Dmitriev-Orenburgsky Nikolay Dmitriyevich (April 1, 1837, Nizhny Novgorod — April 21, 1898, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian painter and graphic artist who worked in the genres of genre painting and battle painting; an academician and professor of the Imperial Academy of Arts. A native of Nizhny Novgorod, he spent most of his creative life in Saint Petersburg and Paris. He added the epithet "Orenburgsky" to his surname to distinguish himself from other artists named Dmitriev — his father came from a family of landowners in the Orenburg Governorate.[1][2]

Origins and Education

He was born into a noble family; he received his early education at home, then studied at the Ufa Governorate Gymnasium.[3] He was being prepared for a military career, but his youthful drawings attracted the attention of connoisseurs — according to the sources, either Colonel Zatsepin, an honorary associate member of the Academy of Arts, and Ya. Rostovtsev[3], or the painter Vasily Kuzmich Shebuyev[2] (the sources differ on the details). In 1859 he entered the Imperial Academy of Arts (IAA), where he studied in the history painting class under Fyodor Antonovich Bruni and A. T. Markov.[3] During his studies he was repeatedly awarded medals: in 1856 the minor and major silver medals, in 1857 and 1858 silver medals, and in 1860 the minor gold medal for his program painting "Scenes from the Olympic Games. A Woman Brings Her Son to the Fight."[3]

The "Revolt of the Fourteen" and the Artists' Artel

In 1861 and 1862 he took part in the competitions for the Large Gold Medal with the programs "Grand Princess Sofia Vitovtovna at the Wedding of Grand Prince Vasily the Dark" and "The Streltsy Revolt," but received no awards.[3] In 1863 he became one of the participants in the so-called "Revolt of the Fourteen" — a group of graduates who refused to compete for the Large Gold Medal on a subject set by the Council of the Academy. He left the Academy with the title of Class Artist, 2nd Degree.[3][2] That same year he joined the St. Petersburg Artel of Artists, of which he remained a member until 1871; in 1870 he became one of the founders of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions (the Peredvizhniki), although he did not take part in the Association's exhibitions.[3]

Artistic career

In 1868 he was awarded the title of Academician for the painting "The Drowned Man in the Village" (now in the Russian Museum).[3] In 1869 he accompanied Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich on a journey through the Caucasus, Crimea, and the Kharkov and Voronezh Governorates, producing an album of 42 pencil drawings.[3]

From 1871 to 1874 he lived in Düsseldorf at government expense, drawing on the advice of L. Knaus and B. Vautier; in 1874–1875 he worked in Munich and Vienna, after which he settled in Paris until 1884.[3] In Paris he became one of the founders of the "Society for Mutual Aid and Charity of Russian Artists" and took part in the Paris Salon.[3][2] It was during the Paris period that his work shifted from genre painting to battle painting: on imperial commission he painted a series of pictures on subjects from the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, for which he made a special trip to Bulgaria.[3]

In 1883, for the battle paintings "The Battle on the Sistova Heights of the Convoy of Alexander II" and "The Departure of Alexander II to Ploiești," painted for the Winter Palace, he was awarded the title of Professor of Battle Painting.[3] Several paintings from the series — "The Artillery Battle at Plevna," "The Crossing of the Danube by the Russian Army," "The Surrender of the Nikopol Fortress on July 4, 1877," "The Capture of the Grivitsa Redoubt at Plevna," and "The Last Battle at Plevna on November 28, 1877" — are held in the Central Military History Museum of Artillery, Engineers, and Signal Corps.[2] In the late 1870s he took part in creating the murals of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.[3]

From the end of 1884 he lived in Saint Petersburg. In 1891 he became one of the founding members of the Saint Petersburg Society of Artists. In the 1890s he taught at art courses and worked actively in book and magazine graphics: he collaborated with the magazines "Iskra," "Vsemirnaya Illyustratsiya," "Niva," "Sever," "Zhivopisnoye Obozreniye," and "Pchela," and illustrated works by A. S. Pushkin, L. N. Tolstoy, N. A. Nekrasov, and I. S. Turgenev.[3]

Nizhny Novgorod Connection

Nikolay Dmitriev-Orenburgsky was born in Nizhny Novgorod on April 1, 1837, into the family of a landowner from Orenburg Governorate.[1] In 1896 he exhibited his works at the All-Russian Industrial and Agricultural Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod.[3] Information about the artist is included in the Nizhny Novgorod biographical encyclopedia.[1]

Links

  • Wikidata (Q2030263 — entry in the free knowledge base)
  • VIAF (127746591 — Virtual International Authority File)
  • ISNI (0000000448845854)
  • GND (1248272404 — German National Library catalog)

Sources

  1. names52.ru — Dmitriev-Orenburgsky Nikolay Dmitrievich
  2. smallbay.ru — Dmitriev-Orenburgsky: Paintings, Biography, Dmitriev-Orenburgsky
  3. artinvestment.ru — Artist Dmitriev-Orenburgsky Nikolay Dmitrievich