Gevork Bashindjagyan (1857 - 1925)
Biography
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Bashindjagyan entered the St Petersburg Academy at a time when landscape painting had made tremendous progress in Russia. Aivazovsky was still at the height of his powers and his sea-scapes fascinated Dostoyev-sky, the world-famous novelist, by the inherent and overwhelming splendour of a storm. In the meantime, another fine landscapist by the name of Savrasov had created a considerable stir in the artistic circles of Moscow. Unlike Aivazovsky with his restless temperament, Savrasov sought inspiration in quiet, peaceful scenes of the Russian countryside. His success foreshadowed the advent of other superiour landscape painters, including Isaac Lovitan, Fyodor Va-silyev, and Valentin Serov, whose work has to this day been the pride of Russian art. "What a galaxy of talent they were! What masterpieces they created!", recalled Bashindjagyan in 1913.11 His life as a student in St Petersburg was a continuously shifting kaleidoscope of unforgettable artistic impressions. He went to all exhibitions of contemporary art and spent long hours studying the work of the Old Masters at the Hermitage Museum which he called his second Academy. It was his good fortune to be introduced to Aivazovsky whom he held in high esteem as "the Victor Hugo of painting". He visited Aivazovsky's studio many times. The maestro was an amiable and benevolent man, yet he never minced his words in passing judgement on the young artist's work. His criticism was as invaluable as it was outspoken. "Sometimes it made my heart bleed, recalled Bashindjagyan almost twenty years later.12 It is significant that Bashindjagyan's choice of the landscape as a vehicle for his talent was dictated by both artistic and philosophical considerations. He always viewed and loved Nature as Man's home. "The beauty of nature is overpowering and irresistible. Nature is my home, my life, my love," he wrote in his diary.
He completed his studies at the Academy in 1883. His graduation work, Birch Grove, won him a silver medal. The picture is of a modest size and shows the edge of a birchwood on a bright sunny day. The light and shadow are balanced perfectly with the luxuriant foliage dark in the foreground and almost transparent in the background. One immediately sees that Professor Klodt's lessons were not lost on the young artist: the trunks of the trees are moulded with such painstaking care that you almost feel the touch of the rough, warm bark. It is a lovely piece, although not as fluent and unrestrained as Bashindjagyan's more accomplished paintings. In any case he felt he had made a good start and was full of bright hopes for the future.
In the spring of 1883, the artist returned to Signakhi. There was no joy in revisiting the town of his childhood. "Both my parents were dead," he wrote, "and our house had been sold. I had no home, but I did have my homeland which I loved dearly."13 In the summer and early autumn of the same year, he made a long tour of the Caucasus and Transcaucasia — a venture he had dreamed of for years. He went up to the Semyonovsky Pass, down the giddy winding road to Lake Sevan, and on to Yerevan, Ashta-rak, Vagarshapat (at present — Echmiadzin), and the south-western part of Armenia. From there he headed north and travelled over Georgia and the Northern Caucasus, visiting many places he had never been to before. Wherever he went, he avidly sketched the breath-taking scenery around him. The sketches soon developed into a series of magnificent canvases, a long row of "windows overlooking the Caucasus and Transcaucasia"; peaceful valleys, softly undulating hills, misty pine forests, sunlit roads, and majestic mountains, including Europe's highest peak Elbrus and the lofty Ararat with its two silvery crowns. Several pictures show Lake Sevan with a solitary islet amid rippling water, viewed from different angles and in different lighting. In these pictures, the colours and shades of the sky and water span the whole gamut from shimmering opalescence to dark and sparkling hues of cobalt.
Amazed at his prolific output, Bashindjagyan's friends unanimously stressed the great "educational and enlightening" role of his canvases and urged him to exhibit them. He was not quite sure that the time was ripe for an exhibition, but the friends were so insistent that he gave in and in the autumn of 1883 arranged his first show. It was held in Tiflis in the home of a well-known art collector. There were sixteen paintings on display, all depicting the scenery of the Caucasus.
An art exhibition was not a common event in the cultural life of Tiflis in those days. True, the city boasted some first-class professional artists, both
Georgian and Armenian, such as Gabashvili, Gvele-siani, Nersisyan, and the Hovnatanyan brothers, yet exhibitions of painting were rare occurrences and did not attract many visitors.
