Kulikov Ivan Semenovich, artist - Murom - history - catalog of articles - unconditional love. Ivan Semyonovich Kulikov Russian artist, painter, master of portraits and everyday scenes
Ivan Semyonovich Kulikov(April 1 (13), 1875 Afanasovo village, Murom district - December 15, 1941, Murom) - Russian artist, painter, master of portraits and everyday scenes.
Kulikov was born into a family of peasants in the village of Afanasovo, Murom district, Semyon Loginovich Kulikov and Alexandra Semenovna Savinova. The artist's father was an outstanding specialist in roofing and painting. At the head of a small artel, he took part in the construction and repair of many buildings, churches and houses in the city of Murom.
In 1896, Kulikov entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. His teacher was I.E. Repin, who had a huge influence on him and, in essence, largely shaped Kulikov as a person and as a painter. Ilya Efimovich trusted his beloved student so much that in 1901 he invited him, together with B.M. Kustodiev, to take part in the creation of his grandiose canvas “The Ceremonial Meeting of the State Council on May 7, 1901.” Ivan Semenovich made 17 full-scale portrait sketches, almost the bulk of them.
But the main thing in his work becomes the village - peasant life, way of life, customs, traditions. It was his graduation painting, “Tea Party in a Peasant Hut,” painted in 1902, that brought him the Big Gold Medal and the right to travel abroad.
But foreign trips did not leave a noticeable mark on his work. Kulikov returns to his native Murom and remains here until the end of his life. He works a lot and exhibits a lot in Moscow and St. Petersburg. His paintings - especially portraits - are praised, and his peasant theme receives high praise from the press and specialists. Thus, for “Portrait of a Mother” (1903), Ivan Semenovich was awarded the Big Silver Medal at the International Exhibition in Liege, and for the paintings “On a Holiday” and “With a Lantern in the Garden” he was awarded the Kuindzhi Prize. For a series of paintings about Murom, Kulikov was awarded the title of academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts in 1915.
Extreme accuracy in depicting life and everyday life of the village, brightness of colors, rich style, ability to control color, coloristic freshness, psychological depth of portraits are the main advantages of Kulikov’s works. And, of course, a high professional level, excellent painting skills.
After 1917, Kulikov continued to work on the village theme. Ivan Semenovich always avoided any dramatic, heavy subjects. And he himself was a cheerful, friendly, open person, he loved life and its joys.
Ivan Kulikov Winter evening. 1907
An ancient ceremony of blessing the bride in the city of Murom.
Bride's dress
Kulikov. In a peasant hut
In the boyar's chamber. 1906-1907
Kulikov. In Russian attire, (Portrait of the wife of E.A. Kulikova), 1916.
Wildflowers 1913 (fragment)
Dreamer
Russian girl
Returning from the city. 1914
Happy holiday (Zardela)
"On a holiday" 1906
Forester's family
The girls went for water
Bazaar in Murom. 1907
Bazaar with bagels, 1910.
Fair, 1910
Kulikov. Fair in Murom (1910-1912)
Murom monasteries. 1914
Family at the table.1938
Self-portrait
Russian and Soviet artist, academician of the Imperial Academy of Painting, recognized master of genre painting and portrait painter.
Artist Ivan Semyonovich Kulikov was born in April 1875 in the city of Murom. His parents (Semyon Loginovich Kulikov and Alexandra Semyonovna Savinova) came to the city from the village of Afanasovo, Murom district, in search of a better life. The father of the future artist was a specialist in painting and a good roofer; very soon he created and headed a small artel for the construction and repair of residential buildings, churches, and administrative buildings.
In 1893, Vanya Kulikov, on the recommendation of his drawing and drawing teacher, met the artist A.I. Morozov, who sometimes came to Murom for the summer. It was Morozov who strongly recommended that Ivan’s parents send the young man to St. Petersburg, to the school of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts at the Imperial Academy.
In the fall, Ivan Kulikov goes to the capital and becomes an assistant and student of A.I. Morozov, who prepares the student for admission to the school of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts.
Since 1894, Ivan Semyonovich became a student of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, and two years later he entered the Academy of Arts as a volunteer. In 1898, at the request of I.E. Repin, Kulikov becomes a full-fledged student of the Academy, and takes an active part in the work of I.E. Repin and B.M. Kustodieva over the painting “Meeting of the State Council”, writes illustrations for the works of Maxim Gorky.
In 1902, Ivan Semyonovich graduated from the Academy and presented his competition work “Tea drinking in a peasant hut.” For this painting, the young artist receives a Big Gold Medal and the right to travel abroad at government expense.
From 1903 to 1905, Kulikov lived and worked in Europe, visiting Italy and France.
In 1915, for a series of paintings about his hometown of Murom, the waders artist was awarded the title of academician.
After the revolution, the artist settled in Murom, worked in the local museum, and with great enthusiasm collected paintings, sculptures, objects of applied art, books, and documents from abandoned estates and houses. It was thanks to the efforts of Ivan Semyonovich Kulikov that our culture managed to preserve a huge number of real cultural relics.
The artist died in December 1941 and was buried in the cemetery of his hometown.
Paintings by artist Ivan Semenovich Kulikov
Happy Holidays (Zardela) (1911) 
An ancient ceremony of blessing the bride in the city of Murom (1909) 
In the boyar's chamber (1906-1907) 
Gathering of the Bride (1907) 
On a Winter Evening (1907) 
"Return from the City (1914) 
Girl with a Tues (1912) 
Murom monasteries (1914) 
Fair in Murom (1910-1912) 
Fair (1910) 
Bazaar with bagels (1910) 
Bazaar in Murom (1907) 
Three Maidens (1907) 
Feeding the Chickens (1907) 
On a holiday (1906) 
Portrait of My Mother (1903) 
Italian Women (1905) 
In a peasant hut (1902) 
Portrait of E.N. Chirikova (1904) 
Portrait of a Mother (1896) 
The Carpenter (Egor Tereshkin) (1916) 
Portrait of an Old Believer (Old Man Reading) (1911) 
In Russian attire (1916) 
“Portrait of Andrianov” (1929) 
"International Youth Day" (1929) 
Portrait of T.I. Kulikova (1938) 
Cockfight (1938) 
Pavlovsk handicraftsman (1937) 
Jungsturm (1929) 
Seller of Pavlovsk goods (sobenschik) (1936) 
Sportswoman (1929) 
Family at the Table (1938) Self-Portrait (1896)
(April 1 (13), 1875 - December 15, 1941, Murom) - Russian artist, master of portraits and everyday scenes.
