Shumov, Peter Ivanovich

Russian Empire

Revolutionary activities

Born March 26, 1872 in Grodno in the family of the court counselor . In the gymnasium years he was carried away by revolutionary trends, participated in an illegal circle, in the publication of an underground newspaper. In 1891 he entered the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology . In the 1890s, he joined the Grodno revolutionary circle of Sergei Galyun, which maintains ties with the Polish Second Proletariat , the illegal organizations of St. Petersburg , Kiev and other cities of the Russian Empire ^[2] .

The first arrest of Shumov took place on a student vacation, in the summer of 1894 , when gendarmes tracked down a secret meeting of circles. Petr Ivanovich was charged with possession of illegal literature, and he was forbidden to leave Grodno for three years. However, the underground activity continued - Shumov collaborated with the Russian Social Democratic Party , led the Grodno organization of the Polish Socialist Party . Subsequently, he was arrested seven more times, for a total of four years in prison ^[2] . In the struggle for the overthrow of the autocracy , the rights of national minorities ( Belarusians , Poles , Jews ) and the wife of Shumova Catherine participated. After another arrest in 1906, the prospect of hard labor arose, and in 1907 the thirty-five-year-old Shumov with his wife and three-year-old daughter Maria left Russia.

France

Mastering the profession

The emigrant family settled in Paris . Noises found a former comrade in the revolutionary activities of Jan Strozhetsky , who arrived in the city several years earlier. The former active revolutionary worked in the atelier of the French photographer Félix Bonnet ^[3] on Avenue de Clichy , 34 and suggested that Shumov become a partner. In contrast to Strozhetsky, addicted to photography, he was still in exile in Yakutia in 1903-1904 ^{[4] [5]} , for Shumov photo art was an uncharted area - he admitted that he never held a camera in his hands.

Thanks to the knowledge and support of a colleague obtained at the university, the mechanical and chemical principles of photography were mastered quite quickly, but there was not enough art education. To comprehend the art of creating images, composition, combination of light and shadow, Noise went to the left bank of the Seine , to the coffee houses Dom , Rotonda , Closri de Lila , Select , Dome — favorite meeting places for painters, poets, writers and a kind of center for the cultural life of Paris in the early 20th century ^[2] .

Atelier

Communication was not in vain - in 1911, Shumov opened his own photo shop in Montparnasse, rue du Faubourg Saint-Jacques , 5 ( XIV arrondissement ) and soon became a portrait photographer in Paris ^[6] . The son of the photographer left a description of the creative laboratory:

Atelier Shumova, with high ceilings, was located at the very top of the building, the facade of which was equipped with a huge glazed lantern, which allowed the maximum amount of light to pass through. In one of the corners there was a spiral staircase leading to the mezzanine, equipped under the laboratory. It was here, among the accumulation of reagents, Shumov was engaged in the manifestation and retouching of negatives , mainly large-sized glass plates (18x24) ^[7] .

The fame of the studio was greatly promoted by the acquaintance of Shumov with Auguste Rodin in the same year, which quickly turned into a close collaboration that lasted until the death of the sculptor. In 1912–1917, Shumov created a photo chronicle of the last years of Rodin’s life and work (portraits of the master, his work in the studio, a wedding with Roz Böre’s long-term life companion, two weeks before her death, the funeral of Madame Auguste Rodin, Rodin on his deathbed, etc. .). After the death of the sculptor Shumov became the first photographer of the Rodin Museum , which opened in Paris in August 1919 ^{[2] [8]} .

Art of Art Photography

Shumov works peculiar game on the contrast of light and shadow. The master considered “intuitive effort” as the main thing in his art, aimed at penetrating into the psychology of the personality of the model. The photographer worked with the model for several hours, delving into the character and selecting the most advantageous angle - a profile or a turn of three quarters, playing with light and shadow, suggesting that you look at the viewer or distantly off-camera, depending on the psycho-personality. An important role in the portraits he created was often played by a hand, which serves as a kind of "socle" and introduces a plastic element into the composition.

Sometimes the originality of the image emphasized the glasses, the game of reflection on the glass was used by the artist to create intrigue.

