Portrait of the Artist Feodor Vasilyev.
Mr. Vasilyev was born in Gatchina, Russian Federation, on February 22, 1850, to a low-level government official, Alexander Vasilyevich Vasilyev, and Olga Emelyanova Polyntseva. His parents married four years later after his birth, so he was always considered to be an illegitimate child.
In 1862, being a twelve-year-old teenager, Fyodor Vasilyev already served at the post office. After his father’s untimely death, he became the sole supporter of the family. In 1863, he managed to enter the evening classes of the School of Painting at the Society for Promotion of Artists. His exceptional talent required perfection, but the artist’s hard life barred its progress denying him the opportunity of a necessary technical training. While at School, he got acquainted with many painters, who took care of him. He was especially friendly and close with Kramskoy and Shishkin, who took Vasilyev to work with them en plein-air and in travels throughout Russia.
In 1866 Ivan Shishkin, prominent landscape painter, started his relationships with Vasilyev's sister, Evgenia Vasilyeva. Being closely connected with Vasilyev's family, Shishkin started to teach him painting. From July to November 1867 the artists went on the island of Valaam where they painted together. Later Shishkin arranged Fyodor Vasilyev's meetings with Ivan Kramskoi, Ilya Repin, Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov and Pavel Sergeevich Stroganov.
Early Vasilyev’s works After a Thunderstorm (1868), Near a Watering Place (1868) and some others were apparently influenced by the Barbizon School. The school affected greatly his art during that time. Initially, Fyodor Vasilyev was technically close to the Barbizon artists. However, he eventually came up with his own technique. His works Country Road proved this fact, as it exceed in many ways the Barbizon stormy scenes.
In 1870 Vasilyev cruised along Volga River together with painters Ilya Repin and Yevgeni Makarov and painted the canvasses Thaw, A View on Volga and Winter Landscape, which gained him fame at once. However, the artist had not time to enjoy his popularity, because he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and had to leave St. Petersburg forever. He moved to Crimea. The Society for Promotion of Artists sponsored his stay there, but he was obliged to pay with his paintings.
First Fyodor Vasilyev could not get used to new scenery. He continued to paint Russian plains; his works, such as his masterpiece Wet Meadow (1872), were done from memory, old sketches and imagination. After some time he started to draw Crimea, gradually beginning to feel the attraction to its mountain views. In the Mountains of Crimea (1873) was an outstanding work and the last work of the artist.
Fyodor Vasilyev's artworks Bog and Crimean View won him the award of the Encouragement Society in 1872. At the posthumous exhibition in St. Petersburg all his works had been sold even before the exhibition opened.
His works had a strong influence on the next generation of Russian landscape painters. Many art historians emphasize Vasilyev's influence on Isaac Levitan, Valentin Serov, Viktor Borisov-Musatov.
Landscape with a Rock and Stream
On the Bank of the Volga
In the Mountain of the Crimea. Brook
Illumination in St. Petersburg
Peasant's House
Peasants with a Boat on a Sandy Beach
Clouds
Dugout
The Shore. Cloudy Day
Crimea. Yalta
Pond at the Sunset
Volga Lagoon
On the Island Valaam
On the River. Windy Day
Morning
Barges near the Bank
After a Thunderstorm
Clouds
Eriklik the Fountain (Crimea)
The Sea with Ships
Tide
Forest Road
Mountains in the Clouds
Boat
Abandoned Mill
Peasants Hut
Landscape with Clouds
Cypresses in the Crimea
Early Morning
The Evening before the Storm
Barges on Volga
Before a Thunderstorm
In the Mountains of the Crimea
Wet Meadow 1. Study
Landscape. Crimea
Village
Tide near the Shore of the Crimea
Cloud
Morning in a Village
Bay
Near a Church. Valaam
The Thaw
Vassiliev Swamp in the Forest
The Barn
On the Neva
Poplars Lit by the Sun
Road through a Birchwood
Return of the Herd
In an Oak Grove
Surf Waves
Before the Rain
Bank of the Volga after the Storm
Clouds over Hills. Study
After a Rain (Spring in St. Petersburg)
Evening
In the Crimea. After a Rain
In the Vicinity of St. Petersburg
Bridge over a Brook
Near a Watering Place
Landscape with Peasant's Huts and Pond near St. Petersburg
Brook in a Forest
On the Beach
Peasant Family in a Boat
Hot Summer Day
The Trunk of an Old Oak
Horses at the Watering
Abandoned Mill 2
Peasant's Courtyard
On Valaam. Rocks
Pine Grove in the Swamp
Summer Hot Day
Abandoned Mill 1
Landscape. Pargolovo
Cumulus. Study
Winter in the Crimea
Trees
Trees. Study
After a Rain. Country Road
Morning
Clouds. The Village of Krestinskoye
After a Rain
Poplars
Cumulus
Crimean Landscape
Barns
Near Krasnoye Selo
Dawn
At the Sink
Before a Thunderstorm
Cloud. Study
View from Eriklik. Study
Swamp in a Forest. Mist
Village
Lombardy Poplars on the Bank of a Lake. Evening
Mountains of the Crimea in Autumn
Autumn
Street in a Village
At the River. Windy Day
Birch Grove in the Evening
Dawn in St. Petersburg
Oaks
The Crowns of the Trees
Rapid Stream
Water Mill on a Mountain River. Crimea
Evening
Before a Thunderstorm
On the River. Calm
Sailboats. Study
After a Heavy Rain
Logs by the Road
Evening in the Crimea
Apiary
Wet Meadow
River in Krasnoye Selo
Winter
Autumn Forest
Self-Portrait
Rye
Mountains in the Crimea in Winter
