What style did Benoit work in? Brief biography of Alexander Nikolaevich Benois. Last years of life

Alexander Nikolaevich Benois (April 21 (May 3) 1870, St. Petersburg - February 9, 1960, Paris) - Russian artist, art historian, art critic, founder and chief ideologist of the World of Art association.

Biography of Alexander Benois

Alexander Benois was born on April 21 (May 3), 1870 in St. Petersburg, into a family Russian architect Nikolai Leontievich Benois and Camilla Albertovna Benois (née Kavos).

Graduated from the prestigious 2nd St. Petersburg Gymnasium. He studied for some time at the Academy of Arts, and also studied fine arts independently and under the guidance of his older brother Albert.

In 1894, he began his career as a theorist and art historian, writing a chapter on Russian artists for the German collection “History paintings of the 19th century century."

In 1896-1898 and 1905-1907 he worked in France.

Creativity of Benoit

Became one of the organizers and ideologists artistic association"World of Art", founded the magazine of the same name.

In 1916-1918, the artist created illustrations for A. S. Pushkin’s poem “The Bronze Horseman”. In 1918

Benois headed the Hermitage Picture Gallery and published its new catalogue. Continued to work as a bookstore and theater artist, in particular, he worked on the design of BDT performances.

In 1925 he took part in the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and industrial arts in Paris.

In 1926, Benoit left the USSR without returning from a foreign business trip. Lived in Paris, worked mainly on sketches theatrical scenery and suits.

Alexander Benois played a significant role in the productions of S. Diaghilev’s ballet enterprise “Ballets Russes”, as an artist and author - director of performances.

Benoit began his creative activity as a landscape painter and throughout his life he painted landscapes, mainly watercolors. They make up almost half of his legacy. Benoit's very turn to landscape was dictated by his interest in history. Two topics invariably attracted his attention: “Petersburg XVIII - early XIX V." and "France of Louis XIV".

The earliest retrospective works by Benois associated with his work at Versailles. From 1897-1898 there is a series of small paintings made in watercolor and gouache and combined common theme — « Last walks Louis XIV." This is a typical example of Benoit's work. historical reconstruction past artist, inspired by living impressions of the Versailles parks with their sculpture and architecture; but at the same time the results of a scrupulous study of the old French art, especially engravings of the 17th-18th centuries. The famous “Notes” of Duke Louis de Saint-Simon were given to the artist plot outline"The Last Walks of Louis XIV" and, together with Other Memoirs and literary sources, introduced Benoit into the atmosphere of the era.

One of his highest achievements was the scenery for I. F. Stravinsky’s ballet “Petrushka” (1911); This ballet was created based on the idea of Benois himself and the libretto he wrote. Soon after, the artist’s collaboration with the Moscow Art Theater began, where he successfully designed two performances based on the plays of J.-B. Moliere (1913) and for some time even participated in the management of the theater along with K. S. Stanislavsky and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko.

Artist's works

Cemetery
Carnival on Fontanka
Summer garden under Peter the Great
Rey embankment in Basel in the rain
Oranienbaum. Japanese garden
Versailles. Trianon Garden
Versailles. Alley
From the world of fantasy
Parade under Paul 1

Italian comedy. "Love Note"
Bertha (costume design by V. Komissarzhevskaya)
Evening
Petrushka (costume design for Stravinsky's ballet "Petrushka")
Herman in front of the countess’s windows (screen saver for Pushkin’s “The Queen of Spades”)
Illustration for Pushkin’s poem “The Bronze Horseman”
From the series “The Last Walks of Louis 14th”
Masquerade under Louis 14
Marquise's bath
Wedding walk
Peterhof. Flower beds under the Grand Palace
Peterhof. Lower fountain at the Cascade
Peterhof. Grand Cascade
Peterhof. Main fountain
Pavilion

And indeed, it is not easy to determine who this brilliant man was: the range of interests of Alexandre Benois is very wide. He is also an artist who works easel painting, graphic artist and decorator.