Self-Portrait (1921)
Self-Portrait (1939)
Ivan Semenovich Kulikov was born into a family of peasants in the village of Afanasovo, Murom district, Semyon Loginovich Kulikov and Alexandra Semenovna Savinova. The artist's father was a good roofing and painting craftsman. At the head of a small artel, he took part in the construction and renovation of many buildings, churches and residential buildings in the city of Murom
Portrait of a father. (1898)
Portrait of a Mother (1896)
In his autobiography, written later, he writes that at first he was engaged in painting and drawing at home, without any guidance. His passion was noticed at the district school, where he entered after graduating from primary school, where he received his initial art education. The Murom artistic environment was limited mainly to icon-painting workshops.
In the summer of 1893, on the recommendation of his former district school drawing and painting teacher N.A. Tovtsev, Kulikov met the famous artist A.I. Morozov, who sometimes spent the summer in Murom, where he found subjects for his works. He drew attention to the young man’s abilities and recommended that his parents send him to the school of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts at the Academy in St. Petersburg. Morozov laid the foundations of his skill and helped in his further training.
Alexander Ivanovich Morozov (1835-1904)
In September 1893, Kulikov traveled to Moscow for the first time, visited the Tretyakov Gallery, the Rumyantsev Museum, and got acquainted with the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Already at this time, certain artistic preferences of I.S. Kulikova. In his memoirs, he writes: “I was struck by Repin’s paintings and portraits: “Ivan the Terrible Kills His Son,” “They Didn’t Expect,” Surikov’s paintings, Ivanov’s large painting “The Appearance of Christ to the People,” which at that time was in the Rumyantsev Museum, and There are also Fedotov’s things, which I also admired."
In November 1893 he goes to St. Petersburg. Failure to enter the school of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts again led Kulikov to academician of painting A.I. Morozov, who at that time taught drawing at the St. Petersburg School of Law, simultaneously fulfilling small orders for illustrations, icons, and portraits. He needed an assistant who could stretch and prime the canvases and do underpainting. Having secured the support of his father, Kulikov became Morozov’s assistant, working for him five hours a day, studying a kind of “kitchen” of the artist, his techniques and methods of work, the basic principles of composition and color, which later influenced the development of the artist’s skill.
Alexander Ivanovich Morozov was one of the genre painters of the 60s. And everything that was characteristic of them is also characteristic of his best works. Like many other artists of this time, mass, or, in the words of V.V. Stasov's "choral" scenes depicted a crowd of people, albeit vividly, but externally, in contrast to the Wanderers, who entered a new level of realism, where each folk type was deeply individual.
In January 1894, Ivan Semenovich Kulikov, on the recommendation of Morozov, was accepted into the drawing school of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of Arts, where he stayed for 3 years, and at the same time studied with E.K. von Liphart, who taught painting at the school of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. In the summer of 1894, Kulikov worked as an assistant to the artist E.K. von Liphart.
In the fall of 1896, Kulikov became a volunteer student at the Academy of Arts at the studio of the artist V. E. Makovsky.
But already in November 1896, the artist submitted a request to enter the workshop of I.E. Repin, where he was transferred in November 1896 on the recommendation of E.K. von Liphart. Repin had a huge influence on him; in fact, he largely shaped Kulikov as a person and as a painter.
I. E. Repin. Self-portrait" (1887)
In the spring of 1898, at the request of his teacher, Kulikov became a student at the Academy of Arts. Ilya Efimovich trusted his beloved student so much that in 1901 he invited him, together with B.M. Kustodiev, to take part in the creation of his grandiose canvas “The Ceremonial Meeting of the State Council on May 7, 1901.” Ivan Semenovich made 17 full-scale portrait sketches, almost the bulk of them
I.E. Repin Meeting of the State Council (1903)
Already in his student years, Kulikov was characterized by a desire for genre versatility; the choice of themes was influenced by both the genre workshop of V. Makovsky and the workshop of Repin. This is both a psychological portrait and a genre scene. Subsequently, the range of themes expanded - landscape and still life were added.
Still life with violin.(1890)
The first model. (1896)
Schoolboy. (1897)
The old woman from Nezhilovka (1898)
Old man. (1898)
Peasant Woman with a Saucer (1899)
Merchant's ball. (1899)
Trees by a Pond (1900s)
Girl in a Blue Shawl (1901)
Portrait of Alexander III. State Museum of A.S. Pushkin
In the pedagogical system I.E. Repin included diverse types of work, such as: sketches from life in classrooms, sketches, etc. The daily routine in the workshop was very strict. From 9 a.m. to 12, sketches were written from life, from two to four they were engaged in sketches and sketches, until seven in the evening they worked on sketches, and from seven to eight they made sketches from models
In 1900-1901, Kulikov made about 20 illustrations for Maxim Gorky’s works “Konovalov” and “Twenty Six and One,” which are located in the A. M. Gorky Apartment Museum and the Murom Historical and Art Museum.
Intense work in Repin's workshop, work on a competition painting, on illustrations for the stories of A. M. Gorky - all this led Kulikov to exhaustion of his nervous system. I. E. Repin recommended that Kulikov contact the famous doctor Botkin and the Academy Council with a request for leave to travel to his homeland. In Murom, the artist finds himself surrounded by his relatives and loved ones. From them he makes numerous etudes and sketches, composes the picture and, most importantly, finds the opportunity to paint the entire group for the competition picture, consisting of 7 people, at once. On his native land he regains his strength. His health is quickly restored. He maintains constant contact with St. Petersburg, with his friends, with Ilya Efimovich.
Close ties united the young students of Repin’s workshop. One of the closest friends of I.S. Kulikov from the Higher Art School can, without a doubt, be called B.M. Kustodieva.
