Moonlight night
on the Dnieper, 1880

"Moonlit Night on the Dnieper" by Arkhip Kuindzhi. The glory and tragedy of the painting

The name of Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi became known as soon as the public saw his paintings "After the Rain" and "Birch Grove". But at the Eighth Exhibition of Itinerant Artists, the works of A.I. Kuindzhi were absent, and this was immediately noticed by the audience. P.M. Tretyakov wrote to I. Kramskoy from Moscow that even those few who previously did not treat the artist's works very warmly grieve over this.
In the summer and autumn of 1880, during a break with the Itinerants, A.I. Kuindzhi worked on new picture... Rumors about the enchanting beauty of "Moonlit Night on the Dnieper" spread throughout the Russian capital. For two hours on Sundays, the artist opened the doors of his studio to those who wished, and the Petersburg public began to besiege her long before the completion of the work.
This painting has gained a truly legendary fame. I.S. Turgenev and Y. Polonsky, I. Kramskoy and P. Chistyakov, D. I. Mendeleev came to the studio of A. I. Kuindzhi, the famous publisher and collector K. T. Soldatenkov asked the price. Right from the workshop, even before the exhibition, "Moonlit Night on the Dnieper" was bought for huge money by the Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich.
And then the painting was exhibited on Bolshaya Morskaya Street in St. Petersburg, in the hall of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists. The artist's performance with a solo exhibition, moreover, consisting of only one small painting, was an unusual event. Moreover, this picture did not interpret any unusual historical plot, but was a very modest landscape in size. But A.I. Kuindzhi knew how to win. The success exceeded all expectations and turned into a real sensation. Long lines lined up on Bolshaya Morskaya Street, and people waited for hours to see this extraordinary piece. To avoid the crowd, the audience was allowed into the hall in groups.
AI Kuindzhi was always very attentive to the exhibiting of his paintings, he placed them so that they were well lit so that they would not be disturbed by neighboring canvases. This time "Moonlit Night on the Dnieper" hung on the wall alone. Knowing that the effect of moonlight will fully manifest itself under artificial lighting, the artist ordered to drape the windows in the hall and illuminate the picture with a beam of electric light focused on it. Visitors entered the dim hall and, spellbound, stopped in front of the cold glow moonlight.
A wide space stretching into the distance was revealed to the audience; the plain, crossed by the greenish ribbon of a quiet river, almost merges at the horizon with a dark sky covered with rows of light clouds. Above they parted a little, and the moon looked out through the formed window, illuminating the Dnieper, huts and a web of paths on the near bank. And everything in nature became silent, bewitched by the wonderful radiance of the sky and the Dnieper waters.
The sparkling silvery-greenish disc of the moon flooded the earth with its mysterious phosphorescent light. It was so strong that some of the spectators tried to look behind the painting to find a lantern or lamp. But there was no lamp, and the moon continued to emit its bewitching, mysterious light.
The Dnieper water reflects this light with a smooth mirror, the walls of Ukrainian huts whiten from the velvety blue of the night. This majestic show still plunges the audience into thoughts of eternity and the enduring beauty of the world. So before A.I. Kuindzhi, only the great N.V. Gogol sang about nature. The number of sincere admirers of A.I. Kuindzhi's talent grew, a rare person could remain indifferent in front of this picture, which seemed to be witchcraft.
AI Kuindzhi portrays the celestial sphere as majestic and eternal, striking the audience with the power of the Universe, its immensity and solemnity. Numerous attributes of the landscape - huts creeping along the slope, bushy trees, gnarled stems of the Tartar - are swallowed up in darkness, their color is diluted with a brown tone.
Bright silvery moonlight shaded with depth of blue color... By its phosphorescence, it transforms traditional motive with the moon into something so rare, meaningful, attractive and mysterious that it transforms into a poetically excited delight. There were even suggestions about some unusual colors and even strange artistic techniques that the artist allegedly used. Rumors of a mystery artistic method A.I. Kuindzhi, the secret of his colors was circulated during the artist's lifetime, some tried to catch him in tricks, even in connection with evil spirits.
Perhaps this happened because A.I. Kuindzhi focused his efforts on the illusory transmission of the real effect of lighting, on the search for such a composition of the picture that would allow the most convincing expression of the feeling of wide spatiality. And he coped with these tasks brilliantly. In addition, the artist won everyone in distinguishing the slightest changes in color and light ratios (for example, even during experiments with a special device, which were performed by D.I. Mendeleev and others).
While creating this canvas, A.I. Kuindzhi applied a complex pictorial technique. For example, he contrasted the warm reddish tone of the earth with cold-silver shades and thereby deepened the space, and small dark strokes in the illuminated places created the feeling of vibrating light.
All newspapers and magazines responded to the exhibition with enthusiastic articles, reproductions of "Moonlight Night on the Dnieper" in thousands of copies were distributed throughout Russia. The poet Y. Polonsky, a friend of A.I. Kuindzhi, wrote then: “Positively, I don’t remember being stuck in front of any picture for so long ... What is it? Picture or reality? Have we seen this month in a golden frame or through an open window, these clouds, this dark distance, these "trembling lights of sad villages" and these overflows of light, this silvery reflection of the month in the streams of the Dnieper, bending around the distance, this poetic, quiet, majestic night? " Poet K. Fofanov wrote the poem "Night on the Dnieper", which was later set to music.
The audience was delighted with the illusion of natural moonlight, and people, according to I.E. Repin, stood in “prayer silence” in front of the canvas of A.I. Kuindzhi, left the hall with tears in their eyes: believers, and they lived at such moments best feelings souls and enjoyed the heavenly bliss of the art of painting. "
Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, who bought the painting, did not want to part with the canvas, even going on a trip around the world. I. S. Turgenev, who was at that time in Paris (in January 1881), was horrified by this thought, about which he indignantly wrote to the writer D. V. Grigorovich: “There is no doubt that the picture ... will return completely ruined , thanks to salty air vapors, etc. ". He even visited the Grand Duke in Paris, while his frigate was in the port of Cherbourg, and persuaded him to send a picture to a short time in Paris. I.S. Turgenev hoped that he would be able to persuade him to leave the painting at the exhibition in the Zedelmeyer gallery, but he could not persuade the prince.
The humid, salty sea air, of course, negatively affected the composition of the colors, and the landscape began to darken. But the lunar ripples on the river and the radiance of the moon itself are conveyed by the genius A.I. Kuindzhi with such force that, looking at the picture even now, the audience immediately falls under the power of the eternal and Divine.