Childhood
Alexander Nikolaevich Benois was born on May 3, 1870 in St. Petersburg, a city for which he had a “tender and deep feeling” throughout his life. And to the cult hometown its surroundings were also included - Oranienbaum, Pavlovsk and most importantly - Peterhof. Later in his memoirs, Benoit will write: “My romance of life began in Peterhof” - for the first time he came to this “fairy-tale place” when he was not even a month old, and it was there that he first began to “become aware” of his surroundings.
A very special atmosphere reigned in the house where little Shura grew up. Since childhood, Benoit was surrounded by talented extraordinary people. His father Nikolai Leontyevich and brother Leonty were “brilliant masters of architecture,” both graduated from the Academy of Arts with a gold medal, which, according to Benois himself, was “a rare case in the life of the Academy.” Both were "virtuosos of drawing and brushwork." They populated their drawings with hundreds of human figures, and they could be admired like paintings.
Father Benoit participated in the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow and Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. His most ambitious project is considered to be the court stables in Peterhof. Brother Leonty later took the position of rector of the Academy of Arts. Another brother, Albert, painted wonderful watercolors that sold like hot cakes in the 1880s and 1890s. Even the imperial couple attended exhibitions of his paintings, he was made chairman of the Watercolor Society, and at the Academy he was given the opportunity to teach a watercolor class.
Benoit began drawing almost from the cradle. Family legend preserved
that, having received a pencil in his hands at the age of eighteen months, future artist grabbed it with his fingers exactly as was considered correct. Parents, brothers and sisters admired everything that their little Shura did, and always praised him. In the end, at the age of five, Benoit tried to make a copy of the Bolsen Mass and felt shame and even a kind of resentment towards Raphael for not being able to do it.
In addition to Raphael - in front of copies of huge canvases in the Academy hall the boy was literally numb - little Benoit had two more serious hobbies: his father’s travel albums, in which landscapes alternated with sketches of dashing military men, sailors, gondoliers, monks of various orders, and, without doubts - theater. As for the former, looking at “daddy’s albums” was a great holiday for both the boy and the father. Nikolai Leontievich accompanied each page with comments, and his son knew his stories in every detail. As for the second, then, according to Benois himself, it was “passion for the theater” that almost played a role vital role in its further development.
Education
In 1877, Camilla Albertovna, Benoit’s mother, seriously thought about her son’s education. But it must be said that by the age of seven, this family pet still could not read or write. Later, Benoit recalled the attempts of his loved ones to teach him the alphabet: about “folding cubes” with pictures and letters. He put pictures together eagerly, but the letters only irritated him, and the boy could not understand why M and A, placed side by side, formed the syllable “MA.”
Finally the boy was sent to kindergarten. As in any exemplary school, there, in addition to other subjects, they also taught drawing, taught by the Itinerant artist Lemokh.
However, as Benoit himself recalls, he did not gain any benefit from these lessons. Already as a teenager, Benoit met Lemokh more than once in the house of his brother Albert and even received former teacher flattering reviews addressed to you. “You should seriously take up drawing, you have noticeable talent,” Lemokh said.
Of all educational institutions which Benois visited, it is worth noting the private gymnasium of K. I. May (1885-1890s), where he met the people who later formed the backbone of the “World of Art”. If we talk about artistic vocational training, then Benoit did not receive a so-called academic education. In 1887, while still a seventh-grader at the high school, he attended evening classes at the Academy of Arts for four months. Disillusioned with teaching methods - teaching seems institutional and boring to him - Benoit begins to paint on his own. He takes watercolor lessons from his older brother Albert, studies literature on art history, and later copies paintings by old Dutchmen in the Hermitage. After graduating from high school, Benoit entered the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. In the 1890s he began to paint.

Oranienbaum

The painting “Oranienbaum” became one of the first works of the “Russian series” - everything here breathes calmness and simplicity, but at the same time the canvas attracts the eye.
For the first time, Benoit's works were presented to the public in 1893 at the exhibition of the Russian Society of Watercolor Painters, the chairman of which was his older brother Albert.
In 1890, Benoit's parents, wanting to reward their son for successfully completing high school, gave him the opportunity to travel around Europe.
From his travels, Benoit brought back more than a hundred photographs of paintings acquired in Berlin, Nuremberg, and Heidelberg museums. He pasted his treasures into large-format albums, and subsequently Somov, Nouvel and Bakst, Lanceray, Filosofov and Diaghilev studied from these photographs.
After graduating from university in 1894, Benoit
park" - then they leave the hands of the collector and for a long time are kept in private collections.

