Vladimir Borovikovsky (1757-1825) - Russian artist of Ukrainian origin, portrait master.

Biography of Vladimir Borovikovsky

Vladimir Borovikovsky was born on July 24 (August 4, according to a new style) in 1757 in the Hetmanate in Mirgorod in the family of the Cossack Luka Ivanovich Borovikovsky (1720-1775). The father, uncle and brothers of the future artist were icon painters. In his youth, VL Borovikovsky studied icon painting under the guidance of his father.

From 1774 he served in the Mirgorod Cossack regiment, at the same time painting. In the first half of the 1780s, Borovikovsky, with the rank of lieutenant, retired and devoted himself to painting. He paints icons for local churches.

In the 1770s, Borovikovsky became closely acquainted with V.V. Kapnist and carried out his instructions for painting the interior of a house in Kremenchug, which was intended for the reception of the empress. Catherine II noted the work of the artist and ordered him to move to St. Petersburg.

In 1788 Borovikovsky settled in St. Petersburg. In the capital, at first he lived in the house of N. A. Lvov and met his friends - G. R. Derzhavin, I. I. Khemnitser, E. I. Fomin, and also D. G. Levitsky, who became his teacher.

In 1795, V. L. Borovikovsky was awarded the title of academician of painting. From 1798 to 1820 lived in a tenement house at 12, Millionnaya Street.

Borovikovsky died on April 6 (18), 1825 in St. Petersburg, and was buried at the St. Petersburg Smolensk cemetery. In 1931, the ashes were reburied in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. The monument remained the same - a granite sarcophagus on lion's feet.

He bequeathed to distribute his property to those in need.

Creativity Borovikovsky

Relatively late, in the late 1790s, Borovikovsky gained fame as a famous portrait painter.

His work is dominated by a chamber portrait. V. L. Borovikovsky embodies the ideal of beauty of his era in female images.

In the double portrait "Lizonka and Dashenka" (1794), the portrait painter captured the maids of the Lvov family with love and reverent attention: soft curls of hair, whiteness of faces, a slight blush.

The artist subtly conveys the inner world of the people he depicts. In a chamber sentimental portrait, which has a certain limited emotional expression, the master is able to convey the variety of innermost feelings and experiences of the models depicted. An example of this is the “Portrait of E. A. Naryshkina” made in 1799.

Borovikovsky seeks to affirm the self-worth and moral purity of a person (portrait of E. N. Arsenyeva, 1796). In 1795, V. L. Borovikovsky wrote “Portrait of the Torzhkovskaya peasant woman Khristinya”, we will find echoes of this work in the work of the master’s student - A. G. Venetsianov.

In the 1810s, Borovikovsky was attracted by strong, energetic personalities; he focuses on citizenship, nobility, and the dignity of those portrayed. The appearance of his models becomes more restrained, the landscape background is replaced by the image of the interior (portraits of A. A. Dolgorukov, 1811, M. I. Dolgoruky, 1811, etc.).

VL Borovikovsky is the author of a number of ceremonial portraits. Ceremonial portraits of Borovikovsky most clearly demonstrate the artist's mastery of the brush in conveying the texture of the material: the softness of velvet, the brilliance of gilded and satin robes, the radiance of precious stones.

Borovikovsky is also a recognized master of portrait miniatures. The artist often used tin as the basis for his miniatures.

The work of V. L. Borovikovsky is a fusion of the styles of classicism and sentimentalism that developed at the same time.

In his last years, Borovikovsky returned to religious painting, in particular, he painted several icons for the Kazan Cathedral under construction, the iconostasis of the church of the Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg.

He gave painting lessons to then beginner artist Alexei Venetsianov.

Artist's work

• Portrait of M. I. Lopukhina.
• Murtaza Kuli Khan.
• Catherine II for a walk in Tsarskoye Selo Park
• Lizonka and Dashenka
• Portrait of Major General F. A. Borovsky, 1799
• Portrait of Vice-Chancellor Prince A. B. Kurakin (1801-1802) (Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow)
• Portrait of the sisters A. G. and V. G. Gagarin, 1802 (Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow)
• Portrait of A. G. and A. A. Lobanov-Rostovsky, 1814

More than two centuries have passed since the portrait of M.I. Lopukhina. Generations, artistic styles and tastes have changed, but the portrait created by V. Borovikovsky still remains attractive and mysterious.