Artist P.D. Buchkin in his book (About what is in memory. Leningrad, 1963) writes about the fascination of young people with the Swedish artist Anders Zorn, whose works could be seen at exhibitions: “After the exhibition of the Swedish artist Zorn, young people began to imitate him. A broad stroke, freely sculpting the form, has come into fashion.” On the work of I.S. Kulikov was seriously influenced by the innovative quests of the Swedish artist, his style, and the search for new paths in art.
But Zorn did not remain indifferent to Russian talents. It was he who noticed the work of young I.S. Kulikov, being at the reporting student exhibition in the halls of the Academy of Arts in the fall of 1898 about the work of I.S. Kulikov's "Village Tailors", made by the artist in 1897, he expressed his positive opinion.
Village tailors. (1897)
In November 1902, Kulikov graduated from the Academy of Arts. His competition work “Tea drinking in a peasant hut” (1902) was awarded the Big Gold Medal and gave him the right to be a personal honorary citizen and the right to travel abroad.
Tea drinking in a peasant hut" (1902)
In a peasant hut (option)
In August 1903, Kulikov went abroad as a pensioner. Not every artist who graduated from the Academy of Arts is given such a chance as the Academy of Arts Council grants a trip abroad.
Report for the first year of I.S.’s retirement trip. Kulikov's works were exhibited at the "Spring Exhibition": "Portrait of Evgeniy Nikolaevich Chirikov", "Portrait of My Mother", "Portrait of Mrs. O. Ya.Ya." Here are genre works: “Spinners” (award from the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts); ""Old lady with chickens"", ""Washerman""; several sketches: “The Spinner”; ""Study of a woman's head in the sun"", ""Study of a worker""; several drawings. I.S. Kulikov appealed to the Council of the Academy of Arts with a request to extend his retirement trip to complete his education abroad. According to the resolution of the academic meeting on February 23, 1904, pensioner support was continued for the second year, until January 1, 1905.
Italian women. (1905)
It was at this time that he visited Italy, Germany, France. I.E. Repin strongly recommended that his student get acquainted with the Parisian salons in which I.S. Kulikov was unable to visit in the fall of 1903, during his first retirement trip.
The Council of the Academy dated February 7, 1905, considering it desirable to continue I.S. Kulikov received pension support for another year, decided to submit this for the benefit of the academic meeting. The meeting decided to continue issuing pensioners' allowance to I.S. Kulikov for another year, until January 1, 1906.
Kulikov's paintings receive well-deserved recognition. In 1904, 1912 I.S. Kulikov was awarded prizes at competitions of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. After the departure of I.E. Repin from the Academy of Arts I.S. Kulikov was included in the list of applicants for the vacant position of workshop manager, but in 1908 he refused this offer.
In 1908, students of I.E. Repin are united in the Community of Artists, which, according to the artist I.I. Brodsky, replaces the Union of Artists. Ivan Semenovich joins his friends in the workshop. Since 1909, the artist became one of the active members of the Society named after A.I. Kuindzhi.
The entire creative heritage of Ivan Semenovich Kulikov can be conditionally divided into two main genres, which remained prevalent over all others throughout the master’s work. This is an everyday genre and a portrait. A portrait, in the master’s understanding, is, first of all, the artist’s in-depth interest in the subject being portrayed, in his inner world.
The main feature of the portrait images of I.S. Kulikov is the artist’s even and attentive attitude towards nature. Kindness is not only a characteristic of the artist himself, but also his approach to the model; this is the property that he inherited from his teacher I.E. Repin and carried it through all his work.
During his years at the Academy of Arts, Ivan Semenovich Kulikov painted a portrait of his friend Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev. The portrait was painted in Murom, when Kustodiev was visiting the Kulikovs.
Portrait of Kustodiev (1899, Murom Historical and Art Museum)
Friends often painted portraits of each other.
Kustodiev B.M. Portrait of I.S. Kulikov. (1900s)
Thus, the portrait of I.S. Kulikov brushes B.M. Kustodiev is in the collection of the Vladimir Art Gallery. Kustodiev paints his friend Ivan Semenovich in his usual village setting, with a balalaika in his hands.
Portrait of the artist V.V. Belyashin. (1900 State Vladimir-Suzdal Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve)
Later Kulikov would write another of his Academy comrades, L.V. Popova. At first glance, this portrait is more prosaic. Conservativeness, constraint in everything: both in the compositional solution and in the presentation of the model. Laconism of external details: from a neutral background to a minimum of accessories. But all this helps to reveal the full depth of the image, its psychologism.
Portrait of L.V.Popov.(1900)
In none of Ivan Semenovich’s portraits are there repeated approaches to the model; each portrait has its own methods, its own technical means; that's why they are so diverse. But the greatest success and popularity was brought to Kulikov by his diploma work: “Portrait of the architect V.A. Shchuko" "which was noted by all art critics writing about I.S. Kulikov, as one of the best portraits of the artist.
Portrait of the architect V.A. Shchuko. (1902, State Russian Museum)
After returning from a retirement trip in 1903, I.S. Kulikov creates his painting “Portrait of My Mother,” which was awarded the Grand Silver Medal at the International Exhibition of Fine Arts in Liege in 1905.
Portrait of My Mother (1903)
The portrait was considered a family heirloom, and the proposal to transfer the portrait to the Tretyakov Gallery was rejected.
Portraits and all paintings by I.S. Kulikov are quite static. There is little movement or dynamics in them. But there is an internal energy in them. One of the most dynamic portraits by I.S. Kulikova - portrait of Ekaterina Semyonovna, the artist’s sister, painted in 1911.
Portrait of E.S. Kalinina (1911)
No less dynamic is the portrait of the writer E.N. Chirikov.
Portrait of E.N. Chirikov. (1904)
Living permanently in Murom, the artist does not break away from the creative life of the capital. When traveling to St. Petersburg during opening days, he lives in furnished rooms on Vasilyevsky Island, where many artists lived. He spends his free time in the midst of the creative intelligentsia, artists, writers, and actors who were regulars at the famous Vienna restaurant. In the restaurant "Vienna" I.S. Kulikov meets with writers A.N. Tolstoy, E.N. Chirikov, A.I. Kuprin, S.G. Skitalets (Petrov) and many others. Apparently, this is where the desire to depict the then popular writer E.N. came from. Chirikov. Several versions of the portrait are known, but the portrait executed by Kulikov during the Nizhny Novgorod Fair of 1904 is the most interesting.
