Sylvester Shchedrin, Russian artist: biography, creativity

Sylvester Shchedrin stood at the origins of the Russian romantic landscape. Despite the fact that his life was short, he left behind a lot of wonderful works. The most famous cycle of the artist is "New Rome. Castle of the Holy Angel. " Thanks to Shchedrin's works, the landscape in Russia is reaching a new level and is beginning to be quoted as an independent genre.

Youth in Russia

Winter frosty day in an ancient noble family was born Sylvester Shchedrin. Biography of the artist is mainly associated with Italy, here he created his best paintings. In Russia there was only the youth of the painter. Despite the years spent abroad, the artist always felt like a Russian man and was keenly interested in the fate of his homeland. He was born in February 1791 in the family of the rector of the Academy of Fine Arts, Feodosiy Fedorovich Shchedrin. Uncle, Semyon Fedorovich, was a professor at the Academy and was leading his class. Needless to say, that with such gifted relatives, the fate of the boy was predetermined.

At the age of 9 Shchedrin became a pupil of the Academy. When it was time to choose a specialization, he was going to enter the class of his uncle, specializing in sentimental landscapes. But Semyon Fedorovich suddenly dies, and the young man chooses to be the instructors of Professor Mikhail Ivanov.

1808 brought the student a first, small silver medal for drawing from nature. The following year, he was awarded a small gold for his success in painting. And in 1812 Shchedrin graduated from the Academy with the award of a large gold medal for the canvas "View from the Petrovsky Island". This award gave the graduate the right to travel to Italy to get acquainted with the rich nature and masterpieces of classical art, the so-called "retirement". But because of the war with Napoleon, the trip had to be postponed. Only in 1818 the artist finally managed to leave for Italy. He will not return to Russia any more.

Italy

In 27 years Shchedrin goes to Rome. At first he settled with the poet Konstantin Batyushkov. After a severe cold Petersburg with eternal rain, the sunny Italian nature seemed to the artist an earthly paradise. He works exclusively from nature, which for that time was a revolutionary move. The artist does not just write, he enjoys picturesque views of green valleys and azure sea. He perfectly manages to transmit lighting effects, atmosphere and air. A real singer of Italian nature is Sylvester Shchedrin. The artist wants to buy paintings not only Russian, but also sophisticated local collectors.

After Rome Shchedrin went to Naples. However, revolutionary riots were brewing there and it was not safe to remain. The painter once again settled in Rome. In 1823 he created his most famous painting - "New Rome. Castle of the Holy Angel. " In the same year the term of the Academy of Arts's pension expired, it was time to return home. But Shchedrin's works were so successful in Italy that he decided to stay here. Again the artist moves to Naples. In the city, he spends the winter, and in the warmest time travels to small seaside cities, doing full-scale sketches.

It is not known whether Shchedrin planned to return to Russia. It can be seen from the correspondence that the destiny of the Motherland and of Russian art greatly worried him, although he did not hurry to leave Italy. Anyway, it was not destined to return to him. The artist was hit by a serious illness, which was not helped either by the expensive treatment at the resorts, nor by charlatan drugs. Sylvester Feodosievich Shchedrin died at the age of 39, in November 1830.

Creation

The emergence of the landscape as such, and the romantic in particular, is associated in Russia with the names of Shchedrin and Aivazovsky. Before these masters, the image of nature was considered an elegant salon genre and did not have much weight. Preference was given to portraits and historical canvases. Nature was seen mainly as a background for placing a model or military battles. The romantic landscape was preceded by sentimental, as a rule, depicting peaceful pastors or nostalgic kinds of country estates. Romanticism has humanized nature, now it becomes an actor in the picture, expresses the thoughts of the artist. Favorite story of romantic artists - the sea and mountains. Shchedrin began within the framework of classicism, but quickly departed from it. Its picturesque sunny valleys and sea views in the moonlight refer to the romantic genre.

Many of the artist's works never reached Russia, spreading through private Italian collections. Known and taken into account not all the legacy of the painter. In the St. Petersburg Russian Museum you can see "View of Amalfi near Naples", "View of the Colosseum in Rome", "Waterfall in Tivoli near Rome". In the Tretyakov Gallery there are "Moonlit Night in Naples", "Grotto of Matromanio", "Big Harbor on the Island of Capri", "Small Harbor in Sorrento". Some of the works are kept in the regional museums, for example "View of Naples from the road Pozelippo" or "Grotto overlooking the Vesuvius."

The Castle of Saint Angela

"Castle of the Holy Angel" (1823-1825) - the most famous plot Shchedrin. Strictly speaking, it was not a picture, but a whole cycle of eight canvases under a common name. The first work was such a stunning success that, according to numerous requests, Schedrin made several more repetitions, varying the illumination and time of day. One of the works is in the Tretyakov Gallery.

On the canvas, the artist painted the Tiber River embankment near the house where he lived. The background is given to the "old" Rome. Here you can see the castle and the cathedral, lost in the air haze. In the foreground there are old residential houses, embankment and fishing boats. Particularly reliable give the work carefully drawn figures of poor fishermen. The picture lives and breathes. Shchedrin emphasizes the contrasts: on the canvas there is a luxurious Roman past and not the most ceremonial present.

"Veranda, twined with grapes"

The motif of green arbours and terraces was one of the favorites during Shchedrin's mature period. He himself called it "Pergolata". Pergola in Italian - a veranda or alley under the roof, covered with curling greens. In these paintings, the artist experimented with the believable transfer of light and air space, seeking the liveliness of the canvas. The most famous picture on this subject is "Veranda, covered with grapes" (1828). Hot Italian noon. A group of people stopped to rest in the cool of the terrace. We do not know whether the family is a casual companion. It is evident that they are tired of exhausting heat. People here are not just extras, every figure is expressive and not accidental. They are in unity with nature and complement it, without them the picture would look unfinished. The fertile shadow alternates with the golden solar squares, in the background the sea turns blue. Looking at the picture, the viewer himself falls into this hot Italian summer.

"Naples on a moonlit night"

In the last period of his life, Sylvester Shchedrin was carried away by the seascapes with dramatic lighting. He wrote several night scenes depicting the sea, flooded with alarming moonlight. One of them is in St. Petersburg, it is "Naples on a Moonlit Night" (1829). The picture can be divided into three parts. On the right is a dark sea with silhouettes of boats. On the left are the city buildings and the boat pier, where fishermen are warming themselves by the fire. The picture is crowned by a romantic sky, covered with clouds, where in the gap between the clouds a night star peeps out. On this canvas the artist solves a difficult task: to unite in one composition the cold moonlight and the warm flame of a burning bonfire. Researchers Shchedrin creativity suggests that his later work is much inferior to the earlier sunny landscapes in harmony and integrity.