Editing Viktor Vasnetsov

{{Short description|Russian painter (1848–1926)}}
{{family name hatnote|Mikhaylovich|[[Vasnetsov]]|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox artist
| name        = Viktor Vasnetsov
| native_name = {{Nobold|Виктор Васнецов}}
| native_name_lang = ru
| image       = Vasnetsov VM.jpg 
| caption     = Vasnetsov in 1895
| image_size   = 
| birth_name  = Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov
| birth_date  = 15 May 1848<ref name=brit>[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Viktor-Mikhaylovich-Vasnetsov Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov]. Encyclopaedia Britannica</ref>
| birth_place = Lopyal, [[Vyatka Governorate]], Russian Empire<ref name=brit/><!-- DO NOT LINK, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] for further guidance -->
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|1926|07|23|1848|05|15|df=y}}<ref name=brit/>
| death_place = Moscow, Russian SFSR<ref name=brit/><!-- DO NOT LINK, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] for further guidance -->, Soviet Union<!-- DO NOT LINK, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] for further guidance -->
| field       = Painting
| training    = [[Imperial Academy of Arts]]
| movement    = [[Symbolism (arts)|Symbolism]]; [[History painting]], [[Peredvizhniki]]
| works       = {{Plainlist|
* ''A Knight at the Crossroads''
* ''[[Bogatyrs]]''
}}
| patrons     = {{Hlist|[[Pavel Tretyakov]]|[[Savva Mamontov]]}}
| relatives   = [[Apollinary Vasnetsov|Apollinary]] (brother)
|signature=Viktor Vasnetsov Signature 1886.png
}}

'''Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov''' ({{langx|ru|link=no|Ви́ктор Миха́йлович Васнецо́в}}; 15 May ([[New Style|N.S.]]), 1848 – 23 July 1926) was a Russian artist who specialised in [[mythological]] and historical subjects. He is considered a co-founder of [[Russian folklorist]] and [[romantic nationalistic]] painting,<ref name="krugosvet">{{cite web |url=http://www.krugosvet.ru/enc/kultura_i_obrazovanie/izobrazitelnoe_iskusstvo/VASNETSOV_VIKTOR_MIHALOVICH.html |title=Васнецов, Виктор Михайлович |trans-title=Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov |website=krugosvet.ru |access-date=1 January 2011 |language=ru}}</ref> and a key figure in the [[Russian Revival]]ist movement.

==Biography==

===Childhood (1848–1858)===
Viktor Vasnetsov was born in the remote village of Lopyal in [[Vyatka Governorate]] in 1848, the second of the seven children (his only sister died 4 months after her birth).<ref name="smr">{{cite web 
| url =http://www.centre.smr.ru/win/artists/vasnec_v/biogr_vasnec1.htm
| title = Богатырь русской живописи| publisher = centre.smr.ru| access-date = 1 January 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Vasnet︠s︡ova|first1=O. A. (Olʹga A.)|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1222809052|title=Vasnet︠s︡ovshchina|last2=Васнецова, О. А. (Ольга А.)|year=2019|isbn=978-5-6042722-0-6|location=Moskva|pages=46–47, 63|oclc=1222809052}}</ref> His father Mikhail Vasilievich Vasnetsov (1823–1870), known to be philosophically inclined, was a member of the priesthood,<ref name=brit/> and a scholar of the [[natural sciences]] and [[astronomy]]. His grandfather was an [[icon]] painter. Two of Mikhail Vasnetsov's six sons, Viktor and [[Apollinary Vasnetsov|Apollinary]], became remarkable painters, three becoming schoolteachers and one a Russian folklorist.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Vasnet︠s︡ova|first1=O. A. (Olʹga A.)|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1222809052|title=Vasnet︠s︡ovshchina|last2=Васнецова, О. А. (Ольга А.)|year=2019|isbn=978-5-6042722-0-6|location=Moskva|pages=64, 78, 88–89, 98|oclc=1222809052}}</ref> It was in Lopyal that Viktor started to paint, mostly landscapes and scenes of village life. Recalling his childhood in a letter to [[Vladimir Stasov]], Vasnetsov remarked that he "had lived with peasant children and liked them not as a [[narodnik]] but as a friend".<ref name="smr"/>

===Vyatka (1858–1867)===
From the age of ten, Viktor studied in a [[seminary]] in Vyatka, each summer moving with his family to a rich merchant village of Ryabovo. During his seminary years, he worked for a local [[icon]] shopkeeper. He also helped an exiled Polish artist, [[Michał Elwiro Andriolli]], to execute [[fresco]]es for Vyatka's [[Alexander Nevsky]] cathedral.