The tragic fate of "Moonlit Night on the Dnieper" October 18th, 2016

"Moonlit Night on the Dnieper" (1880) - one of the most famous paintings Arkhip Kuindzhi. This work made a splash and gained mystical fame. Many did not believe that the light of the moon could only be conveyed in this way artistic means, and looked behind the canvas, looking for a lamp there. Many people stood in silence for hours in front of the picture, and then left in tears. Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich bought "Moonlit Night" for his personal collection and took it everywhere with him, which had sad consequences.

Which? This is what we will find out now ...

In the summer and autumn of 1880, during a break with the Itinerants, A.I. Kuindzhi worked on a new painting. Rumors about the enchanting beauty of "Moonlit Night on the Dnieper" spread throughout the Russian capital. For two hours on Sundays, the artist opened the doors to his studio, and the Petersburg public began to besiege her long before the completion of the work. This painting has gained truly legendary fame. I.S. Turgenev and Y. Polonsky, I. Kramskoy and P. Chistyakov, D. I. Mendelev came to the studio of A.I.Kuindzhi, the famous publisher and collector K.T.Soldatenkov asked the price. Right from the studio, even before the exhibition, "Moonlit Night on the Dnieper" was bought for huge money by the Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich. And then the painting was exhibited in St. Petersburg. This was the first exhibition of one painting in Russia.

The work was exhibited in a separate room of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists on Bolshaya Morskaya. At the same time, the hall was not illuminated, only a bright electric beam fell on the picture. The image from this "deepened" even more, and the moonlight became simply dazzling. And decades later, witnesses of this triumph continued to recall the shock that the audience experienced, who "got" to the picture. Exactly the "got" ones - during the exhibition days Bolshaya Morskaya was densely packed with carriages, and the longest queue lined up at the doors to the building and people waited for hours to see this extraordinary work. To avoid the crowd, the audience was allowed into the hall in groups.

Roerich still caught the servant of Maxim alive, who received rubles (!) From those who tried to get to the picture out of turn. The artist's performance with a solo exhibition, moreover, consisting of only one small painting, was an unusual event. Moreover, this picture was not interpreted by some unusual historical plot, but by a very modest landscape. But A.I. Kuindzhi knew how to win. The success exceeded all expectations and turned into a real sensation.

