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Alexey Petrovich Bogoliubov, a Russian landscape painter, was born into the
family of a retired military officer; by mother he was the grandson of A. N.
Radischev.
In 1841, Alexey graduated from a military school, served in the navy
and travelled with the fleet to many countries. From 1849, he started to
visit classes at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, where he was a pupil
of Maxim Vorobyev and B.
P. Vivalde. But mostly the young painter was influenced by Ivan Ayvazovsky.
In 1853, he finished the Academy with a Major Gold medal.
Simultaneously he retired from the Navy as a military officer and was appointed an
artist to the Navy headquarters. In 1854-60, he traveled around Europe and
worked much, never losing an opportunity to study from outstanding painters.
In Rome, he got acquainted with Alexander
Ivanov, who liked his paintings and recommended to pay more
attention
to drawing. In Düsseldorf, Bogoliubov took lessons from the
painter
Andreas Achenbach (1815-1910). In Paris, he admired the artists of the
Barbizon School, and simultaneously criticized them. French painters,
in
their turn, appreciated the originality of their Russian colleague, his
unwillingness to compose landscapes, and devotion to nature. Camille
Corot
(1796-1875) loved to visit Bogoliubov’s studio, Charles François
Daubigny (1817-78) exchanged works with the Russian painter.
He returned in 1860 to Russia with many finished paintings, sketches and studies. He exhibited his works in the Academy and received the title of professor and special gratitude from the Board of Directors. For some time he taught in the Academy. In the 1860s, he traveled along the Volga again with abundant output. Romanticism, influenced by Ayvazovsky, disappeared from his works and only the beauty of nature remained. He painted landscapes with big spaces and light effects, depending on time of the day.
Bibliography:
Bogoliubov. by M. I. Andronnikova. Moscow. 1962. (in Russian)
Paintings of the 18th-early 20th centuries from the Reserves of
the Russian Museum. by K. Mikhailova and G. Smirnov. Leningrad.
1982.