Konstantin Somov artist of the painting. Russian erotic graphics

Konstantin Andreevich Somov is a Russian painter and graphic artist, master of portraiture, representative of Russian symbolism and modernism. One of the founders of the magazine "World of Art", a member of the association of the same name. He carefully protected his personal life from publicity.
Born on November 18/30, 1869 in St. Petersburg in the family of an art historian, curator of the Hermitage collections, Andrei Ivanovich Somov. The son of art critic and museum figure A.I. Somova. His mother, Nadezhda Konstantinovna Somova (nee Lobanova), was a good musician and a well-educated person. She instilled in her children a love of music, painting, and theater.

Rest on a walk 1896

Portrait of N.F. Ober 1896

Lady by the Pond 1896

Two ladies on the terrace 1896

Walk in winter 1896

Evening ride on horseback 1897

In 1889, Somov entered the Academy of Arts, where he studied in the workshop of I. Repin. In 1897, the artist voluntarily left the Academy and spent two winters in Paris working independently. At the same time, A. Benois, E. Lanseray, A. Ostroumova and other “World of Art” students studied and worked in Paris with him. Here Somov became close to A. Benois, who wrote the first article about him, which appeared in the magazine “World of Art” in 1898.

Poster for the exhibition of Russian and Finnish artists in 1897

Natalya Pavlovna 1899

Lady in blue. Portrait of E.M. Martynova 1897-1900

Students of St. Petersburg private school Karla May - A. Benois, V. Nouvel, D. Filosofov and K. Somov teamed up to study the history of art, primarily painting and music. Subsequently, S. Diaghilev and L. Bakst joined the circle. Diaghilev's knowledge in the field fine arts, in which he always had an interest, began to expand rapidly thanks to trips abroad. There he made acquaintances with foreign writers and artists and began collecting paintings.

The association included artists of the Moscow school of the mid-1890s (who were part of the Abramtsevo circle) - K. Korovin, V. Serov, the Vasnetsov brothers, M. Vrubel, M. Nesterov. It was their paintings that were demonstrated at the beginning of 1898 at an exhibition of Russian and Finnish artists organized by Diaghilev and Filosofov in St. Petersburg, and then, in the summer of the same year in Munich, Dusseldorf, Cologne and Berlin.

The movement also published a magazine of the same name, the first issue of which was published in November 1898, which subsequently took a leading place among literary and artistic publications in Russia at that time.

The artistic orientation of the "World of Art" was associated with modernism and symbolism. In contrast to the ideas of the Wanderers, the artists of the World of Art proclaimed the priority of the aesthetic principle in art. Members of the "World of Art" argued that art is primarily an expression of the artist's personality. In one of the first issues of the magazine, S. Diaghilev wrote: “A work of art is important not in itself, but only as an expression of the personality of the creator.” Believing that modern civilization is antagonistic to culture, the “World of Art” artists looked for an ideal in the art of the past. Artists and writers, in their paintings and on magazine pages, revealed to Russian society the then little appreciated beauty of medieval architecture and ancient Russian icon painting, the elegance of classical St. Petersburg and the palaces surrounding it, forced them to think about the modern sound of ancient civilizations and re-evaluate their own artistic and literary heritage.

Art exhibitions organized by the World of Art enjoyed resounding success. In 1899, Diaghilev really organized in St. Petersburg international exhibition, where paintings by 42 European artists were exhibited alongside works by Russian artists, including Böcklin, Moreau, Whistler, Puvis de Chavannes, Degas and Monet. In 1901, exhibitions were held at the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts and the Stroganov Institute in Moscow, in which, among others, Diaghilev's closest friends - Bakst, Benois and Somov - took part. Exhibitions of the World of Art group in St. Petersburg and Moscow were also organized in November 1903.

Somov’s style corresponded to the aesthetics of the “miriskusniks”, combining the harmony of dreams with reality, and was distinguished by the poetry of images combined with sophistication and spirituality.

Magic 1900-1902

Echo of the past tense 1903

Lady in Pink 1903

Kiss 1904

Somov took an active part in the design of the magazine “World of Art”, as well as the periodical “Art Treasures of Russia” (1901 - 1907), published under the editorship of A. Benois, created illustrations for “Count Nulin” by A. Pushkin (1899), stories N. Gogol’s “The Nose” and “Nevsky Prospekt”, painted the covers poetry collections To Balmont “Firebird. Slavic pipe”, V. Ivanova “Cor Ardens”, title page books by A. Blok “Theatre” and others.

Sketch of an illustration for the story by N.V. Gogol Nevsky Prospekt 1901

Bookplate by A.N. Benois 1902

Bookplate S.P. Zenger 1902

Nude among flowers 1903

Goethe, Muse and Cupid 1906

Lady with a Dog 1906

Kiss (Silhouette) 1906

Book of the Marquise. Illustration

Along with landscape and portrait painting and graphics, Somov worked in the field small plastic surgery, creating exquisite porcelain compositions.
K. Somov exhibited his works at exhibitions of the “World of Art”, the Union of Russian Artists, a personal exhibition in St. Petersburg (1903), Berlin “Secession”, Paris “Salon d" Automne” (“Autumn Salon”, 1906), which gained him wide fame not only in Russia, but also in Europe.After the October Revolution, like many other artists, Somov experienced everyday difficulties, having no orders for work.

Costume design for Columbine for Anna Pavlova in Harlequinade 1909

Harlequin in Love 1912

Columbine tongue 1915

A young man kneeling in front of a lady. 1916

Blue Bird 1918.

Date night

Masquerade

In December 1923, K. Somov, together with the Russian Exhibition, went to the USA as a representative from Petrograd. He never returned to his homeland, remaining forever in France.

“All his works are thoroughly imbued with the spirit of our time, an insane love for life, a huge exaggeration of its charms reaching to the last subtleties and at the same time some kind of sad skepticism, the deepest melancholy from distrust of life.” A. Benoit.

Among the “World of Art” artists, Konstantin Andreevich Somov was the most consistent, concentratedly searching painter, honing his masterful art of work. Konstantin Somov managed to distinguish himself by the high artistry of his drawings, where form and content seem to be balanced on some invisible golden scales, by the uniqueness and originality of his individual style. With his spiritual subtlety, sincerity and desire for the depth of comprehension of the masterpieces of world literature Konstantin Andreevich Somov, undoubtedly, inspired many graphic artists, even those who were very far from him in their stylistic quests.

In this he is like the brilliant old masters. Disposed to his own irony, he said: “I would also like to become Engr. If not Engr, then at least his little toe.” The artist Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres was the founder of French neoclassicism. Somov admired this master draftsman, who developed a style based on his study of Raphael and was also characterized by clean lines and cool formality. Ingres's often-mentioned statement “drawing is the honesty of art” reflected his example of the infallibility of writing and the sincerity of the depicted nature.

In general, becoming an artist was largely destined for Konstantin Andreevich from the very first day of his life. He was born in 1869 in the family of the famous art critic, guardian of the Hermitage, and collector Andrei Ivanovich Somov. The gallery of paintings of the Hermitage, mainly the works of the “little Dutch”, was for the Somov family something “amazingly close and dear,” almost homely. Konstantin began drawing very early, and his father patiently and reverently monitored the development of his son’s gift, pinning great hopes on him. A little artist, on the contrary, did not believe in himself and in his strengths, although it was important for his creative growth great importance rapprochement while still in the private gymnasium of Karl Ivanovich May with a circle of future “World of Art” students, of whom Alexander Benois became his closest friend. The cheerful Benoit favorably and favorably influenced the melancholic, shy, prone to attacks of painful disbelief in his talent Somova and became the first exalted person and connoisseur of his amazing art, the first to notice the “mercy of God” in his talent, and helped Constantine to believe in himself. He sincerely admired the way Somov worked.

Among the "Mirskustudents" Somov is the only one who graduated Art Academy, studying painting technique there for six years. And although Repin’s practice in the workshop was not fruitless for him, he still artistic interests were formed in a different spiritual mood, in the style of the retrospective visions of his friends. The artist’s idol was Aubrey Beardsley, an English graphic artist, illustrator, founder and master of the Art Nouveau style and symbolism, who created black and white psychological and disturbing illustrations with elements of mysticism.