AI Kuindzhi was always very attentive to the exhibiting of his paintings, he placed them so that they were well lit so that they would not be disturbed by neighboring canvases. This time "Moonlit Night on the Dnieper" hung on the wall alone. Knowing that the effect of moonlight will fully manifest itself under artificial lighting, the artist ordered to drape the windows in the hall and illuminate the picture with a beam of electric light focused on it. Visitors entered the semi-dark hall and, spellbound, stopped before the cold glow of the moonlight. A wide space stretching into the distance was revealed to the audience; the plain, crossed by the greenish ribbon of a quiet river, almost merges at the horizon with a dark sky covered with rows of light clouds. Above they parted a little, and the moon looked out through the formed window, illuminating the Dnieper, huts and a web of paths on the near bank.

And everything in nature became silent, bewitched by the wonderful radiance of the sky and the Dnieper waters. The sparkling silvery-greenish disk of the moon flooded with its mysterious phosphorescent light the earth immersed in night peace. It was so strong that some of the spectators tried to look behind the painting to find a lantern or lamp. But there was no lamp, and the moon continued to emit its bewitching, mysterious light. The Dnieper waters reflect this light like a smooth mirror, the walls of Ukrainian huts whiten from the velvety blue of the night. This majestic show still plunges the audience into thoughts of eternity and the enduring beauty of the world. So before A.I. Kuindzhi, only the great N.V. Gogol sang about nature. The number of sincere admirers of A.I. Kuindzhi's talent grew, a rare person could remain indifferent in front of this picture, which seemed to be witchcraft.

AI Kuindzhi portrays the celestial sphere as majestic and eternal, striking the audience with the power of the Universe, its immensity and solemnity. Numerous attributes of the landscape - huts creeping along the slope, bushy trees, gnarled stalks of the Tartar - are swallowed up in darkness, their color is diluted with a brown tone. The bright silvery light of the moon is shaded by the depth of blue. By his phosphorescence, he transforms the traditional motif with the moon into such a rare, meaningful, attractive and mysterious that it transforms into a poetically excited delight. There were even suggestions about some unusual colors and even about strange artistic techniques that the artist allegedly used. Rumors about the secret of the artistic method of A.I. Kuindzhi, about the secret of his colors circulated during the artist's lifetime, some tried to catch him in tricks, even in connection with evil spirits. Perhaps this happened because A.I. Kuindzhi concentrated his efforts on the illusory transmission of the real effect of lighting, on the search for such a composition of the picture, which would allow the most convincing expression of the feeling of wide spatiality.

Famous artist Arkhip Kuindzhi, 1907

And he coped with these tasks brilliantly. In addition, the artist won everyone in distinguishing the slightest changes in color and light ratios (for example, even during experiments with a special device, which were performed by D.I. Mendeleev and others). Some have argued for the use of phosphorus-based chemicals. However, this is not entirely true. The decisive role in creating an impression is played by the unusual color structure of the canvas. Applying complementary colors in the picture that reinforce each other, the artist achieves an incredible effect of the moonlight illusion. True, it is known that there were experiments after all. Kuindzhi intensively used bituminous paints, but did not use phosphorus. Unfortunately, due to careless mixing of chemically incompatible paints, the canvas darkened a lot.

While creating this canvas, A.I. Kuindzhi applied a complex pictorial technique. For example, he contrasted the warm reddish tone of the earth with cold-silver shades and thereby deepened the space, and small dark strokes in the illuminated places created the feeling of vibrating light. All newspapers and magazines responded to the exhibition with enthusiastic articles, reproductions of "Moonlight Night on the Dnieper" in thousands of copies were distributed throughout Russia. The poet Y. Polonsky, a friend of A.I. Kuindzhi, wrote then: “Positively, I don’t remember being stuck in front of any picture for so long ... What is it? Picture or reality? Have we seen this month in a golden frame or through an open window, these clouds, this dark distance, these "trembling lights of sad villages" and these overflows of light, this silvery reflection of the month in the streams of the Dnieper, bending around the distance, this poetic, quiet, majestic night? " Poet K. Fofanov wrote the poem "Night on the Dnieper", which was later set to music.

The audience was delighted with the illusion of natural moonlight, and people, according to I.E. Repin, who stood in "prayer silence" in front of the canvas of A.I. Kuindzhi, left the hall with tears in their eyes: believers, and they lived in such moments with the best feelings of the soul and enjoyed the heavenly bliss of the art of painting. " The poet Y. Polonsky was surprised: “Positively, I don’t remember standing in front of a picture for so long ... What is it? Picture or reality? " And the poet K. Fofanov, under the impression of this canvas, wrote the poem "Night on the Dnieper", which was later set to music.

