The Demon and Tamara Vrubel Mikhail Alexandrovich. Vrubel's illustrations to Lermontov's "demon"

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel is a great Russian artist of the late 19th – early 20th centuries. One of the most famous paintings is “Tamara and the Demon”. The painting appeared as an illustration for Mikhail Lermontov’s poem “The Demon”. Now the original painting is located in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. The painting constantly attracts visitors who examine every detail and stroke with great interest. And this is not surprising, because Vrubel himself wrote that he depicts everyday life in a new way, and his paintings awaken the soul.

The entire picture was painted only in black watercolor using white on brown paper. But this did not stop Vrubel from displaying the entire palette of colors in the painting. The main message is the intercourse of a mortal and an immortal. That’s why the picture is so gloomy and reeks of mystery and death. Vrubel himself associated himself with the Demon of the poem, so he was able to accurately feel Lermontov’s entire message. The main image of the poem, according to the artist, should be the face of the Demon.

In the foreground is a girl with long black hair, with thin hands she is trying to cover her face. The girl is wearing a dress and a white scarf. The Demon looks straight into her eyes. He has stern features, dark hair and a cold gaze. For an artist, the Demon and the Devil are not one entity. The demon personifies the internal struggle and duality of human nature.

The plot of the picture fascinates and makes you look at every detail, because this is the only way to feel the story. On the one hand, the complexity of the storyline and the greater number of details, transitions from dark to lighter shades distract attention, but this is only the artist’s technique for creating a picture that is complete in every sense.

It is difficult not to love the work of the Russian poet and prose writer Mikhail Lermontov, but it is even more difficult to remain indifferent to the paintings of such a great artist as Mikhail Vrubel. After all, it was the artist who visualized the works and added his own understanding. Therefore, the paintings not only complement the works, but are also works of art that are known throughout the world.

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Even people who do not understand art cannot help but know Vrubel’s “Demon”. This work is amazing. A seated, athletic male figure against a sunset background is painted using a very unusual technique. It seems that this is not even a painting, but a panel. How did the famous artist come up with the idea to draw a mythical creature? Read about it below.

History of creation

Vrubel's "Demon" appeared in connection with the anniversary edition of Lermontov's poem of the same name. The artist was invited to illustrate the book, as he was recommended for this position by Sava Mamontov himself, who was famous for his excellent artistic taste. For the young artist Vrubel, the demon became a real breakthrough. After all, up to this point, the former student had not yet had time to really work. His work was limited to painting the Kyiv monastery, where he restored frescoes. Surprisingly, in Kyiv the artist was painting the Mother of God, and in Moscow he was offered to paint a demon. It must be said that the artist already had experience in such drawing. The story of Vrubel's "Demon" begins with unrequited love. An artist in Kyiv fell in love with Emilia Prahova, the wife of his customer. His beloved was a married lady, so there was no question of any mutual feelings. In order to somehow express his unrequited love, Vrubel draws a demon and draws his beloved’s head on it. The artist destroyed this sketch. The resulting sketch scared Mikhail Alexandrovich. But in Moscow he remembers the pencil sketch, and on its basis the artist creates his cult masterpiece “The Seated Demon.”

Description of the picture

Vrubel's "Demon" was written in a very interesting technique. The picture was created not from brushstrokes, but as if from crystals. When looking at the canvas, it seems that what is in front of your eyes is not a painting, but a well-made appliqué. According to the idea, the seated demon should personify the titan. The young man depicted in the painting took a thoughtful pose. He sits with his arms wrapped around his legs and looks into the distance. His tension is revealed by tightly clenched hands. Looking at the sitting demon, one can understand that this young man has already had to endure a lot. His bare torso looks very impressive. The muscles on her tanned arms bulge, which looks very unusual in contrast to her young face. A description of Vrubel’s painting “The Demon” would not be complete without mentioning the landscape. The demon is painted sitting on a mountain, surrounded by flowers. Surprisingly, beautiful and delicate plants seem to be sculpted from stone. The artist took a lower angle to deliberately make his already large demon even larger. The figure seems so huge that some of it doesn’t even fit into the canvas. A pensive man does not seem repulsive to us. His gloomy expression, questioning wrinkles on his forehead and sad eyes evoke sympathy rather than disgust.

