Russian Russian realistic tradition of the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts (later the Leningrad Institute named after I.E. Repin) and plein-air impressionism, reflected, among other things, in the works of the Moscow masters of the "Union of Russian Artists", were closely intertwined in the work of Edward Yakovlevich Vyrzhikovsky (1928-2008), an outstanding Leningrad painter. The continuity of the traditions of Russian painters of the 19th - early 20th century is perhaps the most obvious quality of Vyrzhikovsky's works. Edward Yakovlevich had an academic school behind him, perceived in the workshops of P.P. Belousova, A.D. Zaitseva, B.V. Ioganson. Vyrzykowski's 1954 thesis "At lunchtime" demonstrates a developed three-dimensional thinking, the hardness of the drawing, an excellent command of the laws of the organization of the color of the picture. This complex multi-figure composition is dedicated to an episode from the life of the plant, in one of the workshops of which a symphony orchestra gives a concert at lunchtime. While working on the diploma, the painter completed a large number of sketches and drawings, collecting the necessary material. After the execution of this large-scale canvas, the artist mastered all the necessary skills to work in absolutely any genre. But, as time has shown, Vyrzhikovsky preferred mainly landscape.
Drawing for the diploma
Paper, pencil, 74×60, 1954
Edward Vyrzykowski with his thesis "At lunchtime". 1954
The master chose the innermost corners of Russia, a kind of "place of power" of the Russian person, as subjects for his works. Russian Russian cities are, first of all, the cities of the Golden Ring: Yaroslavl, Sergiev Posad (Zagorsk), Uglich, Suzdal and the city on the banks of the Volga Tutaev (Romanov-Borisoglebsk), which played an important role in his work and fate; Pskov and Veliky Novgorod, significant for the formation of Russian identity; the streets of Leningrad, the city that determined the formation of the creative personality of the artist; Pushkin Mountains, associated with the life of the great Russian poet, and views of Moscow, the heart of Russia. For the artist, the choice of these places was determined not at all by the desire for excessive pathos. On the contrary, Vyrzykowski's work, alien to any external effects, was nourished by a deep national feeling of love for Russian nature, traditions and history. This feeling was expressed through careful peering, peering into the chosen motive. Through the soulful admiration, the desire to accurately reflect the fleeting state, character and even the "spirit" of the depicted place, the viewer is conveyed a very deep respect for Russian culture as a whole, a kind of tribute to memory, which the artist reverently gave to his homeland and those specific places where he had to live and work.
Working in a particular small town, Vyrzhikovsky relies on the legacy of Russian masters of the past. Thus, the works dedicated to the views of Sergiev Posad are related to a series of landscapes of the same city in the works of K.F. Yuon. Like Yuon, Vyrzhikovsky prefers to show the Posad in winter or early spring, building spatial compositions where the main expressive means is the complex ornamental rhythm of spots on white snow. But if Juon's predominance of lines and strictly verified drawing prevails, then Vyrzhikovsky appears to the viewer as a colorist painter, subtly conveying subtle transitional states of nature. Just like K.F. Yuon and one of Vyrzhikovsky's favorite painters B.M. Kustodiev, Edward Yakovlevich often chooses a high point of view, placing the horizon line at the top of the picture, which makes it possible to recreate the epic panoramic appearance of the vast homeland even in small-sized works of a sketchy nature ("Winter in Zagorsk" 1967, "Moscow. Kremlin" 2001, etc.). The legacy of Kustodiev was of great importance for Vyrzhikovsky, who wrote a research paper about the famous master (Vyrzhikovsky E.Ya. Romanovo-Borisoglebsk in the works of B.M. Kustodiev. - Yaroslavl: Upper Volga, 1999).
Winter in Zagorsk. A sketch for the painting.
Canvas on cardboard, oil, 35×50, 1967
Moscow. Kremlin. Oil on canvas, 60×100, 2001
Sensitively, in Savrasovsky, Vyrzhikovsky creates a recognizable image of the small motherland in the painting "Autumn on the Volga" 1987-1988. Through the delicate rhythm of the branches and the autumn yellowness of the birch leaves, the cold waters of the Russian river peep through. The viewer's gaze stops first at the genre motif organically included in the landscape - the image of children playing - then glides along the outlines of river vessels slowly dissecting the viscous water surface, and finally stops at the recognizable outlines of the Tutaevsky temple on the other bank, which is the main semantic accent, the tuning fork of the composition.
