The painting by the artist Valentin Serov “Girl with Peaches” is familiar even to those people who are very far from art. Those people who are passionate about the artist's work are aware that the picture was painted from 11-year-old Vera Mamontova, the daughter of a famous industrialist and philanthropist, who was a great friend of Valentin Alexandrovich.
The artist himself, due to innate modesty, did not have such a high opinion of his own creation., and even in a friendly conversation with I. E. Grabar, he reproached him for giving the portrait an overestimation in one of his written works on the development of Russian fine art.
The meaning of the painting "Girl with peaches"
Serov often complained that while painting the portrait of the young Vera, he made her sit still for hours, thereby losing a certain stream of freshness that he so insistently wanted to breathe into his picture. The process of painting the canvas dragged on for several months, during which the master had to pretty much torture the daughter of a wealthy patron. However, the result, as it turned out, exceeded all the expectations of the artist himself.
At the table, which is depicted in the picture, a noisy company often gathered, consisting of family members and numerous guests. He was in the dining room of the Mamontovs in an enfilade-type room.
"Girl with Peaches" Serov wrote when he was not yet 22 years old, and a quarter of a century later, after the death brilliant artist, Grabar published a monographic work about him, stating that the master himself did not fully realize the great significance of his work, not only for his contemporaries, but also for all subsequent generations. According to Grabar, this study managed to become one of the most significant works of art, which marked a whole layer of the great culture of Russia.
Already a couple of years after the tragic death of the artist, it was difficult to find such an original model as the teenage girl Vera Mamontova, who has inexpressible, wonderful and truly Russian features. One look at famous painting Serov for people who are more or less versed in art will be quite enough to determine for sure that the action described in the picture takes place on the estate of a wealthy landowner. What is happening outside the window is hidden from the eyes of the observer, however, you can intuitively guess that behind it there are neat paths sprinkled with sand, beautiful park alleys and other elements inherent in an old Russian estate.
Peaches were not bought, but grown in the winter garden of the estate owned by the Mamontovs. The fruit trees were purchased from Zhilkino and Artyomovo estates, and looked after by the same specialist from whom they bought the peach trees.
History preceding the appearance of the picture
This canvas appeared as a result of friendly relations between Valentin Alexandrovich and the Mamontovs. Antosha, as people from the inner circle called Serov, had a penchant for a painstaking and unhurried manner of work, therefore young Vera had to sit motionless at the table for a long time. The master himself, knowing about the peculiarities of the protracted process of creating his own canvases, apologized to the model as much as he could and made every effort to quickly complete his outstanding work.
The idea to paint a portrait of the young Vera Mamontova came to Serov when she ran into the house, out of breath from cheerful street games and grabbed a peach. Valentin Alexandrovich was so impressed by her cheerfulness, openness and positive appearance that invited 11 girls to become his model.
"Girl with Peaches" is one of the first serious works of the artist, which became his "lucky ticket" to further successful creative career, which developed with Serov, who later became the best portrait painter of his time. Verusha (or Mamontova Vera Savvishna) was the favorite of all the inhabitants of the house, and there was an “invisible father’s light” in her, which the young Serov tried to convey as clearly as possible. Vasnetsov, who was an honorary member of the Abramtsevo circle, believed that Valentin Alexandrovich managed to find the very type of charming Russian beauty that many other authors could not find.
Description of the picture
The painting depicts a young girl with swarthy skin in a light jacket, decorated with an elegant bow. The artist tried to capture the moment, therefore, when looking at the canvas, it is hard to believe that Verusha sat in a similar position for many days. It seems as if she literally sat down for a second at a large table, mechanically grabbed a peach lying on it, and the next moment she, like a butterfly, will fly away to frolic in a lush garden lying just outside the window.
Many objects depicted in the picture have a special symbolism. For example, the plate is drawn as a tribute to those passions that Savva Mamontov, who was fond of applied arts and pottery, was engulfed in. Maple leaves, in turn, are depicted because the artist began work on the canvas in the height of summer, and finished only in September. In addition, maple autumn leaves create a special contrast in comparison with ripe peaches, reminiscent of the transience of all things and the need to enjoy the sun, as well as everything that happens around.
The girl is the owner of delicate skin with dark expressive eyes and the same dark hair. Sitting at the table with a barely perceptible smile on her face, she looks at the observer with a simple open look. In her hands is a peach, next to her on the surface of the table there are also maple leaves, a knife and peaches. The room in which the action takes place is filled with sunbeams, gently lying on pieces of antique furniture, on Verusha's hands and on the table.
The canvas is simply striking in how harmoniously the artist managed to reveal the image, filling it with an excellent degree of vitality, realism and freshness of color. In working on this picture, the young Serov used some of the techniques he borrowed from the Impressionists, such as, for example, the free vibration of a brushstroke.
The view from the window shown in the picture opens onto a terrace adjacent to the Red Living Room. In this room, which is partially visible on the canvas, various friends and acquaintances of the family of the patron Mamontov constantly gathered, staged amateur theatrical performances, read Turgenev, Gogol, Pushkin in the roles, played music and held lively debates.
