15.05.1848 – 23.07.1926

Viktor Vasnetsov-Russian painter and architect, master of historical and folklore painting.

The artist was born in the Russian village Lopyal Urzhum County Vyatka province in the family of Orthodox priest Mikhail Vasilyevich Vasnetsov.

As a ten-year-old boy, Victor entered the Vyatka theological school, where he studied for 4 years, and later transferred to the Vyatka theological Seminary. Viktor Mikhailovich has always been fond of artistic creativity, so he took drawing lessons from the teacher of the gymnasium N. M. Chernysheva.

With the blessing of his father, Vasnetsov left the Seminary and went to St. Petersburg, where he entered the Academy of fine arts. Viktor Mikhailovich was a student of Ivan Kramskoy in the Drawing school of the society for encouragement of artists, and then studied at the Academy of fine arts. The author began to be engaged in exhibition activity since 1869, at first participating in expositions of Academy, and then — in exhibitions of Wanderers. In 1893 Vasnetsov became a full member of the Academy of arts.

After 1905 he was close to the Union of the Russian people, although he was not a member, participated in the financing and design of monarchical publications, including “Books of Russian sorrow.”

In 1915, the artist participated in the creation Of the society for the revival of artistic Russia, along with many other artists of his time.

Viktor Vasnetsov died in Moscow on July 23, 1926, at the age of 79, leaving behind five children from his marriage to Alexandra Vladimirovna Ryazantseva. The artist was buried at the Lazarev cemetery, after the destruction of which the ashes were transferred to Vvedenskoye cemetery.

In the work of Victor Vasnetsov vividly presented different genres that have become stages of a very interesting evolution: from the life of a fairy tale, from easel painting to the monumental, from the landing of the Wanderers to the prototype of modernist style. At an early stage, Vasnetsov’s works were dominated by everyday subjects, but later, the main direction was epic-historical, and in the late 1890s an increasingly prominent place in the work of the master took a religious theme.

In 1914 Vasnetsov’s drawing was used for the stamp of voluntary gathering of victims of the first world war, issued by the Moscow city public administration.

In Russia, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the artist, in 1998 published hitch of two postage stamps and a coupon, which were depicted paintings VM Vasnetsov “Battle of the Slavs with the nomads”, “self-Portrait”and” Ivan the Prince on a Gray Wolf.”