The Queen from Akhmatova's Last Rose. "the conclusion of a never-before-seen cycle"

Not everyone knows that the father of the famous Russian poet and writer Boris Pasternak is no less talented person, namely the artist Leonid Osipovich Pasternak. His work will be discussed in this article.

Childhood

The young artist Leonid Osipovich Pasternak (1862-1945 - years of life), whose real name is Avrum Yitskhok-Leib, grew up in a poor Odessa family. The future talented painter was the youngest of six children. The boy began to show signs very early. However, despite the obvious talent of their child, the parents accepted Leni’s hobby without enthusiasm. And yet the young artist did not refuse to attend art school. The boy continued his studies in fine arts after graduating from high school. Although Leonid chose medicine as a specialty, in parallel with his studies at the university, he combined visits to the studio of the master E. Sorokin. Moreover, studying in the specialty gave the future artist the opportunity to thoroughly study the features human body, its specificity in movement and statics.

Further, the master’s studies took on even more unexpected turn. At twenty-one, Leonid suddenly changed his profession and continued his studies at the Faculty of Law. However, even on this life quest did not end, and after a short time he left his hometown and went to try his luck in Germany.

Life abroad

Having settled in Munich, Leonid Osipovich Pasternak devoted several semesters to studying painting at the Royal Academy fine arts. It was there that life brought the master together with the mother of the famous Russian artist Serov, who at that time organized a circle. It was this meeting that became significant for both the Pasternak family and the Serov family. Leonid Osipovich’s acquaintance with this woman marked the beginning long-term friendship between several generations.

First publications

During the session, the artist returned to Odessa for some time, where he first published his works in humorous magazines. These were sketches, caricatures, sketches, etudes. As Maxim Gorky himself admitted to the artist much later, it was at that time that Pasternak captured the first, in the writer’s words, “tramp” in Russian literature.

The master's training did not end there. After graduating from the university, Leonid Osipovich Pasternak, whose biography was replenished with one more important achievement, served as a volunteer. Even during his military duties, he did not stop making sketches and small sketches. This is how his author's style was formed.

Personal life

IN hometown Leonid Osipovich Pasternak met Rosa Kaufman, an incredibly talented pianist. Already in 1889, the lovers got married and moved to live in Moscow. There Rosa gave one concert after another, and Leonid became interested in Polenov’s circle.

A year later, the newlyweds had their first son. It was he who later became a famous Russian poet. It was Boris Pasternak. Three years later, the couple had a son, Alexander, who became a successful architect.

In addition to boys, there were also representatives of the fair sex in the Pasternak family. In 1990, the young artist’s daughter Josephine was born, two years later his beloved wife Rose gave her husband Lydia. Pasternak dedicated a separate gallery to his children. These canvases capture all the soulfulness and warmth family nest, which the young couple put together.

Confession

In a significant year for the young artist, 1889, luck smiled at him again, and the first famous painting The master “Letter from the Motherland” is being bought by a respected collector. It was a successful year for Pasternak. After the exhibition of this painting, the artist’s name was forever entrenched in the same ranks as his equally famous contemporaries.

After a resounding triumph in the Moscow society of painting connoisseurs, Leonid Osipovich Pasternak became popular among the artists of that time. He began collaborating with equally famous collectors and craftsmen. Moreover, the artist himself began to give lessons to novice painters. Thus, even Ilya Repin sent young students to study with Pasternak. Later, the master began giving private lessons in Moscow. Seeing the success, he decided, together with his friend the artist Shtemberg, to open a personal studio for teaching drawing. While working with students, Pasternak established himself as a progressive artist and teacher. Thus, while teaching, he not only taught students the basics of fine art, but also showed young people new techniques that had not been used by anyone before. The master learned all this earlier, during his studies in Germany. So, Russian art gradually developed in the European direction.

Working in a magazine

Since 1890, Leonid Osipovich, under the patronage of the Russian writer, playwright and publicist Fyodor Sologub, became art editor new magazine "Artist". A year later, Pasternak took charge of the publication of the works of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov with illustrations. The artist not only decorated this collection with his illustrations, but also gave other talented but lesser-known artists the opportunity to work on it. Among them was Mikhail Vrubel, who was not very famous at that time, but no less talented.

In addition to his work in the field of journalism, the master also excelled in painting. In 1892, Leonid Osipovich Pasternak wrote “The Throes of Creativity.” The painting became iconic in the artist’s collection.

Creating portraits

Despite the fact that Leonid Osipovich Pasternak is known as a painter, a significant part of his creative heritage consists of portraits.