Color spectrum

Vrubel's "Demon" is written in contrasts. The blue color, which is present both in the young man's clothing and in the ground on which the figure sits, represents hope. The cool shades in the painting are supported by the purple colors of the sunset. The rest of the painting is done in warm orange-brown tones. The figure is illuminated by the sun, which makes it less mystical and more earthly.

One can consider the cold shades in the picture as the birth of some new world that the demon dreams of. All the tension in the protagonist’s pose tells the story that the character’s reality is not very satisfying. The sunset of the day, painted in cold shades, should convey to the viewer the idea that everything bad in life comes to an end. A new day will come regardless of whether a person wants it or not. But before the morning dawns, the gray-black colors will take effect. The shadows of the coming night can already be seen in the picture. But the white stone flowers to the right of the figure give hope. They balance the composition, acting as a counterweight to the open space on the left. Without these white spots, the figure would visually fall to the side.

Analysis of the picture

On the canvas, the seated demon is depicted as a young titan. This analogy is not accidental. Vrubel himself did not associate his demon with either the devil or the devil. Vrubel wrote that a demon is the state of his soul. Today you can hear the opinion of critics that the artist went crazy precisely because he chose an otherworldly creature from hell as the main character of his paintings. But Vrubel had a different opinion on this matter. He believed that it was simply impossible to express his inner essence in any other way. You should look at the picture carefully, and you can find many contradictions in it.

For example, the titan's figure is powerful and muscular. But the face is very young and very sad. The viewer can understand that the main character does not like the fate of the demon, but he cannot do anything about his fate. The film well conveys three states: constraint, melancholy and helplessness. The cold peace that the demon found at the top of the mountain is not what he expected to see there.

The style in which the picture is painted helps to better understand it. Crystal fragments seem to form a figure. The viewer can assume that the artist wanted to convey to him that even those individuals who are made of stone can have a subtle and vulnerable soul.

Criticism

Contemporaries warmly received Vrubel’s painting “The Demon”. Where is this painting located today? In the same place where it was located two centuries ago - in the Tretyakov Gallery. It was there that the painting was first exhibited before the whole world saw it. Chaliapin said about the painting that the demon shocked him. The singer admitted that the demon shook him to the core, and it was simply impossible to take his eyes off the picture. Blok, like many of his contemporaries, believed that Vrubel managed to fully embrace Lermontov’s thought and penetrate every line of the poem. Despite this, many critics believed that the artist’s demon was not disgusting enough; he could not become the embodiment of evil and vice, which any manifestation of dark forces needs to be. It is surprising that the film of the young talent was able not only to win the hearts of the domestic public, but also to gain recognition abroad. Picasso said that it was thanks to the style that he first saw in Vrubel that he got the idea to create a new style in art. Inspiring and giving confidence to his colleagues that art needs a new look - these are the artist’s main achievements.

Sculpture

The demon appeared not only in the artist’s paintings. Vrubel created his sculptures on a similar theme. The most famous of them is the “Head of the Demon”; unfortunately, it has not reached us, as it was badly damaged at the hands of a vandal. The sculpture was exhibited at the Russian Museum when one of the visitors to the exhibition could not contain his feelings and threw the work off the pedestal. They say that the man was crazy, but maybe someone was simply terrified to see the manifestation of the devil in the flesh.

But Vrubel enjoyed making his sculpture. He made it immediately after he painted the painting “The Seated Demon.” But if the face of the titan from the painting was sad and romantic, then in the sculptural portrait the face was transformed. It was a terrible mask, covered with a mane of thick hair. To add more realism to his work, the artist decided to paint the sculpture.