Significantly bright character quality Somova there was an aestheticism expressed in his unsurpassed style of clothing, behavior, and passion for collecting. Surrounding himself with expensive things: furniture, beautifully decorated walls, paintings, paints, brushes, he believed that everything should be as it should be. high level and noble quality. This kind of passion for “expensive material” was combined with his love for the extraordinary “art museum of rarities.” In Paris he and Alexander Benois he collected archaic pictures that contained funny rarities, nonsense, and even monstrosities. He loved the unpredictability of fiction, the funny combinations of colors and shapes. These pictures often served as material for stylizations.

Working in various techniques: watercolor, oil painting, gouache, the artist always carefully and meticulously followed the legal rules adopted for himself in the choice of material, striving for impeccability of execution, brilliance and expressiveness of craftsmanship.

He had his own technical secrets. To achieve the effect of a matte glow in his watercolors, he gives them a “kumpot” - “bathes” them in a special way in warm water with soap.

The most famous work of the early period of Konstantin Somov’s work was the painting “,” depicting a portrait of the artist Elizaveta Mikhailovna Martynova.

Work on this amazing painting lasted three years - from 1897 to 1900. A very impressionable girl who dreamed of becoming an artist, and whose dreams were not destined to come true, suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis. Somov knew her from the Academy. Martynova’s subtle, intelligent face, her fragile and beautiful appearance became the highest embodiment for Somov throughout his life Eternal femininity. In 1904 she dies.

Elizabeth was perfect model- a dramatic muse, and her pleasure in posing was certainly a creative accord. The picture is completely permeated with a feeling of discord, disharmony of the world of aesthetic dreams and images, like a vision appearing in the fading rays of sunset. Somov “dresses up” his heroine in a dress from the 40s. XIX century - the era of crinolines, but reincarnation still does not occur... Somova’s sickly contemporary with a reflexive psyche vintage lace and faded blue moire uncertainly balances on the edge of two worlds. Nudity of the hidden heartache in the portrait is so obvious that Martynova, realizing this, wrote Somov, on the spur of the moment, a feverish letter, where she demanded that Somov refuse to sell the painting, citing the fact that she posed for him for the sake of sincere art, and not for the sake of buying fashionable dress, or a diamond pin. In fairness, it should be noted that, along with the inner world of his heroine, Somov revealed in the film his own far from favorable worldview. True, later, when passions had subsided, in 1903, the painting was nevertheless sold by the author to the board of the Tretyakov Gallery. On the right in the picture, Konstantin places a tiny self-portrait of his own double, in the form of a figurine, crossing the inviolable line and pretending to turn towards the insecure heroine. For the first time in his creative impulse, the theme of the complexity of the artist’s relationship with the world he created was heard: on the one hand, dissolution in it, on the other, ironic distance as a defense against this obsession. Hiding behind irony, poets and artists showed the disease of their time - the fear of being funny while admiring the world they invented, the fear of being captured through the looking glass of their own creativity.

In quite a few retrospective paintings, such as "" (1902), "" (1912), etc., there is a repetition Somov the same scene.

He revives ladies and gentlemen in parks and squares, or their doubles, in fancy dress - Harlequin, Pierrot and Columbine, these harmonious automata, with the help of a kind of mystical session of his painting - and experiences the fear of turning them into living people. The viewer is ready to plunge into the atmosphere of lifeless play, automatic eroticism.

The theme of Eternal Femininity sounds so sublime and chaste in the work "", in " Portrait of A.K. Benoit" (1896), is subsequently closely and exquisitely intertwined in the artist’s creative erotic inspiration.

This theme of eroticism found itself in works such as "" (1903), " Lady in a pink dress" (1903), "" (1903), "" (1902), "" (1913 -1915).

The image of femininity here reaches fatal traits, unexpectedly accepting its false, destructive essence. Valued excellence female soul, Somov did not take into account pretense and other people's views on mannerism, which is devoid of simplicity and naturalness. The artist subtly felt the changes in the vision of feminine beauty that became characteristic of his era. The role of his images was far from the last in the creation of these new amazing ideas. The dreamer coexisted with cutting-edge artists at the same time. In Somov’s gallant scenes, the “beauty doll” - Colombina - reigns supreme - she is the manager of the ball.

IN " Portrait of Mikhail Kuzmin"(1909) the gaze falls on a pale, dark mask of a face and a bright red tie.

This is also a kind of mask, through which eternal features emerge. By the time they met, Somov already knew about Kuzmen, having read his scandalous debut story “Wings,” written in 1906, and he, in turn, wanted to get closer to the artist, expecting Somov to paint his portrait. Poet Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov, as an eyewitness to the blossoming relationship Somova with the musician and poet Kuzmin, wrote in his diary “the artist was corrupted and deflowered by Kuzmin.”

At the end of their short but passionate romance, Konstantin Somov and Mikhail Kuzmin exchanged portraits of each other. The first created graphic, the second - literary. The hopeless, selfish Somov, of course, painted many other self-portraits, in which he sarcastically admires his own Ego - “sourness” and charmer.

The most harmonious area of ​​Konstantin Andreevich’s creativity was his landscapes. He creates them from life, in contrast to the numerous speculative images of his other paintings, which is almost always perceived as the antithesis of the symbolism of puppet heroes.

In nature, he admires everything fragile, delicate and elusive. The artist loves to plunge into the openwork of greenery, in which sunbeams are crowned with leaves. In the outlined lines of tree crowns, in the clouds, he is often imbued with fantastic and impeccable figures...

In the mid-1900s, when almost all the “World of Art” students began to take an active part in artistic life theater, Somov remained devoted to his chamber paintings. He was unable to work in the theater because theater for him was always an intimate matter, a secret passion. But there was another reason - personal hostility towards S. Diaghilev. Aristocrat Somov, a descendant of the ancient dynasty of Tatar princes, despised “this upstart.”

After a turning point in the life of Russia, Somov shared the emigrant fate of the “World of Art” students.

With an exhibition of Russian art in 1923, Somov went to America. Shocked by the new artistic sensations, the artist quickly realized that the very style of American life was deeply alien to his nature. And the place of his final refuge was Paris, a city in which Somov was fascinated in his youth. There he worked actively in book graphics. He showed the talent of an excellent illustrator in his work on novels." The story of the Chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut"Abbé Antoine François Prévost (1731) and " Dangerous ties" Choderlos de Laclos (1802). Both of these novels are considered the best examples French artistic prose XVIII century.

The theme of the plot itself" Manon Lescaut“was especially close to the inner world of Konstantin Somov, who even in his youth complained to himself that “dresses, feathers are all that excites him”; a subtle and delicate “retrospective dreamer” who considered beauty to be the basis of fine art.

The artist was able to preserve the main quality of watercolor in all illustrated works - transparency. As before, with refined and elegant artistic taste and flair, Somov depicted luxurious outfits in the style of the 18th century, and specifically Manon’s bright costumes. At the same time, the author emphasized the change in Manon’s poverty: now she is in a simple dress of a modestly dressed Parisian woman, now in a chic outfit of a society lady. Her silk contouches, decorated beautiful design, are particularly mobile. The composition of the dress has a significantly playful shape at the back, as if moving with Manon's movements. The low neckline exposes the neck and chest; Fitted at the bottom and trimmed in several rows, chic wide lace expands towards the elbow line. An exquisite fan in hand serves as an inevitable attribute of coquetry. In one of the illustrations, Manon appears before the viewer in a typical outfit, where the artist created a psychological portrait of “a woman devoid of any moral principles, a creature with a poorly developed intellect and an extremely narrow, bourgeois outlook.”

The characters in Somov’s illustrations convey their oppressive and difficult experiences in sign language, while the artist does not overly dramatize the plot of the novel, creating a certain element of play and theatricality inherent in the gallant age, when “heart wounds are only deceptions, those turbans are only for the evening” (Mikhail Kuzmin).

Living often and for a long time in Paris, Somov was familiar with the graphics of many outstanding illustrators of this book. It was in France that it was popular" Manon Lescaut"with 225 illustrations of book graphics, French artist cinema and theater by Maurice Leloir, published in Paris in 1885. This strip exquisite gift edition was recognized a classic masterpiece art of book graphics.