Great importance was attached to the technical side of the work. The researcher of the Shumov Foundation in the Rodin Museum V. Glutron identifies two types of retouching . The first one, which was used more often, was done with a simple pencil on glass plates - Shumov without pressure applied the smallest strokes on negative areas that he wanted to clear from unnecessary, in the opinion of the master, details - when printed in place of pencil strokes, lightened areas free from flaws were obtained. In the second case, a special substance was applied to the negative, then fragmentarily scraped with a sharp tool — darkened areas were formed in the photograph ^[9] . Bromo-oil printing process was used to obtain special artistic effects ^{[2] [10]} .

The retouching served not to create an idealized image of the model, but to accentuate the features that make up its character and originality. In a report on artistic photography in May 1923, Shumov noted:

When focusing, we move away from nature, because the eye comes close to the object, while in reality we observe it from a certain distance. Placing the eye so close, we usually notice much more detail <...>. Therefore, it is necessary to achieve the elimination of some irrelevant, since they are invisible to the eye, details. This is achieved either by retouching or by getting a blurred image. Hence the need for retouching in the case of [too] a clear image ^[11] .

Creative activity and recognition

In 1918, the Museum of Rodin in Basel and Bern organized exhibitions devoted to the work of Rodin, representing sculptures, watercolors and drawings of the master, as well as 40 photos of Shumov.

In 1921, exhibitions of Shumov's photo portraits were held in the premises of the Russian Book Publishing House “Ya. Povolotsky and K ^o "" and the Lumier factory. In 1922–1923, the artist collaborated with the L'Art et science Society, the Society of Russian Engineers, and gave presentations and lectures on artistic photography.

European fame for the photographer was brought by the Grand Prix of the London Photo Salon for “Portrait of Countess X” and the annual prize of the London magazine Photograms of the year (1922), which accompanied the publication with a comment:

... go to the amazing "Portrait of Countess X" by Pierre Shumov - French to the bone. Admires the skill that turns a silky dog ​​into the center of light in a light haze of silver-gray tones. The background is wonderfully combined with the plot, and the outline of the Louis XVI era armchair gives the whole composition a complete character ^[12] .

Shumov participated in the Autumn Salons (1927, 1930), the Tuileries Salon (1932) and other exhibitions. For the portraits he was awarded the bronze medal of the French Society of Photography, the gold medal of the World Exhibition in Paris (1925) ^{[13] [14]} .

In the 1920s, Shumov created a gallery of photographic portraits of famous Russian cultural figures — M. Aldanov , L. S. Bakst , K. D. Balmont , M. Voloshin , N. S. Goncharova , B. K. Zaitsev , A. I. Kuprin , M. F. Larionov , V. V. Mayakovsky , S. S. Prokofiev , I. F. Stravinsky , S. N. Sudbinin , A. N. Tolstoy , N. Teffi , M. I. Tsvetaeva , V. F. Khodasevich , Sasha Cherny , M. Z. Shagal , L. Shestov , I. S. Shmelev , V. I. Shukhaev , I. G. Ehrenburg and others, a series of portraits of dancers and ballerinas of the Russian ballet S. P. Dyagileva ; portraits of Metropolitan Evlogy , General A. I. Denikin , politicians A. F. Kerensky , P. N. Milyukov , P. B. Struve , British Prime Minister J.-R. MacDonald , A. Barbus , E. Verharn , Isadora Duncan , J. Cocteau , F. Leger , C. Monnet , A. France , A. Einstein and many others ^[15] .

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  V. Khodasevich

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  N. Taffy

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  Sasha Black

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  M. Tsvetaeva

... Noises - more than just a photographer, even if skillful: he is a very subtle psychologist, a highly educated person who is loved and visited by poets, artists, he himself is an artist, a thinking person ...

- wrote criticism ^[16] .

A.I. Kuprin, directing familiar musicians to Rue du Faubourg Saint-Jacques, wrote: “Dear Pyotr Ivanovich, the Kedrov quartet will turn to you to perpetuate them with your artistic lens. Be kind to them, as to me, your friend and humble servant. Your Alexander Kuprin. “Dear Peter Ivanovich. The cards are amazing, ”M. I. Tsvetaeva wrote, inviting the photographer to her evening in early March 1926. “Please give me two for a start.” In a postcard sent from London on March 24 of the same year, she reported: “All of London is full of your glory. I trumpet her everywhere, not by word, but by deed, that is, by showing your (my) cards that are here with me. Londoners (especially ladies!) Vying for your address. ” “Of course I will not forget to thank you for your photo portraits sent from me, full of life and expression! Thank you, ”wrote M. Chagall in 1927 ^[17] . These and many other letters of grateful visitors to the studio were preserved in the Shumov archive.