Even in this form of fine art, the artist embodied his own innovative ideas. The most striking feature of Pasternak’s portraits is that the master not only depicted a bust of a person, but also addressed inner world depicted. In his paintings, the artist sought to convey the entire character, mood of the person being portrayed, his experiences, sorrows, and changes of mood. Pasternak wrote in an impressionistic manner. Despite the fact that a similar style can be attributed to all of the artist’s work, it is in portraits that this property manifests itself most powerfully.

International success

Pasternak continued to develop as a master and already in 1894 he took the post of teacher at an art school. At the same time, others became teachers as Pasternak. outstanding masters, among them Serov, and Thanks to their activities in the teaching field, the school became one of the most progressive not only within Russia, but even became famous abroad. Young, proactive teachers, many of whom received their education abroad, introduced new standards in teaching painting. In addition, it was this group of teachers who contributed to the introduction of courses for general education. So, he became a teacher of Russian history. Later, Leonid Osipovich captured him in one of his portraits. It is worth noting that it was not for nothing that the school gained great fame: thanks to the dedicated work of the teachers, many of the students subsequently became great masters. Among them are: famous artists, like Gerasimov, Konchalovsky, Krymov, Shcherbakov and others.

However, Pasternak’s fame is not limited to this. In 1894, the artist’s painting “On the Eve of Exams” took first place at international exhibition in Munich. It was purchased in 1890 to decorate the Luxembourg Museum directly from an exhibition in Paris.

After such a resounding success, the demand for already in 1901 became quite logical. Luxembourg Museum ordered several well-known painters at that time, including Leonid Osipovich, to depict scenes from Russian life. Pasternak wrote one of his most famous creations, beautiful picture"Tolstoy with his family." Even Prince Georgy Alexandrovich himself highly appreciated it after watching the exhibition “World of Art”.

Later, Pasternak himself became the founder of the department of Russian art in the city of Düsseldorf. During his work abroad, the master made good use of the time allocated to him and visited the Mediterranean coast. While in Italy, the artist made many sketches of landscapes.

Life outside the homeland

During the events of 1905, Leonid Osipovich whole year was in Berlin. He had to stop working at the school, which he loved, because educational institution was closed. At this time, Pasternak participated in many European exhibitions, including in Berlin. At the same time, the master painted paintings for many foreign customers.

In 1912, during the treatment of Rosa Pasternak in Kissingen and near Pisa, the master began his large canvas “Congratulations”. According to the idea, the children came to please their parents with gifts for the silver wedding anniversary, as the artist depicted them. Leonid Osipovich Pasternak completed the painting in 1914. She was a resounding success.

During this period the master lived in Moscow. It was here that Leonid Osipovich Pasternak wrote “Portrait of a Son” - one of his most famous creations.

Beginning in 1921, Pasternak lived in Berlin. Despite his deteriorating health and weakened vision, he felt a surge creative forces and during this time he painted a series of portraits famous personalities, including A. Einstein, M. R. Rilke and many others. In 1924, he and his friends went on a trip to Egypt and Palestine. During the trip, Pasternak wrote a series of vivid sketches.

During the Nazi seizure of power, most of the artist’s works were publicly burned, and exhibitions were banned. In this regard, at the end of the thirties, Pasternak moved to London, where he painted a series of paintings, which were later transferred to British Museum. Shortly after the outbreak of World War II, the master died in Oxford.

On this moment the artist's rich heritage is stored in many of the most famous museums world, including in the Moscow Tretyakov Gallery. It is difficult to assess what contribution he made to Russian and world art Leonid Osipovich Pasternak. The master's paintings still occupy pride of place at international exhibitions.

Leonid Pasternak wrote his first commissioned works at the age of six, and throughout his life the artist called his customer, a local janitor, “my Lorenzo Medici" Later in creative biography Pasternak portraits of relatives and famous contemporaries, canvases and drawings with Leo Tolstoy, as well as illustrations for his works. The artist’s works are kept in Russian and foreign museums and private collections.

Graduate of the Munich Academy of Fine Arts

Leonid Pasternak was born in 1862 into a Jewish family in Odessa. From early childhood, the boy drew a lot, using charcoal he made instant sketches of everything he saw around him. First customer little artist appeared when he was 6 years old: a local janitor asked him to create sketches on hunting themes. Each drawing cost 5 kopecks, which Leonid Pasternak spent according to his age: on sweets. However, the family did not welcome the frivolous hobby of drawing. Parents, owners of the inn, saw youngest son in the future as a doctor, pharmacist or “at worst, we plead for business”. Despite this, Pasternak attended the Odessa Drawing School.

