Konstantin Makovsky's family album in picturesque portraits: paintings that Tretyakov himself could not buy because of the high cost

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

Konstantin Egorovich Makovsky was one of the most fashionable and expensive portrait painters in Russia in the second half of the 19th century. Contemporaries called him "the brilliant Kostya", and Emperor Alexander II called him "my painter." The number of paintings sold by the virtuoso master could only be compared with the popularity of paintings by Aivazovsky, the most prolific artist. Moreover, for all that, they cost such colossal money that Russian collectors, including Pavel Tretyakov, did not have the opportunity to purchase them. And the worldwide fame of Makovsky was so great that it was he who was invited by the Americans to paint the first presidential portrait of Theodore Roosevelt.

Once Rasul Gamzatov, reflecting on human talent, said:. There are really few dynasties in the history of Russian art, but still there is one great the Makovsky dynasty, where the founder was one of the organizers of the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, Yegor Ivanovich. His children followed in his footsteps - Alexandra, Konstantin, Nikolai, Vladimir and some of his grandchildren. All of the Makovsky dynasty became quite famous artists, and were widely known in the artistic environment, but only one received worldwide fame: the eldest of the sons, Konstantin.

- recalled K. E. Makovsky, who inherited all the talents from his parents. The mother, on the other hand, had a magnificent singing talent, which she sacrificed for the sake of the family. And the fact that all the children in the Makovsky family were musically gifted is her merit.

As a 4-year-old child, Kostya drew easily and naturally everything he saw. And at the age of 12 he already studied at the School of Painting and Sculpture, where the first teachers were Zaryanko, Scotti and Tropinin. The young talent mastered the painting manner in such a way that his copies could not be distinguished from Tropinin's portraits.

Kostya Makovsky was among those 14 best graduates of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts who staged the so-called "riot of the fourteen". All the "rebels" never received their diplomas, including Makovsky. However, a few years later he was awarded the title of academician, professor, full member of the academy.

The richest and noblest vied with each other posed for the painter, since having a portrait by the brush of a genius was very prestigious. He was selflessly loved by women, and he loved them.

Personal life in the portraits of Konstantin Makovsky

The loving Makovsky had ten children from four women, two of whom died in infancy. The fruit of his first love was the illegitimate daughter of Konstantin Natalia, born in 1860 and living in her father's house until her marriage. In 1866, the artist married Elena Burkova, an artist of the drama troupe of the Imperial Theaters in St. Petersburg. The young couple, with common interests and spiritual kinship, lived happily. Elena painted a little and was passionate about music and theater. She brought a lot of love and warmth to Makovsky's scattered "bohemian" life. But their happiness ended abruptly: first, a newborn son dies, and two years later, Elena dies of tuberculosis.

In less than a year, the widowed Makovsky will meet at the ball in the Marine Corps 15-year-old Yulia Pavlovna Letkova, who came to St. Petersburg to enter the conservatory. Having fallen in love at first sight, the 35-year-old painting professor did not leave the young beauty a single step. He was captivated by the extraordinary musicality of a young person who had an unusually beautiful soprano timbre. And Konstantin Yegorovich himself had a surprisingly velvety baritone, and sang like a professional artist.

When Julia was sixteen, they got married and left for Paris. Their first daughter Marina was born there, who will die at 8 months of age from meningitis.

Somehow, in several sessions, Konstantin will paint the first portrait of his wife Julia in a red beret, which will open a huge series of famous female portraits. And for about fifteen years, Yulia Pavlovna will be the constant muse and model of historical and mythological paintings by Makovsky.

Son Seryozha, born in 1877, will also become a model for his father from infancy. His future will be a poet, art critic and organizer of art exhibitions, publisher.

A year later, a daughter, Elena, will be born in their family, who later became an artist, whose teacher will be Ilya Repin himself. And in 1883, the Makovsky family was replenished again - the son Vladimir, who was baptized by Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich, brother of Alexander III.

While the Makovsky family lived in Paris, then in Italy, he traveled a lot across Europe and Asia, collecting material for his historical paintings. I visited my family on short trips. And then one day, having arrived to his family, he announced that his illegitimate son was born. Neither Yulia Pavlovna nor the children forgave Makovsky's betrayal. Sergei was especially worried about the split in the family: he was never able to forgive his father that he overnight destroyed their happy and friendly family.

And it happened in 1889, when Konstantin Yegorovich took several of his canvases to Paris to the World Exhibition, where he met 20-year-old Maria Matavtina, with whom he began a secret romance. The fruit of their passionate love will be the birth of their son Constantine.

Two years later, the artist will have a second illegitimate child - daughter Olga, and in 1896 - Marina. And only five years after the birth of his last daughter, Konstantin Makovsky marries Maria Matavtina, and the court will legitimize their children. In 1900, in his new, already legal marriage, the fourth child will be born - his son Nikolai.

The artist spoke about himself quite self-critically:

In the summer of 1915, Konstantin Makovsky became the victim of an accident: the carriage in which the artist was traveling crashed into a tram. The injuries received were incompatible with life. He died in the St. Petersburg hospital without regaining consciousness.

Vladimir Makovsky, unlike his brother Konstantin, devoted his genre paintings to realism, in particular to the everyday life of ordinary people. His canvases have become textbooks.