Igor Emmanuilowitsch Grabar

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Kustodiev's portrait (1915) of Grabar

Igor Emmanuilowitsch Grabar ( Russian Игорь Эммануилович Грабарь ; born March 25, 1871 in Budapest , † May 16, 1960 in Moscow ) was a Russian - Soviet painter , art historian and museum scholar.

Life

School time and law studies

He was born in Budapest as the son of a Russian statesman. In 1876 the family moved to Russia. Igor Grabar initially studied in Moscow at the Lyceum of Tsarevich Nikolai. From 1889 he studied at the law faculty of St. Petersburg University . He finished his studies in 1893.

Studied art in St. Petersburg, 1894–1896

In 1894 he entered the St. Petersburg Art Academy , and studied with Pavel Petrovich Tschistjakow and Ilya Efimovich Repin . At that time Grabar was one of the participants in the jour fixes in Marianne von Werefkin's studio in the Peter and Paul Fortress in Saint Petersburg , of which her father was the commanding officer . Grabar reports, “I heard the names of Eduard Manet, Claude Monet, Renoir, Degas and Whistler for the first time from her.” He also informs that “on the evenings with her” both teachers Repin could always be found. Furthermore, he reports about Repin, he “values ​​her understanding very much - her understanding surpasses his by a lot.” The regular visitors of these evenings included z. B. also Alexej Jawlensky and Dmitry Kardowsky .

Munich, 1896–1901

Jawlensky wrote in his memoirs about his departure for Munich in 1896 : “And since we, my friends Grabar and Kardowskij and I, were not satisfied with the way the academy was taught, we decided to go abroad with Marianne Werefkin go to study. ”Grabar and Kardowsky rented a room in Schwabing , on the fourth floor of the house at Koeniginstrasse 105, on the border with the Englischer Garten . Grabar left a clear description of this district: “All artist apartments, studios and the academy are in one district (Schwabing). Trees all around, just like at a dacha . I look out of my window at a field. The air is fresh and healthy. In general, it is so beautiful here that, if the means allow it, you want to learn with joy. ”Grabar, Jawlensky and Kardowsky learned new things at Anton Ažbe's school , where they registered for further studies in 1896. Werefkin, where they met every evening on Giselastrasse, they deepened what they had learned. We owe Grabar the news of Wassily Kandinsky's first appearance at the Ažbe School. In a letter dated February 26, 1897, he wrote to his brother: “There comes a gentleman like that with a paint box, takes a seat and starts to work. His appearance is typically Russian, with a hint of the Moscow university milieu and a hint of a master's degree [...] In the same way, we [Jawlensky and Kardowsky] - in short - judged the gentleman who arrived today at first sight: as a Moscow master's. And imagine my astonishment when I actually hear his clear Russian pronunciation [...] So that was Kandinsky. ”As early as April 1897, Werefkin urged the four men to go abroad, to Venice . The reason was a large exhibition by Repin. Grabar reported that the whole of Venice was intoxicated by his pictures at the time and spoke delighted of “il luce di Repin”. The Werefkin had also prepared the visit to the historical art treasures of Venice and other Italian cities well. To give her and her friends free access to them, she had I. Tolstoy, Vice President of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts , issue a letter of recommendation in March 1897 . At least for Jawlensky, the cultural program that was completed seems to have been quite strenuous. "From 1898 to 1901 he himself took on the role of teacher at this school, which at that time was called Ažbe and Grabar School."

Me Iskusstwa

He took part in the activities of the Russian artists' association Mir Iskusstva and the association of Russian artists. Since 1902 Grabar has participated in the Mir Iskusstwa exhibitions; his works are also exhibited abroad, for example in Munich and Paris . For example, at the exhibition of the Salon d'Automne , which lasted from October 6th to November 15th, 1906. It was a special event for Grabar, as well as for his colleague Jawlensky, who emphasized in his memoirs: “It was an international one Exhibition organized by Djaghilev. ” Sergei Pawlowitsch Djagilew , had meanwhile acquired the reputation of a predestined“ ambassador for Russian art ”in Russia. a. won the Grand Duke Vladimir as patron and patron for his company in Paris. It was thus possible for him to cover a spectrum in the Grand Palais with great pomp in twelve rooms - by no means just geared towards avant-garde painting, which ranged from the art of the Middle Ages through the portrait art of the eighteenth century to the present day. Djagilev had entrusted Léon Bakst with the task of hanging the exhibition. In the department, which was reserved for the young generation of Russian artists, he showed Grabar and Jawlensky, his own works and works, etc. a. by Alexander Nikolajewitsch Benois , Natalija Sergejewna Gontscharowa , Wassily Kandinsky , Michail Fjodorowitsch Larionow , Konstantin Andrejewitsch Somow and Michail Alexandrowitsch Wrubel . Grabar was even represented at the World Exhibition in Rome in 1909.

Tretyakov Gallery administrator

In 1913, the Moscow city council elected him as curator of the Tretyakov Gallery . He held this position until 1925. In addition, from 1918 to 1930 he headed the Central Restoration Studios in Moscow; from 1944 he was its scientific director.

After the October Revolution

After the October Revolution in 1917, Grabar continued to be actively involved in painting, now creating official commissioned works. Apart from his painterly work, scientific work takes up a large part of his life. He published a lot in magazines of the art scene, such as Mir Iskusstwa , Apollon and others. As an art historian, he made a name for himself as co-editor and co-author of the thirteen-volume “History of Russian Art”.

