Vereshchagin and his paintings. Battle genre in the works of Vereshchagin

The outstanding Russian artist Vasily Vereshchagin was born on October 26, 1842. His paintings are stunning with their realism; the creator is called one of the best in the field of battle scenes. But his personality is no less striking than his paintings. A man of amazing depth knew how to realize himself in various spheres of life, always showing himself to be a brave and worthy citizen. He managed to do much more than any other artist of that time. An active public figure and writer, researcher and historian - all these are rightfully the titles of Vasily Vasilyevich.

He was born into the family of a landowner and at the age of 9 he entered the cadet corps, after which he entered the service. But very soon Vereshchagin resigned and entered the Academy of Arts, he studied painting with the best masters, and then even went to practice in Paris, where he studied with Jerome himself. He was especially successful in paintings painted from life. He spent quite a long time in the Caucasus, where he managed to bring this skill to perfection. The beauty of nature, incredibly textured faces - Vasily Vershchagin carefully examined all this and transferred it to canvas.
Vereshchagin is one of the few Russian artists who held exhibitions in London, worked in Munich and traveled around India. Perhaps no one could afford this at that time. He led a very busy life, constantly traveling and looking for new subjects in everything. After a trip to India, he traveled through Palestine and Syria, fascinated by biblical stories. We propose to recall the most famous paintings of the painter.

The apotheosis of war. Dedicated to all great conquerors, past, present and future.- the most powerful painting by Vereshchagin, who is often called the “artist of the truth of war.” Nothing passes without a trace, and ordinary soldiers pay for the selfishness and greed of those in power. Skulls and crows - nothing else.

Taj Mahal Mausoleum near Agra, 1874 - the painting was painted during a trip to Turkmenistan. Its peculiarity is the image of an energetically strong place. The Taj Mahal rises above the desert beauty of the city, reflected in the water, its peaks calling for admiration.


Attack by surprise- war is always merciless and there are no winners in it, and the losers are always the same - ordinary people. Soldiers attack unarmed and almost helpless soldiers by surprise. The battle painter Vereshchagin once again showed his talent in depicting non-standard and “ugly” scenes of military operations.

In conquered Moscow (“Arsonists” or “Execution in the Kremlin”)— the picture was painted in 1897-1898. Vasily Vasilyevich was born much later than the famous war of 1812, but he studied it quite carefully. All military actions and the victory of one side or another have a cause and effect. Vereshchagin, of course, managed to portray the French soldiers as historians and contemporaries of those events saw them.

Mullah Rahim and Mullah Kerim quarrel on the way to the bazaar- in 1873 the artist painted a canvas that is somewhat different from all his previous works. HE knew how not only to study history and paint landscapes and battle scenes. In his work, a special place should be given to everyday themes. Although infrequent, the rather subtly and ironically noticed moments of ordinary life make one admire the artist’s talent.

Japanese— while traveling around the East, in 1903 Vereshchagin painted a series of paintings about Japan. Extraordinary subjects, graphics and clearly defined silhouettes of oriental beauties and architecture make these works one of the most striking in his career.

Black Sea. Cape Fiolent near Sevastopol— the landscape painted from life amazes with its realism. Black Sea, rocky terrain and incredible nature. There is nothing superfluous or contrived here, just a magnificent view in its pristine beauty.

Barge hauler with a hat in his hand. 1866 - social themes took their place in the artist’s work. He often wondered about wealth and poverty, about class inequality. And he painted pictures that made us think about the fate of the lower strata. Barge haulers, beggars in Samarkand, the sale of a child slave - nothing escaped the artist’s attentive gaze. Everything in the barge hauler’s posture and clothing speaks of his difficult lot and the impossibility of changing anything. Hopelessness in every gesture.
Laura Fame

Vasily Vasilievich Vereshchagin(October 26, 1842, Cherepovets - April 13, 1904, Port Arthur) - Russian battle painter, traveler and military man.

Features of the artist Vasily Vereshchagin: considered paintings “without an idea” to be meaningless; visited three wars in his service, but in painting he was a pacifist artist - he showed in his canvases the inhumanity of war; painted a lot of exotic landscapes and genre works during his many travels.

Famous paintings by Vasily Vereshchagin:“Apotheosis of War”, “Taj Mahal Mausoleum in Agra”, “Fatally Wounded”.

The Cherepovets district of the Novgorod province, where the artist Vasily Vereshchagin was born, has long been famous for its “iron industry.” In these places, rich in iron ore, nails were forged, which were then exported to England - Cherepovets steel was highly valued in Europe. One of the artist's earliest memories was “the sound of hammers on anvils in a long row of forges along a mountain cliff”, on which the Vereshchagins' estate stood. This is not a random memory: it seems that Vasily Vasilyevich himself was forged in one of these forges. Iron character. Nerves of steel. Sharp mind. All his life this indomitable man has overcome something. Suffering from seasickness, he served in the midshipmen. Sincerely hating violence, he participated in almost all military campaigns that fell in his lifetime. Being a selfless patriot of his country, he painted canvases for which he was declared a provocateur and an enemy of the state.

As the Steel Was Tempered

Vasily showed an early interest and ability in drawing, but his parents were not going to encourage this tendency: “The son of a pillar nobleman, 6th genealogy book, to become an artist - what a shame!”. Among the Vologda and Novgorod nobility, a military career was considered not only prestigious, but also obligatory. It has been a long-standing tradition here to designate sons as naval sailors. Wealthy landowners cajoled the admissions committee of the Naval Corps ahead of time; it would seem that the fate of Vasily Vereshchagin was predetermined even before his birth.

In 1850, he was accepted into the Alexander Youth Cadet Corps in Tsarskoye Selo, and three years later he was enrolled in the St. Petersburg Naval Cadet Corps.

Already as a teenager, Vasily Vereshchagin did not mince his words and knew how to stand up for himself. However, the hazing and cynicism that reigned in the cadet “barracks comradeship” quickly disappointed him. And after the first overseas cruise on the frigate “Kamchatka” (the young man had turned 15 by that time), he completely doubted that he was created for the fleet: cadet Vereshchagin developed severe seasickness. However, he was ambitious, did not tolerate criticism, and therefore tried to become the first in everything. Of course, Vasily made particular progress in drawing, which he became more and more interested in.

Riot of fifteen

The teachers immediately noticed the talent of the volunteer Vereshchagin. One day, after praising another piece of work, the school director asked: “You won’t be an artist anyway?”. And I received an unexpected answer: “On the contrary “I want nothing more than to become an artist.”.

