Bogdan Pavlovich Willewalde (russian: Богдан Павлович Виллевальде, german: link=no, Gottfried Willewalde; January 12, 1819,
Pavlovsk, Saint Petersburg
Pavlovsk (russian: Па́вловск "he townof Pavel" after Emperor Pavel (Paul) of Russia) is a municipal town in Pushkinsky District in the suburban part of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located south from St. Peter ...
– March 24, 1903,
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
) was a Russian Imperial artist, academic, emeritus professor of
military art
Military art is art with a military subject matter, regardless of its style or medium. The battle scene is one of the oldest types of art in developed civilizations, as rulers have always been keen to celebrate their victories and intimidate po ...
, and a fellow of the
Imperial Academy of Arts
The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the Thre ...
.
Early life
Bogdan Willewalde was born in
Pavlovsk, Saint Petersburg
Pavlovsk (russian: Па́вловск "he townof Pavel" after Emperor Pavel (Paul) of Russia) is a municipal town in Pushkinsky District in the suburban part of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located south from St. Peter ...
on January 12, 1819, in a noble family of
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
n origin. From childhood, he was acquainted with and a playmate of the
Russian Grand Dukes and intimately connected to the Imperial family and its official hierarchy.
[
His initial art studies were with Jungstedt, following which he was admitted to the St Petersburg ]Imperial Academy of Arts
The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the Thre ...
in 1838. He studied under Karl Bryullov
Karl Pavlovich Bryullov (russian: Карл Па́влович Брюлло́в; 12 December 1799 – 11 June 1852), original name Charles Bruleau, also transliterated Briullov and Briuloff, and referred to by his friends as "Karl the Great", was a ...
and Alexander Sauerweid
Gottlob Alexander Sauerweid (russian: Александр Иванович Зауервейд; 19 February 1783, Kurland - 25 October 1844, Saint Petersburg) was a Baltic German painter who taught battle painting at the St. Petersburg Imperial A ...
. In the 1840s, having achieved success in his academic studies, he was despatched abroad – to Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
– to train in art of the war of 1813. In 1844, he was recalled to St Petersburg upon the death of Sauerweid, to finish the latter's cycle of the Russian war against Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
. In 1848, he was appointed as professor in the Imperial Academy of Arts, and chair of the military arts section.
Career
Military art
''Most of the material in this section has been taken from the Encyclopedia of War edited by K. I. Velichko.''
At the beginning of his artistic career, Willewalde was influenced by German masters, especially the Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
-based Peter von Hess
Peter Heinrich Lambert von Hess (29 July 1792 – 4 April 1871) was a German painter, known for historic paintings, especially of the Napoleonic Wars and the Greek War of Independence.
Life
Peter von Hess initially received training from his fat ...
, in the spirit of whom Willewalde painted ''The Battle of Gissgubel''. He then became a follower of the French artist Horace Vernet
Émile Jean-Horace Vernet (30 June 178917 January 1863), more commonly known as simply Horace Vernet, was a French Painting, painter of battles, portraits, and Orientalism, Orientalist subjects.
Biography
Vernet was born to Carle Vernet, another ...
, although he could not quite match the latter's ease of brush-stroke and elegance.
Willewalde's main works in this first period are the four huge canvases of the history of the Napoleonic wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
of 1813–14, which are now found in the Alexander Hall of the Winter Palace: the battles of '' Kulm'', ''Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
'', '' Fère-Champenoise'' and ''Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
''.
Willewalde joined the Russian army as well, and made sketches and etudes whilst on service, after which he would complete his monumental canvases. Having been commissioned to paint ''The Capture of Shamil'', he travelled to the Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
to observe the landscape and scenery. In Dagestan
Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...
, he created several hundred watercolours and sketches that today hold immense historical importance.[
In the second period of his career, Willewalde turned his attention to the Polish ]November uprising
The November Uprising (1830–31), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution,
was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in W ...
of 1831 (painting ''Grokhovo'' and ''Ostrolenka''), the Hungarian revolution of 1848
The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 or fully Hungarian Civic Revolution and War of Independence of 1848–1849 () was one of many European Revolutions of 1848 and was closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas. Although th ...
