Illarion Pryanishnikov – master of genre painting: biography and the best paintings of the artist

Illarion Mikhailovich Pryanishnikov (born March 20, 1840 – died March 12, 1894) is an outstanding artist, a prominent representative of the genre genre in Russian painting of the second half of the 19th century. His work reflects the main features of realism in the visual arts. His paintings capture scenes from the life of different sectors of society.

Illarion Pryanishnikov belonged to the generation of the Itinerants, and his career is closely connected with the Association: the painter was one of its founders.

Biography

Illarion Pryanishnikov – a native of a poor merchant family, was born on March 20, 1840 in the Kaluga province. His father, who adored his son, wanted to see him continue the family business. The boy, from a young age, was fond of drawing and in 1852 he left for Moscow to study painting. However, after a year of studies due to lack of funds, Hilarion was forced to interrupt his education and go to work in a merchant’s shop. Only in 1856 he was able to continue his studies. At the school, the young man made friends with Vasily Perov, with whom he spent the summer of 1862 together at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

Already in the very first works of Illarion Pryanishnikov, his creative manner was clearly manifested. The artist was very observant, accurately conveying social and psychological characters.

In the final year of his studies, Pryanishnikov wrote the work “Jokers. Gostiny Dvor in Moscow ”, which made him famous. They even wanted to exhibit the canvas in Vienna at the International Exhibition. However, in the end, representatives of the Russian Empire did not exhibit it, since the picture hinted at the disunity of social groups in the country.

The artist’s works of the 1870s are distinguished by a rich palette of colors.

The landscape, instead of a conventional background, becomes a poeticized environment. In the period 1870-1890s. the master repeatedly recreated scenes from the life of fishermen and hunters. This theme arose in the work of the painter not without the influence of Vasily Grigorievich Perov. In his best “hunting” works, Illarion Pryanishnikov poeticly, with gentle humor, portrayed a person against the background of a landscape.

At the same time, the painter created large-scale paintings, which depict the many-sided mass of the people. Chamber subjects and images also appeared in the artist’s multifaceted work.

Illarion Pryanishnikov not only wrote many wonderful paintings in his life, but also taught at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, many famous painters later were his students. At the end of 1893 he became a full member of the Academy of Arts. By this time, the master had already been sick with tuberculosis for several years, and on March 12, 1894, he was gone. The last work, The Procession of the Cross, remained unfinished.