Son of a village clergyman, Victor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov prepared himself for the same career, but the passionate love for art brought the 19-year-old student of ecclesiastical seminary to St. Petersburg's Academy of Arts. During his years (1868-75) in the Academy Vasnetsov got a thorough professional training; an especially big role in his education was played by professorPavel Tchistyakov.
Read Victor Vasnetsov's Full BiographyVictor Vasnetsov started as a scene painter; the influence of Fedotov and Perov in his early works is evident Moving House (1876), At a Bookseller's (1876), News from the Front (1878), A Game of Preference (1879). In the late 1870s early 1880s, Vasnetsov tried himself in historical genre Battle of Slavs and Scythians (1881), After Prince Igor's Battle with the Polovtsy (1880). He borrowed the subjects from ancient history. He found another source of subjects in Russian mythology – legends, ballads, fairy-tales. Vasnetsov was born and grew up in a northern Russian village and almost to the age of 20 lived in an environment where the ‘folklore outlook’ was still alive; his very soul was steeped in the poetry of Russian epic literature. He wasn't only the first artist to use subjects from folklore, but also the first to borrow methods and techniques from national folk art. Thus he became the founder of new style in Russian painting.
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Portrait of the Artist Arkhip Kuinji. 1869. Oil on canvas mounted on panel. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. |
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Tea-Drinking in a Tavern. 1874. Oil on canvas. The Museum of Visual Arts, Kharkov, Ukraine. |
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Moving House. 1876. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. |
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At a Bookseller's. 1876. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. |
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Acrobats (Festival in a Paris Suburb). 1877. Oil on canvas. The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. |
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Peasant with a Pole. 1877. Study. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. |
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News from the Front. 1878. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. |
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Kars is Taken. 1878. Oil on canvas. The A. N. Radishchev Museum of Arts, Saratov, Russia. |
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A Knight at the Crossroads. 1878. Oil on canvas. The History and Art Museum, Serpukhov, Moscow Region. Read Note. |
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A Knight at the Crossroads. 1878. Oil on canvas. The Museum of Russian Art, Kiev, Ukraine. Read Note. |
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Three Tsarevnas of the Underground Kingdom. 1879-81. First version. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. |
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A Game of Preference. 1879. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. |
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Akhtyrka. 1879. Oil on canvas. Museum-Estate of V. Polenov, Tula region, Russia. |
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After Prince Igor's Battle with the Polovtsy. 1880. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. Read Note. |
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After Prince Igor's Battle with the Polovtsy. Detail. 1880. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. |
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After Prince Igor's Battle with the Polovtsy. Detail. 1880. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. |
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The Magic Carpet. 1880. Oil on canvas. The Art Museum of Nizhniy Novgorod, Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia. Read Note. |
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The Magic Carpet. Detail. 1880. Oil on canvas. The Art Museum of Nizhniy Novgorod, Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia. |
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The Voria River's Valley near the Village of Mutovka. 1880. Oil on canvas. The Victor Vasnetsov Memorial Museum, Moscow. Russia. |
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Pond in Akhtyrka. 1880. Oil on canvas. The State Art Museum Abramtsevo, Moscow region, Russia. |
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The Bard Bayan. 1880. Sketch. Oil on canvas. The State Art Museum Abramtsevo, Moscow region, Russia. Read Note. |
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Alionushka. . Study. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. Read Note. |
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Alionushka. 1881. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. Read Note. |
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Battle of Slavs and Scythians. 1881. Oil on canvas. The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. |
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The Church in Abramtsevo. 1881-1882. Moscow region, Russia. |
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St. Sergiy Radonezhskiy. 1882. Icon for the Abramtsevo church. Oil on canvas. The State Art Museum Abramtsevo, Moscow region, Russia. Read Note. |
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Detail of the fresco of the choir in the Abramtsevo church. 1882. Oil on panel. The State Art Museum Abramtsevo, Moscow region, Russia. |
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Sketch for a church in an old Russian style. 1882. The Victor Vasnetsov Memorial Museum, Moscow. Russia. |
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Dressed as a Buffoon. 1882. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. |
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A Knight at the Crossroads. Detail. 1882. Oil on canvas. The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. |
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A Knight at the Crossroads. Detail. 1882. Oil on canvas. The Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. |
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Ivan Petrov, a Peasant from Vladimir Province. 1883. Study. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. |
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Knight. 1883. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. |
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Portrait of Natalia Mamontova. 1883. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. |
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The Oak Grove at Abramtsevo. 1883. Oil on canvas mounted on cardboard. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. |
