Pasternak Leonid Osipovich: paintings, biography

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

Childhood

A young artist Pasternak Leonid Osipovich (1862-1945 - years of life), whose real name sounds like Avrum Itskhok-Leib, grew up in a poor Odessa family. The future talented painter was the youngest of six children. The boy started to show creativity very early . However, despite the obvious talent of his child, parents took the enthusiasm of Leni without enthusiasm. And yet the young artist did not abandon his studies at the art school. The boy continued his education in fine arts after graduation from the gymnasium. Although Leonid chose a medical profession as a specialty, he combined with studies at the university combined visits to the studio of the master E. Sorokin. Moreover, study by specialty gave the future artist the opportunity to thoroughly study the features of the human body, its specificity in motion and statics.

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

Life Abroad

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

First publications

During the session, the artist for some time returned to Odessa, where he first published his work in magazines of a humorous nature. These were sketches, caricatures, sketches, etudes. As Maxim Gorky himself later admitted to the artist, it was at that time that Pasternak captured the first, in the words of the writer, "tramp" in Russian literature.

In this training the masters did not end. After graduating from the university, Pasternak Leonid Osipovich, whose biography was supplemented by another important achievement, served as a volunteer. Even during his military duties, he did not stop making sketches and small sketches. So his author's style was formed.

Personal life

In his native city Pasternak, Leonid Osipovich met Rosa Kaufman, an incredibly talented pianist. Already in 1889 the lovers got married and moved to live in Moscow. There Rosa gave one concert after another, and Leonid was carried away by Polenov's circle.

A year later the first son was born to the newlyweds. It was he who later became a famous Russian poet. It was Boris Pasternak. Three years later Alexander's son was born to his wife, who became a successful architect.

In addition to the boys, there were also representatives of the fair sex in the Pasternak family. In 1990, the young artist gave birth to Josephine's daughter, two years later, his wife Rosa gave her husband Lydia. Pasternak dedicated a separate gallery to his children. On these canvases the whole spirituality and warmth of the family nest, which young couples have made, are imprinted.

Confession

In a landmark for a young artist in 1889, he again smiles luck, and the first known picture of the master "Letter from the Motherland" is bought by the respected collector Pavel Tretyakov. It was a successful year for Pasternak. After the exhibition of this painting, the name of the artist was forever fixed in one line with his no less famous contemporaries.

After deafening triumph in the Moscow society of connoisseurs of painting Pasternak Leonid Osipovich became popular among artists of that time. He began to cooperate with no less famous collectors and craftsmen. Moreover, the artist himself began to give lessons to the beginning painters. So, even Ilya Repin sent young students to study for Pasternak. Later, the master began giving private lessons in Moscow. After seeing the success, he decided together with his friend the artist Stemberg to open a personal studio for teaching drawing. While working with students Pasternak has established himself as a progressive artist and teacher. So, teaching, he not only taught pupils the basics of fine art and academic drawing, but also showed young people new, unused techniques. All this the master has learned earlier, while studying in Germany. So, Russian art gradually developed in the direction of the European.

Work in the Journal

Since 1890 Leonid Osipovich, under the patronage of Russian writer, playwright and publicist Fyodor Sologub, has become an art editor of the new magazine "Artist." A year later, Pasternak undertook to manage the publication of works by Mikhail Yurievich Lermontov with illustrations. This collection of artists not only decorated with their illustrations, but also gave the opportunity to work on it to other talented, but less famous artists. Among them was not very famous at that time, but no less talented from this Michael Vrubel.

In addition to work in the field of journalism, the master succeeded in painting. In 1892 Leonid Osipovich Pasternak wrote: "The pains of creativity." The picture became a landmark in the artist's coin box.

Creating portraits

Despite the fact that Leonid Osipovich Pasternak is known as an artist, a considerable part of his creative heritage is portraits.

Even in this kind of fine arts, the artist embodied his own innovative ideas. The most striking feature of Pasternak's portraits is that the master not only portrayed a man's bust, but also appealed to the inner world of the depicted. In his paintings, the artist sought to convey the whole character, the mood of the portrait, his experiences, sorrows, change of mood. Pasternak wrote in an impressionistic manner. Despite the fact that this style can be attributed to the entire work of the artist, it is in portraits that this property is most powerful.

International success

Pasternak continued to develop as a master and already in 1894 took the post of teacher in an art school. At the same time, other outstanding masters became teachers with Pasternak, among them Serov, N. Kasatkin and K. Korovin. Thanks to their work in the teaching field, the school became one of the most progressive not only within Russia, but even became famous abroad. Young enterprising teachers, many of whom received education abroad, introduced new standards in the teaching of painting. In addition, it was this group of teachers that contributed to the introduction of courses for general education. So, Vasily Kluchevsky became a teacher of Russian history. Later Leonid Osipovich captured him in one of his portraits. It is worth noting that the school not in vain has found itself a famous glory: thanks to the selfless work of teachers many of the students later became great masters. Among them are such famous artists as Gerasimov, Konchalovsky, Krymov, Shcherbakov and others.

However, Pasternak's fame is not limited to this. In 1894, the artist's painting "On the eve of the exams" won first place at the international exhibition in Munich. It was purchased in 1890 to decorate the Luxembourg Museum directly from the exhibition in Paris.

After such a deafening success, the demand for Pasternak's work became quite logical . Already in 1901 the Luxembourg Museum ordered several famous painters, including Leonid Osipovich, to depict scenes from Russian life. Pasternak wrote one of the most famous of his creations, the beautiful painting "Tolstoy in the Circle of the Family." It was highly appreciated even by Prince George Alexandrovich himself, after seeing the exhibition "World of Art".

Later, Pasternak himself became the founder of the department of Russian art in the city of Dusseldorf. During his work abroad, the master fruitfully used the time allotted to him and visited the Mediterranean shore. Being in Italy, the artist made many sketches of landscapes.

Life Outside the Motherland

During the events of 1905, Leonid Osipovich spent a year in Berlin. He fell in love with the work in the school, because the school was closed. At this time Pasternak participated in many European exhibitions, including in Berlin. In parallel, the master wrote pictures for many foreign customers.

Since 1912, during the treatment of Rosa Pasternak in Kissingen and near Pisa, the master started his large canvas "Congratulation". According to the idea, the children came to please their parents with gifts for the anniversary of the silver wedding, as they were represented by the artist. Leonid Osipovich Pasternak finished painting in 1914. It had a deafening success.

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

Beginning in 1921 Pasternak lived in Berlin. Despite the deterioration of health and impaired vision, he felt a surge of creative power and wrote during this time a series of portraits of famous personalities, among them A. Einstein, M. R. Rilke and many others. In 1924, he went on a trip with friends to Egypt and Palestine. During the journey Pasternak wrote a series of bright sketches.

During the seizure of power by the Nazis, most of the artist's works were publicly burned, and exhibitions were banned. In this regard, at the end of the thirties Pasternak moved to London, where he wrote a series of paintings that were later given to the British Museum. Soon after the outbreak of World War II, the master died in Oxford.

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