Hurry to the Tretyakov Gallery, and you will stand near this masterpiece of painting for a long time. The portrait attracts with the look of the girl's brown eyes, directed somewhere, most likely, into herself. There is sadness and disappointment in him, she is thoughtful, her thoughts seem to be turned to the distant, but she already knows, a pipe dream. She tries to smile but fails. The clear face of the girl, delicate porcelain skin, the smooth grace of the pose and all external well-being cannot hide deep inner sadness from such a brilliant artist as Borovikovsky.

And Vladimir Lukich knew how to feel someone else's mood and character, especially in such a young person (M.I. Lopukhina turned 18 at that time). Maria Ivanovna was the daughter of Count Ivan Andreevich Tolstoy, Major General of the Semyonovsky Regiment, leader of the Khologriv nobility, and Anna Fedorovna Maykova.

Mashenka married the Jägermeister S.A. Lopukhina, and as they said, was unhappy in marriage, there was no emotional unity with her husband. There were no children in the family either, and six years after her marriage, she died of consumption, a very common disease of that time. They buried Maria Ivanovna in the Lopukhins' family tomb, in the Spaso-Andronnikovsky Monastery in Moscow, which now houses the Andrey Rublev Museum of Ancient Russian Art.

It has long passed - and there are no longer those eyes
And there is no smile that was silently expressed
Suffering is the shadow of love, and thoughts are the shadow of sorrow...
But Borovikovsky saved her beauty.

The portrait has the charm of youth, the charm of femininity, but it also contains the complexity of the conflicting feelings of the girl who posed for him. Borovikovsky painted the portrait the way he felt his model. The radiance of purity seems to come from the girl. A white dress with a delicate gray-blue tint resembles a Greek tunic. A dark blue belt that embraces a slender girlish figure, an airy haze that softens clear lines - the whole palette creates tenderness and airiness, emphasizes the charm of youth.

It is easy to feel the silence and coolness of the park in the portrait, and it also seems that the movements of the model that day were smooth and even a little slow. The image came out not incorporeal, but not carnal either, the idea of ​​sublimity is felt in it. Did Borovikovsky paint that Mashenka that he saw and felt, or did he convey some of his own feelings to the portrait? Perhaps the artist saw before him the beautiful ideal of the woman of his soul, and brought him closer to the model, it's hard to say.

Lopukhin is depicted against the backdrop of the Russian national landscape, of course, there is a lot of conditional and decorative here - ears of rye, cornflowers, birch trunks, drooping rosebuds. The inclined spikelets echo the smooth curve of Lopukhina's figure, blue cornflowers - with a silk belt, white birch trees are gently reflected in the dress, and the state of mind - with drooping rosebuds. Maybe a fading rose next to a beautiful image of a girl, the artist leads us to think about the frailty and beauty, and life.

The whole world of nature, as part of the girl's soul, the fusion of contours, the palette of nature and the female image creates a single harmonious image. This portrait was admired by the artist's contemporaries, and then by the descendants of the next generations. Precisely because we, with some inner confusion of the soul, stand for a long time and silently, admiring the image of a girl, we can say that we are standing in front of a great work of art.

Borovikovsky, Vladimir Lukich

V.L. Borovikovsky in Russian art of the XVIII century was one of the brilliant artists. In 1788, in December, he arrived in St. Petersburg from Mirgorod. This, like all those who came at that time, was reported to Catherine herself, who was extremely worried about the revolution brewing in France, and besides, she often recalled the Pugachev rebellion that had frightened her so much.

But before coming, Borovikovsky was only a capable icon painter, and he worked like his father - he painted icons. Occasionally, Mirgorod residents ordered him to paint their portraits, decorating their houses with their own images. It was behind this occupation that the poet V.V. Kapnist, leader of the Kyiv nobility.

Vladimir Lukich was involved in the design of the building for the reception of the Empress during her southern journey. When he did an excellent job with an unusual topic for him, in which he had to write huge panels with an allegorical plot to glorify the empress, V.V. Kapnist and his brother-in-law N.A. Lvov was offered to go to the capital in order to improve in art.