With great professionalism, the master managed to display the play of light and shadow, however, the most significant is that he managed to tell the viewer a whole story about the feelings and character of a pure and bright girl through one work, further fate which, however, was very tragic. However, at the time of writing the portrait, no one thought about future events, and the portrait remained in the memory of contemporaries as a real ode to youthful spontaneity, charm, spring and everything that never ceases to delight and delight people in everyday life.
The fate of "Girls with Peaches"
In 1903, Vera Mamontova became the wife of Alexander Samarin, who was the Minister for Church Affairs and part-time leader of the Moscow nobles. The wedding ceremony took place at the place where the exit from the Arbatskaya metro station of the capital is now located. During the revolution of 1917, the church was destroyed by the communists, but today a small chapel rises on the same pedestal. Having become the mother of three children, she died at the age of 32 from severe pneumonia.
Alexander Samarin, after the death of Vera, did not remarry and built a temple of the Life-Giving Trinity not far from their estate, which was plundered during the proletarian coup and used as a warehouse.
Later, Alexander, along with his daughter Lisa, was sent into exile and died in the Gulag in 1932.
Fact
This work became the most famous in all creative activity Serov, and the master is considered one of the best portrait painters of his era. To date, the picture can be seen by visiting the State Tretyakov Gallery.
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V.A. Serov "Girl with peaches". Painting analysis
Many paintings by Valentin Alexandrovich Serov, painted in the 1880s, are imbued with a major feeling. At this time, the artist often travels, enjoys the beauty of different parts of nature, admires architecture, is filled with a sense of beauty and naturalness. Trips around Ukraine, Germany, Holland inspire Serov to write numerous sketches - his works are permeated with light and joy. The artist has been working for a long time in Abramtsevo and Domotkanov, actively painting portraits (members of the aunt's family, Adelaida Semyonovna Simonovich-Bergman; a portrait of his teacher P.P. Chistyakov).A trip to Italy in May 1887, together with Ilya Ostroukhov and Mikhail and Yuri Mamontov, became especially significant for Serov. Admiring the work of Italian masters, enjoying the beauties of Venice, Florence and Milan, he writes to his fiancee Olga Trubnikova: "I want, I want what is gratifying and I will write only what is gratifying." A special, “pleasant” period of Serov’s work begins. Enjoying and literally absorbing Italy, the artist strives to capture and convey in his works a piece of this sunny and lively country (“St. Mark's Square in Venice”, “Schiavoni Embankment in Venice”).
However, despite the abundance positive emotions and vivid impressions, already in these years the central dominant of the artist's work begins to form - the search for integrity, the desire to come to a generalization. At the same time, Serov began to attract impressionism.
Verochka with peaches
Abramtsevo - the estate where the writer S.T. Aksakov, since 1870 began to belong to the famous philanthropist and patron of artists Savva Ivanovich Mamontov. Serov stays at the estate for a long time. Native picturesque nature with its forests and fields, the river Vorya flowing nearby, special atmosphere- all this favorably affects the mood of the artist and is invariably reflected in the work of this period. It was then that paintings were painted, which later became classics of Russian art. One of these works was the famous "Girl with Peaches".
“Girl with Peaches” is a picture depicting a happy moment of childhood, a kind of generalized image. But this is also a portrait - a portrait of a specific girl - Mamontov's daughter.
Twelve-year-old Vera Mamontova is depicted in all her beauty and charm of a young creature - natural elegance, naturalness and cheerfulness. Girl, the decor of the room - everything is filled with light and happiness.
The tasks offered in the notebook allow the child to develop a sense of color and shape, the ability to see and notice their diversity in the world around them; help the child overcome the fear of a blank sheet, correctly master the surface of the paper (avoid the desire to place the image on one straight line), teach how to work with a sheet of paper of different sizes. Tasks also contribute to the development of the child's fantasy and imagination, the ability to create, solve creative problems outside the box, activate associative thinking and memory. At the end of the workbook are methodological explanations for the teacher.
The history of the painting "Girl with Peaches"
The history of the idea to paint a portrait of Mamontov's daughter is simple and unpretentious. One summer day, the girl, taking with her peaches from the greenhouse, entered the room and sat down at the table. Serov, who instantly noticed all the charm and purity of the picture that opened before him, invited Vera to pose for him. Every day, a lively and lively girl had to sit in one place for hours and pose for the artist. Serov himself recalled: “All I wanted was freshness, that special freshness that you always feel in nature and you don’t see in pictures. I wrote for more than a month and tortured her, poor thing, to death, I really wanted to preserve the freshness of the painting with complete completeness - that's how the old masters. After finishing the work, the artist presented a portrait of the girl's mother, Elizaveta Mamontova. For a long time, the picture remained in the estate, but today a copy hangs in Abramtsevo, and the original can be seen in the Tretyakov Gallery.
