Background

Igor Grabar was born on March 25, 1871 in Budapest, Austro-Hungarian Empire (present-day Budapest, Hungary). He was the son of Emmanuil Ivanovich Hrabar, a lawyer and a politician of pro-Russian orientation, and Olga Hrabar. Igor had two brothers — Bela Grabar and Vladimir Grabar, a jurist.

In the early 1870s, the Hungarian government forced Emmanuil Hrabar to leave the country. Olga with children stayed under police surveillance at anti-Catholic politician Adolph Dobryansky's manor in Certizne (present-day Slovakia). In 1880, the Hrabars temporarily reunited in Russia. In Russia, the Hrabars lived under pseudonym Hrabrov. Igor Grabar restored his real surname in the early 1890s.

Education

Initially, since 1880 till 1882, Grabar studied at a high school in Yegoryevsk, where his father served as a teacher of foreign languages. In 1889, he entered the Law Department of the Saint Petersburg State University. But Law-department classes were uninspiring and Grabar spent more time attending history lectures. In April 1893, Igor graduated from the university.

Some time later, in 1894, the painter started to attend Ilya Repin's class at the Imperial Academy of Arts (present-day Russian Academy of Arts). In July 1895, he left for a brief study tour to Western Europe, financed by Niva magazine.

In May 1896, Grabar left for Munich, where he enrolled at a private school of painting, run by Anton Azbe. Also, by 1901, Igor Grabar had completed architect's training at the Munich Polytechnicum (present-day Technical University of Munich), but did not take the final exams.

Career

During the period from 1898 to 1899, Igor showed his works at the exhibitions of Moscow Society of Art Lovers. In 1901, the painter came back to St. Petersburg, where he joined the society Mir Iskusstva ("World of Art") the following year. Since 1902, he participated in the exhibitions of the society. The same year, Grabar traveled to Astrakhan and Vologda provinces along the Sukhona and the Northern Dvina Rivers in order to study the architecture of Old Russia. The following year, in 1903, he moved to Moscow, where he became a member of the Union of Russian Artists and displayed his works at the exhibitions of the Union until 1910.

In 1906–1907, the painter participated in the exhibitions, organized by S. P. Dyagilev in Paris and Berlin. Since 1909 to 1910, he showed his works in the Salons of V. A. Izdebsky and in 1911 he took part in the World exhibition in Rome.

In 1913, Grabar was appointed an executive director of the Tretyakov Gallery and launched an ambitious reform program, that continued until 1926. Grabar diversified the Tretyakov collection into modern art and in 1917 published its first comprehensive catalogue.

In 1918, the painter founded and headed the State Central Restoration Studios (present-day All-Russian Art Scientific Restoration Center). Three years later, in 1921, Igor was appointed a professor of Art restoration in Moscow State University, a post he held till 1946.

In 1930, Grabar fully concentrated on painting. In 1936, his first personal exhibition, dedicated to the 25th anniversary of creative and scientific work of the painter, was held in the State Tretyakov Gallery. Three years later, in 1939, another exhibition of Grabar’s works was organized in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts.

In 1943, Grabar was appointed a director of the All-Russian Academy of Arts and the Ilya Repin St. Petersburg State Academic Institute of Fine Arts, Sculpture and Architecture, where he headed studios of painting and monumental art.

In 1954, he co-authored "Russian architecture of the first half of the 18th century", a revisionist study of the period, that dismissed the knowledge, collected by fellow historians before 1917.

Achievements

• Grabar was known as a founder and head of the Research Institute of Art History under the USSR Academy of Sciences and also the author of the Soviet doctrine of compensating World War II losses with art looted in Germany, which he formulated in 1943.
  
  The painter attained numerous awards, including Order of Lenin, Order of the Red Banner of Labour, Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" and others. In 1956, he was made a People’s artist of the USSR.
  
  His works are kept in numerous museums and private collections, including the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and others.

