Nikolai Nikolaevich Ge (artist): biography and works

The eminent Russian painter Nikolai Nikolaevich Ge was recognized as the master of the portrait, as well as the creation of paintings on historical and evangelical subjects. The artist of extraordinary talent, he took a strong place in the history of Russian art as a representative of the then new realistic trend.

Childhood and youth

Nikolai Nikolaevich Ge, an artist whose portrait is presented at the beginning of the article, was born on February 27, 1831, at the Ivanovo Chernigov gubernia estate, in a landowner's family. Unaccustomed to the Russian rumor surname, he owes his grandfather, who immigrated from France in the late 18th century. In the original it is written - Gay. The birth of the child coincided with a terrible epidemic of cholera that raged in many Russian provinces and took the life of his mother when Nicholas was born. Since that time, all the worries about him were assigned to one of his father's serfs.

According to the traditions of that era, his boy received his primary education at home, and later was brought to Kiev, where he entered the gymnasium. There is evidence that already at that time the teachers celebrated his outstanding talent for drawing, but his father had other plans on his account. At the end of the gymnasium, he urges his son to enter the University of Kiev at the Faculty of Mathematics.

From the University to the Academy of Arts

Nikolay did not dare to resist the will of his father, but he chose not to be a place of his studies but a St. Petersburg University, where he was enrolled in the mathematical faculty. However, this is not what Nikolai Ge dreamed about. The artist, not the mathematician, lived in his soul and declared himself more and more clearly. All the free time from classes he spent in the Hermitage, copying the paintings of recognized masters.

The result was quite predictable - in 1850 Nikolai left the university and became a student of the Petersburg Academy of Arts. Here he falls into the class of an excellent teacher, and very famous in those years, the St. Petersburg artist P. Basin. Within the walls of the academy, he spent six years comprehending the secrets of mastery and trying to imitate the painters whose works made a particularly strong impression on him.

His main idol of those years was Karl Bryullov, and, according to many art critics, the artist Nikolai Ge was clearly influenced by his work. Having received in 1857 for successfully writing the thesis work the right to travel to Europe at the expense of the academy, he leaves Russia. During his travels he visits Switzerland, Germany, France and Italy.

Success and recognition

In Rome, there is a meeting with his other idol of those years - A. Ivanov, who worked on sketches on biblical subjects, which he genuinely admired Nikolai Ge. Abroad, as before, he devotes much time to writing portraits. One of his most successful works of that period is the portrait etude of his wife, created in 1858. But the main theme of his are the biblical and classical subjects.

In 1861, after returning from abroad, Nikolai Ge shows his new painting "The Last Supper" at the next exhibition at the Academy of Arts, which was a kind of sensation. Despite the enthusiastic reception of the public, the censorship treated it extremely hostile, accusing the author of propagating materialism and nihilism. It was even forbidden to make copies of it.

Everything changed when the canvas for his collection was bought personally by Emperor Alexander II, which immediately made the artist popularly known. In turn, the Academy of Arts, recognizing the high dignity of the canvas and expressing solidarity with the sovereign's opinion, hurried to encourage Nikolai Ge. The artist was awarded the professorship.

Again in Italy

Encouraged by success and already officially recognized, the artist Ge Nikolai Nikolaevich returned to Italy in 1864, where he created many sketches for the stories from the New Testament. One of the most striking events of that Italian period was his meeting with Herzen and work on his portrait.

One can not fail to acknowledge the whole riskiness of this venture, because Herzen was officially listed as a state criminal hiding abroad from justice, and the creation of his portrait could be regarded as a political gesture. However, it is this painting, executed in a record short time - in just five sessions, - is recognized as the best of the portraits he painted. To the great chagrin of Nikolai Nikolaevich, his painting "Messengers of the Resurrection", completed and sent home, did not have success with the public. In 1869 the artist returned to Russia.

The last Petersburg period

Once in the very midst of the metropolitan life, Ge joins the union of future Peredvizhniki artists and actively participates in the preparation of their first exhibition, which opened in 1871. On it he shows the public his most famous masterpiece in our days "Peter I interrogates Tsarevich Alexei in Peterhof." The painting, which received a well-deserved recognition from the visitors of the exhibition, was bought by P. Tretyakov, the most famous Russian collector and patron of art, in the artist's studio.

Over the next four years, held in St. Petersburg, the artist creates a gallery of portraits of the most prominent representatives of the Russian intelligentsia. Among them are I. Turgenev, N. Nekrasov and several others. In the same period saw the light he created a sculptural portrait of V. Belinsky.

Departure to Ukraine

In 1875, Nikolai Nikolayevich left St. Petersburg for ever and, having moved to Ukraine, acquired a house in Chernigov province. The reason for his departure is the researchers consider creative dissatisfaction and material problems, aggravated by that time. Having found himself far from the noise of the capital, Ge almost completely ceases painting classes and devotes himself entirely to questions of religion and morality. Only extreme need makes him take up his brush and write to order portraits of local rich people.

The creative ascent at the end of the artist's life

In 1882, Ge went to Moscow. This was the beginning of a new creative upsurge, marked by the creation of such canvases as "Exit from the Last Supper", "Judas", "What is Truth" and other works on evangelical themes. One of his last paintings is the artist's self-portrait table, written by him one year before his death. The artist Ge, whose biography is inextricably linked with his work, died on June 13, 1894. According to the researchers, the main merit of his is the creation of a realistic trend in the pictures of the evangelical plots. This Russian artist Ge contributed to the world of painting.