Valery Bryusov. Vrubel's last work

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

"The Demon Defeated", 1901-1902

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

“The Demon Seated”, 1890 (before illness)

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

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

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

“Portrait of the Artist’s Son,” 1902 (beginning of illness, but before first hospitalization)

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

“The Defeated Demon”, 1901-1902 (started before illness, rewrote it many times)

In March 1902, the artist was first admitted to a private psychiatric hospital. The picture of the illness was dominated by ideas of one’s own greatness; a period of such strong excitement ensued that meetings with even the closest people - his wife and sister - were interrupted for six months.

"Pan", 1899 (before illness)

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

“The Swan Princess”, 1900 (before illness)

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

"Lilac", 1900 (before illness)

On February 18, 1903, Mikhail Vrubel left the clinic, but he was very sad, and by April he was completely “unstuck”: he often cried, was sad, said that he was no good, could not work at all, although he was offered various orders. On May 3, 1903, a misfortune happened - Savvochka died, only child Vrubeli. In the face of this grief, Mikhail Alexandrovich behaved very courageously, personally took charge of organizing the funeral, and tried to support his wife, who was in despair.

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

After the funeral of their son, the Vrubels left for their estate near Kiev, where the artist became very nervous and demanded that he be taken to a hospital as soon as possible. Someone advised to define Vrubel as one of psychiatric clinics Rigi.

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

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

“Self-Portrait with a Shell”, 1905 (during illness)

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

“Water lilies”, 1890 (before illness)

The drawings made in the clinic were presented at an exhibition of Moscow artists; not a shadow of the disease was visible in them.

"Hamlet and Ophelia", 1884 (before illness)

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

“Six-winged Seraphim (Azrael)”, 1904 (during illness)

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

“Portrait of Doctor F. A. Usoltsev”, 1904 (during illness)

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

The fence of a psychiatric hospital; Usoltsev’s clinic was located on this site.

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

"Morning", 1897 (before illness)

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

“Pearl”, 1904 (during illness)

By the beginning of 1905, Vrubel’s wife began to notice that Vrubel was very agitated; he became intractable, irritable, and spent money excessively on completely unnecessary things. The artist’s wife had to “discharge” the psychiatrist Usoltsev from Moscow, who took Vrubel to his Moscow hospital.

“After the concert” (Portrait of the artist’s wife), 1905 (during illness)

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

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

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

Photo of the poet Bryusov.

When Vrubel painted Bryusov, those around him began to notice that something strange was happening to his eyes, the artist was forced to come very close to see the model. New suffering was approaching with terrifying speed; having finished the portrait of Bryusov, Vrubel almost did not see his work.

"Fortune Teller", 1894-1895 (before illness)

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

“Six-Winged Seraphim”, 1905 (before illness)

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

“Valkyrie (Portrait of Princess Tenisheva)”, 1899 (before illness)

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

"Hansel and Gretel", 1896 (before illness)

During the last year of his life, the artist more and more insistently refused meat, saying that he did not want to eat “slaughter,” so they began to serve him a vegetarian table. Vrubel’s strength gradually left him; sometimes he said that he was “tired of living.”

"Seraphim", 1904-1905 (during illness)

Sitting in the garden in my last summer, he once said: “The sparrows are chirping at me - barely alive, barely alive.” The general appearance of the patient seemed to become more refined, more spiritual. Vrubel came to an end with complete calm. When he began to have pneumonia, which then turned into fleeting consumption, he took it calmly. On his last conscious day, before the agony, Vrubel especially carefully cleaned himself up, warmly kissed the hands of his wife and sister and did not speak again.

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

Only at night, having briefly come to his senses, the artist said, turning to the man who was caring for him: “Nikolai, I’ve had enough of lying here - let’s go to the Academy.” There was some kind of prophetic premonition in these words: within 24 hours Vrubel was solemnly brought in a coffin to the Academy of Arts - his alma mater.

