For Ilya wrote more than four thousand paintings — from small portraits of friends to monumental canvases devoted to the major events of world history. More than 700 of them stored in the Moscow Gallery of Ilya Glazunov opened in 2004.
About the life of Ilya Glazunov and several of his works — in joint material mos.ru and the Agency “Moscow”.
Ilya Glazunov was born in Leningrad. When the Great Patriotic war, the future artist was just 11 years old. During the siege, killed his father, mother, grandmother, grandfather, aunt and uncle. On the Road of life in the Novgorod region took the only survivor of Glazunov — boy Ilya. After the siege was lifted in 1944, he returned to his hometown.
In 1951, Ilya Glazunov entered the Institute of painting, sculpture and architecture named I. E. Repin. His first exhibition was held in the Central house of art workers (Central house of arts) in Moscow in 1957, while studying in the final year of the Institute. The work that Ilya was presented to the audience, amazed and spectators and artists.
Choosing a thesis topic, he had no doubt. He decided long ago that his picture will be dedicated to the difficult period of the great Patriotic war, when the red army had to retreat, and the victory over the enemy was still very distant. “Roads of war” Glazunov decided to call the work. Many years later in his autobiographical book “Russia crucified” Ilya recalled the following:
Learning about the topic student work Glazunov, professors from the examination Committee urged him to abandon her thoughts, which he wanted to Express in the picture, many considered anti-Soviet and defeatist. The pressure on the young artist was great, and he had to agree to the demands of teachers. On examination, he presented the work “the Birth of a calf” — a touching domestic scene he wrote for the sketch, made a few years ago in the village. After a few years, he still finished “Roads of war” and presented it at the exhibition in Moscow Manege in 1964. Again intervened censorship — the picture was withdrawn from the floor. Her fate still remains a mystery.
In the 1980s, the artist made an author’s copy of the lost paintings — the painting is now kept in Alma-ATA State Museum of arts named after A. Kasteev. Today in the Gallery of Ilya Glazunov opened the exhibition “Roads of war. The story of one painting”, which you can see not only this work, but sketches and the sketches for it.
After graduation, Glazunov went on allocation, first in Izhevsk, and then in Ivanovo. Then Ilya moved to Moscow. In the capital, the young artist is faced with serious difficulties: he had no residence permit and housing, he was not admitted to the Union artists. Money was tight — even had to earn a loader. Glazunov spent the night in the pantry, which he provided to the sculptor Dionisio Garcia. Everything changed for the better when Ilya met with Sergei Mikhalkov.
With the main children’s poet and author of the anthem of the USSR Ilya Glazunov met for the first time in 1958. Once in the storeroom, where he lived, knocked, and the door Mikhalkov. He saw Glazunov’s paintings at an exhibition in 1957 and appreciated the talent of the artist. Seeing the place where Ilya lived with his wife Nina Vinogradova-Benois, Mikhalkov has promised to help.
After some time in the new year’s ball Sergey met with the Minister of culture Ekaterina Furtseva. Mikhalkov asked her to dance, told about the young artist and asked me to help him.
a year after a meeting with Mikhalkov Ilya moved to granted him a Studio apartment and got a Moscow residence permit. Since Glazunov was called Mikhalkov as a benefactor. When the poet did not, Ilya said, “After my parents Sergey Vladimirovich Mikhalkov was the family and loved one which has largely determined my fate of the citizen and the artist.”
In the paintings of Ilya Glazunov appeared frequently classics of Russian literature and characters of their works. A special place in the works of Ilya Sergeyevich was occupied by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky was his favorite writer.
the Artist fell in love with Dostoevsky in the fourth year of the Institute. Work inspired by the works of Fyodor Mikhailovich, appeared at the first exhibition in the Central house of arts. Among them were the portraits of the main characters of the novel “the Idiot,” Prince Myshkin, Parfion Rogozhin and Nastasya Filippovna. But the image of the writer was inspired by Glazunov no less than his characters.
Glazunov has created several portraits of the writer. Each of them portrayed by Dostoevsky in the background uniting their cities — St. Petersburg.
Ilya was told that he illustrated everything written by Dostoevsky — with the exception of his diaries. Despite the presumption of Dostoevsky as a writer of dark, Ilya called him the most optimistic in Russian literature — he believed in the rebirth of the human soul. The values preached by Fedor Mikhailovich, was very close to the artist, and for good reason Glazunov called “Dostoyevsky in painting”.
In the life of Ilya Glazunov had several major trips abroad. The artist was in the combat actions in Vietnam in 1967, Chile in 1973. In August 1983, Ilya on the instructions of the newspaper “Pravda” went to the civil war-torn Nicaragua, where he spent two weeks and created about 60 works.
the Armed conflict in this Central American state.rste began in 1981. On opposite sides were government forces that were supported by USSR and Cuba, and the opposition party which has taken the USA. The war lasted almost nine years. During this time, the clashes killed more than 50 thousand people.
One of the heroes of works of the artist was a young soldier MAXIMO Sanchez. He took up arms when he was 17 years old. Ilya Sergeyevich decided to make a portrait of a young man directly in the field — with him, the artist had no canvas, and he had to use a sheet of plywood. The resulting work very much MAXIMO — he saw the portrait of not just himself, but a monument to your comrades who died fighting for freedom and independence.
Another important picture which Ilya wrote during that trip — portrait of a ballerina Blanca Guardado, the leader of the folk dance Ensemble of Nicaragua. The artist has depicted the dancer in the bright national attire.
These and other works of Ilya Sergeyevich created during a trip to Nicaragua, you can see the virtual exhibition “Nicaragua through the eyes of an artist”, which is open in the Gallery of Ilya Glazunov.
Russian history has always been a source of inspiration for Ilya Glazunov. The artist depicted the important historical persons and a watershed event in the history of the state. The theme of one of the paintings was the period when the Soviet Union pursued a policy of dispossession. 1930-e years were also a time of severe persecution of religion, and Ilya was deeply depressed by this period of history.
“Cannibalization” Ilya Glazunov wrote about five years, ending in 2010, although the idea came to him while studying at the Institute. On a huge painter’s canvas about 100 figures — murdered priest, a frightened mother with a newborn baby, the Commissioner, with an evil smile looking at the viewer through the silver icon of the “Vernicle”. Many of the images of peasants came from trips the artist in the Russian Outback. “Dekulakization” was the last monumental work of Ilya Glazunov.