In 1929, the artist donated his photographs for a charity lottery in favor of the Committee to help Russian writers and scientists in France ^[18] .

Buashumov

Shumov belongs to the invention of the original method of the artistic image, called “Boashumov” ( fr. Les Boischoumoff ) ^{[К 1]} - wood inlay, made on the basis of photography. Using the photo portrait as a basis, the master transferred the main contours and lines of the face to a wooden surface. Then he cut out the finest petals from different sorts of wood and put them close to each other - so that the tones and shades flowed into each other, forming an inlaid portrait. For this work, the artist ordered exotic woods of different colors ^[19] .

In 1931, the French poet, critic and translator A. Mercero wrote:

After much experimentation, Shumov now makes portraits with wooden inlays called “Buashumov”. At the same time, the variety of tones obtained by using different types of natural wood - white wood of all shades, dark wood, yellow-gray, is infinite in nature. For this he needs to choose the grain, color, and wood of the tree, and then the reliability of his intuition and his art ^[20] come into play at the same time.

Poland

Assessing the role of the revolutionary struggle

The world economic crisis of 1929 affected the atelier at Rue du Faubourg Saint-Jacques, and in July 1933 it had to be closed ^[21] . Shumov with his wife and son moved to Poland , working as a consultant at a large chemical plant in Lodz .

In July 1934, the Polish government awarded him the Cross of Independence - for merits in the revolutionary struggle.

On June 25, 1936, P. I. Shumov died of heart failure. Prominent Polish figures attended his funeral ^[22] . He was buried in the cemetery of the Evangelical Reform Church in Lodz .

After the death of P. I. Shumov, his wife Ekaterina (nee. Kayla Lapina; 1880–1941 / 42) returned to Grodno, to a house inherited from her parents. At the beginning of World War II, she died in a German concentration camp .

Daughter Maria (1904–1917) died in Paris at a young age.

Daughter Tatiana (married Gurevich; 1914/1915-1998) after the war lived in Leningrad , worked in the Museum of A. Pushkin on Moika , 12, collaborated with the publishing house Aurora , taught French; in 1970, she returned to Paris ^[23] .

Son Sergei (1921–2012) in 1936, after the death of his father, returned to Paris, studied in the Lyceum Montaigne and Louis-le-Grand, at the Faculty of Science of the University of Paris, at the National Institute of Science and Technology for Nuclear Research. Received a diploma of licentiate of mathematical sciences. During the war he participated in the resistance movement , was arrested in 1942, sent to the Mauthausen concentration camp ^[24] . After his release, he worked as an engineer at the Center for Research in the Field of Physics (1954), since 1956, he has been head of the nuclear research department at the French branch of Thompson-Hauston . From 1962 - head of the laboratory and chief engineer, member and president of the administrative council of the French Society for the Study of Vacuum (1964-1965); in 1968–1990, he was a member of the executive board of the International Union for Science and Technology and the Use of Vacuum (UISTAV) ^[25] . Author of a large number of publications on vacuum physics and its application, a number of works on Mauthausen. Vice-president of the International Committee of Mauthausen Prisoners . Commander of the Order of the Legion of Honor and the Military Cross . He was awarded the Military Medal , the Cross of Resistance Volunteers , the Cross of Volunteers , the Internment Medal for participation in the Resistance , the honorary badge “For Services to the Republic of Austria ” ^[26] .

The works of Peter Shumov are kept in the Museum of Rodin ^{[27] [28]} , the agency Roger-Viollet (Paris) ^[29] , the Russian State Archives of Literature and Art (Moscow) ^[30] .

A significant unit of the Shumov Foundation at the Rodin Museum is a complete inventory of his works on Rodin and his works, composed by the photographer himself - 149 original photographs of the master's works and 58 portraits and photographs illustrating the sculptor’s creative life and life - photodocumentary evidence of the last years of Rodin’s life ^{[31 ]} .

In the USSR, photographs of Shumov were often used to illustrate literary and artistic publications — authorship is not indicated, according to the established tradition or ignorance of publishers, authorship is not always indicated in the editions of post-Soviet Russia of the 21st century ^[32] .

