July 23: Boris Grigoriev, an émigré artist from Rybinsk who painted portraits of Yesenin and Gorky
Boris Grigoriev was born on July 23, 1883, in Rybinsk. An avant-garde artist of the Silver Age, a portraitist, and the author of the acclaimed series of works about the Russian village, "Rasya," he was one of the first émigrés to leave Russia after the Revolution.
Originally from Rybinsk
I'm all yours, I'm Russian and I love only Russia. But there can be no more stepchildren. Either we're sons and need to be petted, or to hell with her mother—the old witch. We'll manage without her.
Grigoriev's father worked as a bank manager. His mother graduated from the University of Lausanne and was of Swedish descent. Boris was born out of wedlock: when he was four years old, his father left his previous wife for his mother. The future artist grew up with four half-brothers and a sister.
The Stroganov School and the Line as the Main Instrument
Grigoriev graduated from the Stroganov School of Art and Design in Moscow, then studied as an auditor at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. There, line was emphasized, and from then on, he considered it his primary working tool. His views were close to the Futurists and Cubists, and he was inspired by the works of Van Gogh, Cézanne, and Picasso.
Paris and the first glory
In 1913, Grigoriev was expelled from the Academy for his innovative approach. He traveled throughout Europe and created several thousand drawings depicting Parisian life—one of the famous series from this period was "Intimacy." He gained fame in Russia after his Parisian works were shown at an exhibition.
Portraitist of Yesenin and Gorky
Grigoriev became one of the most prized and prestigious portrait painters of his time, painting Yesenin, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Chaliapin, Meyerhold, and Roerich. He considered his portrait of Gorky his best work in this genre: it depicts the writer as a puppeteer manipulating the characters in the play "The Lower Depths."
Revolution and an attempt to reach an agreement with the authorities
Grigoriev rejected the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, but in the early years he attempted to collaborate with the Soviet government: he joined the artists' union, published in the magazine "Plamya," decorated Petrograd for the first anniversary of the October Revolution, and taught at his native Stroganov School, which became the Free Art Studios under the new government. According to Blok, his work during those years was "profound and destructive."
"Raseya" is a series about the Russian village
In 1918, Grigoriev published an album containing a series of works entitled "Race" about the Russian village in post-revolutionary Russia. This album was banned until the collapse of the USSR.
People began to open up completely, shamelessly revealing everything human, even the most animalistic. I tried to discern an entire nation—to find its origins, to peer into this racial distance, as if through an open door. It was terrifying, but hatred forced me to act anyway. He who hasn't seen the revolution hasn't seen the people.
The images of peasants in these canvases were strikingly frank. A woman with a wrinkled, tear-stained face stared out from the painting "Village," while the face of the "old woman milkmaid" was frozen in bitterness and sadness. Grigoriev accompanied his paintings with scathing texts and poems, including the poem "Race":
And with a wise line
I'll cut through the boredom of your eyes,
like lightning, like morning,
She will wake you up!
Conflict with the People's Commissariat of Education and flight from Russia
Grigoriev once inadvertently spoke out against the state's monopolization of art at the People's Commissariat of Education. He was accused of counterrevolutionary views and nearly sent to the Red Army.
The situation had worsened so much that crime was everywhere: in looks, in the surrogate colors, in the surrounding chaos, in worn-out clothes, in the behavior of the guards.
In 1919, together with his wife and four-year-old son, Grigoriev secretly crossed the Gulf of Finland in a boat.
Life and recognition in exile
Grigoriev lived in Europe, the United States, and Latin America. In exile, he painted the enormous canvas "Faces of Russia," which was particularly popular with both the artist and the public, earning him the nickname "historian of the Slavic soul."
Now I'm the world's number one master. I make no apologies for these phrases. You have to know who you are, otherwise you won't know what to do. And my life is sacred, a life of superhuman effort and superhuman passion, and my 40 years prove it. I'm not afraid of any competition, any commission, any topic, any scale, or any speed.
He held exhibitions around the world, created book illustrations, illustrated Russian classics, taught at the Russian Academy in Paris, headed the faculty at the New York Academy of Applied Arts, and opened his own private school of painting and drawing. On the Côte d'Azur, Grigoriev built a villa, naming it "Borisella" in honor of his wife, Ella.
Last years
Until the last years of his life, Grigoriev worked intensively, undermining his health. In 1938, he was diagnosed with cancer. He underwent surgery and died at home in 1939 at the age of 52.
