Vikentii Pavlovich Trofimov was a Russian painter.
Background
Trofimov Vikentiy Pavlovich was born on December 24, 1878, in Talitsa, Sverdlovsk, Russian Federation. He was descended from a family of Siberian Cossacks, explorers, and merchants. His father Pavel Trofimov was a well-known ship-owner; his partners and he decided to restart merchant navigation through the famous Northern Sea Route and fairs in Mangazeya (the ancient merchant town). For this purpose in 1911, the famous Fridtjof Nansen had been invited to investigate the river basin of the Ob River, and Pavel Trofimov was among the sponsors of this project. There were ten children in Trofimov's family.
Education
In 1899 Vikentii Pavlovich graduated from Stroganov Central College of Technical Drawing (now Stroganov Moscow State University of Arts and Industry, informally named Stroganovka). He and his friend Ignaty Nivinsky were both recommended for the gold medal. As there was only one gold medal, the two friends instead were encouraged to travel and teach abroad, and they agreed.
Vikentii Pavlovich continued his painting education in the private school of Zhukovsky and Halyavin, and travelled extensively in Europe.
Career
In 1900 Vikentii Pavlovich started his pedagogical work at his alma mater, then continued as director of one of its branches. From 1903-1905 he worked as a painter and as the director of the domestic department of Sudga Zemstvo (a form of local government). There his first son, Ignaty, was born. Later the family lived in Moscow for several years and Vikentii Pavlovich taught watercolor painting in private school. From 1909-1911 he was headmaster of the Stroganovka branch in Sergiyev Posad.
From 1911 to 1922 the family lived in Voronezh, where Vikentii Pavlovich was headmaster of Kolomenkin Art school, another branch of Stroganovka. At the beginning of the First World War, Nicholas II of Russia visited Voronezh, and Vikentii Pavlovich made a sketch dedicated to this visit. In spite of living in a small town, Vikentii Pavlovich continually took part in many art exhibitions such as All-Russian contests of art trade in Moscow and St. Petersburg from 1900-1916 and was awarded first prizes. In 1918 his painting "Boys Bathers" was sold during the first day of the show in Moscow.
In 1924 the Trofimov family moved to Omsk. Vikentii Pavlovich was a headmaster of the painting branch of Mikhail Vrubel Art School, and additionally, he became a director of the New Siberia branch. In Omsk, he painted such works as "Near the crossing of Irtysh", "Ob River near Belokurikha", "The Spring in Omsk Creek" and others. Among them, he created a number of monumental works in the public houses. In the 1930s the portrait of his young son Lev under the name "Our Relief" was published as a postcard by Association of the Painters of the Revolution.
In 1932 the Trofimov family moved to Moscow. There Vikentii Pavlovich painted on a heroic scale, including the decorated ceiling of the main staircase in the Soviet Army House, decorated ceilings of the White Hall of Mossovet and Shchusev Museum of Architecture, etc.
At the end of the 1930s, the family moved to Zagorsk. There Vikentii Pavlovich took part in the very complex and important restoration works in Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra, together with his son Ignaty who was invited as general director and architecture restorer. Vikentii Trofimov created art reconstructions of the monuments of Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra based on the working drawings made by his son. His reconstructions include "Holy Spirit Church and Trinity Cathedral. Perspective views eastwards"; "Holy Spirit Church. Perspective view south-west"; "Hospital Wards and Church of Zosima and Savvaty. Perspective view south-east"; "Refectory. Perspective view north-east"; "Refectory. The section according to the east-west axis" and others; these were published in the book written by his son.
Vikentii Pavlovich didn't stop his easel painting and constantly took part in art exhibitions. On August 23, 1955, he presented a solo exhibition in Zagorsk Preserve Museum. All his masterpieces were presented, from the earliest works to the latest sketches. The main part of the exhibition consisted of the paintings dedicated to Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra.
Achievements
Vikentii Trofimov brought up a lot of pupils in various fields of easel, monumental and applied paintings as well in art manufacture, and his children were first among his pupils.
In 2007, on the XXIII Antiq Saloon, the art exhibition of Vikentii Trofimov was presented by Shishkin Gallery. Works by Vikentii Trofimov are known and claimed as well abroad. In 2007 Christie's sold one of his early paintings, "The Descent in Voronezh," and in 2008 another of his pictures, "Kazakhs with a horse at a crossing," was sold through Christie's.
In spite of his bright and productive activity, Vikentii Trofimov had no titles and ranks as he was a non-Party man and so had been kept in the background during the Communist period.
Connections
Vikentii Pavlovich married Ignaty's sister Vera, a very talented person with abilities in theatre.
