Mikhail Vrubel

1856
March 5(17). Born in Omsk to Alexander Mikhailovich Vrubel (1823-1899), a military lawyer; and Anna Grigorievna Vrubel (1836-1859), nee Basargina, daughter of the governor of Astrakhan, the vice admiral Grigory Basargin.

1859
Mother dies.

1861
The family moves to Astrakhan. Vrubel makes his first drawings.

1863
Vrubel’s father is married to Elizaveta Khristianovna Vessel, a serious pianist who instilled a love of music in Vrubel.

1864
Enters a drawing school run by the Society for the Cultivation of the Arts.

1865–1867
Lives with relatives in Saratov. Takes drawing lessons from A. Godin, a teacher at the gymnasium.

1867–1869
The family moves to St. Petersburg. Vrubel studies at a gymnasium.

1870
The family moves to Odessa. Vrubel studies at the Richelieu gymnasium. He attends the drawing school of the Society of the Fine Arts. He paints oil portraits of relatives and makes copies of paintings by Ivan Aivazovsky, George Dawe and Adolf von Hildrebrand.

1872
Attends performances of Italian opera at the Odessa opera theater.

1873
Takes a trip to Kishinev, where he sees performances of a St. Petersburg opera troupe at the local theater. Sketches actors from Madame Keller’s French troupe, paints a watercolor of a scene from Madame Angot.

1874
Graduates from Richelieu gymnasium with a gold medal. Enrolls in the law faculty of St. Petersburg University (studies until 1880). Lives in St. Petersburg with Vessels, his stepmother’s relatives. His family moves to Vilnius.

1875
Stays with family in Vilnius. June. Vrubel travels to France, Germany and Switzerland with the family where he works as a tutor. He spends the second half of the summer in an estate near Smolensk, where he gives lessons in the Ber family. In early October he returns to St. Petersburg, moves in his distant relatives and lives with them until 1878.

1876
Reads the works of Prud’hon and Lessing.

1877
Visits evening drawing classes at the Imperial Academy of the Fine Arts conducted by Pavel Chistyakov.

1878–1883
Lives with the Papmel family, where he earns money as a tutor.

1880
Completes studies at St. Petersburg University. Performs military service, receives the rank of an emergency bombardier. Enrolls as a volunteer at the Imperial Academy of the Fine Arts. Meets and befriends Valentin Serov.

1882
Studies drawing at Chistyakov’s studio and watercolor with Ilya Repin. Befriends Valentin Serov and Vladimir fon Derviz.

1883
Receives a silver medal for The Marriage of Mary and Joseph. Attends musical concerts in the family of Izmail Sreznevsky. Befriends the Simonovich family, relatives of Serov, and frequently visits their home. Becomes interested in George Bizet’s opera Carmen. Paints watercolors, including Hamlet and Ophelia (State Russian Museum).

1883–1884
Autumn-winter. Rents a studio with Serov and fon Derviz where he studies watercolor technique.

1884
Awarded with a minor silver medal for drawing, etudes and composition. At Chistyakov’s recommendation, invited by Adrian Prakhov to Kiev to work on restoration of the 12th-century St. Cyril’s Church.
Lives with the Prakhov family for part of the summer and fall. Works on restoring St. Cyril’s Church and creating independent compositions for it. Restores murals in the dome of St. Sophia’s Church. Visits relatives in Kharkov in early November. Travels to Venice to study art of the old masters and works on four paintings for St. Cyril’s Church.

1885
Works in Venice until April, studying mosaics in the church of Santa Maria Assunta on the island of Torchello. Travels to Rome. Admires the work of Bellini, Tintoretto, Tiepolo. Returns to Kiev in April. From July to December lives in Odessa. Starts working on the image of the Demon in painting and sculpture. Returns to Kiev in December. Teaches at Murashko’s drawing school in Kiev.

