Literary and historical notes of a young technician. Vereshchagin Vasily Vasilievich: paintings, biography

“Whatever war anyone starts, in any case it is a stupid desire to own the world and its resources” - V. Vereshchagin

From the time of Peter I to our times, a conventional list of “100 greatest Russian artists” has been formed in Russian painting. Of course, these figures are significantly underestimated, and it seems to me that the real list of great Russian artists is not so small, and certainly exceeds this magically verified hundred. But, apparently, it just so happened among real connoisseurs and pseudo-lovers of art that there must certainly be some kind of list in which some, taking into account their popularity, are included, while others remain beyond the line of this immensely huge “greatness” (forgive the tautology).

To be fair, you need to understand that almost always only the most “popular” became great. That is, not those who are content with the sighs of an enthusiastic audience - “I’m in admiration!”, “Beautiful!”, “lovely, lovely!”, and not those who are recognized on the street, and not even those who gather crowds of onlookers at the first -second-rate exhibitions, and only those artists for whose work ardent collectors are ready to tear each other to pieces. It is here, at this stage, that the artist’s popularity begins. Only then does the transformation of a nameless and talented artist into “great” take place.

Speaking about great Russian artists, the brightest come to mind - Aivazovsky, Repin, Serov, Shishkin, Malevich, Vasnetsov, Vereshchagin and others no less influential and great... The creativity of each of them is invaluable and great.

But if we measure “greatness”, breaking it down into many components, then “among the worlds, in the twinkling luminaries of one Star, I repeat the name...” - Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin - “at one time the most popular person in all Russian art - not only in Russia, but throughout all over the world, which made not only St. Petersburg and Moscow, but also Berlin, Paris, London and America worry and get excited to the point of stupor" (A. Benoit)

“Vereshchagin is not just an artist, but something more,” wrote Kramskoy after the first acquaintance with his paintings and a few years later he noted again: “Despite the interest of his painting collections, the author himself is a hundred times more interesting and instructive.”

In literature, this battle painter was Tolstoy (in War and Peace), and in painting - Vereshchagin. No, there were other famous and great ones - Roubaud, Grekov, Villevalde, Karazin, but it was with the advent of the pacifist Vasily Vereshchagin in painting that the world of war on canvas ceased to be a bright pink game, a war game in which polished and glossy soldiers frolicked at full speed.

From the memoirs of the Russian artist and art critic Alexander Benois:

“Before Vereshchagin, all the battle paintings that could be seen in our palaces and at exhibitions, in essence, depicted gorgeous parades and maneuvers, among which a field marshal and his retinue raced on a magnificent horse. Here and there in these paintings, in very moderate numbers and certainly in beautiful poses, were scattered pro forma several clean dead. The very nature that surrounded these scenes was combed and smoothed in a way that in reality this could not be even on the quietest and calmest days, and at the same time, all such pictures and paintings were always executed in that sweet manner that was brought to us in the times of Nicholas the First Ladurner, Sauerweid and Raffe, who lived with us for some time. This rosy style was successfully adopted by all our home-grown battle painters (Timm, Kotzebue, Filippov, Gruzinsky, Villevalde, etc.), who wrote countless, very polished, very tasty and deadly monotonous battles.

Everyone was so accustomed to images of war exclusively in the form of an amusing, sleek and rosy holiday, some kind of fun with adventures, that it never occurred to anyone that in reality this was not how things looked. Tolstoy in his “Sevastopol” and in “War and Peace” destroyed these illusions, and Vereshchagin then repeated in painting what Tolstoy had done in literature.

Naturally, when, instead of the clean pictures of Villevalde, the Russian public saw the pictures of Vereshchagin, who suddenly so simply, cynically exposed the war and showed it as a dirty, disgusting, gloomy and colossal villainy, they screamed at the top of their lungs and began to hate and love such a daredevil with all their might..."

"Apotheosis of War", 1871

Vereshchagin is known to his contemporaries for “The Apotheosis of War” (1871). The artist's most famous masterpiece rests within the walls of the Tretyakov Gallery. There is also a note on the painting left by the artist on the frame: "Dedicated to all great conquerors, past, present and future."

The power of this painting was such that one Prussian general advised Emperor Alexander II to “order all the artist’s war paintings to be burned, as having the most harmful influence.” And for more than thirty years, Russian state museums have not acquired a single painting by this “scandalous” artist.

The horror of war, depicted in detail, symbolizing death and devastation, contrary to the master’s wills, will forever remain only the brilliant canvas of a great pacifist artist. The idea itself is transparent, but not heard. And how many wars could be prevented through art, through the paintings of Vereshchagin alone. But you won’t meet the powers that be, modern conquerors stringing together their vision of a world without war in the Tretyakov Gallery.

“Some spread the idea of ​​peace with their fascinating words, others put forward various arguments in its defense - religious, political, economic, and I preach the same through colors,” said this stern, courageous and fearless man.

History of "Apotheosis"

Initially, the painting was called “The Triumph of Tamerlane”. The idea was connected with Tamerlane, whose troops left behind such pyramids of skulls, but the picture is not of a specific historical nature.

According to history, one day the women of Baghdad and Damascus turned to Tamerlane, complaining about their husbands, mired in sins and debauchery. Then he ordered each warrior from his 200,000-strong army to bring the severed head of their depraved husbands. After the order was carried out, seven pyramids of heads were laid out.

According to another version, the painting was created by Vereshchagin under the influence of a story about how the ruler of Kashgar, Valikhan Tore, executed a European traveler and ordered his head to be placed on the top of a pyramid made from the skulls of other executed people.

In 1867, Vereshchagin left for Turkestan, where he was an ensign under Governor General K. P. Kaufman. Russia was then conquering these lands, and Vereshchagin saw enough of death and corpses, which aroused compassion and philanthropy in him. Here the famous “Turkestan series” appeared, where the battle painter depicted not only military actions, but also nature and scenes of everyday life Central Asia. And after a trip to Western China in 1869, where Bogdykhan’s troops ruthlessly pacified the uprising of local Dungans and Uyghurs, the painting “The Apotheosis of War” appeared.

Inspired by the horror of war

The artist did not admire his paintings at all. His works are tragic in that O they tell the story, but not the way it is told. With the thirst of a scientist, researcher, historian, war reporter and only then an artist, he penetrated into the very heart of military operations. He was not just an observer, but a participant in the battles, being a courageous example of what a real war reporter - a battle painter - should be:

“To fulfill the goal that I set myself, namely: to give society pictures of a real, genuine war cannot be done by looking at the battle through binoculars from a beautiful distance, but you need to feel and do everything yourself, participate in attacks, assaults, victories, defeats, experience hunger, cold, illness, wounds... We must not be afraid to sacrifice our blood, our meat - otherwise my paintings will be “wrong.”

Vereshchagin received his baptism of fire at the age of 25, in Samarkand.

In 1867, he gladly accepted the invitation of the Turkestan Governor-General, General K. P. Kaufman, to be an artist with him. Arriving in Samarkand after its capture by Russian troops on May 2, 1868, Vereshchagin withstood a heavy siege of this city by rebel local residents with a handful of Russian soldiers. Vereshchagin's outstanding role in this defense earned him the Order of St. George, 4th class (August 14, 1868), which he wore with pride, although he generally denied any awards:

“During the eight-day siege of the Samarkand citadel by crowds of Bukharts, ensign Vereshchagin encouraged the garrison with a courageous example. When on June 3 the enemy approached the gate in huge masses and, rushing at the guns, had already occupied all the huts, Ensign Vereshchagin, despite the hail of stones and murderous rifle fire, rushed with a gun in his hands and captivated the brave defenders of the citadel with his heroic example.”

The artist returned from Samarkand in a depressed mood. The waning valor and demonstrated heroism gave way to disappointment and emptiness. From then on, from the siege of the Samarkand citadel, ideas about life and death, war and peace became the all-consuming meaning of most of the artist’s works, imbued with “the deep feeling of a historian and judge of humanity.” From now on, he has something to say, if only they would hear it.

But they didn’t want to hear. They saw, they saw, but they didn’t want to hear. Despite worldwide recognition and popularity, the artist was treated coolly in Russia, and after one of the exhibitions in St. Petersburg he was accused of anti-patriotism and sympathy for the enemy. Many of the paintings caused displeasure at the top. Thus, the President of the Academy of Arts, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, ordered the defiant signatures on the paintings to be replaced. And Emperor Alexander II, having surveyed the exhibition, said sadly: “All this is true, it all happened like that,” but did not want to see the author. Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich, the future peacemaker Emperor Alexander III, expressed his opinion about the artist:

“His constant tendentiousness is disgusting to national pride and one can conclude one thing from them: either Vereshchagin is a brute or a completely crazy person.”

However, this did not prevent a month later the Imperial Academy of Arts from awarding Vereshchagin the title of professor, which Vereshchagin refused.

Vereshchagin was not afraid of the court's hostility. He wrote to his friend Stasov: “All this... shows that I am on a sound, unhypocritical path, which will be understood and appreciated in Russia.”

In 1871, Vereshchagin moved to Munich. In his desires to tell the world about the real horrors of war, he encountered no obstacles. He is greeted with standing ovations in Berlin, in the Crystal Palace of London, in Paris and other European cities. The exhibited paintings, emphasizing the absurdity and criminality of the war, caused a real storm of discussion, stirring up public opinion.

His popularity can be judged from the figures: his exhibition in St. Petersburg in 1880 was visited by 240 thousand people (in 40 days), in Berlin - 140 thousand people (in 65 days), in Vienna - 110 thousand (in 28 days ). Many modern pop stars have never dreamed of such fame.

Then Vereshchagin lived in India for almost two years, also traveling to Tibet. In the spring of 1876, the artist returned to Paris.

Having learned in the spring of 1877 about the beginning of the Russian-Turkish war, he immediately went into the active army and took part in some battles.