“Bed” (from the series “Insomnia”), 1903-1904 (during illness)

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

“Rose in a glass”, 1904 (during illness)

The portrait of Bryusov was made by order of Ryabushinsky, the publisher of the Golden Fleece magazine, who planned to publish a series in the magazine graphic portraits poets and artists made outstanding masters. Despite the fact that Vrubel had been living in the Usoltsev psychiatric hospital for about a year, this did not stop the enterprising Ryabushinsky - he arrived there with Bryusov, provided the artist with an easel, a box of colored pencils and persuaded him to accept the order. However, Vrubel did not have to be persuaded, since he really liked Bryusov.
He wrote to his wife: “A very interesting and pretty face: a brunette with dark brown eyes, a beard and a matte pale face: he reminds me of a southern Slav, either Insarov or our teacher Feyerchako... I worked 3 sessions: a knee portrait, standing with crossed arms and shining eyes directed upward to bright light" Vrubel also liked Bryusov’s poems - he apparently didn’t know them before, but now, having read them, he found that “his poetry contains a lot of thoughts and pictures. I like him more than all the recent poets.”

The absolutely coherent and sensible tone of Vrubel’s letters, as well as the fact that he was able to perceive and appreciate Bryusov’s difficult poems, shows that his intellect has not faded away. However, the first impression he made on Bryusov was difficult. “He walked in with an unsteady, heavy gait, as if dragging his feet... a frail, sick man, in a dirty, wrinkled shirt. He had a reddish face; eyes - like those of a bird of prey; sticking hair instead of a beard. First impression: crazy!”
But then Bryusov tells how the artist was transformed during his work. “In life, in all Vrubel’s movements, obvious frustration was noticeable... But as soon as Vrubel’s hand took a coal or a pencil, it acquired extraordinary confidence and firmness. The lines he drew were unmistakable. Creative Power experienced everything in it. The man died and was destroyed, but the master continued to live.”

The same thing struck Dr. Usoltsev, who observed his patient day after day.
After the artist’s death, Usoltsev wrote: “While a person is alive, he still breathes; while Vrubel was breathing, he created everything... With him it was not the same as with others, that the most subtle, so to speak, the last to arise ideas - aesthetic ones - perish first; they were the last to die because they were the first.”
The portrait of Bryusov was first painted against the background of a dark lilac bush, from which his face stood out in relief and vividly. Bryusov was delighted with the portrait, but the artist did not consider it finished and continued the sessions. Bryusov needed to go to St. Petersburg for two weeks; upon his return, he gasped - the entire background with lilacs was erased. “Mikhail Alexandrovich wished it this way,” explained the young artist, who visited Vrubel in the hospital and helped him wash off the background. Vrubel told Bryusov that lilacs did not suit his character (perhaps this was true!) and that he would do new background depicting the wedding of Cupid and Psyche, based on a photograph from an Italian fresco. Perhaps Bryusov’s passion for poetic wanderings among bygone eras, which Vrubel caught in his poems, led the artist to this idea. He set to work on a new background, but managed to apply only a preliminary sketch to the canvas, where hints of the image are barely visible. At this point, the work ended, as the artist’s vision began to fail - he couldn’t see what his hand was doing, he mixed up the colors, and took the wrong pencils.
Bryusov claimed in his memoirs that the portrait in its present form “did not reach even half of that artistic power, which was in it before”, that “we only have a hint of a brilliant work.” It is impossible to verify this now, but high quality the portrait, such as we see it now, is beyond doubt. After all, the face and figure remained untouched, and the new background, although sketchily sketched, is Vrubel’s characteristic black and white “crystals”, they beautifully frame the face, so that it does not seem either silhouetted or too dark. The plastic surgery of the face, the pose, the crossed arms - everything is so perfect that it doesn’t require any allowance for illness: Bryusov’s portrait stands on the level best works Vrubel. The sharp play of lines subtly conveys the model’s majestic and imperious spiritual aura. Not to mention the impeccable similarity to the original, it has a high monumental structure, even some kind of closeness to the image of the poet-prophet, although there is nothing overly ecstatic or broken: Vrubel guessed in Bryusov a thinking and strong-willed poet. Bryusov ended his memoirs with the words: “After this portrait, I don’t need another. And I often say, half-jokingly, that I try to remain similar to my portrait made by Vrubel.”

N.P. Ryabushinsky decided to collect a series of portraits of contemporary Russian writers and artists for the “Golden Fleece”, which he published. The portrait of K. D. Balmont was painted by V. A. Serov; Andrei Bely - L. S. Bakst; Vyacheslav Ivanov - K. A. Somov.