I. Kramskoy foresaw the fate of the canvas: “Perhaps Kuindzhi combined together such paints that are in natural antagonism with each other and after a certain time either go out, or change and decompose to the point that the descendants will shrug their shoulders in bewilderment: from what came to the delight of the good-natured audience? In order to avoid such an unfair attitude in the future, I would not mind drawing up, so to speak, a protocol that his "Night on the Dnieper" is all filled with real light and air, and the sky is real, bottomless, deep. "

Unfortunately, our contemporaries cannot fully appreciate the initial effect of the picture, since it has come down to our times in a distorted form. And the blame for everything is the special attitude to the canvas of its owner, Grand Duke Constantine.

Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, who bought the painting, did not want to part with the canvas, even going on a trip around the world. I. S. Turgenev, who was at that time in Paris (in January 1881), was horrified by this thought, about which he indignantly wrote to the writer D. V. Grigorovich: “There is no doubt that the picture ... will return completely ruined , thanks to salty air vapors, etc. ". He even visited the Grand Duke in Paris, while his frigate was in the port of Cherbourg, and persuaded him to send the picture for a short time to Paris.

I.S. Turgenev hoped that he would be able to persuade him to leave the painting at the exhibition in the Zedelmeyer gallery, but he could not persuade the prince. The humid, salty sea air, of course, negatively affected the composition of the colors, and the landscape began to darken. But the lunar ripples on the river and the radiance of the moon itself are conveyed by the genius A.I. Kuindzhi with such force that, looking at the picture even now, the audience immediately falls under the power of the eternal and Divine.

In fairness, it should be noted that due to the enormous popularity of the painting, Kuindzhi created two more copies of Moonlight Night, the first painting is kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery, the other is in the Livadia Palace in Yalta and the third in the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.