In June of the same year, he was seriously wounded: Vereshchagin asked to serve as an observer on board the destroyer Shutka, which was laying mines on the Danube. During an attack on a Turkish ship, they were fired upon by the Turks and a stray bullet pierced through the thigh.

“In anticipation that we were about to sink, I stood with one foot on the side; I hear a strong crash under me and a blow to my thigh, and what a blow! - like a butt.

The wound turned out to be serious; due to improper treatment, inflammation began and the first signs of gangrene appeared. He had to undergo surgery to open the wound, after which he quickly recovered.

The last war and the death of V.V. Vereshchagin

From 1882 to 1903 Vereshchagin travels a lot: India, Syria, Palestine, Pinega, Northern Dvina, Solovki, Crimea, Philippines, USA, Cuba, Japan, continuing to create, create, surprise.

And again humanity does not hear him. Another bloodshed is on the way. The Russo-Japanese War is the third and last in his life. Fit, slender, but already completely gray, the grandfather goes to the front again. The artist has only a few days left to live...

Before us about last day Vasily Vereshchagin received the memories of the journalist and part-time artist N.I. Kravchenko. :

“For Easter, I went from Mukden to Arthur. I drove for quite a long time, about forty hours, and when I arrived there, the train of Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich was already there, which, when leaving, I saw in Mukden. We were obviously moved at night. Vasily Vasilyevich came from Russia on this train, and lived in it when the train was in Mukden.

In Arthur they told me that “Vereshchagin has arrived.” Then, they say, he often visited Admiral Makarov on the Petropavlovsk as an old good friend, as a comrade in arms.

The last time I saw Vasily Vasilyevich was on March 30. Sitting in the Saratov restaurant, I had breakfast and looked through the glass onto the street...

- Gentlemen, Vereshchagin is coming! - someone shouted.

And almost instantly all eyes turned to the slender, light figure of V.V., in a blue suit jacket, walking past with quick steps. His beautiful white beard shone silver under the rays of the hot sun. There was a lambskin cap on his head.

He walked straight to the mailbox; you could see how he put a large package there, looked into the hole and then, with the same measured, calm step, walked back to the station.”

As it turned out, this was one of the artist’s letters to Emperor Nicholas II. But this became known much later. In his letters, Vereshchagin fears most of all that the tsar might decide to “have mercy” on Japan and make peace with her, “without punishing her completely.” To bring Japan to “humility”, to wash away the “insult” it had caused to the Tsar - this, in his opinion, is required by Russian prestige in Asia. He bombards the Tsar with advice on the immediate construction of cruisers, bridges, sending long-range cannons to Port Arthur, sending troops to the borders of India, etc. and so on. How the tsar reacted to the military advice of his civilian correspondent is unknown: there are no marks on the surviving original letters. According to historians, these letters clearly revealed not the pacifist sentiments of the aged patriotic artist, but rather the tsar’s call for toughness and steadfastness.

Memoirs of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich:

“Cloudy morning on March 31st. At night, our destroyer “Strashny” was lost in an unequal struggle. This sad news was conveyed to us by the returning “Bayan”, who, under heavy fire, managed to save only five from the “Terrible” crew. Makarov could not come to terms with the idea that there, at the site of the death of the “Terrible,” there could still be a few people left from the destroyer’s crew, helplessly struggling with death. He wanted to make sure for himself, hoping to save his own, even with a fight... and “Bayan” was ordered to go forward to indicate the place of death of “Terrible”. Our squadron began to leave the harbor, and the Petropavlovsk, to which I moved with the headquarters of Admiral Makarov from the Diana, was already about 7 o’clock. in the morning went out to the outer roadstead; the remaining battleships were somewhat delayed in the internal roadstead.

The admiral's entire headquarters was on the bridge.

Soon the Bayan signaled that it had noticed the enemy, who, a little later, opened fire on the Bayan.

Admiral Makarov decided to go forward, and our detachment began to respond to enemy fire. As we approached, the Japanese turned and began to quickly move away. A little later, another enemy squadron appeared on the horizon. Seeing significantly superior enemy forces in front of him, Admiral Makarov decided to turn back to be closer to the coastal batteries. We turned and walked at a fast pace towards Arthur. The enemy stopped in some kind of indecision. Already under the protection of coastal batteries, Petropavlovsk slowed down, and the crew was released to have lunch; The officers began to disperse little by little. Those who remained on the bridge were: Admiral Makarov, the commander of the Petropavlovsk, Captain 1st Rank Yakovlev, Rear Admiral Mollas, Lieutenant Wulf, the artist Vereshchagin and me.

I stood with Vereshchagin on right side bridge. Vereshchagin made sketches from the Japanese squadron and, talking about his participation in many campaigns, said with great confidence that he was deeply convinced that where he was, nothing could happen there.

Suddenly there was an incredible explosion... The battleship shuddered, and a terrible jet of hot, suffocating gas burned my face. The air was filled with a heavy, acrid smell, as it seemed to me - the smell of our gunpowder. Seeing that the battleship was quickly listing to starboard, I instantly ran across to left side... On the way, I had to jump over the corpse of Admiral Mollas, who lay with a bloody head next to the corpses of two signalmen. Jumping over the railing, I jumped onto the bow 12″ tower. I clearly saw and realized that there had been an explosion in our cellars, that the battleship was dying... The entire starboard side was already in the breakers, water huge wave the battleship noisily flooded... and the Petropavlovsk, moving forward, quickly plunged its nose into the depths of the sea.

At the first moment I had the desire to jump from the tower onto the deck, but, realizing that I could break my legs, I quickly lowered myself on my hands, holding onto the upper edge of the tower, and threw myself into the water ... "

That day, Nicholas II’s cousin, Prince Kirill, and about 80 other people were rescued. The rest - more than 650 people - are still considered missing.

The death of Petropavlovsk had an extremely negative impact on the combat activities of the Pacific squadron. This tragedy shocked not only Russia, but the whole world. Indeed, along with the death of the talented leader and organizer of the defense of Port Arthur, Vice Admiral S. O. Makarov, one of the greatest artists of the Russian Empire, who adamantly praised life outside of war and world peace, also died.

Facts about Vasily Vereshchagin

In America, he was offered honorary citizenship and dreamed that he would become the founder of the American school of painting.

With his first wife, Vereshchagin undertook an ascent to the Himalayas. They then climbed very high without any equipment, the accompanying ones fell behind, and the young couple had to spend a cold night, they almost died. The British, by the way, were very frightened by this Vereshchagin journey. They believed that he, as a scout, sketched military paths. The newspapers then wrote that Vereshchagin was paving the way for Russian bayonets with a brush.

In France, Vereshchagin met the battle painter Meissonnier. He talked about working on the painting “Napoleon in 1814.” To paint a war-damaged road from life, the artist covered a special platform with a layer of clay, drove a fake cannon on wheels along it several times, made horse footprints with a horseshoe, and sprinkled everything with flour and salt to create the impression of shiny snow. “How do you solve such problems, Monsieur Vereshchagin?” - he asked. “I don’t have such problems,” Vereshchagin replied. “In Russia, in peacetime, it’s enough to take any road, and it will turn out to be rutted and impassable, just like after a battle.”

In everyday life, Vereshchagin was a difficult person. Everything in the house was subject to his schedule. At 5-6 o'clock in the morning the artist was already in the studio. No one was allowed to go there - a tray with breakfast was pushed through the slightly open door. If the plates clinked, he immediately lost his temper. He had a fantastic performance. They gossiped that Vereshchagin had slaves sitting in his basements and drawing for him.

He was an idealist both in life and in work. I didn’t lie myself and criticized others for it. About Ivanov’s painting “The Appearance of Christ to the People,” Vereshchagin writes: “How can you paint Palestine, sitting in Italy, without seeing this sun, the reflection of this haze from the earth? We all know that John the Baptist did not wash, did not cut his hair, did not scratch his beard for 30 years. And we see a handsome man with washed curls, with aristocratic fingers...”

For excessive realism, for the fact that Vereshchagin portrayed Jesus Christ as a historical character, our Church banned the import of a series of his gospel works into Russia. And the Archbishop of Vienna cursed the artist and forbade the residents of Vienna to attend his exhibition. But this only sparked interest. When Vereshchagin showed these paintings in America, the impresario compiled the documents in such a way that the entire series began to belong to him. In 2007, one of the paintings, “The Western Wall,” was sold at auction for $3 million 624 thousand.

A document drawn up in bad faith, according to which all rights to the rarest paintings by Vereshchagin were transferred to the rogue impresario who organized his exhibition in America, has not yet been disputed by his historical homeland!

The artist Metelitsa was supposed to sail on that battleship. He is ill. And Makarov, an old friend from the cadet corps, invited Vereshchagin to go on a campaign. The exploded ship sank to the bottom in 2 minutes.

There are no remains of the artist, nor is there a monument at the site of his death. By an evil irony of fate, the graves of all of Vereshchagin’s relatives also disappeared under the water of the Rybinsk Reservoir when the land flooding program was adopted.

The hero of the film “White Sun of the Desert” Pavel Vereshchagin at the end of the film leads a longboat that explodes. However, there is no information about whether the customs officer received such a surname from the directors and screenwriters of the film on purpose, or whether it was just a coincidence.

For a long time the artist harbored the idea of ​​painting a large series of paintings dedicated to Patriotic War 1812, for which he studied archival materials and visited battle sites. “I had one goal,” he wrote, “to show in the paintings of the twelfth year the great national spirit of the Russian people, their dedication and heroism...” So, in memory of this event, some of Vereshchagin’s most famous paintings were born: “Napoleon and Marshal Lauriston”, “Before Moscow awaiting the deputation of the boyars”, “Napoleon I on the Borodino Heights”, etc.