Cautious attempts to convince my father that being an artist is also a worthy occupation for a man were met with hostility. Even my mother considered this choice career suicide. “The profession of a painter will not lead you to the best houses in the capital, she believed, not without reason. — And wearing epaulettes you will be accepted everywhere.”.

However, Vereshchagin had already decided everything. Having passed the final exams in the Marine Corps with the best grades in his graduation, he applied to the Academy of Arts.

Alas, Vasily Vereshchagin came to the Imperial Academy in not its best times. A quarter of a century later, Alexander III will begin to reform the local education system, expel retrograde teachers and invite the Itinerants. In the meantime, the Academy is infinitely far from the ideals of creative freedom that Vereshchagin so strived for. Here, as in the army, everything is done according to the regulations. Mentors, with sergeant-major tenacity, force students to redraw ancient scenes a thousand times, almost in formation lead them to watch the “old masters” and demand blind admiration for mossy authorities.

More and more doubting the need to study at the Academy, Vereshchagin secured for himself something like a “sabbatical leave” and left for the Caucasus in search of fresh impressions and lively nature. Soon after this, the “Revolt of the Fourteen” broke out - fourteen of the best students of the Academy (with Ivan Kramskoy at the head) left its membership. Had Vereshchagin stayed in St. Petersburg a little longer, this event would probably have gone down in history as the “Revolt of the Fifteen.”

Maybe they won't kill you!

Vasily Vereshchagin went to Paris, where he hoped to study with Jean-Leon Gerome, whose paintings he admired back in St. Petersburg. By that time, Jerome was a recognized authority among his colleagues, a holder of the Legion of Honor, and he was also a “fashionable painter,” and it was very prestigious to study with him. However, another disappointment awaited Master Vereshchagin in his workshop: the same ancient subjects, the same devotion to tradition as at the Academy of Arts.

Jerome's attacks on the impressionists in general (and in particular the campaign of persecution against Edouard Manet, in which Jerome actively participated) finally convinced Vereshchagin that he could not learn anything new and progressive here. Soon he returned to Tiflis, recalling: “I escaped from Paris as if from a dungeon. And he began to draw in freedom with some kind of frenzy.”.

At this time, the commander of the Turkestan Military District, General Kaufman, was looking for an artist who would accompany him on trips around Central Asia. Vereshchagin seized this opportunity. In addition to the thirst for new experiences and passion for travel, he was driven by another motive - “to find out “What is a true war, about which I have read and heard a lot and was close to in the Caucasus”. Fate “smiled at him”: the Bukhara emir, who was in Samarkand, declared a “holy war” on the Russians.

The battle for Samarkand was short-lived. The emir's troops, having suffered serious damage, retreated, giving Russian soldiers the opportunity to enter the city unhindered. Most of the Russian troops soon left Samarkand, Vereshchagin remained in the fortress with a garrison of 500 people. Soon the local population, incited by the mullahs, moved to attack. When the emir pulled the remnants of his troops to the defenseless (as it seemed to him) fortress, they numbered tens of thousands.

The assault lasted almost a week. Exhausted, dispirited soldiers were ready to retreat under the onslaught of a countless enemy. However, when the fortress wall was broken, warrant officer Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin not only managed to repel the attack, but also raised his fellow soldiers to counterattack. He later described his thoughts as follows: “My first thought was - they’re not going, we need to go ahead; the second is a good opportunity to show how to move forward; third - but they’ll probably kill you; fourth - maybe they won’t kill you!”. Vereshchagin shot, stabbed, chopped, rushed into hand-to-hand combat, took weapons from the gnarled fingers of his fallen comrades, and shot again. According to the artist’s recollections, he got off “cheaply” that day: “One bullet knocked the hat off the head, the other broke the barrel of the gun, just at chest height.”. Soon reinforcements arrived. For heroism shown during the defense of the Samarkand fortress, Vasily Vereshchagin was awarded the St. George Cross. But the main thing is that one week of the Samarkand siege played a decisive role in the formation of his views and determined his entire future life. Until his last breath, one of the most important battle painters in the history of painting paradoxically hated war and everything connected with it.

Hello weapons

The artist Vasily Vereshchagin sought to penetrate to the very essence of things: he nurtured the subjects of his paintings for a long time, and again and again returned to the places where he acquired his first impressions. It was important for him to show that every coin has a reverse side. That courage and generosity often go hand in hand with panic and betrayal in war. That conquests are impossible without sacrifices and losses. He painted in cycles and was terribly worried if he had to sell a painting separately. All of his work (in addition to painting, Vereshchagin published travel notes and prose) was an integral anti-war statement, the right for which he suffered to the fullest. One day the artist swore in his heart: “I won’t paint any more battle paintings - that’s it! I take what I write too close to my heart; I cry (literally) for the grief of every wounded and killed person.”. He, of course, did not keep his word.

Almost from the first exhibitions of Vereshchagin’s paintings, few doubted that Vasily Vasilyevich was a brilliant artist. But his trustworthiness raised questions. Compatriots (especially those in epaulettes) were unnerved that Vereshchagin preferred “decadent” subjects instead of depicting the glory of Russian weapons. There were rumors that after reading the Turkestan series ( , , ) in 1874, the future Emperor Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich said: “His constant tendentiousness is disgusting to national pride and one can conclude one thing from them: either Vereshchagin is a brute or a completely crazy person.”.

Similar replicas with some variations were later accompanied by the Balkan cycle ( , , ).

In 1900, Vasily Vereshchagin was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize - the first in history. His “always tendentiousness” was appreciated by the world as it deserved. By that time the artist was already in considerable resentment towards his homeland. And he said that offering his paintings to someone in Russia is now the same for him as standing on the porch.

The author is burning

It happened that the “Leyden jar” hit people who showed Vereshchagin the most friendly and sympathetic attitude. In addition to Stasov, among them was Pavel Tretyakov, whose quarrel with whom Vereshchagin later greatly regretted. In 1903, five years after Tretyakov’s death, Vasily Vasilyevich lamented: “How stupid it was of me to be so rude to such a wonderful person. I’m still ashamed and punished.”.

Both the prince and the peasant

If the artist was reproached for a lack of patriotism or excessive theatricality (allegedly inherited from Master Jerome), it was solely for political reasons.