Versailles series

Inspired by a trip to France, Benoit created a series of watercolors in 1896-1898: “At the Pool of Ceres”, “Versailles”, “The King Walks in Any Weather”, “Masquerade under Louis XIV” and others.
makes several more trips abroad. He travels again in Germany and also visits Italy and France. In 1895-1896, the artist’s paintings regularly appeared at exhibitions of the Watercolor Society.
M. Tretyakov acquires three paintings for his gallery: “Vegetable Garden”, “Cemetery” and “Castle”. However best works Benois - paintings from the series “Walks of King Louis XIV at Versailles”, “Walk in the Garden of Versailles”.
From the autumn of 1905 to the spring of 1906, Benoit lived in Versailles and could observe the park in any weather and in different times days. This period includes full-scale oil studies - small cardboards or tablets on which Benoit painted this or that corner of the park. Made on the basis of sketches from life in watercolor and gouache, this painting by Benoit is stylistically fundamentally different from the fantasies of the early Versailles cycle. Their colors are richer, landscape motifs are more varied, compositions are bolder.
"Versailles. Greenhouse"
Paintings from the “Versailles series” were exhibited in Paris at the famous exhibition of Russian art, as well as in St. Petersburg and Moscow at exhibitions of the Union of Russian Artists. Critical reviews were not flattering; in particular, they noted the overuse of French Rococo motifs, the lack of novelty of themes and polemical sharpness.

Love for St. Petersburg
The artist turns to the image of his beloved city throughout most of his life. creative path. In the early 1900s, Benoit created a series watercolor drawings, dedicated to the suburbs of the capital, as well as old St. Petersburg. These sketches were made for the Community of St. Eugenia of the Red Cross and published as postcards. Benoit himself was part of editorial commission communities and advocated that postcards, in addition to charitable purposes, serve cultural and educational purposes.
Contemporaries called community postcards art encyclopedia era. Since 1907, postcards have been issued in quantities of up to 10 thousand copies, and the most successful ones have gone through several reprints.
Benoit returned to the image of St. Petersburg again in the second half of the 1900s. And again the artist paints pictures of historical themes close to his heart, including “Parade under Paul I”, “Peter I on a walk in the Summer Garden” and others.

The composition is a kind of historical dramatization, conveying a direct feeling of a bygone era. Like a performance in a puppet theater, the action unfolds - a march of soldiers in Prussian-style uniforms in front of St. Michael's Castle and Constable Square. The appearance of the emperor echoes the figure of a bronze horseman, which is visible against the background of the wall of the unfinished castle.
And the background of their creation is as follows. In the early 1900s, Russian book publisher Joseph Nikolaevich Knebel came up with an idea to publish the brochures “Pictures of Russian History” as a school textbook. Knebel relies on high printing quality of reproductions
(by the way, their size practically corresponded to the originals) and attracts the best to work contemporary artists, including Benoit.

Benoit will turn more than once in his work to the image of St. Petersburg and its suburbs. We also see him in the painting “Peter on a Walk in the Summer Garden,” where Peter, surrounded by his retinue, walks through this wonderful corner of the city he built. St. Petersburg streets and houses will appear in illustrations to the works of A. Pushkin, and “St. Petersburg Versailles” will appear on canvases painted during the emigration period, including “Peterhof. Main fountain" and "Peterhof. The lower fountain at the cascade."

On this canvas, the artist masterfully depicted the grandeur of the Peterhof fountains and the beauty of the park sculptures. Mesmerizing jets flowing into different sides water and a wonderful summer day is captivating - everything around seems to be penetrated by the rays of the invisible sun.

