Vasiliev Konstantin Alekseevich: paintings and their description

Vasiliev Konstantin Alekseevich, whose paintings will be considered in this article, is not among the famous artists whose works are sold at auctions for fabulous sums. However, this fact does not completely diminish his merit in the domestic art. During his short life the painter, also known under the pseudonym Konstantin Velikoross, left about 400 works, among which the most interesting are paintings on fairy-tale and historical subjects, portraits, landscapes, graphics, paintings in surreal style.

short biography

Soviet artist Konstantin Vasilyev was born in 1942 in the German-occupied city of Maikop (Krasnodar Territory). His father Alexei Alexeevich - a native of St. Petersburg, an engineer, lover of literature and nature. The mother of the future artist Shishkin Claudia Parmenovna was from the family of Saratov peasants.

After the war, the boy and his parents moved to Kazan, and in 1949 - to the picturesque village of Vasilyevo located below. Since childhood, Constantine was fond of drawing, showed an unprecedented talent for his age in writing watercolor paintings. For four years (from 1957 to 1961) he studied at the Kazan Art College. After graduation, he taught drawing and drawing in high school, and also worked as an artist-designer.

Appeal to surrealism and expressionism

Like many painters, Konstantin Alekseevich Vasilyev spent some time searching for his artistic style. Pictures of his early period resemble the surrealist works of Picasso and Dali. These include the "Apostle", "Strunu", "Ascension". Fascinated by surrealism, Vasilyev quickly cooled to him, believing that with his help it was impossible to achieve the expression on the canvas of deep feelings.

The next stage of his work the Soviet artist associated with expressionism. During this period, such paintings as "The Memory Icon", "The Sadness of the Queen", "The Music of the Eyelashes", "The Vision" come out from under his hand. However, soon the master refused from expressionism, considering this trend in art superficial and incapable of expressing deep thoughts.

Creating paintings in the Russian style

The artist Konstantin Vasilyev, whose biography and work are described in this publication, was able to reveal himself really only after he began to paint landscapes of his native land. Nature inspired him to create paintings in primordially Russian style. Gradually, he began to complement the landscapes with images of people. In parallel, Konstantin Alekseevich was carried away by studying historical literature, Russian epic novels and myths. The more he learned about the past of his people, the more he wanted to reproduce scenes from his life on canvas. It was here that the artist was able to maximally reveal his talent. Drawing inspiration in Russian culture, Vasiliev writes the most famous of his works: The Northern Eagle, The Waiting, The Man with the Filin, Konstantin Alekseevich became famous as a painter and the battle-painter, his portrait belongs to Marshal Zhukov, the painting "The Farewell of the Slav" "Parade of the 41st", "Longing for the Motherland".

Konstantin Vasilyev is an artist who created his masterpieces for music. When he drew, Russian folk songs, patriotic works of the war years, works by Shostakovich and other classical composers were heard in his studio. Love for music has found its reflection in the work of Konstantin Alekseevich. In the early 60's he created a series of graphic portraits of famous composers (Rimsky-Korsakov, Shostakovich, Beethoven, Mozart, Debussy, etc.).

Criticism of the artist, his death

Unfortunately, Konstantin Alekseevich Vasiliev was not able to achieve recognition of his talent. His paintings, accused of Russian fascism, were persecuted by the communist authorities. They were ruthlessly criticized, called "non-Soviet." Masters repeatedly called to stop painting. Only a few times for his life the artist's works were lucky to visit the exhibitions held in Moscow, Kazan and Zelenodolsk.

Fat point in creativity put the death of Vasilyev Constantine. The artist, who was only 34 years old, knocked the train down. It happened on October 29, 1976, a few days after he finished work on his most famous canvas, The Man with the Filín. Konstantin Vasilievich was buried in his native village of Vasilievo, in the very birch grove where he liked to draw inspiration from nature.

Description of pictures of the early stage of creativity

According to the paintings of different periods it is interesting to watch how Vasiliev's craftsmanship improved over the years. In his work "Ascension", written in 1964, can be traced imitation of Salvador Dali, who has work with a similar theme. However, looking more closely at the picture of the Soviet artist, you can see a completely new interpretation of the story of the ascension of Christ. Jesus is depicted in Vasiliev not murdered, as is customary, but alive. His face expresses concern about the future destiny of mankind. Konstantin Vasilyev is an artist who, with the help of his canvas, declared: "Not only the Savior's soul, but also his body, is not subject to death."

The "memory icon" was created in the years when Konstantin Alekseevich was in search of his style and created paintings in the genre of abstract expressionism. This work of the artist is not just a romantic collage, it is a memory of his tender feelings for a girl named Ludmila. In it, Constantine fell in love at the age of 20. After the break with the young lady, he destroyed all her photos. Scraps of pictures of Lyudmila was saved by the artist's mother. They served as the basis for the creation of the "Icons ..." symbolizing the image of the lost love of the creator.

Vasiliev Konstantin Alekseevich: pictures of the last years of life

Shortly before his death Vasiliev draws the picture "Waiting", which depicts a Russian beauty with a candle in her hands. The girl looks in the frost-covered window in the expectation of someone from her family. It is not known who the heroine of the picture is looking at. Probably delayed somewhere in the groom's way, but maybe a husband who does not return from the war for a long time. In the face of the girl, lit by the flame of a candle, one can see anxiety for a loved one. The master painted the fire on the canvas with luminous paint, making it look very realistic. Vasiliev wrote this picture on the birthday of his mother, because of what many think that in the image of the young lady he portrayed her at a young age.

"The man with the filigree" is the pinnacle of the work of Konstantin Alekseevich and, by a sad coincidence, his last work. On it the master portrayed a gray-haired elder wise with life experience holding a candle in his right hand. He is tired, but he has a long road ahead. On an elongated left hand, he has an eagle owl. The old man rises above the snow-covered ground, looking in the distance with a stern gaze. Above his head - the starry sky, and at his feet a fire from a paper scroll with the name of the artist. The audience perceives the story in different ways. Someone sees God in the old man, and for someone he is the embodiment of earthly wisdom. The picture makes an indelible impression on others. Near it, I want to stay longer and try to see what the artist wanted to tell humanity.