Already in 1880, his exhibition in St. Petersburg was visited by 200 thousand people. And in 1881, the artist Vasily Vereshchagin hit the “jackpot” in Vienna. The exhibition, which took place for 28 days in the building of the Künstlerhaus Society of Artists, was accompanied by unprecedented excitement. “The exhibition of paintings by V.V. Vereshchagin is a spectacle unprecedented in Vienna, they wrote in the newspapers. — From 9 o’clock in the morning until 10 o’clock in the evening, a continuous mass of people not only fills the entire Kiinstlerhaus building, which houses the exhibition of paintings, but also on the street at the entrance throughout the whole day you see several hundred people waiting to enter the exhibition. And if you finally manage to somehow get into the hall of the Vereshchagin galleries, you will, not without surprise, see here representatives of aristocratic families next to workers, members of the highest bureaucracy, important dignified generals interspersed with petty burghers and ordinary line soldiers. In Vienna this phenomenon is unprecedented, for in no other large European city are the classes of society so isolated as in Vienna. But Vereshchagin’s exhibition had a kind of leveling effect: the prince, the peasant, the millionaire banker, and the simple worker - all vying with each other in a hurry to deposit 30 kreutzers in the cash register in order to quickly look at the works of a powerful talent.”.

In subsequent years, interest in Vereshchagin around the world did not wane - Vienna was followed by Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, and London.

After total European success, Vasily Vereshchagin traveled twice to the USA and Cuba, where he painted several paintings on the theme of the American-Spanish War. In the States he was warmly received by President Theodore Roosevelt, and the exhibition organized by the Art Institute of Chicago was a huge success.

In 1903, Vereshchagin, despite the “bad feeling,” undertook a trip to Japan. The old soldier’s instinct did not let him down - a year later the Russian-Japanese War began. Of course, Vereshchagin again failed to stay on the sidelines; at the end of February 1904, he left for the front.

On March 31 (April 13), the battleship Petropavlovsk, with the artist Vasily Vereshchagin on board, was blown up by a mine. Of the entire crew of 650 people, no more than sixty managed to escape. According to the testimony of survivors, a few minutes before the explosion, Vasily Vasilyevich climbed onto the deck with a camping album - he died with his main weapon in his hands.

“Vereshchagin is mourned by the whole world”, wrote in the newspaper St. Petersburg Vedomosti. The most convincing evidence of the correctness of these words, perhaps, was the obituary published in "Newspaper of ordinary people". “Vereshchagin wanted to show people the tragedy and stupidity of the war, and he himself fell victim to it”, wrote in 1904 in this Japanese newspaper.

Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin is one of the largest Russian realist artists. His works gained national fame, and in the world of art his fame as an outstanding battle painter was firmly established. However, the range of Vasily Vasilyevich’s creativity was much wider than battle themes. The artist significantly enriched the historical, everyday, portrait and landscape painting of his era. For his contemporaries, Vereshchagin was not only a famous artist, but also a desperate revolutionary, breaking with generally accepted canons both in his work and in life. “Vereshchagin is not just a painter, he is something more,” wrote art critic, ideological leader of the Wanderers Ivan Kramskoy. “Despite the interest of his paintings, the author himself is a hundred times more instructive.”

Vasily Vasilyevich was born in Cherepovets on October 14, 1842 in the family of a landowner. He spent the first eight years of his life on his father’s estate near the village of Pertovka. The future artist's large family lived on corvee labor and dues from serfs. And although Vereshchagin’s parents were known among the landowners as relatively humane people, Vasily himself often observed scenes of oppression of serfs and lordly tyranny. The impressionable boy was sensitive to the humiliation of people and the violation of human dignity.

At the age of eight, Vasily’s parents sent him to the Alexander Cadet Corps for minors. The order in the educational institution during the time of Nicholas I was characterized by rough drill, cane discipline, despotism and callousness, which did not contribute to the cadets' desire to serve. It was during his years of study that the main character traits of Vereshchagin were revealed. He reacted sharply to any injustice or humiliation of a person. The class swagger and arrogance of the cadets, the favor towards students from noble families of the corps leaders aroused a feeling of furious indignation in Vereshchagin.

After graduating from the Alexander Cadet Corps, Vasily entered the Naval Corps in St. Petersburg. It should be noted that during the entire period of his studies, Vereshchagin was among the best students, and he graduated from the educational institution in first place in terms of points. Here the strengthening will of the future artist was expressed; in the struggle for primacy, he had to sacrifice rest and entertainment, and regularly lacked sleep. However, the knowledge gained, especially fluency in French, German and English, was very useful to him in subsequent years.

In 1860, Vasily Vasilyevich was promoted to midshipman. A brilliant career as a naval officer opened before him. However, while still studying at the Marine Corps, Vereshchagin firmly decided to become an artist. He had a desire to draw since childhood; from 1858 he regularly attended the school of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists. Vereshchagin's desire to leave the service encountered serious difficulties. Firstly, his parents rebelled against this act in the most decisive manner. The mother said that painting was humiliating for a representative of an old noble family, and the father even promised to refuse financial assistance to his son. And secondly, the Navy Department did not want to part with one of the most capable graduates of the Naval Corps. Contrary to the will of his parents and superiors, Vasily Vasilyevich left his military career, entering the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg in 1860.

V.V.Vereshchagin - student of the Academy of Arts 1860

The academic leadership immediately allocated a much-needed financial subsidy to Vereshchagin, and he devoted himself to his favorite work with all his spiritual fervor and diligence. Already in the first years of his studies, Vasily showed remarkable success; his drawings regularly received encouragement and awards. However, the longer Vereshchagin studied at the Academy, the stronger his dissatisfaction with local “studies” matured. The prevailing education system was based on the traditions of classicism, which included the obligatory idealization of nature. Students in their works were supposed to address themes of antiquity, religion and mythology. Even figures and events of Russian history had to be depicted in an ancient manner. Meanwhile, the situation in Russia at that time was distinguished by the exceptional severity of socio-political life. The crisis of the serf system worsened, and a revolutionary situation arose. The autocracy was forced to prepare and implement peasant reform. Many vivid paintings, poems, and dramatic works appeared in the country, exposing the unbearable living conditions of the urban poor and peasants. However, training at the Academy of Arts continued to remain divorced from the progressive views of the era, which caused discontent among some members of the artistic youth, including Vereshchagin.

Vasily Vereshchagin during his graduation from the Naval Cadet Corps. Photos from 1859 - 1860

Vasily Vasilyevich’s democratic views and his commitment to realism grew stronger and developed every day. The artist’s educational sketch on the theme of Homer’s “Odyssey” received praise from the Academy’s council, but the author himself was completely disillusioned with the educational system. He decided to put an end to classicism forever, and therefore cut up and burned the sketch. Vereshchagin left the educational institution in mid-1863, shortly before the famous “revolt of the fourteen”, which created an independent Artel of artists.