The artist painted his landscape from this point, correctly defining its composition and focusing on the image of the Lower Park in inextricable connection with the bay, which is perceived as a continuation of the entire ensemble.
“Peterhof is a Russian Versailles”, “Peter wanted to arrange a semblance of Versailles” - these phrases were constantly heard at that time.
HARLEQUIN

One cannot ignore another character to whom Benoit repeatedly turns in the 1900s. This is Harlequin.
I would like to note that commedia dell'arte masks are typical images works of art beginning of the twentieth century. If we talk about
Benoit, then between 1901 and 1906 he created several paintings with similar characters. In the paintings, a performance is played out in front of the viewer: the main masks are frozen on the stage in plastic poses, and secondary characters peek out from behind the scenes.
Perhaps the appeal to masks is not only a tribute to the times, since the performances with the participation of Harlequin, which Benoit had a chance to see in the mid-1870s, can be considered one of his most vivid childhood impressions.

BENOIT IN THE THEATER
In the first decade of the twentieth century Benoit manages to make his childhood dream come true: he becomes a theater artist. However, he himself jokingly attributes the beginning of his theatrical activities by 1878.

Returning to the 1900s, it is worth noting that the artist’s first work in the theatrical field was a sketch for A. S. Taneyev’s opera “Cupid’s Revenge.” Although the truly first opera for which Benois created set designs, his true theatrical debut, should be considered Wagner’s “Twilight of the Gods.” Its premiere, which took place in 1903 on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater, received a standing ovation from the audience.
Benois’s first ballet is rightfully considered “Armide’s Pavilion,” although several years earlier he worked on set designs for Delibes’ one-act ballet “Sylvia,” which was never staged. And here it is worth returning to another childhood hobby of the artist - his balletomania.
According to Benoit, it all started with improvisations by his brother Albert. As soon as the twelve-year-old boy heard the cheerful and sonorous chords coming from Albert’s room, he was unable to resist their call.
BALLETOMANIA AND DIAGILEV'S SEASONS

Fair". Set design for I. Stravinsky's ballet “Petrushka”. 1911
Paper, watercolor, gouache. 83.4×60 cm. Museum of the State Academic Bolshoi Theater, Moscow

The artist suggests writing music for the ballet to his niece’s husband N. Cherepnin, a student of Rimsky-Korsakov. Also in 1903, the score for the three-act ballet was completed, and soon the Armida Pavilion was offered to the Mariinsky Theater. However, its production never took place. In 1906, the aspiring choreographer M. Fokine heard a suite from the ballet and at the beginning of 1907, based on it, he staged a one-act educational performance called “The Living Tapestry,” in which Nijinsky plays the role of the slave Armida. Benoit is invited to a ballet rehearsal, and he is literally stunned by the spectacle.
Soon it was decided to stage “Armida’s Pavilion” on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater, but in a new version - one act with three scenes - and with Anna Pavlova in leading role. The premiere, held on November 25, 1907, is a huge success, and the ballet soloists, including Pavlova and Nijinsky, as well as Benois and Tcherepnin, are called to the stage for an encore.
Benois not only writes the libretto, but also creates sketches of the scenery and costumes for the production of The Armida Pavilion. The artist and choreographer never tire of admiring each other.
We can say that the history of Diaghilev’s “Russian Ballet Seasons” begins with the Armida Pavilion.
After the triumphant success of M. Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov, shown in Paris in 1908, Benois invited Diaghilev to include him in the next season ballet performances. The premiere of The Armida Pavilion, held on May 19, 1909, at the Chatelet Theater stunning success. The Parisians were amazed both by the luxury of the costumes and decorations, and by the art of the dancers. Thus, in the capital's newspapers on May 20, Vaslav Nijinsky was called a “floating angel” and “god of dance.”
In the future for " Russian seasons» Benois designs the ballets La Sylphide, Giselle, Petrushka, and The Nightingale. From 1913 until his emigration, the artist worked in various theaters, including the Moscow Art Theater (he designed two performances based on Moliere’s plays), in Academic Theater opera and ballet (“ Queen of Spades"P.I. Tchaikovsky). After emigrating to France, the artist collaborates with European theaters, including the Grand Opera, Covent Garden, La Scala.
"Fair" and "Arap's Room".
Sketches of the scenery for Igor Stravinsky's opera "Petrushka"
Sketches of the scenery for Igor Stravinsky's ballet "Petrushka" are considered one of highest achievements Benois as a theater artist. They feel close expressive means popular print and folk toys. In addition to the scenery, the artist creates sketches of costumes for the ballet - while carefully studying historical material - and also takes part in writing the libretto.
BOOK GRAPHICS