The hero of Dreiser's novel "Genius", the artist Eugene, was strongly influenced by Vereshchagin. “Throughout his entire subsequent life, the name of Vereshchagin continued to serve as a huge stimulus for his imagination. If it’s worth being an artist, then this is the only one.”

V.V. Vereshchagin wrote about twenty books: “Essays on a trip to the Himalayas”, “On the Northern Dvina. On wooden churches”, “Dukhobors and Molokans in Transcaucasia”, “At war in Asia and Europe”, “Writer”, articles “Realism” and “On progress in art”.

Upon learning of Vereshchagin’s death, St. Petersburg Vedomosti was one of the first to publish a short appeal:

“The whole world shook at the news of tragic death V. Vereshchagina, and friends of the world say with heartache: “one of the most ardent champions of the idea of ​​peace has gone to his grave.” All of Russia mourns Makarov; Vereshchagina is mourned by the whole world".

One of Vereshchagin’s last works:

“I have loved the sun all my life and wanted to paint the sun. And after I had to experience the war and say my word about it, I was glad that I could again devote myself to the sun. But the fury of war haunts me again and again.”

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Vereshchagin is often called a battle painter. But was he such in the sense that is implied in these words? The battle painter, depicting the war, shows beautiful spectacular paintings battles, vivid images of its victorious heroes, pitiful losers. All this is missing in the paintings of the great painter. Vasily Vereshchagin, with his specific means, fought for peace, showing the everyday unheroic horrors of war.

Psychology of war

We live in a civilization of war. War is a reality historical path And historical consciousness humanity from the very beginning of human civilization. There has never really been peace on Earth. It seems to be a utopia, a dream, and war is a reality and everyday occurrence on planet Earth. War as a stable and constant phenomenon is very scary. Vasily Vereshchagin showed the highest degree of manifestation of war.

People imagine war in reality - ideology, technology, heroes, anti-heroes, victims, calculations, army movements. We know a lot about wars. And, oddly enough, for centuries, people have been interested in winners and conquerors. There is something in human nature that contributes to the outbreak of war. Along with the seizure of material values, there is also something else, the need for convincing leadership, to be higher, stronger than those who are nearby and even those who are further away, to assert oneself powerfully over others.

Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin (whose photo is presented above) reflected this terrible phenomenon in many of his series of works.

Episodes from the life of the artist

In Cherepovets, a third child is born into the family of the leader of the nobility Vereshchagin, who receives the name Vasily at baptism. The future is already prepared for him - he will become a military man. Vasily Vereshchagin, despite his reluctance to become a career military man, graduates with honors from the naval cadet corps, but quickly retires and begins to study painting in St. Petersburg and then in Paris.

War as such, apparently, had interested him since his youth. In 1865, he painted from life in the Caucasus, and the first unusual works of the Caucasian cycle appeared. It must be said right away that Vasily Vereshchagin never stopped; after painting one picture, he describes the phenomenon as a whole, with a series of paintings that make up an indivisible cycle.

Turkestan cycle

He spends 1868 in Central Asia, participates in battles, withstands the siege of Samarkand together with soldiers and officers, receives the Order of St. George, 4th class, for military services, and makes sketches. In 1871 in Munich he painted a cycle of thirteen paintings, as well as sketches and sketches, which he exhibited first in London and then in St. Petersburg. Everything about them was amazing - both the subjects and the new pictorial language.

The success was incredible. But the government refused to purchase this cycle, which should have been in the public domain and not owned by one private individual. It was bought by P. Tretyakov, who made a special extension to his gallery and presented the paintings to everyone. Everyone was stunned by the unexpected approach to the topic. Everything was new, bright both technically and plot-wise. The artist made a discovery of the unknown for the viewer.

India

In 1874 he went to India, where he would spend two years and visit Tibet. Vereshchagin Vasily Vasilievich became deeply interested in India, and he visited it again in 1882-1883. He also lives in major cities- in Bombay, Agra, Delhi. A trip to the Eastern Himalayas will take several months, and then a long and difficult journey to Kashmir and Ladakh. At the risk of his life, in winter, he climbs the mountains. He is even abandoned by his guides, but despite everything, terrible headaches, frost, he, like a man possessed, paints the majestic, virgin, never-before-seen pictures that open before him. The whitest mountain peaks, ultramarine sky, pink snow make you want to repeat the difficult climb. Many, about one hundred and fifty, landscapes, genre scenes, and portraits were written in India.

This is not surprising, since it is strikingly different from the usual Western world. These temples interior decoration, ritual dances, vendors on the streets - everything else. And the artist Vasily Vereshchagin wants to show the ancient culture, dating back six thousand years, to the whole world.

Balkan series

When did it start Russian-Turkish war, the artist immediately goes into the active army in 1877. He takes part in battles and is seriously wounded - a stray bullet hit his thigh, and improper treatment led to gangrene. But she was stopped in time. Shipka, Plevna - Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin visited everywhere and brought sketches and objects from everywhere that could complement his impressions. In two years, he painted thirty paintings reflecting the main episodes of the war. This included the tragic third assault on Plevna, the terrible battles near Telish, and the victory near Shipka.

This series of paintings will always remind us of the mistakes of the command and the high price the Russians paid for the liberation of the Bulgarians from the Turkish yoke. He first exhibited this series together with the Indian one in London and Paris, and then it was shown for ten years in cities in Europe and America. In Russia it was exhibited twice in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

Palestine and Syria

After this work, in 1884 he visited Syria and Palestine, where he wrote works on Gospel themes.

But, as always, the artist will approach his work in an unconventional way, without any ardent religious feeling. By freeing the works from the supernatural, he will cause a scandal. In Russia, the screening of this series was banned.

Barbarians

These paintings were part of the Turkestan series, but the artist wanted to highlight them separately, where he put the psychology of the soldier at the forefront and negated the importance of the commander.

Patriotic War of 1812

This series became a dominant theme from a certain time, around 1897. He turns to it constantly, changing plans and execution. This historical epic is composed of twenty paintings, but it remains unfinished. The first 17 works are devoted to the main episodes. They also contain battle of Borodino, and a fire in Moscow, and unsuccessful peace negotiations, and the death of the French army in the snow. And three paintings are dedicated to guerrilla warfare. Since he did not observe all this in nature, the work of imagination is difficult for him, which cannot be said when looking at his canvases. The portrait of Napoleon is unusually good, in the opinion of a Russian person, of course, completely debunking the image of a hero and a great man.

This series was first exhibited in Moscow and St. Petersburg in 1895-1896. No one expressed a desire to purchase it. And only in 1902, under public pressure, the government bought it and placed it in the Russian Museum. We formed all our visual views on the Patriotic War of 1812 thanks to the brilliant works of Vasily Vereshchagin.

Russian North

Unexpectedly, the artist becomes interested in the history of Russian architecture. The painter works in Yaroslavl, Rostov, Kostroma, deeply immersed in Russian antiquity. And all this goes in parallel with work on the theme of the 12th year war. Vasily Vereshchagin travels to the Russian north. He visits Pinega, Northern Dvina, White Sea, Solovki. His landscapes are full of peace and tranquility that entered his soul. He encounters the art of peasants and sees ancient wooden churches. And sketches appear depicting Russian wooden architecture. It makes a deep impression on him. He builds himself a house in Moscow that looks like a Russian hut. It became a workshop in which Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin painted paintings.

Japanese series

The trip to Japan takes place on the eve of the Russo-Japanese War. But the artist doesn’t know about this yet. Unusual forms, new ceremonies, different food and the way of eating it cannot but stun Vereshchagin, especially since the culture of engraving, artistic varnishes, metal and bone work is so highly developed there. The laconicism inherent in Japanese art simply cannot help but captivate the artist. But with the gaze of a cosmopolitan, he reflects in his works the most characteristic and striking things - temples, Japanese women in a kimono, beggars, priest.

It was not by chance that Vereshchagin traveled all over the world. He perceived all peoples as a single community, each of which contributed to the development of civilization and culture. The neglect of Westerners, who carried out colonial wars and the enslavement of “inferior” races and peoples, and their brutal exploitation, could not help but worry the pacifist artist. Ex oriente lux must be borne by Russia, passing on its experience to developing civilizations and at the same time developing itself, without enslaving anyone. All the paintings of Vasily Vereshchagin speak about this.

At the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, the artist went to the Pacific Ocean. He died on the battleship along with Admiral Makarov in a mine explosion. Such was the artist Vasily Vereshchagin. His biography is extraordinary, and his thoughts are in tune with our time.

The outstanding Russian artist Vasily Vereshchagin was born on October 26, 1842. His paintings are stunning with their realism; the creator is called one of the best in the field of battle scenes. But his personality is no less striking than his paintings. A man of amazing depth knew how to realize himself in various spheres of life, always showing himself to be a brave and worthy citizen. He managed to do much more than any other artist of that time. An active public figure and writer, researcher and historian - all these are rightfully the titles of Vasily Vasilyevich.

He was born into the family of a landowner and at the age of 9 he entered the cadet corps, after which he entered the service. But very soon Vereshchagin resigned and entered the Academy of Arts, he studied painting with the best masters, and then even went to practice in Paris, where he studied with Jerome himself. He was especially successful in paintings painted from life. He spent quite a long time in the Caucasus, where he managed to bring this skill to perfection. The beauty of nature, incredibly textured faces - Vasily Vershchagin carefully examined all this and transferred it to canvas.
Vereshchagin is one of the few Russian artists who held exhibitions in London, worked in Munich and traveled around India. Perhaps no one could afford this at that time. He led a very busy life, constantly traveling and looking for new subjects in everything. After a trip to India, he traveled through Palestine and Syria, fascinated by biblical stories. We propose to recall the most famous paintings of the painter.

The apotheosis of war. Dedicated to all great conquerors, past, present and future.- the most powerful painting by Vereshchagin, who is often called the “artist of the truth of war.” Nothing passes without a trace, and ordinary soldiers pay for the selfishness and greed of those in power. Skulls and crows - nothing else.