The artist and art historian I. Grabar says this about the process of painting by Serov: “no matter how excited he was with the purely color task facing him, he was even more excited by the model itself, the clear, childishly clear eyes of a wonderful Russian girl and her whole charming image. Serov succeeded in this task admirably: he created one of the most precious works of the entire Russian school of painting.
Analysis of the painting "Girl with Peaches"
Being a true master of light painting, the artist creates a kind of veil of mystery on the girl's clean and feminine face. The living room window, like a mirror, reflects all the childish joy and liveliness of the child. But the expression of the girl’s face itself, pure and slightly mysterious, lively, but a little serious, suggests that we are no longer a small, unintelligent child, but a growing up and already slightly imitating adults girl.
Compositionally, the picture is verified to the smallest detail, but it is done so masterfully that the viewer does not notice it. Vera's face is located at a height of three-quarters along the middle vertical axis and in the center of the canvas horizontally, which is an indispensable feature of traditional classical painting. However, the situation, the objects in the picture were supposed to reflect the liveliness of the girl, the inner stillness. The diagonal arrangement of the table, flying large strokes, glare of light and bright spots - all this allows you to breathe life into a portrait that is static in its essence. As a result, it seems to the viewer that the picture is not staged, the child did not pose, no - this is just a moment torn from a dynamic childhood life, that bright moment when the artist managed to catch a moment of calm contemplation.
The colors of the portrait are wonderful. Bright and pale pink, Vera's blouse shimmering in the sun is not an invention of the artist, but her real clothes. Serov saw the girl in his elegant blouse and asked not to change anything for the portrait. Special purity and light are conveyed by this cute and gentle outfit.
In the window behind the girl, bright and sunny golden leaves are visible. Serov painted the picture in late summer - early autumn, and the trees had already changed their green foliage for autumn "dress". The picture only benefited from this - the light appears to us in all its shades: bright spots on Vera's blouse, light reflections on the dishes and the wall, yellow rays of the sun from the window.
An amazing combination of light delicate shades and dark colors also contributes to the transfer of internal dynamics and some “snatching” of the moment. Vera's dark head of hair, tanned skin, dark peaches and almost black furniture frame bright and transparent shades, allowing you to look more closely at the girl's face. Fingers clasping a peach, a curve of lips that are about to break into a smile - all this makes you believe that in another moment - and the girl will grab her delicacy and run away to the street - where the bright sun and fine warm day.
In fact, approaching plot picture, "Girl with Peaches" becomes more than just a portrait. The plot seems banal: a girl in a pink blouse with a black bow and a red carnation sits at a table covered with a snow-white tablecloth; on the table are peaches, torn off with leaves, and a knife; trees in golden decoration are visible from the window; the room is carefully painted along with all the chairs, a white plate with a blue pattern on the wall and a wooden figure of a grenadier (painted, by the way, by Serov himself) behind the girl. But it is the light that makes the composition so solid and... not random! Soft warm rays touch the girl and every object in the room, illuminating everything around with pure light. "Girl with Peaches" has become a real harmony of light and shadow, static and dynamics. The picture, full of the finest transitions, precise strokes and bright highlights, surprisingly subtly united the beauty of painting a specific image and the generalization of everything beautiful and bright that exists in youth.
She died very early - at thirty-two years old, and everyone who is at least a little familiar with Russian painting will forever remember her as a twelve-year-old. Such as it was written by Valentin Serov in "The Girl with Peaches". But, besides Serov, Viktor Vasnetsov, Nikolai Kuznetsov, Mikhail Vrubel wrote to Vera Mamontov.
She was the beloved and long-awaited daughter of the railway magnate, the most famous industrialist and entrepreneur Savva Ivanovich Mamontov and his wife Elizaveta Grigorievna. Before Vera, they had already had three sons and, according to family legend, after the third birth, when it became clear that there would be a boy again, Elizaveta Grigorievna promised her husband: “But the next girl will certainly be born!” And so it happened. After three boys, two more daughters appeared in the Mamontov family - Vera and Alexandra.
And it was no coincidence that she was named Vera.
The Mamontovs chose the names of their children with intent: their first letters were to sequentially make up the name SAVVA: Sergey - Andrey - Vsevolod - Vera - Alexandra.
Elizaveta Mamontova was truly, without hypocrisy and hypocrisy, religious. Valentin Serov wrote to his fiancee Olga Trubnikova: “Here, at the Mamontovs, they pray and fast a lot, that is, Elizaveta Grigoryevna and the children with her. I do not understand this, I do not condemn, I have no right to condemn religiosity and Elizabeth Gr<игорьевну>because I respect her too much - I just do not understand all these rituals. I always stand like such a fool in the church (in Russian, especially, I can’t stand deacons, etc.), I feel ashamed. I don’t know how to pray, and it’s impossible when there is absolutely no idea about God.”
But for Elizaveta Grigoryevna, what caused the rejection of her favorite Antosha Serov was full of deep meaning. The name "Faith" for her was associated with the most important Christian virtue: faith was an integral part of her spiritual life.