I.S. Kulikov was a famous artist at the beginning of the twentieth century, and many art collectors purchased his works for their collections. The artist met Anatoly Leonidovich Durov, a popular circus performer who had amassed an interesting collection in his homeland of Voronezh, in the early 1900s. in St. Petersburg, in the same famous restaurant "Vienna".
A.L. Durov, on one of his visits to Murom, in 1911, where he performed at the famous Murom Fair, ordered his portrait from the artist. The portrait never made it into Durov’s collection, but remained with the artist.
Portrait of A.L. Durov. (1911)
Portrait of S.I. Senkov. (1908)
Nadya Kalinina. (1909)
Portrait of M.O. Menshikov. (1914)
An interesting portrait of archaeologist A.S. Uvarov, which fits into the framework of the psychological portrait.
Portrait of A.S. Uvarov. (1916)
As a master of the everyday genre, I.S. Kulikov became famous for his numerous works, which began in his academic years under the leadership of I.E. Repina. I.E. Repin was very pleased with his student. The works of I.S. Kulikov were awarded prizes by the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. At the All-Russian competition of the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of Arts on February 2, 1903 in household painting, the artist received the A.A. Kraevsky 900 rubles for the painting “Spinners”
The Spinners (1903)
Girls with buckets (Fetching water). (1904, State Russian Museum)
The canvas “The Dreamer” was exhibited at the “Spring Exhibition” in 1906, and then was reproduced in the “Niva” magazine for the same year. "The Dreamer" was exhibited at international exhibitions - in Munich in 1907, and then in the same year in Hamburg.
Dreamer (1905)
In 1906 I.S. Kulikov was awarded first prize at the competition named after A.I. Kuindzhi for such genre works as “On a Holiday” and “With Lanterns in the Garden.”
On a holiday (1906)
With lanterns in the garden. (1906. Murom Historical and Art Museum)
Among the genre compositions of I.S. Kulikov’s work “Feeding the Chickens”, performed by the artist in 1907, is no less interesting.
Feeding the Chickens (1907)
This painting was shown at the 36th exhibition of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions and did not go unnoticed by its teacher I.E. Repin.
Three Maidens (1907)
Old woman Daria from Prudishchi (1908)
The Forester's Family (1909)
Shepherd. (1909)
The Shepherd (1909)
Peasant woman with a rake. (1909)
Portrait of a Peasant Woman (1910s)
Meadow (1911)
Old Man Reading (1911)
Girl with a Tues (1912)
In 1912, the canvas “Bird Cherry” was created, one of the portraits of the artist’s wife E.A. Kulikova, which was also exhibited at exhibitions under the name “Spring”.
Spring. (1912)
Bird cherry. (1912)
At the outskirts
At the outskirts. (1913. State Tretyakov Gallery)
Peasant Woman (1913)
The theme of fairs and bazaars, so popular at the beginning of the century, did not bypass the work of I.S. Kulikova. Goryushkin-Sorokopudov and Kustodiev wrote their own versions on this topic; rich material I.S. Kulikov was given local Murom fairs.
Bazaar in Murom. (1907)
Market at the carousel. (1908)
Bazaar with bagels. (1910)
Fair in Murom (1910-1912)
Fair. (1910)
Painting by I.S. Kulikov's "Bride's Dress", awarded at a competition at the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts and now in the Yaroslavl Art Museum, represents a classic version of the wedding ceremony in Rus'.
Bride's Dress (1907)
Thoughtful (1906)
Winter evening. (1907)
In the boyar's chamber. (1906-1907)
An ancient ceremony of blessing the bride in the city of Murom (1909)<
Happy Holidays (Zardela) (1911)
In Russian attire. (1916. House-Museum of I.S. Kulikov) - portrait of the artist’s wife
The work "Hawthorns in the Garden" - from a series of works about past times, was exhibited by the artist in 1914 in Venice, where it subsequently remained.
Return from the City (1914)
Carpenter (Egor Tereshkin). (1916)
In 1912, the artist was offered to head the Kharkov Art School, but refused the offered position. In October 1915, I.S. Kulikov ran for and received the title of academician of painting for a series of paintings about Murom. His first attempt to become an academician of painting in 1913 failed.
Murom monasteries. (1914)
Nikolo-Zaryadskaya Church. (1916)
Street of old Murom
After 1917, Kulikov continued to work on the village theme. Ivan Semenovich always avoided any dramatic, heavy subjects. And he himself was a cheerful, friendly, open person, he loved life and its joys.
Immediately after the revolution I.S. Kulikov worked mainly on the artistic decoration of the city for revolutionary festivities. In the first years of the revolution, I.S. Kulikov did not create a single significant canvas; for the most part he repeated old themes.
Girls (1918)
Tanya with a cat (1927)
At the beginning of 1919, on behalf of the department of public education I.S. Kulikov headed the commission for selecting works of art from the collection of Countess Uvarova in the village of Karacharovo, located several miles from the city. The beginning of Count Uvarov's collection was laid by his famous ancestors - Razumovsky, Sheremetyev. Over the years, the museum received collections of N.G. Dobrynkin and the academician of painting I.S. Kulikova. Having a large collection of ancient Russian costumes and antique utensils, Ivan Semenovich donated it all, along with his paintings, to his native city. The Murom Historical and Art Museum (MIHM) was opened to visitors in January 1919 and was located in the former house of the Zvorykin merchants.
Murom Historical and Art Museum
In the fall of 1923, I.S. Kulikov continued his work in the museum he created as a researcher in the department of painting and ancient Russian life. At this time he creates sketches of Murom.
The artist, seeking to realize his creative potential, turned to teaching in the post-revolutionary years. He creates a drawing school in Murom and is engaged in teaching.
In 1929, Kulikov painted the famous painting "Athletic Girl". (A. Samokhvalov wrote his “Girl in a T-shirt” four years later.)