Here he was lucky to be a student of Levitsky himself, but only for a few months. Then he received several painting lessons from the portrait painter Lampi, who came from Vienna at the invitation of Potemkin. Apparently, the foreign artist was able to see in the young Borovikovsky the talent of a painter, since he subsequently did a lot for the official recognition of his student.

Lampi painted portraits, giving his models an external shine, not caring about the transfer of character in the portrait, because he knew that it was often better to hide it, and the models themselves would be pleased if their greed or cruelty, vanity or aggressiveness was not noticed.

V. Borovikovsky in 1795 received the title of academician, in 1802 he became an adviser to the Academy, and, moreover, without studying at it. And all because at the time of his youth and even maturity, the Academy was accepted only in childhood. Only in 1798 did adult students gain access to the Academy, for whom, thanks to the perseverance of the architect Bazhenov, free drawing classes were opened.

Lizynka and Dashinka

One after another, portraits came out from under Borovikovsky's brush. And in each of them the human soul is visible. Among them are many male portraits, including Emperor Paul. All of them are complex and contradictory in nature, as well as the models themselves. There are more lyrics, charm, and tenderness in female portraits. In these portraits, the artist managed to harmoniously combine a person, or rather, his soul, with nature. The artist filled the images of his models with depth of feelings and extraordinary poetry.

But over the years, the artist felt that it was becoming more and more difficult for him to write. V. Borovikovsky, religious and by nature timid and reserved, at the end of his life again returns to where he started - to religious painting and icon painting.

Portrait of E.A. Naryshkina

For two decades, the artist painted a great many court portraits, but he remained a “small” and lonely person, not having mastered in himself either the appearance or the habits of a court artist. In the late 1810s, one of his students painted a portrait of Borovikovsky, in which, like his teacher, he managed to look into the soul. The portrait depicts a man tormented by an unsolvable riddle that has oppressed and oppresses him all his life...

Shortly before his death, he worked on the decoration of the church at the Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg, where he was then buried at the age of 67.

And the portrait of M.I. Lopukhina was kept for a long time by her niece, Praskovya Tolstoy, daughter, brother of Maria Ivanovna, Fyodor Tolstoy. For the whole family, it was a family heirloom. When Praskovya became the wife of the Moscow governor Perfiliev, Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov, the creator of the national art gallery and collector, saw this portrait in his house. The portrait was bought by him, and subsequently became a true gem of the Tretyakov Gallery.

Biography of Vladimir Borovikovsky

Borovikovsky Vladimir Lukich, Russian artist of historical, church and portrait painting. A native of the Cossack family.

Born in Mirgorod on July 24, 1757, in the family of the Cossack Luka Borovik. Father and two brothers, Vasily and Ivan, were icon painters who worked in the surrounding churches. Under the guidance of his father, he studied icon painting. After military service, he was engaged in church painting in the spirit of Ukrainian baroque.

In 1787, he executed two allegorical paintings to decorate one of the "travel palaces" of Catherine II, erected on her route to the Crimea.

These paintings drew special attention of the Empress. One of the paintings depicted Catherine II, explaining her Order to the Greek sages, the other - Peter I - a plowman and Catherine II - a sower. The Empress wished to see the author of the paintings, spoke to him and advised him to go to St. Petersburg, to the Academy of Arts.

In 1788, Borovikovsky moved to St. Petersburg, but his path to the Academy of Arts was closed due to his age. For some time he lives in the house of N. A. Lvov, gets acquainted with his friends - G. R. Derzhavin, I. I. Khemnitser, E. I. Fomin and other intellectuals of his time. From 1792 he took lessons from the Austrian painter I.B. Lampi, who worked at the court of Catherine II.

It is assumed that he used the advice of the famous portrait painter D. G. Levitsky, who later became his teacher. From his teacher, Borovikovsky adopted a brilliant technique, ease of writing, compositional skill and the ability to flatter the person being portrayed.

In 1795, Borovikovsky was awarded the title of academician, and in 1802 - advisor to the Academy of Arts.

In the early Petersburg period, Borovikovsky painted miniature portraits, painted in oils, but imitating miniatures on enamel. He also succeeded in formal portraiture, many of his works in this genre were revered as models.