Savva Mamontov with daughters Vera (pictured right) and Alexandra.
Elizaveta Grigoryevna Mamontova with her daughter Vera.
Vera Mamontov. Abramtsevo. 1890s
An atmosphere of creativity, joy, mutual sympathy and love reigned in the Mamontovs' house on Sadovo-Spasskaya, known throughout enlightened Moscow, and especially in their Abramtsevo estate near Moscow. Artists, sculptors, writers, musicians gathered there. Home performances, hide-and-seek and tag, playing towns - ordinary and special, "literary", Cossack robbers, in which the artist Repin participates along with children, and his own children's boat "fleet" on the Vorya River, led by the artist Polenov, horseback riding , fascinating creative activities - woodcarving, watercolor, ceramics ... So Serov's complaints about Verushi posing for him are easily explained. “Tormented her, poor thing, to death” - the girl was eager to run away to do something more interesting. And yet, for almost a month and a half, Vera obediently sat at the table in the Abramtsevo living room. Such was the price of a masterpiece.
About ten years before this landmark moment for Russian art, the aged Ivan Turgenev visited Abramtsevo. He visited the estate long before the Mamontovs bought it. Turgenev, like Gogol, was a welcome guest of the former owner, the writer Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov. Now the author of "A Hunter's Notes" examined the estate renovated by the efforts of the Mammoths and recalled with nostalgia how they used to hunt here, go for mushrooms, and fish. Turgenev funny told that Aksakov meticulously recorded in his diary: in 1817, 1858 shots were fired on a hunt, 863 game units were killed, and in 1819 - so much ... Once on a fishing trip, Turgenev incredibly upset Aksakov, who was proud of his book “Notes on fishing”, by the fact that while the fisherman-theorist and the owner of the estate caught only a brush and a roach, Turgenev was lucky to extract a pike one and a half arshin. Behind these cheerful conversations, the living classic met the younger Mamontova.
In the fictional presentation of Vladislav Bahrevsky, it looks like this:
“We came to the red living room, sat down.
Flushed, blowing off a strand of hair that was creeping into her face, Verusha, red-cheeked and shining in her eyes, ran in.
- Oh, what an angel! - exclaimed Ivan Sergeevich and held out his hands, inviting the girl to him.
The fearless Verusha, without hesitation, threw herself into the arms of a giant with a white head, settled on her knees.
- She's three and a half? Turgenev asked.
- There will be three in October.
So I'm not quite old yet. If a person has not forgotten how to understand how old children are, he is fit for life.
- Verusha is very playful. She looks older than her years, - Elizaveta Grigoryevna agreed ... "
There is no doubt that the charming Vera Mamontova was a universal favorite from birth. This is also evidenced by the memoirs and letters of numerous family friends. Once Savva Ivanovich sent a family photo to a close friend, sculptor Mark Antokolsky. Antokolsky's response letter - enthusiastically:
“Your photograph is so charming that you rejoice and laugh with you. May God bless you always and laugh. Abramtsevo goddess charm, charm! Kiss her, please, for me. In a word, I repeat about everything: “charm, charm!” And this is the absolute truth.”
"Abramtsevo goddess" and "charm", as you might guess, Mark Matveyevich calls Vera.
Vera Mamontova posing in an armchair for artist Nikolai Kuznetsov. Photo. 1880s
Vera Mamontova, dressed in the costume of the biblical Joseph to participate in home performance. 1880s
Easter table in the Mammoth family. 1888 At the table - Vera with her older brothers.
Living picture "Russian dance". Vera with her cousin Ivan Mamontov. 1895 year.
Vera and Vsevolod Mamontov on horseback in Abramtsevo.
In memoirs about the Abramtsevo circle, one can often find the words "Yashkin's hut" or "Yashkin's house". Either Ilya Repin and his family will be settled in this “hut on chicken legs” by the owners of Abramtsev for the summer, or the Vasnetsov brothers. The eldest, Victor, admitted that nowhere had he worked so calmly and well as here, and the youngest, Apollinaris, even entered Yashkin's hut into his landscape.
What is this name? The Abramtsevo Chronicle helps to find out - a journal where they recorded all the most important things: what they worked on, what they played, what they were doing and who came to visit. At the beginning of May 1877, Savva Mamontov made a note by hand: “A separate dacha called“ Yashkin dom ”was built. This name was given because little Verushka called this house her own, and since her nickname was “Yashka”, then the house was called Yashkin.
Mamontov's biographer Bakhrevsky explains the origin of the nickname: "Little Verusha has had a lot of yakal since childhood." Well, perhaps so - for everyone's favorite in that there would be nothing out of the ordinary. But in the Mamontovs, as in many families, this was a common thing, all children were given affectionate nicknames: Andrei was called Dryusha, Vsevolod - Voka, Vera - Yashka, the younger Alexandra - Shurenka-Murenko. It seems that for the Mamontovs, this was the very “everyday exchange of family jokes hidden from others that make up the secret cipher of happy families,” as Vladimir Nabokov would wonderfully formulate much later in Other Shores.
