Alexey Bogolubov was a seascape artist, the founder of pictorial history of the Russian Navy. In his paintings, he skillfully combined fresh experiences with sober carefulness of emphatic narration.
Upon graduation from the Naval Cadet School, he joined the Navy. Long international voyages provided the painter with extensive visual material. In London he first saw paintings by William Turner and was deeply impressed. In Haarlem, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, he became closely acquainted with the European school of painting. And in Madeira he met Karl Bryullov, who, having reviewed Bogolubov’s sketches, told him: “Keep it up, and most importantly, paint more unpretentiously”.
The future of the young naval officer was pre-destined by recommendation to take up art that came from Duke Maximilian von Leuchtenberg. Thanks to the Duke, in 1850 Alexey Bogolubov entered the Academy of Arts as a volunteer student, while retaining the Naval service as his main source of income.
He received his artistic education under Maxim Vorobyov and Bogdan Willewalde. He graduated from the Academy with a Large Gold Medal three years later and was appointed an artist of the General Naval Staff.
Then the artist retired from the Navy and went for a sponsored trip abroad. In Europe he was fascinated by experience of the French Barbizon School, perfected himself in arts under Andreas Achenbach in Düsseldorf, Eugène-Louis-Gabriel Isabey in Paris and Alexandre Calame in Geneva.
The further career of the artist was filled with most diverse work: from creating an atlas of the Caspian Seashore, through painting pictures on the history of the Russian Navy, to painting the walls of a Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Paris.
Bogolubov was the driving force behind the establishing of the Paris Society of Financial Assistance to Russian artists. Besides, in Saratov, he founded the first in the Central Russia provincial museum of fine arts named after his maternal grandfather Alexander Radishchev.
Alexey Bogolubov painted his Seaport of Le Havre when he was still a student. The subject is based on his reminiscences of naval cruises of 1841 - 1848. The artist painted the seaport of Le Havre, the northern sea gate of France. The center of the picture is the steam frigate Kamchatka built on order from the Russian Government at the William Brown shipyard in New York. Once Bogolubov served as a midshipman on board of the ship. Figures of the people walking along the seafront are painted in the dark color scale, in contrast to the light-colored quiet vastness of the sea.
Upon graduation from the Naval Cadet School, he joined the Navy. Long international voyages provided the painter with extensive visual material. In London he first saw paintings by William Turner and was deeply impressed. In Haarlem, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, he became closely acquainted with the European school of painting. And in Madeira he met Karl Bryullov, who, having reviewed Bogolubov’s sketches, told him: “Keep it up, and most importantly, paint more unpretentiously”.
The future of the young naval officer was pre-destined by recommendation to take up art that came from Duke Maximilian von Leuchtenberg. Thanks to the Duke, in 1850 Alexey Bogolubov entered the Academy of Arts as a volunteer student, while retaining the Naval service as his main source of income.
He received his artistic education under Maxim Vorobyov and Bogdan Willewalde. He graduated from the Academy with a Large Gold Medal three years later and was appointed an artist of the General Naval Staff.
Then the artist retired from the Navy and went for a sponsored trip abroad. In Europe he was fascinated by experience of the French Barbizon School, perfected himself in arts under Andreas Achenbach in Düsseldorf, Eugène-Louis-Gabriel Isabey in Paris and Alexandre Calame in Geneva.
The further career of the artist was filled with most diverse work: from creating an atlas of the Caspian Seashore, through painting pictures on the history of the Russian Navy, to painting the walls of a Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Paris.
Bogolubov was the driving force behind the establishing of the Paris Society of Financial Assistance to Russian artists. Besides, in Saratov, he founded the first in the Central Russia provincial museum of fine arts named after his maternal grandfather Alexander Radishchev.
Alexey Bogolubov painted his Seaport of Le Havre when he was still a student. The subject is based on his reminiscences of naval cruises of 1841 - 1848. The artist painted the seaport of Le Havre, the northern sea gate of France. The center of the picture is the steam frigate Kamchatka built on order from the Russian Government at the William Brown shipyard in New York. Once Bogolubov served as a midshipman on board of the ship. Figures of the people walking along the seafront are painted in the dark color scale, in contrast to the light-colored quiet vastness of the sea.
