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1863 - 1930

Aleksandr Golovin

description

A Russian theater artist and set designer, painter and graphic artist, People’s Artist of Russia. Golovin, who collaborated with V. Meyerhold and S. Diaghilev, was not only the greatest master of theatrical and decorative art but also one of its reformers. He possessed a keen sense of style, inexhaustible imagination and rare stage intuition, which always allowed him to find a single artistic solution to the production that influenced the work of the director. The name of Golovin is associated with an almost 20-year period in the development of Russian theater culture.

As an easel artist, Alexander Golovin preferred Impressionism and Art Nouveau; however, he painted some portraits (for example, of his friend Nicholas Roerich) in a completely realistic manner.

The peculiarity of Golovin as a portrait painter is in the fact that he created magnificent portraits of artists (ballerinas, actors) as the characters they played. The most significant are the images of Chaliapin – Golovin painted him as Mephistopheles, Holofernes, Boris Godunov, Farlaf, etc.

Easel paintings by Alexander Golovin are in the most famous collections of Russia, and his sketches for costumes and stage became independent paintings of considerable value.

Key ideas:

– Golovin preferred to work with tempera and pastel considering these paints more appropriate to express finely nuanced shades of colour. In his technique, brushstrokes are near each other resembling mosaics.

– In the landscape genre and still lifes, the artist chose themes and objects, which needed juicy painting – bright autumn, lush greenery and flowers and a variety of porcelain, which the artist adored.

– Some of the portraits he painted are the art documents of the era as he depicted famous artists as the characters they played.

– Golovin accurately chose the style in which the portrait of a man should be painted. N. Roerich considered his portrait in a realistic (even academic) manner by Golovin as one of the best. The portrait of Meyerhold, with whom the artist collaborated for more than 10 years, is made in the style of art nouveau and early impressionism.

– Portraits of Spanish women (there are around 10 paintings in the series) contain methods of expressionism in combination with the decorativeness of Art Nouveau. The diverse images created for the opera Carmen have become a separate art cycle rather than variants of costumes and characters for a theatrical production.

– Creating sketches of scenery, stage props and costumes, Golovin strove for the integrity of scenography, honed every detail, and combined colour accents achieving complete harmony of the visual image of the performance. He created “co-directorial” scenery; an example for his followers was the design of “Masquerade”, where the external luxury of the decor and costumes is emphasized by internal tragedy.

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1863

1878

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1897

1900

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1928

1930

The birth of the artist

Aleksandr Golovin was born into the family of a priest. Russian botanist N.I. Zheleznov was the first to notice the talent of the future artist.

He studied at the prestigious Polivanovskaya gymnasium

He studied at the prestigious Polivanovskaya gymnasium, among the students of which were future V. Bryusov, A. Bely and M. Voloshin. The cult of Shakespeare reigned there, and Golovin fell in love with the theater when he was a teenager.

He studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture

He studied for the first three years at the Faculty of Architecture of the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, and then attended painting lessons of I. Pryanishnikov, V. Makovsky and V. Polenov. Met Levitan, Korovin, Arkhipov and Nesterov, who introduced him to Alexander Vrubel. Their participation in the “watercolour-drawing” evenings brought young artists closer.

Golovin attended the Paris private Colarossi Academy

During his first trip to the World Exhibition in Paris, the artist was impressed by the latest painting and realized what he should learn. Golovin attended the Paris private Colarossi Academy for a short time. Upon returning home, he participated in the activities of the Abramtsevo circle – he worked with wood and majolica.

He made his second trip to Paris

He made his second trip to Paris with classes in Witte’s studio and visiting galleries. Upon returning, Golovin received the post of artist-decorator of the Imperial Theaters and designed performances at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.

He became a regular participant in the exhibitions of “The World of Art”

He became a regular participant in the exhibitions of “The World of Art”, a member of this association and one of the employees of the magazine of the same name two years later. He took part in the design of the pavilion at the World Exhibition in Paris with his friend K. Korovin, created a majolica frieze for the Moscow hotel “Metropol”. He began working as a decorator at the Imperial Theaters of Moscow.

Moved to St. Petersburg

Moved to St. Petersburg to take the post of chief decorator of the two theaters, as well as a consultant of the art department. He worked for the Mariinsky and Alexandrinsky theaters. Soon he joined the Union of Russian Artists.

He painted a portrait of F. Chaliapin

He painted a portrait of F. Chaliapin as Holofernes (the first his portrait as Farlaf was painted a year earlier), began long-term (until 1917) collaboration with the avant-garde theater of V.E. Meyerhold, and also designed S. Diaghilev’s entreprises to the Russian seasons in Paris together with N. Roerich and D. Stelletsky.

He became a full member of the Academy of Arts

He became a full member of the Academy of Arts; the artist got signs of serious heart disease and left the capital on the advice of doctors. From 1913, he lived in Tsarskoye Selo.

“Die Doppeltgänger”

Created his best book-illustrative cycle to Hoffmann’s novel “Die Doppeltgänger”; actively created easel paintings and graphic works.

He was awarded the title People's Artist of the USSR

He was awarded the title People’s Artist of the USSR when, after a long break, he created scenography for “The Marriage of Figaro” at the Moscow Art Theater. The audience saw his last theatrical work – decorations and costumes for Othello – at the Moscow Art Theater after the master died.