Konstantin Somov got used to the era of “beads and albums” to such an extent, and his direct long stay and trips to France left a certain imprint on his consciousness that in his detailed color illustrations he enjoyed the life, costumes, architecture and gallant manners of the heroes of the 18th century , its lace style.

The Parisian publishing house Trianon published another incomparable book in 1934. Dangerous ties"with illustrations by Konstantin Somov. This is the only novel in the letters of the French officer Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, the pinnacle of whose career was the rank of general in the Napoleonic army.

Originally published in 1782, the novel was a huge and scandalous success for its “immorality.” The plot is based on an adventurous story, set out in letters, the essence of which lies in the cunning intrigue of the aristocrats of Paris - the Marquise de Merteuil and the Viscount de Valmont, who launched an insidious plot to seduce the young Cecile de Volanges. TO graphic interpretation Somov already turned to this novel in his work, working on “The Book of the Marquise,” which, in particular, included an elegant kissing scene in one of the 1918 editions; and the drawing itself is made with a “living and spiritual” contour line.

The poignancy of the plot, eroticism, irony - all this was close to Somov’s worldview, but in the graphic works of recent years there is an elegant restraint. They crystallized the laconic simplicity of the graphic manner and decorativeness. As if the artist did not want to immediately reveal the complex and vicious world of the novel’s heroes, he hid the secrets of their souls behind a mask. The beauty of the female images here carries a subtle shade of sadness and “Doom”. In revealing the images of the main characters Mérey de Merteuil and Viscount de Valmont, there is a shade of irony inherent in Somov.

Image of Cécile Volanges from " Dangerous Liaisons"Konstantin Somov created from his imagination and with the help of his model, the daughter of Russian emigrants Alexandra Levchenko. The portrait of Cecile de Volanges is elegant pencil drawing, barely highlighted with watercolors. The face-mask of a beautiful woman in some way brings this work closer to the Art Nouveau style, but here one can also discern a careful study of the traditions of the French pencil portrait of the 16th century. By aestheticizing vice in his illustrations, Somov showed artistic “breeding” and delicacy. It is obvious that European masters, who subsequently turned to creating illustrations for Laclos’ novel, undoubtedly drew their inspiration from Somov’s graphic works.

Book graphics were especially close to the intelligent, erudite and at the same time closed in his “world of art” artist. Somov was highly appreciated by his contemporaries. This is how Nikolai Ernestovich Radlov wrote about him: “He is attracted to graphics, to jewelry work with sharpened and impeccable lines, to sculpting a porcelain figurine, to miniature painting, to all techniques where there cannot be random and carelessly placed strokes, where every point must be every touch on the material is carefully sought out, confident and irreparable.". 1913. Paper, pencil, sanguine.

The life of a brilliant draftsman ended suddenly in 1939... Lately he lived in anxious confusion, aggravated by the fear of loneliness, the expectation of the inevitability of war and powerlessness from a rapidly developing leg disease. With all his fatal loneliness - the most “faithful” companion of his life - there was someone to regret his departure. This is, first of all, Alexander Benois and his friends from the World of Art, who remembered his slightly bitter and at the same time optimistic smile.

Le Livre de la Marquise. Recueil de Poesie et de Prose. St.-Petersbourg, R. Golike et A. Wilborg, 1918. , VIII, 204 pp., 24 pp. color and black and white illustrations. Circulation: 800 copies. Bound in a superb c/o Vellum of the period, it is richly embossed in gold on the lids and spine. Original colored endpapers, stylized in the 18th century. The title is printed in 2 colors. Format: 24.5x19.5 cm. Copy. from the library of F. O. Shekhtel (1859-1926), architect, painter, graphic artist, set designer; one of the most striking representatives of the Art Nouveau style in Russian and European architecture.

A copy of the "Little Marquise" is described above. The so-called "Great Marquise" has a slightly different bibliographic description: Le Livre de la Marquise. Recueil de Poesie et de Prose. [Book of the Marquise. Collection of poetry and prose]. Venise, Chez Cazzo et Coglioni, 1918. , VIII, 252 pp., 2 sheets. front, 31 l.l. color and black and white illustrations. Circa 50 copies. In an illustrated two-color publisher's cover and dust jacket. Below we will describe in more detail how the “Big Marquise” differs from the “Small” Marquise. “The Book of the Marquise” is a “holiday book”; it exudes an unusual aroma of the Golden Age, the age of heavenly pleasures and nirvana. And this is in cold and hungry post-revolutionary Russia... It is completely unique because it recreates the complete picture erotic literature France of the 18th century and has no analogues in its content. It includes works by fifty authors, including Voltaire, Casanova, Chénier, Parni, etc., and is also diverse in terms of genre (lyric poems, songs, epigrams, short stories, diary entries, anecdotes, etc.). "The Book of the Marquise", decorated wonderful artist Konstantin Andreevich Somov (1869-1939), is rightfully considered one of the pinnacles of Russian book graphics. He is a master of lines, he is a magician of lines” - these words were written by Alexander Nikolaevich Benois about his closest and devoted friend from childhood to death, Konstantin Andreevich Somov ( 1869-1939).

The outstanding bibliophile Erich Fedorovich Hollerbach (1895-1942) wrote about her: “Here, as if in some kind of focus, both sophisticated retrospectivism and fashionable eroticism of the aesthetic worldview were concentrated, the dreamy cult of the 18th century was reflected, with its charming shamelessness, frivolity and intense sensuality. In the sense of artistic ideology, there is no forward movement, no quest in this book, but it is undoubtedly remarkable in itself, “as a thing.” Entirely imbued with the spirit of “beautiful and airy little things, the love of nights, sometimes tender, sometimes stuffy,” it is strictly maintained in one graphic style, in a single visual harmony. In Somov's graphic work, this book is the highest achievement. In the history of Russian illustrated publications, it can rightfully take one of the first places.” The idea of ​​creating an anthology belongs to the Austrian essayist, literary critic and translator Franz Bley (1871-1942). The book was first published in 1907 in Munich by Weber in German. This small anthology of erotic literature of the “gallant age” was compiled by Franz Bley. Of the 31 drawings made for it by Konstantin Somov, the German censorship then passed only 6 illustrations and 6 vignettes, removing everything that, in the opinion of the censors, violated the norms of public morality.

After 8 years, Somov returned to this idea... Somov decided to publish the newly compiled and illustrated “Book of the Marquise” in the famous St. Petersburg publishing house “Partnership of R. Golicke and A. Wilborg.” The updated anthology has more than doubled in size: it includes excerpts from the works of Voltaire, Crebillon the Son, Guys, fragments of “Dangerous Liaisons” by Choderlos de Laclos, individual episodes of “Notes” by Casanova. The layout of the new edition consisted of 204 lavishly illustrated pages of French text and 24 illustrations on separate sheets. One of the many paradoxes of history: this “arch-bourgeois” (as defined by E.F. Hollerbach) book appeared in the summer - autumn of 1918 in revolutionary Petrograd, in an already nationalized publishing house, about which Somov wrote in his diary: “Golique was requisitioned, but “Le Livre "will be released without delay." There are three main versions of it: on plain paper, in publisher's silk binding; on hand-cast laid paper paperback; on Dutch paper highest quality with molded edge, publisher's silk binding, in a cardboard case. Their total circulation was then 800 copies. However, six months later, an even more incredible event occurred: the same publishing house published an expanded version of Somov’s “Book of the Marquise,” which is now known to bibliophiles as the “Big Marquise.”

Printed in an edition of 50 copies, it had 60 more pages of text (in addition to excerpts from erotic poetry and prose, this section included scatological anecdotes), as well as new headpieces and leaf illustrations, which were frivolous variations of illustrations already used by the artist in the first part. On the title page, Venice was listed as the place of publication: after all, St. Petersburg was called “the Venice of the north” almost from the moment of its founding.