sources

The name of Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi became known as soon as the public saw his paintings "After the Rain" and "Birch Grove". But at the Eighth Exhibition of Itinerant Artists, the works of A.I. Kuindzhi were absent, and this was immediately noticed by the audience. P.M. Tretyakov wrote to I. Kramskoy from Moscow that even those few who previously did not treat the artist's works very warmly grieve over this.
In the summer and autumn of 1880, during a break with the Itinerants, A.I. Kuindzhi worked on a new painting. Rumors about the enchanting beauty of "Moonlit Night on the Dnieper" spread throughout the Russian capital. For two hours on Sundays, the artist opened the doors of his studio to those who wished, and the Petersburg public began to besiege her long before the completion of the work.
This painting has gained a truly legendary fame. I.S. Turgenev and Y. Polonsky, I. Kramskoy and P. Chistyakov, D. I. Mendelev came to the studio of A.I.Kuindzhi, the famous publisher and collector K.T.Soldatenkov asked the price. Right from the workshop, even before the exhibition, "Moonlit Night on the Dnieper" was bought for huge money by the Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich.
In his book about the artist O.P. Voronova describes the purchase of the painting as follows: "" Moonlit Night on the Dnieper "Soldatenkov wanted to buy, but it turned out that it no longer belonged to Arkhip Ivanovich. Was sold still smelling fresh paint, right in the workshop. One Sunday, a certain Marine officer... “Why do you need it? Kuindzhi shrugged his shoulders. “You don’t buy it anyway: it’s expensive.” - "But all the same?" - “Yes, five thousand,” - said Arkhip Ivanovich, incredible for those times, almost fantastic amount. And suddenly I heard in response: “Good. I leave it behind. " And only after the officer left, the artist learned that he had visited Grand Duke Konstantin".
And then the painting was exhibited on Bolshaya Morskaya Street in St. Petersburg, in the hall of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists. The artist's performance with a solo exhibition, moreover, consisting of only one small painting, was an unusual event. Moreover, this picture did not interpret any unusual historical plot, but was a very modest landscape in size. But A.I. Kuindzhi knew how to win. The success exceeded all expectations and turned into a real sensation. Petersburg was full of rumors, they say, for huge money the artist Kuindzhi from Japan or China was brought special paints with mother-of-pearl and now his painting is emitting light.
Long lines lined up on Bolshaya Morskaya Street, and people waited for hours to see this extraordinary piece. To avoid the crowd, the audience was allowed into the hall in groups.
AI Kuindzhi was always very attentive to the exhibiting of his paintings, he placed them so that they were well lit so that they would not be disturbed by neighboring canvases. This time "Moonlit Night on the Dnieper" hung on the wall alone. Knowing that the effect of moonlight will fully manifest itself under artificial lighting, the artist ordered to drape the windows in the hall and illuminate the picture with a beam of electric light focused on it.
Visitors entered the semi-dark hall and, spellbound, stopped before the cold glow of the moonlight. The effect of the painting was amazing. Even the artists got lost, not understanding how he painted the moon and shine on the water. It seemed to everyone that the moon shone with its real light. IN Kramskoy, a recognized authority in art circles, did not hide his emotions: “What a storm of enthusiasm Kuindzhi raised! Such a fellow - lovely. "
Ivan Bunin.
My Night will come ...
My night will come, a long, dumb night,
Then the Lord, who works wonders, commands,
For a new luminary to ascend to heaven.
Shine, shine, Moon, lifting higher
His face given by the Sun.
Let the world be told
That my day has burned out, but my trace
in the world - is.
A wide space stretching into the distance was revealed to the audience; the plain, crossed by the greenish ribbon of a quiet river, almost merges at the horizon with a dark sky covered with rows of light clouds. Above they parted a little, and the moon looked out through the formed window, illuminating the Dnieper, huts and a web of paths on the near bank. And everything in nature became silent, bewitched by the wonderful radiance of the sky and the Dnieper waters.
The sparkling silvery-greenish disc of the moon flooded the earth with its mysterious phosphorescent light. It was so strong that some of the spectators tried to look behind the painting to find a lantern or lamp. But there was no lamp, and the moon continued to emit its bewitching, mysterious light.
The Dnieper water reflects this light with a smooth mirror, the walls of Ukrainian huts whiten from the velvety blue of the night. This majestic show still plunges the audience into thoughts of eternity and the enduring beauty of the world. So before A.I. Kuindzhi, only the great N.V. Gogol sang about nature.
The number of sincere admirers of A.I. Kuindzhi's talent grew, a rare person could remain indifferent in front of this picture, which seemed to be witchcraft. AI Kuindzhi portrays the celestial sphere as majestic and eternal, striking the audience with the power of the Universe, its immensity and solemnity. Numerous attributes of the landscape - huts creeping along the slope, bushy trees, gnarled stems of the Tartar - are swallowed up in darkness, their color is diluted with a brown tone.
The bright silvery light of the moon is shaded by a deep blue. By his phosphorescence, he transforms the traditional motif with the moon into such a rare, meaningful, attractive and mysterious that it transforms into a poetically excited delight. There were even suggestions about some unusual colors and even about strange artistic techniques that the artist allegedly used. Rumors about the secret of the artistic method of A.I. Kuindzhi, about the secret of his colors circulated during the artist's lifetime, some tried to catch him in tricks, even in connection with evil spirits.