Among his works - a magnificent portrait of Catherine II, walking in the Tsarskoye Selo garden, portraits of Derzhavin, Metropolitan Mikhail, Prince Lopukhin-Troshinsky and a huge portrait of Fet - Ali Murza Kuli-Khan, brother of the Persian Shah, painted by order of the Empress when the prince was an envoy in St. Petersburg . Two copies of this portrait are in the art gallery of the Hermitage, and the other in the Academy of Arts.

From the 2nd half of the 1790s. Borovikovsky finds a vivid expression of the traits of sentimentalism in his portraits. As opposed to the official estate portrait, he develops a type of depiction of a “private” person with his simple, natural feelings, which manifest themselves most fully in the bosom of nature. Delicate, faded coloring, light, transparent writing, smooth, melodic rhythms create a lyrical atmosphere of dreamy elegiacity.

For example, a portrait of O. K. Filippova, the wife of a friend of Borovikovsky - an architect who participated in the construction of the Kazan Cathedral. She is depicted in a white morning dress against the backdrop of a garden, with a pale rose in her hand. The image of a young woman is devoid of any hint of affectation, coquetry. The almond-shaped cut of the eyes, the pattern of the nostrils, the mole above the upper lip - everything gives an inexplicable charm to the face, in the expression of which there is almost childlike tenderness and dreamy thoughtfulness.

The artist's talent was most clearly revealed in a series of female portraits: O. K. Filippova, E. N. Arsenyeva, E. A. Naryshkina, V. A. Shidlovskaya and others. They are not as spectacular as men's, small in size, sometimes similar in compositional solution, but they are distinguished by exceptional subtlety in the transfer of characters, elusive movements of spiritual life and are united by a tender poetic feeling.

Portrait of M.I. painted by Borovikovsky in 1797 Lopukhina is one of the landmark works in the development of Russian portraiture. The portrait of Lopukhina is marked by features of deep and genuine vitality. The main idea is the fusion of man with nature.

Borovikovsky reproduces in the portrait the typical features of the national Russian landscape - white trunks of birches, cornflowers and daisies, golden ears of rye. The national spirit is also emphasized in the image of Lopukhina, which is given an expression of tender sensitivity.

Borovikovsky was also engaged in religious painting, in the period from 1804 to 1811, he participated in the painting of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg (“Annunciation”, “Konstantin and Elena”, “Great Martyr Catherine”, “Anthony and Theodosius”).

Borovikovsky retained his brilliant craftsmanship and keen eye for a long time, but in the 1810s. his activity has waned. The old tastes were replaced by new ones, and the name of Borovikovsky stepped aside, giving way to young talents.

He was lonely in his old age, avoided all communication, refused to answer letters. He became interested in mysticism, but even here he did not find what he was looking for.

At the end of his life, Borovikovsky no longer painted portraits, but was engaged only in religious painting. His last work was the iconostasis for the church at the Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg.

In the last years of his life, Borovikovsky worked actively as a teacher, setting up a private school at his home. He raised two students, one of whom was Alexei Venetsianov, who adopted a poetic perception of the world from his mentor.

Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky

The artist Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky was born in July 1757 in the city of Mirgorod, in the family of the icon painter Luka Ivanovich Borovikovsky. Vladimir Borovikovsky's uncle was an icon painter, later the artist's brothers also became icon painters.

The first teacher of painting for the future artist was his father, but Vladimir Lukich chose a different path - he entered the Mirgorod Cossack regiment and devoted almost ten years to military service, rose to the rank of lieutenant and resigned.

Having retired, Vladimir Borovikovsky enthusiastically paints local churches, paints icons. During this period, the artist met the poet and playwright V.V. Kapnist, for whom he paints a house in Kremenchug. This house was visited by Empress Catherine II and was amazed by the decoration of the house. The artist was introduced to Catherine and the empress ordered Borovikovsky to be in St. Petersburg.

In 1788, Vladimir Lukich moved to the capital, lived for some time in the house of N.A. Lvov, who introduces the painter to G.R. Derzhavin, E.I. Fomin, I.I. Khemnitser and D.G. Levitsky, who becomes the first real teacher of painting for the future portrait painter.

The artist's work is mainly a chamber portrait. In women's images - a chamber sentimental portrait, in which the artist strives not only for resemblance to the original, but also for the search for the ideal of female beauty. Not external beauty, but spiritual beauty.

