Born into a merchant family
Alexei Kondratievich Savrasov was born on May 24, 1830, in Moscow. His father, Kondraty Sovrasov, was a third-guild merchant and a seller of sewing notions. From an early age Alexei showed a talent for drawing, making copies of pictures from magazines and selling them profitably through traders on Nikolskaya Street near the Ilyinsky Gates.
Went against his father's will and chose a career as an artist
His father hoped to involve his son in trade, but Savrasov entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in the class of landscape painter Karl Rabus — a classmate of Karl Bryullov. Soon Savrasov had to leave the school, which researchers link to his mother's illness and death and his father's pressure. His father cut off his support and moved him into an unheated attic, and the family drama became a scandal of metropolitan proportions. Only thanks to the intervention of the Moscow chief of police, General Ivan Dmitrievich Luzhin, was Savrasov able to continue his studies.
Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Photo from the late 19th century.
He was called "the hope of Russian art"
Savrasov is considered the founder of the lyrical landscape. For the paintings "View in the Surroundings of Oranienbaum" and "Seashore in the Surroundings of Oranienbaum", painted at the residence of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, Savrasov received the title of academician at the age of 24. The artist could have remained in Saint Petersburg and enjoyed the powerful patronage of the grand duchess, who headed the Academy of Arts, but he chose to return to Moscow. In 1858 Pavel Tretyakov acquired "View in the Surroundings of Oranienbaum" for the Tretyakov Gallery collection. In the same years the artist changed his surname from "Sovrasov" to "Savrasov".
Alexei Savrasov. View in the Surroundings of Oranienbaum. 1854.
Was a talented teacher
Savrasov was a talented and energetic teacher. Just a few years after graduating from the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, he returned to the institution as a teacher, forming and heading a new class of landscape painting. The artist trained a star-studded generation of Russian painters — his students included Levitan, Korovin, Kamenev and Nesterov.
Alexei Savrasov. The Rooks Have Returned. 1870.
Traveled around Europe
Savrasov's name is traditionally associated with Russian landscapes: his most famous painting is the 1870 spring landscape "The Rooks Have Returned." However, the painter created many other equally poetic and poignant landscapes. Savrasov was one of the co-founders of the Peredvizhniki (the Itinerants), attended the World's Fair in London, visited France, Germany and Switzerland, and created a series of Alpine landscapes.
Alexei Savrasov. View in the Swiss Alps. 1862.
Together with Vasily Pukirev he developed a drawing textbook
Savrasov and Vasily Pukirev worked on creating a drawing textbook for students of the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. In it the authors described in detail techniques for depicting peasant huts and villages necessary for creating Russian landscapes. Students used the textbook "Course of Drawing" until 1917.
Was a close friend of the artist Vasily Perov
Vasily Perov was one of the closest friends and like-minded colleagues of Alexei Savrasov. They communicated and worked closely together: teaching at the School, collaborating in the Society, and sometimes even working together on paintings. Some accounts say that Savrasov painted landscape studies for Perov's famous paintings "The Birdcatcher" and "Hunters at Rest", and that Perov, at Savrasov's request, made corrections to his "Pechersky Monastery near Nizhny Novgorod".
Portrait of Alexei Savrasov by Vasily Perov. 1878.
Was married twice
Savrasov's first wife was Sofya Gertz — the sister of Konstantin Gertz, a close friend of the artist. Sofya was four years older than her husband. Five children were born in the marriage, but only two daughters survived. Savrasov's second, unofficial wife was Evdokia Morgunova. He had a son and a daughter with her.
Sofya Gertz, Savrasov's first wife
Ekaterina Morgunova, Savrasov's unofficial wife
The artist was ruined by an addiction to alcohol
The last decades of Savrasov's life were overshadowed by poverty, lack of recognition, the tragic loss of children, and a worsening dependence on alcohol. All these circumstances drove the artist to the brink: he lost his job and family, lived with friends, and earned money by selling copies of his own paintings. Attempts to overcome alcoholism were unsuccessful. Alexei Savrasov died in 1897 in a Moscow hospital for the poor and was buried in the Vagankovo Cemetery.
Alexei Savrasov in his later years
Alexei Savrasov's name is immortalized in Russian culture
Streets in Moscow, Aprelevka, Nizhny Novgorod and Voronezh are named in memory of the artist. In 1956 the USSR issued a postage stamp dedicated to Savrasov. The artist's works can be seen at the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, the Astrakhan Art Gallery named after P. M. Dogadin, and other museums.
Commemorative 1956 USSR postage stamp issued in honor of the 125th anniversary of the birth of Alexei Kondratievich Savrasov