Perhaps this happened because A.I. Kuindzhi focused his efforts on the illusory transmission of the real effect of lighting, on the search for such a composition of the picture that would allow the most convincing expression of the feeling of wide spatiality. And he coped with these tasks brilliantly. In addition, the artist won everyone in distinguishing the slightest changes in color and light ratios (for example, even during experiments with a special device, which were performed by D.I. Mendeleev and others).
While creating this canvas, A.I. Kuindzhi applied a complex pictorial technique. For example, he contrasted the warm reddish tone of the earth with cold-silver shades and thereby deepened the space, and small dark strokes in the illuminated places created the feeling of vibrating light.
All newspapers and magazines responded to the exhibition with enthusiastic articles, reproductions of "Moonlight Night on the Dnieper" in thousands of copies were distributed throughout Russia. The poet Y. Polonsky, a friend of A.I.Kuindzhi, wrote then: “Positively, I don’t remember being stuck in front of any picture for so long ... What is it? Picture or reality? Have we seen this month in a golden frame or through an open window, these clouds, this dark distance, these "trembling lights of sad villages" and these overflows of light, this silvery reflection of the month in the streams of the Dnieper, bending around the distance, this poetic, quiet, majestic night? " Poet K. Fofanov wrote the poem "Night on the Dnieper", which was later set to music.
The picture caused an ambiguous reaction and created a real sensation among his comrades-in-arms. Repin recalled: "Having scolded Kuindzhi loudly, to all the creeps, opponents could not resist imitating and vying, with passion, tried to jump forward with their fakes, passing them off as their personal paintings." I could not resist such famous landscape painter like Lagorio. He recreated the "Kuindzhi effect" in the "Night on the Neva" landscape. But instead of fame, he waited only for the fact that they began to point the finger at him.
The audience was delighted with the illusion of natural moonlight, and people, according to I.E. Repin, who stood in "prayer silence" in front of the canvas of A.I. Kuindzhi, left the hall with tears in their eyes: believers, and they lived in such moments with the best feelings of the soul and enjoyed the heavenly bliss of the art of painting. "
F. Tyutchev
Vision
1829
There is an hour, in the night, of world silence,
And at that hour of phenomena and miracles
Living chariot of creation
Rolls openly into the sanctuary of heaven.
Then the night thickens like chaos on the waters,
Unconsciousness, like Atlas, crushes the land;
Only Muse's virgin soul
In prophetic dreams, the gods are disturbed!
AI Kuindzhi seemed to be trying to penetrate the world of the ideal, but he stopped before its incomprehensibility. Reproducing an earthly appearance, the artist created perfect world harmony and beauty. In such a comparison, echoes of Christian philosophy are heard, according to which earthly life- only the lowest level of the sphere of ideal being, created by the highest mind, stretching over it.
Kuindzhi strove for a way of being, where the thought of a person is absorbed over peaceful forces, dissolved in the philosophy of time and rest. In the artist's view, being is motionless and majestic. Visual aids correspond to the essence of the image. Lines romantic works Kuindzhi are fluid and viscous, color spreads over the canvas in slow motion, almost phosphorescent light is mysterious, a deep and spatial composition seems to prepare the ground for a breakthrough of imagination into other worlds.
Kramskoy was stunned, fascinated. Flair true artist instilled in him anxiety about the fate of this extraordinary masterpiece; he wrote to Stasov: “Maybe Kuindzhi's colors will wither or change and decompose to the point that the descendants will shrug their shoulders in bewilderment: why the good-natured spectators were delighted ...” Kramskoy could not come to terms with this - the picture should live in the future! He decided that it was necessary to draw up a "protocol", where a few of the best contemporary artists confirmed that they had seen "Night on the Dnieper" with their own eyes, that in the picture "everything is filled with real light and air, the river really makes its majestic course and the sky is real bottomless and deep." Such a "protocol" was written, but it was not possible to print it.
Unfortunately, Kramskoy's fears came true much earlier than he expected. A tragedy struck the painting. Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, who bought the painting, did not want to part with the canvas, even going on a trip around the world. I. S. Turgenev, who was at that time in Paris (in January 1881), was horrified by this thought, about which he indignantly wrote to the writer D. V. Grigorovich: “There is no doubt that the picture ... will return completely ruined, thanks to salty air vapors, etc. ". He even visited the Grand Duke in Paris, while his frigate was in the port of Cherbourg, and persuaded him to send the picture for a short time to Paris. I.S. Turgenev hoped that he would be able to persuade him to leave the painting at the exhibition in the Zedelmeyer gallery, but he could not persuade the prince.
The humid, salty sea air, of course, negatively affected the composition of the colors, and the landscape began to darken. Now we cannot see many details of the landscape in the picture. But the lunar ripples on the river and the radiance of the moon itself are conveyed by the genius A.I. Kuindzhi with such force that, looking at the picture even now, the audience immediately falls under the power of the eternal and Divine.