Taj Mahal Mausoleum near Agra, 1874 - the painting was painted during a trip to Turkmenistan. Its peculiarity is the image of an energetically strong place. The Taj Mahal rises above the desert beauty of the city, reflected in the water, its peaks calling for admiration.


Attack by surprise- war is always merciless and there are no winners in it, and the losers are always the same - ordinary people. Soldiers attack unarmed and almost helpless soldiers by surprise. The battle painter Vereshchagin once again showed his talent in depicting non-standard and “ugly” scenes of military operations.

In conquered Moscow (“Arsonists” or “Execution in the Kremlin”)— the picture was painted in 1897-1898. Vasily Vasilyevich was born much later than the famous war of 1812, but he studied it quite carefully. All military actions and the victory of one side or another have a cause and effect. Vereshchagin, of course, managed to portray the French soldiers as historians and contemporaries of those events saw them.

Mullah Rahim and Mullah Kerim quarrel on the way to the bazaar- in 1873 the artist painted a canvas that is somewhat different from all his previous works. HE knew how not only to study history and paint landscapes and battle scenes. In his work, a special place should be given to everyday themes. Although infrequent, quite subtly and ironically noticed moments of ordinary life make one admire the artist’s talent.

Japanese— while traveling around the East, in 1903 Vereshchagin painted a series of paintings about Japan. Extraordinary subjects, graphics and clearly defined silhouettes of oriental beauties and architecture make these works one of the most striking in his career.

Black Sea. Cape Fiolent near Sevastopol— the landscape painted from life amazes with its realism. Black Sea, rocky terrain and incredible nature. There is nothing superfluous or contrived here, just a magnificent view in its pristine beauty.

Barge hauler with a hat in his hand. 1866 - social themes took their place in the artist’s work. He often wondered about wealth and poverty, about class inequality. And he painted pictures that made us think about the fate of the lower strata. Barge haulers, beggars in Samarkand, the sale of a child slave - nothing escaped the artist’s attentive gaze. Everything in the barge hauler’s posture and clothing speaks of his difficult lot and the impossibility of changing anything. Hopelessness in every gesture.
Laura Fame

Introduction

The battle genre (from the French bataille - battle), a genre of fine art dedicated to the themes of war and military life. The main place in the battle genre is occupied by scenes of battles (including sea battles) and military campaigns of the present or past. The desire to capture a particularly important or characteristic moment of a battle, and often to reveal the historical meaning of military events, brings the battle genre closer to the historical genre. Scenes of everyday life in the army and navy found in works of the battle genre echo the everyday genre. Progressive trend in the development of the battle genre of the 19th-20th centuries. is associated with a realistic disclosure of the social nature of wars and the role of the people in them, with the exposure of unjust aggressive wars, with the glorification of popular heroism in revolutionary and liberation wars, with the education of civil patriotic feelings among the people. In the 20th century, in the era of destructive world wars, with the battle genre, historical and everyday genres closely linked are works reflecting the cruelty of imperialist wars, the innumerable suffering of peoples, and their readiness to fight for freedom.

Images of battles and campaigns have been known in art since ancient times (reliefs of the Ancient East, ancient Greek vase painting, reliefs on the pediments and friezes of temples, on ancient Roman triumphal arches and columns). In the Middle Ages, battles were depicted in European and Eastern book miniatures(“Facebook Chronicle”, Moscow, 16th century), sometimes on icons; images on fabrics are also known ("The Bayeux Carpet" with scenes of the Norman feudal lords conquering England, circa 1073-83); There are numerous battle scenes in the reliefs of China and Kampuchea, Indian paintings, and Japanese painting. In the 15th-16th centuries, during the Renaissance in Italy, images of battles were created by Paolo Uccello and Piero della Francesca. Heroic generality and great ideological content battle scenes were depicted in cardboards for frescoes by Leonardo da Vinci (The Battle of Anghiari, 1503-06), who showed the fierce ferocity of the battle, and Michelangelo (The Battle of Cascina, 1504-06), who emphasized the heroic readiness of the warriors to fight. Titian (the so-called "Battle of Cadore", 1537-38) introduced a real environment into the battle scene, and Tintoretto - innumerable masses of warriors ("Battle of Dawn", circa 1585). In the formation of the battle genre in the 17th century. big role played a poignant exposure of the robbery and cruelty of soldiers in the etchings of the Frenchman J. Callot, a deep disclosure of the socio-historical significance and ethical meaning of military events by the Spaniard D. Velazquez ("The Surrender of Breda", 1634), the dynamics and drama of the battle paintings of the Fleming P. P. Rubens. Later, professional battle painters emerged (A.F. van der Meulen in France), types of conventionally allegorical compositions were formed, exalting the commander presented against the background of the battle (C. Lebrun in France), a small battle painting with a spectacular depiction of cavalry skirmishes, military episodes everyday life (F. Wauerman in Holland) and scenes of naval battles (W. van de Velde in Holland). In the 18th century In connection with the War of Independence, works of the battle genre appeared in American painting(B. West, J. S. Copley, J. Trumbull), the Russian patriotic battle genre was born - the paintings “Battle of Kulikovo” and “Battle of Poltava”, attributed to I. N. Nikitin, engravings by A. F. Zubov, mosaics from the workshop of M V. Lomonosov "Battle of Poltava" (1762-64), battle-historical compositions by G. I. Ugryumov, watercolors by M. M. Ivanov. The Great French Revolution (1789-94) and the Napoleonic Wars were reflected in the works of many artists - A. Gro (who went from being fascinated by the romance of revolutionary wars to the exaltation of Napoleon I), T. Gericault (who created heroic-romantic images of the Napoleonic epic), F. Goya (who showed the drama of the struggle of the Spanish people with the French invaders). Historicism and the freedom-loving pathos of romanticism were clearly expressed in the battle-historical paintings of E. Delacroix, inspired by the events of the July Revolution of 1830 in France. The national liberation movements in Europe were inspired by the romantic battle compositions of P. Michalovsky and A. Orlovsky in Poland, G. Wappers in Belgium, and later J. Matejko in Poland, M. Alyosha, J. Cermak in the Czech Republic, etc. In France in Official battle painting (O. Vernet) combined false-romantic effects with external plausibility. Russian academic battle painting moved from traditionally conventional compositions with a commander in the center to greater documentary accuracy of the overall picture of the battle and genre details (A. I. Sauerweid, B. P. Villevalde, A. E. Kotzebue). Outside the academic tradition of the battle genre were I. I. Terebenev’s popular prints dedicated to the Patriotic War of 1812, “Cossack scenes” in Orlovsky’s lithographs, drawings by P. A. Fedotov, G. G. Gagarin, M. Yu. Lermontov, lithographs by V. F. Timma.

The development of realism in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries. led to the strengthening of landscape, genre, and sometimes psychological principles in the battle genre, attention to the actions, experiences, and everyday life of ordinary soldiers (A. Menzel in Germany, G. Fattori in Italy, W. Homer in the USA, M. Gierymsky in Poland, N. Grigorescu in Romania, J. Veshin in Bulgaria). A realistic depiction of the episodes of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 was given by the French E. Detail and A. Neuville. The art of naval battle painting flourishes in Russia (I.K. Aivazovsky, A.P. Bogolyubov), and battle-everyday painting appears (P.O. Kovalevsky, V.D. Polenov). With merciless truthfulness, V.V. Vereshchagin showed the harsh everyday life of war, denouncing militarism and capturing the courage and suffering of the people. Realism and rejection of conventional schemes are also inherent in the battle genre of the Itinerants - I. M. Pryanishnikov, A. D. Kivshenko, V. I. Surikov, who created a monumental epic of the military exploits of the people, V. M. Vasnetsov, who was inspired by the ancient Russian epic. The greatest master of the battle panorama was F. A. Roubaud. In the 20th century social and national liberation revolutions, unprecedented destructive wars radically changed the battle genre, expanding its boundaries and artistic sense. Many works of the battle genre raised historical, philosophical and social issues, problems of peace and war, fascism and war, war and human society, etc. In the countries of the fascist dictatorship, brute force and cruelty were glorified in soulless, falsely monumental forms.

In contrast to the apology of militarism, the Belgian F. Maserel, the German artists K. Kollwitz and O. Dix, the Englishman F. Brangwin, the Mexican J.C. Orozco, the French painter P. Picasso, the Japanese painters Maruki Iri and Maruki Toshiko and others, protesting against fascism , imperialist wars, cruel inhumanity, created vividly emotional, symbolic images of the people's tragedy.

In Soviet art, the battle genre was very widely developed, expressing the ideas of protecting the socialist fatherland, the unity of the army and the people, revealing the class nature of wars. Soviet battle painters highlighted the image of the Soviet patriotic warrior, his fortitude and courage, love for the Motherland and the will to win.

The Soviet battle genre was formed in the graphics of the period Civil War 1918-20, and then in the paintings of M. B. Grekov, M. I. Avilov, F. S. Bogorodsky, P. M. Shukhmin, K. S. Petrov-Vodkin, A. A. Deineka, G. K. Savitsky, N. S. Samokish, R. R. Frenz; it experienced a new rise during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45 and in the post-war years - in posters and “TASS Windows”, front-line graphics, graphic cycles of D. A. Shmarinov, A. F. Pakhomov, B. I. Prorokov and others. , paintings by Deineka, Kukryniksy, members of the Studio of Military Artists named after M. B. Grekov (P. A. Krivonogov, B. M. Nemensky, etc.), in sculpture by Yu. J. Mikenas, E. V. Vuchetich, M. K Anikushina, A.P. Kibalnikov, V.E. Tsigal, etc.

In the art of socialist countries and in the progressive art of capitalist countries, works of the battle genre are dedicated to the depiction of anti-fascist and revolutionary battles, major events in national history (K. Dunikowski in Poland, J. Andreevich-Kun, G. A. Kos and P. Lubarda in Yugoslavia, J. . Salim in Iraq), the history of the liberation struggle of peoples (M. Lingner in the GDR, R. Guttuso in Italy, D. Siqueiros in Mexico).

Vereshchagin artist battle war

Main part

Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin (1842-1904) is an outstanding Russian battle painter who gained worldwide fame during his lifetime.

Vasily Vereshchagin was the author of cycles of paintings that truthfully and with deep drama depicted the wars waged by Russia; he captured the cruel everyday life of war, the severity and heroism of military affairs. Vasily Vereshchagin created battle cycle paintings on the themes of the Patriotic War of 1812, the Turkestan campaign and the war in the Balkans. In hundreds of genres, landscape paintings Vereshchagin reflected his impressions of traveling through the countries of the East. Traveling a lot, the artist mastered the genre of documentary ethnographic painting.

Vasily Vereshchagin is one of those relatively few Russian artists of the second half of the 19th century who achieved world fame during their lifetime. His exhibitions were repeatedly held in Western Europe and America. In the last ten years of his life alone, he had more than thirty personal exhibitions, half of them abroad. His exhibitions were often banned; they were often accompanied by scandals; in the press, Vereshchagin was either scolded or called a genius. Both the Russian provinces and European capitals were equally interested in his work.

Vereshchagin was more attentive than other Russian artists to the display of his paintings, introducing a lot of new things into this area: at his exhibitions, exotic household items and weapons, collections of minerals and stuffed animals could be shown next to his paintings, music was played - a piano, an organ, a harmonium. Indeed, the true environment for his paintings was, perhaps, exhibitions, although, of course, they later ended up in museum collections. But it was not the collection of an art lover, not the walls of a rich salon, as it could have been in the 18th - early 19th centuries, that were their true refuge, but public viewing, meeting with a large number of spectators, actively influencing the minds and hearts of the “masses.” The most important feature of 19th century painting - the desire for the relevance of the subject, for the journalistic sharpness of the artist's position - manifested itself in Vereshchagin almost in its extreme form. The topicality of the plot was one of the main criteria for his creativity. The artist saw his task in demonstrating various negative phenomena in the life of mankind that hinder progress: the horrors of war, injustices, outdated morals. The artistic usefulness of a painting is necessary, therefore, for the usefulness of the evidence contained in it, but creativity itself is subject to necessity, which goes beyond the scope of art itself. The desire to surpass purely artistic goals is also an essential feature of Russian art of this time. And in this, as well as in the educational pathos of his work, Vereshchagin is the most characteristic figure of Russian painting of the second half of the 19th century.

However, Vereshchagin remained a figure in Russian art, standing apart- primarily due to the fact that he never joined the Wanderers. He repeatedly motivated his refusal by the fact that his paintings should “say something”, while other canvases would only distract attention from them, “... I have developed my own technique, I have a lot of interesting things to say and have accustomed society to the fact that in my paintings there is no lie or falsehood; they will always come to see me - why do I need company?” - he wrote to V.V. Stasov, not without pride.

The biography of Vereshchagin from its event side is quite picturesque. He was born into a poor landowner family and, at the insistence of his parents, graduated from the St. Petersburg Naval Cadet Corps. Having no desire to become an officer, Vereshchagin, being an extremely purposeful and proud person since childhood, graduated from the corps as the first student, despite the fact that from that time on he was already seriously engaged in drawing. Having resigned, he studies at the Academy of Arts for three years, but then leaves it, celebrating this fact by burning a cardboard approved by his superiors on a theme from ancient mythology. In the future, Vereshchagin will burn his works more than once - this will become for him a form of protest, defending his right to independence. Leaving the Academy. The artist goes to the Caucasus. where he fills three thick albums with watercolors and drawings, then to Paris. There he studied at the Jerome Academy for three years. By the end of the sixties he was already a fully formed artist.

Vereshchagin traveled a lot, participated in many wars, his fate was almost adventurous. “Giving society pictures of a real, genuine war is impossible by looking at the battle through binoculars from a beautiful distance, but you need to feel and do everything yourself, participate in attacks, assaults, victories, defeats, experience hunger, cold, illness, wounds... One must not be afraid to sacrifice one’s blood, one’s meat, otherwise the paintings will be “wrong,” the artist wrote. He first participated in hostilities in 1867-70, when, as a volunteer, he was assigned to the Russian army stationed on the Russian-Chinese border. In Turkestan, while participating in battles, Vereshchagin showed extraordinary courage and determination, “he was ahead in all sorties,” as contemporaries report, and was often on the verge of death. There is a known episode when he fought back alone, with a saber and a revolver in his hands. from a whole detachment of steppe inhabitants, which was later reflected in the films “Attacked by Surprise” and “Surrounded - Pursued.” Despite the harsh criticism that Vereshchagin publicly subjected his boss, the general (which, in conditions of hostilities, could have cost him his life), he was awarded. The Cross of St. George for personal courage - and this was the only award that he did not refuse in his entire life.

According to Turkestan impressions, later, during his stay in Munich, Vereshchagin created a series of paintings. Along with them, there are sketches that differ in almost the same degree of completeness. Vereshchagin is characterized by working in series, each of which was presented to him in the form of a kind of “epic poem.” He often created paintings as pairs - “After success (Winners)” and “After failure (Victims)”, “At the fortress wall. Let them enter” and “At the fortress wall. Entered”. All this changed traditional ideas about the painting, as well as the fact that Vereshchagin’s canvases were often accompanied by inscriptions on the frame, explaining and commenting on the content of the painting. Thus, the central piece of the Turkestan series - “The Apotheosis of War” (1871) - is endowed with the text: “Dedicated to all great conquerors, past, present and future.” This gives the picture a pathos that goes beyond the description of a specific historical fact (originally the picture was to be called “The Apotheosis of Tamerlane”) and turns it into an allegorical indictment of war in general.

Vereshchagin, thus, chose war as the subject of depiction precisely because he fought against war as a manifestation of inhumanity, unnaturalness, and evil. The position of the educator is manifested in this quite consistently and convincingly. Vereshchagin himself was a man of courage and courage. Taking part in hostilities, he more than once performed feats and brave forays, for which he received awards. His courage extended to his creativity, manifesting itself in a frank display of the disasters of war and the severity of a soldier’s life. For this, Vereshchagin was persecuted, publicly condemned, and forced to destroy his works. Nevertheless, the artist, as a true educator, courageously continued his work, neglecting danger. He possessed the true truth of the document. Vereshchagin did not invent a single detail out of his head; not a single military situation that he reproduced in the film was invented. Everything was checked by him to the smallest detail, tested from his own experience. He bore living, reliable evidence of the war. And this was precisely the key to his success.

The very task of anti-war journalistic speech with the help of painting determined the painting system that Vereshchagin developed and the method of work that he used. They were also the reason why Vereshchagin differed from other realist artists of the second half of the 19th century, which predetermined the independence of his performances outside of traveling exhibitions. Vereshchagin worked on entire series of paintings and exhibited the series at exhibitions. Work on each episode sometimes stretched for several years. And sometimes it was postponed due to the fact that it was interrupted by a war that started somewhere. Usually the artist immediately went to the theater of military operations and, when possible, took part in the war himself (this was the case in Central Asia in the late 60s and on the Russian-Turkish front in 1876-1877). Having collected extensive sketch material directly during the war, he retired to his studio (except for Russia, Vereshchagin worked in Munich and Paris) and painted pictures and created series. After finishing his work, he exhibited his paintings both in Russia and abroad, and he himself accompanied his exhibitions around the world, explaining the principles of his creativity and the meaning of his works. At the first such large exhibition dedicated to Turkestan, the artist showed not only paintings and sketches, but also household items and weapons of local peoples. Thus, the exhibition acquired an ethnographic and historical connotation. For one of the later exhibitions dedicated to the Patriotic War of 1812, the artist wrote a special historical essay, explaining his point of view on this war, its nature, driving forces, etc. All these documents and principles of display are completely subordinated to the implementation of educational tasks set by the artist.

It is significant that large series, consisting of several dozen or even hundreds of exhibits, contained small series “within themselves”. Such small series included a story about the clash between Russian soldiers and Turkestan troops, consisting of a good dozen canvases, or a “triptych” “Everything is calm on Shipka” from a series of works dedicated to the Russian-Turkish war. Small series were a kind of “continued stories”. None of the Wanderers used this technique. Vereshchagin seemed to be missing one painting. He could not fit into one picture a long and complex story about some military event. By expanding the time frame, this technique freed Vereshchagin from the need to concentrate both action and psychological condition characters. This was another reason for the artist’s freedom from psychologism, which Kramskoy complained about.