Yielding to his parents' will, in 1881 Leonid Pasternak entered the medical faculty of Moscow University. However, he did not like medicine and after 2 years he transferred to the law department of Novorossiysk University in Odessa. IN Russian Empire Students of only this university could travel abroad.

Almost immediately after entering law school, Pasternak left for Munich: at the same time, he decided to study painting at the Royal Academy fine arts at German artist Johann Caspar Herterich. Coming to Odessa to take exams, Pasternak published cartoons, humorous and everyday scenes in local magazines.

In 1885, the artist brilliantly graduated from the Academy and as an external student from the Faculty of Law. After studying, the graduate had to serve in the army, and in 1885–1886 he was a volunteer in the artillery. The habit of making quick and accurate sketches did not leave him in the service. One of the sketches of that time became the subject for the large canvas “News from the Motherland.”

Returning to Odessa, Leonid Pasternak met the talented pianist Rosalia Kaufman. In 1889 they got married and moved to Moscow.

"The first Russian impressionist"

Leonid Pasternak. Debutante. Sketch. 1893

Leonid Pasternak. News from home. 1889. State Tretyakov Gallery

Leonid Pasternak. Illustration for Leo Tolstoy’s novel “Resurrection”. 1899

In the same 1889, Leonid Pasternak gave Pavel Tretyakov his painting “Jewish Woman with a Stocking”, and a little later, at the exhibition of the Wanderers, the patron purchased his work “News from the Motherland”. Pasternak invested the money from the sale on a Parisian trip. He studied french art and tried new painting techniques. Critics noted that after the trip the artist’s hand became "more free and refined".

Returning to Moscow, Leonid Pasternak, together with portrait painter Viktor Stember, opened a school of painting and drawing. In 1890, the artist became the editor of the literary and artistic magazine "Artist" and became close to Vasily Polenov's circle, which included Valentin Serov, Konstantin Korovin, Isaac Levitan, Mikhail Vrubel. Later, the Union of Russian Artists grew out of this association. The members of the circle promoted complete freedom in creativity, and Leonid Pasternak was the first Russian artist to call himself an impressionist.

However, he regularly participated in exhibitions of the Itinerants. At one of these exhibitions in 1893, Pasternak met Leo Tolstoy, who looked at his painting “Debutante”, and later admitted that he followed the artist’s work. After some time, the artist was invited to visit the writer, and soon the Pasternaks began to visit him often - both in Yasnaya Polyana and in Moscow.

“Summing up the past, remembering Lev Nikolaevich, I ask myself what I did to deserve the happiness given to me by fate, not only to be a contemporary of this legendary man, but also to know him personally, visit him, talk with him, draw and write him.. How can I convey the bliss I experienced when one day, in a conversation with me, N. Ge remarked: “Tolstoy loves you - this is great happiness.”

Leonid Pasternak

Gradually, the artist created a series of family portraits of the Tolstoys. In addition, Pasternak made illustrations for the novel Resurrection, and these works received a medal at the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris. In 1902, Leonid Pasternak’s painting “Tolstoy with his family in Yasnaya Polyana” was purchased for the Russian Museum Grand Duke Georgy Alexandrovich. Another Grand Duke, Sergei Alexandrovich, personally approved the candidacy of Leonid Pasternak for the post of professor at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

By 1902, the Pasternaks already had four children: two boys - Boris and Alexander, and two girls - Josephine and Lydia. The artist wrote family portraits and scenes from home life, these works were successfully sold. Family friends joked that this is how children feed their parents.

Portrait painter, researcher, founder of Leniniana

Leonid Pasternak. Congratulation. 1914. State Tretyakov Gallery

Leonid Pasternak. Sons Boris and Alexander. After 1890. Private collection

Leonid Pasternak. Lydia and Josephine. 1908

In 1905, the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts elected Pasternak academician of painting, but with the outbreak of the revolution and unrest in Moscow, the family left for Germany. In Berlin, Leonid Pasternak organized an exhibition of his works and painted portraits to order.

Soon the Pasternaks returned to Moscow. In the 1910s, the artist painted many portraits of cultural figures and politicians in Russia and Europe. Composers Alexander Scriabin and Sergei Rachmaninov, writers Maxim Gorky and Konstantin Balmont, Valery Bryusov and Vyacheslav Ivanov, microbiologist Ilya Mechnikov, English director Henry Craig, and the creator of the ideology of anarcho-communism, Prince Peter Kropotkin, appeared in his portrait gallery. Leonid Pasternak is also considered one of the founders of Leninism. He was the first of the academic artists to begin making sketches of Vladimir Lenin and other revolutionary figures at congresses and meetings.

