05 works, Today, August 2nd, is Blessed Basil's day, his story thru art #214

Vasily Surikov

The Boyarin Morozova, c. 1887
Oil on canvas
Height: 304 cm (119.6 in); Width: 587.5 cm (19.2 ft)
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Vasily Surikov

Detail; The Boyarin Morozova/ Blessed Basil the Fool-for-Christ c. 1887

Oil on canvas
Height: 304 cm (119.6 in); Width: 587.5 cm (19.2 ft)
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Vasily Ivanovich Surikov (24 January 1848, Krasnoyarsk – 19 March 1916, Moscow) was a Russian Realist history painter of Siberian origin. Many of his works have become familiar to the general public through their use as illustrations.

In 1859, his father died of tuberculosis so the family were forced to rent the second floor of their house to survive financially. He began drawing while attending the district school and was encouraged by the local art teacher. His first formal work dates from 1862, but his family could not afford to continue his education and he became a clerk in a government office. This brought him into contact with the Governor of Yenisei, who was able to find him a patron.

In 1868, he was unable to qualify for admission to the Imperial Academy of Arts, so he studied at the drawing school of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. 

From 1869 to 1875, he studied with Pavel Chistyakov, Bogdan Willewalde and Pyotr Shamshin, winning several medals. 

In 1877, he received a commission to paint murals at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and he moved to Moscow. He chose to remain in Moscow and began the series of historical paintings that would establish his reputation. 

In 1948, on the 100th anniversary of his birth, his estate in Krasnoyarsk became a museum. Two monuments have been erected there, in 1954 and in 2002. More on Vasily Ivanovich Surikov

Blessed Basil the Fool-for-Christ is one of the most well-known fools-for-Christ from Moscow. Russians have always venerated fools-for-Christ – those who rejected outward decorum and pretended to be insane so as to hide their abilities and virtues, and condemned the world for lack of the said virtues. They were entitled to judge the world because of their spiritual prowess and pure heart.

Vitaly Grafov

Moscow wonderworker Blessed Basil

Vitaliy Grafov is an established mid-career contemporary artist. Vitaliy Grafov was born in 1977.

Grafov was predominantly influenced by the 1980s. The 1980s were a tumultuous time culturally, and were marked by growing global capitalism, global mass media, significant discrepancies in wealth, alongside a distinctive sense of music and fashion, epitomised by electronic pop music and hip hop. Artists growing up during this time were heavily influenced by this cultural atmosphere. The 1980s were an important decade in terms of politics, marked by the African Famine and the end of the Cold War, which was signified by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Neo Geo and The Pictures Generation became leading art movements during the decade, alongside Neo-Expressionism which became well-known in Germany, France and Italy (where it was known as Transavanguardia). Artists such as Anselm Kiefer, Jörg Immendorf, Enzo Cucchi, Francesco Clemente and Julian Schnabel were leading artists of the era, alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf, who established the street art and graffiti movements. More on Vitaliy Grafov 

Apollinary Vasnetsov, (1856–1933)

Moscow in the era of Ivan the Terrible. Red Square, c. 1902

Watercolor and charcoal on paper mounted on cardboard

Height: 48 cm (18.8 in); Width: 65 cm (25.5 in)

I have no further description of this artwork at this time

Apollinary Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov (August 6, 1856 in the village of Riabovo, Vyatka Governorate – January 23, 1933 in Moscow) was a Russian painter and graphic artist. He specialized in scenes from the medieval history of Moscow.

Vasnetsov did not receive a formal artistic education. He studied under his older brother, Viktor Vasnetsov, the famous Russian painter. From 1883, he and his brother lived and worked in Abramtsevo. In 1898–1899, he travelled across Europe. In addition to epic landscapes of Russian nature, Apollinary Vasnetsov created his own genre of historical landscape reconstruction on the basis of historical and archaeological data. His paintings present a visual picture of medieval Moscow. He was a member of the Association of Travelling Art Exhibitions from 1899, and an academician from 1900. He became one of the founders and supervisors of the Union of Russian Artists. More on Vasnetsov Apollinaris

Saint Basil the Blessed Fool, the Wonderworker of Moscow, used to throw stones at wonderworking icons and argue with Ivan the Terrible, condemning him of shedding innocent blood. The tsar listened to him patiently and didn’t allow anyone to touch the blessed fool-for-Christ.

