The extraordinary painting above, entitled The Apotheosis of War, is by the Russian painter Vasily Vereshchagin. Although he was one of the first Russian painters to win notoriety outside his homeland, many of his works were too graphic and controversial to ever be displayed or exhibited. His subject matter was often war, and rather than indulge in patriot glorification he tended to depict it with horrific realism. This sometimes won him enemies in the Russian political and military establishment. He was regarded as a controversial figure; he showed warfare for what it was and his paintings were often banned. He dedicated Apotheosis of War "to all conquerors, past, present and to come."He is another instance of an artist who defies the modernist myth that the academic painters and orientalists of the 19th C. served but never challenged the status quo. Here, below, is another of his works on the theme of war, this one called After Battle.
As a witness to Russian military adventures in Central Asia and the Far East he travelled widely and painted many orientalist themes. In 1874 he undertook an extensive tour of Tibet and India. He counts as a major Russian orientalist painter. He painted the usual sights, such as the Taj Mahal, below, an undistinguished rendering:
But also more lively, interesting and engaging architectural studies, such as this painting of a mosque:
Or this picture of Darjeeling:
Or this picture of a Shinto shrine:
The present author prefers some of his pictures of the various peoples and types he met on his travels. Consider, for instance, this picture of an Indian fakir, below:
His travels in Palestine moved him to paint scenes from the New Testament, but this brought him into further controversy. It was felt that his depictions of Jesus were too "semitic".
Today he has the rare distinction of having a planetoid named after him, Vereshchagin, discovered by Russian astronomers in 1978.
Yours,
Harper McAlpine Black
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