Sketch of illustration for " To the Bronze Horseman» A. S. Pushkin. 1916 Paper, ink, brush, whitewash, charcoal.
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

An important place in the work of Benoit, as well as other masters of the World of Art, is occupied by book graphics. His debut in the field of books is an illustration for “The Queen of Spades”, prepared for the three-volume anniversary edition of A. Pushkin. It was followed by illustrations for “The Golden Pot” by E. T. A. Hoffmann, “The ABC in Pictures”.
It must be said that the Pushkin theme is dominant in Benoit’s work as a book graphic artist. The artist has been turning to Pushkin’s works for more than 20 years. In 1904, and then in 1919, Benoit completed drawings for “ The captain's daughter" In 1905 and 1911, the artist’s attention was again focused on the “Queen of Spades”. But of course, the most significant of Pushkin’s works for Benoit is “The Bronze Horseman”.
The artist completed several cycles of illustrations for Pushkin’s poem. In 1899-1904, Benoit created the first cycle, consisting of 32 drawings (including headpieces and endings). In 1905, while in Versailles, he re-drew six illustrations and completed the frontispiece. In 1916, he began work on the third cycle, essentially reworking the drawings of 1905, leaving only the frontispiece intact. In 1921-1922 he created a number of illustrations that complemented the 1916 cycle.
It should be noted that from the drawings made in ink, prints were made in the printing house, which Benoit painted with watercolors. Then the prints were again sent to the printing house, and cliches were made from them for color printing.
The illustrations of the first cycle were published by Sergei Diaghilev in the 1904 issue of World of Art, although they were originally intended for the Society of Lovers of Fine Editions. The second cycle was never printed in its entirety; individual illustrations were featured in various publications in 1909 and 1912. The illustrations of the last cycle, included in the 1923 edition of The Bronze Horseman, became classics of book graphics.
in the German Settlement" Mons, the daughter of a German winemaker. The painter created his work based on descriptions found in the archives of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. It is known for certain that famous courtesan was very disliked in Moscow, considering her the reason for the exile of Queen Evdokia and Peter’s quarrel with Tsarevich Alexei, who was subsequently executed. Based on the name of the German settlement (Kukuyu), she received the odious nickname - the Kukui Queen.
EMIGRATION
The post-revolutionary years were a difficult period for Benoit. Hunger, cold, devastation - all this does not correspond to his ideas about life. After the arrest of his older brothers Leonty and Mikhail in 1921, fear settled firmly in the artist’s soul. At night, Benoit cannot sleep, he constantly listens to the creaking of the latch on the gate, to the sound of footsteps in the yard, and it seems to him that the Arkharovites are about to appear: they are heading to the floor. The only outlet at this time was work at the Hermitage - in 1918, Benois was elected head of the Art Gallery.
In the early 1920s, he repeatedly thought about emigration. Finally, in 1926, the choice was made, and Benoit, having gone on a business trip from the Hermitage to Paris, never returned to Russia.

Marquise's bath. 1906 Paper on cardboard, gouache. 51 x 47 cm. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Self-portrait 1896 (paper, ink, pen)

Biography of Alexander Benois

Benoit Alexander Nikolaevich(1870-1960) graphic artist, painter, theater artist, publisher, writer, one of the authors of the modern image of the book. Representative of Russian Art Nouveau.

A. N. Benois was born into the family of a famous architect and grew up in an atmosphere of reverence for art, however art education didn't receive it. He studied at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University (1890-94), but at the same time independently studied the history of art and was engaged in drawing and painting (mainly watercolors). He did this so thoroughly that he was able to write a chapter on Russian art for the third volume of “The History of Painting in the 19th Century” by R. Muter, published in 1894.

They immediately started talking about him as a talented art critic who upended established ideas about the development of Russian art. In 1897, based on impressions from trips to France, he created his first serious work - a series of watercolors "The Last Walks of Louis XIV", showing himself in it to be an original artist.

Repeated trips to Italy and France and copying artistic treasures there, studying the works of Saint-Simon, Western literature of the 17th-19th centuries, interest in ancient engravings formed the foundation of his artistic education. In 1893, Benoit acted as a landscape painter, creating watercolors of the environs of St. Petersburg. In 1897-1898 he painted a series of watercolors and gouache landscape paintings Versailles parks, recreating in them the spirit and atmosphere of antiquity.