Vasily Vereshchagin during his first trip to the Caucasus

The young painter went to the Caucasus, eager to paint national images, scenes of folk life and southern nature, unusual for his eyes. Along the Georgian Military Road, Vasily Vasilyevich reached Tiflis, where he lived for more than a year. He earned his living by giving drawing lessons, and devoted all his free hours to studying the peoples of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, trying to capture everything interesting and characteristic with sketches. A truthful reflection of real life, passing a “sentence” on it - this is what Vasily Vasilyevich began to see as the meaning and purpose of art.

In those years, Vereshchagin worked only with pencil and watercolor; he did not have enough experience or knowledge to use oil paints. In 1864, Vereshchagin’s uncle died, the artist received a large inheritance and decided to continue his education. To do this, he went to France and entered the Paris Academy of Arts, starting an internship with the famous artist Jean-Leon Gerome. Hard work and enthusiasm allowed Vasily Vasilyevich to soon achieve considerable success. The Frenchman highly valued the talents of the new student, who, nevertheless, did not want to unquestioningly obey his instructions. Jerome offered endless sketches of antiques, advised to copy paintings of classics. In fact, the techniques of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts were cultivated here too. Vereshchagin attached importance only to working from life. In the spring of 1865 he returned to the Caucasus. The artist recalled: “I escaped from Paris as if from a dungeon, with some frenzy I began to paint in freedom.” Over the course of six months, the young artist visited many places in the Caucasus; he showed particular interest in the dramatic stories of folk life.

Drawings from this period depict the savagery of local religious customs and expose religious fanaticism, which takes advantage of the ignorance and darkness of the people.

At the end of 1865, Vereshchagin visited St. Petersburg, and then went back to Paris, where he again began his studies with diligence. From his travels in the Caucasus, he brought back a huge number of pencil drawings, which he showed to Jerome and Alexandre Bida, another French painter who took part in his training. Exotic and original paintings from the life of peoples little known in Europe made a favorable impression on skilled artists. However, this was not enough for Vasily Vasilyevich; he wanted to present his work to the mass audience.

Throughout the winter of 1865-1866, Vasily Vasilyevich continued to study hard at the Paris Academy. The artist’s working day lasted fifteen to sixteen hours without rest or walks, without attending concerts and theaters. His drawing technique has become more advanced and confident. He also mastered painting and began working with paints. Vereshchagin's official training ended in the spring of 1866, the artist left the Academy and returned to Russia.

Vasily Vasilyevich spent the summer of 1866 at the estate of his deceased uncle - the village of Lyubets, located in Cherepovets district. The outwardly calm life of the estate, located near the Sheksna River, was disturbed by the heart-rending cries of the crowds of barge haulers pulling merchant barges. The impressionable Vereshchagin was amazed by the tragic pictures he saw in this place from the life of ordinary people turned into draft animals. Only in our country, according to the artist, did barge labor become a real disaster, acquiring a mass character. On this topic, Vereshchagin decided to paint a huge picture, for which he made sketches of barge haulers in oil paints, and created sketches with a brush and pencil - several barge hauler teams of two hundred and fifty to three hundred people, following in a train one after another. Despite the fact that in concept Vereshchagin’s canvas is significantly inferior to Repin’s famous painting “Barge Haulers on the Volga,” it is worth noting that Vasily Vasilyevich conceived the theme of the painting several years before Ilya Efimovich (1870-1873). In addition, Vereshchagin, unlike Repin, tried to reveal the drama of the barge hauler’s fate not by psychological, but by epic means. The large-scale work, aimed at attracting public attention to one of the social ills of Russia at that time, was not completed. The received inheritance ended, the artist had to devote all his time and energy to odd jobs. In the history of art, only sketches and expressive sketches of barge haulers, created directly from life, have remained forever.

In mid-1867, Vasily Vasilyevich set off on his new journey - to Turkestan. The artist wrote this about the reasons that prompted him to leave home: “I went because I wanted to find out that there is a real war, about which I heard and read a lot, near which I lived in the Caucasus.” At this time, active military operations of the Russian army began against the Bukhara Emirate. The events that took place were of interest to Vereshchagin not at all from the side of tactics or strategy of battles, but only as a socio-political event in the conditions of which the people of each of the warring parties fight, live and suffer. At that moment, Vasily Vasilyevich did not yet have any anti-militarist convictions, any ideas or established opinions about the war. He was invited by the commander of the Russian troops, Konstantin Kaufman, and held the rank of ensign with him.

Vereshchagin used the long journey to Tashkent and countless trips around Turkestan for eighteen months to write a series of sketches and drawings showing the life of the peoples of Central Asia; local fortresses, cities and towns; historical monuments. Vasily Vasilyevich carefully studied the customs, met people, visited inns, mosques, teahouses, and bazaars. His albums contain colorful types of Tajiks, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Kazakhs, Jews and Gypsies, as well as Persians, Afghans, Chinese and Indians he came across - people of different social status and age. At the same time, the artist noted the beauty of southern nature, majestic mountains, fertile steppes, and stormy rivers. A series of sketches and drawings made by Vereshchagin at the end of the 1860s is a unique work, in fact a visual encyclopedia of the way of life of the peoples of Central Asia in the mid-nineteenth century. At the same time, the artist's technique became more confident and impressive. Drawings learned to convey the subtlest lighting effects and light-and-dark transitions, and began to be distinguished by maximum accuracy of kinship with nature. The artist's skill in working with oil paints has also increased.

Samarkand, 1869

In mid-spring 1868, Vereshchagin learned that the Emir of Bukhara, who was in Samarkand, declared a “holy war” on Russia. Following the army, the artist rushed towards the enemy. Vasily Vasilyevich did not see the massacre that unfolded on May 2, 1868 on the outskirts of Samarkand, but shuddered before its tragic consequences: “I have never seen a battlefield before, and my heart bled.” Vereshchagin stopped in Samarkand, occupied by Russian troops, and began to study the city. However, when the main forces under the command of Kaufman left Samarkand, continuing the fight with the emir, the city's garrison was attacked by numerous troops of the Shakhrisabz Khanate. The local population also rebelled, and the Russian soldiers had to lock themselves in the citadel. The situation was catastrophic, the opponents outnumbered our forces eighty times. Vereshchagin had to change his brush to a gun and join the ranks of the defenders. With amazing courage and energy, he participated in the defense of the citadel, repeatedly led soldiers into hand-to-hand combat, and participated in reconnaissance forays. Once a bullet split the artist’s gun, another time it knocked his hat off his head, and in addition, in the battle he was wounded in the leg. His composure and courage created him a high reputation among the soldiers and officers of the detachment. The Russian soldiers survived, and after the siege was lifted, Vereshchagin was awarded the St. George Cross of the fourth degree. Vasily Vasilyevich constantly wore it. By the way, he resolutely refused all subsequent awards.