Yashkin house
Apollinary Mikhailovich Vasnetsov
When "The Girl with Peaches" was written, Verusha was 12, Serov - 22. As a ten-year-old boy, Serov first came to Abramtsevo, Vera had just been born at that time. He was the same age as her beloved brothers, from childhood he lived with the Mamontovs for a long time, participated in many Abramtsevo "creative outrages." He was completely his own in the mammoth family.
Vsevolod, the elder brother of Vera, recalled Valentin Serov: “He was touchingly friends with my sisters, who were much younger than him, and at the same time he endured all sorts of pranks surprisingly good-naturedly ... On the basis of this friendship, the famous Serov’s“ Girl with Peaches ”was born. , one of the pearls of the Russian portrait painting. It was only thanks to his friendship that Serov managed to persuade my sister Vera to pose for him. On a fine summer day, a twelve-year-old cheerful, lively girl is so drawn to freedom, to run around, to play pranks. And then sit in the room at the table, and even move less. This work of Serov required many sessions, my sister had to pose for her for a long time. Yes, Anton himself admitted the slowness of his work, he was very tormented by this and subsequently told his sister that he was her indebted debtor.
Vsevolod and Vera Mamontov. Photos from the 1880s.
Valentin Serov (far left) in the office of the Moscow Mamontov House. At the piano - artist Ilya Ostroukhov. Standing: Savva Mamontov's nephews and his son Sergei. Photo from the 1880s
The artist of the older generation Viktor Vasnetsov treated Vera with special tenderness. He saw her in a completely different way than young Serov. Fascinated by Russian antiquity, Vasnetsov wrote to Vera Mamontova in the form of a hawthorn. Both this dushegreya embroidered with gold and the “brocaded kichka on the crown” were surprisingly black-eyed, serious, with thick sable eyebrows and the legendary blush inherited from her mother by Vera, the daughter of the hereditary merchant Savva Mamontov. And Vasnetsov took a comic promise from Vera that she would certainly marry a Russian. At the wedding of Vera's fiancé Alexander Samarin (who completely satisfied Vasnetsov's wishes, since he came from ancient pillar nobles), the artist presented another portrait of Vera - "Girl with a Maple Branch". She is depicted on it in the same simple and sweet pearl-colored dress in which she will marry Samarin. “It was the type of a real Russian girl in character, beauty of her face, charm,” Vasnetsov will say with admiration and bitterness about Vera after her sudden death.
Workshop in Abramtsevo. On the wall is a portrait of Vera Mamontova by Vasnetsov. Under the glass is her outfit. Photo source: anashina.com
Of course, Vasnetsov's portraits of Vera cannot be compared in popularity with Serov's Girl with Peaches. But Vasnetsov also has a completely textbook picture, inspired by the image of Vera Mamontova - “Alyonushka”. The direct model for her was another girl, a poor orphan from a village neighboring Abramtsev, but it was Vera who became the source of inspiration. Vasnetsov wrote:
“The critics and, finally, myself, since I have a sketch from one orphan girl from Akhtyrka, have established that my “Alyonushka” is a natural-genre thing!
Don't know!
May be.
But I will not hide the fact that I really looked into the features of the face, especially into the radiance of the eyes of Verusha Mamontova, when I wrote Alyonushka. Here are the wonderful Russian eyes that looked at me and the whole of God's world in Abramtsevo, and in Akhtyrka, and in Vyatka villages, and on Moscow streets and bazaars, and forever live in my soul and warm it!
Vera's family life was happy, although, alas, short-lived.
And the marriage union itself between Vera Savvishna Mamontova and Alexander Dmitrievich Samarin became possible far from immediately.
In the mid-1890s, Vera Mamontova was engaged in social work in schools and shelters, following in this her mother Elizaveta Grigoryevna, who did a lot to ensure that schools appeared in the neighboring villages of Abramtsevo, Akhtyrka and Khotkovo, an infirmary and craft workshops that helped to employ peasant children. after graduation. Having grown up among people of art, Vera attended lectures in Moscow on history and literature. There she met Sofya Samarina, the niece of the Slavophil Yuri Samarin and a representative of a noble family, related to the Volkonsky, Trubetskoy, Golitsyn, Yermolov, Obolensky, poet Zhukovsky.
Sofya and Vera became close friends, and Mamontova began to visit her friend in the house. There he met with Alexander, Sophia's brother. Charming Vera captivated her seven-year-old Alexander Dmitrievich immediately and forever. He asked his parents for blessings for marriage with Vera Savvishna, but each time he received a categorical refusal. The owners of an ancient noble family and vast land allotments did not even want to hear about intermarrying with the Mamontov merchants. It was for Russian artists that Verusha was inspiration and "charm" - and for the older Samarins, she remained the daughter of a dubious "millionaire". “To marry a merchant means to dilute the blue ancient blood of the nobles too thick, too red,” Bakhrevsky figuratively explains the resulting rejection. And then a period of serious trials began for the Mamontovs: he left the family, carried away by the soloist of his Private Opera Tatyana Lyubatovich, Savva Ivanovich, and in 1900 he was accused of embezzlement, arrested, and lost a significant part of his fortune. The scandals were public, covered in detail in the press. The Samarins pushed Vera Mamontova away, they did not want to hear about her.
