Alexander Andreevich Ivanov is a perfectionist painter who spent twenty years writing his main picture

Alexander Andreevich Ivanov (born July 16, 1806 died July 3, 1858) Russian academician artist of the first half and middle of the XIX century. His paintings are outstanding works of Russian painting, which are kept in the best museums in our country. Biblical scenes and ancient subjects prevail in the work of this master, he also painted landscapes and rare portraits. The artist’s biography is typical for representatives of the Russian intelligentsia of that period: after training, he went to Europe, where he stayed for many years.

Biography

Alexander Andreevich Ivanov was born into the family of a St. Petersburg academician of painting, it happened on July 16, 1806. He was the eldest son of a professor and was brought up as his father’s successor, and therefore from an early age began to receive the best art education at that time. At the age of eleven, he entered the Academy, but did not get into state conditions, like most other students. The boy still lived at home and studied in his father’s workshop. His successes were so outstanding that teachers often doubted whether he was painting himself.

Alexander Ivanov completed his studies in 1827. His diploma work “Joseph Interpreting Dreams” secured him a large gold medal and a paid trip to Europe to meet Western masters. The young painter almost neglected this opportunity: he was in love and wanted to get married. His father and friends had difficulty dissuading him. Subsequently, the painter never created a family, fully devoting himself to creativity.

In 1830, the artist traveled through Germany to Rome. He will live in Italy for almost three decades. Copying the fresco paintings of the great Michelangelo from the Sistine Chapel, the painter decided to create an equally majestic work. Thus, for the first time, the idea of ​​his main picture “The Appearance of Christ to the People” was born. But Ivanov did not immediately take up such a large-scale work. At first, he tried his hand at more modest works. In 1836, the “Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene” went home. The work was a huge success and earned the author the title of academician.

The next twenty years were devoted to the monumental “Appearance of Christ to the people.”

The money received for the previous painting was used to buy a canvas measuring 7.5 x 5.5 meters. Then the author created many sketches people, landscapes, olive branches. Alexander Ivanov did not paint portraits for sale, and the Academy ran out of content, so he lived very poorly. Gradually, benefactors helped, as well as members of the royal family. Both Tsarevich Alexander and Nicholas I himself visited the artist’s studio. When the aging painter began to lose his sight, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna sent him money for treatment.

With funds from the Empress, Ivanov traveled to Germany and France. This journey helped him recuperate and inspired him to create new works. He decided to take the “Appearance of Christ to the people” to Russia and present it to the public in the form in which it remained at that time. The transportation of such a huge canvas caused difficulties, but the work arrived safely in St. Petersburg and was exhibited in the Winter Palace.

Alexander Ivanov was very worried about how the main work of his life would be accepted, and weakened from excitement. Infected with cholera, he died suddenly on July 3, 1858. The artist never found out that Alexander II decided to buy the painting for a huge sum of 15,000 rubles and to award the author with the Order of St. Vladimir.

The most famous paintings by Alexander Andreevich Ivanov

This artist is often referred to as the author of one work, which, of course, is not true. His legacy cannot be called numerous, and yet there are dozens of works that greatly influenced the development of Russian fine art. Here are the most famous paintings by Alexander Andreevich Ivanov:

1. “Joseph’s Brothers Find the Goblet in Benjamin’s Bag” (1833). This work on a plot from the Old Testament was written in Rome. It belongs to the academic style, but is filled with emotions, which is often lacking in such works.
2. “The Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene” (1835). The picture delighted the public so much that it was presented to the emperor. Researchers noted the highest level of skill in the depiction of draperies and figures, and in the general scene they found such greatness that other academics do not have.
3. Appian Way at Sunset (1845). The most famous landscape of Ivanov, depicting the oldest Roman road. On the horizon, on the left side of the canvas, the dome of St. Peter’s is visible.
4. “The Appearance of Christ to the People” (1837-1857). Ilya Repin called this picture the most ingenious and most popular. The Tretyakov Gallery had to build a separate extension for it in other halls there was no place for such a canvas.

In addition to oil painting, Alexander Ivanov left a lot of watercolors mainly on the themes of Italian life and biblical subjects. Most of the artist’s works are kept in the Tretyakov Gallery and the Russian State Museum.