In the early 20s, the Pasternaks and their daughters emigrated to Germany. In Berlin, the artist continued to paint portraits of writers, artists and scientists. Among them was Albert Einstein. The couple met him on musical evening at the Soviet embassy, ​​where Rosalia Pasternak accompanied a scientist playing the violin on the piano.

At the same time, Pasternak became interested in the topic of Jewry in the history of art: he published the monograph “Rembrandt and Jewry in his work”, 2 albums about figures of Jewish culture. In 1924, Leonid Pasternak participated in the Palestinian historical and ethnographic expedition, from where he brought dozens of sketches and drawings to include in the monograph. took place in Germany personal exhibitions Pasternak in 1927 and 1932.

Leonid Pasternak. Portrait of Leo Tolstoy. 1908

Leonid Pasternak. Conductor V.I. Bitch. Not earlier than 1906. Donetsk regional Art Museum, Ukraine

However, at that time, Nazi sentiments had already begun to manifest themselves in the country: almost the entire circulation of Pasternak’s monograph with memories of Tolstoy was burned, and the next exhibition was banned. When Adolf Hitler came to power, the rules became completely stricter. Negotiations about returning to Soviet Union dragged on. In 1935, when the Nuremberg Racial Laws came out, the Pasternaks moved to London. There was another personal exhibition of the artist.

On August 23, 1939, a few days before the start of World War II, Rosalia Pasternak died. The artist continued to work on his canvases. His last and unfinished work was a portrait of Vladimir Lenin. Leonid Pasternak died in Oxford on May 31, 1945.

“My art has one advantage over the word, literature: it is international and understandable in all languages. Painting, drawing, landscape, portrait - whether it was written by a Swede, a Frenchman, a Russian or a Jew - is understandable to everyone.”

Leonid Pasternak

Today the works of Leonid Pasternak are kept in famous Russian museums and abroad - in Paris, London, Oxford, Bristol - as well as in private collections.

Leonid Osipovich Pasternak - Russian artist, representative of Art Nouveau, original painter and graphic artist, master genre compositions And book illustration. Father of the poet Boris Pasternak.

The name of Leonid Pasternak is well known to lovers of fine art, primarily as the creator of illustrations for Tolstoy’s novel “Resurrection.” The artist’s works are kept in many museums in Russia and abroad. Numerous creative heritage includes both paintings and graphics, in which drawing occupies a significant place. It is in this technique that the talent of Leonid Pasternak is especially clearly revealed.

Self-portrait

Leonid spent his childhood and youth in Odessa. According to the artist’s recollections, he “began to draw early and really loved this activity.” Pasternak combined his studies at the gymnasium with studies at the Odessa Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, which he graduated in 1881 with a silver medal. Did his parents not approve of his aspirations? professional pursuits art. Therefore LeonidParsnipentered the medical faculty of Moscow University. In Moscow hetried to get into the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Zodiacchildhood, butthere were no vacancies. It is translated intoNovorossiysk University, his Withstudents had the right to travel abroad.

In 1882Leonid Pasternak leaves for Munichen.The Academy of Arts in Munich was considered one of the best in those years art schools Western Europe.

In 1885 Pasternak returned to Odessa, graduated from university,receiving a law degree. He needed to go military service and he doesto the artilleryvolunteer.Impressions from the warriorservice were reflected in the first great job“News from the Motherland”, with which the artist debuted at the exhibition of the Partnership of Mobile art exhibitions in 1889, it was a success, and Tretyakov acquired iteven before the opening of the exhibition.

News from home. 1889

The drawings made in Munich also made a great impression on the audience. In my memoriesLeonid Pasternakwrote: “I soon established a reputation as a real draftsman, not only among young comrades, but also among famous old Itinerant artists.”

Pasternak goes home to Odessa, and here, in his homeland, he meets and falls in love with charming girl, the brilliant pianist Rosalia Kaufman. She did dizzying musical career, was a professor music classes Odessa branch of the Imperial Russian musical society. But she preferred quiet to her success and fame. family happiness. Rosalia's parents were rich; they had a monopoly on the sale of seltzer water in the south of Russia. The wedding took place in Moscow in 1889, where the artist moved from Odessa.

Pasternak with his wife Rosalia Isidorovna

In Moscow, Pasternak became close to the artists grouped around Polenov: Serov, Korovin, Levitan, Vrubel. This art group played important role in the formation of Russian art of the 20th century. The artists were united by the desire to convey paintings direct vision of the world, the desire for emotional and decorative expressiveness of color. These tasks were close to the creative search of Leonid Pasternak. In the drawing “Artist N. D. Kuznetsov at work” (1887), the free, soft manner of execution conveys the light-air environment of the workshop.