1886
Meets Konstantin Korovin. Paints Girl Seated in front of a Persian Carpet. (Kiev Museum of Russian Art)

1887
Spends the summer in the Tarnovsky estate Motovilovka, near Kiev. Paints Prayer of the Chalice for the local church. Paints watercolor sketches for murals in St. Vladimir’s Church in Kiev (the sketches were rejected). Makes plans to paint Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane and Christ in the Desert.

1888
June-August. Lives with his father in Kharkov. Starts painting Demon but scratches it off and paints Carmen in the same place.
Upon returning to Kiev earns money by giving drawing lessons and coloring photographs of the Dniepr.
Works in the icon-painting studio of Nikolai Murashko’s brother.
Paints Hamlet and Ophelia, Head of Christ (both in the State Tretyakov Gallery), works on a bust of the Demon (a smaller plaster version remains) and a figure of the standing Demon, which he intended to present at a competition for designs of monuments to Mikhail Lermontov (lost).
In December he draws sketches of decorative patterns for the Vladimir Cathedral, and supervises their execution.

1889
Moves to Moscow in September. Renews friendship with Serov and Korovin; they work together in a studio on Dolgorukovskaya Ulitsa.
Meets Savva Mamontov.
In December moves to Mamontov’s house on Sadovaya-Spasskaya Ulitsa. Makes sketches for the play Saul, written by the Mamontovs. Makes sketches for Pushkin’s tragedy The Stone Guest, staged by Stanislavsky at the Society of Art and Literature.

1890
Completes Demon (Seated) (State Tretyakov Gallery)
In the summer lives in the Mamontovs’ summer estate Abramtsevo, where he starts working with ceramics in the pottery studio.
Receives an invitation from Pyotr Konchalovsky to work on illustrating Lermontov’s collected works.
With Serov’s help designs a curtain for Mamontov’s house theater.

1891
Meets Konchalovsky’s family, participates in home plays as a stage designer and actor. Spends the summer in Davydkovo in the surroundings of Abramtsevo.
Travels to Italy in November with the Mamontovs, sees Rome, Milan and Naples. In Naples he studies the art of ceramics and attends the Molleli ceramics school.
Works on watercolor sketches for a curtain for Mamontov’s Russian Private Opera (two are in the State Tretyakov Gallery, one in the Pushkin Museum).

1892
Becomes the director of the Abramtsevo Ceramics Studio in the summer. Works on remodeling the ovens and fireplaces in the estate house.
Manages the construction of a wing on Mamontov’s home that he designed.
In November travels to Rome, Milan, Paris and Berlin with Mamontov.

Winter 1892–1893
Lives in the Mamontov’s home.

1893
Takes part in celebrations of the 15th anniversary of the Abramtsevo circle. Makes a panel commissioned by the Dunckers for their mansion on Povarskaya Ulitsa (they turned the panel down). Paints Venice, which also failed to please its commissioners, and ceiling murals.

1894
Accompanies Mamontov’s son Sergei to Italy, lives near Genoa.
On the way back to Russia visits Napoli, Brindisi, Pyrrhea (Athens) and Constantinople. From April to May he lives with relatives in Odessa.
In Moscow he makes a bas-relief and sculpted head of the Demon.
Receives an order to design a mansion for Sergei Morozov.
Paints Spain (State Tretyakov Gallery). Designs Othello, a live painting in the Mamontovs’ home.

1895
Paints Fortune-teller (State Tretyakov Gallery). Becomes a member of the Moscow Society of Artists, takes part in the organization’s 3rd exhibition.
Takes part in designing performances of Mamontov’s Russian Private Opera; at the end of the year goes with the troupe on tour to St. Petersburg. Meets his future wife, Nadezhda Zabela.

Winter 1895–1896
Lives with Mamontov in St. Petersburg. Works on the panel Mikula Selyaninovich for the All-Russia Industrial and Artistic Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod.