Vereshchagin's activities unfolded very intensively over four decades. The artist was born in Cherepovets into a noble family in 1842, and died in 1904 during the Russian-Japanese War in Port Arthur during the explosion of the battleship Petropavlovsk - he died along with Admiral Makarov. Vereshchagin entered the St. Petersburg Academy in 1860, against the wishes of his parents. Before that, he studied in the cadet corps. After studying for several years at the academy with A.E. Beideman, Vereshchagin left her and went on his own to Paris, where he studied at the academy, and also took lessons from famous painter academic Jerome. In the mid-60s, Vereshchagin began his independent activities. Even before the Turkestan campaign, he managed to make two trips to the Caucasus and create several works typical of the 60s. The most significant of them are the drawing “Religious procession at the Makharem festival in Shusha” (1865) and sketches and sketches for the painting “Barge Haulers” (mid-60s). The last of the two themes is found quite often in Russian art and literature. Vereshchagin's sketches reveal a whole series of works created even before Repin's famous "Barge Haulers on the Volga". This series consists of paintings by P.O. Kovalevsky “Towline on the Izhora River” (1868) and A.K. Savrasov "Barge Haulers on the Volga" (1871). Vereshchagin seems to set the tone for this line. The plot of "Barge Haulers" was chosen in all of these cases for critical purposes. The artists exposed the fact of crimes against people who are likened to draft animals. In Vereshchagin this tendency is expressed, perhaps, to a greater extent than among his contemporaries. Its barge haulers are exhausted and exhausted; they can barely move their legs. The same educational pathos fills the above-mentioned drawing depicting a religious procession of fanatics. The denunciation of the darkness of the people, their religious prejudices is adjacent to criticism of social injustices. Vereshchagin, like any other member of the sixties, took advantage of any reason for denunciation. In "Religious Procession" one more feature characteristic of the 60s should be highlighted - ethnography, which gave a special color to the art of the Enlightenment decade. Genre writers in those years went to different countries or to remote corners of Russia to capture scenes of folk life. Quite a large number of ethnographic works of this kind were reproduced in the “Art Sheet”, published by V.F. Timm in 1851-1862. Thus, Vereshchagin is already at the beginning artistic activity managed to synthesize in his work different features of contemporary art. To implement his positions, he took advantage of what was generally accepted at that time in European painting in the language of a somewhat academicized realism. As we saw earlier, such language was the starting point for many sixties. But from Vereshchagin he acquired some features in comparison with his Russian contemporaries, for the artist experienced some influence from Jerome and other French painters.

Vereshchagin's first success was associated with the Turkestan series (1868-1873), in which the artist's mature skill was demonstrated. Unlike the Balkan series, this series seems to be divided between ethnographic and military subjects. Vereshchagin begins with the former (for example, “Opium Eaters,” 1868), subordinating them to the tasks of social criticism. Subsequently, the artist created several more paintings of this kind - “The Sale of a Slave Child” (1871-1872), “Samarkand Zindan” (1873). These paintings still bear noticeable traces of the sixties. But next to them - even beyond purely battle plots - works are already appearing that demonstrate other trends. Such works include, for example, “The Rich Kyrgyz Hunter with a Falcon” (1871). In this single-figure composition it makes itself felt new approach, characteristic of many artists of the 70s, is an interest in the phenomenon as such. The proud pose of the hunter holding a beautiful falcon on his raised hand, the bright color of the canvas, which distinguishes it from the paintings of the 60s - drier and sparing in color, also testify to the artist’s well-known admiration for the subject of the image. True, Vereshchagin’s “protocolism”, which manifests itself in this work, limits the artist’s ability to reveal his relationship to the object. But the object itself clearly expresses its own positive connotation.

Two other paintings that testify to the ethnographic interests of the artist - “The Doors of Tamerlane” (1872-1873) and “At the Doors of the Mosque” (1873) also belong to works of a new type. These paintings are related to each other by the general principles of composition and pictorial interpretation, and by the subjects of the image. But one is written on a historical subject, and the other on a modern subject. Vereshchagin managed to convey this difference through the very structure of the paintings. The first of them expressively recreates the image of medieval eastern symmetry, immobility, monumental rigidity. Two warriors, dressed in magnificent clothes, their weapons - bows, arrows, shields and spears, sharp shadows falling on the floor and walls and seeming to nail the figures to the door frame - everything is in a certain numbness and testifies to strength, power, tradition, rituality of culture. Vereshchagin's style - careful finishing of every detail (carved door, clothing), equal in all parts, intensive "coloring" of all objects turns out to be suitable for such a historical image of the medieval East. In the second picture, the genre-interpreted figures of two travelers who came to the doors of the mosque and rested near them give the whole scene an everyday touch.

The basis of the Turkestan series are battle compositions, which, like the two above-mentioned works, are arranged with each other: sometimes in pairs (“After success”, “After failure” (both 1868), “At the fortress wall. Let them enter”, “At the fortress wall . Came in" (both 1871)), and sometimes in large groups. At the center of the entire Turkestan exposition was a series of paintings called “Barbarians”, sequentially showing the episode of the death of soldiers of the Russian detachment, taken by surprise by the cavalry of the Bukhara emir. As in cinema, Vereshchagin changes the scene of action and the depicted observers of the scene several times throughout the series. First, Bukhara spies are shown looking out for Russian positions in order to then unexpectedly attack them. This picture gives a view from the point of view and from the position of these Bukhara intelligence officers, almost coinciding with the point of view of the viewer of the picture. In the following films, the viewer becomes the only observer - he sees a scene of an unexpected attack by the Bukhara cavalry and defending Russian soldiers. Then - in the next scene - the pursuit of these soldiers. After this, the scene of action is transferred to the enemy’s camp: the emir is presented with trophies - the severed heads of Russian soldiers, then these heads, planted on high poles, are shown to the people near the mosque. The series ends with the painting “The Apotheosis of War” (1871-1872), in which the viewer sees a mountain of skulls forming an entire pyramid against the backdrop of a scorched desert and an abandoned, destroyed city. It's like a timeless scene; it is associated with wars and conquests on a grand scale that took place on the territory of Turkestan in the old days. At the same time, it is dedicated, as is clear from the artist’s own inscription, “to all the great conquerors, past, present and future.” As we can see, Vereshchagin’s series is not just a sequential story in pictures, it is, rather, a montage that provides for different locations of action, and different positions of the observer, and even the difference in time to which the shown scene belongs.

The subjects chosen by Vereshchagin are extremely effective. They relate to the most acute situations, the most “bloody” episodes, eloquently testifying to the horrors of war and the barbarity of the victors. The choice of episodes is one of the most important means by which an artist achieves expressiveness and effectiveness in his paintings. The artist strives to use, first of all, what reality itself provides, and it is through this that he achieves the effect.

As for the psychological characteristics of the characters, this task is narrowed in Vereshchagin’s films. A significant role in his paintings is played by identifying the uniqueness of figures and poses, which seems to replace facial expressions. The artist captures poses and gestures with almost photographic precision. In this regard, especially characteristic is the painting, which is not part of the “Barbarians” series, but occupied a place in the general Turkestan exhibition. important place, - "Mortally Wounded" (1873). Unlike most other paintings, this close-up, as if next to the viewer, depicts a soldier throwing a gun to the ground and pressing his hands to his chest, where an enemy bullet hit. He runs, apparently taking his last steps before falling dead. This mechanical death run, the gesture of the hands clutching the wound, is seen by the artist sharply, accurately and convincingly. We find the same techniques in the paintings of the “Barbarians” series.

The composition of the paintings in the series is not built “from the inside” by processing natural material, but is likened to the technique of “framing” nature. But this “framing” is done in such a way that in the very piece of reality captured by the artist (even if sometimes this scene was not before his eyes), there already exists a certain symmetry or, in any case, a general balance of parts. Indicative in this regard is the painting “Triumphing” (1871-1872), where the basis of the composition is the facade of a mosque, near which people are depicted, naturally forming a figure that is in itself balanced. The same can be said about the composition “Apotheosis of War”, where the center is accentuated, marked by a pyramid of skulls, on the sides of which there is a landscape stretching into the distance. This compositional system is reminiscent of the Peredvizhniki system. However, Vereshchagin has a strengthened element of nature, while the Peredvizhniki still change nature in many ways, building a composition, and not simply being content with the ability to find a composition “in the frame.”

The differences between Vereshchagin and the Wanderers are also noticeable in the color interpretation of the paintings of the Turkestan series. In the 70s, Russian realistic painting parted with the chiaroscuro system and turned to the tonal system in order to soon take the path of plein air. Vereshchagin, who took in the experience not only of the Russian, but also French painting, perhaps, earlier than others, he turned to the tasks of the tonal and plein air system. He depicts scenes in bright sunlight, strives to unite all colors, bringing them closer to each other and finding them in gray and yellow flowers that basis of a pictorial composition, which makes it possible to unite the pictorial canvas as a whole. However, at the same time, Vereshchagin does not achieve true plein air. He is more satisfied with the external effect: he likes to cast thick shadows from objects onto the ground, creating the appearance of lighting; in the distance it rather weakens the colors, but does not modify them; the interaction of light and color is hampered by the clear contours of objects and figures. The color of objects is conveyed by the artist accurately, but to a certain extent photographically. Only a few works - like the full-scale sketch "Kyrgyz tents in the valley of the Chu River" (1869-1870) - are an exception to this rule. In "Kibitki", despite the depiction of some details in the foreground, the distances are interpreted more freely and complexly in the picturesque relationships of blue, white-pink, violet colors. This work testifies to the artist’s great potential in the field of plein air, which was not used in his further work. In 1874 Vereshchagin went to India. This trip was not related to the war. Rather, it was caused by Vereshchagin’s ethnographic interests. But the artist did not stop only at ethnographic tasks. He also created a number of historical paintings (written, however, later), interpreted in an edifying manner, in which they received their further development educational intentions of the artist. The Indian cycle was thus divided into two parts. One consisted of sketch paintings, landscapes - that is, full-scale works. Another is from those composed by the artist historical scenes. The first part was mainly created during his stay in India - in 1874-1876. The second one was only begun in these years, continued at the turn of the 70-80s (after the artist returned from the Balkan front), and was completed after the second trip to India, which took place in 1882-1883.

It should be said right away that these historical paintings, with some exceptions, were not successful for the artist. Having set out to depict the history of “the conquest of India by the British” (as the artist himself put it), Vereshchagin turned out to be too edifying and demonstrative in the historical genre. In addition, his paintings look composed and bulky. The only exception is the large painting “The Suppression of the Indian Uprising by the British” (1884), which he included in another series, the “Trilogy of Executions,” created in the mid-80s. In this picture Vereshchagin depicted the rebel Hindu sepoys tied with their backs to the muzzles of cannons and awaiting a shot in the back. Here again a sharp plot has been chosen, a moment has been found that causes shudder and horror in the viewer.

