Nikolai Aleksandrovich Yaroshenko – a realist artist with a progressive democratic worldview

Nikolai Aleksandrovich Yaroshenko (born December 1 (13), 1846 – died June 26 (July 8), 1898) – a talented portraitist, genre painter, landscape painter of the 19th century, whose biography embodies an example of nobility and the cult of justice. Yaroshenko successfully combined his creativity with military service, which he completed with the rank of general. The master’s paintings reflect the author’s civic position in relation to the pressing problems of our time.

Biography of Nikolai Aleksandrovich Yaroshenko

Nikolai Yaroshenko was born in Ukraine on December 1, 1846 (December 13, old style) in the family of a career officer. The boy’s desire for visual activity appeared at an early age, but his father insisted on continuing the family tradition and sent his son to the Poltava Cadet Corps, a primary educational institution of the Russian Imperial Army that taught minors the basics of military art. Nikolai continued his military training in St. Petersburg.

In parallel with his military duties, Yaroshenko attended the Imperial Academy of Arts, a higher educational institution in the field of fine arts of the Russian Empire. In addition, the artist was an active student of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, where the famous master of genre and historical painting Ivan Kramskoy taught classes and shared his thoughts on the tasks of art. Nikolai Yaroshenko became close with representatives of the Society of Traveling Exhibitions and the authors of the leading publication “Otechestvennye Zapiski”.

Such associations were the result of the socio-political situation in the country. The spirit of the times, the populist doctrine of A. Herzen and N. Chernyshevsky were felt even in the very first works of art. The young artist made his debut in 1875 at the fourth Traveling Exhibition. The author’s works caused ideological disputes, but, nevertheless, received universal recognition. A year later, Yaroshenko joined the Society, was elected a member of the board and made a significant contribution to the development of the Traveling Society.

Nikolai Yaroshenko, being a tireless traveler, revealed to viewers the richness and beauty of nature in all its diversity. He preferred to paint landscape views of Elbrus and the foothills of the Caucasus. Due to poor health, the artist often underwent treatment at resorts. In 1885, he became the owner of a private house in Kislovodsk, where creative people gathered: artists, writers, actors and scientists. Surrounded by ideological geniuses, Nikolai Yaroshenko had a great sense of the era and accurately conveyed its characteristic features in his paintings. He managed to capture the smallest details of folk life.

In 1892, Yaroshenko resigned, deciding to devote the rest of his life to art. A couple of years before this event, doctors discovered that he had tuberculosis. The artist painted until his last days. On June 25 (July 7, new style), 1898, he left this mortal world. However, the talented artist died not from tuberculosis, but from cardiac paralysis. The great legacy of the Russian genius included magical Caucasian landscapes, genre works of “civic grief”, and inimitable psychological portraits of his contemporaries.