Alexander Alexeyevich Borisov
Encyclopedia
Alexander Alexeyevich Borisov was a Russia
n painter notable for his Arctic landscape
s.
of the Arkhangelsk Oblast
. He was one of the four children in the peasant family of Alexey Egorovich Borisov and Matryona Nazarovna Borisova. He spent his adolescence in the Solovetsky Monastery
in the White Sea
where he studied icon painting. In 1886 he obtained a fellowship to continue his studies at the art school in Saint-Petersburg. In 1888 he enrolled as a student into the Imperial Academy of Arts
. Borisov studied there under the landscape painters Ivan Shishkin
and Arkhip Kuindzhi
and graduated in 1892. In the Academy, he decided to devote his career to painting Arctic landcapes. For the Russian Arctic, Borisov was the pioneer of the genre.
In 1894, he accompanied the finance minister, Sergei Witte
, to Kola Peninsula
. In 1896, Borisov travelled to the coasts of the White sea
and the Barents sea
, and then joined a scientific expedition to visit Novaya Zemlya
. In 1887, he held an exhibition of his works painted during these travels. The exhibition was acclaimed by the art critics and fellow artists, including Ilya Repin, and several works of Borisov were bought by Sergei Tretyakov
for his art collection which later became the Tretyakov Gallery
.
In 1900, Borisov organized his third and last Arctic expedition, during which he spent a winter in Novaya Zemlya
and investigated the eastern coast of the islands. In particular, he made a topographic map of Novaya Zemlya, performed meteorogical observation, and collected samples of minerals, plants and animals. In 1901 he returned to mainland Russia. The paintings by Borisov created during the expedition have been exhibited in Saint-Petersburg between 1900 and 1905. The artist also travelled to Europe (Austria, Germany, France, and Great Britain) with his exhibitions, and in 1908 he travelled to the US.
In 1909, Borisov bought a house in in the village of Gorodishchenskaya, close to Krasnoborsk
. He spent most of his time in the house until his death in 1934. In 1910s, Borisov produced a series of landscapes of areas close to the Northern Dvina
. These paintings were shown at his personal exhibition in Saint-Petersburg in 1914 and were generally praised by the art critics. In 1900s and 1910s he published several books which included his accounts on the Arctic travels and his ideas on building the economy of the Russian North. Borisov was a proponent of the construction of a railway which would link all-year harbors of the Kola Peninsula with the banks of Ob River
, and he self-funded a research expedition which took place in 1915 and 1916. (The railroad was built much later and was not based on Borisov's expedition results).
Alexander Borisov died in 1934 in his house in Gorodishchenskaya.
A peninsula in the east coast of the Severny Island
of Novaya Zemlya
is called Borisov Peninsula. Streets in Arkhangelsk
, Veliky Ustyug
, and Krasnoborsk, and the Arctic Museum in Arkhangelsk have been named after him.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n painter notable for his Arctic landscape
Landscape
Landscape comprises the visible features of an area of land, including the physical elements of landforms such as mountains, hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea, living elements of land cover including indigenous vegetation, human elements including different forms of...
s.
Biography
Alexander Borisov was born in the village of Gluboky Ruchey in the north of Russia, now located in the Krasnoborsky DistrictKrasnoborsky District
Krasnoborsky District is an administrative district , one of the twenty-one in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. Municipally, it is incorporated as Krasnoborsky Municipal District...
of the Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea....
. He was one of the four children in the peasant family of Alexey Egorovich Borisov and Matryona Nazarovna Borisova. He spent his adolescence in the Solovetsky Monastery
Solovetsky Monastery
Solovetsky Monastery was the greatest citadel of Christianity in the Russian North before being turned into a special Soviet prison and labor camp , which served as a prototype for the GULag system. Situated on the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea, the monastery braved many changes of fortune...
in the White Sea
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
where he studied icon painting. In 1886 he obtained a fellowship to continue his studies at the art school in Saint-Petersburg. In 1888 he enrolled as a student into the Imperial Academy of Arts
Imperial Academy of Arts
The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, was founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov under the name Academy of the Three Noblest Arts. Catherine the Great renamed it the Imperial Academy of Arts and commissioned a new building, completed 25 years later in 1789...
. Borisov studied there under the landscape painters Ivan Shishkin
Ivan Shishkin
Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin was a Russian landscape painter closely associated with the Peredvizhniki movement.Shishkin was born in Yelabuga of Vyatka Governorate , and graduated from the Kazan gymnasium...
and Arkhip Kuindzhi
Arkhip Kuindzhi
Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi was a Russian landscape painter.Arkhip Kuindzhi was born in January 1841 in Mariupol , but he spent his youth in the city of Taganrog. He grew up in a poor family, and his father was a Greek shoemaker Ivan Khristoforovich Kuindzhi...
and graduated in 1892. In the Academy, he decided to devote his career to painting Arctic landcapes. For the Russian Arctic, Borisov was the pioneer of the genre.