Having graduated from the seminary, Viktor decided to move to [[Saint Petersburg]] to study art.<ref name=brit/> He auctioned his paintings of ''Woman Harvester'' and ''Milk-maid'' (both 1867) to raise the money required for the trip to the Russian capital.

===Saint Petersburg (1867–1876)===
[[File:Wiktor Michajlowitsch Wassnezow 003.jpg|thumb|left|Self-portrait, 1873]]
In August 1867 Viktor tried to enter the [[Imperial Academy of Arts]], but failed. He succeeded one year later in August 1868.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ярославцева|first=Нина Александровна|title=Виктор Михайлович Васнецов: Письма. Дневники. Воспоминания. Суждения современников|publisher=Iskusstvo|year=1987|location=Moskva|pages=475}}</ref> Already in 1863 a group of fourteen students left the Academy, finding its rules too constraining. This led to the [[Peredvizhniki]] movement of realist painters rebelling against [[Academism]]. Vasnetsov befriended their leader [[Ivan Kramskoi]] during his drawing classes before entering the Academy, referring to him as his teacher.<ref name=brit/> He also became very close to fellow student [[Ilya Yefimovich Repin]].

Viktor, whose name would subsequently be associated with historical and mythological paintings, initially avoided these subjects at all costs. For his graphic composition of ''Christ and [[Pontius Pilate]] Before the People'', the Academy awarded a small silver medal to him. In the early 1870s he completed a large number of [[engraving]]s depicting contemporary life. Two of them (''Provincial Bookseller'' from 1870 and ''A Boy with a Bottle of Vodka'' from 1872) won him a bronze medal at the [[World Fair]] in London (1874).  During this period he also started producing [[Genre works|genre paintings]] in oil. Such pieces as ''Peasant Singers'' (1873) and ''Moving House'' (1876) were warmly welcomed by democratic circles of Russian society.

===Paris (1876–1877)===
In 1876 Repin invited Vasnetsov to join the Peredvizhniki colony in Paris. While living in France, Viktor studied classical and contemporary paintings, academist and [[Impressionism|Impressionist]] alike. During that period, he painted ''Acrobats'' (1877), produced prints, and exhibited some of his works at the [[Paris Salon|Salon]]. It was in Paris that he became fascinated with fairy-tale subjects, starting to work on ''[[Ivan Tsarevich]] Riding a Grey Wolf'' and ''The Firebird''. Vasnetsov was a model for [[Sadko]] in Repin's celebrated painting ''[[Sadko (painting)|Sadko]]''. In 1877 he returned to Moscow.

===Moscow (1877–1884)===
In the late 1870s Vasnetsov concentrated on illustrating Russian fairy tales and the epic narrative poem [[Bylina]]s, executing some of his best known pieces: ''The Knight at the Crossroads'' (1878), ''[[Prince Igor]]'s Battlefield'' (1878),
''Three princesses of the Underground Kingdom'' (completed 1884 ), ''The Flying Carpet'' (1880), and ''Alionushka'' (1881). These works were not appreciated at the time they appeared. Many radical critics dismissed them as undermining the realist principles of the [[Peredvizhniki]]. Even such prominent connoisseurs as [[Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov]] refused to buy them. The vogue for Vasnetsov's paintings would spread in the 1880s, when he turned to religious subjects and executed a series of icons for [[Abramtsevo Colony|Abramtsevo]] estate of his patron [[Savva Mamontov]].

===Kiev (1884–1889)===
[[File:Viktor Vasnetsov by S.Malyutin (1915, Vyatka).jpg|thumb|Portrait of Vasnetsov by [[Sergey Malyutin]], 1915]]
In 1884–1889 Vasnetsov was commissioned to paint [[fresco]]es in [[St Volodymyr's Cathedral|St Vladimir's Cathedral]] in [[Kiev]]. This was a challenging work which ran contrary to both Russian and Western traditions of religious paintings. The influential art critic [[Vladimir Stasov]] labelled them a sacrilegious play with religious feelings of the Russian people. Another popular critic, [[Dmitry Filosofov]], referred to these frescoes as "the first bridge over 200 years-old gulf separating different classes of Russian society".