Towards the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, Benoit again returned to the landscapes of Peterhof, Oranienbaum, and Pavlovsk. It glorifies beauty and grandeur architecture XVIII V. The artist is interested in nature mainly in its connection with history. Possessing a pedagogical gift and erudition, he late XIX V. organized the World of Art association, becoming its theoretician and inspirer. Worked a lot in book graphics. He often appeared in print and published his “Artistic Letters” (1908-16) every week in the newspaper “Rech”.

He worked no less fruitfully as an art historian: he published the widely known book “Russian Painting in the 19th Century” in two editions (1901, 1902), significantly revising his early essay for it; began publishing serial publications "Russian School of Painting" and "History of Painting of All Times and Peoples" (1910-17; publication was interrupted with the beginning of the revolution) and the magazine "Artistic Treasures of Russia"; created the wonderful “Guide to the Hermitage Art Gallery” (1911).

After the revolution of 1917, Benoit took an active part in the work of various organizations related mainly to the protection of monuments of art and antiquity, and from 1918 he also took up museum work - he became the head of Art gallery Hermitage. He developed and successfully implemented completely new plan the general exhibition of the museum, which contributed to the most expressive demonstration of each work.

At the beginning of the 20th century. Benois illustrates the works of Pushkin A.S. Acts as a critic and art historian. In the 1910s, people became the center of the artist’s interests. Such is his painting “Peter I on a walk in the Summer Garden”, where the appearance of past life, seen through the eyes of a contemporary.

History decisively predominated in the work of Benoit the artist. Two topics invariably attracted his attention: “Petersburg XVIII - early XIX centuries.” and "France of Louis XIV". He addressed them primarily in his historical compositions - in two “Versailles series” (1897, 1905-06), in widely famous paintings“Parade under Paul I” (1907), “Catherine II’s entrance in the Tsarskoye Selo Palace” (1907), etc., reproducing a long-gone life with deep knowledge and a subtle sense of style. His numerous natural landscapes, which he usually executed either in St. Petersburg and its suburbs, or in Versailles (Benoit regularly traveled to France and lived there for a long time), were essentially devoted to the same themes. The artist entered the history of Russian book graphics with his book “The ABC in the Paintings of Alexandre Benois” (1905) and illustrations for “The Queen of Spades” by A. S. Pushkin, executed in two versions (1899, 1910), as well as wonderful illustrations for “The Bronze Horseman” ", to three versions of which he devoted almost twenty years of work (1903-22).

During these same years, he took part in the design of the “Russian Seasons”, organized by S.P. Diaghilev. in Paris, which included in their program not only opera and ballet performances, but also symphony concerts.

Benois designed R. Wagner's opera "Twilight of the Gods" on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater and then performed scenery sketches for N. N. Tcherepnin's ballet "Armida's Pavilion" (1903), the libretto of which he composed himself. The passion for ballet turned out to be so strong that on Benoit’s initiative and with his direct participation, a private ballet troupe was organized, which began triumphant performances in Paris in 1909 - “Russian Seasons”. Benois, who took over the post of artistic director in the troupe, performed the designs for several performances.

One of his highest achievements was the scenery for I. F. Stravinsky's ballet "Petrushka" (1911). Soon Benois began collaborating with the Moscow Art Theater, where he successfully designed two performances based on the plays of J.-B. Moliere (1913) and for some time even participated in the management of the theater along with K. S. Stanislavsky and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko.

From 1926 he lived in Paris, where he died. The artist's main works: "The King's Walk" (1906), "Fantasy on the Versailles Theme" (1906), "Italian Comedy" (1906), illustrations for the Bronze Horseman by A.S. Pushkin. (1903) and others.