Apotheosis of War, 1871

The Samarkand defense strengthened Vereshchagin's will and character. The horrors of battles, the suffering and death of people, the looks of the dying, the atrocities of enemies who cut off the heads of prisoners - all this left an indelible mark on the artist’s mind, tormented and worried him. In the winter of 1868, the artist visited Paris and then arrived in St. Petersburg. In the northern capital, Vereshchagin developed active activities in organizing and holding the Turkestan exhibition. Thanks to Kaufman's support, mineralogical, zoological and ethnographic collections from Central Asia were exhibited in the city. Here Vereshchagin first presented a number of his drawings and paintings. The exhibition was a great success, and the press started talking about the artist’s works.
After the exhibition closed, Vasily Vasilyevich again went to Turkestan, this time along the Siberian highways. A trip through Siberia allowed him to see the difficult life of political exiles and convicts. In Central Asia, Vereshchagin constantly traveled and worked tirelessly. He traveled around Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, drove along the Chinese border, visited Samarkand again, and visited Kokand. During his travels, the artist repeatedly participated in battles with bandits of local sultans. And again Vereshchagin showed extraordinary courage and courage, exposing himself to mortal danger during hand-to-hand fights.

To summarize the material collected in Turkestan, the artist settled in Munich at the beginning of 1871. Constant exercises in the field of painting were not in vain. Now the artist was fluent in colorful harmony, sonorous colors easily and accurately conveyed space and the light-air environment. The artist devoted a significant part of the canvases, as before, to showing the life of Central Asia in the second half of the nineteenth century. The subjects of other films were episodes of the war for the annexation of Turkestan to Russia. These works convey with incorruptible truth the heroism of ordinary Russian soldiers, the barbarity and savagery of the customs of the Bukhara Emirate.

The famous collector and philanthropist Pavel Tretyakov, visiting Munich, visited Vasily Vasilyevich’s workshop. Vereshchagin's works made a strong impression on Tretyakov, and he immediately wanted to buy them. However, Vereshchagin wanted to organize a show to the general public before selling the paintings, to test his artistic and social beliefs. An exhibition of Vereshchagin's Turkestan works was opened in 1873 in London at the Crystal Palace. This was the artist's first individual exhibition. The works surprised the audience. Unusual and new in content, powerful and expressive in artistic-realistic form, breaking with the conventions of salon-academic art. The exhibition was a great and, for the Russian artist, an unprecedented success among the English public. Magazines and newspapers published praising reviews.

Mortally wounded, 1873

At the beginning of 1874, Vereshchagin presented Turkestan paintings in St. Petersburg. To attract low-income audiences, he established free admission several days a week. And this exhibition was a huge success, causing lively responses from leading figures of Russian culture. Mussorgsky, based on the plot of one of Vereshchagin’s paintings, wrote the musical ballad “Forgotten,” and Garshin composed a passionate poem about the unknown soldiers who died in this war. Kramskoy wrote: “This is something amazing. I don’t know if there is an artist equal to him at the present time here or abroad.”

However, the royal dignitaries, together with the highest generals, reacted sharply to the paintings negatively, finding their content slanderous and false, discrediting the honor of the Russian army. And this was understandable - after all, battle painters until that time depicted only victories of the tsarist troops. It was very difficult for the generals to come to terms with the episodes of defeat shown by Vereshchagin. In addition, while presenting in his paintings the historical epic of the annexation of Turkestan to Russia, the daring artist nowhere immortalized either the reigning emperor or at least one of his generals. Soon after the exhibition began, the ruling circles launched a real persecution of its organizer. Articles began to appear in the press accusing Vasily Vasilyevich of anti-patriotism and treason, of a “Turkmen” approach to events. The sale of reproductions of Vereshchagin's paintings was not allowed; even Mussorgsky's ballad was banned.

Under the influence of unfair and outrageous accusations, Vereshchagin, in a state of nervous attack, burned three of his beautiful paintings, which caused particular attacks from dignitaries. However, the conflict between him and government circles continued to intensify. He was accused of lying, portrayed as a troublemaker and a nihilist. We recalled individual episodes from the artist’s biography, for example, how he refused to serve in the navy and voluntarily left the Imperial Academy of Arts. The Turkestan series generally seemed to be an open challenge to the centuries-honored tradition of presenting military-historical events.

"Attacked by surprise", 1871

The atmosphere of persecution became so unbearable for Vereshchagin that, without deciding the fate of his Turkestan paintings, he left St. Petersburg before the exhibition closed, setting off on a long trip to India. Afterwards, he instructed his authorized representative to sell this series, subject to the buyer’s compliance with several mandatory conditions, such as: preservation of the paintings in their homeland, their availability to the public, and the continuity of the series. As a result, Tretyakov bought the Turkestan works, placing them in his famous gallery.

With Vasily Vasilyevich’s departure from Russia, his conflict with government circles did not fade away. A new impetus was the demonstrative refusal of Vereshchagin, who was in India, from the professorship awarded to him in 1874 by the Imperial Academy of Arts. Vereshchagin motivated his refusal by the fact that he considers all awards and titles in art unnecessary. A number of Academy artists took this as a personal insult. The severity of the situation lay in the fact that the Academy of Arts, which was essentially one of the court institutions headed by members of the imperial family, was at that time experiencing a deep crisis. By cultivating the outdated views of late classicism, the Academy lost its authority. Many advanced Russian artists moved away from it. Vereshchagin's public refusal further diminished the prestige of this government institution. The authorities tried to suppress discussion of Vasily Vasilyevich’s action in print media. It was forbidden to publish articles criticizing the Academy, much less expressing solidarity with Vereshchagin.

Horseman warrior in Jaipur. Around 1881

The artist lived in India for two years, visited many regions, and traveled to Tibet. At the beginning of 1876 he returned to France, and in 1882-1883 he again traveled around India, since the materials collected during the first trip were not enough. As in his previous travels, Vereshchagin carefully studied folk life and visited cultural and historical monuments. Vasily Vasilyevich worked sparing neither health nor strength. He had to repel attacks from wild animals, drown in a river, freeze on mountain peaks, and suffer from severe tropical malaria. The culmination of the Indian cycle was the revealing film “The Suppression of the Indian Uprising by the British,” showing the cruelest scene of the execution of rebellious Indian peasants from cannons by the British colonialists.