Political career

Grabar achieved high positions in the Soviet cultural hierarchy, culminating in the fact that he was honored in 1941 with the highest honor in the Soviet state, the Stalin Prize. In the 1930s he had given up his previous style of painting in favor of a realism adapted to the regime and celebrated particular success with depictions of Stalin or his daughter Svetlana . Since 1943 he was a member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR .

Co-organizer of the Soviet "Trophy Brigades"

Grabar has been described as a "slick" tactician who "knows how to win the favor of any regime". As a connoisseur of German art and culture, he developed the idea of ​​Soviet retribution for the Nazis' art robberies in Russia, developed towards the end of World War II. He is the “intellectual originator” and co-organizer of the Soviet “trophy brigades”, which not only carried away the gold from Troy . From 1943 to 1945 he headed the expert office of the State Special Commission, which compiled the lists of works of art to be transported from Germany. This sad chapter of the Second World War went down in history under the term looted art . Today Grabar's name adorns an institute for art and restoration in Moscow. Grabar was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1956 .

Stylistic development

Grabar developed his painting from realism to impressionism and also produced a subtle neo-impressionism of its own in order to return to realism in the 1930s for politically opportunistic reasons.

Works (selection)

  • Lady with a Dog (1899)
  • September snow (1903)
  • February Sky (1904)
  • White winter. The Rook's Nest (1904)
  • Bright autumn evening (1923)
  • Sunny Winter's Day (1941)

literature

Igor Grabar, Moja Zizn, lskusstro, Moscow / Leningrad 1958 Igor Grabar, Pis'ma 1891–1917, Moscow 1974 Igor Grabar, Mojaschisn. Aotomonografija, Moscow 2001

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ IS, Grabar, Igor, in exh. Cat .: Paths to Modernism and the Ažbe School in Munich, Museum Wiesbaden 1988, p. 117
  2. ↑ Irina Dewjatjarowa, Alexej von Jawlensky in Russia: Sources. Moscow-St. Petersburg, research articles on the life and work of Alexej von Jawlensky, vol. 2, Locarno 2005 (published 2006), p. 66
  3. ↑ Igor Grabar, Pis'ma 1891–1917, Moscow 1974, p. 56. Translation from Russian
  4. ↑ Alexej Jawlensky, Memorabilia, in: Clemens Weiler (ed.), Alexej Jawlensky, Heads-Face-Meditations, Hanau 1970, p. 106
  5. ↑ Kylliki Zacharias, From the exterior to the interior, The Blue Rider and the Russian Avant-garde, in exh. Cat .: From the Blue Rider to the Russian Avant-garde, Berlin-Moscow-Munich, Orlando Gallery, Zurich 2005, p. 4
  6. ^ Igor Grabar, Letters 1891–1917, Moscow 1974, p. 88. Translation from the Russian
  7. ^ Igor Grabar, Letters 1891–1917, Moscow 1974, p. 59 Translation from the Russian
  8. ↑ See: Bernd Fäthke, Jawlensky and his companions in a new light, Munich 2004, Fig. 21, p. 37; Fig. 24, p. 39 and Fig. 25, p. 40
  9. ↑ SN Antonowa, Wassily Kandinsky's letters to Dimitrij Kardowsky, in exh. Cat .: Wassily Kandinsky, The first Soviet retrospective, paintings, drawings and graphics from Soviet and Western museums, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt 1989, p. 47
  10. ↑ Katarina Ambrozic, The Artist Anton Ažbe (1862–1905), in exh. Cat .: Paths to Modernity and the Ažbe School in Munich, Museum Wiesbaden 1988, p. 73, note 91a
  11. ↑ Grigori J. Sternin, Das Kunstleben Rußlands at the turn of the century, Dresden 1976, p. 59
  12. ↑ Bernd Fäthke, Marianne Werefkin, Munich 2001, p. 48, Doc. 4
  13. ↑ Alexej Jawlensky, Memorabilia, in: Clemens Weiler (Ed.), Alexej Jawlensky, Heads-Face-Meditations, Hanau 1970, p. 108
  14. ↑ IS, Grabar, Igor, in exh. Cat .: Paths to Modernism and the Ažbe School in Munich, Museum Wiesbaden 1988, p. 117
  15. ↑ Alexej Jawlensky, Memorabilia, in: Clemens Weiler (Ed.), Alexej Jawlensky, Heads-Face-Meditations, Hanau 1970, p. 109
  16. ↑ Camilla Gray, The Great Experiment, The Russian Art 1863–1922, Cologne 1974, p. 51
  17. ^ Arnold Haskell, Diaghileff, his artistic and private life, London 1955, p. 107 f
  18. ^ Nigel Gosling, Paris 1900–1914, Aufbruch der Künste in die Moderne, Munich 1980, p. 105
  19. ↑ Irina Antonowa, Art Treasures as Victims of War, in exh. Cat .: Berlin-Moscow 1900–1950, Berlinische Galerie, State Museum for Modern Art, Photography and Architecture, in the Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin 1995, p. 470 f
  20. ↑ Konstantin Akinscha and Grigori Koslow, Beutekunst, On the Treasure Hunt in Russian Secret Depots, Munich 1995, p. 34 ff
  21. ↑ Kerstin Holm, The commercialization of the scrap trade, paintings are like checks: International counterfeiters do their hair for the Russian market, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, March 15, 2006

Web links

Commons : Igor Grabar  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Grabar, Igor Emmanuilowitsch
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Грабарь, Игорь Эммануилович (Russian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Russian painter
DATE OF BIRTH March 25, 1871
PLACE OF BIRTH Budapest
DATE OF DEATH May 16, 1960
Place of death Moscow