Sportswoman. (1929, Murom Historical and Art Museum)
The artist made two copies of the painting, one of which is in the Murom House-Museum of I.S. Kulikov, another repetition - in the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.
Continuing the youth-Komsomol theme, I.S. Kulikov creates the paintings "Jungsturm" (1929) and "International Youth Day".
Jungsturm. (1929, Murom Historical and Art Museum)
International Youth Day. (1929)
Pioneers (1929)
In the 20s and 30s I.S. Kulikov paints portraits of famous fellow countrymen, as well as portraits of leaders of the Soviet state.
Painter M.I.Shamilin. (1929)
Portrait of Andrianov. (1929)
Shock worker Sudakov. (1931)
He also paints landscapes and views of Murom
Harvest. (1930)
Bogland. (1930)
One of the artist’s major works in the late 30s was the design of the suburban halls of the Yaroslavl (Northern) station.
As in pre-revolutionary times, I.S. Kulikov is an active participant in exhibitions. One of the most famous was the exhibition "Petrograd artists of all directions for 5 years (1918-1923)", which was exhibited in 1923 in the halls of the former Academy of Arts. At this first exhibition after the revolution, he exhibited 12 canvases. He also participated in the autumn exhibition of the Association of Artists in 1923.
Takes part in exhibitions of Murom artists.
Participants of the Second Exhibition of Murom Artists. Second from left - I. S. Kulikov.
Photo. 1925
In 1926, Kulikov organized his personal exhibition in Murom, which became a significant phenomenon in the artistic life of the city.
From 1927 to 1930 he was a participant in exhibitions and a member of the Society of Artists named after I.E. Repina.
In 1929, a personal exhibition of works by I.S. Kulikov was organized in Moscow at the House of Scientists, where the artist met with A.M. Gorky.
The artist exhibits his works at foreign exhibitions. In 1929, he showed his work “The Physical Culture Girl” at the “Art and Handicraft Exhibition of the USSR” in Philadelphia. The traveling "Art and Handicraft Exhibition of the USSR" (exhibition-bazaar) was exhibited initially in New York, and then in Philadelphia, Boston and Detroit. It was opened on February 1, 1929 at the Grand Central Palac and was exhibited for five weeks. This is the first exhibition of Soviet art abroad.
Leading an active lifestyle, I.S. Kulikov joined the Union of Artists in 1922 and became an active member of the Gorky branch of the Union of Artists. In 1940, the artist participated in an exhibition of artists from the older generation of the periphery in Moscow, where his works also did not go unnoticed.
Seller of Pavlovsk goods / shopkeeper / (1936, Pavlovsk Historical Museum)
Pavlovsk artisan. (1937)
Cockfighting. Study (1938)
Night buying. (1938)
Peaches. (1938)
At the piano. (1938)
Family at the table. (1938)
Portrait of pilot V.P. Chkalov. (1938)
Portrait of pilot M.M. Matveev. (1940)
The artist’s most recent work can be considered his multi-figure composition “Exit of the Nizhny Novgorod Militia in 1612.” At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War I.S. Kulikov continues to work on the topic, considering it relevant to himself, but unexpected death prevents him from finishing the work.
The artist’s wife was Elizaveta Arkadyevna Kulikova, née Sokolova. The wife of her mother’s brother was the niece of the famous inventor in the field of television V.K. Zvorykin. The families communicated a lot and carried on active correspondence. The image of his wife was captured by Kulikov on the canvases “In Russian Attire”, “At the Outskirts”, “Portrait of E. A. Kulikova”, etc.
Portrait of E.A. Kulikova (1925)
The artist’s only daughter, Tatyana, a teacher of Russian language and literature, married N. A. Bespalov, who later became an artist and Honored Architect of the RSFSR.
Tanya with bows. (1927)
Portrait_T.I. Kulikova (1938)
In 1947, a museum of the artist was opened in the house built by Kulikov’s father, where his family had lived since 1883. In 2007, by decision of local authorities, the museum was closed, all exhibits were transported to the Murom Historical and Art Museum. The house is privately owned by the artist's descendants.
House-Museum of I.S. Kulikova
Ivan Maksimovich KULIKOV (1928), member of the Union of Artists of Russia, teacher at the Penza Art School named after. K. A. Savitsky, Honored Teacher of Russia, celebrates his seventieth birthday with a personal art exhibition.
In 1955, for the first time at the regional exhibition, landscapes of a young artist beginning his career in art appeared. A little later, the color linocuts “On the Sura”, “The Thaw”, “By the Night” were exhibited at the Republican and All-Union exhibitions. Successfully begun creativity is not interrupted throughout life. And today, works full of vitality emerge from his workshop.
The work of Ivan Maksimovich is a wonderful fusion of devotion to the chosen theme once and for all, gained through years of love for the life of his native Penza land and its people.
He was born in the ancient Russian village of Cossack Peletma. On pieces of paper I tried to draw what was so disturbing to my soul. And the boy’s deeply hidden dream of becoming an artist gradually took hold in him. In 1943 he came to Penza and entered art school. His first teachers were famous artists I. S. Goryushkin-Sorokopudov, N. K. Krasnov, M. E. Valukin, M. V. Bunchin. With their cordial and attentive attitude towards the young man, they taught him the ability to see beauty in the simplest things.
Then there were years of study at the graphic department of the Kharkov Art Institute with artists G. A. Bondarenko, V. F. Mironenko, E. L. Egorov. Here, for I.M. Kulikov, much was revealed in the understanding of composition, its rhythm in the expression of feelings. And this was reflected in his diploma work, a series of autolithographs “Native Land”.
The biography of the artist, whose work began in the 60s, reflected the biography of the time, of the entire people. In addition to the adversities and hardships that befell him, in addition to the experience of peasant labor, he carried within himself moral purity and had a civil, demanding attitude towards life.
The artist chose a complex graphic technique - linocut, which requires special diligence, a sense of silhouette, line, clarity of composition and, most importantly, the willpower necessary to complete the work. He knows that a work will live only if it passes through the artist’s soul and is felt to the end.