Nikolai Pavlovich decided to offer Vrubel to make my portrait. This was in 1905. Vrubel then lived in the psychiatric hospital of Dr. F.A. Usoltsev, in Petrovsky Park. Having picked me up in the morning, N.P. took me to meet Vrubel. I had never met Vrubel before. But we had many mutual friends. I heard a lot about Vrubel, first from M.A. Durnov, who had to be a sad witness of Vrubel’s onset of illness, then from members of the Moscow Association of Artists, many of whom I was close to and who were proud that Vrubel exhibited his paintings at their exhibitions . Besides, long ago, after Pan, after The Thirty-Three Knights, after Faust, I was passionate fan his work (“Demon” I did not see at the exhibition).

Doctor Usoltsev's hospital consisted of two modest village houses, located in a small park, in a deserted lane, near Zykov. It was still winter, there was snow everywhere, and everything was deserted. Inside the house there were simple rooms, with walls without wallpaper, with market furniture, not the impression of a “hospital”, but still it was uncomfortable and not lively. Dr. Usoltsev, familiar to all of Moscow and a regular at all the "premier's", is an amazingly lively, interesting, but strangely crazy eyes, invited me to wait a minute. The door opened and Vrubel entered. He entered with an unsteady, heavy gait, as if dragging his feet. To tell the truth, I was horrified when I saw Vrubel. He was a frail, sick man, wearing a dirty, wrinkled shirt. He had a reddish face; eyes - like those of a bird of prey; sticking hair instead of a beard. First impression: crazy!

After the usual greetings, he asked me:

Should I write to you? And he began to examine me in a special way, artistically, intently, almost soulfully. Immediately his expression changed. Through the madness came genius. Since Vrubel had neither paints, nor coal, nor canvas, the first session had to be postponed. N.P. Ryabushinsky promised to send him everything he needed for drawing.

Next time I brought Vrubel a box of colored pencils from N.P. Ryabushinsky. The canvas had already been prepared, and Vrubel immediately began work. I will say, by the way, that at first Vrubel had to tie the canvas to the back of the chair, since he did not have an easel. Later, at my request, Nikolai Pavlovich also sent an easel. Vrubel immediately began sketching the portrait with charcoal, without any preparatory sketches. In life, in all of Vrubel’s movements, obvious disorder was noticeable. But as soon as Vrubel’s hand took a coal or a pencil, it acquired extraordinary confidence and firmness. The lines he drew were unmistakable. The creative power survived everything in him. The man died and was destroyed, but the master continued to live. During the first session the initial sketch was completed. I really regret that no one thought of taking a photograph from this black drawing at that time. It was almost more remarkable in the strength of its execution, in its facial expression, and in its similarity, than the later portrait, colored with colored pencils.

In the second session, Vrubel erased half of the painted face and began drawing almost all over again. I visited Vrubel four times a week, and each time the session lasted three to four hours with short breaks. I posed standing in a rather awkward position, with my arms crossed, and I was extremely tired. Vrubel did not seem to feel any fatigue: he was able to work for several hours in a row, and only at my earnest request did he agree to take a break and smoke a cigarette. During the session, Vrubel spoke little; during rest, on the contrary, he talked very willingly. In his speech, he was still often confused, moving from one subject to another based on purely random, verbal associations; but when the conversation touched on issues of art, he seemed to be transformed. Vrubel spoke about Italy with special love. He amazed me with his extraordinary clarity of memory when he talked about his favorite paintings and statues. There was even something painful in this clarity of memory. Vrubel could describe some curls on the capitals of a column in some Venetian church, with such precision, as if he had carefully studied them only yesterday. He spoke with exceptional delight about the paintings of Cima da Canegliano.

He has an extraordinary nobility in his figures, he repeated more than once.

The first days I did not notice any sudden manifestations mental disorder in Vrubel. By the way, he was interested in my poems, asked me to bring him my books, and the next day he spoke about the poems that had been read to him the day before (weak eyes did not allow him to read for himself) - he spoke intelligently, making subtle critical remarks. He showed me his new paintings he had begun: “Travelers Going to Emmaus” and “The Vision of the Prophet Ezekiel.”