Benois Alexander Nikolaevich(1870-1960) graphic artist, painter, theater artist, publisher, writer, one of the authors of the modern image of the book. Representative of Russian Art Nouveau.
A. N. Benois was born into the family of a famous architect and grew up in an atmosphere of reverence for art, but did not receive an art education. He studied at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University (1890-94), but at the same time independently studied the history of art and was engaged in drawing and painting (mainly watercolors). He did this so thoroughly that he was able to write a chapter on Russian art for the third volume of “The History of Painting in the 19th Century” by R. Muter, published in 1894.
They immediately started talking about him as a talented art critic who upended established ideas about the development of Russian art. In 1897, based on impressions from trips to France, he created his first serious work - a series of watercolors "The Last Walks of Louis XIV", showing himself in it to be an original artist.
Repeated trips to Italy and France and copying artistic treasures there, studying the works of Saint-Simon, Western literature of the 17th-19th centuries, interest in ancient engravings were the foundation of his artistic education. In 1893, Benoit acted as a landscape painter, creating watercolors of the environs of St. Petersburg. In 1897-1898, he painted a series of landscape paintings of the Versailles parks in watercolors and gouache, recreating in them the spirit and atmosphere of antiquity.
Towards the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, Benoit again returned to the landscapes of Peterhof, Oranienbaum, and Pavlovsk. It glorifies the beauty and grandeur of 18th century architecture. The artist is interested in nature mainly in its connection with history. Possessing a pedagogical gift and erudition, at the end of the 19th century. organized the World of Art association, becoming its theoretician and inspirer. He worked a lot in book graphics. He often appeared in print and published his “Artistic Letters” (1908-16) every week in the newspaper “Rech”.
He worked no less fruitfully as an art historian: he published the widely known book “Russian Painting in the 19th Century” in two editions (1901, 1902), significantly revising his early essay for it; began publishing serial publications "Russian School of Painting" and "History of Painting of All Times and Peoples" (1910-17; publication was interrupted with the beginning of the revolution) and the magazine "Artistic Treasures of Russia"; created the wonderful “Guide to the Hermitage Art Gallery” (1911).
After the revolution of 1917, Benoit took an active part in the work of various organizations, mainly related to the protection of monuments of art and antiquities, and from 1918 he also took up museum work - he became the head of the Hermitage Picture Gallery. He developed and successfully implemented a completely new plan for the general exhibition of the museum, which contributed to the most expressive demonstration of each work.
At the beginning of the 20th century. Benois illustrates the works of Pushkin A.S. Acts as a critic and art historian. In the 1910s, people became the center of the artist’s interests. Such is his painting “Peter I on a Walk in the Summer Garden,” where in a multi-figure scene the appearance of a past life, seen through the eyes of a contemporary, is recreated.
History decisively predominated in the work of Benoit the artist. Two topics invariably attracted his attention: “Petersburg XVIII - early XIX centuries.” and "France of Louis XIV". He addressed them primarily in his historical compositions - in two “Versailles series” (1897, 1905-06), in the well-known paintings “Parade under Paul I” (1907), “The Entry of Catherine II in the Tsarskoye Selo Palace” (1907 ) etc., reproducing a long-gone life with deep knowledge and a subtle sense of style. His numerous natural landscapes, which he usually executed either in St. Petersburg and its suburbs, or in Versailles (Benoit regularly traveled to France and lived there for a long time), were essentially devoted to the same themes. The artist entered the history of Russian book graphics with his book “The ABC in the Paintings of Alexandre Benois” (1905) and illustrations for “The Queen of Spades” by A. S. Pushkin, executed in two versions (1899, 1910), as well as wonderful illustrations for “The Bronze Horseman” ", to three versions of which he devoted almost twenty years of work (1903-22).
During these same years, he took part in the design of the “Russian Seasons”, organized by S.P. Diaghilev. in Paris, which included in their program not only opera and ballet performances, but also symphony concerts.
Benois designed R. Wagner's opera "Twilight of the Gods" on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater and then performed scenery sketches for N. N. Tcherepnin's ballet "Armida's Pavilion" (1903), the libretto of which he composed himself. The passion for ballet turned out to be so strong that on Benoit’s initiative and with his direct participation, a private ballet troupe was organized, which began triumphant performances in Paris in 1909 - “Russian Seasons”. Benois, who took over the post of artistic director in the troupe, performed the designs for several performances.
One of his highest achievements was the scenery for I. F. Stravinsky's ballet "Petrushka" (1911). Soon Benois began collaborating with the Moscow Art Theater, where he successfully designed two performances based on the plays of J.-B. Moliere (1913) and for some time even participated in the management of the theater along with K. S. Stanislavsky and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko.
From 1926 he lived in Paris, where he died. The artist's main works: "The King's Walk" (1906), "Fantasy on the Versailles Theme" (1906), "Italian Comedy" (1906), illustrations for the Bronze Horseman by A.S. Pushkin. (1903) and others.

