{"id":5004,"date":"2018-12-07T16:44:37","date_gmt":"2018-12-07T16:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.russianartcollection.com\/product\/the-finished-book\/"},"modified":"2023-06-18T15:32:25","modified_gmt":"2023-06-18T15:32:25","slug":"the-finished-book","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/www.russianartcollection.com\/en\/product\/the-finished-book\/","title":{"rendered":"THE FINISHED BOOK"},"content":{"rendered":"

BODAREVSKY NIKOLAI KORNILIEVICH<\/strong>
\n1850-1921<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the famous Russian artists of the second half of XIX and the beginning of XX century, whose work was positively evaluated by ideologist of Realism, the artist I. N. Kramskoy. Bodarevsky was a multifaceted artist, he painted historical and religious paintings, created sketches for church mosaic, worked on genre paintings, painted landscapes and became famous for painting portraits. His works stood out at the exhibitions, thus he was talked about.<\/p>\n

He was born on 12 (24) November, 1850 in Odessa, in family of titular counsellor, who was a descendant of Moldavian hospodar Chegodar-Bodareskul. This is where the Russified surname came from. He finished Odessa drawing school. From 1869 to 1873 he studied history painting at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, where he learned from T. A. Neff, P. M. Shamshin, V. P. Vereschagin. In 1873 he was awarded a small gold medal for the academic program \u201eDavid plays gusli before Saul\u201c (Illustrated in Journal \u201eNiva\u201c, No. 46 1913, pg. 903 under the name \u201eDavid and Saul\u201c). In 1875 he was awarded the title of class artist of the 1st degree (formal skill level of an artist in the Russian Empire) for the program \u201cThe apostle Paul explains the tenets of faith in the presence of King Agrippa, his sister Berenice and the proconsul Festus\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the time following, Bodarevsky committed himself to academic painting, he painted the walls of Church of Christ the Savior in Moscow, he created sixteen cartoons which were used for making mosaics of the northern iconostasis \u201eMary Magdalene\u201c and \u201eSt. Vladimir\u201c and others, in the Church of the Savior on Blood in St. Petersburg. He participated in designing of the Grand Hall of Moscow Conservatory by painting 14 portraits of Russian and foreign composers, and declared himself as a portrait painter. Even in genre paintings, his characters bear portrait features.<\/p>\n

From 1880 he exhibited his works at the exhibitions of Wanderers. From 1884 to 1918 he was a member of the Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions. During this period he exhibited 241 paintings, which is a proof of his tremendous work capacity. He exhibited his works at Moscow Society of Art Lovers exhibitions. His paintings \u201eWedding in Ukraine\u201c (1887, State Russian Museum), \u201eOrphan\u201c, \u201eGirl with gusli\u201c, \u201eBaptism of people of Kiev\u201c and other, are widely known.<\/p>\n

After graduating from the Academy, he lived mainly in Odessa and St. Petersburg, he was a member of the Society of South Russian Artists and exhibited at their exhibitions in Odessa, Kiev and other cities. He took part in exhibitions, not only in Russia, but in Paris (1889), Chicago (1893) and Rome (1913), too.<\/p>\n

He travelled abroad \u2013 to Switzerland (1895), France (1895-1896).<\/p>\n

Personal exhibitions: Odessa (1883), St. Petersburg (1913).<\/p>\n

His works were always sold at the highest price. For example, in 1886, at the exhibition of Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions, the painting \u201eOrphan\u201c was bought for 1200 rubles, by a well-known art collector, Tereschenko, which is twelve times more than landscapes of A. Kiselev and N. Dubovskoy were sold for.<\/p>\n

In 1908 he was awarded the title of academician \u201efor the fame he gained in the field of art\u201c.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of XX century he became so famous, that he received numerous portrait commissions, including commissions from the members of high aristocracy. They were characterized by contemporaries as complete and very alike. Respectable ladies of that time look impressive on his paintings, and as a rule they are depicted in light-colored dresses and beautiful interiors (Portraits of princess Golicina-Ostermann-Tolstoy, Mrs L. \u201ePleased with herself\u201c ). At the same time he paints portraits of well-known creative people (\u201ePortrait of the writer I. F. Vasilevsky\u201c).\u00a0 Previously mentioned paintings were exhibited in the Spring of 1906 at the 34th exhibition of the Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and were printed in catalogue.<\/p>\n

Full-length ceremonial portrait of Empress Alexandra Fedorovna in the interior, as well as her half-length portrait, which were painted in Tsarskoe Selo, in 1907, made the artist even more famous and are distinguishable by professional brilliance. The first portrait is a kept at Tsarskoe Selo State Museum and was exhibited in July of 2004 at the exhibition \u201eThe Romanov Dynasty\u201c in the Catherine Palace in Pushkin. The second portrait is kept at Hermitage in St.Petersburg.<\/p>\n

In the spring of 1913, the exhibition of Bodarevsky was held in the halls of St. Petersburg Society for the Promotion of Arts; it was dedicated to the 40th anniversary of his work. Journal \u201eNiva\u201c No46 printed the portraits of the artist\u2019s wife and son (\u201eOn the Seashore\u201c), Mrs Esaulova (born princess Obolenskaya), \u201eDavid and Saul\u201c, \u201eFriends\u201c \u2013 boy with a puppy. A photo of the artist was also printed, as well as short information about him.<\/p>\n

After the events related to Revolution, Bodarevsky\u2019s paintings were confiscated or destroyed \u201eas a symbol of a bourgeois lifestyle\u201c and the owners, who fled from the country, in spite all the efforts, couldn\u2019t find the way to bring them along. And yet, a large number of his paintings are kept in the museums in Russia and former Soviet republics: State Tretyakov Gallery, Russian Museum, Odessa Art Museum, Latvian National Museum of Art and many others.<\/p>\n

For decades, he was considered a salon artist, despite the fact that in his genre paintings he truthfully depicted the life of ordinary people. Nowdays, the name of the artist became popular again, which is evident by the increasing interest in his paintings, as well as the prices of his work on the world market.<\/p>\n

Information about N. K. Bodarevsky and illustrations of his paintings are printed in State Tretyakov Gallery, collection catalogue \u201eArt of the second half of XIX century\u201c, Moscow, 2001 (4 coloured illustrations)<\/p>\n