1896
Returns to Moscow. Lives in the home of Artsybushevs. Works on sketches for the panels Mikula Selyaninovich (location unknown) and Princess of Dreams (State Tretyakov Gallery) to decorate an art pavilion at the All-Russia Industrial and Artistic Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod (the exhibition’s jury rejected the panel). Mamontov displays the panel in a separate pavilion.
Works on a panel based on Goethe’s Faust for a Gothic parlor in the home of Alexander Morozov.
On July 28 in Geneva is married to Nadezhda Zabela; the newlyweds go to Lucerne, where Vrubel continues to work on the panel for Morozov’s Gothic parlor.
In September lives in Kharkov, where Zabela-Vrubel is on tour. Returns to Moscow in the fall.

1897
Lives in Italy in he spring, spends time with a colony of Russian artists, including the Svedomsky brothers and Rizzoni.
From June 12 to September lives on the Pliska farmstead in the Chernigov region with the family of Nikolai Ge, whose wife Elizaveta Ge is Nadezhda Zabela-Vrubel’s sister. Upon returning to Moscow he paints a portrait of Mamontov (State Tretyakov Gallery).

1898
February-April. Vrubel and his wife go on tour with the Russian Private Opera to St. Petersburg. Befriends the composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Meets the group of artists who will later form World of Art and is invited to take part in their exhibition, “Russian and Finnish Artists.”
From mid-June to August 26 lives on the Pliska farmstead in the Chernigov region. Starts working on the decorative panel Bogatyr (State Russian Museum) for the home of Malich. Paints a portrait of his wife in an Empire dress (Portrait of Nadezhda Zabela-Vrubel, State Tretyakov Gallery).
In November the first issue of World of Art magazine comes out. Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera Mozart and Salieri is staged at Mamontov’s Russian Private Opera with Vrubel’s decorations. Spends the winter in Moscow, where he paints The Prophet (State Tretyakov Gallery). Makes watercolor sketches for panels based on The Tale of Tsar Saltan for the dining room in Morozov’s home (The Swan Princess and The Feast of Tsar Saltan). He paints a ceiling mural and a curtain for the Theater of Solodovnikov in Moscow.

1899
Finished the panel Bogatyr (State Russian Museum). Illustrates The Prophet for the collected works of Pushkin (State Tretyakov Gallery).
Spends the summer working at Princess Tenisheva’s estate Talashkino in the Smolensk region.
Paints a portrait of Tenisheva as a Valkyrie. Draws designs for headwear and decorates balalaikas.
On July 2 moves to Tenisheva’s estate Khotylevo in the Orel region, where he paints Pan (State Tretyakov Gallery). Designs costumes and sets for Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera The Tsar’s Bride, in which his wife sang the role of Marfa.
In the fall and winter works in Mamontov’s ceramics studios in Moscow. Creates a series of characters from Rimsky-Korsakov’s operas in majolica.
In November Vasily Kalinnikov’s opera In 1812 premieres with sets by Vrubel.

1900
Vrubel and his wife spend the summer at Ge’s farmstead, where he paints By Night (State Tretyakov Gallery) and Lilac (State Tretyakov Gallery). Returns to Moscow at the end of the summer.
In December travels to St. Petersburg. Becomes an official member of World of Art. Works on majolica. Designs an exhibition pavilion for the Paris Expo. Receives a gold medal at that exhibition for decorative and applied work, including for the fireplace Mikula Selyaninovich and Volga (State Tretyakov Gallery). Sergei Dyagilev asks the artist’s permission to compile an issue of the World of Art magazine from his works. Designs costumes for Tchaikovsky’s opera Mazeppa. Travels to St. Petersburg at the end of the year.