"Moonlit Night on the Dnieper"(1880) - one of the most famous paintings Arkhip Kuindzhi... This work made a splash and gained mystical fame. Many did not believe that the light of the moon could be conveyed in this way only by artistic means, and looked behind the canvas, looking for a lamp there. Many people stood in silence for hours in front of the picture, and then left in tears. Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich bought "Moonlit Night" for his personal collection and took it everywhere with him, which had sad consequences.

The artist worked on this painting in the summer and autumn of 1880. Even before the start of the exhibition, rumors spread that Kuindzhi was preparing something completely incredible. There were so many curious people that on Sundays the painter opened the doors of his workshop and let everyone in there. Even before the start of the exhibition, the painting was bought by the Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich.

Kuindzhi has always been very jealous of exhibiting his paintings, but this time he surpassed himself. It was a personal exhibition, and only one work was demonstrated at it - "Moonlit Night on the Dnieper". The artist ordered to drape all the windows and illuminate the canvas with a beam of electric light directed at it - in daylight Moonlight did not look so impressive. Visitors entered the dark room and, as if under hypnosis, froze in front of this magical picture.

In front of the hall of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists in St. Petersburg, where the exhibition was held, there was a line all day long. The audience had to be allowed into the room in groups to avoid the crush. The painting's incredible effect was legendary. The shining of the moonlight was so fantastic that the artist was suspected of using some unusual mother-of-pearl paints brought from Japan or China, and was even accused of having connections with evil spirits. And the skeptical viewers tried to find with back side canvases hidden lamps.

Of course, the whole secret lay in Kuindzhi's extraordinary artistic skill, in the skillful construction of the composition and such a combination of colors that created the effect of radiance and caused the illusion of flickering light. The warm reddish tone of the earth contrasted with the cool silvery hues, which deepened the space. However, even the professionals could not explain the magic impression that the picture made on the audience with one skill alone - many left the exhibition in tears.

I. Repin said that the audience froze in front of the painting "in prayer silence": "This is how the artist's poetic charms acted on the chosen believers, and they lived at such moments with the best feelings of the soul and enjoyed the heavenly bliss of the art of painting." The poet Y. Polonsky was surprised: “Positively, I don’t remember standing in front of a picture for so long ... What is it? Picture or reality? " And the poet K. Fofanov, under the impression of this canvas, wrote the poem "Night on the Dnieper", which was later set to music.

I. Kramskoy foresaw the fate of the canvas: “Perhaps Kuindzhi combined together such paints that are in natural antagonism with each other and after a certain time either go out, or change and decompose to the point that the descendants will shrug their shoulders in bewilderment: from what came to the delight of the good-natured audience? In order to avoid such an unfair attitude in the future, I would not mind drawing up, so to speak, a protocol that his "Night on the Dnieper" is all filled with real light and air, and the sky is real, bottomless, deep. "

Unfortunately, our contemporaries cannot fully appreciate the initial effect of the picture, since it has come down to our times in a distorted form. And the blame for everything is the special attitude to the canvas of its owner, Grand Duke Constantine. He was so attached to this picture that he took it with him on a trip around the world. Upon learning of this, I. Turgenev was horrified: "There is no doubt that the picture will return completely ruined, thanks to the salty vapors of the air." He even tried to persuade the prince to leave the painting for a while in Paris, but he was adamant.

Unfortunately, the writer was right: the salt-saturated sea air and high humidity had a detrimental effect on the composition of the paints, and they began to darken. Therefore, now "Moonlit Night on the Dnieper" looks completely different. Although the moonlight still acts magically on the audience today, it evokes constant interest.

Information about the childhood of Arkhip Kuindzhi is very fragmentary and incomplete. Even the date of his birth is not known reliably. A few documents have survived, on the basis of which the researchers of Kuindzhi's biography call his birthday January 15, 1841. This event took place in a suburb of Mariupol called Karasu.

Talent and Poverty (1841-1854)

It is believed that the ancestors of the artist were the Greeks, who lived in the Crimea in close proximity to the Tatars. There was a gradual interpenetration of cultures, the language barrier was erased, mixed marriages arose. Therefore, the presence of Tatar blood in the Kuindzhi family is quite possible, although the artist himself always said that he considered himself Russian.

The surname "Kuindzhi" (in the original transcription of Kuyumdzhi) in the Tatar language means the name of the craft: "goldsmith." It is known that the artist's grandfather was indeed a jeweler. Native brother Arkhipa translated the surname into Russian and became Zolotarev.

The birth of a talented child in poor family does not promise him any privileges. Kuindzhi's father, Ivan Khristoforovich, was a shoemaker and could not provide his children with prosperity. When Arkhip was three years old, his father suddenly died. Mother lived very shortly after that. Little orphans were left in the care of Kuindzhi's father's brother and sister, who took turns taking care of them as best they could.

Thanks to the support of relatives, the boy learned to read and write, studying with a familiar Greek teacher, and later attended the local city school for a short time. He did not like studying there and was given with great difficulty. It was during this period that his drawing abilities were first clearly manifested. Carried away, the kid drew not only on random scraps of paper, but also on furniture or a fence. This occupation brought him genuine joy.

Poverty forced him to earn money either as a shepherd, or as an assistant to a grain merchant, or as a brick-maker at the construction of a church. But the drawing was still his main passion... This continued until 1855, when one of the adults, noticing the boy's talent, advised him to go and study drawing to Aivazovsky, in Feodosia. Arkhip Kuindzhi made this long journey on foot, as there was nothing to pay for the trip.