Before starting to execute the graphic sheet, long preparation is carried out. This is a collection of material, which means trips around the region, numerous sketches from nature, deep compositional searches, where Ivan Maksimovich thinks through and checks everything down to the details.
The main place in the artist’s work is occupied by the landscape. He himself defines his love for nature this way: “Every stone, blade of grass and flower, lake or river, birch grove, tracts of forests and endless fields inspires a person’s soul
true love for one's native place. And you think: how happy and proud you are that you were born and live among this majestic beauty of Russia!”
Almost all the works of I.M. Kulikov, especially such as “Earth” and “Arable land” reveal the author’s attraction to epic landscapes, wide horizons, expanse, which evoke philosophical reflection, a sense of belonging to the earth, and worries about its fate.
Cranes. 1962
The landscape “Cranes” reveals the beauty of the vast expanse of earth and sky. We involuntarily think about each of our own. Here you can especially feel the romantic attitude of the artist, whose works are characterized by beauty and spirituality. The completeness of the figurative solution is an internal necessity for him.
Sometimes an artist searches long and hard for his only correct solution to a particular motif, striving for its utmost expressiveness. It was precisely this kind of expressiveness that he achieved in the sheets “Rye.” “Bread is Ripening.” These are monumental and classical landscapes. The composition is built simply and seamlessly. At the first glance at these works, we feel undivided love for the Motherland until our hearts ache. The same motif can be seen in the sheet “Winter Crops”, where we again see the expanses of the Russian land with fields of winter crops. The author is observant and truthful in conveying the state of nature.
High artistic skill helps the master to put his ideas into a very perfect form, expressed by specific means of graphics. Color plays an important role in the emotional expressiveness of linocuts and autolithographs. Skillfully found color combinations, coupled with black touches, give the sheets a unique expressiveness.
Along with the laconicism that he so strives for, there is a deep poetic content in his works. A wonderful example of this is the linocut “Field”. When you look at her nervously, it seems that you yourself are rolling into the endless distance in this small bus along the road winding between the fields, and admiring the sprawling expanses of your native land.
Almost all landscape paintings are poeticized and demonstrate the ability to convey an amazing state of peace in nature. Take a look at "Winter Evening". The falling pink twilight enveloped small houses, the smoke of their native village and tractors hauling trailers with hay. In the Linocut “Fine Morning”, every detail helps the viewer to feel the very nature of life in the village with its simple everyday life. The same feelings permeate us when looking at the sheet “Native Village, in which the most ordinary life is elevated to poetry. Of course, only a deep attachment to these places helps the author evoke in the viewer lyrical feelings and nostalgic memories of distant childhood. You look at the sheets “Spring Waters, “Spring”, and you involuntarily think: the nature of this land is inexhaustible! Truly, the land of Penza for I.M. Kulikov is a storehouse of themes.
Baikal. 1975
The artist travels a lot around the country, has been to Novorossiysk, the Caucasus, the Urals, and Baikal. And he brought drawings and watercolor sketches from everywhere, conveying the features of those places.
But... this is what the artist himself says: “I have been to many places in Russia, I have seen its beautiful, majestic landscapes, their beauty captured my soul, but after each separation my native land becomes even more dear and closer. I think there are no places more beautiful in nature than the Sursky land.”
In the Lesnovyas region. 1975
Often, to show the multicolored nature of his native land, he turns to watercolors. The artist has a lot of such sheets (watercolors) brought from trips to Penza places: “River Kolyshleika”, “Stozhok”, “Forest Vyass”, “In the floodplain”, “Before the rain”, “Edge of the forest”, “Poim”, “ Autumn".
Autumn. 1996
Infinitely familiar motifs: village houses, very cozy in the greenery of fields, trees and vegetable gardens. But these simple motifs are not quite usually read; they do not lose their vitality, their sweet charm, which flows into the subtle picturesqueness of the surrounding world.
Sunflowers. 1923
Like any other artist, Ivan Maksimovich Kulikov is interested in people. Drawing the village, the expanses of fields, forests, he also draws people who are interesting to him for their destinies. And how good his drawings are! — This is live communication with nature and people. They reveal the high level of the artist’s skill.
Wind. 1992
The work of I. M. Kulikov cannot be considered outside of his teaching activities at the Penza Art School. He instilled in many of his students a love of beauty and art, sharing with them both knowledge and his own experience. “Raising young shoots,” the artist believes, “is a serious matter, and if you don’t work creatively yourself, it’s unlikely that anything will work out. The teacher’s personal example, his active creative work is also the education of a young artist. You have to work hard to stay in shape.” Every summer he goes to his father’s places with their expanse and silence, so understandable to him, well-trodden far and wide.
The works of I.M. Kulikov are, of course, biographical. But at the same time, the most important thing remains the personality of the creator, his understanding of the world. He doesn’t just talk about village life, nature and people, but elevates his story to poetry.
Ivan Maksimovich is always on the move, figuratively and literally. His art is constantly revealed in new works, new impressions come into his life. He is completely in his promised land, among the colors he has loved since childhood, among honest and courageous people.
V. A. BALASHOVA, art critic. 1998
Peasant's Duma. 1965
I am sure that years will pass, but the works of Ivan Maksimovich KULIKOV will forever remain in the annals of Russian realistic art and will serve as an example of a serious attitude towards oneself, one’s chosen profession, and an example of love for one’s Fatherland.
V. P. SAZONOV,
Director of the Penza Art Gallery
Ivan Maksimovich KULIKOV has been doing a lot of public work for many years. provides methodological assistance to general education and art schools in the region, and is one of the leading organizers of exhibitions of children's creativity.
His thoughtful, objective position in evaluating the drawing inspires the child’s soul, instills in him a high sense of patriotism, love and beauty for everything earthly.
I am proud to work together with a recognized master.
Y. V. POLYAKOV.
The oldest Methodologist of the Department of Culture of the Penza Region.
Mushrooms. 1978
The graphics of I. Kulikov, filled with such beauty of Russia, have entered the graphic art of the f*-c public and are enjoying well-deserved success.
From many of the master’s sheets comes the warmth of a heart forever in love with the land of his childhood, in the expanse of the Sursky expanses, in the songfulness of the Penza land, its forests, fields and cities.
