The brilliant artist Leonid Pasternak, who remained in the shadow of the world famous son

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Leonid Osipovich Pasternak (1862-1945) - Russian painter and graphic artist of Jewish origin, an excellent master of book illustration, and also a versatile and very talented person who managed to pass on his talent and creative abilities to his children, among whom was the world famous writer Boris Pasternak. But, unfortunately, the very name of the brilliant artist, ironically, was forgotten for many years.

Leonid Pasternak was born in Odessa in 1862 into a huge Jewish family. The parents named the sixth child with the double name Abram-Isaac, but everyone called him only Leonid, who did not just live with such a confusion in names and surnames, because its original version was not Pasternak, but Posternak. In this regard, the artist often had to write explanatory notes in official institutions.

The Pasternak family, being one of the oldest and most respected Jewish families, believed that their family originated from King David himself. And mother and father dreamed that their youngest would become "a pharmacist, or a doctor, or, at worst," an intercessor on business."

But the boy was very interested in drawing, which he did secretly so that his parents would not see. And Leonid created his "masterpieces" with ordinary black coal. And one day the janitor of their yard asked the boy to draw pictures on a hunting theme and promised to pay five kopecks for each work to decorate the janitor's room with them. The little boy coped with the task perfectly well: at the age of 6, he received recognition and his first earnings.

And years later, Leonid Pasternak, remembering that fateful janitor, will call him “my Lorenzo Medici”. And the addiction to draw with charcoal and a simple pencil, laid down from childhood, will remain with the artist until the end of his days.

At the insistence of his parents, Leonid enters the Moscow University at the Faculty of Medicine, where he was immediately pushed away by the subject - the anatomical structure of a person. He was never able to overcome his aversion to corpses, but he nevertheless mastered the part of it that the artist should have known. After that, he applied for a transfer to the law faculty of Moscow University, and later completely transferred to his hometown.

Novorossiysk University in Odessa was the only one in the entire Russian Empire that gave students the right to travel abroad. Taking the opportunity, Pasternak went to Germany and entered the Munich Royal Academy. He passed the first number in the competitive selection! Yes, and he graduated from the academy with a gold medal, while managing to get an external student and a law degree.

The talented young artist returned to Moscow with a whole arsenal of educational experimental works, which were instantly dismantled by collectors. And then the hour came for Pasternak to go to serve in the army, where he also fruitfully worked on painting in his free time. A large canvas, painted under the impression of the service - "News from the Motherland", was bought by Pavel Tretyakov right from the easel for his collection.

Soon, the artist will marry the rather famous pianist Rosalia Kaufman. The newlyweds will settle in Moscow, and after a year they will have their first child, who in the future will become a Nobel Prize laureate - the master of the literary word Boris Pasternak. Then the son Alexander will be born - the future architect, two daughters - Josephine and Lydia.

Pasternak considered himself to be one of the first Russian impressionists, not at all afraid of misunderstanding and a cold attitude towards impressionism in Russia as a whole., - wrote the art historian about Pasternak Elizaveta Plavinskaya.

Once, at the exhibition of the works of the Itinerants, where Leonid Osipovich also exhibited his work "Debutante", two talented masters - pen and brush - met. The Pasternak spouses were introduced to Leo Tolstoy, who later became frequent guests at his house.

Their friendship resulted in a close and fruitful creative union. Pasternak illustrated many of Lev Nikolaevich's works, including the novel "Resurrection", illustrations for which in 1900 were exhibited at the World Exhibition in Paris.

"The Mirror" of Leo Tolstoy - that was the name of Leonid Pasternak in those years, in confirmation of which it should be said that the artist created not only a huge number of illustrations for his creations, but also thirty-six portraits of the writer.

And when Pasternak's painting "Students" was acquired by the Luxembourg Museum in Paris, it became a landmark event in Russia, which the Odessa press enthusiastically wrote about: This is how the work of the Russian artist became the first to be honored to be the decoration of the most famous museum in the world.

In addition, Leonid Pasternak painted a huge number of portraits of great and famous contemporaries. Rubinstein and Scriabin, Gershenzon and Gorky, Mechnikov and Einstein posed for him. He had friendly relations with the latter for many years. The artist created a series of portraits of the famous scientist.

In addition, Pasternak is considered one of the founders of Leniniana. Attending party conventions and conventions, he made many sketches and sketches of the leader and other political figures. He was the first of the artists of the academic direction, awarded such an honor by the government of the country of the Soviets. However, many of these portraits were subsequently destroyed by the new government.

The artist fell into disgrace and was forced to leave in 1921 with his family to Germany, according to another version, he went there for treatment. He was no longer destined to return to Russia. In 1938, the fascism that came to power forced Pasternak to leave Germany. And in May 1945 he died in Oxford. (United Kingdom).

The first personal exhibition of the artist's works in the USSR took place in 1979 at the Tretyakov Gallery, and 22 years later another exhibition entitled "Pasternak in Russia and Germany" was held there. For the 150th anniversary of his birth, the master's creations were exhibited in his homeland - in Odessa. Today the master's canvases are an adornment of the largest museums in the world and collection collections.

The fate of the Russian-American painter from Kazan, who emigrated to America in the post-revolutionary period, and forgotten by his historical homeland for many years, is amazing - Nikolay Feshin, who created a huge number of stunning portraits in a unique "Feshin" manner, which nowadays are selling for tens of millions of dollars.