Among the natural works created in India, such sketches as “Coolie” (1875) stand out noticeably - soft in painting and deep in its interpretation of the figure and head of a Hindu. In some landscapes ("The Main Temple of the Tassiding Monastery", 1875), the artist continued the plein air tradition of such works as "Caravans". But in most natural works, other tendencies are felt - the desire for color richness, intensity and variegation. This tendency was clearly expressed by such works as “The Taj Mahal Mausoleum at Agra” (1874-1876) and “The Horseman at Jaipur” (1881-1882). In the "Taj Mahal" the artist sharply contrasted the even Blue colour the sky, almost repeated in the blue of the water, the white and red colors of the architecture. The reflection of buildings in water almost completely preserves this contrast and only slightly softens the sharpness of the contours and clarity of lines that are used in the plastic characteristics of architecture. Vereshchagin's brightness does not open the way for him to the plein air, but, on the contrary, alienates him from it. At the same time, one cannot deny this work its effectiveness and accuracy in conveying nature. As for “The Horseman in Jaipur,” this sketch, more than any other work by the artist, reflected the influence of the painting of the French salon.

The end of the 70s marked the time when a series of paintings dedicated to the Russian-Turkish war was created. Perhaps, in these works Vereshchagin came closest to the Itinerants, who were experiencing their heyday in those years. Balkan paintings no longer form extensive series, like Turkestan ones, and the emphasis is transferred to a separate painting. Only some plots are realized in several films. These include the triptych “Everything is Calm on Shipka” (1878-1879), which depicts an episode of the death of a Russian soldier-sentry, gradually covered with snow. In other cases, even when paintings are combined into a series, each of them looks more independent, containing the main meaning. This can be said about two canvases - “Before the attack” and “After the attack” (both 1881). There is no longer the old principle of “a story with a continuation.” The first of the paintings shows the courage and concentration of Russian soldiers, their readiness for battle. The second demonstrates the difficult fate of a soldier and the horrors of war. Both of them could exist separately. The same can be said about another “pair” of paintings - “The Winners” (1878-1879) and “The Vanquished” (1877-1879). The latter belongs to the number best works series. It depicts a regimental priest performing a memorial service for the dead, whose mutilated corpses littered the snow-covered field. Against the background of this field and the gray sky, two male figures are drawn. Their poses, the gray, dull landscape, its desolation - all this creates a terrifying scene of victims of war, the senseless death of hundreds of people.

Compared to the paintings of the Turkestan cycle, the Balkan ones are increased in size. They are not flashy; the color range is more modest, which is certainly explained not only by the evolution of the master, but also by the nature of the Balkans. The subject of the image itself contributed to the changes that brought the artist closer to the Itinerant genre. Vereshchagin's paintings began to largely resemble the “choral” compositions of Myasoedov or Savitsky, while maintaining the same documentary, truthful and accurate depiction of the war. These features were most fully manifested in the painting “Shipka-Sheinovo. Skobelev near Shipka” (1878-1879). On in the background the artist showed the solemn moment of the military parade on the occasion of the victory. The soldiers throw their hats up in greeting Skobelev, rushing past on a white horse. The murdered are depicted in the foreground - again with the same cruel truthfulness and strict accuracy. The bodies of the dead lie as it can only be in reality - some are twisted, others are strangely curved, others with their arms raised. Glorifying the Russian soldier, Vereshchagin sympathizes with him with all his heart. The composition of the picture looks more thoughtfully constructed than in previous jobs. There is no complete symmetry in it, but there is a general balance of the sides.

The paths of creative development brought Vereshchagin closer and closer to the historical genre. Since the 80s historical genre not only “equalized” his rights with the everyday genre, but also gained the opportunity to express ideas that the everyday genre could not realize. The historical picture became a way for public thought to understand the historical identity of the people, the paths of Russia, and its future. This new trend manifested itself most consistently in Surikov’s work. To a lesser extent it affected other artists, in particular Vereshchagin. Evidence of this was his “series of executions,” which included the already described “Suppression of the Indian Uprising by the British,” “Crucifixion by the Romans” (1887) and “Execution of Conspirators in Russia” (1884-1885). Last picture is dedicated to the March 1st soldiers, but at the same time the topic that so worried Russian society was, as it were, hidden by the “research” of types of execution.

Vereshchagin's last large cycle of paintings was the series "1812. Napoleon in Russia", on which he worked from the late 70s until his death. While creating this series, the artist traveled around Russia, selected models for his paintings, studied Russian people, their characters, and made numerous sketch portraits. In the series "1812" the experience of a battle painter was combined with an interest in historical picture. True, Vereshchagin did not achieve noticeable success in these last works. In large canvases one can feel exaggerated monumentalism and a touch of props. The series is more interesting for its design, choice of episodes, and characterization of the role of peasant partisans than for its artistic qualities. That desire for the effectiveness of the depicted situations, which we noted above in the Turkestan series, is absent here. But with the abandonment of showiness, the expressiveness of Vereshchagin’s paintings also disappears, because the old one, built on effects, has not been replaced by a new one, based on the psychological relationships of the characters, on the techniques of plastic composition.

Conclusion

The period of greatest flowering in Vereshchagin's work was the 70s - the time of the creation of the Turkestan and Balkan series. At that time, the educational foundations of his worldview, which were laid in the 60s, and the new tasks of art put forward by the historical and artistic development of Russia had not yet come into conflict with each other. But the further Vereshchagin moved away from the 70s, the more complex, despite his external success, the relationship between his work and the art of other Russian realist artists turned out to be.

Vereshchagin appeared an outstanding artist a battle painter, I would even say one of the best of his time, and each of his works was a masterpiece, and he is one of the small number of artists who became famous during his lifetime. And on the one hand, this was good for the battle artist, but on the other, constant persecution and criticism did not allow him to live in peace, and this artist always traveled and saw all the military events with his own eyes, and it seems to me that this is why his works were so realistic, because they the author experienced everything himself and only after that he painted.

• ·1. Lebedev A. K. V. V. Vereshchagin. Life and art. M., 1972.
• ·2. Lebedev A.K.V.V. Vereshchagin. Life and art. - M., 1958.
• ·3. Vereshchagin V.V. Memoirs of the artist’s son. - L.: Artist of the RSFSR, 1978
• ·4. Lebedev A.K., Solodovnikov A.V. Vasily Vasilievich Vereshchagin. - L.: Artist of the RSFSR, 1987
• ·6. List of illustrations

The apotheosis of war. 1871<#"176" src="doc_zip2.jpg" />

Before the attack. Near Plevna. 1881 V.V.Vereshchagin

After failure. 1868<#"justify">

In conquered Moscow (Arsonists or Execution in the Kremlin). 1897-1898<#"164" src="doc_zip5.jpg" />

Night rest of the great army. 1896-1897<#"182" src="doc_zip6.jpg" />

With a weapon in hand - shoot. 1887-1895 V.V. Vereshchagin

The largest battle painter Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin was born on October 14, 1842 in Cherepovets into the family of a landowner. When the boy was eight years old, his parents sent him to the Junior Cadet Corps, after which in 1853 he was transferred to the St. Petersburg Naval Cadet Corps. Here he enjoys drawing and devotes all his free time to it. In 1858, Vereshchagin began attending the drawing school of the St. Petersburg Society for the Encouragement of Arts. Teachers spoke with approval of his abilities, and he himself dreamed of becoming an artist.

In 1860, having brilliantly graduated from the corps, Vereshchagin, against the will of his parents, resigned and entered the Academy of Arts. Outraged by his son's actions, his father refused him financial assistance. The difficult years of my life began. Vereshchagin persistently studied painting, but the academic system of education, with its normative and traditional nature, weighed heavily on the artist. The protest of the young painter was expressed in the fact that he destroyed one of his paintings - “The Massacre of Penelope’s Suitors by the Returning Ulysses.” In 1863, he left the Academy and went to the Caucasus, so that “in freedom and open space interesting subjects learn." His first independent works were numerous drawings depicting folk types, everyday scenes and landscapes of the Caucasus.

In 1866, living on the banks of the Sheksna in the village of Lyubets, Vereshchagin could see the hard work of barge haulers. He planned to create big picture, in which I wanted to show the hopeless lot of the poor people in Tsarist Russia. Vereshchagin completed a sketch of the painting and wrote several sketches, but failed to complete the work.

In 1867, he left for Turkestan, where military clashes were taking place at that time. “I went because I wanted to find out what a true war is, about which I read and heard a lot...”, wrote the artist. Vereshchagin is not only a witness to the war, but also a direct participant. In 1868, as part of the Russian garrison, he defended the Samarkand fortress from the troops of the Bukhara emir and was awarded the St. George Cross for bravery and courage. In 1869-1870, Vereshchagin again made a trip to Turkestan: he got acquainted with this unique country, studied the morals and customs of the feudal East; as a result, he creates a large series of paintings about Central Asia.

The exoticism of the sunny East, elegant and bright costumes did not obscure the poverty and lack of rights of the people from the humanist artist. This is how the paintings appeared: “Beggars in Samarkand” (1870, Tretyakov Gallery), “Opium Eaters” (State Museum of Arts of the Uzbek SSR), “Sale of a Slave Child” (1872, Tretyakov Gallery), “Samarkand Zindan” (State Museum of Arts of the Uzbek SSR SSR), "Uzbek woman in Tashkent" (1873, Tretyakov Gallery) and many others. The artist is fluent with his brush, and sonorous, rich colors convey the sultry southern sky, the green spring steppe, the coolness of snow-covered mountain peaks, and the complex ornamentation of the ancient buildings of Samarkand. ..

The central place in this series is occupied by battle paintings; they had great success both in Russia and abroad, defining the main direction of Vereshchagin’s work. Already in his earliest paintings, the artist protested against wars of conquest, denouncing those through whose fault people died. The anti-militaristic nature of the works is the result of Vereshchagin’s deep thoughts and life observations, who introduced into battle painting a bold, harsh truth that had never been known in this genre before. Russian art. He made soldiers, ordinary Russian people, into the heroes of his paintings. “Vereshchagin’s soldiers,” wrote V.V. Stasov, “are still the same people, only... wearing a uniform and a gun.”