• “Auguste Rodin. 1840/1917 "(" Auguste Rodin. 1840/1917 "). Basel, Bern, 1918
• Personal exhibition of portraits in the premises of the Russian Book Publishing House “I. Povolotsky and Co. ^about "". Paris, March 1921
• Personal exhibition of portraits in the factory "Lumière" (l'usine " Lumière "). Paris, December 1921
• Grand Prix of the London Salon of Photography (International Exhibition of the London Salon of Photography). London 1922
• Bronze medal of the French Society of Photography ( Société française de photographie ). Paris, until 1925
• Gold Medal of the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts ( Exposition internationale des Arts deécoratifs et industriels modernes ). Paris, April 28 - October 25, 1925
• Autumn Salon ( Salon d'automne) . Paris, October — November 1927; October — November 1930
• Salon des Tuileries ( Salon des Tuileries ). Paris, July 1932
• Personal exhibition in the Library-Fund "Russian abroad" . Moscow, May 2000
• “Russian Parisian”: Personal exhibition in the Museum-apartment of A.S. Pushkin . St. Petersburg, June 8 - July 8, 2000
• “Russian photographer in Paris. Pierre Noise ": Personal exhibition at the Rodin Museum ( Musée Rodin ). Paris, January 25 - April 3, 2005 ^[33]
• “Rodin and Photography” (“Rodin et la photographie”). Rodin Museum. Paris, November 14, 2007 - March 2, 2008
• National Historical Museum of the Republic of Belarus . Minsk , March 2012 ^[34]

In Russian

• Petr Ivanovich Shumov // Russian foreign countries in France, 1919–2000: biogr. of words. = [L'Émigration russe en France, 1919-2000]: in 3 tons / total. ed. L. Mnukhina , M. Avril , V. Losskoy . - M .: Science : House-Museum of Marina Tsvetaeva , 2010. - Vol. 3: S — I. Additions. - p. 584. - 752 p. - 1000 copies - ISBN 978-5-02-036267-3 . - ISBN 978-5-02-037382-2 ; ISBN 978-5-93015-117-6 (v. 3).
• Russian abroad: Chronicle of scientific, cultural and social life. 1920-1940. France / under total ed. L. A. Mnukhina . - T. 1-4. - M .; Paris: Eksmo; YMCA-Press , 1995-1997. - T. 1: 1920-1929. - C. under the pointer. - 630 s.
• Russian Parisian: Photos of Peter Shumov: photo album = Un parisien russe: Photographies de Pierre Choumoff / [in Russian. and fr. lang ; status S. Shumov, P. Gurevich, S. Nekrasov and others]. - M .: Rus. Path, 2000. - 96 p. - 2000 copies - ISBN 5-85887-082-1 .
• Ures A. In the Lens of the Russian Artist // Neva Time: Newspaper. - 2000. - 10 June. - No. 104 (2227) .
• Leonidov V. The Great and Almost Forgotten Peter Shumov // Our Heritage: Journal. - 2000. - № 55 .
• Volkova G.V. Photography in the sociopolitical and cultural life of the Russian diaspora (1920–1930s) // New Historical Gazette: Journal. - M. , 2007. - Vol. 16 - p . 251-264 .
• Antonova A. Return of Names: Petr Ivanovich Shumov // Grodzensky Prada, newspaper. - 2013. - August 15th.

In Belarusian

Vashkevich A. Lubmy, radena phatograph // Masatstva: magazine. - 2018. - № 11 (428).

Vashkevych A. Petr Shumў and Grodzenskaya revalyutsyyaynera pachatku XX stegoddzya // Garadzenskі Palіmsest. - 2014.

In French

• Glutron V. Le fonds Choumoff / dir. de publ., réd. en chef H. Pinet. - 4 vol. - P. , 1997. - 40+ [14 + 58 + 74] p.
• Carette C. P. Choumoff: lee de la photographie et de la sculpture: un moment d'équité / dir. de la recherche M. Poivert. - P .: Université Panthéon-Sorbonne, 2007. - 117 p.
• Viéville D. (préf., Etc.), Pinet, H., Garet, M. et al. Rodin et la photographie: [Exposition: Paris, Musée Rodin, 14 novembre 2007 - 2 mars 2008]. - Paris: Musée Rodin, 2007. - 223 p. - ISBN 978-2-07-011909-7 .

• The works of P. Shumov on the website of the Rodin Museum (Musée Rodin)
• The works of P. Shumov on the website of the agency “Roger-Viollet”
• Petr Shumov on the site of the Marina Tsvetaeva House-Museum
• Photos of Peter Shumov on the website Parisienne de Photographies
• Collection of photographs of Peter Shumov in the National Library of Poland