1856 -1910 · kyiv, Moscow and Russian symbolism

Mineral facets, theatrical visions and tormented figures make Mikhail Vrubel a major precursor of Russian symbolism and Art Nouveau.

Mikhail Vrubel was born in Omsk in 1856 and died in Saint Petersburg in 1910. After studying law, he entered the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts and worked in Kiev on the restoration of the frescoes of the St. Cyril Church. Observing the Byzantine mosaic nourishes a very personal way: the shapes seem cut into facets, as if the painting were made of crystal, stone and light. In Moscow, in Savva Mamontov's circle, Vrubel simultaneously practices painting, drawing, theater decor, sculpture and majolica. The seated Demon of 1890 inaugurates one of the artist's great personal myths, inspired by Lermontov's poem. The immense figure, folded into one landscape of mineral flowers, expresses evil less than solitude, contained power and the impossibility of acting. The Demon, defeated in 1902, breaks this energy in a horizontal composition with almost precious colors. The Swan Princess of 1900 was born from the world of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera: plumage, twilight and gaze transform the heroine into a changing appearance. The Portrait of Savva Mamontov, on the contrary, compresses the patron into an unstable interior whose angles and shadows reflect a powerful will. The Portrait of Savva Mamontov, on the contrary, compresses the patron into an unstable interior whose angles and shadows reflect a powerful will. The Portrait of Savva Mamontov, on the contrary, compresses the patron into an unstable interior whose angles and shadows reflect a powerful will. The Portrait of Savva Mamontov, on the contrary, compresses the patron into an unstable interior whose angles and shadows reflect a powerful will. The Portrait of Savva Mamontov, on the contrary, compresses the patron into an unstable interior whose angles and shadows reflect a powerful will. The Portrait of Savva Mamontov, on the contrary, compresses the patron into an unstable interior whose angles and shadows reflect a powerful will. The Portrait of Savva Mamontov, on the contrary, compresses the patron into an unstable interior whose Vroubel" notably compares The Swan Princess and The Sitting Demon. His reading favors composition.

Vrubel paints like cutting a precious stone: each facet retains the light, but the entire image remains crossed by worry and dreams.