In 1894, Leonid Pasternak was invited to teach at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

Light becomes the basis for the emotional expressiveness of the drawing and creates an atmosphere of creative concentration. In the paintings “Debutante” (1892), “Reading the Manuscript” (1894), “On the Eve of Exams” (1894) light and color scheme not only create a certain mood, but also reveal the inner state of the characters. The artist was especially attracted to the effects of evening lighting.

On the eve of exams. 1894

The marriage of Leonid Pasternak and Rosa Kaufman turned out to be extremely happy. A year after the wedding, the young couple’s first child, Boris, the future great Russian poet, is born. Three years later - son Alexander, a future prominent architect. His wife and children often visit their parents in Odessa, and Leonid Osipovich also comes here in the summer. Rosalia Kaufman gave birth to four children for her husband and never regretted leaving the musical field.

Sons Boris and Alexander

LeonidPasternak createdportrait gallery of prominent cultural figures:writerth L. N. Tolstoy and Gorky, poets Verhaeren and Rilke, musicians Scriabin, Rachmaninov and Chaliapin, artists Korovin and Serov...

The work of Leonid Pasternak attracts with its sincerity, professional skill and constitutes one of best pages Russian graphics.

Leonid OsipovichPasternak was one of the founding members of the Union of Russian Artists, which arose in 1903. Along with Serov, Korovin, Nesterov and VrubelParsnipstood at the origins of creationassociations. Exhibitionspaintings by artists of this union were major event, from them it was possible to judge the paths of development andsuccessesRussian art.

Portrait of son Boris, 1917

Boris Pasternak will write about his father:"Dad!" But, after all, this is a sea of ​​tears, sleepless nights and, if I were to write it down, volumes, volumes, volumes. Surprise at the perfection of his skill and gift, at the ease with which he worked (jokingly and playfully, like Mozart) at the multitude and significance of what he accomplished - the surprise is all the more vivid and ardent because comparisons on all these points shame and humiliate me. I wrote to him that there is no need to be offended, that his gigantic merits are not appreciated even in a hundredth part, while I have to burn with shame when my role is so monstrously inflated and overestimated... I wrote to dad... that, ultimately, he triumphs yet he, he, who lived such a true, unfictional, interesting, moving, rich life, partly in its blessed 19th century, partly in loyalty to it, and not in the wild, devastated unreal and fraudulent twentieth..."

In 1921, Leonid Osipovich and Rosalia Isidorovna left for Germany for treatment: the artist needed eye surgery. Their daughters go with them, and their sons Boris and Alexander remain in Moscow.

When leaving, the Pasternaks thought that it would not be for long and kept their Soviet passports. But a happy fate saves them from returning to the USSR: after the operation, Leonid Osipovich’s eyes appear so much interesting topics and the work that needs to be completed in Germany, that he keeps postponing and postponing his return.

In 1927 and 1932, two personal exhibitions of Pasternak were held in Berlin. During this period his interest in Jewish theme, he publishes in Russian and Hebrew the most interesting monograph “Rembrandt and Jewry in his work.”

In 1933, Hitler came to power in Germany, and the dark era of Nazism began. Pasternak and his wife leave to join their daughters, who by that time already live in England.

In June 1935, Boris Pasternak was in Paris at the anti-fascist congress. Thirty years later last time saw my brotherJosephinewrote down the impressions of this meeting: “In the summer of 1935, in Munich, our family received news that on such and such a day Boris would spend several hours in Berlin on his way to Paris. My parents were with us at that time in Munich, and since they did not feel completely healthy and could not accompany us, my husband and I went to Berlin alone.<…>It was clear that he was in a state of acute depression<…>But the more I looked and listened to Boris’s words, the more I felt the pain of parting with something infinitely dear to me. I so deeply loved his uniqueness, his incomparable truthfulness, the purity of his poetic vision, his unwillingness and inability to make concessions in art.”

Died in August 1939Rosa Kaufman - artist's wife, from a heart attack. As Josephine Pasternak writes to Mikhail Poizner, shedied during a thunderstorm, which she was very afraid of. Two days later, World War II began.

Despite bereavement And old age the artist continues to work. During the war years he created the paintings “Bach and Frederick the Great”, “Mendelssohn conducting Handel’s Messiah”, “Tolstoy at his desk”, “Pushkin and the nanny”, “Scenes from Soviet life”.

Leonid Pasternak greeted the message about the victory over fascism and the end of World War II. He died on May 31, 1945. He was eighty-three years old. A life-long journey that reflects an entire era.

To relatives 1891

Under the lamp, Leo Tolstoy in the family circle. 1902

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