(painting ''Surrender of Görgey at Világos'', ''Advance into Kronstadt'' and others), the Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...
('' Siege of Sevastopol''), and the Russian conquest of the Caucasus
The Russian conquest of the Caucasus mainly occurred between 1800 and 1864. The Russian Empire sought to control the region between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. South of the mountains was the territory that is modern Armenia, Azerbaijan, Geor ...
(''Bashkadyklar'', ''Battle of Kars
The Battle of Kars was a decisive Russian victory over the Ottoman Empire during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878). The battle for the city took place on November 17th, 1877, and resulted in the Russians capturing the city along with a large po ...
'', ''Shamil Shamil (Arabic: شَامِل ''shāmil'') is a lesser common masculine Arabic name. The name is usually from the adjective which have several correlated meanings from the Arabic "complete, comprehensive, universal" but could also mean "embodying, pr ...
at Gunib'', and ''Surrender of Shamil'').
Willewalde also painted some of the wars of the 1870s, although to a smaller extent: ''Gravelotte
Gravelotte (; german: Gravelotte) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France, 11 km west of Metz. It is part of the functional area (''aire d'attraction'') of Metz. Its population is 827 (2019).
From 1871 u ...
'', ''Battle on the Danube (1877)'', and ''Departure of the Uhlan
Uhlans (; ; ; ; ) were a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance. While first appearing in the cavalry of Lithuania and then Poland, Uhlans were quickly adopted by the mounted forces of other countries, including France, Russia, Pr ...
s in Bulgaria''.
In his final period, Willewalde returned to his favourite and most thoroughly researched topic: the era of Napoleon. The works of this period depict the everyday lives of the military, and demonstrate a new feature of his talent: a gentle humour in the depiction of military-idyllic scenes, such as in ''Hussar and Savoyard'', ''Cossacks on the Rhine'', ''Do not be afraid – we are Cossacks'', ''They were captured'', and so on.
A great connoisseur of military order, Willewalde excels in his images of parades and manoeuvres that do not serve as model depictions of war, such as ''Training the Horse Guards of the Horse Artillery''.
Court art
Willewalde was held in high esteem by the Imperial court and received several commissions to depict the members of the court in various ceremonial situations. In 1859, he created a monumental canvas ''Ceremonial Entry of Their Imperial Majesties into Moscow before their Sacred Coronation August 17, 1859'' in honour of the coronation of Czar Alexander II
Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finlan ...
. Following this success, he was asked to depict the anointment of Grand Duke Nicholas as heir to the Imperial throne. The painting titled ''The Oath of His Imperial Highness Prince Nikolai Alexandrovich at the Georgiev Throne Hall of the Winter Palace. September 8, 1859.''[
Six years later, following the untimely death of the heir apparent, Willewalde was commissioned to paint the anointment of the Czar's second son, Alexander Alexandrovich, as the new heir to the Imperial throne: ''The Oath of His Imperial Highness the Heir Apparent Prince Alexander Alexandrovich at the Georgiev Throne Hall in the Winter Palace'' was produced in 1867. Almost the same faces appear in this painting as in the previous one, and the passage of time is evident in them, in particular the tired visage of the Queen Maria Alexandrovna, deeply ill since the death of her first son.][
]
Academic life
Willewalde remained the head of the military art division of the Imperial Academy of Arts till its reform in the 1890s. The excellence of his teaching served to train nearly the entire following generation of Russian military artists.[
Although Willewalde himself was a man of strictly-held consistent views on art and he disliked the younger generation for its various innovations, he was able not to thwart their talents. Such diverse talents as Charlemagne, Filippov, Kovalevsky, ]Gruzinsky
Gruzinsky (russian: Грузинский; ka, გრუზინსკი) was a title and later the surname of two different princely lines of the Bagrationi dynasty of Georgia, both of which received it as subjects of the Russian Empire. The n ...
, Popov, Samokysh
Mykola Semyonovich Samokish (russian: Микола Семенович Самокиш; translit.: ''Nikolay Semyonovich Samokish''; 25 October 1860, Nizhyn, Chernihiv, Russian Empire - 18 January 1944, Simferopol, USSR) was a Ukrainian and Soviet ...