Mikhail Vrubel. Vision of the prophet Ezekiel. 1906

By the way, they were already in the form in which they remain now, so my portrait was the very last work that Vrubel worked on. Regarding the “Vision of the Prophet Ezekiel,” Vrubel explained to me at length that until now everyone had misunderstood the part of the Bible where this vision is described. Vrubel was often read the Bible at night, and he was amazed to notice that the usual understanding of the vision was incorrect and did not correspond to the direct words of the Bible. Then I did not bother to check this remark, but now I no longer want to do this: I prefer to take Vrubel at his word.

<…>

While working on the portrait, deliberately “illuminating” the portrait’s face with colored pencils, Vrubel suddenly began to talk about the voices that haunt him. However, he happened to add:

Yes, maybe this is all a hallucination.

Vrubel was very tormented by the thought that he had lived his life badly, sinfully, and that, as punishment for this, against his will, obscene scenes appeared in his paintings. He was especially worried about the “Pearl” he had recently completed.

Have you seen her? - he asked me. - Did you notice anything about her?

“It’s a wonderful picture, Mikhail Alexandrovich,” I replied. - One of your best things.

No,” Vrubel worried, “there, you know, one figure is so leaning against another... I didn’t think anything like that... It happened by itself... It will certainly be necessary to redo it... And then, lowering his voice somewhat, he added, but in such a way that it was impossible to distinguish whether madness or true faith was speaking in him:

This is what he (Vrubel meant the Devil) does with my paintings. He was given power because I, not being worthy, wrote the Mother of God and Christ. He distorted all my pictures...

All this prevented Vrubel from working on my portrait, working slowly, persistently, but with confidence and with some kind of method. Every day the portrait came to life under his pencils. I stood in front of me with my arms crossed, and for minutes it seemed to me that I was looking into a mirror. In the atmosphere of madness that was poured around, really, it was not difficult for me at times to lose the distinction of where I was genuine: the one who was posing and would now leave, would return to life, or the other, on the canvas, who would remain with the madman and a brilliant artist. Undoubtedly, there was a time when the unfinished portrait was much more remarkable than what we see now. He was both more similar and more expressive. Continuing to work, Vrubel spoiled a lot in his last work.
<…>
In the spring I had to go to St. Petersburg for two weeks. Returning to Moscow, I immediately returned to Vrubel. I found him greatly changed for the worse. His face somehow went wild. The eyes lost the ability to peer closely - they looked as if not seeing; he had to get close to the object to examine it. Movements became even more difficult: when Vrubel had to walk from one dacha to another in my presence, he could no longer walk on his own - he had to be led. Vrubel resumed work on the portrait.

Arriving, it seems, for the third session, after returning from St. Petersburg, I was ready to throw up my hands, looking at the portrait. The portrait was originally painted on dark background. This explains, by the way, the dark colors applied to the face. Behind the head there was something like a lilac bush, and from its dark green and dark purple flowers the face stood out clearly and seemed alive. And so in the morning, on the day of my arrival, Vrubel took a rag and, for some reason of his own, washed away the entire background, all this brilliantly sketched but not yet made lilac bush. At the same time, with an accidental movement of the hand, the rag also washed part of the head. Against the dirty lilac background, the result of water and washed-off paints, a disfigured face stood out as some kind of black spot. Those colors of cheeks, eyes, hair that were completely appropriate with a dark background turned out to be unthinkable with a light background. It seemed to me that I had been turned into a blackamoor.

Why did you do this? - I asked desperately. Vrubel explained to me that he would paint a new background, that lilacs do not suit me, that he would do something symbolic that would correspond to my character. But I saw clearly that new job no longer possible for the artist.

<…>

What was especially sad was that part of the drawing was washed away: the back of the head. Thanks to this, the portrait was left with just one face, without a head. Subsequently, experts found in this deep meaning, admired this, claiming that with this technique Vrubel correctly conveyed my psychology: the poet was supposedly “ostentatious.” But alas! This “genius trait” owes its origin to simply an extra wave of the rag. Vrubel realized that I was very upset and, wanting to console me, immediately set to work. From somewhere he took out a photograph from some Renaissance fresco depicting the wedding of Psyche and Cupid. He planned to transfer this composition to the background of the portrait:

We will write the wedding of Psisha and Cupid in the back,” he said, repeating the word “Psisha” with pleasure.

Indeed, he began to make outlines, redrawing the photograph onto the canvas. When the background is filled with several features, the unpleasant impression of dark colors, with which the face was drawn, softened somewhat, but not completely. In any case, the portrait did not achieve even half the artistic power that it had before.