At the beginning of 1877, the Russian-Turkish war began. Having learned about this, the artist immediately abandoned his begun paintings in Paris and went to the active army. Without government pay, but with the right of free movement, he became one of the adjutants of the Commander-in-Chief of the Danube Army. Vasily Vasilyevich took part in a number of battles and witnessed many battles. Every free minute he grabbed a pencil and paints; he often had to work under Turkish bullets. To questions from friends about why he voluntarily participates in battles and risks his life, the artist answered: “It is impossible for society to give pictures of a real war, looking at the battle through binoculars... You need to feel everything and do it yourself, participate in assaults, attacks, victories and defeats, experience cold, hunger, wounds, illnesses... You must not be afraid to sacrifice your meat and blood, otherwise the pictures will not be the same.

Before the attack. Near Plevna

On June 8, 1877, while participating on the Danube as a volunteer in the attack of a small destroyer against a huge Turkish steamer, Vasily Vasilyevich was seriously wounded and almost died. Not yet recovered, the artist rushed to Plevna, where Russian troops stormed the stronghold for the third time. The Battle of Plevna became the basis for a number of famous paintings by the artist. At the end of the war, at the headquarters of Commander-in-Chief Vereshchagin they asked what award or order he would like to receive. “Of course, none!” - answered the artist. The Russian-Turkish War brought him great personal grief. His beloved younger brother Sergei died, and his other brother, Alexander, was seriously wounded. The loss of about forty of his sketches was also a nuisance for Vereshchagin. This happened due to the negligence of a number of people whom he instructed to send the work to Russia.

Vereshchagin's Balkan series is the most significant in his work both in terms of artistic skill and ideological content. It depicts the unspeakable torment, toil and horrific disasters that war brings to the mass of soldiers and peoples. In connection with the opening of Vereshchagin’s exhibitions in St. Petersburg in 1880 and 1883, many articles supporting the artist appeared in the press: “In his paintings there are no sparkling bayonets, no triumphantly rustling banners, no brilliant squadrons flying towards the batteries, no presentation of trophies and solemn processions. All that fascinating, ceremonial atmosphere that humanity has come up with to cover up the most disgusting of its deeds is unfamiliar to the artist’s brush; before you is only bare reality.” Interest in Vereshchagin's paintings in society was unusually high. Lively discussions took place in private homes, clubs, theaters and on the streets. Critic Vladimir Stasov wrote: “Not all of Vereshchagin’s paintings are equal - he has both weak and mediocre ones. Although where have you seen an artist whose number of works contained only pearls and diamonds of the highest caliber? This is unthinkable. But who in Russia does not feel the greatness of Vereshchagin’s exhibition, which has nothing similar not only here, but throughout Europe? Their best current war painters are still far from our Vereshchagin in terms of courage and depth of realism... In technique, in expression, in thought, in feeling, Vereshchagin had never risen so high. Only those who are completely devoid of artistic meaning and feeling do not understand this.”

Snow trenches (Russian positions at Shipka Pass)

However, the authorities still accused the artist of anti-patriotism, of sympathy for the now Turkish army, and of deliberately discrediting the Russian generals. There were even proposals to deprive Vasily Vasilyevich of the title of Knight of St. George, arrest him and send him into exile. By the way, not only in our country, but in Europe, and later in America, the ruling circles were afraid of the accusatory, anti-militarist influence of Vereshchagin’s paintings. For example, the artist later wrote from the USA: “When I offered to take children to the exhibition at a low price, I was told that my paintings could turn young people away from war, which, according to these “gentlemen,” is undesirable.” And to the journalist’s question about how famous modern commanders feel about his works, Vereshchagin replied: “Moltke (Helmuth von Moltke - the largest military theorist of the nineteenth century) adored them and was always the first at exhibitions. However, he issued an order prohibiting soldiers from viewing the paintings. He allowed officers, but not soldiers.” To the reproaches of some military men that Vereshchagin in his works condensed the tragic aspects of the war too much, the artist replied that he did not show even a tenth of what he actually observed.

Due to difficult emotional experiences, Vasily Vasilyevich developed a serious nervous disorder, which led to internal doubts. In a message to Stasov in April 1882, he said: “There will be no more battle paintings - that’s it! I take my work too close to my heart, I weep for the grief of every killed and wounded person. In Russia, in Prussia, in Austria, the revolutionary orientation of my war scenes was recognized. Okay, let it not be the revolutionaries who draw, but I’ll find other subjects.” In 1884, Vasily Vasilyevich went to Palestine and Syria. After the trip, he created a series of paintings on Gospel subjects that were completely unusual for him. However, the artist interpreted them in a very original way, completely different from the traditions accepted in European fine art. It must be added that Vereshchagin was a materialist and an atheist, did not believe in supernatural miracles and mysticism. As a result of long reflection, he tried to present the gospel legends materialistically, which the church recognized as sheer sacrilege. The Catholic clergy were terribly “offended” by the paintings: archbishops wrote entire appeals against them, groups of fanatics were looking for the artist, wanting to settle scores with him, and one monk doused the paintings “The Resurrection of Christ” and “The Holy Family” with acid, almost destroying them. In Russia, all evangelical paintings by Vasily Vasilyevich were banned.

Workshop of Vasily Vereshchagin in his house in Nizhnye Kotly. 1890s

In 1890, the artist’s dream of returning to his homeland came true. He settled in a new house on the outskirts of the capital, but lived there only briefly, going on a trip around Russia. As in his youth, he was interested in monuments, the life of the population, nature, folk types, and ancient Russian applied art. Among the paintings of the Russian cycle (1888-1895), the most outstanding were the portraits of “unremarkable Russians” - the images of ordinary people from the people.

Napolen on the Borodino field

In 1887, Vasily Vasilyevich began a new monumental series dedicated to the Patriotic War of 1812. The twenty paintings he created presented a truly majestic epic full of patriotic pathos about the Russian people, their national pride and courage, hatred of conquerors and devotion to the Motherland. Vereshchagin did a tremendous amount of research, studying many memoirs of his contemporaries and historical materials written in different European languages. He personally explored the field of the Battle of Borodino, became acquainted with the relics of the era, and created a lot of sketches and sketches. The fate of the series of paintings about 1812 remained unresolved for many years. The paintings, intended for large palace halls and museums, did not attract private patrons. The government looked at Vereshchagin's new works with hostility and distrust, also stubbornly refusing to buy all the paintings at once, and the artist did not agree to sell one or two from a complete and indivisible series. Only on the eve of the centenary of the Patriotic War, under pressure from public opinion, the tsarist government was forced to purchase the paintings.

Vereshchagin at his easel, 1902

At the end of his life, Vasily Vasilyevich made a number of long trips. In 1901, the artist visited the Philippine Islands, in 1902 - in Cuba and the USA, in 1903 - in Japan. Unusually picturesque Japanese sketches became a new stage in Vereshchagin’s work, testifying to his tireless work on developing his skills. The artist's journey through Japan was interrupted by the worsening political situation. Fearing being interned, Vereshchagin hastily left the country and returned to Russia.

