Alexander Beggrov painted “Scheveningen, Netherlands” in 1887 and presented it at the 16thexhibition of the Wanderers.
Alexander Beggrov and his teacher Alexey Bogolyubov shared similar life paths. Both of them fell in love with the sea and initially planned to become naval officers but, by reason of circumstances, chance, and talent, became famous artists.
The sea also brought the two of them together. As an artist of the Main Naval Staff, Alexey Bogolyubov was commissioned to create two paintings depicting the sinking of the frigate “Alexander Nevsky”. Alexander Beggrov had graduated from the Nicholas Engineering and the Marine Engineering and Artillery Schools and had sailed on the frigate “Alexander Nevsky” as part of the Imperial Baltic Fleet. He witnessed the shipwreck during the round-the-world voyage which was attended by Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia. Since Alexey Bogolyubov was not there when the disaster took place, he decided to refer to drawings of the ship’s amateur artist and crew member Alexander Beggrov. In 1870, Beggrov followed Bogolyubov’s advice and started attending classes at the Imperial Academy of Arts as a non-matriculated student. In a short while, in 1874, he left for Paris where he continued his studies under Léon Bonnat who greatly influenced young Russian artists.
Alexander Beggrov was a fine draftsman, and his watercolor
and oil seascapes depicting ships became his signature works. He knew the
design of ships perfectly, and, according to his contemporaries, criticized “every
painting with ships that had even the slightest inaccuracy.” Alexander Beggrov
was also known for other talents which he considered art: for example, he was a
great cook, “treating guests to such a dinner that even the best chefs could
not match”, an excellent gardener, growing “the largest and tastiest berries
and melons around”, and an unsurpassed poulterer, breeding wonderful chickens.