, Mazurovsky emerged from his school.
Style
Willewalde is one of the main representatives of the dominant type of battle painting of the 19th century, combining its strengths and weaknesses. He remained dependent on the academy which at the time supported and maintained the genre of military art. There were stringent requirements of the portrayer of war, given the development of realism in art in general: accurate representation especially in the form and presentation of the participating troops; it was to reflect the official position on that war, remaining reliant on the official dispatches. Willewalde's entire oeuvre was circumscribed by these demands: accuracy, depicting the truth as represented by the Russian authorities, finely finished, but never causing worry.[
Villevalde created a complex, multi, masterfully-painted group portrait of royalty, dignitaries, military leaders, representatives of all classes of the Russian state, from the ruling elite to ordinary citizens. His monumental canvas of 1859 for the coronation of ]Czar Alexander II
Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finlan ...
depicts around 200 people, 82 of them have a precise portrait likeness, making the product an invaluable source of iconography of the statesmen of the Russian Empire.
The Imperial family and nobility appreciated Willewalde's amazing ability for accurate depiction, to put on canvas the beauty of the real world, of fabrics and jewelry. In his realist battle scenes, the artist achieved heights the depiction of animals, in particular of horses. He developed his own signature by depicting a favorite type of horse that is always present in his paintings: they were perfectly painted representing an exterior ideal.[
]
Exhibitions
In 1867, Willewalde displayed his works at the International Exhibition in Paris. In 1873, his works were exhibited in Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, followed by Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, in 1885, and Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
in 1886.[
]
Later life
The artist spent his final years in his homeland of Germany. Many documents remain that show the recognition Willewalde received from the Imperial court, and the patronage of the nobility that he enjoyed. Having outlived many of his contemporaries, almost unknown to the new generation, Willewalde died in Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
on March 24, 1903.[ His son Alexander, born in 1853, also became a painter.]
Awards and honours
Willewalde was made emeritus professor of Military art at the Imperial Academy of Arts in 1888.[ He received several medals of honour from the Imperial academy, chiefly a major gold medal for his work ''Battle of Fère-Champenoise'' (1842).][
In 1859, Willewalde was awarded the ]Order of St Stanislaus
The Order of Saint Stanislaus ( pl, Order Św. Stanisława Biskupa Męczennika, russian: Орден Святого Станислава), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Ponia ...
, second degree, for the completion of his monumental canvas ''Triumphant Entry of Their Imperial Majesties into Moscow before their Sacred Coronation August 17, 1859''.[
In 1894, he was made a fellow of the Academic Council of the Imperial Academy of Arts.][
]
Gallery
Battle of Grochów 1831 by Willewalde.JPG, '' Battle of Grochów, December 13, 1831'', (1850s), oil on canvas, .
1885 Villevalde Kosaken in Bautzen anagoria.JPG, ''Kosaken in Bautzen
Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budis ...
'', (1885), Yekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts
Bogdan Villevalde Opening of Millinium of Russia in 1862.jpg, ''Inauguration of the memorial Millennium of Russia
The Millennium of Russia (russian: Тысячелетие России, Tysyacheletiye Rossii) is a bronze monument in the Novgorod Kremlin. It was erected in 1862 to celebrate the millennium of Rurik's arrival to Novgorod, an event traditio ...
'' at Novgorod
Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...
in 1862, (1864), oil on canvas, Novgorod Museum-Reserve.
Willewalde - Czar's Guard capture 4th line regiment's standard at Austerlitz.jpg, ''Exploits of the Cavalry Regiment at the Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important and decisive engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. The battle occurred near the town of Austerlitz in ...
in 1805'', (1884), oil on canvas,
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willewalde, Bogdan
1819 births
1903 deaths
19th-century painters from the Russian Empire
Russian male painters
19th-century war artists
Russian war artists
19th-century male artists from the Russian Empire
Imperial Academy of Arts alumni
Members of the Imperial Academy of Arts
Awarded with a large gold medal of the Academy of Arts