Vladimir Muravyov is a famous Russian artist with a unique gift of colorist. The master of pictorial effects gave poetry to hunting subjects and sang the beauty of Russian nature in his works.
Vladimir Leonidovich Muravyov was called a fashionable painter of the beginning of the last century. He drew spectator attention to creativity by the poetry of hunting motifs. In his works of amazing virtuosity, mastery of the brush reached. The adherent of the traditions of domestic painting developed creativity along the author's path.
Beginning of the path to vocation
The biography of the future artist began in St. Petersburg in 1861. The child was born into the family of Count Leonid Muravyov and his wife Sophia Nikolaevna. Vladimir was identified in the Page Corps. However, in 1881 he left school and enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts as a freelance student. The student attended a landscape class.
Mikhail Klodt, who was teaching there, was seriously ill at that time. He was only formally considered a leader. Muravyov himself had to look for mentors. His idol was the artist Clover. According to the count, the walls of the Academy pressed him, so the young man preferred a free attendance of classes.
The future painter became a member of the St. Petersburg societies of Russian watercolorists and artists. Vladimir Leonidovich took an active part in academic exhibitions. In 1893 the first solo exhibition of the painter took place. The artist's works regularly appeared on the pages of the most popular art publications.
Clover turned for Muravyov into a mentor and a good friend. In everything, the student tried to imitate the teacher. Muravyov was pleased to get acquainted with all the subtleties and secrets of Clover’s pictorial style of writing. His sunsets and the magnificent technique of their execution brought Vladimir Leonidovich to real delight. On the canvases of Muravyov himself, one can later see the same glowing shades.
Features of creativity
The plots of the work of the graph are striking in variety. Its main theme was the Russian forest. The main place in it is given to the winter landscape. Among the snowy fir trees, lonely huts, birches and pines there is always hidden unknown, mystery and special picturesqueness. Each painter has his own snow, his own manner of depicting softness and friability of the cover. In the works of Muravyov attention is attracted by professionalism and sincerity. After the work of a genius, you can stay for hours, admiring the fabulous beauty of the forest, looking at its inhabitants.
It was with a winter landscape that the master was able to most vividly highlight the color contrast, the intensity of color harmonies. The main inhabitants of the fabulous paintings became partridges, bears, foxes, capercaillie, moose, hares. They provided imagery, attractiveness and internal harmony of the compositions.
The painter himself adored hunting. He perfectly knew all the subtleties of this lesson, perfectly studied all animal and bird habits. In the works of the master, a unique hint of theatricality appears. Most of all, this is noticeable in compositions always with amazing accuracy and accuracy of paintings. The role of the wings is reserved for tree trunks. The main characters are always in the center, on the stage.
Landscapes with moose against a sunset, a river bank or a forest became one of the artist’s favorite motifs. The painter emphasized the dignity of the majestic animal, admired his strength and grace. The work is filled with an emotional upsurge, a celebration transmitted from the author to the public.
Favorite topics
Muravyov never wrote hunting scenes with trophies. He tracked down prey with a hunting passion, but he never fired shots.
Of great rarity are the current wood grouse. The master managed to convey this amazing sight to the audience, patiently observing the birds. This motif was repeated by the master.
Bears became the favorite characters of the painter. He wrote them at any time of the year. The visual memory of the artist was amazing. She helped to successfully continue working in the workshop. The master created images lively, accurate and authentic.
The authors were not too interested in interacting with transition states and with nature. He did not consider himself an impressionist. The painter has always painted in the author’s technique. He borrowed only innovations that did not destroy the art theater he created.
Gradually, Vladimir Leonidovich left the clover style. He began to search for his own means of expression. He did not move far from classical traditions. Most of all he was attracted by the picturesque texture, the breadth of the stroke.
In this vein, he worked fruitfully. Often layering paint the master reached volume, and then he scratched the trunks and branches with a pen.
Usually the master worked in the technique of oil painting. Only at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, he switched to mixed, using gouache, watercolor, white.
