Ivan Petrovich Argunov (russian: Иван Петрович Аргунов) (1729–1802) was a Russian painter, one of the founders of the
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
n school of portrait painting.
Biography
He was a
serf
Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...
belonging to
Count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York ...
Sheremetev
The House of Sheremetev (russian: Шереме́тевы) was one of the wealthiest and most influential noble families in Russia descending from Feodor Koshka who was of Old Prussian origin.
History
The family held many high commanding ran ...
and had grown up in the family of his uncle, Semyon Mikhaylovich Argunov, who was a steward of princess
Cherkassky and later a
majordomo
A majordomo is a person who speaks, makes arrangements, or takes charge for another. Typically, this is the highest (''major'') person of a household (''domūs'' or ''domicile'') staff, a head servant who acts on behalf of the owner of a large ...
for count Sheremetev. For many years Semyon managed Sheremetev's house on
Millionnaya Street
Millionnaya Street (russian: Миллионная улица), a street on the left bank of the Neva in the Central District of St. Petersburg in Russia, runs - parallel to the Palace Quay - from the Swan Canal to the Palace Square. Significa ...
in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, the house where Ivan grew up.
In 1746–1749 Ivan Argunov studied painting with a German artist named
Georg Grooth who at the time was in the employ of the Empress
Elizabeth of Russia
Elizabeth Petrovna (russian: Елизаве́та (Елисаве́та) Петро́вна) (), also known as Yelisaveta or Elizaveta, reigned as Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular Russian ...
. Ivan also got lessons from his cousins
Fedor Leontyevich Argunov and
Fedor Semenovich Argunov, painters working in Saint-Petersburg on decorating the Imperial residences.
Argunov's first works were
icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The mos ...
s for the Palace Church in ''Great
Tsarskoe Selo
Tsarskoye Selo ( rus, Ца́рское Село́, p=ˈtsarskəɪ sʲɪˈlo, a=Ru_Tsarskoye_Selo.ogg, "Tsar's Village") was the town containing a former residence of the Russian imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the c ...
Palace
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...
'' (1753) and for the
New Jerusalem Monastery
The Resurrection Monastery (russian: Воскресенский монастырь, ''Voskresensky Monastery'') or New Jerusalem Monastery (russian: Новоиерусалимский монастырь, ''Novoiyerusalimsky Monastery'') is a major ...
(1749). At that time he also created his only known historical painting ''Dying
Cleopatra
Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...
''. His earliest known portraits were of ''Prince Ivan Ivanovich Lobanov-Rostovsky'' (1752) and
Princess Ekaterina Alexandrovna Lobanova-Rostovskaya (1754). There can be seen the old traditions of traditional Russian
Parsuna art mixed with the new
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...
influence.
In 1760s Argunov was in his prime. He created many beautiful parade and psychological portraits and icons. Among his subjects were Russian royalty and of course Argunov's masters the Sheremetevs as well as their relatives the
Lazarevs and the counts
Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
. He was one of the creators of the genre of posthumous portraits, painting many dead Sheremetevs.
In 1770 Argunov became the major-domo for the Sheremetevs' house on Millionnaya Street, then the major-domo of the Moscow house of the Sheremetevs, then one of the stewards for their estates (chlen krepostnoj kollegii grafov Sheremetevs). He painted much less but it was in that time (1784) he created his masterpiece ''
Portrait of an Unknown Woman in Peasant Dress''. The identity of the sitter for the painting remains uncertain, whilst studies have suggested that she was the serf actress and singer of the counts Sheremetev,
Anna Kovalyova-Zhemchugova, it has equally been supposed that it was not in fact an official portrait of her, but rather an image of an unidentified wet nurse, taken from amongst the Seremetevs' serfs.
[Richard Stites, 'Serfdom, Society , and the Arts in Imperial Russia', p. 333] Between the second half of 1780s until his death in 1802 Argunov did not paint but spent all his time managing different estates and businesses of the Sheremetevs.
Argunov was an important teacher of art. He taught painting classes beginning in 1753 — before the opening 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 Thr ...
in 1757. Among his students were
Anton Losenko
Anton Pavlovich Losenko ( rus, Антон Павлович Лосенко; — ) was a Russian neoclassical painter and academician who lived in Imperial Russia and who specialized in historical subjects and portraits. He was one of the founde ...
,
Fyodor Rokotov
Fyodor Stepanovich Rokotov (Fedor Rokotov) (russian: Фёдор Степа́нович Ро́котов) (1736–December 24, 1808) was a distinguished Russian painter who specialized in portraits.
Fyodor Rokotov was born into a family of p ...
,
Kirill Golovachevsky and
Ivan Sablukov — all four future teachers of the Academy. Argunov's sons were also his pupils. Two of them: (
Nikolay Argunov and
Yakov Argunov) became painters, while the third (
Pavel Argunov) became an
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
.
Selected works
File:ArgunovIP PtELobanovRostGRM.jpg, Portrait of Princess Ekaterina Alexandrovna Lobanova-Rostovskaya, 1754
File:K.A.Khripunov by I.Argunov (1757, Ostankino).jpg, Portrait of K.A. Khripunov, 1757.
File:Grand Duchess Catherine Alexeevna by I.P. Argunov after Rotari (1762, Kuskovo museum).jpg, Portrait of Grand Duchess
Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. In status, a grand duke traditionally ranks in order of precedence below an emperor, as an approxi ...
Ekaterina Alexeyevna
File:P.B.Sheremetev by I.Argunov (1760, Ostankino).jpg, Portrait of P.B. Sheremetev (artist's owner), 1760
File:Catherine II by I.Argunov (1762, Russian museum).jpg, Portrait of Catherine II
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
, 1762
File:Annushka by I.Argunov (1767, Kuskovo).jpg, Portrait of Kalmyk girl Annushka. 1767. Annushka was a pupil and a serf of Varvara Sheremetev. In her hands she holds the portrait of her late benefactor.
File:Varvara Petr. Sheremeteva by I.Argunov (before 1768, Kuskovo).jpg, Portrait of Countess Varvara Sheremetev, daughter of Argunov's owner
File:Ivan_Argunov,_Portrait_of_Countess_Tolstaya,_née_Lopukhina_(1768).jpg, Portrait of Countess Tolstoy, née Lopukhina, 1768
See also
*
List of Russian artists
This is a list of Russians artists. In this context, the term "Russian" covers the Russian Federation, Soviet Union, Russian Empire, Tsardom of Russia and Grand Duchy of Moscow, including ethnic Russians and people of other ethnicities living in Ru ...
References
Sources
*
Natalia Presnova ''All Argunovs''
* Artvibrations Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20110707171525/http://www.artvibrations.com/IvanPetrovichArgunov/
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Argunov, Ivan
Painters from the Russian Empire
Russian portrait painters
18th-century painters from the Russian Empire
Russian male painters
Russian serfs
1729 births
1802 deaths
Painters from Saint Petersburg