Vladimir Yegorovich Makovsky (born February 7, 1846 – died February 21, 1920) – a prominent Russian Itinerant artist of the 19th – early 20th centuries, teacher, unsurpassed master of the so-called “picture-novella”. Vladimir Makovsky is considered one of the pillars of the Itinerant movement: the artist’s work and his biography are true evidence of his devotion to the ideals of the Society. It is symbolic that the artist’s death coincided with the end of the “gang of Itinerants”.

Vladimir Yegorovich Makovsky worked in the genre of genre painting. His heroes are recognizable – they are merchants, nobles, commoners, officials, workers and peasants, soldiers, townspeople, clerks, vagabonds, gendarmes and prisoners. Striving for the truth of life, the artist fought against academism and avant-garde, considering them to distort reality.

Biography of Vladimir Makovsky

Vladimir Yegorovich Makovsky grew up in a creative family. He was born in Moscow on February 7, 1846. His father, Yegor Ivanovich, considered art to be a second religion. His mother, Lyubov Kornilievna, was a singer with an exceptionally beautiful and strong voice. Vladimir’s brothers and sister also became artists. The Makovskys lived in an apartment on the embankment of the Moscow River, and many outstanding personalities visited them. His mother taught Volodya music (he was especially fond of playing the violin). The boy’s first drawing was a portrait of one of the guests of the house.

In 1861, the young man was enrolled in the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where talents from all corners of the vast country flocked. In an atmosphere of heated discussion of art, under the influence of the work of Vasily Grigorievich Perov, his style was formed. The young man studied with Sergei Konstantinovich Zaryanko (1818-1871) and the master of historical painting Evgraf Semenovich Sorokin (1821-1892), representatives of the Venetian school. In 1862, Vladimir Makovsky’s work “Kvasnik”, painted under the guidance of Vasily Andreevich Tropinin (1776-1857), took part in an exhibition.

In 1866, the artist completed his studies with a silver medal. Success was not long in coming. “Peasant Boys Guarding Horses” – a painting created under the influence of Turgenev’s story “Bezhin Meadow” – brings the author a gold medal. Watercolors and drawings attract the attention of the general public with their sharp social focus. The artist participates in the production of the “Album of Views and Scenes from Russian Life”.

After his marriage in 1869 and the birth of his first child, children became the artist’s favorite theme for a whole decade. The painting “Playing Knuckles”, depicting peasant children, was purchased for his gallery by the patron Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov (1832-1898).

Precision, attentiveness, thoughtfulness and utmost conscientiousness are inherent in all of Vladimir Makovsky’s early works. Later, the manner of expression changes, becoming more flexible and free.

In 1872, he is unanimously accepted into the Society of the Itinerants, and a year later he is elected to the Board. The genius is adored by the public, appreciated by critics. Unlike his brother, Konstantin, who sometimes blindly pleased the “golden calf”, fame has not gone to Vladimir Yegorovich’s head.

He works hard, the studio is overflowing with sketches, drafts, studies, and sketches. In search of characteristic images, Makovsky visited almshouses, slums and markets, and did not disdain the godforsaken backwaters of Moscow. He could be found anywhere – at a flea market, at a high-society ball or in a theater box.

In 1882-1894, the master taught at his alma mater, and then moved to St. Petersburg. In 1894-1918, he led a class at the Imperial Academy of Arts. The artist accepted the October Revolution immediately. He lived for two years after it, and all this time received a government pension. Vladimir Yegorovich Makovsky died on February 21, 1920, his eldest son Alexander followed in his footsteps and became a famous landscape artist.