Historian of Russian graphics A.A. Sidorov wrote about “The Great Marquise” that in it “the artist seemed to allow himself everything that he had refrained from Russian art" The Great Marquise has always been considered a rarity on the book market and has always been expensive. These days it is practically unavailable. It is usually argued that a narrow specialization appeared in the twentieth century, but in the field of fine arts, artistic and genre preferences became isolated earlier: Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (1817-1900) depicted the sea, that is, he was a marine painter, Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin (1832-1898) preferred landscapes, mainly forest ones, and Orest Adamovich Kiprensky (1782-1836) was primarily a portrait painter.

Konstantin Andreevich Somov successfully worked in many genres. Of course, he was a portrait painter by the grace of God, but with equal skill he painted landscapes, worked in small forms of sculpture, porcelain and, of course, worked in the field of book graphics. The illustrators and designers of the book were almost all the artists of the World of Art association - Alexander Benois, Lev Bakst, Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, and Dmitry Mitrokhin... The gray everyday life became their sworn enemy, and they sought to enrich the usual everyday life bright colors and unusual shapes. Within the framework of the new decorative and applied arts, an important place was given to the book, or rather, the printed word, because world artists worked with equal success in magazines and newspapers, as well as in various small forms - such as designing menus or theater programs. Agreeing with Chekhov's hero, that “everything in a person should be beautiful...”, the World of Art experts believed that both the things surrounding a person and the interiors should be beautiful. Speaking about the book, they could paraphrase Chekhov’s statement in this way: “Everything in a book should be beautiful - the font, the binding, the ornamentation, and the illustrations!” Konstantin Somov professed this truth throughout his life - until his last breath. Through his efforts, perhaps the most significant stone in majestic building, which is called the art of the book of the twentieth century.

From his earliest childhood, Somov was surrounded by worship and service to the muses. Father, Andrei Ivanovich, a mathematician by training, studied the history of art, edited the “Vestnik fine arts", collected a good collection of drawings and engravings. The artist’s mother, Nadezhda Konstantinovna, played excellent music and sang excellently. The walls of the parents' house were hung with paintings by famous artists, among which was an excellent portrait of the ballerina E. S. Semenova by Orest Kiprensky. Konstantin began drawing when he was six years old. This passion was refined during drawing lessons at the St. Petersburg gymnasium of Karl Ivanovich May. Here Somov became lifelong friends with Benois, Nouvel and Filosofov, who later created the World of Art association. And then there was the Academy of Arts, cursed and despised for its “decadent academicism,” but still managing to instill brilliant technique and professionalism in its students. The difficult bread of understanding art, oddly enough, was combined with a passion for spiritualism - it was a kind of tribute to fashion. Alexander Benois subsequently recalled his passion for “saucer divination” and attending spiritualistic seances “in the company of Sasha and Kostya Somov.”

He said, not without irony, that “the answers through the saucer were sometimes amazing in wit and depth, however, even these smart speeches were suddenly replaced by wild jokes, or even just curses, and the spirit expressed a special penchant for pornography.” Was it not in those youthful years that Konstantin Somov’s interest in eroticism, so characteristic of his work, arose? Konstantin Somov and Alexander Benois were also united by a passion for the theater, and especially for the opera, which they regularly and enthusiastically attended. They were keen on P.I. Tchaikovsky and looked forward to the premiere of each of his new works. In Russia, the students of the May gymnasium were cramped. “We were instinctively drawn to get away from the backwardness of Russian artistic life,” A.N. Benois later recalled, “to get rid of our provincialism and get closer to the cultural West, to the purely artistic quest of foreign schools, away from literaryism, from the tendentiousness of the Wanderers...”

As an eight-year-old boy, Kostya first saw Paris, at the age of 11 he visited Vienna, and at the age of 20 he traveled through Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. As a young man, he lived in Paris for long periods of time. At that time, he established connections with foreign publishing houses and magazines, with which he successfully and actively collaborated. In Russia, the students of the May gymnasium were cramped. “We were instinctively drawn to get away from the backwardness of Russian artistic life,” A.N. Benois later recalled, “to get rid of our provincialism and get closer to the cultural West, to the purely artistic quest of foreign schools, away from literaryism, from the tendentiousness of the Wanderers...” The word “cosmopolitanism” at that time had a positive connotation.

The borders of the empire were transparent - if only there were funds! And Konstantin Somov’s parents were wealthy people. For many members of the World of Art, overt Westernism was successfully combined with an interest in Russian antiquity. Somov had no such interest - he became a conductor of Western forms and subjects in Russian art and thereby undoubtedly enriched Russian artistic and cultural life. His portraits are deeply international. So far we have talked about stylization, but applying this word to the illustrations for “The Book of the Marquise” is simply too much for us. For Somov, this was life itself, for he lived more in the gallant 18th century than in the 20th century, in which his mortal body resided. Somov returned to his plan a few years later. On November 20, 1915, he wrote in his diary, which he regularly kept: “At 5 o’clock I was at the Union printing house for negotiations with Grunberg, who had heard about my desire to republish “The Book of the Marquise” and found me a publisher willing to allocate at least 5 thousand for a private edition of 25 copies.

This offer is very tempting to me. According to my plan, all the text will be new and will be printed in the languages ​​in which things are written. The selection will be very interesting, all the erotic sheets will be included, I will add several new vignettes to them, 4 appendices will be carefully hand-colored in each copy. Copy from my coloring book. The paper, binding and everything else are very beautiful." This work, which became iconic in Somov’s work, continued in the following years. There are many references to it in the artist’s diary. “I was looking through the Guys with the aim of taking it into my book,” he writes on December 15 1915 (French poet Evariste-Désiré Parney (1753-1814) was recognized master erotic genre). “In the morning I sat down to work,” writes Somov on January 2, 1916, “I did two things, for the third time I began to make lovers...

Then he began another composition: “Marquise and Pierrot.” He painted all day until 10 o'clock in the evening." The technique was different - both line drawings painted in watercolors and the black and white silhouette that had become familiar to Somov. However, negotiations with Vladimir Yulievich Grunberg did not lead to anything, and Somov handed over his newly compiled and illustrated " Book of the Marquise" to one of the best printing houses in St. Petersburg, owned by Roman Romanovich Golika and Arthur Ivanovich Vilborg (now this printing house bears the name of the first printer Ivan Fedorov). The technical side of the business in the printing house was led by Bruno Georgievich Scamoni, the son of George Scamoni - the inventor of heliography and the photomechanical method making miniature editions.The “Book of the Marquise” with 204 pages of French text and 24 illustrations on separate sheets was published in 1918. Illustrations were also in the text.

Most of these are pen drawings intended for subsequent coloring, but some pictures are made using the silhouette technique. Stroke and silhouette sometimes complement each other. This is, in particular, the illustration “Marquise with a Rose and a Monkey”, where silhouette image The marquise is placed in a decorative frame filled with feathers, in the cartouches of which there is nothing but a Chinese mandarin, spreading his arms with impossibly long nails, and a circus acrobat resting his head on a vertical pole, and numerous sharp-beaked birds... “The 18th year of battle” " is not the best time for the release of such publications, and on September 9, 1918, Konstantin Andreevich wrote in his diary: “Gauliquet has been requisitioned, but Le Livre will be published without delay.” A total of 800 copies were printed.

Part of the edition was published in a special bibliophile version - and with additional, especially frivolous illustrations. They shocked their contemporaries, but to us, brought up on the permissiveness of the second half of the twentieth century, they seem quite decent. Bibliophiles hunted for special copies. A letter from K.A. Somov to the doctor, professor of Moscow University A.P. Langovoy has been preserved, in which the artist writes: “Dear Alexey Petrovich, I will do everything possible on my part so that you also have a special copy of my book being published by Golike. I ask you "Only, if possible, keep this promise of mine secret from our mutual acquaintances. It was impossible for me, if there were still those who wanted to purchase such copies, to satisfy them due to the small quantity of this publication." "The Book of the Marquise" of 1918 was conceived by the artist as a holistic work throughout book art. The illustrations here are closely tied to the text - the harmony of the text strip with the vignettes and endings decorating it is thought out in detail. The illustrations, however, could exist separately from the book. So, on September 3, 1917, Somov wrote to Evgeniy Sergeevich Mikhailov, the husband of his sister Anna: “For almost two months I painted pictures (my prints for the “Book of the Marquise”) for Braikevich, who gave me this order. I painted about 60 of them. This work quite easy comparatively, although sometimes slow and painstaking. Some prints came out very successful." Odessa engineer Mikhail Vasilievich Braikevich was a passionate collector; Subsequently, in emigration, he supported the artist financially and spiritually, who died in his arms.

