Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy
Encyclopedia
Count Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy was a Russia
n artist who served as Vice-President of the Imperial Academy of Arts
for forty years (1828-1868). His works — wax-reliefs, watercolours, medallions, and silhouettes — are distinguished by a cool detachment and spare and economical classicism.
Fyodor Tolstoy came from the Tolstoy
family. His father Count Pyotr Tolstoy, governed a ministry of war supplies. Tolstoy early began to paint under the direction of his mother, Elizabeth Barbot-de-Marni. His first drawings, which are now stored in the Tretyakov Gallery
, were made when he was 4 years old. At the age of nine he went to the foster care
of his rich and influential uncle, Count Pyotr Aleksandrovich Tolstoy
.
A year later, Fyodor entered the Jesuit college of Gavriil Gruber in Polotsk. Here, he studied painting, as well as the sciences. Upon his accession to the throne, Emperor Paul I
summoned Pyotr Tolstoy to Saint Petersburg
, and Fyodor Petrovich returned to his parents. At the same time, his father was fired, and the family's circumstances deteriorated.
From June 1798 to June 1802, Fyodor Petrovich was educated in the Naval Cadet Corps. After finishing, he continued his education under the direction of famous scientists. He studied mathematics
, astronomy
, political economy
, zoology
, archaeology
and numismatics
. He also frequented the riding academy, and became a dashing horseman.
In this time, without any supervision, he painted still lives
, portrait
s and landscape
s. After his father showed him a cameo depicting Napoleon, he started to learn the art of the medallist. Tolstoy visited the Imperial Academy of Arts' classes of plastic arts. One of his teachers was the most fashionable Russian portraitist of the time, Orest Kiprensky
.
In 1804, Fyodor Tolstoy was appointed an adjutant
of Admiral Pavel Chichagov
, and was forced to retire. From 1806 he worked in the Hermitage Museum
. In 1806, he painted the Confidence of Alexander of Macedon
to doctor Philipp, the Judgement of Paris
, the Labours of Hercules, etc. For his wax bas-relief the Triumphal entrance of Alexander of Macedon into Babylon
(1809, now in the Hermitage Museum), Tolstoy was elected an honorable member of the Academy of Arts.
Starting 23 September 1810 he worked in the Department of the Mint and became the founder of medal working in Russia
. After the battle of Leipzig
, he began a series of twenty-four medallions, devoted to the major battles of the Napoleonic Wars
. Tolstoy's medallions acquired wide reputation not only in Russia, but also abroad. He was elected a member of almost all the European academies of fine arts. In 1861, he made his last medal, dedicated to the emancipation of the serfs.
From 1820 to 1833, he employed the Neoclassical
technique of "raw sketch," or refined outline drawings without shading and hatchwork, to execute 63 illustrations for the Dushenka of Ippolit Bogdanovich
. As regards painting, Tolstoy specialized in interior scenes, full of symmetrical lines and Neoclassical statuary. His Family Portrait (1830) "betrays a Romantic fascination with both psychological detail and tricks of lighting, perspective, and frames".
In 1816, he became involved in freemasonry
, eventually participating in the organization of the so-called "Lancasterian schools," designed to propagate literacy. Although he was close to the founding fathers of the Decembrist societies, Tolstoy did not participate in their unsuccessful revolt. In 1826, he wrote two treatises for Nicholas I
, About the moral state of troops of Russia and About the state of the Russian Empire in connection to its internal organization, in which he proposed a series of legislative, social and tax reforms.
In 1838, Tolstoy composed the ballet The Aeolian Harp
. He wrote the libretto
, carried out sketches for costumes, and, in more than sixty pictures, determined the choreography. In 1842, he composed a second ballet, based on Greek myth, Echo. Unfortunately, neither of them was mounted.
Pushkin, who regarded Tolstoy as the finest of contemporary Russian artists, referred to him, not surprisingly, in his novel Eugene Onegin
. In an 1825 letter to his brother, Pushkin asked him to procure a vignette
for the new edition of his poems: "What about having it done by Tolstoy's magic brush? No - too expensive, but how terrifically sweet" (the last line is taken from Ivan Dmitriev
's fable "The Fashionable Woman").
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 artist who served as Vice-President of 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...
for forty years (1828-1868). His works — wax-reliefs, watercolours, medallions, and silhouettes — are distinguished by a cool detachment and spare and economical classicism.
Fyodor Tolstoy came from the Tolstoy
Tolstoy
Tolstoy, or Tolstoi is a prominent family of Russian nobility, descending from Andrey Kharitonovich Tolstoy who served under Vasily II of Moscow...
family. His father Count Pyotr Tolstoy, governed a ministry of war supplies. Tolstoy early began to paint under the direction of his mother, Elizabeth Barbot-de-Marni. His first drawings, which are now stored in 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,...
, were made when he was 4 years old. At the age of nine he went to the foster care
Fosterage
Fosterage, the practice of a family bringing up a child not their own, differs from adoption in that the child's parents, not the foster-parents, remain the acknowledged parents. In many modern western societies foster care can be organised by the state to care for children with troubled family...
of his rich and influential uncle, Count Pyotr Aleksandrovich Tolstoy
Pyotr Aleksandrovich Tolstoy
Count Pyotr Aleksandrovich Tolstoy was a Russian general and statesman.Pyotr Tolstoy came from the Oryol branch of the Tolstoy family, his father Alexander Tolstoy was a grandson of Count Pyotr Andreyevich Tolstoy...
.
A year later, Fyodor entered the Jesuit college of Gavriil Gruber in Polotsk. Here, he studied painting, as well as the sciences. Upon his accession to the throne, Emperor Paul I
Paul I of Russia
Paul I was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 72nd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta .-Childhood:...
summoned Pyotr Tolstoy to Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, and Fyodor Petrovich returned to his parents. At the same time, his father was fired, and the family's circumstances deteriorated.