Soon, however, it became clear that Vrubel could no longer work. His hand began to betray him and trembled. But what was worst of all: his vision began to change. He began to mix up the colors. Wanting to correct something in the eyes of the portrait, he took up pencils of the wrong color as he should have. Thus, there were several green streaks in the portrait's eyes. I, too, later heard praise for these green spots. But I am convinced that they were made only under the influence of disordered vision. M.A. Vrubel’s sister, who was present here, insisted that he interrupt his work. After that I came to Vrubel two more times. He tried to continue the portrait, but each time it turned out that it was beyond his strength. The portrait was left unfinished, with part of the head cut off, without a proper background, with incoherent strokes instead of back picture: weddings of Psisha and Cupid. When it turned out that Vrubel could not work, N.P. Ryabushinsky took the portrait to himself. I also saw a portrait of S.P. Diaghilev at Vrubel’s and advised him not to touch it anymore.

This is already perfect,” he said.

But I knew what the portrait was and what it could be. We have only a hint of a brilliant work left. The portrait was exhibited in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Paris; is now in the collection of N.P. Ryabushinsky. After this portrait I don’t need any others. And I often say, half-jokingly, that I try to remain similar to my portrait made by Vrubel.

Afterword.

First essay " Last work Vrubel" was published in the magazine "Art", Kyiv, numbers 11, 12 for 1912.

Included in the book by V.Ya. Bryusov "Beyond my window", Moscow, "Scorpio", 1913, p. 13-22.

Bryusov, Valery Yakovlevich (1873-1924) - poet, prose writer, playwright, translator, literary critic, literary critic and historian. One of the founders of Russian symbolism.

Ryabushinsky Nikolai Pavlovich - collector of Russian and Western European paintings, antique dealer. Came from famous family Ryabushinsky. After the death of his father, he left the “Partnership of Manufactures P.M. Ryabushinsky with his sons” and, having received his inherited share of his parents’ wealth, plunged headlong into the world of Moscow bohemia.

Inspired by the example of S.P. Diaghilev's "World of Art", Ryabushinsky organized the publication of the illustrated art magazine "Golden Fleece".

Ryabushinsky invited to participate in this project: K.A. Somov, E.E. Lansere, Ostroumova, L.S. Bakst, A.N. Benoit. The group's debut was the exhibition "Scarlet Rose", held in 1904 in Saratov. The magazine was published in a large format, with gold font in two columns - in Russian and French, and shone with the quality of its illustrations.

On February 1, 1906, the first issue of the magazine “Golden Fleece” opened with Bryusov’s poem “To M. A. Vrubel.”

From a life of deceit and fame
Your dream attracts you
Into the expanse of the azure sky
Or into the depths of sapphire waters.

Inaccessible to us, invisible to us,
Between the hosts of crying forces,
Seraphim descend to you
In the radiance of multi-colored wings.

From the chambers of the crystal country,
Submissive to fairy tale fate,
They look sly and sad
Naiads loyal to you.

And at one o'clock at the fiery sunset
You saw between the eternal mountains,
Like the spirit of greatness and curses
Fell into the gaps from a height.

And there, in the solemn desert,
Only you have comprehended it to the end
The outstretched wings shine of the peacock
And the sorrow of the Edenic face!

Perhaps it was the last printed edition which Vrubel saw. On February 12, in a letter to his wife, he complained that he could neither read nor draw. A few days later he became completely blind.

Illustrations for an article dedicated to M.A. Vrubelin the magazine "Golden Fleece"

It was an expensive publication; an annual subscription cost 15 rubles. However, the costs of publishing the magazine did not pay off, and Ryabushinsky had to most reimburse from own funds. In 1906, income from the sale of "The Golden Fleece" amounted to 12 thousand rubles, and expenses exceeded 80 thousand. In 1907, the design of the magazine changed: the format became smaller, the translation into French, the number of illustrations has been reduced.

The exhibition that followed in Moscow in 1907"Blue Rose "was largely the personal initiative of Ryabushinsky, who imitated Diaghilev, and became a sensation in the Moscow art world. After The Blue Rose, another series of exhibitions were organized, organized with the financial help of Ryabushinsky and under the brand of his magazine.

Interiors of the mansion of N.P. Ryabushinsky.