His collection of Somov works is currently kept in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. In the field of erotica, “The Book of the Marquise” by Konstantin Somov was the same breakthrough as the much-maligned and condemned “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” by David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930), written in 1928, but published in its entirety much later. This talented book was finally rehabilitated only in 1960 at a noisy trial. Somov’s “The Book of the Marquise” was a return to the unobtrusive and elegant frivolity of French Rococo of the 18th century, which in the next century was forgotten and cursed by the philistine bourgeois nouveau riche, and in the 20th century ostracized by ideological bigots with party cards, who, oddly enough, their spiritual heirs. Alexey Alekseevich Sidorov, in his book about Russian graphics of the early twentieth century, did not reproduce a single illustration from the “Book of the Marquise,” about which he noted: “The artist ... allowed himself, as it were, everything that Russian art abstained from.” According to him, Russian artists “shunned” frivolity, but Sidorov, of course, was disingenuous. The topic in question was given attention by many, and this famous art critic, who was a good artist and collected, perhaps, the best collection of erotic graphics in Moscow, was no exception. “According to Somov,” wrote art critic Stepan Petrovich Yaremich, who knew the artist closely, “the main essence of everything is eroticism. Therefore, art is unthinkable without an erotic basis.” In general, everything that is beautiful and that corresponds to aesthetic standards is absolutely acceptable. Konstantin Andreevich, like many representatives of the artistic intelligentsia, greeted the revolutionary events with enthusiasm. “There are so many events in two days,” he wrote in his diary on March 4, 1917. “Nicholas has been overthrown, we will have a republic. The head goes all around. I was so afraid that a dynasty would remain." And yet a certain wariness was evident in his statements: "There are many armed hooligans, shooting here and there, huge tails in English for sugar. There are cars with red flags, in them there are ragged people and half soldiers."

In any case, Somov decided to remain neutral. “It’s better for me not to get in the way,” he wrote in his diary, “and live in the old way, as I lived.” However, it was not possible to sit on the sidelines. The October Revolution did not arouse any enthusiasm in Somov. He only stated, writing in his diary on October 25, 1917: “Today is the victory of the Bolsheviks. Events.” Rumors spread throughout the city about the destruction of the Winter Palace, about the destruction and theft of artistic treasures. On the initiative of Alexander Nikolaevich Benois, a group of artists and art historians, which included K.A. Somov, visited the Winter Palace on November 3. “The Bolsheviks met us, nice and polite,” Konstantin Andreevich wrote in his diary. “We walked with them... the whole palace, and I saw the destroyed rooms of Alexander II, Nicholas I, Nicholas II... a lot can be repaired.” Soon after October, Somov’s attitude towards events in the country began to change. He could not approve the closure of many newspapers and magazines or the introduction of strict censorship. Konstantin Andreevich did not collaborate with the Bolsheviks; he did not take part in the design of books for the literary and publishing department of the People's Commissariat for Education, and then the State Publishing House. And in general he was little active, unlike his closest friend Alexander Nikolaevich Benois. But in the end both ended up in exile. In December 1923, Konstantin Andreevich Somov left for America with an exhibition of Russian art and never returned to the USSR. He lived in New York, became close to the great composer Sergei Rachmaninov, and created his portrait. "He left me sad demon, - Somov wrote to his sister. - The external resemblance is not striking, in my opinion, but everyone says that I depicted his soul. It is made in two tones and not in strength, but pale silver.” Last years K.A. Somov spent his life in Paris. I was studying and book graphics, in particular, illustrated books such as “Manon Lescaut” by Abbot Antoine François Prevost (1926), “Daphnis and Chloe” by the ancient Greek writer Long (1930) and “Dangerous Liaisons” by Choderlos de Laclos (1934), but not all of these works were seen light. Konstantin Andreevich Somov died on May 6, 1939. The best of what he created lives on today. And finally, let us cite the words of K.A. Somov, written in 1905: “Every people is given the gift of being born, living and dying, but our multi-million people are still in the cradle, and they are destined to bloom lush flower- I’m sure of this!” Let’s hope and wait!

Konstantin Somov Portrait of A.I. Somov, the artist’s father. 1897

Mother of the future artist, Nadezhda Konstantinovna (née Lobanova), was good musician and a widely educated person. It was she who instilled in her sons a love of music, painting and theater. And the father’s profession contributed to “an introduction to beauty” - he himself told his sons interesting stories about artists, and the walls of the Somovs’ apartment, as Albert Benois recalled, “were densely hung with paintings.”

Konstantin Somov Portrait of the artist's mother. 1895

I wrote “sons” because Konstantin was the second child in the family, he had an older brother Alexander. I don’t know how his fate turned out. It is only mentioned that he was already a plump man in his youth and served in the Ministry of Finance. The artist’s creative heritage includes a portrait of his nephew Vladimir Aleksandrovich Somov, son of Alexander, painted by Konstantin already in exile, in 1925.

Konstantin Somov Portrait of V.A. Somova. 1925

At the time of painting, the artist was either visiting relatives in America or in France (which will be discussed later), so it is not clear whether the nephew posed for his uncle, and where this happened? Did Konstantin’s brother emigrate with his family (since after leaving the country there is only evidence of correspondence between Somov and his sister) or did the artist simply complete the painting he began before emigration?
Art critics! Where are you? You see how many questions there are for you!
I also drew attention to this portrait because Volodya Somov is typically very similar to many of the artist’s future lovers. I don’t know why this similarity caught my eye, and what lies behind it... Although, I admit, thoughts about the similarity arise when looking at the portrait of the second nephew - the son of Anna’s sister.

Konstantin Somov Portrait of E.S. Mikhailov. 1916

It is clear that both guys are young and good-looking. But, as they say, maybe in this similarity the dog is buried in Konstantin’s homosexual inclinations. In fact, historians write that “as a child, Kostya preferred to play with dolls, make costumes for them, and it was easiest for him to make friends with girls.”

Kostya Somov. 1883

Although, again, in the painting “In the Children’s Room”, painted by 29-year-old Somov, he depicted a horse, a cannon, and a drum - the most popular attributes of boys’ games. Whether the artist painted his own nursery or this is a random interior is unknown.

Konstantin Somov In the nursery. 1898

Sister

I repeat, Somov also had younger sister Anna (January 28, 1873 – October 18, 1945), who became a singer and artist-designer. Anna studied painting at home under the guidance of her brother.

Konstantin Somov with his sister Anna. 1890s

She married the actual state councilor of the salary collection department of the Ministry of Finance, Sergei Dmitrievich Mikhailov.

Konstantin Somov Portrait of S.D. Mikhailova. 1900-10

First, with the help of Kostya, and then on her own, she embroidered and embroidered bags, made decorations for dresses and decorative panels, which in 1911–1924 participated in domestic and world art exhibitions, bringing the author first prizes. In France, Somova's bags were nicknamed reticules; some fashion researchers believe that it was her bags that were the founders of modern women's handbags in general.

Konstantin Somov Portrait of sister A.A. Somova at work. 1892

By the way, thanks to the surviving correspondence between his brother and Anna from emigration, historians know a lot about the artist’s life in France, because Konstantin wrote to his sister almost every three days. The surprising thing is that with such love for my sister, I was able to find only a few portraits of her, and then they were graphic and painted almost a quarter of a century apart. Although it is known that Kostya depicted his sister and his mother at easels in one of his first drawings.

Konstantin Somov Portrait of A.A. Somova-Mikhailova. 1897
Konstantin Somov Portrait of A.A. Somova-Mikhailova. 1920

May School

Konstantin received his education by entering the most popular private gymnasium at that time. Karl Ivanovich May(1820-1895), graduate of the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University. This German men's school was opened on September 22, 1856 and in 1861 received the official name “Real School for the Gymnasium Degree.”

Karl May and the building of his gymnasium.