New turn (1855-1859)

Crimean landscapes struck the imagination of an impressionable teenager. Aivazovsky was absent at that time, so his copyist, Adolf Fessler, out of the kindness of his heart, took part in the fate of young Arkhip. He gave him his first real drawing lessons. For the poor and shy Arkhip, this meant that he had the hope of becoming an artist.

He stayed in Feodosia for several months. Aivazovsky's daughter in her memoirs described him as a short, very curly boy in a straw hat, very quiet and shy.

Aivazovsky himself, upon returning to Feodosia, failed to consider Kuindzhi's talent and did not study with him. True, he entrusted him with mixing paints and painting his fence. Disappointed and depressed by this turn of events, the young man returns home.

Luck on the third try (1860-1868)

V hometown Kuindzhi worked for several months as a retoucher for a photographer, and later went in search of work, first to Odessa, and from there to Taganrog. This city greeted him more cordially. Arkhip is hired in the photographic studio of S. S. Isakovich, again as a retoucher. And he continues to paint.

Having finally realized that he would not be able to realize his dream in such conditions, Kuindzhi dropped everything and moved to St. Petersburg, where he tried to enter the Academy of Arts. However, fate made a new grimace for him - failure in the exams. The second attempt was also unsuccessful.

But talent and love for painting demanded an exit and pushed to overcome obstacles. Kuindzhi is persistently engaged in drawing and in 1868 exhibited his first painting entitled "Tatar Saklya in the Crimea." This work gives him access to the Academy of Arts, where he is enrolled as an auditor.

During this fertile period Kuindzhi creates incredibly poignant paintings "Autumn thaw," "Forgotten village" and "Chumatsky tract in Mariupol."

They are painted in an innovative manner, carefully chosen shades very accurately convey the gloom and dullness of bleak landscapes. The unusual colors and special play of shadows impressed the audience very much, but received ambiguous assessment among artists.

"Northern" period (1869-1873)

Kuindzhi was very attracted to work on landscapes. He developed his own special painting technique, which made it possible to create such unusual visual illusions that his friends behind his back called him a hoaxer.

Inspired by the views of northern nature, the artist in a short period created such masterpieces as "Lake Ladoga", "Snow", "On Valaam Island", " Saint Isaac's Cathedral in the moonlight. "

Again a turn and a meteoric rise (1874-1881)

In 1874, the life of Arkhip Kuindzhi receives a new content: the artist marries Vera Leontyevna Ketcherdzhi. He was in love with her since youthful years... Previously, this marriage was impossible due to the extreme poverty of Kuindzhi and the rich origin of the bride.

Now the sale of paintings has made the artist a wealthy person. He was able to visit England, France, Austria, Switzerland and other countries to get acquainted with various schools of painting.

A new, more joyful period of life has come. And the artist's paintings acquired a different tone. Written at that time " Birch Grove"," Dnieper in the Morning "," Moonlit Night on the Dnieper "," Ukrainian Night "made an incredible impression on the audience.

The bright, almost decorative play of colors made the paintings simply glowing. Some even strove to look behind the canvas to make sure that there was no artificial illumination of the moon. Kuindzhi's contemporary, the poet Y. Polonsky, examining the paintings, in perplexity asked the question: is it a painting or a window frame, behind which a landscape of incomprehensible beauty opens?

Silence of a Genius (1882-1910)

After such a resounding success, Kuindzhi's friends reasonably expected new paintings and plots. But the artist has his own logic - he stopped exhibitions for 20 years. At this time, he continued to write, study literature, studied with students, and built a dacha in the Crimea.

Despite his active and touchy character, Arkhip Kuindzhi was reputed to be very kind person... He constantly and gratuitously supported his students with money and established prizes for the best young artists. His kindness extended to animals and birds as well.

From the written memoirs of the artist's contemporaries, it is known that every day around noon he went out into the yard to feed the birds. Already accustomed to such a ritual, sparrows, crows, pigeons and other winged brethren flocked to him. The birds were not at all afraid of him, they sat on their hands, which only made the owner happy.

In 1901, Kuindzhi broke his "silence" by presenting to the discerning public new masterpieces: "Evening in Ukraine", the theological plot "Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane" and new variant"Birch Grove". They still excite and fascinate the viewer, catching the eye for a long time.

He no longer exhibited and many paintings became known only after his death. Died brilliant artist July 11, 1910. A sick heart became the cause of death.