Autumn on the Volga. Oil on canvas, 80×100, 1987-1988
Unexpected snow. Oil on canvas, 54.5×74.5, 1999
A special place in the work of Vyrzhikovsky is occupied by the development of the interior genre. The tradition of depicting the interior views of rooms, born in Russian art in the works of A.G. Venetsianov and his students, is developed in the works of such significant artists as S.A. Vinogradov, I.E. Grabar, S.Y. Zhukovsky, etc. In the works of Zhukovsky and Vyrzhikovsky, you can notice similar motifs of flowers standing on the windowsill in combination with the landscape stretching outside the window. They are close not only compositionally, but also by the skillfully found intonation in the display of the awakening nature of Zhukovsky's paintings "Snowdrops" from 1911 from the collection of the Rybinsk Museum Reserve and Vyrzhikovsky's "Harbingers of Spring" in 1999. But the artist does not stop at a certain repetition, he continues to develop the chosen motif. So, in the painting "Unexpected Snow" in 1999, a vase standing near the window with daffodils blooming in the warmth is depicted, and next to it are objects that form a familiar and exciting world of things from distant childhood: plush toys of the Soviet era, a book opened on an unfinished page. The familiar snow-covered domes of the Russian church flash by again outside the window. Without embellishing reality, the master faithfully and carefully displays the surrounding objects. But there is just a lot of personal and sincere in this unhurried presentation, which allows the viewer to see things dear to the artist's heart with his own eyes. Similar feelings can be experienced by immersing yourself in the festive Christmas atmosphere at home in the works "Christmas" of 2000 and 2003, "Waiting for Guests" of 2002, etc. In these works, the master solves complex pictorial tasks of transmitting the light-air perspective, the collision of the hot glow of a flooded stove and the evenly pouring daylight through the window glass. Picking up the lyrical line of the painters of the late 19th - early 20th century, depicting the interiors of noble estates, Vyrzhikovsky in his paintings describes the democratic life of the Soviet era. Acutely feeling the color, the artist creates a fragile harmony of tonal relationships.
Christmas. Cardboard, tempera, 50×70, 2003
We are waiting for guests. Oil on canvas, 68×86, 2002
There are self-portraits and vivid portrait images of ordinary working people, rural residents and relatives in the works of Vyrzhikovsky. The most powerful of them is "Portrait of my Grandmother" from 1957 (the author's version-repetition was created in the 1990s). The feeling of love for a loved one, grandmother Feodosia Leontievna, is conveyed in a heartfelt, and at the same time restrained, with great inner strength. This work continues the traditions of the Russian psychological realistic portrait, but its special value lies precisely in the undisguised sincerity of the artist combined with delicate tactful attention to the depicted model. The deep blue color of the blouse, echoes the color of the attentive eyes of the portrayed, the color of the embroidery on the dining table tablecloth, most likely made by hand, and, finally, with the bright spots of cornflowers standing on the window. This simple chain of semantic associations fills the work with a symbolic sound, read by a Russian person on a subconscious level.
Harbingers of spring.
Oil on canvas, 80×60, 1999
Portrait of grandmother. Oil on canvas, 72.5×95, 1990s
It is worth noting the graphic works of Vyrzhikovsky. These can be both small pencil sketches necessary for further work, and things made in ink or in the technique of linocut, having a full-fledged independent value. In them, the artist skillfully organizes the space of the sheet, minimizing as much as possible, saving visual and expressive means. This allows you to create generalized concise compositions that accurately reflect the selected landscape motif. So, on the contrast of the plane of white paper and the well-aimed black lines in ink, a landscape is built in the "Winter" of 1950.; with the help of a harmonious rhythm of black and white spots, using the expressive means of linocut, the master creates sheets with views of the streets of Sergiev Posad.
In his works, E.Ya. Vyrzhikovsky managed to find that unique intonation, which is revealed by careful, non-surface study of the artist's works. Russian Russian churches, standing on the banks of deep rivers, to the chamber view of a small Russian courtyard, and perhaps the main thing in the master's work is an almost pantheistic view of nature, of its harmony, spilled everywhere in space: from ancient Russian temples standing on the banks of deep rivers, to the chamber view of a small Russian courtyard.
Irina Evreinova
art critic
Zagorsk. Red Army Avenue. Linocut, 41×49, 1967
In winter. Ink paper, 20.3×29, 1950
January 15, 2022
January 29, 2022