The main motto of the school was the saying of the founder modern pedagogy John Amos Comenius “First to love, then to teach.” It is not for nothing that school graduates spoke about the atmosphere that reigned in this educational institution - “the May spirit.” Many future representatives of the artistic intelligentsia studied at the school: Nicholas Roerich, Alexander Benois, writer Lev Uspensky, publicist and literary critic Dmitry Filosofov and others.
It was with Dima Filosofov that Konstantin had his first youthful romance. As Kon writes in his book, “Kostya immediately found a common language with Dima, and they became friends. According to Benoit, who studied at the same gymnasium, almost no one liked the special closeness of Dima and Kostya, who kept themselves together and apart. And perhaps they did not become objects of ridicule and outcasts only because they both left May’s establishment ahead of schedule.”
It is known that due to illness, Dmitry was sent to Italy for treatment, and Somov’s father took him out of the gymnasium, since the young man was having a hard time with natural subjects, and he might not graduate from the gymnasium with successful grades.

Philosophers

Dmitry Vladimirovich Filosofov(March 26 (April 7), 1872, St. Petersburg - August 4, 1940, Otwock, Poland) came from an old noble family, his father was the closest assistant to Minister of War D. A. Milyutin and a member of the State Council. Mother Anna Pavlovna (née Diaghileva) was a writer and one of the founders of higher educational institutions for women and charitable societies.

Lev Bakst Portrait of D. Filosofov.

Talking about future fate Filosofov, it is worth mentioning that after treatment he graduated from the K. May gymnasium in 1890 and entered the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University, which he graduated in 1895. Then he trained in Germany, and in 1898 he began working at the St. Petersburg Imperial Public Library and began to engage in journalistic activities. During this period, Dmitry communicated with Somov, but more on that later.
Filosofov became one of the founders of the World of Art association, worked as editor of the literary department of the magazine of the same name (1898-1904), then became close to D. S. Merezhkovsky and Z. N. Gippius. In December 1919, together with Merezhkovsky and Gippius, Filosofov left Bolshevik Russia and settled in Warsaw, where he became close to the Socialist Revolutionary Boris Savinkov. After 1936, due to a series of failures (the failure of all publications headed by him, the death of his comrades-in-arms and like-minded people Savinkov and Artsybashev), as well as old age and illness, Philosophers withdrew from literary, social and political life.

Dmitry Filosofov 1930s

He died a year after the outbreak of World War II and was buried in the Orthodox cemetery in Warsaw.

Academy

So, where Somov completed his education is also unknown, as is the fact that I have not found information anywhere about who the young man learned the basics of drawing from. Maybe private teachers or friends of your father? But who exactly? In one of the artist’s biographies the phrase flashed: “Since childhood, the boy dreamed of becoming a painter.”
However, in September 1888, 20-year-old Konstantin entered the Imperial Academy of Arts. From 1888 to 1892 he completed the main course of the Academy, and from October 1894 he continued his studies in the workshop of Ilya Repin. In the same year, 1894, Somov took part in the exhibition of the Society of Russian Watercolorists for the first time.

Konstantin Somov Youthful self-portrait. turn of the 19th-20th centuries

Repin called Somov “a capable young man.” Already in student years the artist began to paint harlequins and ladies of the 18th century, which would later bring him fame. One of Somov’s classmates recalled: “I vividly remember the feeling of amazement from surprise and then admiration when he brought his sketch on the theme “Near the Pond” given by Repin.” Benoit later called Somov “the creator of the idyllic style of a past life.”
But in February 1897, the artist, without completing his studies, left the Academy and went to Paris. In 1897-1898 he studied at the Colarossi Academy. In Paris, Somov became close to Alexander Benois, communicated with E. Lanseray and A. Ostroumova, who were studying in France at that time. Then, apparently, the idea arose to create the “World of Art” association, the founders of which were former graduates of the May School - Benois, Philosophers, Nouvel, Somov and Diaghilev, who joined them.

Diaghilev

Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev(March 19 (31), 1872 - August 19, 1929, Venice) was born in Selishchi, Novgorod province, in the family of a career military man, hereditary nobleman, cavalry guard Pavel Pavlovich Diaghilev. His mother died a few months after Sergei was born; as a child, the boy lived in St. Petersburg, then in Perm, where his father served.

Sergei Diaghilev. Photo of the late 19th century and a painting painted by Natalia Tretyakova based on this photo.

In Perm, on the corner of Sibirskaya and Pushkin streets (formerly Bolshaya Yamskaya), Diaghilev’s ancestral house has been preserved, which contemporaries called “Perm Athens,” and where the gymnasium named after him is now located (Hi Anna! Can you tell me something interesting about this house?). I know that the mansion was built according to the design of the architect R. O. Karvovsky in the style of late classicism.
After graduating from the Perm gymnasium in 1890, Diaghilev came to St. Petersburg and entered the law faculty of the university, while simultaneously studying music with N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In 1896, Diaghilev graduated from the university, but did not study law, and two years after receiving his diploma, he created “The World of Art” together with Benois.
ABOUT later life Diaghilev, an entrepreneur and collector, organizer of the Russian Seasons in Paris and the Diaghilev Russian Ballet troupe, can be read everywhere. In addition, Diaghilev is interesting to us today not even in connection with the “World of Art”, but with Somov.

Konstantin Somov Portrait of S.P. Diaghilev. 1893-95

"World of Art"

Of course, the history of this artistic association requires a separate story. Therefore, I will go over it “dotted line”.
So, “World of Art”, as an association and magazine, was founded in St. Petersburg in 1898.
Later, artists of the Moscow school who were part of the Abramtsevo circle - K. Korovin, V. Serov, the Vasnetsov brothers, M. Vrubel, M. Nesterov - also joined the association.

The organizers of the association "World of Art" are K. Somov, V. Nouvel, S. Diaghilev and D. Filosofov. photo of the late 19th century

Already at the beginning of 1898, Diaghilev and Filosofov organized and held an exhibition of Russian and Finnish artists at the Museum of the Central School of Technical Drawing of Baron A. L. Stieglitz in St. Petersburg, and then, in the summer of the same year in Munich, Dusseldorf, Cologne and Berlin. The first issue of the magazine was published in November 1898, it published the first article about Somov, written by Benoit.

Konstantin Somov Self-portrait. 1898

The artistic orientation of the “World of Art” was associated with modernity and symbolism; members of the association argued that art is, first of all, an expression of the artist’s personality. In one of the issues of the magazine, Diaghilev wrote: “A work of art is important not in itself, but only as an expression of the personality of the creator.” The period of greatest activity in the life of the association occurred in the years 1900-1904; in 1901 and November 1903, exhibitions of the group of “mir artists” were held at the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts and at the Stroganov Institute in Moscow. After 1904, the association lost its ideological unity; after the revolution, many of its participants emigrated, and in 1924 the association actually ceased to exist. And we will go back to Somov.

Turn of the century

In the fall of 1899, Somov returned from Paris to St. Petersburg. While engaged in the activities of the World of Art, Konstantin began to frequently communicate with his school love– Dmitry Filosofov. And, perhaps, “faded love” could have flared up, but Dmitry’s heart was already occupied by his cousin from Perm, Sergei Diaghilev. Cohn writes in his book: “Despite the fact that Somov will collaborate a lot with Diaghilev, some hostility will remain for life.”

Lev Bakst Portrait of Sergei Diaghilev with his nanny. 1906

In the meantime, Somov is plunging into the world of “rampant decadence” of the capital. The symbolist poet Vyacheslav Ivanov accurately said about this time, or rather, about the reasons for the “freedom of love”: “All human and global activity comes down to Eros, ... there is no longer either ethics or aesthetics - both come down to eroticism, and every boldness born of Eros is sacred. Only Hedonism is shameful." As historians note, the era of decadence required emancipation in everything. But if many symbolists (Gippius, Ivanov, Merezhkovsky) considered sex a means of spiritual liberation, then for Somov “it was simply entertainment, a source of bodily pleasure, not associated with any highest values».
Somov often visits friends at their dachas near St. Petersburg, and loves to visit the Tauride Garden, where he can easily choose a handsome young schoolboy for the night. Close friendly (and perhaps even closer) relations connected Konstantin at this time with another of his classmates, Walter Nouvel.