Alas, Bashindjagyan's exhibition was no exception. His landscapes did not appeal to the local rich who favoured ostentatious portraits and elaborate still lifes. "I have been to this wonderful exhibition many times, but not once did I see a visitor belonging to what we call our esteemed and 'advanced' circles. These people seem to be totally indifferent to the scenic beauty of our native land," lamented an art critic in a local Armenian newspaper.14 It must be remembered that in those days painting was not regarded as a prestigious occupation in the Caucasus. Even Stepanos Nersisyan, a venerable artist with a studio of his own, was wholly and humi-liatingly dependent on the rich merchants' commissions to make a living. In his memoirs, Bashindja-gyan thus describes Nersisyan's visit to his exhibition: "He leaned heavily on his cane as he walked from room to room, taking a long time to scrutinize every picture. When he saw them all I heard him say softly that I had a charisma; the next moment he was gone. This is all he said, but how much those few words meant to me!"15
About ten years later, in the 1890s, art exhibitions became part and parcel of the cultural life of Tiflis, but even then artists did not fully receive the acknowledgement they justly deserved. The craving of the democratically minded intellectuals for a realistic and meaningful art was more than counterbalanced by the vulgar and philistine tastes and attitudes of the bourgeoisie. A modern student of Tiflis's cultural life in the past century points out that philis-tinism and typically bourgeois attitudes towards art dominated the scene throughout the 1890s and even in the early 1900s.16
The exhibition of Bashindjagyan's paintings was the first one-man show not only in Tiflis, but in the whole of Transcaucasia. It would be wrong to say that it went unnoticed, for it was daily visited by large numbers of students and professionals. It was given a good press, yet none of the critics seemed to realize that Bashindjagyan was the first Armenian artist to raise the landscape to the level of an independent and mature art form, and that he was, in fact, Armenia's first full-fledged landscapist. A Russian newspaper published in Tiflis wrote that Bashindjagyan's work was "as fresh and stimulating as the young foliage of the Caucasian forests". An Armenian paper called on all Armenians to support
the highly gifted young artist in every way they could. Another Armenian paper noted with regret that the local elite was totally insensitive to contemporary art and did not seem to need it.17 The ice was broken, however, and the landscape had for the first time emerged in Armenian painting owing to the talent and dedication of one thus described by the poet Isaakyan: "The handsome face and sea-green eyes of the soft-spoken, well-mannered young man seemed to reflect the poetic tranquillity of his landscapes."18
"Bashindjagyan awoke Tiflis from decades of lethargy," wrote a modern art critic. "In his person the public met an artist who commanded respect. He did not exactly make them see the light, but they were no longer indifferent to art."19
In 1884, Bashindjagyan made a trip to Europe, using the scholarship that went with the silver medal awarded by the Academy. He toured Italy, visiting Florence, Venice, Rome, and Naples, and was fascinated by the masterpieces of the old Italian art. He also spent some time in Switzerland where he made several sketches of Mt. Jungfrau. "The Alps are beautiful," he wrote, "but they cannot win your heart if you have seen the Caucasus."
In 1885 and 1886, he held two exhibitions in Baku, the second biggest city in Transcaucasia. The first was arranged at the Commerce Club and the artist could see for himself that painting meant nothing to "oil barons and big-time gamblers". On the other hand, his canvases captivated the public at large with their irresistible, magnetic charm. To crown his success, he had the good fortune to meet Petros Ada-myan, a celebrated Armenian actor. Greatly impressed by the artist's work, Adamyan published his comments on the exhibition in a newspaper. "Bashindjagyan's paintings have made an indelible impression on me," he wrote. "He is certainly a great talent. His work, which is both realistic and poetic,
is a delight to the eye His canvases accurately
portray the beauty and grandeur of nature. He has a keen sense of colour, and of light and shadow.... His composition is as harmonious as Nature itself."20 Coming from such a well-known personality as Adamyan, that comment drew more spectators to the exhibition.
Bashindjagyan's next one-man shows took place in 1889 and 1894. Both reflected the impressions of his travels all over the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, during which he had visited many remote and exotic places. He continued to study nature and perfect his brushwork, trying to show in his pictures both what
he saw and what he felt. His sketches grew more and more skilful and elaborate as he worked towards "a faithful portrayal of the world."21 The artist's travels between 1888 and 1892 are vividly described in his diary which was later published under the title A Traveller's Notebook. It provides an insight into some unique traits of his personality. "How many times," he wrote, "did I wake up before dawn and go out to paint the sunrise! And how many times was I so overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of the world around me that I completely forgot what I had gone out for! How often did I reach the coign of vantage I had chosen the day before and find myself just staring at the scenery, amazed and enchanted! How often would I come back empty-handed, without having made a single brush stroke!... That kind of thing happens to me over and over again, for I haven't changed since then."22 Bashindjagyan's Notebook also gives an insight into the way he worked on his landscapes. "Out in the open," he says, "I make one sketch after another. In doing so, I closely study nature. Back at my studio^, I recollect and sort out my impressions until they fall into place and I see in my mind's eye a landscape which is a reflection of both nature and myself. At that point I take my brush and palette and paint that landscape."23
Bashindjagyan's best paintings exhibited in Tiflis and Baku in the late 1880s and early 1890s include The River Kura. A Moonlit Scene, A Georgian Village^ Mt. Elbrus, The Kura Valley, Sanahin Canyon, Early Spring (The Thaw in the Caucasus). Their combined impact made art critics and connoisseurs realize that they had seen the arrival of a major land-scapist. "At long last we have a master to depict the magnificent scenery of the Caucasus!", rejoiced an Armenian newspaper.