Demon and Tamara

Where else, besides paintings, can you find a mythical hero in the works of Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel? “The Demon and Tamara” is one of the illustrations for Lermontov’s collection. The illustration was made on whatman paper with watercolors. Vrubel decided to show the audience his vision of the moment of the meeting of the Demon and Tamara. In the drawing, the main characters do not seem to experience any feelings. Tamara's detachment and lack of premonition of death makes the illustration more meaningful. How were Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel’s illustrations assessed? “The Demon and Tamara”, as well as other illustrations, were not so highly rated by the audience. Publishers believed that Vrubel’s drawing style was too pretentious, and therefore did not fit well with the illustrations of other artists. Naturally, the publishers were afraid that the book would sell worse if buyers could not appreciate the illustrations presented in the printed edition. Vrubel even had to redraw some illustrations. But the artist was unable to fully adapt to the required style. He was too original and freedom-loving. Rigid boundaries limited his creativity and did not help him create masterpieces - this is what the artist believed. But Vrubel didn’t really want to sell his talent for money. He wanted to create not for the sake of large fees, but for the sake of the process itself.

flying

In the wake of his success, the artist decided to return to the topic that interested him most. “The Flying Demon” is a painting by Vrubel, which appeared 9 years after the first painting, which earned worldwide recognition. But unlike his first demon, the artist left the second unfinished. It's difficult to say what caused this. Perhaps Vrubel was disappointed by the topic, perhaps in the process of bringing the idea to life, the inspiration left the artist. But one thing is clear: the picture was well thought out in advance. Some sketches have even survived to this day. Vrubel’s painting “The Flying Demon” depicts a mountainous area and the figure of a hero in the middle. Unlike the first creation, the second image became less allegorical and less detailed. The figure in the picture is barely outlined. But the folds of the cloak and the background are well worked out. The demon flies between heaven and earth, cutting through the narrow space allotted to him by the author. The freedom that the character represents seems too compressed.

Portraying a flying demon, Vrubel reflected on the change of eras. Fame had already come to him, his paintings were successfully exhibited abroad. But for some reason the future seemed to the artist as something gray and uncomfortable. Probably, for the second time, Vrubel again wrote about his state of mind. But if the first time he was able to clearly express his feelings, then the second attempt clearly failed. There are no specifics, everything is gray and blurry. Although the likelihood that this is exactly the condition the artist had is very high.

Defeated

The last demon that the artist painted became prophetic for him. As always, when creating his mythical character, Mikhail Alexandrovich turned his soul inside out. At the time when the picture was being painted, changes were taking place in the artist’s life. And they weren't happy. “The Defeated Demon,” written by Vrubel, has a gray color scheme. This is not surprising. The artist suffered from a psychological disorder and therefore gradually lost his sight. It's hard to imagine how this can be dealt with. But the artist held out until the last. In Vrubel’s painting “The Defeated Demon,” the character is depicted in a strange pose and with a clearly distorted face. When the painting was exhibited for the first time, it received a large flurry of negative reviews. Even the artist’s friends noticed that the demon was too disproportionate. Perhaps it was these remarks that forced Vrubel to come to the exhibition more than once and redraw his character right there.

They said that the demon changed before our eyes, took different poses, and the expression on his face changed from day to day. When analyzing Vrubel’s painting “The Defeated Demon,” one cannot help but say about the background on which the character is located. The mountain gorge looks like a grave, and the feathers from the wings scattered nearby were supposed to show the viewer that the higher a person climbs, the harder it will be for him to fall. The action of the picture takes place against the backdrop of sunset. This symbolic background draws a line under the life of the demon and Vrubel. There is an opinion that the artist wanted to show with his demon his invincibility in the life of every person. Even though the hero has fallen, he still breathes and will live. But the impression the canvas makes is such that it seems as if the demon is too weak and will die any minute. But one should not deny the fact that the artist was never able to complete the idea he started, so now viewers do not have the opportunity to admire what should have turned out in the end.

