Аннотация: A goblet of success. A note on chapters 9-12 of the book "Vereshchagin"
A goblet of success. A note on chapters 9-12 of the book "Vereshchagin"
Chapters 9-12 of the book 'Vereshchagin' (by author A.I. Kudrya) can be seen as illustrations of thorns (traps, 'mines') on the path of a successful creative person.
Here are conflicts with the authorities, with official structures, tensions with former and current friends, dangers awaiting a traveler in a distant, unfamiliar country, financial problems, an array of difficulties associated with building at a considerable distance (of an art workshop), a lawsuit ...
The conflict begins - with the persons of power (the artist Vereshchagin went a little beyond the set boundaries ... The painting 'The Forgotten Soldier' caused particular irritation ... Can there be a 'forgotten soldier' in the Russian imperial army?).
The conflict with the Academy of Arts (Vereshchagin publicly refused the title of professor).
The situation around the acquisition of the Turkestan collection is not very clear (the Emperor did not seem to show initiative in acquiring the collection. Intensive negotiations are ongoing between Tretyakov and Botkin ...).
'From Darjeeling, Vereshchagin sent a letter to Stasov with a request to send him part of means received after sale the collection of Turkestan paintings, 15 thousand rubles, which was necessary to take from Gaines. The lack of letters from Gaines seriously worried the artist, and he ceased to trust his former friend. " (Here and further - quotes from the book by A.I. Kudrya 'Vereshchagin').
The collection was sold for 92 thousand rubles. 'During the trip, Vereshchagin finally lost faith in his former friend General Gaines: he did not answer letters, ignored all the artist's requests. Now, Vladimir Vasilievich Stasov became the person closest to him. He provided mediation in financial matters. Vereshchagin wrote to him: 'Send the money that my father sent me here. Here life and travel are very expensive. '
Thus, the author of the book "Vereshchagin", A.I. Kudrya, shifts the reader's attention from 92 thousand rubles, for which the collection was sold (through General Gaines?), to the money received by the artist from his father ...
The construction of an art workshop in Paris begins (Vereshchagin at that time in India). An increasing number of instructions, addressed by Vereshchagin to Stasov, overload and annoy Stasov, their relations are heating up ...
The traveler 's excitement, on the one hand, and the "bona fide advices" of informed people, on the other hand, posed some additional risks and generated some negative emotions while traveling through India.
Success can become an independent problem.
Problems receded before the energy of Vasily Vereshchagin. With seemingly ease, he goes to India, settles in India, is engaged in creativity in India.
A separate topic is the travel of the Vereshchagin and his wife across India ...
'... Against the last part, that is, a suspicions that I engaged in espionage, [I ask you to] state a protest in the most energetic way. Announce publicly that my very independence, as a person and an artist, already excludes any possibility of such suspicions ... "
'The original project of the workshop of architect Kupinsky ('in the Russian style') Vereshchagin did not satisfy: too many excesses, a non-necessary details. And the French architect and contractors who proposed his project, taking advantage of the customer's economic inexperience, shamelessly robbed him and delayed the construction. The artist temporarily rented a studio for work on the outskirts of Paris, but its small size was not suitable for the execution of his "colossal" paintings. The money once received from the sale of Turkestan paintings to Tretyakov was over, and debts were growing. 'I sold the forest by 6,000 rubles, but this help is insignificant,' Vereshchagin complains in a letter to Stasov. It was necessary to turn to P. M. Tretyakov with a request - to lend ten thousand rubles until better times. The moment for the art collector is not the most convenient. "At present, with unprecedented lack of money, widespread stagnation of trade, bankruptcies - to make this loan ... it was not easy for me, but not impossible," wrote Tretyakov to Kramskoi. Despite his own cramped circumstances, Pavel Mikhaylovich made a step towards the artist, the man, whom he greatly appreciated, and thanks to the loan, Vereshchagin's financial problems were resolved.'
'... had to deal with litigation in Paris. Someone Bruno Lorch, Vereshchagin's confidant, when buying a plot of land and building a workshop there, unscrupulously deceived him and robbed him of 25 thousand francs. When, in a letter to the artist close to Lorch, Gromme, Vereshchagin inadvertently spoke about the 'Canal trick' [dishonest actions] and called Lorch a thief, the recipient advised Lorch to go to court. The hearing of this case took place in March. Although Lorch and Gromme stated in court that the customer allegedly damaged their business reputation by accusing them of fraud, the plaintiffs' arguments were not taken into account. Vereshchagin informed Stasov, that during the meeting, 'Gromme and Lorch failed in the most shameful way,' and the court dismissed the case...'.
A happiness was going with Vasily Vereshchagin along a life path. He returned from India alive, although his health deteriorated. Many creative people prefer to travel in the company of a loved one - but not everyone succeeds. Vasily Vereshchagin traveled with his wife. Workshop in Paris built. (Vereshchagin did not die and did not come to bankruptcy during construction - which often happens. One of the rare examples of successful construction of a house by a creative person). 'In the fall of that year, Vereshchagin finally moved to his house with a workshop in Maisons-Laffitte. This house was located half an hour from Paris, twenty kilometers from the city. The land purchased by the artist was an area of one and a half hectares. His new address is Maisons-Laffitte, Avenue Kléber. 48. "
The cooling of relations between representatives of the governing layer of the Russian Empire and Vasily Vereshchagin may not have been a random process. Vereshchagin could observe a lot of details personally ... About something he might have thought, had his own opinion, but avoided talking ... Spectators of paintings by Vasily Vereshchagin could (in past) and can (now) compare the general tone as of the "Turkestan" collection and so of the "Indian" series ...
Having drunk a full goblet of success, and having drunk several drops from a cup of problems, Vasily Vereshchagin headed in 1877 to the Balkans, where the war between two empires - the Russian and the Ottoman - began ...
May 20, 2020 09:18
Translation from Russian into English: May 20, 2020 11:34.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский 'Бокал успеха. Заметка о главах 9-12 книги 'Верещагин''.