Nouvel

Walter Fedorovich Nouvel(1871-1949) - musical and theatrical figure, one of the founders and inspirers of the World of Art association, served as an official of special assignments in the office of the Ministry of the Imperial Court.

Walter Nouvel.

Walter was born into a large family (he had three brothers and a sister) of a merchant French origin, who worked in finance. In 1882-1890, the boy studied at the Karl May gymnasium in the same class as Somov. Nouvel's biographers write that in the seventh grade, Walter and his classmates Benoit, Somov, Filosofov and Kalin created the “Self-Education Society” circle, which became the forerunner of the “World of Art”. After graduating from St. Petersburg University, Nouvel joined the ministry office, and free time dedicated to the promotion of art and art criticism. Walter was the organizer of musical evenings and many enterprises of the association, and a member of the editorial board of the World of Art magazine.
Historians write that Nouvel spent almost all his leisure time with Somov (perhaps there was nothing super close in their relationship!), but after Walter became close to Diaghilev (Oh, that Serge the homewrecker!) on the basis of a common passion for music - “they often played “four hands”” (sounds somewhat ambiguous!).

Lev Bakst Portrait of Walter Fedorovich Nouvel. 1895

In general, to make parting with Somov almost painless, at one of the series of “Evenings of Contemporary Music” concerts organized by the magazine “World of Art”, in the fall of 1905, Walter introduced Konstantin to the poet Mikhail Kuzmin. The last note I want to write is straight out the passions of the Madrid court!

Lev Bakst Portrait of Konstantin Somov. 1906

Concluding the story about Nouvel, I will add that after October revolution Walter went into exile and became Diaghilev's assistant in organizing the Russian Seasons in Paris.

Konstantin Somov Portrait of V.F. Nouvel. 1914

Kuzmin

The affair with Kuzmin was short-lived, but passionate. As a witness to the birth of their relationship, the poet Vyacheslav Ivanov, on whose portrait Somov was working at that time, wrote in his diary, “the artist was depraved and deflowered by Kuzmin.”

Mikhail Kuzmin

Mikhail Alekseevich Kuzmin(October 6 (18), 1872, Yaroslavl - March 1, 1936, Leningrad) wrote in his biography that he was born into the family of a Yaroslavl nobleman, and one of his ancestors on his mother’s side was the French actor Jean Ofren, famous during the time of Catherine II. Kuzmin’s biographers write that the poet’s personality is “an unusual alloy of gullibility and directness with emphasized artistry and a penchant for shocking.”
In 1884, Mikhail’s family moved to St. Petersburg, where he graduated from high school, studied for several years at the conservatory with N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov and A. K. Lyadov, then began writing poetry and began artistic activity as an author and performer musical works to your texts.
By the time Kuzmin met Somov, both already knew about each other. Somov read Kuzmin’s homosexual story “Wings,” and he, in turn, dreamed of meeting Konstantin in the hope that the artist would paint his portrait.
By the way, Ivanov, who, jokingly, wrote about the seduction of Somov, became practically a pimp, since the poet and artist in the winter of 1905-1906 often met at evenings in the Ivanovs’ house.
However, at first Somov did not notice the poet’s love (Kuzmin at that time had his own “heart friend” - Pavel Maslov), until he read about it in the poet’s diary, which kept him throughout his life, and considered it “open.” book” and sometimes even read it in a narrow circle of friends. Kuzmin wrote about Somov as an “invigorating man with love for life, for body and flesh, and without any whining.”

By the spring of 1906, their relationship became closer. Moreover, Konstantin and Nouvel, who has not abandoned him, visit the poet’s apartment several times a week, they exchange books, discuss last news, Kuzmin introduces Somov to his lover Maslov. And such “quartet meetings” continue for almost a year.
As Kon writes in his study, “their intimate rapprochement occurred closer to autumn, and Pavel Maslov also took part in the love games” (following the heroes of the film “Pokrovsky Gate” I would like to exclaim - “ High relationship!»).
It should be noted that Somov, despite such an active personal life, did not stop actively engaging in creativity. In addition, in 1903, his personal exhibition was held in St. Petersburg, the artist’s paintings were exhibited at the Secession exhibitions in Berlin and at the Autumn Salon in Paris (1906).

Elizaveta Zvantseva Portrait of K.A. Somov.

The theme of harlequin pastorals is replaced by an erotic theme. In 1907, an anthology of erotic works by 18th-century authors, “The Book of the Marquise. Collection of poetry and prose”, illustrated with erotic drawings by Somov. The text used poems, songs, epigrams, short stories and diary entries by Andre Chénier, Casanova, Guys, Voltaire, Crebillon the Younger and excerpts from “Dangerous Liaisons” by Choderlos de Laclos.

Konstantin Somov Cover of the first edition of “The Book of the Marquise” (Das Lesebuch der Marquise). 1907
Konstantin Somov Marquise and Pierrot. Illustration for "The Book of the Marquise".

Historians believe that Somov introduced erotica into Russian graphics as an ironic genre, which looked, as critics put it, “tired depravity not taken seriously.” The book would later be published twice in 1918, with each time the number of illustrations increasing, from 8 to 31, often becoming more obscene.

Konstantin Somov Illustrations for “The Book of the Marquise” (Le livre de la Marquise). 1918

As the artist’s fame increased, his romance with Kuzmin “came to naught” by the end of the 1900s. The researchers say the reason is that “they were too different.”

Konstantin Somov Self-portrait. 1909

A successful and famous artist in Europe, having own house in St. Petersburg, and the poet, always strapped for money and wandering around rented apartments, was friends with St. Petersburg pimps and was fond of bathhouse attendants and haberdashery store sellers.
Somov, of course, fulfilled the poet’s dream - in 1909 he painted his portrait.

Konstantin Somov Portrait of M.A. Kuzmin. 1909

In addition, for almost five years of the novel, the artist was the poet’s “personal illustrator” - he selected illustrations and drew vignettes for the poet’s texts. As Kon writes, “they remained friends, although Somov’s notes contain several unflattering comments about the aging Kuzmin.”
After the revolution, Kuzmin remained in Russia, mainly engaged in translations and wrote theater reviews. At the invitation of Maxim Gorky, he participated in drawing up plans for the French section of the publishing house " World literature", translated the prose of Anatole France and edited his collected works. Kuzmin died in 1936 in a Leningrad hospital and was buried on the Literary Bridges of the Volkovsky Cemetery.

Oh, those boys in tights...

In 1909, the artist’s father died as a result of an accident; a carriage accidentally ran over him. Palace Square near the Hermitage and a few days later Andrei Ivanovich passed away.
Despite the family tragedy, Somov continued to work fruitfully. By the end of the 1900s, the artist continued to develop two main directions of his work: portraits and gallant paintings and landscapes stylized in the 18th century. Critics call the second movement the “reconstructed world of rococo.” In portraits, as critics noted, the artist was also very strong.
In January 1910, Somov received an order for a portrait of the wife of the wealthy Moscow collector Girshman, Henrietta Leopoldovna. By the way, Somov wrote to Genya (as he called her after becoming friends) twice, once again in 1915.

Konstantin Somov Portrait of G.L. Girshman. 1910
Konstantin Somov Portrait of G.L. Girshman. 1915

Vladimir Osipovich Girshman(1867-1937) - Russian merchant and philanthropist, collector of paintings and antiques, benefactor of the Moscow art theater, who became interested in collecting back in the 1890s. The basis of his collection was contemporary Russian painting, which he acquired at exhibitions in Moscow and St. Petersburg or bought from the artists themselves. The portrait of the collector himself was left to us by Valentin Serov, who also painted Henrietta.

Valentin Serov Portrait of Vladimir Osipovich Girshman. 1911

In general, Somov began going to a series of sessions in Moscow, where he stayed with the Girshmans, and in his free time he went to museums and theaters, where he met a 31-year-old amateur dancer Nikolai Poznyakov. The man looked very young and handsome - full lips, thick eyebrows, bangs falling over his forehead. In his diary in the same January 1910, the artist wrote: “Last night I visited Poznyakov, a Moscow dancer. Sentimental, enthusiastic, stupid, but sweet...”