So, in a state of complete and painful uncertainty, several years passed. The feelings of Vera and Alexander Dmitrievich did not die and did not weaken. And in 1901, Samarin decided to try again to get permission from his seventy-year-old father to marry Vera. The father refused this time. Apparently, the conversation was so difficult that after it the elder Samarin was smashed by a blow, and soon he was gone. More than a year had passed since his death, when Varvara Petrovna's mother, Samarina, finally gave in and blessed her son for marriage.
January 26, 1903 Vera Mamontova and Alexander Samarin went down the aisle. One after another, three children were born in their family: Yura, Liza and Seryozha. But a marriage built on deep mutual respect and love that survived many years of trials lasted less than five years. He was cut short by the sudden death of Vera on December 27, 1907. A young woman burned out in three days from transient pneumonia.
Alexander Samarin outlived his beloved by exactly a quarter of a century and was never married again. He remained in Russian history as an independent value, not just "the husband of a girl with peaches." Since 1908, Samarin was the Moscow provincial marshal of the nobility, since 1915 - chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod and a member of the State Council. After his resignation from the post of chief prosecutor, he was the chief representative of the Russian Red Cross, chairman of the Moscow Diocesan Congress. Alexander Samarin was repeatedly promoted to those positions in the hierarchy of the Russian Church, which before him could not be occupied by the laity - only clergy; the rarest case. In 1919 he was arrested by the Soviets and sentenced to death, but the sentence was later overturned. In 1925, he was again arrested and exiled to Yakutia for three years. In 1931, he was arrested again. According to the recollections of those who were exiled together with the husband of Vera Savvishna, even there he remained true to his monarchical and religious convictions, worked hard - taught doctors German, was engaged in a book on the Yakut grammar.
The upbringing of Vera's orphaned children was taken over by her younger sister Alexandra.
Alexander Dmitrievich and Vera Savvishna Samarina.
Vera Savvishna Samarina with her son Yuri. 1904
Memorial service for Vera Savvishna, served in the Abramtsevo Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands. 1908
Savva Mamontov (center) with grandchildren Seryozha, Liza and Yura (Vera's children). 1910. Far left - Alexandra Mamontova, Vera's younger sister, who devoted herself to raising her little nephews.
Alexander Samarin with his daughter Elizabeth.
Lisa and Yura Samarina (Vera's children) and Natasha Polenova (the artist's daughter).
Daughter and husband of Vera Samarina (Mamontova) in Yakut exile. Late 1920s.
Probably, after the fact, after the death of the "Abramtsevo goddess", someone remembered bad omen. Indeed, long before her physical death, Vera was already “dying” in Mikhail Vrubel’s drawing “Tamara in the Coffin”, made in expressive and ominous black watercolor.
The children of Savva Mamontov, with whom Vrubel was friends, often served as his models. He was friends with Andrei Mamontov, who died early, also an artist and aspiring architect. From another Vera brother, Vsevolod, the artist borrowed many features for the Demon and Lermontov's Kazbich, from Vera herself he painted Tamara.
And Vera, teasingly, called her friend Vrubel "Monelli". In the Roman dialect, it means "baby, sparrow" (Wróbel in Polish - sparrow). Some found such a reversal of the surname very offensive. But it is known that Vrubel, who was very capricious, did not have an accommodating character and was categorically sharp in his judgments, wrote only those for whom he felt sympathy.
Perhaps the best of all is Vrubel’s attitude to Vera and the Abramtsevo atmosphere itself - the atmosphere of “warmth of a unifying secret”, a happy creative conspiracy, without which neither Alyonushka, nor The Girl with Peaches, nor Vrubel’s masterpieces would have arisen - conveys the story recorded by his son Professor Adrian Prakhov Nikolai. Once, while visiting Abramtsevo, Vrubel was late for evening tea. He unexpectedly appeared in the dining room “at the moment when Verushka said something in a whisper to my sister who was sitting next to her ... Mikhail Alexandrovich exclaimed: “Speak everything in a whisper! Speak in a whisper! - I just thought of one thing. It will be called - "The Secret". We all began to fool around, whisper something to a neighbor or neighbor. Even the always quiet and calm “Aunt Liza” (Vera’s mother Elizaveta Grigorievna) smiled, looking at us, and she herself asked Vrubel in a whisper: “Do you want another cup of tea?”
A day later, Mikhail Alexandrovich brought to evening tea a female head entwined with the sacred Egyptian snake Urea.
- Here is my "Secret", - said Vrubel.
- No, - they objected to him, - this is the "Egyptian" ...
