Apollinary Mikhailovich Vasnetsov is less known than his famous older brother, a “fantastic painter” Viktor Mikhailovich (“Alyonushka”, “Heroes” etc).
With the aim to acquaint respectable audience with the life and work of this amazing Russian artist and scientist, Russian state library opens its collections. On 15 July — 10 August 2016 it invites all its readers in the Rumyantsev reading room of the Pashkov House (Vozdvizhenka str., 3/5, korp. 1).
Vasnetsov Apollinary Mikhailovich (1856-1933) – painter of landscapes, author of the historical landscapes of Moscow of the XII-XVII centuries. He was born in the family of orthodox priest, graduated from Seminary, worked as a school teacher during the fascination with populism. He studied from his brother Victor Vasnetsov and Polish artist M-E. Andreoli and also from V. D. Polenov, I. E. Repin, M. M. Antokolsky, V. M. Maximov.
In his canvases (“a Street in Kitai-gorod. The beginning of the XVII century”, “Moskvoretsky bridge and Water gate. The middle of the XVII century”, etc.) from the history of Moscow A. M. Vasnetsov carefully recreates the appearance of pre-Petrine Russia. He is a prominent scholar of the period. Since 1918 he headed the Commission for the study of old Moscow
The exhibition, although representing several stands around the reading room, according to the guardian book collections of Vera Burtseva, causing a lively interest among the visitors of the library. “This exhibition is small, it consists of the Moscow Fund of local history,” she says. “He was a member of the historical society “Old Moscow”. He worked there and was chosen its Chairman. During 4 years he successfully chaired and managed to make a lot of reports.”
The Commission “Old Moscow” that studies the ancient monuments and try to preserve them in their original form was founded in 14 December 1909 at the Imperial Moscow archaeological society. By 1917, the Commission has become a major popular scientific local lore society on the basis of which arose the Commission for the study of old Moscow in 1918. It existed until 1938, while it is not strictly dispersed power. Reports, photographs and drawings were transferred to the main library of the country, where they are stored.
Each stand is deployed in a visual form section consisting of scientific and art works by Apollinary Vasnetsov, on his paintings and scientific reports. The library has formed the following thematic sections of the exhibition: “Bridges of old Moscow”, “Public bath in Moscow”, “the Tower of Moscow”, “Moscow gates”, “Moscow’s Plans on drawings of foreign travelers”.
A wonderful exhibition gives a unique opportunity to see sketches of the master, but also to feel the unusual thoroughness of his approach to the study of antiquities. Apollinary Mikhailovich drew his interest to a painting or a fragment of a report with many maps of the time (all figures mark the object and refer to the source map), and only then he started to create his masterpieces.
«A. M. Vasnetsov took the Swedish, Dutch and other foreign geographic maps XVI-XVII centures (there is not so much maps of that kind, only half a dozen), containing small images of houses and various objects, towers, bridges and compared them with each other. Here we see the objects of the excavations, which were attended by the artist himself”, – says Vladimir Burtsev. She drew attention to the fact that the nature of its activities A. Vasnetsov – interpreter of antiquity, his approach distinguishes historicism.
Each stand-topic of the exhibition will allow to obtain multidimensional vision of life of old Moscow. For example, to know what were the public baths – the Soviet public bath is quite different from the old, wooden ones.
In General, the exhibition arises the image of Moscow of the XVI-XVII centuries, which aimed to show the brothers Vasnetsovs.
Sources: Encyclopedia of Russian painting. // ed Kalashnikova T. V. – M.: “OLMA-Press”, 1999.
