V. V. Vereshchagin: Artist At War

V. V. Vereshchagin: Artist at War

"A pleasure to read. The balance between the fascinating biographical detail and the larger view of the society is always delicately handled. [Barooshian] makes a compelling case for the stature of the man as a critic of war, a rugged individualist, and a most cosmopolitan representative of the great moral traditions of the Russian 19th-century intelligentsia."--Maria Banerjee, Smith CollegeV. V. Vereshchagin, the most popular and famous Russian artist in Western Europe and America in the last quarter of the 19th century, dedicated his life and art to opposing violence. Yet today his personal legacy of peace is forgotten. This biography tells for the first time in English the story of Vereshchagin's courage and tenacity in his struggle against the misery of war.    Using historical accounts and the artist's own writings, Barooshian examines Vereshchagin's artistic depiction of war (both historic and contemporary), showing how it underwent a radical transformation in life as well as in art as it matured. He explores the role that war played in the 19th-century idea of progress and devotes one chapter to Vereshchagin's representation of Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812. To Vereshchagin and others of the intelligentsia, Russian colonial expansion raised ethical dilemmas; their art was frequently at cross-purposes with the state. Barooshian notes the parallels in this regard between Vereshchagin's and Tolstoy's visions of history.    While this is a book for scholars of history, politics, and art, general readers as well will discover an absorbing personal story of Vereshchagin's travels, experiences in war, continual problems with money and the Russian autocracy, and dealings with patrons and commercial agents.Vahan D. Barooshian is professor of Russian at Wells College, Aurora, New York. He is the author of Russian Cubo-Futurism, 1910-1930, Brik and Mayakovsky, and The Art of Liberation: Alexander A. Ivanov and has written numerous articles on Russian and Armenian history, poetry, art, politics, literature, and theater.