Ivan Susanin
Ivan Susanin c1914 by Russian Painter Konstantin Makovsky (1839 – 1915); specializing in Russian Historical paintings showing an idealized view of Russian life in past centuries.
This is a painting depicting Ivan Susanin, consider to be a Russian National Hero and Martyr of the early 17th Century during the “Times of Trouble”; a time of political crisis during the Tsardom of Russia, which began in 1598 with the death of Fyodor I or Fyodor Ivanovich, who was the last of the Rurik Dynasty and ended in 1613 with the accession of Michael I of the House of Romanov.
Legend has it that Ivan was hired as a guide by Polish troops that were seeking to kill Tsar Mikhail; but Ivan persuaded the troops to follow him through a secret path in the Russian forest; and he nor the troops were ever heard of again.
In the painting Ivan is about to be stabbed to death by a Polish soldier, while another holds him and the other soldiers freezing from the winter snows look on while seated by a campfire; with one Polish soldier already lying dead on the ground due to exposure.
In the background in the upper right we can see the Russian ruler with his troops in a city with the Russian people bowing before him.
Esta é uma reprodução retocada de arte digital de antigos mestres de uma imagem de domínio público.
Informações abaixo derivadas de Wikipédia.org
Konstantin Makovsky was an influential Russian painter, affiliated with the “Peredvizhniki (Wanderers)”. Many of his historical paintings, such as Beneath the Crown (1889) also known as The Russian Bride’s Attire and Before the Wedding, showed an idealized view of Russian life of prior centuries. He is often considered a representative of Academic art.
Konstantin Makovsky was born in Moscow. His father was the Russian art figure and amateur painter, Yegor Ivanovich Makovsky. His mother was a composer, and she hoped her son would one day follow in her footsteps. His younger brothers Vladimir and Nikolay and his sister Alexandra also went on to become painters.
Em 1851 Makovsky entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture where he became the top student, easily getting all the available awards. His teachers were Karl Bryullov and Vasily Tropinin. Makovsky’s inclinations to Romanticism and decorative effects can be explained by the influence of Bryullov.
Although art was his passion, he also considered what his mother had wanted him to do. He set off to look for composers he could refer to, and first went to France. Before, he had always been a classical music lover, and listened to many pieces. He often wished he could change the tune, or style of some of them to make them more enjoyable. Later in his life it came true.
Em 1858 Makovsky entered the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg. De 1860 he participated in the Academy’s exhibitions with paintings such as Curing of the Blind (1860) and Agents of the False Dmitry kill the son of Boris Godunov (1862). Em 1863 Makovsky e outros treze estudantes protestaram contra a definição de tópicos da mitologia escandinava pela Academia na competição pela Grande Medalha de Ouro da Academia; todos saíram da academia sem diploma formal.
Makovsky became a member of a co-operative (artel) of artists led by Ivan Kramskoi, normalmente produzindo pinturas de Wanderers sobre a vida cotidiana (Viúva 1865, Vendedor de arenque 1867, etc.). De 1870 foi membro fundador da Society for Travelling Art Exhibitions e continuou a trabalhar em pinturas dedicadas à vida quotidiana. Expôs seus trabalhos tanto nas exposições da Academia quanto nas Mostras de Arte Itinerantes dos Andarilhos..
Uma mudança significativa em seu estilo ocorreu depois de viajar para o Egito e a Sérvia em meados da década de 1870.. Seus interesses mudaram dos problemas sociais e psicológicos para os problemas artísticos de cores e formas..
Na década de 1880, ele se tornou um autor da moda de retratos e pinturas históricas.. Na Feira Mundial de 1889 em Paris recebeu a Grande Medalha de Ouro por suas pinturas Morte de Ivan, o Terrível, O Julgamento de Paris, e Demônio e Tamara. He was one of the most highly appreciated and highly paid Russian artists of the time. Many democratic critics considered him as a renegade of the Wanderers’ ideals, producing (like Henryk Siemiradzki) striking but shallow works,[2] while others see him as a forerunner of Russian Impressionism.
Makovsky foi morto em 1915 quando sua carruagem foi atropelada por um bonde elétrico em São Petersburgo.