Works

More photos

• design

  • Nikolai Gogol. The Overcoat

• painting

  • Self-portrait with Wife

  • Moscow Margin

  • Portrait of Lo Gatto Ettore

  • Bouquet of clover on the window

  • Delphiniums

  • Winter. Portrait of the Painter's Daughter

  • Landscape with Birches

  • Fading Day

  • Still life in red tones with fruit and cups

  • Winter

  • The Frost. Straw-Coloured Sky

  • Blue Tablecloth

  • On North Dvine. 5 Postcard

  • Portrait of E. G. Nikulina-Volkonskaya

  • Girl in Puppy Store

  • On North Dvine. 4 Postcard

  • Moscow Street

  • Last Snow

  • Clearing Skyes

  • Portrait of the Painter's Son

  • Tulips

  • Morning Tea

  • Autumn, Rowan Tree and Birches

  • Apples

  • The Frost

  • Zamoskvorechye Thoroughfare

  • Group Portrait with Cornflowers

  • Golden Leaves

  • Self-Portrait in a Hat

  • Self-Portrait

  • Snow in March

  • Oaks

  • Sunrise

  • Spring Breeze

  • Self-Portrait

  • Old Man

  • The Frost and the Sunrise

  • Portrait of V. Grabar

  • In the Garden. Delphiniums

  • Corner of Moscow

  • Nanny with Child

  • Munich Café

  • Lady by Piano

  • Still Life

  • Landscape. Country House

  • Portrait of O. Yepifanova

  • Roses on the Window

  • Svetlana

  • Roses on the Piano

  • Moscow Patio

  • March Snow

  • Portrait of Goldenveizer

  • Sunflowers

  • Turkestan Apples

  • Rowans

  • Winter

  • Radiant Morning

  • Portrait of Sergei Prokofiev

  • Birches Valley

  • Flora

  • Landscape. Uzkoe

  • Red Aplles on Pink Tablecloth

  • Samovar

  • Portrait of Martin Winkler

  • Red Aplles on Blue Tablecloth

  • Sleet

  • On North Dvine. 6 Postcard

  • Frosty Morning. Pink Rays

  • Apples

  • The entrance to the Estate

  • Apples

  • Pond in Abramtsevo

  • The Frost. Sunrise

  • Delphiniums

  • Estate Corner (Ray of Sun)

  • Portrait of O. Grabar-Dobryanskaya

  • Snowdrifts

  • Girl in Russian Shawl

  • Portrait of Korney Chukovsky

  • Pock

  • Winter Morning

  • Lilacs and Forget-Me-Nots

  • Estate Entrance

  • A Branch of Apple

  • May Evening

  • Morning Dew

  • Siya Monastery

  • March

  • On North Dvine. 2 Postcard

  • Lenin and Stalin talking to Peasants

  • Abramtsevo. Wattle

  • Chrysanthemums

  • Portrait of Sergei Chapligin

  • Coachman

  • Dahlias

  • Apples

  • The Frost. Sunset

  • Summer Evening

  • Apples and Astras

  • Park Valley

  • Birches in Summer

  • Portrait of V. Volgin

  • The Frost. Sunrise

  • Ray of Sun

  • Winter Landscape

  • Christ Resurrection Celebration

  • Pears on a Blue Tablecloth

  • Jam Jar and Apples

  • The Frost

  • Self-Portrait with Palette

  • The Frost

  • Avenue of Birch Trees

  • Logs

  • Portrait of Anton Azbe

  • Portrait of Valentina Grabar

  • Portrait of Artist's Wife

  • Blue Pattern

  • Spring Landscape

  • Winter Landscape

  • Zamoskvorechye Thoroughfare. Grey Day

  • The Frost

  • Pavilion in Kuzminki

  • Apples and Pears

  • Pock

  • Volkhovstroy

  • New Summer Cottage

  • Under Birches

  • Winter Sunny Day

  • Portrait of the Academician Alexei Nikolaevish Bach

  • Lenin dictating a telegram at dawn in 1920

  • September Snow

  • Lenin in Working Cabinet

  • Portrait of N. D. Zelinsky

  • Valley of the Moscow River. Autumn Days

  • The Slanting rays

  • Portrait of V. G. Dulova

  • Portrait of the Daughter

  • House Corner in Winter

  • Smithy

  • Portrait of Painter Neradovsky

  • Winter. Rook Nests

  • The Fat Women

  • Still Life of Flowers and Fruit

  • On North Dvine. 1 Postcard

  • Birch Fluffs

  • Peonies

  • Portrait of M. Grabar-Dobryanskaya

  • Still Life with Pears

  • Hoar Frost. Uzkoye

  • Tea Break

  • Morning Tea

  • Portrait of Emmanuil Hrabar (painter's father)

  • Portrait of N. P. Gorbunov

  • Portrait of K. Medova

  • Carousel

  • Golden Falls

  • Balustrade

  • Spring Landscape

  • Old Barn in Winter

  • February

  • Portrait of S. Churakov

  • Autumn

  • Self-Portrait

  • Blue Tablecloth

  • Autumn

  • Dugino. Sunrise

  • Winter

  • Lilac and forget-me-nots

  • On the Lake

  • Self-Portrait in Furs

  • Sunset

  • February Azure

  • Last Snow

  • Spring Flow

  • Autumn. Red Oak

  • Flower Garden

  • The Last Snow

  • Portrait of Son

  • Autumn Evening

  • Portrait of Sergei Prokofiev

  • Pears on a Green Cloth

  • Winter Landscape

  • First Snow

  • Roofs under the Snow

  • Lady with Dog

  • Winter Landscape

  • On North Dvine. 3 Postcard

  • The Frost

  • Delphiniums in the Garden

Membership

Igor was a member of the Union of Russian Artists.

• USSR Academy of Sciences

  1943

• USSR Academy of Arts

  1947

• founder, head

  Research Institute of Art History under the USSR Academy of Sciences

  1944 - 1960

• Mir Iskusstva Association

  1902

Connections

Grabar was married to Valentina Mescherina. Their marriage produced two children — Olga and Mstislav.

Father:

Emmanuil Ivanovich Hrabar

Mother:

Olga Hrabar

child:

Olga Grabar

child:

Mstislav Grabar

Brother:

Bela Hrabar

Brother:

Vladimir Hrabar

Wife:

Valentina Mescherina

mentor:

Anton Azbe

mentor:

Ilya Repin

References

• Igor Grabar (Masters of World Painting)
  1989
• Igor Grabar
  2007