Yu. I. NEKHOROSHEV,
artist, art critic. Moscow city.
Oriental. 1993
THEM. KULIKOV is a romantic in his view of the world. The artist’s best works are characterized by a sublime worldview, beauty, spirituality and imagery. In his work he is sincere and remains himself.
L. N. BUYALSKAYA.
It was fate that we studied together during the difficult post-war years at PCU. K.A. Savitsky, and then at the Kharkov Art Institute. Ivan Kulikov skillfully combines his creativity with teaching work. Here in the city of Penza the artist’s talent is growing stronger. He becomes a participant in large art exhibitions.
N. M. SIDOROV.
People's Artist of the Russian Federation I.Penza
AND M. KULIKOV is a knowledgeable, experienced teacher and artist, whose works breathe life’s truth, sincerity and skill.
O. M. SAVOSTYUK,
People's Artist of the USSR, full member of the Academy of Arts, professor at the Moscow Art Institute. IN AND. Surikov.
Moscow June 1997
I always want to stop in front of the works of the artist I.M. Kulikov and read their amazing, kind content.
R. I. LEBEDEV.
Honored Artist of Russia, professor, teacher at the Moscow State Art Institute. IN AND. Surikov."
The works of Ivan Maksimovich KULIKOV show high skill; he is a subtle connoisseur of composition. The master’s works breathe true, filial love for his native places. On his canvases the vast expanses of the fields, the expanses of the Russian land.
Journalist L.Yu. GORYUNOV A.I.M. MANUILOV.
Candidate of Philosophical Sciences. Penza.
My first teacher in drawing and painting during my years of study at the Penza Art School was the artist Ivan Maksimovich KULIKOV. there I became acquainted with his work, which amazes with its sincerity and ability to discover beauty in a simple Russian motif.
His works are filled with lyricism, warmth and love for his native land, for the people who live there.
I really love his works, they are simple and understandable to people.
Ivan Maksimovich Kulikov is a shining example of a worthy combination of creative work and teaching activity.
B. D. BORISOV.
Honored school teacher of the Russian Federation. Penza.
Ivan Semyonovich Kulikov (April 1, 1875, Murom - December 15, 1941, Murom) - an outstanding Russian artist, painter, master of portraits and everyday scenes.
Biography
Kulikov was born in the city of Murom into a family of peasants who came from the village of Afanasovo, Murom district, Semyon Loginovich Kulikov and Alexandra Semenovna Savinova. The artist's father was an outstanding specialist in roofing and painting. At the head of a small artel, he took part in the construction and renovation of many buildings, churches and residential buildings in the city of Murom.
In the summer of 1893, on the recommendation of his former district school drawing and painting teacher N.A. Tovtsev, Kulikov met the artist A.I. Morozov, who sometimes spent the summer in Murom, where he found subjects for his works. He drew attention to the young man’s abilities and recommended that his parents send him to the school of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts at the Academy in St. Petersburg.
In September 1893, Kulikov traveled to Moscow for the first time, visited the Tretyakov Gallery, the Rumyantsev Museum, and got acquainted with the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. In November 1893, he went to St. Petersburg and became an assistant in the workshop of A. I. Morozov, who at that time taught drawing at the St. Petersburg School of Law, simultaneously carrying out small orders for illustrations, icons, and portraits. In 1894, Kulikov was accepted into the school of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. Under the guidance of teachers N.I. Makarov, A.F. Afanasyev, E.K. Lipgart, he masters the basics of graphics, painting, perspective and composition.
In the fall of 1896, Kulikov became a volunteer student at the Academy of Arts at the studio of the artist V. E. Makovsky. However, less than a month later he moved to I.E. Repin.
In the spring of 1898, at the request of his teacher, Kulikov became a student at the Academy of Arts. In 1901-1902, he took part in the work on I. E. Repin’s painting “Meeting of the State Council” together with B. M. Kustodiev. Kulikov made 17 full-scale portrait sketches, almost the bulk of them. In 1900-1901, Kulikov made about 20 illustrations for Maxim Gorky’s works “Konovalov” and “Twenty Six and One,” which are located in the A. M. Gorky Apartment Museum and the Murom Historical and Art Museum.
In November 1902, Kulikov graduated from the Academy of Arts. His competition work “Tea drinking in a peasant hut” (1902) was awarded the Big Gold Medal and gave him the right to be a personal honorary citizen and the right to travel abroad.
From 1903 to 1905, as a pensioner of the Academy of Arts, Kulikov made trips to Italy and France.
in 1905, at the World Exhibition in Liege, for “Portrait of a Mother” (1903), Kulikov was awarded the Great Silver Medal, and for the paintings “On a Holiday” (1906) and “With Lanterns in the Garden” (1906) he was awarded the Kuindzhi Prize. In 1915, for a series of paintings about Murom, Kulikov was awarded the title of academician of painting.
Since 1919, Kulikov worked at the Murom Museum, now one of the most significant in the Vladimir region. For a long time, Kulikov headed the art department. Ivan Semyonovich energetically collected paintings, drawings, sculptures, objects of applied art, archival documents, books, and historical relics from abandoned palaces and noble estates doomed to plunder and destruction. It is to him that our culture owes the salvation of the unique collections of Counts Uvarov in Karacharovo.
Over the years, among other works, Kulikov painted portraits of: pilot V. P. Chkalov (1940), writer Maxim Gorky (1939), artist A. L. Durov (1911), archaeologist A. S. Uvarov.
In 1947, in the house built by Kulikov’s father, where his family had lived since 1885, the artist’s memorial House-Museum was opened. In 2007, by decision of local authorities, the museum was closed, all exhibits were transported to the Murom Historical and Art Museum. The house is privately owned by the artist's descendants.
Returning from the city. 1914
Pavlovsk artisan. 1937
Portrait of Alexander III
International Youth Day. 1929
Self-portrait. 1896
Old man. 1898
Peasant woman with a saucer. 1899
E.N. Chirikov, 1904
I thought about it. 1906
Italian women. 1905
dreamer.
Russian girl.
On a holiday, 1906.
