Alexey Gavrilovich Venetsianov (; – ) was a Russian painter, renowned for his paintings devoted to peasant life and ordinary people.

Life

Alexey Venetsianov was born into a merchant family, of

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

descent, in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. He entered the civil service in the early 19th century and moved to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, where he began to study art. He first practiced with pictures of the Hermitage and with portraits of friends. He later became acquainted with

Vladimir Borovikovsky Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky ( – ) was a Russian artist of Ukrainian Cossack origin. He served at the court of Catherine the Great and dominated portraiture in Russia at the turn of the 19th century. Biography Vladimir Borovikovsky was born i ...

and lived in his house as an apprentice. He tried to work as a freelance portraitist, but received few commissions. In 1811 the Board of the Academy of Arts awarded him the title of Academician for his two works -

Self-Portrait Self-portraits are Portrait painting, portraits artists make of themselves. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, the practice of self-portraiture only gaining momentum in the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century ...

and ''Portrait of K. I. Golovachevsky and the Younger Pupils of the Academy''. In 1819, devoting himself purely to art, Venetsianov left the service, bought the village of Safonkovo, and settled there. During this time he painted scenes from nature that he observed around him. These works were of prime importance in his career. He painted portraits of peasants, and scenes illustrating rural life. He was the first to depict peasant life in Russian art. His works achieved great success at the exhibition of 1824, where he received critical praise. Venetsianov wished to become a professor in the Academy of Arts, but the academicians did not grant him their approval, mainly because he lacked academic training. During the years prior to 1820 he began to attract young people from poor backgrounds, and even serfs such as

Grigory Soroka Grigoriy Vasilyevich Soroka (, real surname Vasilyev (Васильев); —) was a Russian painter, one of the most notable members of Venetsianov school. Life Soroka was born as a serf in Pokrovskoye village ( Tver Guberniya), owned by the ...

, to teach them painting. By the middle of the 1820s he had a group of followers, and established his own school of painting.

Tsar Nicholas I Nicholas I, group=pron (Russian language, Russian: Николай I Павлович; – ) was Emperor of Russia, List of rulers of Partitioned Poland#Kings of the Kingdom of Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 18 ...

, who liked to promote ‘national trends’, expressed his approval for the artist and appointed him a

court painter A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...

. This title gave him the financial support necessary for running the school, where tuition was practically free. Venetsianov died in an accident in 1847 when his horses bolted and his

carriage A carriage is a two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for passengers. In Europe they were a common mode of transport for the wealthy during the Roman Empire, and then again from around 1600 until they were replaced by the motor car around 1 ...

fell down a steep slope.

Selected works

File:Aleksey Venetsianov (Russian, 1780 - 1847) - Portrait of a peasant girl.jpg, Portrait of a peasant girl
(1st half of 19th century) File:Venetsianov Reapers.jpg, The Reapers File:Venetsianov Threashing Floor.jpg, On a threshing floor (1821—1823) File:Venetsianov Peasant Girl with Cornflowers.jpg, A Peasant Girl with Cornflowers (1820s) File:Aleksey_Venetsianov_-_На_пашне._Весна_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg, '' In the Ploughed Field: Spring'' (1820s) File:Venetsianov Reaping, Summer.jpg, Summer, Reaping (1820s) File:Venetsianov Zakharka.jpg, Zakharka (1825) File:Venetsianov tartan shawl.jpg, Girl in a checkered shawl File:Venetsianov Girl In Shaul.jpg, Girl in a shawl File:Venetsianov GirlwithaCalf.jpg, Girl with a calf File:Fortunetelling by A.Venetsianov (1842, Russian museum).jpg, Fortune-telling (1842) File:Alexey Venetsianov 01.jpeg, Farmer's child with milk File:Alexey Venetsianov 03.jpg, Nurse with baby

References

Sources

External links

Venetsianov Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Venetsianov, Alexey 19th-century painters from the Russian Empire Male painters from the Russian Empire People from the Russian Empire of Greek descent Painters from Moscow 1780 births 1847 deaths Court painters 19th-century male artists from the Russian Empire Russian people of Greek descent

Life

Selected works

See also

References

Sources

External links