Konstantin Somov Portrait of dancer N.S. Poznyakov. 1910

This romance was fleeting - only for a year; the lovers met in St. Petersburg, where Poznyakov came to give performances. Somov painted about five portraits of Nicholas. The artist’s nephew Evgeniy, son of Anna’s sister, recalled that the dancer “posed in full-length tiger or leopard skin in a ballet pose - and it was a very picturesque sight.”
By the way, the portrait of Poznyakov, even earlier than Somov, was also painted by Serov (and I couldn’t find any other portraits by Somov!).

Valentin Serov Portrait of N.S. Pozdnyakov. 1908

I will only add that later Nikolai Stepanovich Poznyakov (1878-1941) became a choreographer, then was a pianist and died at the beginning of the war with the rank of professor of piano at the Moscow Conservatory.
But, although they say that “love is stronger at a distance,” life in different cities and rare meetings, of course, could not but affect the artist’s relationship with Nikolai. In addition, the main reason was that Myth appeared in Somov’s life, and the pastoral world of relationships that he depicted in his early works arose in the artist’s personal life.

Methodius

A forty-year-old artist met an eighteen-year-old model Methodius Lukyanov(1892-1932) in September 1910, but since Nikolai rarely came from Moscow, and sitters were always needed for work, Somov, of course, used the services of Lukyanov. For fruitful work, the young man even settled in the artist’s apartment, met his relatives and soon from a sitter, assistant and friend quickly turned into “son, brother and husband,” as the artist himself called him. Historians call their relationship an “exemplary marriage,” which lasted 22 years (!), “without quarrels and almost without betrayal.”
Unfortunately, almost nothing is known about the life of Lukyanov himself before meeting Somov and his life before emigration. All that remains is the portrait of Myth (as Methodius was called by the artist’s relatives and close friends), painted by Somov in 1918, purchased by the Alexander III Museum and now located in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg (it is clear that these are different names for the same museum!). The artist depicted Lukyanov sitting on the sofa in pajamas and a robe. Art critics note that at the height of the revolution that overthrows the old world, during street shootouts and night robberies, the artist paints a very “homely, cozy portrait”, in which the calm expression of the young man’s face, a dressing gown and a comfortable sitting position are in the foreground.

Konstantin Somov Portrait of M. Lukyanov. 1918

This calmness probably personifies the confidence of the artist himself. Having become a full member of the Academy of Arts in January 1914, Somov in the same 1918 became a professor at the Petrograd State Free Art Training Workshops.

Boris Kustodiev Portrait of K.A. Somov. 1914

In addition, he teaches at E. N. Zvantseva’s school. And in 1918, the second edition of “The Book of the Marquise” was published in the St. Petersburg publishing house of Golike and Vilborg, and preparations began for a personal exhibition, which took place in 1919 in Tretyakov Gallery.
But after four years, Somov will leave Russia, as it turns out, forever, following his beloved Myth, with whom he will be with until the end of his days. But more on that in the next chapter.

Self-Portrait (1898)

Konstantin Andreevich Somov, - Russian painter and graphic artist, master of portraiture, representative of Russian symbolism and modernism. One of the founders of the magazine "World of Art", a member of the association of the same name. He carefully protected his personal life from publicity.
Born on November 18/30, 1869 in St. Petersburg in the family of an art historian, curator of the Hermitage collections, Andrei Ivanovich Somov. The son of art critic and museum figure A.I. Somova. His mother, Nadezhda Konstantinovna Somova (nee Lobanova), was a good musician and a well-educated person. She instilled in her children a love of music, painting, and theater.

Rest on a walk 1896

Portrait of N.F. Ober 1896

Lady by the Pond 1896

Two ladies on the terrace 1896

Walk in winter 1896

Evening ride on horseback 1897

In 1889, Somov entered the Academy of Arts, where he studied in the workshop of I. Repin. In 1897, the artist voluntarily left the Academy and spent two winters in Paris working independently. At the same time, A. Benois, E. Lanseray, A. Ostroumova and other “World of Art” students studied and worked in Paris with him. Here Somov became close to A. Benois, who wrote the first article about him, which appeared in the magazine “World of Art” in 1898.

Poster for the exhibition of Russian and Finnish artists in 1897

Natalya Pavlovna 1899

Lady in blue. Portrait of E.M. Martynova 1897-1900

Students of the St. Petersburg private school Karl May - A. Benois, V. Nouvel, D. Filosofov and K. Somov united to study the history of art, primarily painting and music. Subsequently, S. Diaghilev and L. Bakst joined the circle. Diaghilev's knowledge in the field of fine arts, in which he always had an interest, began to rapidly expand thanks to trips abroad. There he made acquaintances with foreign writers and artists and began collecting paintings.

The association included artists of the Moscow school of the mid-1890s (who were part of the Abramtsevo circle) - K. Korovin, V. Serov, the Vasnetsov brothers, M. Vrubel, M. Nesterov. It was their paintings that were demonstrated at the beginning of 1898 at an exhibition of Russian and Finnish artists organized by Diaghilev and Filosofov in St. Petersburg, and then, in the summer of the same year in Munich, Dusseldorf, Cologne and Berlin.

The movement also published a magazine of the same name, the first issue of which was published in November 1898, which subsequently took a leading place among literary and artistic publications in Russia at that time.

The artistic orientation of the "World of Art" was associated with modernism and symbolism. In contrast to the ideas of the Wanderers, the artists of the World of Art proclaimed the priority of the aesthetic principle in art. Members of the World of Art argued that art is first and foremost an expression of the artist’s personality. In one of the first issues of the magazine, S. Diaghilev wrote: “A work of art is important not in itself, but only as an expression of the personality of the creator.” Believing that modern civilization is antagonistic to culture, the “World of Art” artists looked for an ideal in the art of the past. Artists and writers, in their paintings and on magazine pages, revealed to Russian society the then little appreciated beauty of medieval architecture and ancient Russian icon painting, the elegance of classical St. Petersburg and the palaces surrounding it, forced them to think about the modern sound of ancient civilizations and re-evaluate their own artistic and literary heritage.

Art exhibitions organized by the World of Art were a resounding success. In 1899, Diaghilev organized a truly international exhibition in St. Petersburg, at which paintings by 42 European artists, including Böcklin, Moreau, Whistler, Puvis de Chavannes, Degas and Monet, were exhibited alongside works by Russian artists. In 1901, exhibitions were held at the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts and the Stroganov Institute in Moscow, in which, among others, Diaghilev’s closest friends - Bakst, Benois and Somov - took part. Exhibitions of the World of Art group in St. Petersburg and Moscow were also organized in November 1903.

Somov’s style corresponded to the aesthetics of the “miriskusniks”, combining the harmony of dreams with reality, and was distinguished by the poetry of images combined with sophistication and spirituality.

Magic 1900-1902

Echo of the past tense 1903

Lady in Pink 1903

Kiss 1904

Somov took an active part in the design of the magazine “World of Art”, as well as the periodical “Art Treasures of Russia” (1901 - 1907), published under the editorship of A. Benois, created illustrations for “Count Nulin” by A. Pushkin (1899), stories N. Gogol’s “The Nose” and “Nevsky Prospekt”, painted the covers of K. Balmont’s poetry collections “The Firebird. Slavic pipe”, V. Ivanova’s “Cor Ardens”, title page of A. Blok’s book “Theater”, etc.

Sketch of an illustration for the story by N.V. Gogol Nevsky Prospekt 1901

Bookplate by A.N. Benois 1902

Bookplate S.P. Zenger 1902

Nude among flowers 1903

Goethe, Muse and Cupid 1906

Lady with a Dog 1906

Kiss (Silhouette) 1906

Book of the Marquise. Illustration

Along with landscape and portrait painting and graphics, Somov worked in the field of small plastic arts, creating exquisite porcelain compositions.
K. Somov exhibited his works at exhibitions of the “World of Art”, the Union of Russian Artists, a personal exhibition in St. Petersburg (1903), Berlin “Secession”, Paris “Salon d" Automne” (“Autumn Salon”, 1906), which gained him wide fame not only in Russia, but also in Europe.After the October Revolution, like many other artists, Somov experienced everyday difficulties, having no orders for work.