Orest Kiprensky: pictures and their description. Artist Orest Kiprensky

Russian painter Orest Kiprensky, whose paintings excited the Russian public throughout the first half of the 19th century, was born on March 24, 1782, in the estate of the poor landowner Oranienbaum county A. Dyakonov. Mother - serf Anna Gavrilova - gave birth to a child out of wedlock. Fatherhood is attributed to the landlord himself, who did not disdain to communicate with his serfs. A year after the birth of the future artist, Dyakonov gave him the name of Orestes and at least did not recognize him as a son, but fully supported the boy, gave him a free and took care of the future. And that Orestes had a patronymic, the landlord gave his mother to marry his domestic man, Adam Schwalbe.

First steps

At the age of six, early showing his abilities, Orestes was sent to study at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. In the future, he owed everything to his natural talent. Academician Kiprensky graduated in 1803 and continued to study the art of painting under the leadership of the famous Russian artist G.I. Ugryumov.

The next few years, Orest Adamovich Kiprensky spent in harsh conditions, he lived in the barracks, was humiliated, drilled, limited freedom. But strangely enough, deprivation and domestic disorder did not deprive the artist of the desire to engage in art, on the contrary, a difficult fate became an incentive for further creative development. Friends nicknamed the young Kiprensky "crazy Orestes." The artist always carried with him an album with drawings, which he created literally on the move.

Uncertainty

Orest Kiprensky, whose paintings unambiguously represented a new word in painting, tried not to stand out from the total number of masters of the brush. He considered his works to be mediocre enough to show them off. However, gradually friends of Kiprensky managed to convince him of the unordinary nature of the canvases, which he wrote very quickly, which is called in one breath.

Confession

In the end, Kiprensky, whose paintings had already been discussed secretly and explicitly in Moscow, decided to showcase the paintings "Madonna and Child" and "Portrait of Adam Schwalbe's Father." A little later the artist receives a large gold medal for the canvas "Prince of Don after the Kulikov battle." After that, Orest Kiprensky, whose paintings were recognized and appreciated, took part in decorating the Kazan Cathedral of the architect Voronikhin. However, this kind of creativity did not become an opportunity for the artist to fully realize his talent, and he decided to turn to the genre of the portrait.

Orest Adamovich Kiprensky quickly came to the fore as a comprehensively gifted painter. The portraits written by him were struck by the novelty and accuracy of the image. The artist somehow managed to grasp the very essence and not to lose it until the end of the work. One of the most significant works of Kiprensky is a portrait depicting Alexander Pushkin. The picture of Kiprensky, dedicated to the light of Russian poetry, was written in 1827. Before the creation of this masterpiece, Orest Adamovich managed to write 59 more portraits, two of which depict Colonel E.V. Davydov and Count D.N. Sheremetev. The rest were written in half a century.

Orest Kiprensky, whose paintings confidently won St. Petersburg and Moscow, suddenly becomes an outstanding artist of his time. For several portraits, written in 1811-1813, the painter received the title of academician of painting.

Reputation

However, in the fate of the artist, everything was not so smooth and serene, he was ambushed by ambitions. Portraits Orest Adamovich wrote mainly for earnings, and his call he considered historical painting and constantly tore to create some monumental canvas, reflecting the great events from the past of the Russian people.

Nevertheless, the artist continued to create in a genre accessible to him and became the first Russian painter who received an order to create a self-portrait for the Uffizi Gallery, famous for his collection of images of the best artists of world renown. Being so famous, the artist Kiprensky, whose pictures as they appeared were the object of lust for many collectors of the world, suddenly found himself in disgrace.

Roman troubles

At that time, Orest Adamovich was in a Russian colony in Rome, where a certain Italian A. Italinsky was appointed as an ambassador from the Russian state, very far from art and in general quite ignorant person. To the artists the governor treated disrespectfully, considering them loafers. Someone spread the rumor about Kiprensky's criminal intentions, his connections with Italian carnarians. As a result of the lies and knowingly false accusations, Orest Adamovich was forced to leave Italy.

Success in France

Returning to his homeland, Kiprensky did not stay long in St. Petersburg and soon left for Paris, where his works produced a furore at the spring exhibition of 1822. Then everyone heard a Russian artist Kiprensky. Pictures, the description of which in all details was printed in special handbooks, were transported from one French city to another, and everywhere they had a stunning success.

Despite the obvious success of his portrait painting, the artist continues to attempt to create a historical canvas, but the result of these attempts are paintings reminiscent of the landscape with Vesuvius or the undeveloped plot of any battle scene from the past. Eventually Kiprensky was tired, and he for some time went into himself and abandoned the work. The situation was aggravated by the fact that a talented Karl Bryullov appeared, and the attention of the public switched to him.

Financial difficulties

Orest Adamovich already received fewer orders and began to need money. Moreover, just at that time the artist decided to marry, and this, as is known, is an expensive pleasure. However, soon the fate turned to the Kiprensky face, he successfully sold several paintings, managed to pay off creditors, and life again made sense to him.

The demise

In order to marry his chosen one, the artist accepted the Catholic faith. Young quietly married in a small church, and after a while Orest Adamovich Kiprensky caught cold and died of pneumonia. This happened on October 5, 1836. Four months later, the daughter of Kiprensky was born a daughter, who was called Clotilde. Her trail was lost in time.

A few friends of the artist made a modest monument on his grave. Not a single newspaper reported on the death of the painter, thanks to which Europe learned that in Russia there is a great art and great artists.