Benois Alexander Nikolaevich (1870-1960) graphic artist, painter, theater artist, publisher, writer, one of the authors of the modern image of the book. Representative of Russian Art Nouveau.

A. N. Benois was born into the family of a famous architect and grew up in an atmosphere of reverence for art, but did not receive an art education. He studied at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University (1890-94), but at the same time independently studied the history of art and was engaged in drawing and painting (mainly watercolors). He did this so thoroughly that he was able to write a chapter on Russian art for the third volume of “The History of Painting in the 19th Century” by R. Muter, published in 1894.

They immediately started talking about him as a talented art critic who upended established ideas about the development of Russian art. In 1897, based on impressions from his trips to France, he created his first serious work - a series of watercolors "The Last Walks of Louis XIV", showing himself in it to be an original artist.

The last walks of Louis XIV

Masquerade under Louis 14. 1898

The King's Walk. 1906

from the series “The Last Walks of Louis 14th”. 1898

Repeated trips to Italy and France and copying artistic treasures there, studying the works of Saint-Simon, Western literature of the 17th-19th centuries, and interest in ancient engravings formed the foundation of his artistic education. In 1893, Benoit acted as a landscape painter, creating watercolors of the environs of St. Petersburg. In 1897-1898, he painted a series of landscape paintings of the Versailles parks in watercolors and gouache, recreating in them the spirit and atmosphere of antiquity.

Versailles. 1906

Versailles. Trianon Garden. 1906

Versailles. Alley. 1906

Title of the painting: Cemetery. 1896-97

Title of the painting: Carnival on the Fontanka

Peterhof. Big cascade. 1901-17

Rey embankment in Basel in the rain. 1902

Summer Garden under Peter the Great. 1902

Oranienbaum. Japanese garden. 1902

From the world of fantasy. 1904

Pavilion. 1906

Marquise's bath. 1906

Wedding walk. 1906

Parade under Paul I. 1907

Italian comedy. "Love Note" 1907

Bertha (costume design by V. Komissarzhevskaya). 1907

Evening. 1905-06

After the revolution of 1917, Benoit took an active part in the work of various organizations, mainly related to the protection of monuments of art and antiquities, and from 1918 he also took up museum work - he became the head of the Hermitage Picture Gallery. He developed and successfully implemented a completely new plan for the general exhibition of the museum, which contributed to the most expressive demonstration of each work.

At the beginning of the 20th century. Benois illustrates the works of Pushkin A.S. Acts as a critic and art historian. In the 1910s, people became the center of the artist’s interests.

Herman in front of the countess’s windows (screen saver for Pushkin’s “The Queen of Spades”). 1911

The artist entered the history of Russian book graphics with his book “The ABC in the Paintings of Alexandre Benois” (1905) and illustrations for “The Queen of Spades” by A. S. Pushkin, executed in two versions (1899, 1910), as well as wonderful illustrations for “The Bronze Horseman” ", to three versions of which he devoted almost twenty years of work (1903-22).

illustration for Pushkin’s poem “The Bronze Horseman”. 1904

Sketch of the frontispiece for A. S. Pushkin’s poem “The Bronze Horseman”

Towards the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, Benoit again returned to the landscapes of Peterhof, Oranienbaum, and Pavlovsk. It glorifies the beauty and grandeur of 18th century architecture. The artist is interested in nature mainly in its connection with history. Possessing a pedagogical gift and erudition, at the end of the 19th century. organized the World of Art association, becoming its theoretician and inspirer. He worked a lot in book graphics. He often appeared in print and published his “Artistic Letters” (1908-16) every week in the newspaper “Rech”.

Peterhof. Flower beds under the Grand Palace. 1918

Peterhof. Lower fountain at the Cascade. 1942

Peterhof. Main fountain. 1942