In 1795, Borovikovsky was awarded the title of academician, in 1803 - advisor to the Academy of Arts.

In recent years, Vladimir Lukich returned to religious painting, painted several icons for the Kazan Cathedral, which was still under construction, painted an iconostasis for the church of the Smolensk cemetery, gave painting lessons to novice artists, and became a teacher for Alexei Venetsianov.

The artist died in April 1825, his ashes were buried at the St. Petersburg Smolensk cemetery. Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky bequeathed all his property to the needy.

Paintings by artist Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky

Portrait of Empress Catherine II in the park Portrait of E.N. Arsenyeva Portrait of Adjutant General Count Pyotr Alexandrovich Tolstoy Anna Sergeevna Bezobrazova Portrait of E.V. Rodzianko Portrait of Pavel Semenovich Masyukov Portrait of Paul I Portrait of Prince A. B. Kurakin Portrait of Empress Maria Feodorovna Portrait of Elena Alexandrovna Naryshkina Portrait of Princess Margarita Ivanovna Dolgoruky Portrait of Paul I dressed as Grand Master of the Order of Malta Portrait of Count Grigory Grigorievich Kushelev with children Portrait of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna Portrait of Countess Anna Ivanovna Bezborodko with her daughters Lyubov and Cleopatra Portrait of Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna Portrait of Princess K.I. Lobanova-Rostovskaya Portrait of Varvara Alekseevna Shidlovskaya Portrait of Tyomkina Liza Portrait of Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina

Genus. in the city of Mirgorod, the current Poltava province, July 24, 1757, mind. April 6, 1825 His father, an old-timer of Mirgorod, icon comrade Luka Borovik (samely spelled Borovik and Borovikovsky, as well as Luka and Lukyan, died in 1775) ... ... Big biographical encyclopedia

Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky Portrait by Bugaevsky Blagodatny Date of birth: 1757 Date of death: 1825 Nationality: Ukrainian ... Wikipedia

- (1757 1825) Russian painter. The portraits of Borovikovsky are characterized by the features of sentimentalism, a combination of decorative subtlety and grace of rhythms with the correct transmission of character (M. I. Lopukhina, 1797). Since the 1800s was influenced by classicism (A. B. ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Borovikovsky (Vladimir Lukich), an artist of historical, church and portrait painting, was born in 1758 in Mirgorod, died in 1826. The son of a nobleman, he was in military service at a young age, which he left with the rank of lieutenant and then settled in ... ... Biographical Dictionary

Russian and Ukrainian portrait painter. Until 1788 he lived in Mirgorod, studied with his father and uncle icon painters, performed icons and portraits, in many respects still close to the traditions of Ukrainian art ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

- (1757 1825), Russian and Ukrainian artist. Portraitist. Until 1788 he lived in Mirgorod, studied with his father and uncle icon painters; from the end of 1788 in St. Petersburg, where at first he used the advice of D. G. Levitsky, and from 1792 he studied with the Austrian artist I ... Art Encyclopedia

Borovikovsky Vladimir Lukich- (17571825), artist. From 1788 he lived in St. Petersburg. He studied painting under D. G. Levitsky and the Austrian artist I. B. Lampi the Elder (since 1792). Academician of painting since 1795, adviser to the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts since 1802. Author of numerous portraits ... ... Encyclopedic reference book "St. Petersburg"

- (1757 1825), artist. From 1788 he lived in St. Petersburg. He studied painting under D. G. Levitsky and the Austrian artist I. B. Lampi the Elder (since 1792). academician of painting since 1795, adviser to the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts since 1802. Author of numerous portraits ... ... St. Petersburg (encyclopedia)

- (1757 1825), painter. The portraits of Borovikovsky are characterized by the features of sentimentalism, a combination of decorative subtlety and grace of rhythms with the correct transmission of character (“M. I. Lopukhina”, 1797). The dryly restrained works of Borovikovsky in the 1800s ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Borovikovsky, Vladimir Lukich- V.A. Borovikovsky. Portrait of M.I. Lopukhina. 1797. Tretyakov Gallery. Borovikovsky Vladimir Lukich (1757-1825), Russian painter. The portraits of Borovikovsky are characterized by the features of sentimentalism, a combination of decorative subtlety and grace of rhythm with ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary