Klodt, Mikhail Konstantinovich

Childhood and Youth

Mikhail Konstantinovich Klodt was born on December 30, 1832 [ January 11, 1833 ] in St. Petersburg into the artistically gifted family of Klodt von Jurgensburg . His father, artillery major general Konstantin Karlovich Klodt , was fond of wood engraving, and his uncle, Pyotr Karlovich Klodt , was one of the best sculptors in Russia at that time. ^[four]

In early childhood, Mikhail Konstantinovich was unsociable. Initially, he entered the Corps of Mining Engineers , where he studied mining , but Mikhail did not like studying, and he often missed classes. Only the drawing classes that Ivan Fomich Khrutsky conducted in the building aroused satisfaction in him. His teacher also discerned future talent in his student. ^{[4] [5]}

View in the Zagesal estate near Riga (1858)

In 1851, 18-year-old Mikhail Klodt entered the Imperial Academy of Arts , where he studied with great enthusiasm in the class of M.N. Vorobyov , who taught landscape painting . In 1853, for one of his student works, he was awarded a silver medal of the second degree and became a scholarship holder of the Society for the Promotion of Artists . ^[6] According to the testimony of the family chronicler Grigory Klodt, the young artist refused a scholarship in favor of more needy artists, and she was transferred to one of the two brothers Kreitanov. ^[7]

In 1855 he was awarded a large silver medal, and in 1857 for the painting “ View on Valaam Island ” painted in 1854 he was awarded a small gold medal, ^[6] and the painting itself was exhibited at the academic exhibition of 1857 and received good critical reviews. After graduating from the Academy of Arts in 1858, he received the title of artist of the first degree, and for the painting " View in the Zagezal Estate near Riga " he was awarded a large gold medal and the right to travel at public expense to Europe for a period of three years. ^{[4] [6]}

Europe

In May 1858, Klodt arrived in Switzerland , where he settled in a small hotel on the shores of Lake Geneva . However, the Swiss nature did not inspire the artist, and instead of fruitful work, a decline began in his work. The painter decided to change the situation and moved to Paris , hoping that the world capital of art would inspire him. In the capital of the Second Empire, he met with representatives of the Barbizon school - Theodore Russo , Charles Francois Dobigny , Camille Corot , and also met with his cousin Mikhail Petrovich Klodt , with whom he went first to Brittany and then to Normandy . ^[7] But even here the artist did not find satisfaction - French architecture and painting did not impress him, ^{[2] the} alien nature did not inspire, and the French and Swiss painting schools seemed to him “untidy and unfinished” and unworthy of imitation. ^[8]

For the report to the Academy of Arts, the painter painted the paintings “ Barges on the shore at low tide. Brittany "(1859) and" View in Normandy "(1860). In 1860, he wrote a letter to the Academy asking for permission to return to Russia and spend the rest of a three-year business trip, painting landscapes in his homeland. ^[four]

1861-1870

Having received official permission from the Academy, in January 1861, Mikhail Klodt returned to Russia. The Academy of Arts allowed him to continue his creative journey already in Russia and even extended his retirement period. ^[8] In the summer of that year, he met Elizaveta Mikhailovna Stanyukovich, the daughter of Admiral Mikhail Stanyukovich and sister of the novice writer Konstantin Stanyukovich , and made her an offer, but was refused. Against the backdrop of the failure in love affairs, Klodt became depressed , but soon, at the insistence of his relatives, he married Elizaveta Gavrilovna Vladimirtsova. ^[four]

According to the results of his trip to Europe, Klodt, in the framework of academic canons, combined with romantic motifs, painted the paintings “ View in the Aa River Valley in Livonia ”, “ Longboats on the bank at low tide. Brittany "and " Night view in Normandy. Fishermen . " For these works in 1862, Mikhail Konstantinovich received the title of academician and the extension of the period of retirement for another year. ^[four]

In the summer of 1863, the artist and his wife were invited to stay with relatives in Mtsensk district of the Oryol province . Here Mikhail Konstantinovich found spiritual harmony and found rich material for his work. ^[4] In addition to the Oryol province, he traveled to the Tula and Smolensk provinces, where he painted a number of Russian landscapes. Among his successful works of this period are the paintings “ Oak Grove ” (1863), “The Big Road in the Fall ” (1863), “ View in the Oryol Province ” (1864). ^[4] The “ Big Road in the Fall ” canvas depicting a typical low-key Russian landscape — low overhanging a plain sky with heavy rain clouds, a road that is a solid dull black abyss, and a stuck peasant cart on it without any hope to get out — brings Klodt popularity among contemporaries. ^[8] For the painting “ View in the Oryol Province ”, the painter in 1864 received the title of professor, ^[6] which means that he did not have the right to teach at the Academy of Arts, but at that time he did not have a full-time position. ^{[4] [7]}

On December 9, 1863, a son Boris was born into the Klodt family. The baby was born very weak. In addition, the artist’s wife Elizaveta Gavrilovna was also seriously ill, the disease progressed, and in December 1865 she died. And soon after her mother died of Mikhail Klodt. ^[four]

In the spring of 1866, the painter again went to Oryol, where he worked a lot. Upon his return to St. Petersburg, the widowed Mikhail Konstantinovich repeatedly made an offer to Elizabeth Mikhailovna Stanyukovich and this time received consent. In January 1867, they were married, and in November of the same year, their son Peter was born. During this period, Klodt created many paintings, including "The Rays of the Sun ", " Russian Village ", " Sunset in the Orel Province " (1867), " Avenue in the Birch Grove " (1867). ^[four]

In the late 1860s, Mikhail Klodt was already an accomplished artist who had his own view of art and recognizable handwriting. ^[4] His work is characterized by realism of the image, an impeccable drawing with a meticulous study of details, mastery of promising solutions, the severity and harmony of the composition, the presence of man to “animate” nature. For him, thoroughness is inherent in drawing foreground objects and generalization in distant plans and the sky with clouds. ^[2] Such precision in writing small details required a lot of effort and a lot of time to create a canvas. Achieving high accuracy, the artist sometimes had to rewrite the picture several times. In a review of the Academic Exhibition of 1867, V. V. Stasov wrote: ^[7]

Klodt, in my eye, is one of our most characteristic landscape painters. He is sometimes reproached for some dryness, scrupulous pettiness, too slavish imitation of nature, but it seems to me that is better than a sweeping lie and fantastic inventions of most of our landscape painters. I do not know what can be compared with its Autumn, and then with the Sunset, exhibited at the current exhibition. All this is very, very far from Sorrents, views of the Black Sea, etc., with which landscape painters usually treat us. And thank God! Klodt only seeks to grasp Russian nature in all its plainness, without any claim to a parade and a gold-embroidered uniform, without which other landscape painters cannot imagine nature. But then how much true, deep pleasure his true paintings bring

Despite success in the field of painting, Klodt’s financial situation remained difficult, due to a lack of ability to successfully sell his paintings. ^{[4] [7]}

Organization of the Wanderers Partnership

In December 1870, the first board of the Traveling Exhibition Partnership was elected, which included Klodt, and the next decade of his life was connected with the work of the partnership, which very quickly became a major center for artistic life in Russia. ^[4] Close communication between the artist and members of society contributed to the strengthening of realistic trends in his work and the development of interest in the themes and images of rural Russia. ^[2]

At the first exhibition of the Wanderers, open November 29, 1871 in the building of the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, Mikhail Klodt presented two works: “ Noon ” and “ View in Kiev, from the garden of G. Muravyov ”. ^{[4] [7]} It is interesting that the portrait of Mikhail Klodt himself by Ivan Kramskoy was also presented at the exhibition. Critics of that time noted that the best landscapes at the exhibition were the work of Alexei Savrasov “ Rooks Have Arrived ” and paintings by Mikhail Klodt. ^[7]

At the second exhibition of the Wanderers, Klodt's work “ On arable land ” was exhibited, which caused involuntary associations with the work of the same name by A. G. Venetsianov , but the artist managed to depict the image of nature with a truly epic breadth, not only in content but also in expressive means. ^[2] Having depicted in an unpretentious plot the sky, the earth, the sultry summer afternoon, the peasant woman, who had taken off her work for a short while to examine the chaise approaching along the road, Klodt conveyed the symbol of an endlessly renewed life. Along with the painting by A. K. Savrasov “ Rooks Have Arrived ”, this canvas has become one of the picturesque symbols of Russia . The painting was bought directly from the exhibition by Pavel Tretyakov in his collection and is currently in the permanent exhibition of the Tretyakov Gallery . Subsequently, in 1873, 1879 and 1881, Mikhail Klodt wrote a series of repetitions of the canvas for various Russian museums. ^[7]

In 1873, Mikhail Konstantinovich was enrolled in the Academy for a professor salary (since 1871 he was listed in the Academy as a supernumerary teacher “without content” ^[7] ), which significantly improved his financial situation. ^[7] At the Academy, he, together with Alexei Bogolyubov and Socrates Vorobiev , created a class of landscape painting ^[4] and until the introduction of the new provisional charter of the Academy in 1894 was a member of its council. ^[6] Klodt was as conscientious in teaching as he was in painting landscapes, and devoted much of his time and effort to his students. Some of his students subsequently became well-known artists working in different directions - landscape painters Nikolai Dubovsky and Julius Clover , marine painter Alexander Beggrov and others. ^[9] At the same time, in the conflict around Vasily Vereshchagin that unfolded at that time in the Russian art community, Klodt did not support the faculty of the Academy and stood up for the battle fighter. In general, during this period, against the backdrop of the confrontation between the Academy and the Partnership, the position of the artist looked ambivalent - both sides of the side considered him a “traitor” to their work. ^[7]

During this period, Mikhail Konstantinovich annually made creative trips around the country and created a series of paintings that were included in the “golden fund” of the Russian landscape. ^[4] His works, such as The Peasant Woman at the Broken Cart with Flax (1873), Evening View in the Oryol Province (1874), Rye (1877), Cows at a Watering Place (1879), besides interest in spatial effects, contain an attempt in a generalized form to show the uniqueness and originality of the Russian landscape, emotionally colored by the presence of man. ^{[2] [4] [8]} At the same time, under the influence of the works of Ivan Shishkin , in the works of Klodt, epic motives in writing Russian nature increase (“ Forest distance at noon ”). ^[2]

The Wanderers Break

In the late 1870s, Klodt divorced his wife, ^[4] and in 1880 the artist had a conflict with another member of the Association of Wanderers, Arkhip Kuindzhi , as a result of which both left society. Kuindzhi exhibited his landscape “ Ukrainian Night ” at the V Mobile Exhibition, enthusiastically received by critics, but received rather cold assessments in the art community. ^[7] On March 21, 1879, at the general meeting of the Partnership of Traveling Art Exhibitions, Arkhip Kuindzhi and Mikhail Klodt were elected to the Revision Commission, ^[10] and then, shortly after the exhibition closed, an article appeared in the Molva newspaper with the signature “Amateur”, in which the author denied Kuindzhi true talent and argued that the essence of his painting is only in special coverage, which the painter abuses, wherever possible. It soon became clear that the author of the article in the newspaper was Mikhail Klodt. ^{[7] [10]} Kuindzhi demanded to expel Klodt from the Partnership, and not having achieved what he wanted, left him himself. ^[4] Soon after, Klodt received a letter from board member Nikolai Yaroshenko in which he expressed the opinion that the article was written by Mikhail Konstantinovich not out of a love of art and a desire to search for truth, but because of personal motives, petty vanity, envy and hostility towards Kuindzhi. ^[10] In response, on January 3, 1880, Mikhail Klodt petitioned to expel him from the ranks of the Partnership, however, deciding to continue to participate in his exhibitions as an exhibitor. The last serious work of the artist before leaving the Partnership was the picture " On arable land in Little Russia ", which was shown at the exhibition in 1879. In the midst of these turbulent events, Mikhail Klodt received another strong blow - his father died. ^[four]

In the same period he wrote a small work, “ Cows at a Watering Place ” (1879) with neatly painted animal figures. Klodt's landscapes are always characterized by close attention to nature and at the same time its lyrical perception. The critic V. V. Stasov called the artist “a painter of poetic rural moods”. ^[9]

The works of Mikhail Klodt were repeatedly exhibited at the World Exhibitions in Paris ( 1867 , 1868), London (1872), Vienna ( 1873 ), and Philadelphia ( 1876 ). ^[3]

Recent years

After leaving the Association of Wanderers, the artist continued to travel around Russia and create new works. Of his works of this period, the Volga near Simbirsk (1881) and The Coast (1885) are interesting. Gradually, his health worsened, vision problems began, the artist began to worry about headaches. По мнению одних авторов, вскоре у него развилось психическое расстройство — по вечерам он стал «слышать голос», ^[4] по мнению других — страдал алкоголизмом . ^{[7] [11]} На занятия в Академию он стал приходить неопрятным, в мятой и грязной одежде. В 1886 году он был уволен с профессорской должности в академии с оставлением за штатом, а в 1894 году — уволен окончательно с назначением ему небольшой пенсии. Служебное жильё, предоставленное Академией, он был вынужден вернуть, и вместе с сыном от первого брака Борисом он жил в снятой внаём небольшой квартире на Коломенской улице . Борис Михайлович умер в 1899 году. Имя самого Михаила Клодта в последний раз было упомянуто в 1897 году в связи с юбилейной выставкой передвижников. ^{[4] [7]} О последних годах его жизни практически ничего не известно. Архивные документы в виде судебных выписок и исполнительных листов свидетельствуют, что он находился в нужде и был вынужден занимать деньги у разных людей. ^[7]

Скончался Михаил Константинович Клодт 16 (29) мая 1902 года . ^{[4] [8]}

Первый брак : Елизавета Гавриловна Владимирцова. Дети:

• Борис.

Второй брак : Елизавета Михайловна Станюкович, дочь адмирала Михаила Станюковича и сестра писателя Константина Станюковича . Дети:

• Пётр.

• Клодт фон Юргенсбург, русские художники // Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона : в 86 т. (82 т. и 4 доп.). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Роньшин В. Михаил Клодт; Серия: Мастера живописи. — М.: Белый город, 2008. — 48 с.
• Кондаков С. Н. Юбилейный справочник Императорской Академии художеств. 1764-1914 . — Спб.: Товарищество Р. Голике и А. Вильборг, 1915. — Т. 2. — С. 92. — 454 с.

• Клодт М. К.
• Artistic dynasties: the Klodt family (inaccessible link) // Red North, Julia Gorelkova, June 18, 2009.