronin recalls, “somehow immediately came to life: “Come on, come on, let's do it again. More!" Then he began to examine the canvases carefully and for a long time. Silently. Then he picked up the phone: "Now I will call the Minister of Culture." Half an hour later, the Deputy Minister of Culture of the RSFSR really appeared in the apartment (I forgot his last name), to whom Glazunov showed Kostin's paintings. "Here is a talented Russian artist. Lives in Kazan. They clamp him down there. Let's support!" And addressing Kostya: "I have to leave here for two weeks to Finland. Wait for me in Moscow. And we'll arrange everything."
But Vasiliev did not get to Glazunov again. In anticipation of the return of Ilya Sergeevich, he wandered around the capital, spent all the money, and ate random orders. In general, having toiled for several months, Konstantin returned home empty-handed, throwing pictures at random acquaintances. Then the writer Vladimir Dudintsev saved them from being plundered. “Here, mother, is all that your son has achieved in Moscow,” Kostya said guiltily upon returning Claudia Parmenovna, holding out a net of oranges to her.
On that fateful day, when he left his house forever, in his room stood a huge canvas just finished, as yet untitled. Presenting a new canvas to his friends, he asked them not only to express their opinion, but also to suggest a name. On his last canvas - a bearded old man against the backdrop of dense forests, over his head he holds a whip, on the whip of which sits a yellow-eyed sleepless owl - a symbol of wisdom. At the feet of an old man the flame devours ancient scroll with the Old Slavonic inscription KONSTANTIN VASILYEV drawn on it, and the smoke rising above the fire twists into a young oak sprout.
After going through many options, friends settled on the name "Man with an owl." As the author himself would call his picture, one can only guess. After all, in fact, this is his last visionary self-portrait, an attempt to guess the future fate of Russia.

Attention!!! Raiders intend to take away the museum building!!! Detailed information on the official website: http://vasilyev-museum.ru Watch the video message of the museum director!!!

One of the greatest Russian artists, without a doubt, can be called the magnificent Konstantin Vasiliev. Really, Vasiliev's paintings are simply magnificent. They are able to bewitch anyone who takes a closer look at them, tries to understand and hear them. Alas, the artist himself is not very popular - his paintings are not sold at auctions for millions of dollars, and in general his work is not advertised too actively, unlike the work of "alternatively gifted artists." Moreover, it makes sense to talk about this great man.

Biography of Konstantin Vasiliev

The future was born great artist on September 3, 1942 in Maikop, Adyghe autonomous region. However, in order to better understand the paintings of the great artist, one should not only know what biography of Konstantin Vasiliev but also about his ancestors. We should start with the fact that he is a descendant of the famous artist Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin (on the maternal side), who became famous for his painting “Morning in a Pine Forest”. Perhaps heredity played some role in Konstantin's work, or perhaps it was the upbringing and sensitive approach of his parents. But he began to draw at an early age. His first masterpiece was a reproduction of the painting "Three Heroes", drawn in pencil. Later there were more and more. It didn't take long for him to start painting. own paintings but when crucial moment in his work came, his paintings really fascinated everyone who saw them.

Creativity of Konstantin Vasiliev

Having spent a little time searching and working even in abstract style("String", " Abstract compositions») artist Konstantin Vasiliev completely abandoned this style, preferring realism to it. And between 1961 and 1976, he wrote hundreds of bright, amazing pictures. Each of them seems to be a real window into the world of fantasy, wonderful world which is not and never has been. Or maybe it was? Maybe he just tried to portray the ancestors of his people? Be that as it may, he wrote only a small part of what he could. But he died in 1976 at the age of only 34. Until now, there are a lot of unexplained circumstances in his death, to which law enforcement agencies prefer to turn a blind eye.

"Cold" style of Konstantin Vasiliev

The paintings of the artist Konstantin Vasiliev are amazing in themselves. Perhaps his work cannot be confused with any other - the very atmosphere of his magnificent creations is too specific, surprising and recognizable.
True, it is precisely for this style that many people who see his paintings consider them cold and lifeless. But is it? Can Vasiliev's paintings be called lifeless? I think no. But then why are they so cold? And what else can you expect from a person who painted pictures about the northern peoples? After all, the great artist was glorified mainly by those paintings that depict Russian and Scandinavian gods and heroes of legends and sagas. Although there are many among his paintings and those that depict ordinary Russian people. Or not simple? In any case, when writing pictures, he was guided by northern people. Harsh, strong, laconic, discreet and unshakable.
And, perhaps, it would be foolish to expect brightness, animation and fun from the northern people, which are the differences between the paintings of French and Italian masters. painted pictures to show how different the heroes of his creations are from other peoples. Severe, sometimes even cruel, climate gave rise to the corresponding people. They don't appreciate expensive jewelry and beautiful promises. But they like reliable weapons and the right things. And they do not understand other values ​​and will not want to accept them.
Therefore, if you like the brightness of masquerades, the puffy colors of the Amazon jungle, then paintings by Konstantin Vasiliev not for you. But if you feel the call of your ancestors in yourself, the voice native land, it will be enough just a few seconds to peer into the depths of the paintings to feel - yes, this is the land on which my ancestors were born, lived and died - the most powerful, kind, wise and courageous.
So, do not confuse harshness and laconicism with coldness and lifelessness.