Demons in creativity

Every person has internal problems, and everyone struggles with them differently. Some go to a psychotherapist, others keep a diary. Demons occupy a central position in Vrubel’s work for the reason that they were images of his soul. As the artist himself admitted, he felt better more than once after he poured out his soul on canvas. But why did Vrubel associate his inner tenant with a demon? The fact is that the artist did not consider this character to be something evil or vicious. For Vrubel, a demon is neither a devil nor a devil. This is a fallen being who is trying to find his place in this world. Agree, it’s allegorical. If you look at all the demons painted by the artist, you can trace the mental state of their author. Some say that Vrubel created prophetic paintings. But you can look at the problem from a different angle. The pictures were not prophetic. The artist through his creativity expressed his mental anguish, his illness, which destroyed him. The subject matter of his work has nothing to do with it. After all, his first creations were considered a miracle and a revolution in art. So it’s stupid to believe that it was the “dark” theme chosen by the artist that ruined the creator.

Influence on followers

Were all geniuses crazy? Hard to tell. But we can say for sure that Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel and the demons he wrote changed the course of history. The artist did not immediately gain popularity. Many did not understand the creator's style. It seemed too pretentious and unrealistic. The artist's uniqueness was attributed to his illness and strange way of thinking. But as Vrubel’s attending physician said, there is nothing strange in the creative manifestation of his patient. After all, each person has his own picture of the world.

When did true fame come to the artist? This happened during his lifetime, but at that time Vrubel was already blind and was living out his days in a psychiatric hospital. But it was not the creator’s compassion that prompted the public to reconsider their views on the artist’s work. At the turn of the century, fashion changed. Paintings by artists such as Monet and Degas became popular. At this time, Ge, Benois, Chaliapin and Gorky revised their attitude towards the special style of their contemporary.

It is difficult to say whether the artist was ahead of his time. Mikhail Vrubel lived in his own world and painted his own vision. Naturally, the artist’s taste was formed under the influence of his contemporaries and fashion. But Vrubel managed to develop a unique style before Cubism became fashionable. Although, as already written above, Picasso said that it was thanks to the work of Mikhail Alexandrovich that he changed his style of writing and interpreted the artist’s style in his own way.

What happened to the illustrations of Lermontov's demon? They were warmly received by the public. The books were sold out both at the time of their publication and are still sold today. The artist managed better than others to understand the feelings of the great poet and depict the image on paper. It must be said that after Vrubel no one even tried to take on the illustration of Lermontov’s work. It is difficult to withstand the competition of an artist who spent his entire life merging with the image he created and did not stop creating his demons until his last days. Vrubel taught a lesson to the entire modern generation. There is no need to be afraid of your uniqueness. Each artist should try to develop his own unique style in order to be different from others. With talent and perseverance you can achieve a lot in life.

Recommended by his friend Serov, Vrubel showed the editor of the publication of Lermontov’s works to P.P. Konchalovsky. his drawing, which depicted the head of the Demon against the backdrop of rocky mountains with snow-capped peaks. After this drawing, it became obvious to the editor who should be entrusted with illustrating the poem. Konchalovsky was imbued with faith in both the extraordinary talent of the artist, who was not yet known to the general public, and in his understanding of Lermontov. He sympathized with Vrubel, brought him into his house, where the artist became friends with his children and for a whole year, while he was working on illustrations, he took an active part in all the fun of the youth, in their home performances, readings, games; he even settled next to the Konchalovskys so that it would be more convenient to communicate with the editor and his cheerful household. In 1891, on the anniversary of the tragic death of Mikhail Lermontov, a unique complete collection of the poet’s works was published, many famous artists of that time were involved in the design and work on it. Among the other masters was Mikhail Vrubel, whom no one really knew at the time, and therefore no one took seriously. However, it was Vrubel’s drawings for Lermontov’s poem “The Demon” that best approached the very essence, the very spirit of Lermontov’s poetry. Without these illustrations by Vrubel, the goal of publishing Lermontov's works would not have been achieved. Drawings by other artists next to Vrubel's look poor, uninteresting, and stereotypical. They do not rise above the norm accepted in those years. Even successful drawings by such masters as Repin, Surikov, Vasnetsov are easel works on Lermontov’s themes, but not illustrations for his poetry and prose. But, meanwhile, critics and artists slandered Vrubel most of all for his “misunderstanding of Lermontov,” for his illiteracy and even for his inability to draw. Although Vrubel himself once said to Repin: “You don’t draw, you copy.” Even connoisseurs did not understand Vrubel’s drawings. Stasov, that vain critic, called them “terrible,” and Repin found Vrubel “unpleasant in these illustrations.” At that time, only a narrow circle of young artists (Serov, Korovin) and connoisseurs understood the significance of Vrubel’s unique drawings, their genius and adequacy to the poet’s works. None of Lermontov’s other illustrators came as close to his creative and philosophical heritage as a poet, as did the artist, bewitched by Lermontov’s “Demon” and his own.