1901
In January Richard Wagner’s opera Tannhauser is staged at Mamontov’s Russian Private Opera with sets by Vrubel.
He spends the summer at Ge’s farmstead, stopping at Kiev on the way in early May. Over the summer he is visited by the artists Sergei Yaremich (Vrubel’s future biographer), V.O. Zamirailo, and the pianist B.K. Yankovsky, Nadezhda Zabela-Vrubel’s accompanist.
Return to Moscow in late August. The World of Art exhibition features Lilac and By Night. Two issues of World of Art magazine (No. 2 and 3) are dedicated to Vrubel’s work.
On September 1 Vrubel’s wife gives birth to a son, named Savva in honor of Mamontov. Vrubel paints a second version of Lilac (unfinished, State Tretyakov Gallery) and Easter Years (destroyed by the artist).
Starts work on Demon Prostrate (State Tretyakov Gallery).
Becomes interested in photography, buys a camera and masters photography technique.

1902
From late February to early March Vrubel works in St. Petersburg to finish Demon Prostrate (State Tretyakov Gallery) in the apartment of his relative, the collector Y.E. Zhukovsky. It is for the World of Art exhibition. On March 10 he takes part in the general meeting of World of Art.
Receives an invitation to teach a decorative arts class at the Stroganov School in Moscow.
Displays the first symptoms of psychological disorder.
On March 11 the well-known psychiatrist V.M. Bekhterev makes a fateful diagnosis: the illness is incurable. Vrubel’s wife takes him to a dacha in the Ryazan region.
From April to the end of August he is treated in Moscow in the clinic of F.A. Savei-Mogilevich, from September 6 to February 18 in the Serbsky clinic of Moscow University.
Makes a poster for the exhibition “36 Artists” and a stamp for an architecture exhibition organized by I.A. Fomin in Moscow. Paints a watercolor portrait of his son (State Russian Museum).

1903
Leaves the clinic February 18.
In March lives in Crimea with his sister V.A. Karmazina, then returns to Moscow. Vladimir fon Mekk invites him to travel with his family to his country estate in the Kiev region. On the way Savva falls ill and dies May 3 in Kiev.
Vrubel’s health worsens. He is sent to Riga to the city hospital, where from May 14 to July 14 the artist is under observation of Dr. Tilling.
From July 14 to September 17 he is under observation at the hospital of Dr. Shenfeld.
On September 19 he is transferred to the Serbsky Clinic.

1904
Stays in the Serbsky Clinic until July 9. Works on Six-Winged Seraphim, a portrait of his wife against a background of birch trees (both in the State Tretyakov Gallery) and cycle of drawings, drawings of other patients at the clinic.
From July 9 to August lives in the clinic of Dr. Usoltsev in Petrovksy Park, where he makes several drawings and a self-portrait (State Tretyakov Gallery).
Spends the winter in St. Petersburg. Starts painting a portrait of his wife, After a Concert (State Tretyakov Gallery), works on self-portraits, the pastel Pearl (State Tretyakov Gallery) and costumes for Tchaikovsky’s opera Iolantha and Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera The Snow Maiden.

1905
Vrubel’s disease becomes acute.
From March 6, 1905, to March 6, 1906, Vrubel is treated in Usoltsev’s clinic. Works on Azrail and The Vision of the Prophet Ezekiel (State Russian Museum), After a Concert (State Tretyakov Gallery), a self-portrait on paper (State Tretyakov Gallery).
Awarded the title of academic in November.
Vision sharply worsens in December.

1906
His last work is a portrait of the poet Valery Bryusov (State Tretyakov Gallery). Goes blind at the end of February.
On March 6 Vrubel is transferred to St. Petersburg, to the clinic of Konasevich and Orshanksy.
Spends the summer in the clinic of Dr. Bari on Vasilievsky island. Dyagilev organizes a retrospective of the artist’s work at the World of Art exhibitions in St. Petersburg and at a show of Russian art at the Salon d’Automne in Paris, where Picasso admires his work.

1906–1910
Spends the summer of 1908 on the dacha, observed by Dr. Morozov. His sister reads to him and his wife sings.