While living in Kiev, Vasnetsov made friends with [[Mikhail Vrubel]], who was also involved in the cathedral's decoration. While they worked together, Vasnetsov taught the younger artist a great deal. It was in Kiev that Vasnetsov finally finished ''[[Ivan Tsarevich]] Riding a Grey Wolf'' and started his most famous painting, the ''[[Bogatyr]]s''.<ref name=brit/> In 1885 the painter travelled to Italy. The same year he worked on stage designs and costumes for [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov]]'s opera ''[[Snegurochka (opera)|The Snow Maiden]]''.<ref name=brit/>

===Later Years (1890–1926)===
The following two decades were productive for Vasnetsov. He increasingly turned to other media during this period. In 1897 he collaborated with his brother Apollinary on the theatrical design of another Rimsky-Korsakov premiere, ''[[Sadko (opera)|Sadko]]''.

At the turn of the century, Vasnetsov elaborated his hallmark "fairy-tale" style of [[Russian Revival]]ist architecture. His first acclaimed design was a church in [[Abramtsevo, Sergiyevo-Posadsky District, Moscow Oblast|Abramtsevo]] (1882),<ref name=brit/> executed jointly with [[Vasily Polenov]]. In 1894, he designed his own mansion in Moscow. The Russian pavilion of the World Fair in Paris followed in 1898. Finally, in 1904, Vasnetsov designed the best known of his "fairy-tale" buildings – the façade of the [[Tretyakov Gallery]].

Between 1906 and 1911, Vasnetsov worked on the design of the mosaics for [[Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Warsaw]]; he was also involved in the design of [[Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Moscow]].  In 1912, he was given a noble title by [[Czar Nicholas II]]. In 1914, he designed a revenue stamp intended for voluntary collection for victims of World War I.

Even prior to the [[Russian Revolution of 1917|Russian Revolution]], Vasnetsov became active as a regent of the Tretyakov Gallery. He allocated a significant portion of his income to the [[State Historical Museum]], so that a large part of the museum's collection was acquired on Vasnetsov's money. After the [[October Revolution]] he advocated removing some of the religious paintings (notably those by [[Alexander Ivanov (painter)|Alexander Ivanov]]) from churches to the Tretyakov Gallery.

In 1915, Vasnetsov participated in the designing of a military uniform for the Victory parade of the Russian army in Berlin and Constantinopole. Vasnetsov is credited with the creation of the [[budenovka]] (initially named ''bogatyrka''), a military hat reproducing the style of [[Kievan Rus']] cone-shaped helmets.<ref name=brit/>

Vasnetsov  died in Moscow in 1926, he was 78.

==Legacy==
A minor planet, [[3586 Vasnetsov]], discovered by Soviet astronomer [[Lyudmila Zhuravlyova]] in 1978, is named after Viktor Vasnetsov and Apollinary Vasnetsov.<ref>{{cite book | last = Schmadel | first = Lutz D. | title = Dictionary of Minor Planet Names | edition = 5th  | year = 2003 | publisher = Springer Verlag | location = New York | isbn = 3-540-00238-3 | page = 301}}</ref>

In the film ''[[Elizabeth: The Golden Age]]'', Vasnetsov's painting of [[Ivan the Terrible]] is anachronistically presented as if it already existed in that Tsar's lifetime, and as being sent by Ivan to England when he offers to marry [[Queen Elizabeth I]].

Vasnetsov's grandson, [[Andrei Vasnetsov|Andrei]], was [[People's Artist of the USSR]].