After completing his work on the drawings for Lermontov, Vrubel did not return to the demonic theme for a very long time. He didn’t return, only to return one day and stay with her forever. In the last years of his life, the theme of the Demon became central to Vrubel’s life. He created many drawings, sketches and painted three huge paintings on this topic - the Seated Demon, the Flying Demon and the Defeated Demon. He continued to “improve” the last of them even when it was already exhibited in the gallery, thereby astonishing and frightening the public. By this time, the artist’s physical and mental condition had deteriorated, which only added fuel to the fire and strengthened the already emerging legend about the master who sold his soul to the devil. But, as Vrubel himself said, the Demon is not understood - they are confused with the devil and the devil, while “devil” in Greek simply means “horned”, the devil is “slanderer”, and “Demon” means “soul” and personifies the eternal struggle the restless human spirit, seeking reconciliation of the passions overwhelming it, knowledge of life and not finding an answer to its doubts either on earth or in heaven."

Mikhail Vrubel. Illustrations for Lermontov's poem Demon. Drawings. Tamara and Demon. Golden watercolor - Mikhail Vrubel, Hero of our time illustrations, brilliant drawings by Vrubel, drawings by Vrubel for the poem Demon, Lermontov. - Mikhail Vrubel. Illustrations for Lermontov's poem Demon. Drawings. Tamara and Demon. Golden watercolor - Mikhail Vrubel, Hero of our time illustrations, brilliant drawings by Vrubel, drawings by Vrubel for the poem Demon, Lermontov.

Lermontov's charmingly mysterious lines are familiar to all of us from school. And once they delighted the artist Mikhail Vrubel - after all, this gloomy demonic image was so in tune with the darkness and tragedy that reigned in the soul of the great master.

Vrubel and Demon. It is difficult to talk about what united the mythical hero and the artist, as difficult as the feelings, emotions, and most importantly, the soul of the genius, which was not fully called even by himself, were complex.

He truly was a genius who had a special gift for looking not only into the depths of himself, but also into the depths of the entire universe, and the ability to convey to people everything that worried and tormented him so much throughout his life, which seemed outwardly so simple, but so spiritually rich and extraordinary.

His paintings - light, fabulous or gloomy, full of mystery and secret power - leave no one indifferent. "", " Princess - Swan», «», «», «», « Princess of Dreams a", "", "" are masterpieces that rightfully occupy a special place in world painting.

And among them is the brightest and most powerful in terms of power of perception - “ Daemon" All connoisseurs and lovers of painting know it, but, probably, only specialists know how much time and inner strength went into working on Vrubel’s most important theme - the demonic, the theme of world sorrow, so close and understandable to him, who knew both sorrow and the torment of loneliness, and pain.

The demon stood before the artist at the beginning of his creative career, haunted him throughout the subsequent years and darkened the tragic decline of his life...

When did it all start? At what point Vrubel felt that he had almost merged with the image of his future tragic hero? Was he aware of the disorder of spirit and body from which he suffered all his life, and which is so similar to the torment of the mythical Demon?

Most likely, it was this discord that led to such a tragic ending.

In life Vrubel there was everything: everyday disorder, and need, and suffering, and misunderstanding of others, and unhappy love (Kiev period), and fulfilled love, which gave the artist great happiness. Despite everything, even a terrible illness, he still managed to remain a winner in life.