In the painting “At the Fortress Wall. Let them come in” (1871, Tretyakov Gallery), Russian soldiers are tensely awaiting battle. Their faces are stern, their poses show firm determination. In the film "They Entered" - the same place in the fortress, but after the battle. A number of battle paintings are combined into a series where the artist develops the idea of ​​the cruelty of feudal lords, the savagery of the order, the heroism and courage of Russian soldiers: “Looking Out” (1873, Tretyakov Gallery), “Attack by surprise” (1871, Tretyakov Gallery), “Presenting Trophies” ( 1872, Tretyakov Gallery), “Triumphing” (1872, Tretyakov Gallery) and “Apotheosis of War” (1871-1872, Tretyakov Gallery).

In the canvas “Apotheosis of War,” against the backdrop of a war-torn city and charred trees, there is a pyramid of human skulls. Initially, the idea of ​​the painting was associated with the name of the Central Asian conqueror of the late 14th - early 15th centuries, Tamerlane, whose troops left behind such pyramids. But the work is more significant in content than a specific historical episode. Ruins, skulls, the desert have at all times been perceived as a symbol of death and destruction, and Vereshchagin makes an inscription on the frame: “Dedicated to all great conquerors - past, present and future.” “The Apotheosis of War” is a harsh condemnation of wars that bring death and misfortune.

“I don’t know,” wrote I. N. Kramskoy about Vereshchagin, “whether there is currently an artist equal to him, not only here, but also abroad...” Bold accusatory paintings aroused a hostile attitude towards the artist from the reactionary circles of Russia, which they accused him of slandering the Russian army. Hardly experiencing unfair accusations, Vereshchagin burned three paintings: “Forgotten”, “Surrounded - Pursued” and “Entered”. Vereshchagin's works were prohibited from being exhibited or reproduced in books, newspapers and magazines. For thirty years, the tsarist government did not acquire a single painting of the world-famous famous artist. Only P. M. Tretyakov bought most of the Turkestan works. In 1874-1876, 1882-1883, Vereshchagin made two trips to India to study the life, nature and way of life of the country. During his travels, he had to endure hardships and be exposed to mortal danger: on the snowy peaks of the Himalayas he almost froze to death; In the sweltering tropical heat, he fell ill with a fever. The result of the observations was more than one hundred and fifty sketches depicting the grandeur of white-stone Indian architecture, the blue of the southern sky, and the bright national clothes of the Hindus. Some of the best sketches include: " Buddhist temple in Darjeeling" (1874-1875, Tretyakov Gallery), "Glacier on the road from Kashmir to Ladakh" (1875, Tretyakov Gallery), "Mausoleum of the Taj Mahal" (1874-1876, Tretyakov Gallery).

Vereshchagin decided to devote a number of paintings to the history of the capture of India by the British. He had the idea of ​​​​creating a large pictorial poem that was supposed to tell about historical fate India, about the transformation of a powerful independent country into a colony of the British Empire. The artist managed to complete only a few of these paintings, in particular “The Procession of the English and Native Authorities in Jeypur” (1875-1879, Victorium Memorial Museum, Calcutta).

The Russian-Turkish war that broke out in 1877-1878 again brought him to the front. Sympathizing with all his soul for the liberation struggle of the Slavs against the Turkish yoke, the artist took part in many battles. In one of the battles he was seriously wounded and almost died.

“To fulfill the goal that I set myself,” Vereshchagin wrote, “to give society a picture of a real genuine war cannot be done by looking at the battle through binoculars from a beautiful distance, but you need to feel and do everything yourself, participate in attacks, assaults, victories, defeats, experience hunger , illnesses, wounds. You must not be afraid to sacrifice your blood, your meat, otherwise my paintings will not be the same.”

The war in Vereshchagin’s paintings again appeared in all its harsh and courageous truth, as a dramatic event. The artist experienced the enormous loss of life in this difficult, bloody war with pain and bitterness.

The paintings of the Balkan series with unparalleled truthfulness reproduce the everyday life of war, episodes of battles: difficult marches of the Russian army in the mountains, field dressing hospitals and scenes of Turkish atrocities. The artist also revealed the other side of the war: he showed the careerism and criminality of the tsarist command, which doomed Russian soldiers to senseless death. The main group of works consists of paintings of the heroic defense of Shipka: “Dugouts on Shipka” (State Museum of Russian Art, Kyiv), “Batteries on Shipka” (State Museum of Russian Art, Kyiv) “Everything is Calm on Shipka” (1878-1879, location unknown), "Shipka-Sheinovo" (1878-1879, Tretyakov Gallery).

Vereshchagin devotes a number of paintings to events related to the storming of Plevna: “Attack” (1881, Central Artillery Historical Museum), “After the Attack” (1881, Tretyakov Gallery). The paintings “Winners” (1878-1879, State Museum of Russian Art, Kyiv), “Victims. Requiem for the Killed” (1878-1879, Tretyakov Gallery) are dedicated to the battle of Telish - here, through the fault of the “highest persons”, almost an entire regiment of rangers was destroyed . The film “Winners” depicts a terrible masquerade: Turks who dressed on the battlefield in the uniforms of killed Russian soldiers; the other - “The Vanquished” - represents a vast field strewn with the corpses of soldiers. Paintings from the Balkan series: they are distinguished by their austere simplicity and restrained color scheme. The coloring is brought to the necessary unity of either gloomy autumn or cloudy winter tones. In 1880 and 1883 this series was exhibited in St. Petersburg. Over forty days, the exhibition was visited by more than two hundred thousand people; the success exceeded all expectations.

The 1880s in the artist’s creative life were marked by extraordinary activity and searches for new themes. He travels a second time to India (1882-1883) and then to Syria and Palestine (1883-1884). This is how the “Palestinian Series” arises, consisting mainly of sketches and paintings of a documentary ethnographic nature. The artist’s significant work on the creation of the “Trilogy of Executions”: “Crucifixion during the rule of the Romans”, “Execution of conspirators in Russia” (1884-1885, State Museum of the Revolution) and “Suppression of the Indian uprising by the British” (circa 1884, location unknown) . The second picture was inspired by the autocracy’s reprisal against the Narodnaya Volya revolutionaries on April 3, 1881.

The result of Vereshchagin's trips around the North in 1880-1890 was a series of drawings and sketches depicting monuments of ancient wooden architecture, Russian northern nature and ordinary Russian people. From 1887 to 1901, Vereshchagin worked on a series of paintings dedicated to the Patriotic War of 1812. He created more than twenty paintings on this topic. The artist was guided by high patriotic thoughts - “to show in the paintings of 1812 the great national spirit of the Russian people, their dedication and heroism in the fight against the enemy.” The artist was able to express the liberating, popular character of the war, to debunk Napoleon, to deprive him of “the hero’s pedestal on which he was elevated.”

The series begins with a scene of the Battle of Borodino, to which Vereshchagin dedicated two canvases: “Napoleon on the Borodino Heights” (1897) and “The End of the Battle of Borodino” (1899-1900, State Historical Museum). The stay of Napoleonic army in Moscow is reflected in fourteen paintings. Among them: “In the Assumption Cathedral” (1887-1895), “Fire” (1896-1897), “Through the Fire” (1899-1900), “Execution in the Kremlin” (1897-1898; all in the State Historical Museum) and others. Several paintings show the retreat and defeat of the French army: “In Grodno - to break through or retreat”, “At the stage - bad news from France” (1887-1895),

"On the high road. Retreat and flight" (1887-1895), "Night rest of the great army" (1896-1897, State Historical Museum). The theme of the people's guerrilla war against invaders occupied a large place in the series. It is also important to note that the artist did not depict famous partisan commanders, such as D. Davydov, Figner, but recreated the feat of ordinary peasants, participants in the people's liberation movement.

Caps of fluffy white snow covered the branches of the pine trees. The peasants are waiting in ambush for the enemy. In front, peering intently into the forest thicket, stands a tall old man with an ax in his lowered hand. The enemy is approaching. Excitement and impatience are visible on the faces of the partisans, but the old, experienced and wise leader restrains his comrades. “Don’t hesitate, let me come,” he seems to be saying.

These words are the title of the painting (1887-1895, State Historical Museum). The artist resorts to a broad, somewhat decorative interpretation of the landscape, trying to create a generalized epic image of Russian nature. The painting “With Weapon in Hand - Shoot” (1887-1895, State Historical Museum) depicts the reprisal of partisans who were captured by the French. One of the last works, “The Night Halt of the Great Army,” depicts the inglorious end of the invaders, the complete defeat of the once invincible army.

The big patriotic idea underlying the series, the depth and poignancy of the plots, bright folk images, interesting compositional solutions make this last major work of the artist a worthy contribution to historical painting late XIX century.

Until the end of his life, the artist did not stop traveling. After a trip to Syria and Palestine in the late 80s and early 90s, he visited America twice, in the Philippines and Cuba in 1901-1902, and in Japan in 1903. Impressions from Japan were reflected in a number of sketches, giving an idea of ​​the ancient architecture, full of originality, national customs this interesting country.

The Russo-Japanese War found Vereshchagin working on several paintings; he left everything and, according to Repin, “flew” to the Far East to again participate in the battles and tell about them in his works. “Some,” wrote Vereshchagin, “spread the idea of ​​peace with their fascinating, powerful words, others put forward various arguments in defense of it, religious, economic and others, and I preach the same through paints.”

On March 31, 1904, Vereshchagin, together with Admiral S. O. Makarov, died on the battleship Petropavlovsk, which was blown up by an enemy mine in the roadstead near Port Arthur.