After the revolution, the remains of his collection and property were nationalized. In 1922, Nikolai Petrovich emigrated to France, where he died. Buried in Nice.
The portrait of Bryusov, like other works by Mikhail Vrubel, adorns the Tretyakov Gallery today.

If we apply the camera obscura effect, removing all distracting details except the portrait itself, Vrubel’s genius is even more obvious.

Vrubel perfected his drawing system. He was equally brilliant in all graphic materials. This is confirmed by illustrations for “The Demon” by M.Yu. Lermontov. What brought the artist closer to the poet was that both cherished in their souls the ideal of a proud, rebellious creative nature. The essence of this image is dual. On the one hand, the greatness of the human spirit, on the other - immeasurable pride, an overestimation of the strength of the individual, which turns into loneliness. Vrubel, who took the burden of the “demonic” theme on his fragile shoulders, was the son of an unheroic time. Vrubel's "Demon" has more melancholy and anxiety than pride and greatness..."

God's Grace Painter

In the history of world painting, there are few artists endowed with the divine gift of color. Vrubel takes a worthy place in this unique list. His gift for painting has been highlighted since his studies at the Academy of Arts. Vrubel deepened and complicated his entire life color palette and found new, previously unknown combinations on it. The Italians had a strong influence on him: Bellini and Carpaccio, early Byzantine mosaics and ancient Russian frescoes..."

Vrubel's pedagogical activity

ABOUT pedagogical activity Almost nothing is known about Vrubel, but, fortunately, the story of the artist M.S. Mukhin, who studied with M.A. Vrubel at the Stroganov School, has miraculously reached us. He reveals a new, unknown facet of the master’s talent. The artist was invited to the Stroganov School by his director N.V. Globa, who did a lot for the rise of artistic and industrial education in Russia. So, at the turn of the century, M.A. Vrubel finds himself within the walls of Stroganovka. Here is the story of M.S. Mukhin...

If you look for manifestations of decadence in painting, then M.A. Vrubel is the first candidate for representatives of this direction. His images seem to exist “beyond good and evil,” the boundaries between angels and demons are blurred, like transitions between colors in watercolor technique. The same thing happens in the novel by V.Ya. Bryusov " Fire Angel", where Madiel is both the messenger of both heaven and hell in one person, and Renata either plunges into the witchcraft, or goes to a monastery as a nun. It seems that the artist and the writer were looking for inspiration in the same sources: in Lermontov’s “Demon” and in Goethe’s “Faust”, which appears on the pages of the above-mentioned Bryusov novel, in Vrubel’s triptych “Faust” and in his panel “The Flight of Faust and Mephistopheles” "

Bryusov, first of all, is a poet; he did not deprive his artistic inspiration of poetic attention, devoting to him the following lines (when Vrubel was already in a psychiatric hospital), which are easily woven into the outline of the artist’s canvases:

...Unavailable to us, invisible to us,
Between the hosts of crying forces,
Seraphim descend to you
In the radiance of multi-colored wings...

...And at one o'clock at the fiery sunset
You saw between the eternal mountains,
Like the spirit of greatness and curses
Fell into the gaps from a height.

And there, in the solemn desert,
Only you have comprehended it to the end
The outstretched wings shine of the peacock
And the sorrow of the Edenic face!

Demon sitting

Six-winged seraph

The demons of Bryusov and Vrubel are fallen angels, defeated, sometimes wingless, but have not lost touch with their heavenly roots. “Are you an angel or a devil?” the poet asks in “The Ninth Stone,” and the artist asks in the painting “The Swan Princess.”

This painful duality, the destruction of all things became the semantic center of many other paintings by Vrubel, so “Angel with a censer and candles” is like two peas in a pod with its dark (which is already strange for a heavenly being) face to “The Defeated Demon.”

Demon defeated

Angel with censer and candles

The artist was constantly distracted by his favorite theme, even while painting Kyiv temples and churches, which commissioned icons from him, despite his odious and erroneous reputation as a blasphemer.

Virgin and Child

Prophet Moses

Vrubel was literally possessed by demons, sitting, flying and fallen, with their caps of black curls and bottomless eyes, mad with despair and love (illustrations for Lermontov’s poem “The Demon”).

Flying demon. Illustration for Lermontov’s poem “The Demon”