M.A. Vrubel. Egyptian
M.A. Vrubel "Tamara in the coffin".
Original article:
Sometimes it's better not to know the life history of character prototypes famous works. The girl with peaches in reality lived only 32 years (she died of pneumonia), her husband did not marry again, and three children remained. The future in the eyes of the heroine of the painting by Valentin Serov is not readable. She does not even show that she is the daughter of a wealthy industrialist.
1. Girl. The mischievous character of Vera Mamontova is read both in her sly look and in the fold of her lips - and look she will laugh. Disheveled hair, a blush all over her face, a flaming earlobe indicate that she has just been running around the yard. And in a minute he will jump up and run further. Nevertheless, this was her first experience of prolonged posing. Art critic Eleanor Paston says: “It is believed that Vrubel gave her external features to “Snow Maiden”, “Egyptian”, Tamara in the illustrations for “Demon”. Vera Savvishna was eventually nicknamed the "Abramtsevo goddess". Her portraits were also painted by Vasnetsov (“Girl with a Maple Branch”, “Boyaryshnya”).
2. Blouse. Vera is wearing casual clothes, albeit decorated with a bright bow. The loose blouse feels a bit baggy and too childish for an 11 year old girl. The fact that she does not change clothes specifically for posing emphasizes the spontaneity of the situation and the simplicity of the relationship. The pink blouse becomes the brightest and most festive accent of the picture, and it seems that the light comes not only from the window, but also from the heroine.
3. Room. The scene of action is the dining room of the Mamontovs in the Abramtsevo estate, one of the enfilade rooms.
4. Table. There were always a lot of people at the large sliding table - family members and friends. Eleanor Paston says that Serov often worked here.
5. Peaches grown in the Mammoth greenhouse. The family bought trees for her in the estates of Artemovo and Zhilkino in 1871. The peaches were grown by the Artyomovsky gardener, whom the Mamontovs invited to their place after he sold them the trees.
6. Maple leaves. Serov finished work on the portrait in September. The yellowing foliage outside the window and on the table is evidence of the girl's long patience. In addition, autumn maple leaves next to summer peaches seem to remind you that life is fleeting, and you should rejoice while you are young and the sun is shining.
7. Grenadier. The toy wooden soldier in the left corner is a product of Sergiev Posad handicraftsmen. According to Elena Mitrofanova, Deputy Director for Science at the Abramtsevo Museum-Reserve, the Mamontovs bought the toy at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in 1884. The figurine was unpainted, Serov painted it. In the Abramtsevo Museum there is even a sketch of the painting made by the artist. The grenadier is still on the bedside table in the same corner.
8. Red living room. The next room, part of which is visible on the left, is the so-called Red Drawing Room, where writers and artists, friends of the Mamontovs, gathered. There they read the works of Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev by roles, played music, discussed.
9. Chairs. Solid mahogany chairs went to the Mamontovs from the Aksakovs along with the tradition of artistic gatherings. The two that stand by the window - with lyre-shaped backs - were very fashionable in early XIX century, and at the end of it have already turned into antiques. A jacob chair is visible in the Red Drawing Room. Similar furniture of strict straight outlines, with gilded brass inserts, appeared in Russia under Catherine II. In Abramtsevo, both the lyre chairs and the jacob, which still stands in the Red Drawing Room, have been preserved.
10. Window the dining room, as well as the terrace adjoining the Red Drawing Room, opens onto the Abramtsevsky Park, on the alley named Gogolevskaya in honor of the writer who loved to walk here. It can be seen that the window frames are far from new, the paint on them has peeled off in some places. This adds to the picture of naturalness and a sense of that comfort that can only be experienced in "native walls".
11. Plate. Savva Mamontov was fond of applied arts. In 1889, he even opened a pottery workshop at the estate, in which ceramics were created using the majolica technique. In particular, Vrubel was engaged in this. The fate of the plate depicted by Serov two years before the opening of the workshop is unknown, but it is so harmoniously inscribed in the interior that later another majolica plate appeared on the same wall, already from the Mamontovs' workshop. It still hangs in the dining room at this place.
On an August day in 1887, 11-year-old Vera Mamontova, distracted from street games, ran into the house and sat down at the table, grabbing a peach. Her cheerful appearance impressed Valentin Serov so much that he invited the girl to pose. The artist knew the model from infancy. He often visited and even lived for a long time at the Abramtsevo estate of the Mamontovs, which they bought from the daughter of the writer Sergei Aksakov in 1870. Even under the Aksakovs, the estate was the center of Russian cultural life. Under the Mammoth tradition continued. Turgenev, Repin, Vrubel, Antokolsky stayed here... Abramtsevo was both a “house of creativity” and a place where friends gathered in an atmosphere of home comfort.