His victory is his amazing creativity, his famous demoniana, which deserves special mention.

1875 In those years, a young student at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University, Mikhail Vrubel, was already completely mesmerized by Lermontov’s poem “ Daemon" He wrote to his older sister about the indescribable sensations this deeply tragic plot and the stunning images of the Demon and Tamara evoked in him. Proud, lonely, thirsty for love and independence, always unhappy and sad, the Demon turned out to be very close Vrubel, is so close, as if Lermontov copied his favorite hero from the young artist. After all, Vrubel, according to the recollections of people close to him, was withdrawn, silent, coldly reserved.

True, sometimes on this apparently calm face “a nervous color flared up, and a strange, even unhealthy shine appeared in the eyes.”

Probably, this similarity can explain Vrubel’s special attachment, which lasted almost his entire creative life, to the image of the Demon, personifying the tragedy of a proud soul and the struggle with life in complete solitude. It appeared immediately after becoming acquainted with Lermontov’s poetry, but only from 1885 this complex image began to emerge in Vrubel’s works, which at first did not want to obey him and only after many years finally acquired a complete appearance full of mysterious meaning.

Apparently, for this to happen, a special creative insight and, of course, special skill, close to genius, was required. All this appeared later, but for now... for now these were just plans. The artist dreamed of creating an unusual tetralogy: The Demon, Tamara and the death of Tamara. But the image of the Demon was still too unclear, too vague, long searches and disappointments still lay ahead.

Father Vrubel who visited him in Kyiv was shocked:

And although those around him could not fully understand Vrubel’s inexplicable desire to capture Lermontov’s hero on canvas, nevertheless, during the four years of the “Kyiv period” (1885 - 1889) “ Daemon“remained not only a spiritual hope for the artist, but, one might say, lived in him: paintings depicting the Demon moved with Vrubel from apartment to apartment, from one workshop to another, often he covered up already painted canvases and painted everything again.

Unfortunately, the constant need and need to carry out custom work distracted Vrubel from his favorite image of a suffering but majestic spirit. He had already studied the character of the Demon well, and more and more often he appeared to him “with eyes full of sadness...” The image of the Demon was finally formed only in 1890 during the artist’s stay in Moscow.

Vrubel stopped here, as he himself thought, for several days, passing from Kazan, where he visited his sick father, to Kyiv. But he remained in this city until the end of his days.

He was lucky: he found himself among patrons of the arts, young artists, writers, performers, architects - people who at that time were striving to make a revolutionary revolution in Russian culture.

Savva Mamontov and his family became real Moscow friends for Vrubel.

In his house and in the Abramtsevo estate Vrubel communicated with Polenov, Golovin, Korovin, Serov. And although their views differed on many things in art, the main thing that united these great people was the desire to bring people joy, spiritual happiness and enjoyment of art.

It was in Mamontov’s house that the already formed image of the Demon appeared to Vrubel, and the artist hastened to capture this vision on canvas - “”. There was a lot in this Demon: youth, softness, unspent heat, and there was a complete absence of demonic anger and contempt in him, at the same time, he seemed to embody all the sorrow of the world. Vrubel succeeded in painting, as he himself believed, thanks to painful years of reflection and search.

And then a new period began - Mikhail Vrubel was invited to illustrate the anniversary collection of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov. No one doubted that it was Vrubel who would be able to cope with this work better than others - after all, when starting it, the artist must not only feel, but also become close to the heroes, and such a kinship of souls has long ripened in him.

Beautiful illustrations were born: “”, “”, “”, “”, “”, “”, “” and “” - large eyes emitting inner light, and lips caked with unimaginable passion. But the publishers demanded that “The Head...” be replaced. It seemed to them that this image did not quite correspond to Lermontov’s hero. And Vrubel remade “The Head...” - now an evil, arrogant and vengeful “defeated hero” appeared before us.

1890 - 1891. Paper, black watercolor, whitewash. 23 x 36