==Works==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="180px" caption="Viktor Vasnetsov's works">
File:Vasnetsov_Acrobats.jpg|alt=|''Acrobats. Festival in a Paris suburb'' ({{circa|1876}} – 1877)
File:TheKnightAtTheCrossroads.jpg|''The Knight at the Crossroads'' (1878)
File:Igorsvyat.jpg|''After [[Igor Svyatoslavich]]'s fighting with the [[Cumans]]'' (1880)
Vasnetsov Moving House.jpg|''Moving House'' (1876)
Vasnetsov samolet.jpg|''[[Magic carpet|The Flying Carpet]]'' (1880)
Wiktor Michajlowitsch Wassnezow 004.jpg|''[[Ivan Tsarevich]] riding the Gray Wolf'' (1889)
Vasnetsov Alenushka.jpg|''Alyonushka'' (1881)
Три царевны подземного царства.jpg|''Three princesses of the Underground Kingdom'' (1884)
File:Vasnetsov Frog Princess.jpg|''[[The Frog Princess]]'' (1918)
File:Спящая царевна.jpg|''The Sleeping Queen'' (1926)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Картина «Спящая царевна», Виктора Михайловича Васнецова |url=https://muzei-mira.com/kartini_russkih_hudojnikov/3220-spjaschaja-carevna-vasnecov.html |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=Музеи мира и картины известных художников}}</ref>
Apocalypse vasnetsov.jpg|[[Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (painting)|''Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'']] (1887)<ref name="Fresco" />
File:Gamaun.jpg|''[[Gamayun]] the prophetic bird'' (1898)
Vasnetsov Bapt Vladimir fresco in Kiev.jpg|''Baptism of [[Vladimir the Great|Prince Vladimir]]'' (1890)<ref name="Fresco">A Vasnetsov fresco, St. Vladimir's Cathedral in Kiev.</ref>
File:Крещение Руси.jpg|''[[Baptism of Rus']]'' (between 1885 and 1896)
Vasnetsov Ioann 4.jpg|''Tsar [[Ivan the Terrible]]'' (1897)
File:Viktor Vasnetsov - Богатыри - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Bogatyrs]]'' (1898){{efn|One of Vasnetsov's most famous paintings, depicts mythical Russian knights [[Dobrynya Nikitich]], [[Ilya Muromets]] and [[Alyosha Popovich]].}}
File:Zmei Gorinich (colour fixed).jpg|''[[Dobrynya Nikitich]]'s fight with the seven-headed [[Zmei (Russian)|Snake Gorynych]]'' (between 1913 and 1918)
File:Бой скифов со славянами.jpg|''Battle between the [[Scythians]] and the [[Slavs]]'' (1881)
File:Песнь о вещем Олеге.jpg|''[[Oleg the Wise|Oleg]] meets wizard ([[volkhv]])'' (1899)
File:Monomakh's hunting.jpg|''[[Vladimir II Monomakh|Monomakh]]'s rest after hunting'' (1870)
File:Преферанс.jpg|''[[Preferans|Préférence]]'' (1879)
File:Stamps of Moskow Vasnetsov.jpg|A [[revenue stamp]] of Russia, 1914
</gallery>

==References==
{{notelist}}
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* A. K. Lazuko '''Victor Vasnetsov''', Leningrad: Khudozhnik RSFSR, 1990, {{ISBN|5-7370-0107-5}}
* [http://www.abcgallery.com/V/vasnetsov/vasnetsov.html Vasnetsov Gallery]
* [http://www.tanais.info/art/en/vasnetsov4.html Poem of Seven Fairy Tales] Victor Vasnetsov at Tanais Gallery

==External links==
{{Commons category}}

* [http://vvedenskoe.com/v.vasnetsov1/ Vasnetsov's tomb]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140407090128/http://www.clementcelma.com/360/st-volodymyr-cathedral-kviv-ukraine St. Vladimir Cathedral interior 360 panorama]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasnetsov, Viktor Mikhailovich}}
[[Category:1848 births]]
[[Category:1926 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Urzhumsky District]]
[[Category:People from Urzhumsky Uyezd]]
[[Category:19th-century painters from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:Russian male painters]]
[[Category:20th-century Russian painters]]
[[Category:Symbolist painters]]
[[Category:Peredvizhniki]]
[[Category:Russian inventors]]
[[Category:Russian stamp designers]]
[[Category:19th-century painters of historical subjects]]
[[Category:Burials at Vvedenskoye Cemetery]]
[[Category:19th-century male artists from the Russian Empire]]
[[Category:20th-century Russian male artists]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox artists]]