Mikhail Vrubel

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Vrubel, Mikhail (1856–1910). Russian painter and designer, the outstanding exponent of Symbolism in his country. He was born in Omsk of Danish and Polish ancestry and had a wide experience of European art and literature (he had a very thorough academic education and visited France and Italy in 1876, 1892, and 1894). After graduating in law (his father's profession) he studied at the St Petersburg Academy, 1880–4. He then moved to Kiev, where he worked on the restoration of paintings in the ancient church of St Cyril—in his subsequent career he showed an affinity with the spirituality of medieval religious art. (Vrubel also made designs for murals for St Vladimir's Cathedral in Kiev, but the paintings were not executed.) In 1889 he moved from Kiev to Moscow and there was taken up by the wealthy art patron Savva Mamontov (1841–1918); a portrait of him by Vrubel (1897) is in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. In 1890 Vrubel began to do interpretations of Mikhail Lermontov's poem The Demon and the theme became central to his work. In treating it he passed from fairly naturalistic depictions to highly idiosyncratic anguish-ridden images rendered in brilliant fragmented brushwork that recalls the effects of medieval mosaics. The obsessive treatment of the theme reflected his own emotional instability; in 1902 the first symptoms of approaching insanity became apparent, in 1906 he went blind, and he died in a lunatic asylum.

Vrubel was little appreciated in his lifetime, but he stands out as the great precursor of much that was best in 20th-century Russian painting. In Russian Art (1990), Dimitry Sarabianov writes that ‘Vrubel brought Russian art into the twentieth century … He ignored the conventional path which led from Realism to Impressionism and established the Modern—or Russian Art Nouveau—style before Russian Impressionism had ever had time to develop … He modelled himself on the artists of the Renaissance, whom he saw as a free, independent, proud and enlightened breed of men … [and] created for himself a kind of myth … conducting himself like some kind of hero of history or literature … early twentieth-century poets admired him … warmly, for they saw in him a forerunner and a founding father of the whole new movement in Russian culture. For the first time in Russia a painter found himself ahead of his literary counterparts, confident of his own gifts and independent of all theories … In spite of all this, however, he was a solitary figure for much of his creative life, for fame and followers came too late.’ His work is well represented in the State Museum of Russian Art, Kiev, the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, and the Russian Museum, St Petersburg.

Vrubel, Mikhail (b Omsk, 5 Mar. 1856; d St Petersburg, 1 Apr. 1910). Russian painter and designer, the outstanding exponent of Symbolism in his country. His first important work was the restoration of murals in the 12th-century church of St Cyril, Kiev, and in his subsequent career he showed an affinity with the spirituality of medieval religious art. In 1889 he moved from Kiev to Moscow and there was taken up by the wealthy art patron Savva Mamontov (see Abramtsevo Colony); a portrait (1897) of him by Vrubel is in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. In 1890 he began to produce interpretations of Mikhail Lermontov's poem The Demon and the theme became central to his work. In treating it he passed from fairly naturalistic depictions to highly idiosyncratic anguish-ridden images rendered in brilliant fragmented brushwork that recalls the effects of medieval mosaics. The obsessive treatment of the theme reflected his own emotional instability; in 1902 the first symptoms of approaching insanity became apparent, in 1906 he went blind, and he died in a lunatic asylum. Although he was little appreciated for most of his career, he had become well known by the time of his death and had great influence on Russian painting in the early 20th century.

Vrubel, Mikhail (1856–1910). Russian painter and designer, the outstanding exponent of Symbolism in his country. His first important work was the restoration of murals in the 12th-century church of St Cyril, Kiev, and in his subsequent career he showed an affinity with the spirituality of medieval religious art. In 1889 he moved from Kiev to Moscow and there was taken up by the wealthy art patron Savva Mamontov (see Abramtsevo Colony); a portrait (1897) of him by Vrubel is in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. In 1890 he began to produce interpretations of Mikhail Lermontov's poem The Demon and the theme became central to his work. In treating it he passed from fairly naturalistic depictions to highly idiosyncratic anguish-ridden images rendered in brilliant fragmented brushwork that recalls the effects of medieval mosaics. The obsessive treatment of the theme reflected his own emotional instability; in 1902 the first symptoms of approaching insanity became apparent, in 1906 he went blind, and he died in a lunatic asylum. Although he was little appreciated for most of his career, he had become well known by the time of his death and had great influence on Russian painting in the early 20th century.