"Fair in Murom" (1912)
Spring. 1912
| Jungsturm. 1929 | |
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Girls. 1918
At the piano. 1938
Merchant's ball. 1899
Murom monasteries. 1914
V.P. Chkalov, 1940
M. Gorky, 1939
The largest and most famous group portrait in the Russian Museum, “The Ceremonial Meeting of the State Council on May 7, 1901,” was created by the great Russian artist I. Repin together with his “most significant students B. Kustodiev and I. Kulikov,” wrote the outstanding art critic V. Stasov . But the artist is famous not only for this work.
Even at the Murom Zemstvo School, the art teacher advised young Ivan to truly study art. However, the 14-year-old teenager, having graduated from college, had to help his father with painting work. But he still had the desire to learn. And thanks to a happy occasion, he prepared and entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts.
“I entered this building with trepidation,” wrote Ivan Semyonovich, already a mature artist, in his autobiography.
In 1898, at an exhibition of student works, Academy professor I. Repin liked Kulikov’s sketches, and Ilya Efimovich invited him to study in his workshop. It was a great honor.
On the recommendation of Repin in 1900-1903. For the publishing house "Znanie" Kulikov performed a number of illustrations for the story "Konovalov" and the poem "Twenty Six and One". So he became one of the first illustrators of the works of Maxim Gorky. The artist found types of Gorky tramps among the tramps of his native Murom. He drew them from life. These sketches are interesting as documentary material on the history of the pre-revolutionary city.
Preparatory work on the diploma painting “Tea drinking in a peasant hut” also took place in Murom. This topic was well known to the artist since childhood. He lived for a long time in his grandfather’s house in the village of Afanasovo. The diplomat depicted a friendly peasant family seated around a table near a samovar. Everyone is united by gestures and glances. The picture is multicolored and joyful.
Repin admired her. The canvas was also noted by official criticism. Kulikov received a diploma from the Academy of Arts and a gold medal “For excellent knowledge of painting and scientific subjects,” as well as a trip abroad at public expense to study the art of different European countries.
The artist worked a lot. In Murom, he painted the painting “Spinners,” which received a prize from the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, as well as “Portrait of a Mother,” for which he was awarded a large silver medal at the world exhibition. His “Girl at the Spinning Wheel” is also called a masterpiece. The painting talentedly depicts a barefoot peasant girl in a simple Russian folk colorful dress.
A significant event in the life of the realist artist was his active participation in the 36th exhibition of the Association of Itinerants in 1908. He presented eight works for it.
Ilya Repin highly valued the creative abilities of his favorite student. And when Ivan Semyonovich was offered the position of professor at the Academy of Arts, I. Repin gave him advice: “Don’t strive to be a professor. You are a true artist... Your works breathe freshness and health.”
And Kulikov remained to live and work in Murom. He, like B. Kustodiev, created a large gallery of works on the themes of folk festivals, fairs and bazaars. The Murom fairs glorified in songs provided rich material. “It was noisy, fun and elegant,” the artist wrote about them in his memoirs, “merchants came with goods from Kasimov, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod and other places... And the city was filled with people for two summer weeks.”
In terms of the complexity of the compositions and the abundance of characters, his two large paintings “Fair” (1910) and “Fair in Murom” (1912) are especially interesting.
The artist's fame became more and more noticeable every year. And in 1915 he was awarded the highest title - academician of painting.
After the revolution, Ivan Kulikov's talent was unclaimed. His “Hawthorns”, “Fairs”, “Spinners” were no longer needed by anyone. And he himself, the “royal academician,” also became of no use to anyone. Communication with St. Petersburg and Moscow ceased. The money in the bank, with which he planned to build a workshop, “burst.” He could not escape abroad as a truly Russian person, and he did not try. The artist fell into despair. I was brought back to an active life by teaching drawing and painting at teacher courses and in the art studio. With pleasure, Ivan Semenovich took up the organization of the city Art Museum. He became its founder, first director and researcher. The basis was made up of works of art stored in the Karacharovsky mansion of Countess Uvarova and other Murom collections. Now the artist lived among the paintings of great masters, whose works he had seen in the Hermitage and various European museums. As in his youth, he again began to study the great Italians Tiepolo and Dosso-Dossi, the Flemings and the Dutch. He was also interested in the works of Russian old masters.
For ten long years Kulikov did not create anything significant. The formation of the Society of Artists named after I. Repin caused him a creative upsurge. They exhibited paintings on youth themes.
In the thirties, the artist painted more than two hundred works for the museum in Pavlovo-on-Oka. His talent did not wane with age. In 1940, I. Kulikov began work on the largest and most meaningful painting, “Exit of the Nizhny Novgorod Militia in 1612.” The Great Patriotic War began. The work on the historical painting acquired a military-patriotic character. But in December 1941, the artist died unexpectedly. The picture remained in sketches and drawings.
Kulikov dedicated his talent to the lives of ordinary people. More than 500 of his works were exhibited at numerous exhibitions in Russia and other countries. His paintings adorn 60 museums around the world. They are also in Vladimir. And, of course, in his house-museum and historical and artistic museum, which he himself founded.
In Russian attire, (Portrait of the wife of E.A. Kulikova), 1916.
Self-portrait of Kulikov Ivan Semenovich 1928
Family at the table.1938
Portrait of a Father, 1898
Kulikov. Portrait of My Mother (1903)
Portrait of E.A. Kulikova, 1925
Nadya (Portrait of a Sister), 1909
With lanterns in the garden, 1906
Portrait of a daughter, 1927
ALBINA ANUCHKINA, DIRECTOR, MUROM HISTORICAL AND ART MUSEUM:“Ivan Semenovich is one of the first employees of the museum. The man who donated his collections, ethnographic, everyday paintings, to our museum. This is a tribute to the memory of the great artist, master, the first museum worker of Murom.”
Here at the exhibition is a collection of decorative and applied art collected by Ivan Kulikov. The master needed all this for his work and detailed drawing. Painting is his life's work.
OLGA SUKHOVA, EMPLOYEE OF THE SCIENTIFIC AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT OF THE MUROM MUSEUM:“In the region, this is the only academician of painting who was awarded the title of academician of painting even before the revolution, before the October Revolution. This is a student of Repin, a friend of Kustodiev.”