From June 1798 to June 1802, Fyodor Petrovich was educated in the Naval Cadet Corps. After finishing, he continued his education under the direction of famous scientists. He studied mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
, political economy
Political economy
Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
, zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
, archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
and numismatics
Numismatics
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other payment media used to resolve debts and the...
. He also frequented the riding academy, and became a dashing horseman.
In this time, without any supervision, he painted still lives
Still life
A still life is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made...
, portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
s and 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. After his father showed him a cameo depicting Napoleon, he started to learn the art of the medallist. Tolstoy visited the Imperial Academy of Arts' classes of plastic arts. One of his teachers was the most fashionable Russian portraitist of the time, Orest Kiprensky
Orest Kiprensky
Orest Adamovich Kiprensky was a leading Russian portraitist in the Age of Romanticism. His most familiar work is probably Alexander Pushkin's portrait , which prompted the poet to remark that "the mirror flatters me".- Biography :...
.
In 1804, Fyodor Tolstoy was appointed an adjutant
Adjutant
Adjutant is a military rank or appointment. In some armies, including most English-speaking ones, it is an officer who assists a more senior officer, while in other armies, especially Francophone ones, it is an NCO , normally corresponding roughly to a Staff Sergeant or Warrant Officer.An Adjutant...
of Admiral Pavel Chichagov
Pavel Chichagov
Pavel Vasilievich Chichagov or Tchichagov was a Russian military and naval commander of the Napoleonic wars.He was born in 1767 in Saint Petersburg, the son of Admiral Vasili Chichagov and his English wife. At the age of 12 he was enlisted in the Guard. In 1782 he served in a campaign in the...
, and was forced to retire. From 1806 he worked in the Hermitage Museum
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and has been opened to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display,...
. In 1806, he painted the Confidence of Alexander of Macedon
Alexander of Macedon
Alexander of Macedon may refer to:*Alexander I of Macedon BC), ruled from 498–454 BC*Alexander II of Macedon BC), ruled from 370–368 BC*Alexander III of Macedon , or Alexander the Great, ruled from 336–323 BC...
to doctor Philipp, the Judgement of Paris
Judgement of Paris
thumb |right |460px |[[The Judgment of Paris |The Judgment of Paris]], [[Peter Paul Rubens]], ca 1636...
, the Labours of Hercules, etc. For his wax bas-relief the Triumphal entrance of Alexander of Macedon into Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
(1809, now in the Hermitage Museum), Tolstoy was elected an honorable member of the Academy of Arts.
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...
. After the battle of Leipzig
Battle of Leipzig
The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations, on 16–19 October 1813, was fought by the coalition armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden against the French army of Napoleon. Napoleon's army also contained Polish and Italian troops as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine...
, he began a series of twenty-four medallions, devoted to the major battles of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. Tolstoy's medallions acquired wide reputation not only in Russia, but also abroad. He was elected a member of almost all the European academies of fine arts. In 1861, he made his last medal, dedicated to the emancipation of the serfs.
From 1820 to 1833, he employed the Neoclassical
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
technique of "raw sketch," or refined outline drawings without shading and hatchwork, to execute 63 illustrations for the Dushenka of Ippolit Bogdanovich
Ippolit Bogdanovich
Ippolit Fyodorovich Bogdanovich was a Russian classicist author of light poetry, best known for his long poem Dushenka .- Biography :...
. As regards painting, Tolstoy specialized in interior scenes, full of symmetrical lines and Neoclassical statuary. His Family Portrait (1830) "betrays a Romantic fascination with both psychological detail and tricks of lighting, perspective, and frames".
In 1816, he became involved in freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, eventually participating in the organization of the so-called "Lancasterian schools," designed to propagate literacy. Although he was close to the founding fathers of the Decembrist societies, Tolstoy did not participate in their unsuccessful revolt. In 1826, he wrote two treatises for Nicholas I
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
, About the moral state of troops of Russia and About the state of the Russian Empire in connection to its internal organization, in which he proposed a series of legislative, social and tax reforms.
Aeolian harp
An aeolian harp is a musical instrument that is "played" by the wind. It is named for Aeolus, the ancient Greek god of the wind. The traditional aeolian harp is essentially a wooden box including a sounding board, with strings stretched lengthwise across two bridges...
. He wrote the libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
, carried out sketches for costumes, and, in more than sixty pictures, determined the choreography. In 1842, he composed a second ballet, based on Greek myth, Echo. Unfortunately, neither of them was mounted.
Pushkin, who regarded Tolstoy as the finest of contemporary Russian artists, referred to him, not surprisingly, in his novel Eugene Onegin
Eugene Onegin
Eugene Onegin is a novel in verse written by Alexander Pushkin.It is a classic of Russian literature, and its eponymous protagonist has served as the model for a number of Russian literary heroes . It was published in serial form between 1825 and 1832...
. In an 1825 letter to his brother, Pushkin asked him to procure a vignette
Vignette (literature)
In theatrical script writing, sketch stories, and poetry, a vignette is a short impressionistic scene that focuses on one moment or gives a trenchant impression about a character, an idea, or a setting and sometimes an object...
for the new edition of his poems: "What about having it done by Tolstoy's magic brush? No - too expensive, but how terrifically sweet" (the last line is taken from Ivan Dmitriev
Ivan Dmitriev
Ivan Ivanovich Dmitriev was a Russian statesman and poet associated with the sentamentalist movement in Russian literature.Dmitriev was born at his father's estate in the government of Simbirsk...
's fable "The Fashionable Woman").
External links
- Tolstoy's works at abcgallery.com
- Biography at russianculture.ru
- Biography and some works at staratel.com