In 1894, he accompanied the finance minister, Sergei Witte
Sergei Witte
Count Sergei Yulyevich Witte , also known as Sergius Witte, was a highly influential policy-maker who presided over extensive industrialization within the Russian Empire. He served under the last two emperors of Russia...
, to Kola Peninsula
Kola Peninsula
The Kola Peninsula is a peninsula in the far northwest of Russia. Constituting the bulk of the territory of Murmansk Oblast, it lies almost completely to the north of the Arctic Circle and is washed by the Barents Sea in the north and the White Sea in the east and southeast...
. In 1896, Borisov travelled to the coasts of the White sea
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...
and the Barents sea
Barents Sea
The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barents...
, and then joined a scientific expedition to visit Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya , also known in Dutch as Nova Zembla and in Norwegian as , is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe lying at Cape Flissingsky on the northern island...
. In 1887, he held an exhibition of his works painted during these travels. The exhibition was acclaimed by the art critics and fellow artists, including Ilya Repin, and several works of Borisov were bought by Sergei Tretyakov
Sergei Tretyakov
Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov was a Russian constructivist writer, playwright and special correspondent for Pravda. He graduated 1916 from the department of law at Moscow University...
for his art collection which later became the Tretyakov Gallery
Tretyakov Gallery
The State Tretyakov Gallery is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world.The gallery's history starts in 1856 when the Moscow merchant Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov acquired works by Russian artists of his day with the aim of creating a collection,...
.
In 1900, Borisov organized his third and last Arctic expedition, during which he spent a winter in Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya , also known in Dutch as Nova Zembla and in Norwegian as , is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe lying at Cape Flissingsky on the northern island...
and investigated the eastern coast of the islands. In particular, he made a topographic map of Novaya Zemlya, performed meteorogical observation, and collected samples of minerals, plants and animals. In 1901 he returned to mainland Russia. The paintings by Borisov created during the expedition have been exhibited in Saint-Petersburg between 1900 and 1905. The artist also travelled to Europe (Austria, Germany, France, and Great Britain) with his exhibitions, and in 1908 he travelled to the US.
In 1909, Borisov bought a house in in the village of Gorodishchenskaya, close to Krasnoborsk
Krasnoborsk, Arkhangelsk Oblast
Krasnoborsk is a rural locality and the administrative center of Krasnoborsky District, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Northern Dvina River. It also serves as the administrative center of Alexeyevsky Selsoviet, one of the ten selsoviets into which the district is...
. He spent most of his time in the house until his death in 1934. In 1910s, Borisov produced a series of landscapes of areas close to the Northern Dvina
Northern Dvina
The Northern Dvina is a river in Northern Russia flowing through the Vologda Oblast and Arkhangelsk Oblast into the Dvina Bay of the White Sea. Along with the Pechora River to the east, it drains most of Northwest Russia into the Arctic Ocean...
. These paintings were shown at his personal exhibition in Saint-Petersburg in 1914 and were generally praised by the art critics. In 1900s and 1910s he published several books which included his accounts on the Arctic travels and his ideas on building the economy of the Russian North. Borisov was a proponent of the construction of a railway which would link all-year harbors of the Kola Peninsula with the banks of Ob River
Ob River
The Ob River , also Obi, is a major river in western Siberia, Russia and is the world's seventh longest river. It is the westernmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean .The Gulf of Ob is the world's longest estuary.-Names:The Ob is known to the Khanty people as the...
, and he self-funded a research expedition which took place in 1915 and 1916. (The railroad was built much later and was not based on Borisov's expedition results).
Alexander Borisov died in 1934 in his house in Gorodishchenskaya.
A peninsula in the east coast of the Severny Island
Severny Island
Severny Island is the northern island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago, lying north of Russia. It has an area of , making it one of the largest islands in the world. It is separated from Yuzhny Island by the narrow Matochkin Strait...
of Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya , also known in Dutch as Nova Zembla and in Norwegian as , is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe lying at Cape Flissingsky on the northern island...
is called Borisov Peninsula. Streets in Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
, Veliky Ustyug
Veliky Ustyug
Veliky Ustyug is a town in the northeast of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Sukhona and Yug Rivers. Administratively, it is incorporated as a town of oblast significance . It also serves as the administrative center of Velikoustyugsky District, by which it is completely...
, and Krasnoborsk, and the Arctic Museum in Arkhangelsk have been named after him.