In his speeches, he warned the government of the impending war, but as soon as it began, the sixty-two-year-old artist considered it his moral duty to go to the front. Vereshchagin left his beloved wife and three children at home and went into the thick of hostilities in order to again tell people the whole truth about the war, to show its true essence. He died along with Admiral Stepan Makarov on March 31, 1904, while aboard the flagship Petropavlovsk, which struck Japanese mines. It was death on duty in the full sense of the word. Captain Nikolai Yakovlev, who miraculously escaped during the Petropavlovsk disaster, said that before the explosion he saw Vasily Vasilyevich recording in an album the sea panorama that opened up to his gaze.

Vereshchagin's death evoked responses around the world. Magazines and newspapers published articles about his life and work. At the end of 1904, a large posthumous exhibition of the artist’s paintings opened in St. Petersburg, and a couple of years later a museum named after him was built in Nikolaev. Vasily Vasilyevich became one of the first who was able to express in fine art the idea that war should not and cannot be a means of resolving international conflicts. He believed that education and science are the main engines of progress. All his life he remained a fierce enemy of “barbarism,” despotism and violence, a defender of the oppressed and disadvantaged. Ilya Repin said about Vereshchagin: “A colossal personality, truly heroic - a super-artist, a superman.”

Monument-bust on the station square in Vereshchagino

Based on materials from the site http://www.centre.smr.ru

Vasily Vereshchagin is known throughout the world as an unsurpassed battle painter. He painted from life, right on the battlefields. He created amazing documentary and artistic chronicles of military operations.

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Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin (1842-1904) was born in the city of Cherepovets, Novgorod province, into the family of a district leader of the nobility.
In 1850, Vasily entered the Alexander Cadet Corps for minors, and from 1853 to 1860 he studied at the Naval Cadet Corps, upon completion of which he received the rank of naval midshipman and retired. Simultaneously with his studies in the cadet corps, he attended classes at the Drawing School of the St. Petersburg Society for the Encouragement of Artists (1858-1859).
In 1860 Vereshchagin entered the Imperial Academy of Arts.
In 1863-1864 At the invitation of marine painter Lev Feliksovich Lagorio travels through the Caucasus.
In 1864, Vereshchagin moved to Paris and began studying in the workshop of Jean-Leon Gerome at the Ecole des Beaux-arts.
In 1866, the painter exhibited for the first time at the Paris Salon.
In 1867, at the invitation of the commander of the Turkestan Military District, Konstantin Petrovich von Kaufman, Vereshchagin went to Turkestan. In 1868, with the rank of ensign, he took part in the defense of the Samarkand fortress and was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree, for military services.
In 1869, the “Turkestan Exhibition” was successfully held in St. Petersburg, where paintings, sketches and drawings created in Turkestan were exhibited.
In 1869, the artist again went to Turkestan, and in October 1870 he returned to St. Petersburg and was sent abroad to prepare the “Turkestan Series”. (In 1874, an album of paintings entitled “Turkestan. Sketches from life by V.V. Vereshchagin” was published in St. Petersburg).
In 1873, the “Turkestan Series,” which included 13 paintings, 81 sketches and 133 drawings, was presented at the artist’s first personal exhibition in London, and in 1874 – in St. Petersburg and Moscow. (In 1874, the “Turkestan Series” was purchased by Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov for 92 thousand rubles in silver. At first, the “Turkestan Series” was exhibited at the Moscow Society of Art Lovers, and then at the Tretyakov Gallery.)
In 1874, the Imperial Academy of Arts awarded Vereshchagin the title of professor. However, the artist, who considered ranks in art inappropriate and even harmful, publicly renounces this title.
In 1874 Vereshchagin went to India. Visits Bombay, Madras, Agra, Delhi, Jaipur, Eastern Himalayas, as well as areas bordering Tibet (Kashmir and Ladakh).
In the spring of 1876, the painter returned to Paris and worked on two series of paintings based on materials (about one hundred and fifty sketches) brought from India.
In 1877-1878 Vereshchagin takes part in the Russian-Turkish war in the Balkans. After the completion of the Balkan campaign, the artist went to Paris and began work on the “Balkan Series”.
In 1879, Vereshchagin's personal exhibitions were held in London and Paris, where paintings from the Indian and Balkan series were presented.
In 1880, a personal exhibition and sale of sketches from the “Indian Series” took place in St. Petersburg. 78 sketches from this series were acquired by Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov.
In 1881-1882 Vereshchagin's personal exhibitions are held in major European cities (Paris, Berlin, Hamburg, Dresden, Dusseldorf, Brussels, Budapest), and in 1883 - in Moscow and St. Petersburg
In 1882-1883 Vereshchagin travels around India again.
In 1883 he went to Syria and Palestine, where he worked on the paintings of the “Palestine Series”.
The result of the trip to the Holy Land was more than 50 sketches and six paintings of the gospel cycle. However, the “Palestinian Series” was unkindly received by the Russian public and the public, because the artist's interpretation did not correspond to the canonical one. For this reason, the bulk of the works in the “Palestine Series” were sold abroad.
In 1885-1887 The artist’s personal exhibitions are successfully held in Vienna, Budapest, Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Prague, Breslau, Leipzig, Konigsberg, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Copenhagen, London, and Liverpool.
In 1887, Vereshchagin began work on the “1812” series. For the first time, paintings from this series were presented in Moscow and St. Petersburg in 1895-1896. In 1902, the entire series was acquired by the state for the Russian Museum, and later the paintings were transferred to the State Historical Museum.
In 1889-1891, personal exhibitions of the painter were held in major cities in the USA, and in 1895-1898. – in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kharkov, Kyiv, Odessa, Paris, Berlin, Dresden, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Copenhagen, Leipzig, London.
In 1901, Vereshchagin was nominated for the first Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1902, the painter again went to the USA, and in 1903 he traveled around Japan.
In 1904, the Russian-Japanese War began, and the artist went to the active army in the Far East.
Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin died on March 31, 1904. The battleship Petropavlovsk, on which he was, was blown up by a mine on the outer roadstead of Port Arthur.
The painter's paintings are exhibited in the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Historical Museum, the State Russian Museum, the Nikolaev Art Museum. V.V. Vereshchagin, Irkutsk Regional Art Museum named after. V.P. Sukachev, State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan.
The works of Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin are highly valued and often appear at international auctions. Including:
- “Portico of a church” – 314,500 British pounds (November 24, 2014, Sotheby’s);
- “The spy” – 1,049,250 British pounds (May 28, 2012, Sotheby’s);
- “The Adjutant” - 690,850 British pounds (November 26, 2012, Sotheby's);
- “Transportation of the wounded” – 937,250 British pounds (November 26, 2012, Sotheby’s);
- “Taj Mahal. Evening" (The Taj Mahal. Evening) - 2,281,250 British pounds (June 6, 2011, Sotheby's)
- “Crucifixion by the Romans” - 1,721,250 British pounds (November 28, 2011, Christie's)