Andrei Petrovich Ryabushkin,  (1861–1904) 

Ivan the Terrible, c. 1903

Oil on canvas

Tyumen Museum of Fine Arts, Tyumen

Andrei Petrovich Ryabushkin (1861 – 1904) was a Russian painter. His major works were devoted to life of ordinary Russians of the 17th century.

Ryabushkin's father and brother were icon painters, and he started to help them from his early childhood. At 14 years old he became an orphan. A student of Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture happened to see the boy’s drawings and was greatly impressed by them. He started to give him lessons and helped him to enter the Moscow School. Ryabushkin was one of the youngest student of the school at all times.

Ryabushkin stayed at the Moscow School for seven years (1875–82). He moved to Saint Petersburg in 1882, and entered the Imperial Academy of Arts . The classes soon disappointed him.


His studies at the academy came to an end in 1892. He did not receive an award for his diploma work, Descent from the Cross, because he did not follow the approved project. But the work was so good that the president of the academy provided Ryabushkin with a stipend for travel and studies abroad from his own means. Ryabushkin chose to make a tour of ancient Russian towns. The inhabitants became his first models and his first critics. 

His paintings were mostly devoted to the 17th century. He also worked on frescoes for Saint Sophia Cathedral and mosaics for the Church of the Savior. 

In 1903 Ryabushkin was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He went to Switzerland for treatment but it did not help. He died in his studio in Didvino on 27 April 1904. He is buried in Lyuban, and his tomb is protected as a cultural monument. More on Andrei Petrovich Ryabushkin

One day, when Ivan the Terrible invited the saint to his palace for a talk, Saint Basil was offered a cup of wine but he poured the wine out three times. The tsar was angry but Basil told him that it was his way of extinguishing the fire of Novgorod. Soon, the king’s messengers confirmed St. Basil’s words. Residents of Novgorod told them that they had seen a naked man with a bucket of water during the fire. The man was pouring water on the fire and made it go away at last. St. Basil’s miraculous extinguishing of the terrible Moscow Fire of 1547 is also well-known.

Blessed Basil was born in the second half of the 15th century in Yelokhovo, a village near Moscow.

Pavel Svedomsky, (1849–1904)

A God's Fool, c. late 19th century

Oil on canvas

Regional Art Museum Kirovograd

Pavel Aleksandrovich Svedomsky (7 June 1849, Saint-Petersburg—27 August 1904, Rome) was a Russian painter and the brother of another artist, Alexander Svedomsky.

In 1870 Pavel entered the Düsseldorf Academy of Arts, but studied there only a few months. The Svedomskys traveled together across Europe until settling in Rome in 1875. He died there in 1904 and is buried with his brother Alexander in the Protestant Cemetery.

Pavel Svedomsky painted in various genres, most notably in historic. The painting Medusa (1882) was bought by Pavel Tretyakov to be displayed in Tretyakov Gallery

Working in the St Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kiev, Svedosmky painted the northern and southern naves of the cathedral, creating six scenes from the life of Jesus. During his later years Svedomsky turned to Russian subjects.

The works of Svedomsky are scattered across various central and regional museums. More on Pavel Aleksandrovich Svedomsky

He worked as a shoemaker when he was young. Some time later, a weird man appeared on the banks of the Moskva River. He was going around naked throughout the year and doing strange things. He would turn over a table with kalatches,  Eastern European bread, or spill a jug of kvass, a traditional fermented Slavic and Baltic beverage commonly made from rye bread. The furious merchants would give the fool-for-Christ a thrashing, while he was happy to accept it with gratitude to God. Later, it would come to light that the kalatches and the kvass were no longer safe to eat. The veneration of Blessed Basil was growing exponentially. People recognized him as a true fool-for-Christ, a man of God who rebuked all untruth.

Saint Basil the Blessed reposed in the Lord on August 2 (O.S.), 1552. More on Blessed Basil

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