One of the most important Russian artists to follow the socially sympathetic but non-political generation of subject/genre painters such as Alexei Venetsianov and Mikhail Shibanov, Vasily Perov pioneered the new style of critical realism in Russian art which was later greatly advanced by the likes of Ilya Repin, Konstantin Savitsky, Nikolai Kasatkin, and Sergei Ivanov.
Background
Vasily Perov was born January 2, 1834, in Tobolsk. Vasily Grigoryevich Perov was the illegitimate son of the lawyer Baron G. K. Kridener. Although Perov's parents married soon after his birth, there was no legal way to inherit his father's name and baron title, so he was registered under his godfather's surname — Vasiliev. He later changed his surname to Perov — a nickname given to him by his teacher who taught him calligraphy as a child (the word pero means feather in Russian).
Education
In 1846, Vasily Perov received his first art training at the provincial Arzamas School of Art run by the realist painter Alexander Stupin. After this, from 1853 to 1861, he trained at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture, during which time he received a number of gold and silver medals for his art. Then, in 1861, for his composition “Sermon in a Village” (1861), Perov was awarded a Major Gold Medal and an overseas study scholarship by the St Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts.
Career
While one of his religious genre paintings was being praised by the Academy, another was causing a scandal. His “Easter Procession in a Village” (1861) was banned from the Exhibition of the Society for the Promotion of Artists due to its insulting content, namely its depiction of drunken priests. This work was a landmark in the establishment of the new socially-aware style of critical realism and marked the beginning of a new period in which life was replicated 'warts and all.' The style found its ultimate expression in works such as “Krestny Khod Religious Procession in Kursk Gubernia” (1883) by Ilya Repin, and “Poor People Collecting Coal in an Abandoned Pit” (1894) by Nikolai Kasatkin.
Perov set off for Europe in 1862, the same year as Ivan Shishkin, the great landscape painter who also won a study scholarship from the Academy. Perov visited Germany, then France, capturing a variety of street scenes in works like “Merrymaking in Paris” (1863 - 1864), “Savoyard” (1863 - 1864), “Organ-Grinder in Paris” (1864), and “Paris Rag-Pickers” (1864).
Returning to Moscow in 1864, Perov spent his 30s on the development of his genre painting, as exemplified by works as follows): “A Meal in the Monastery” (1865 - 1876), “The Last Farewell” (1865), “Troika: Apprentice Workmen Carrying Water” (1866), “Lent Monday” (1866), “Arrival of a New Governess in a Merchant House” (1866), “The Drowned Girl (Found Drowned)” (1867), “Teacher of Drawing” (1867), “Hunters at Rest” (1871), and “Old Parents Visiting the Grave of Their Son” (1874).
In 1871, Perov, together with other progressive painters like Nikolai Gay, Grigory Miasoyedov, and Ivan Kramskoy became a founder member of the Itinerants Society of Travelling Exhibitions, known also as the Wanderers (peredvizhniki). In the same year, Perov was appointed a Professor at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture; his future pupils would include: such luminaries as Nikolai Kasatkin, Konstantin Korovin, Isaac Levitan, Abram Arkhipov, Mikhail Nesterov, and others. He also visited the Abramtsevo estate of Savva Mamontov, the great patron of Russian art.
During the late 1860s and 1870s, Perov turned increasingly to portrait art. One series of his portraits featured mostly peasants, as in works such as “Thomas the Owl” (1868), “Lad of Seventeen” (1869), “Girl with a Pitcher” (1869), and “Wanderer” (1870). Another series featured important cultural figures, as exemplified by: “Portrait of Yelena Perova, née Scheins, The Artist's First Wife” (1869), “Portrait of the Composer Anton Rubinstein” (1870), “Portrait of the Playwright Alexander Ostrovsky” (1871), “Portrait of the Author Ivan Turgenev” (1872), and “Portrait of the Author Fyodor Dostoyevsky” (1872). Full of individual character and insight, these paintings rank alongside the finest examples of 19th century Russian painting.
As well as portraiture, Perov also began to explore history painting in works such as “Condemnation of Emelyan Pugachev” (1879), “First Christians in Kiev” (1880rg), and “Nikita Pustosviat: Dispute on the Confession of Faith” (1880 - 1881). It's possible that this genre gave Perov greater freedom to pursue his personal aesthetic, while still demonstrating his sympathy with peasants and workers. The point was, Perov was a mid-19th century painter, with a solidly realist style but without the bold expressive or interpretative ability possessed by his younger contemporaries. Perov passed away in June 1882, at the comparatively young age of 49. He was buried in the Donskoe Cemetery. His works hang in the best art museums throughout Russia.
Membership
Perov returned to Moscow in 1864, where he headed a group of young artists-realists and became a founding member of and an active figure in the Circle of the Itinerants. In 1866, he was elected a full member of the Imperial Academy of Arts. In 1871, Perov, together with other progressive painters like Nikolai Gay, Grigory Miasoyedov, and Ivan Kramskoy became a founder member of the Itinerants Society of Travelling Exhibitions, known also as the Wanderers (peredvizhniki).
Personality
As an artist of great integrity, he remained truthful even when carrying out official commissions.
Quotes from others about the person
What a talent! What an imposing, independent figure! What a marvelous choice of subjects! What an eye and a talent for observation! Such a rich gallery of types this original Siberian has brought into our art.