Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin (; 26 October 184213 April 1904) was a Russian painter, war artist, and traveller. The graphic nature of his realist scenes led to many of them never being printed or exhibited to the public.

Years of apprenticeship

thumb|left|Vereshchagin during the period of graduation from the [[Naval Cadet Corps (Russia)|Naval Cadet Corps (1860s)]]

Vereshchagin was born at Cherepovets, Novgorod Governorate, Russia, in 1842 as the middle of three brothers. His father was a landowner of noble birth, while his mother was of common origin and had Tatar roots. When he was eight years old, he was sent to Tsarskoe Selo to enter the Alexander Cadet Corps. Three years later, he entered the Naval Cadet Corps at St. Petersburg, making his first voyage in 1858. He traveled again to India in 1882–1883.

thumb|[[Suppression of the Indian Revolt by the English (1884)]]

He aroused much controversy by his series of three pictures: firstly, of a Roman execution (the Crucifixion by the Romans (1887)); secondly, Suppression of the Indian Revolt by the English; and, thirdly, of the execution of Nihilists in St Petersburg. In 1887, Vereshchagin defended himself in The Magazine of Art by saying that if there were another rebellion then the British would use this method again.

A journey to the Ottoman provinces of Syria and Palestine in 1884 furnished him with an equally discussed set of subjects from the New Testament.

thumb|center|Vereshchagin in his atelier; 1890s

Last years

left|thumb|upright=0.8|Vasily Vereshchagin in 1902

thumb|upright=0.8|Letter to mother (1901) from the series dedicated to the [[Philippine–American War in 1898–1899]]

Vereshchagin was in the Far East during the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, and was with the Russian troops in Manchuria during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900.

Legacy

  • The town of Vereshchagino in Perm Krai is named after him, as well as a minor planet, 3410 Vereshchagin, discovered by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Zhuravlyova in 1978.
  • Vereshchagin Street in Cherepovets is named after Vasily Vereshchagin, also there are a historic house museum and a monument to Vereshchagin in Cherepovets.
  • He is a distant relative of the Czech rock singer Aleš Brichta. The Apotheosis of War was used by Czech heavy metal band Arakain as the cover art for the album Farao.

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Napoleon. 1812">

File:Vereshchagin Napoleon near Borodino.jpg|Napoleon near Borodino

File:Конец Бородинского боя.jpg|The end of Borodino battle

File:Перед Москвой в ожидании депутации бояр.jpg|Before Moscow waiting for the Boyars' Deputation

File:В покоренной Москве.jpg|In Defeated Moscow

File:Through the fire by Vereschagin.jpg|Through the fire

File:In Petrovsky palace (Waiting for peace) by V.Vereschagin.jpg|In Petrovsky Palace (Waiting for peace)

File:Vaszilij Vasziljevics Verescsagin orosz festőművész. Fortepan 25843.jpg|Vereshchagin with his wife Lydia and son Vasily at the In Petrovsky Palace painting. 1895–1896

File:Peaceatallcosts.JPG|Napoleon and general Lauriston (Peace at all costs!)

File:На большой дороге. Отступление, бегство.jpg|On the high road. Retreat, flight

File:The Attack by Vereshchagin (1887-1895, GIM).jpg|Fix Bayonets! Hooray! Hooray! (the Battle of Krasnoi)

File:Night Bivouac of Great Army.jpg|Night Bivouac of Great Army

</gallery>

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Balkan series">

File:Winners, by Vasily Vereshchagin (1878).jpg|Victors

File:Перед атакой. Под Плевной.jpg|Before the attack. At Plevna

File:After the attack. Plevna, 1877-1878.jpg|After the Attack

1878 Vereshchagin Schlachtfeld am Schipkapass anagoria.JPG|The battlefield at Shipka (Skobelev at Shipka)

File:Artlib gallery-13875-o.jpg|Defeated. Requiem

File:Vasily Vasilevich Vereshchagin, The Spy.jpg|The Spy

File:Пикет на Дунае.jpg|Picket on the Danube

File:Два ястреба (Башибузуки).jpg|Two hawks (Bashi-bazouk)

File:В турецкой покойницкой .jpg|In a Turkish mortuary

File:Василий В. Верещагин - Aдъютант.jpg|The Adjutant

</gallery>

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Other works">

File:The Moscow Cathedrals and river Moskva (in the spring)).jpg|The Moscow Cathedrals and river Moskva (in the spring)

File:O Soldado Esquecido.jpg|Eagles (A forgotten soldier)

File:Верещагин Шпион Эпизод из исп-ам войны 1901.jpg|Spy (Spanish–American War)

File:Василий В. Верещагин - Допрос дезертира (1901).jpg|Interrogation of a deserter

File:Шинтоистский храм в Никко.jpg|Shinto shrine in Nikkō

File:Храм в Никко.jpg|Shrine in Nikkō

File:Японка.jpg|Japanese woman

</gallery>

See also

  • List of paintings of Vasily Vereshchagin
  • List of Orientalist artists
  • Orientalism

Further reading

  • ;
  • Pleshakov, Constantine. "The Tsar's Last Armada-The Epic Voyage to the Battle of Tsushima." (2002).

Notes

References

  • Kowner, Rotem (2006). "Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War". Scarecrow. 620pp.
  • Leonard D. Abbott, "Verestchagin, Painter of War." The Comrade (New York), vol. 1, no. 7 (April 1902), pp.&nbsp;155–156.
  • Art Institute of Chicago, Works of Vassili Verestchagin: an Illustrated, descriptive catalogue and two appendixes to the catalogue Realism and Progress in Art by Verestchagin.
  • W. T. Stead, "Vassili Verestchagin: Character Sketch," Review of Reviews (London), vol. 19 (January 1899), frontispiece, 22–33.
  • Maria Chernysheva, "The Russian Gérôme? Vereshchagin as a Painter of Turkestan," RIHA Journal, September 2014.
  • Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin at the Web Gallery of Art
  • Vereshchagin page at Olga's Gallery
  • Vasily Vereshchagin: horrors of war through artist’s eyes
  • Vereshchagin's lost paintings