Gallery of 42 paintings by Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin

• Tartar from Orenburg prison Tartar from Orenburg prison
• Portrait of Bacha Portrait of Bacha
• Afghan Afghan
• Nomadic road in the mountains of Alatau
• Passage of Barskaun Passage of Barskaun
• Sher-Dor Madrassah Sher-Dor Madrassah
• Gur-Emir. Samarkand Gur-Emir. Samarkand
• Baeggars in Samarkand Baeggars in Samarkand
• Politicians in an Opium Den Politicians in an Opium Den
• Apotheosis of War Apotheosis of War
• Tamerlanovy gates Tamerlanovy gates
• Old ruins Old ruins
• The Doors of Timur The Doors of Timur
• Selling a Slave Boy Selling a Slave Boy
• Chinese Chinese
• Mountain stream in Kashmir Mountain stream in Kashmir
• Taj Mahal in Agra Taj Mahal in Agra
• Taj Mahal Taj Mahal
• Himalayas in the evening Himalayas in the evening
• Sovar-a government messenger Sovar-a government messenger
• Picket in the Balkan Mountains
• Two Falcons Two Falcons
• The Spy The Spy
• Two Jews Two Jews
• Russian hermit in the Jordan Russian hermit in the Jordan
• Arab woman in Jerusalem Arab woman in Jerusalem
• Crucifixion by the Romans Crucifixion by the Romans
• The French in Moscow The French in Moscow
• Napoleon in the Petroff Palace
• Napoleon and Marshal Loriston Napoleon and Marshal Loriston
• Attack Attack

Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin (1842-1904) - Russian painter and writer, one of the most famous battle painters.

Biography of Vasily Vereshchagin

Born in Cherepovets on October 14 (26), 1842 in the family of a landowner. In 1850–1860 he studied at the St. Petersburg Cadet Corps, graduating with the rank of midshipman. In 1858–1859 he sailed on the frigate “Kamchatka” and other ships to Denmark, France, and England.

In 1860, Vereshchagin entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, but left it in 1863, dissatisfied with the teaching system. Attended the workshop of Jean Leon Gerome at the Paris School of Fine Arts (1864).

All his life Vereshchagin was a tireless traveler. Striving (in his own words) to “learn from the living chronicle of the history of the world,” he traveled around Russia, the Caucasus, the Crimea, the Danube, Western Europe, visited Turkestan twice (1867–1868, 1869–1870), participating in colonial campaigns of Russian troops, twice in India (1874–1876, 1882). In 1877–1878 he took part in the Russian-Turkish war in the Balkans.

He traveled a lot, visited Syria and Palestine in 1884, the USA in 1888–1902, the Philippines in 1901, Cuba in 1902, Japan in 1903. Impressions from the trips were embodied in large cycles of sketches and paintings.

Creativity of Vereshchagin

In Vereshchagin's battle paintings, the seamy side of the war is revealed in a journalistically acute manner, with harsh realism.

Although his famous “Turkestan series” has a very definite imperial-propaganda orientation, in the paintings a feeling of tragic doom hangs over the victors and the vanquished everywhere, emphasized by a dull yellowish-brown, truly “desert” coloring.

The famous symbol of the entire series was the painting “The Apotheosis of War” (1870–1871, Tretyakov Gallery), depicting a pile of skulls in the desert; on the frame there is an inscription: “Dedicated to all great conquerors: past, present and future.”

The “Turkestan” series of paintings by Vereshchagin is not inferior to the “Balkan” one. In it, the artist, on the contrary, directly challenges official Pan-Slavist propaganda, recalling the fatal miscalculations of the command and the terrible price that the Russians paid for the liberation of the Bulgarians from the Ottoman yoke.

Particularly impressive is the painting “The Vanquished. Requiem" (1878–1879, Tretyakov Gallery), where a whole field of soldier corpses, sprinkled with only a thin layer of earth, spreads out under a cloudy sky. His series “Napoleon in Russia” (1887–1900) also gained wide popularity.

The artist Vereshchagin was also a gifted writer, the author of the book “At the War in Asia and Europe. Memories" (1894); “Selected Letters” by the artist Vereshchagin (republished in 1981) are also of great interest.

Vereshchagin died during the Russian-Japanese War, on March 31 (April 13), 1904, in the explosion of the battleship Petropavlovsk in the Port Arthur roadstead.

Artist's works

• Turkestan series
• Napoleon in Russia (Vereshchagin)
• series “Barbarians”: “Looking out” (1873), “Attack by surprise” (1871), “Surrounded - persecuted...” (1872) “Presenting trophies” (1872), “Triumphing” (1872).
• “Religious procession at the Moharrem festival in Shusha” (1865)
• "Street in the village of Khojagent" (1868)
• “The former fortification of Kosh-Tigermen” (1868)
• “Proceeding to the zindan (underground prison) in Samarkand” (1868)
• “Entry into the city of Katta-Kurgan” (1868)
• “After Failure (The Vanquished)”, 1868, Russian Russian Museum
• “The ruins of the theater in Chuguchak” (1869)
• “Kyrgyz caravans on the Chu River” (1869)
• "Beggars in Samarkand" (1870)
• “Politicians in an opium shop. Tashkent" (1870)
• “Dervishes in festive attire. Tashkent" (1870)
• “A choir of dervishes begging for alms. Tashkent" (1870)
• “Apotheosis of War” (1871), Tretyakov Gallery

• “The Doors of Timur (Tamerlane)” (1871-1872), Tretyakov Gallery
• “Mausoleum of the Taj Mahal in Agra” (1874-1876), Tretyakov Gallery
• “Pearl Mosque in Agra” (1874-1876), Tretyakov Gallery
• “Shipka-Sheinovo. Skobelev near Shipka" (1878-1879) Tretyakov Gallery
• “After the attack. Dressing station near Plevna" (1881), Tretyakov Gallery
• “In the Turkish Mortuary” (1881)
• "Suppression of the Indian Rebellion by the British" (c. 1884)
• Color engraving “Napoleon in the Kremlin” (stored in the A. M. Gorky Apartment Museum (Nizhny Novgorod)