War in the paintings of Konstantin Vasiliev

One of the trends in which the artist became famous is the theme of war. And here we are talking about a variety of wars. The artist does not distinguish between who went to battle - a resident of Rus', the Russian Empire, or Soviet Union. One thing is enough for him - he knows that a Russian is entering the battle. Moreover, none of the heroes of the paintings goes to an unfair battle. None of the characters comes to someone else's house. But each hero comes out to protect his land, so that the enemy does not enter his home. And it doesn’t matter who came to his land - the Serpent Gorynych, the Mongol or any other enemy - each of them will remain in the Russian land, unable to capture more land than is necessary for the grave.
Indeed, it is enough to look into the eyes of any of the warriors who drew their sword to defend their native land to understand that these amazing people not afraid of death. Much more terrible for them is dishonor and the inability to protect the land of their ancestors and pass it on to their descendants.
However, the war for Konstantin Vasilyev is not primarily murder and death. This is simply the protection of the native land, in which there is always a place for beauty. What is worth alone picture Valkyrie, depicting the daughter of Odin, perfect in her beauty. Yes, it does not have the ardor and heat of hot southern beauties drinking new wine and sunbathing under the rays of the gentle sun. By and large, the only thing that gives life to this picture is a mane of golden hair blown by the wind. Her eyes and face are filled with peace and anticipation. Very soon, she will have to pick up another warrior who gave his life in battle, honestly clutching his sword to the end. Or maybe not a sword? Maybe it's a Mosin rifle, PPSh, AK-47 or AK-104? Perhaps, to this day, the daughters of Odin have not forgotten that their sacred duty is to accompany the brave warriors who died defending the Motherland to Valhalla - the abode for true warriors?
And the Valkyrie herself is not a fragile brown-eyed beauty, for whom you want to hit. No, this is the daughter of the great North. Blue eyes, a firm gaze, weapons and scaly armor indicate that she is not only the daughter of a great warrior, but she is also able to fend for herself. She is strong and at the same time beautiful so that it takes your breath away when you look into her amazing eyes. That's why picture Valkyrie truly charming. The girl is a real embodiment of strength, stamina and beauty, which distinguishes the northern people of the Russians. Maybe this is what the artist Konstantin Vasilyev wanted to convey in his magnificent creations?

Vasiliev's painting "A Man with an Owl"

Indeed, it is foolish to argue that paintings by the artist Konstantin Vasiliev enchant and fascinate. But one of them stands apart from the rest. This picture is the latest creation of Konstantin Vasiliev. She, unlike the rest of the paintings, never received a name from the creator. And at the same time, it is she who breathes cold confidence and firmness, you just need to take a closer look at her. Of course, this Vasiliev's painting "A Man with an Owl".
The picture is full of symbolism, to understand which you do not need to be an expert who has been studying the intricacies of the work of various artists for decades.
The picture shows a tall old man. Years and losses that left wrinkles on his face did not break the son of the great North. left hand with a whip he holds above his head - an owl sits on the whip, which is a symbol of wisdom. In his right hand he holds a candle - a symbol of truth. And near the feet of the old man lies a blazing parchment. Only two words and the date are written on it - Konstantin Velikoross 1976.
That is how - Konstantin the Great Russian - Vasilyev often called himself, considering this his creative pseudonym. And the name of the picture was not given for a simple reason - in 1976 he tragically died.
What is this? Was it by chance that the great artist added a burning parchment to the picture with the old man, on which his name and the year in which he died were indicated?
What does this item bring? big picture? The doom and futility of the struggle? Not at all. After all, the smoke rising from the burning parchment turns into a young oak tree, which is destined to become a mighty giant. Can this symbolism also be called a mere accident? Or did the master mean to say something to those who could hear him?

History of the Konstantin Vasiliev Museum

Of course, a master of such magnitude and scope as Konstantin Vasilyev simply could not help but be honored with his own museum. memorial museum is located in the urban-type settlement of Vasilyevo, in Kazan you can see a gallery named after him. Exhibitions of his paintings were held in Bulgaria, Spain and Yugoslavia.
But, of course, the largest Museum of Konstantin Vasiliev located in Moscow, in Lianozovsky park.
It was opened in 1998 and it was there that admirers of the great master's work could enjoy his paintings. The Club of Konstantin Vasiliev's Creativity Lovers was also opened here.
Alas, the museum has been under threat of closure for several years now. The fact is that it is located in a park that occupies a considerable area - 2.5 hectares. Of course, for businessmen in Moscow, such an area means entire residential complexes and profits of tens of millions of dollars. Therefore, everything went into action - courts, arson and even an attempt to capture. So far, the administration of the museum, with the support of volunteers, is hardly, but repelling all attacks, like the heroes of Vasiliev's paintings. But how long will their strength last? Wouldn't it turn out that in our time such heroism is not needed at all, since it has been replaced by money? Time will show…