The brightest original artist of the last century, Ilya Mashkov, got a rich interesting life. He went through the influence of various masters, searching and gaining his own place in art. His legacy totals several hundred works in many collections of the world.
Ilya Ivanovich was born in the village of Mikhailovsky in the then volost of the Don Army. Of the nine children of a large peasant family, he was the eldest.
Road to vocation
From an early age, the boy was gifted with artistic talent. He went to school, but from there the parents took his son to help them. Adults themselves were engaged in wholesale trade. The same path was intended for children. Ilya traded fruit. Later, he moved to another shop, but even there the work left no joy. But Ilya began to entrust the drawing of posters with signs.
This activity really liked the boy. When free time was given, Mashkov made sketches with the surrounding reality. Drawing fascinated the boy. Once a gymnasium teacher drew attention to a drawing boy and asked if he didn’t want to study either. Surprised Ilya did not even suspect that this was being taught. Since that time, classes began Mashkov.
He received his first knowledge and advice from a gymnasium teacher. The aspiring artist finally understood the vocation and decided to become a real painter. In 1900, the young man became a student in the capital's school of painting, architecture and sculpture. He was taught by Serov, Korovin, Vasnetsov. From the first years, the student showed extraordinary abilities and eccentricity.
He liked the overabundance of color, hyperbole. At the same time, the future artist paid a lot of attention to the drawing technique, showed amazing performance. Since 1904, Ilya gave lessons. Working with inspiration Mashkov got up quickly. Since 1906 he set up a workshop. The building became his creative laboratory until the end of his days.
In 1907 there was an acquaintance with Konchalovsky. This meeting turned the entire biography of the future master. In 1908 he traveled to Europe. There, a young painter learned about new trends. The student left the school, as he had already found his way. The artist worked a lot, took lessons in the studio of Korovin, wrote to order.
Exhibitions of the painter were held in Paris. There, his work was acquired by the famous philanthropist Savva Morozov. The creations of Ilya Ivanovich were unusual. Together with Konchalovsky Mashkov in 1911 became the founder of the art community "Jack of Diamonds". In 1910, an exhibition was held under that name. After it, it was decided to create a society. The name was shocking. Capital painters hinted at a revolution in art. They achieved their goals. Masters opposed traditional academism with realism. The painters advocated impressionism, cubism and Fauvism.
One of the rebellious ideologists was Ilya Ivanovich. He inspired Jacks to write still lifes, more like signboards for grocery stores. Experiments were also carried out with color solutions and form. Mashkov advocated objectivity in art, unlike avant-garde artists. In 1911-1914, the painter became a secretary in the community, took part in all exhibitions. After 1914, "Jack of Diamonds" Ilya Ivanovich left and went abroad.
New trends
Returning, the artist entered the "World of Art". The association included the most outstanding master of painting. The main idea at that time was the idea of neoclassicism. The community made a huge contribution to Russian painting, but at the time of entry into it, the organization turned into a formal one. Ilya Ivanovich at that time supported his comrades, but gradually switched to a new realism.
In 1925, Mashkov entered the AHRR, becoming one of the first founders of socialist realism. He remained in the association until 1929. The master painted paintings of the present, porters of advanced workers, still lifes with an abundance of products. The years of the war, Ilya Ivanovich spent in Abramtsevo. He wrote soldiers, rear workers. The attitude of the late Mashkov was optimistic.
Until the last days, the master’s passion for exaggeration remained. The painter participated in many exhibitions at the beginning of the last century. In 1916 he presented more than seventy of his works. The exhibition has become the largest lifetime. Since the twenties, the artist has been inserted a lot abroad.
For most of his life, the famous master taught. In his youth, he developed his own methodology for teaching painting. Opened by a master at the beginning of the last century, the school became the central studio of AFRR. Among her students were Osmerkin, Tatlin and Mukhina. The artist worked at VKhUTEIN, the Military Academy, various courses.
