Vasily Polenov was born in Saint Petersburg in the family of Russian nobility. His father Dmitry Vasilyevich was a diplomat fascinated with archeology and bibliography. His mother Maria Alexeyevna was children’s writer and a talented painter. She was the one to give her children their first classes of drawing and painting.
In 1860-s, Vasily Polenov was a student of two training institutions of St.-Petersburg simultaneously: the University and the Academy of Arts. In the spring of 1871, he graduated from the University as a bachelor of laws, and in the fall, he received a big gold medal of the Academy of Arts for his painting Jesus Raising Jairus’ Daughter together with the Academy-sponsored trip to Europe for the period of 6 years.
During his trip, Polenov tries all painting genres and styles; he worked a lot in the open air. The evidence is in numerous sketches with new motives and solutions of artistic challenges. Polenov became the founder of the new Russian painting trend, in particular – of a lyrical landscape.
For a long time the artist was working on a major series of paintings about Christ comprising over 50 paintings pertaining to evangelic subjects. Vasily Polenov was striving to create an image of Christ, who “has already arrived to this world and is making his way through the nations”. To achieve historical credibility, the artist undertook a trip to oriental countries. He brought many materials from Syria, Egypt and Palestine including sketches, costumes and his travel essays.
In 1880-s, Polenov achieved great success and recognition for his and pedagogical activities: he taught in Moscow School of Arts, Sculpture and Architecture for over 12 years and contributed to bringing up an entire generation of Russian artists.
Vasily Polenov created this study Christ’s Head during the period of working on a very important and meaningful piece – Christ and Woman Sinner. He used the а lа prima technique without charcoal drawing. Searching for the best fitting image of Christ, the artist created a series of studies from different models, and the faces on such studies always were smaller than in real life. As for the composition, coloring and image per se, Christ from Krasnodar museum is the one that is the most alike with the central image of the big painting.
Vasily Polenov died in the age of 83 and was one of the first to be awarded the title of the People’s Artist of Russia in 1926.
In 1860-s, Vasily Polenov was a student of two training institutions of St.-Petersburg simultaneously: the University and the Academy of Arts. In the spring of 1871, he graduated from the University as a bachelor of laws, and in the fall, he received a big gold medal of the Academy of Arts for his painting Jesus Raising Jairus’ Daughter together with the Academy-sponsored trip to Europe for the period of 6 years.
During his trip, Polenov tries all painting genres and styles; he worked a lot in the open air. The evidence is in numerous sketches with new motives and solutions of artistic challenges. Polenov became the founder of the new Russian painting trend, in particular – of a lyrical landscape.
For a long time the artist was working on a major series of paintings about Christ comprising over 50 paintings pertaining to evangelic subjects. Vasily Polenov was striving to create an image of Christ, who “has already arrived to this world and is making his way through the nations”. To achieve historical credibility, the artist undertook a trip to oriental countries. He brought many materials from Syria, Egypt and Palestine including sketches, costumes and his travel essays.
In 1880-s, Polenov achieved great success and recognition for his and pedagogical activities: he taught in Moscow School of Arts, Sculpture and Architecture for over 12 years and contributed to bringing up an entire generation of Russian artists.
Vasily Polenov created this study Christ’s Head during the period of working on a very important and meaningful piece – Christ and Woman Sinner. He used the а lа prima technique without charcoal drawing. Searching for the best fitting image of Christ, the artist created a series of studies from different models, and the faces on such studies always were smaller than in real life. As for the composition, coloring and image per se, Christ from Krasnodar museum is the one that is the most alike with the central image of the big painting.
Vasily Polenov died in the age of 83 and was one of the first to be awarded the title of the People’s Artist of Russia in 1926.