For the first time Serov was brought to Abramtsevo by his mother-composer in 1875. He grew up with the older children of the Mamontovs, constantly enduring their pranks. The younger Vera also made fun of the young Serov. Everything changed in 1887 when the 22-year-old artist returned from Italy inspired by sunny landscapes and Renaissance masterpieces. Then Serov, according to his memoirs, had a dope in his head and a desire to "write only gratifying." Until recently, the artist was an unwitting participant in Vera's games, and now she, who until now no one could force to sit still, posed for him for hours every day for almost two months. On the part of the girl, it was a tribute to a kindred close relationship. And the picture was "a kind of Serov's gratitude to the warmth and comfort of the Mamontovs' house, which became a second family for the artist," says Doctor of Art History, senior researcher Tretyakov Gallery Eleanor Paston.
“There are creations of the human spirit, the intentions of their creators that outgrow many times over ... These ... must include that amazing Serov's portrait. From the etude "girl in pink"... it has grown into one of the most remarkable works of Russian painting", - the artist Igor Grabar wrote about the painting.
Valentin Serov presented the painting to Vera's mother, Elizaveta Mamontova, and for a long time the portrait was in Abramtsevo, in the same room where it was painted. Now a copy hangs there, and the original is exhibited in the Tretyakov Gallery.
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1865
- Born in St. Petersburg. |
ARTISTAnd they are familiar with at least a few of their canvases. But when it comes to impressionism with Russian roots, it turns out that most of our contemporaries have a very vague idea of what shoots these roots gave rise to. Here with realism - everything is in order here! Russian artists truthfully showed... angrily denounced... called upon with their paintings... and so on. Undoubtedly, they showed, and denounced, and called, but they also felt and conveyed sensations in their works. The work of many Russian painters is most directly related to impressionism, and their work is world art criticism recognized as bright and worthy examples of this direction.
One of the very first paintings created in this direction in Russia was a portrait of Vera Mamontova, which is known as "Girl with Peaches".
Valentin Alexandrovich Serov entered the annals of Russian painting as a wonderful landscape painter, a master of paintings on historical and everyday topics.
But a special line in the list of the artist's paintings is his numerous portraits.
Famous statesmen and figures of literature and art, secular ladies and very young girls, charming children and images of people wise in life experience - from their faces framed by frames, you can create a whole art gallery.
But if we imagine that a huge number of these portraits were not created, but only one was painted, then even then the name of the artist would not be “lost”, because it is simply impossible not to pay attention to such a face.
"Girl with peaches", which is called one of the most famous paintings in Russian painting, Valentin Serov painted when he was only 22 years old. It was the summer of 1887, the artist had recently returned from a trip to Italy, bright impressions of a sunny country, amazing architecture and brilliant Italian art overwhelmed him. He wrote:
"IN this century they write everything that is difficult, but I want, I want what is gratifying and I will write only what is gratifying.
The estate of the famous Russian philanthropist Savva Mamontov, Abramtsevo, has always been such a “pleasant” place for the artist. In this family, Serov was known and loved from his youth, his friends came to paint the most beautiful surrounding landscapes, and the very atmosphere of the hospitable manor estate was conducive to creativity.
For the next picture, the artist chose a very young model - the daughter of the owner of the house, Vera Mamontova. The twelve-year-old girl was not a beauty, but her face with bright lips, dark "currant" eyes and a gentle blush just begged for the canvas. In working on it, the artist used techniques typical of impressionism: plein-air painting, a subtle color palette, light pouring from the windows, which creates a luminous halo around the figure sitting at the table.
But in this work there are not only tricks - they would not be worth much without the most important thing - Valentin Serov managed to convey a momentary feeling of happiness, youth, the joy of being. Looking at the picture, one gets the impression that this is a “frame” taken at random from life, seen by the artist’s attentive and benevolent eyes: that the maple leaf fluttered on a branch quite recently, that the peach with a ruddy side will soon be eaten, and the tablecloth was wrapped on the table, because that there are small children in the house who can pull her to the floor. The "live" brush of the master captured only one moment of the wonderful summer day and serene life of a teenage girl. The art critic Mark Kopshitzer very accurately said about this feeling:
“... life goes on outside the picture and is the beginning of a big world that has not fallen on the canvas, where there are chairs, and tables, and other peaches, and other girls”
The picture was highly appreciated by critics, who were unanimous in their opinion that it was painted in the traditions of impressionism, and a master of European scale appeared in Russian painting. The artist presented this canvas to Vera's mother, and for a long time it hung in the very room where the picture was painted. It is currently exhibited at the Tretyakov Gallery.
Vera Mamontova subsequently had to pose for great painters more than once. So, two of her portraits were painted by the Russian artist Viktor Vasnetsov.
Unfortunately, this wonderful woman passed away early, at the age of 33. Her husband, the leader of the Moscow provincial nobility, and then the chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod, Alexander Dmitrievich Samarin, suffered a hard loss. He remained faithful to Vera until the end of his life, and in memory of her in the village of Averkievo he built the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in XVII style century.
Many members of the famous Abramtsevo circle took part in its design, for example, tiles were made according to sketches. Currently, it is one of the many functioning churches in the Moscow region.