Some of the landscapes produced by the artist in the late 1880s and early 1890s depict places he loved best and painted many times throughout his life. His favourite subjects were the Alazan Valley, the Daryal Canyon, the Kura, Mt. Haragatz, and Lake Sevan. For the most part, these are wild, untouched sceneries, which reflect Bashindjagyan's distinctly pantheistic outlook, his view of the world as a single harmonious whole, and his strong sense of man's affinity with nature.
True, some paintings of that period are still compo-sitionally constrained. The influence of the conservative academic school manifests itself in the artist's preference for darkish olive hues. Yet as time went on, he became increasingly assured with the brush,
fluent with colour, and diverse in subject matter. As a result, his landscapes grew more and more inspired and vibrantly alive.
Bashindjagyan had an exceptionally good visual memory and an uncommonly rich imagination. These qualities enabled him to be both true to life and loftily poetic in his work.
It must be noted at this point that he was never de-tachedly contemplative and aloof. A true patriot, he was keenly interested in the past, and genuinely concerned about the present and future, of his native land. In 1897, he produced a series of oils depicting Ani, once a mighty fortress and the capital of Armenia in the Middle Ages. Bashindjagyan viewed the proud ruins as a symbol of the grim past and also of the undaunted spirit of his oeople who had courageously stood up to all invaders.
Marietta Shaginyan, an outstanding Armenian author, visited Ani a few years later. Her description of the place is strikingly consonant with Bashindjagyan's paintings: "A flamboyant sunset with the truly amazing colours of the vast sky. The dark cyclopean walls and towers of the ancient city. Not a soul in sight as I walk amid majestic ruins, peeking into gaping doorways and windows of roofless houses and stumbling over the huge blocks of rough-hewn stone."24 These lines immediately bring to mind Ba-shindjagyau's Ani at Sunset with its tragic overtone of death and desolation so uncharacteristic of his work. Many years later, the untold sufferings of the Armenian people found a dramatic expression in his monumental canvas Armenian Refugees in 1915. Bashindjagyan's choice of subject matter is one of the most striking manifestations of his deep-felt affinity with his people. Among his early paintings there is one dating back to 1883, which shows the home of Khachatur Abovyan, renowned Armenian author and enlightener of the first half of the 19th century. In this picture, night has fallen but the windows of the small country house are aglow with warm light. In the 1890s, Bashindjagyan's oils were displayed at art exhibitions in Moscow, Odessa, and Novocherkassk. At an exhibition in St Petersburg in 1891, critics singled out his Night in the Environs of Tiflis and The River Debet at Night. The most successful, however, was the show held in Tiflis in 1894, with Alexander Shirvan-zadeh, a well-known author, declaring Bashindjagyan "a virtuoso artist and a poet at heart". During the thirty years between 1888 and 1918 Bashindjagyan displayed his paintings at all the exhibitions arranged by the Caucasian Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts.
In 1899, he visited Paris. A year later, he went there again with his wife Ashkhen Katanyan, daughter of a graphic artist from Tiflis, and their three children. The family stayed in France for more than two years. An admirer of the Barbizon school of painting, Ba-shindjagyan made trips to many places in Ile-de-France, once the favourite retreats of Corot and the other founders of that school. In 1900, he exhibited four landscapes at the exhibition of four Armenian artists in Paris. During his stay in France he produced almost thirty paintings. Perhaps the best o.f these is Meudon (1901).
Bashindjagyan's small studio at 132, Boulevard Mont-parnasse was frequently visited by Russian and Armenian artists and intellectuals who sojourned in Paris. His work got some coverage in the French press. Here is what L'Aurore wrote about him in 1900: "Bashindjagyan's paintings depict his native land, the Caucasus. His work is captivating rather than overwhelming. His art is that of a dreamer who shuns turmoil and confusion. The most impressive aspect of his oils is the play of light on clouds, water, and foliage. On the other hand, he can create landscapes of great emotional power, like Approaching Storm with its low leaden clouds, glassy water, and stark, frozen trees. Yet he is, above all, the poet of subdued fresh shades."25 La Plume described Bashindjagyan as a representative of the "newly emerged Armenian school of painting."26 Le Journal des Artistes stressed that Bashindjagyan and Edgar Chahine (an Armenian artist who lived in Paris) were a great credit to Armenian art.27
During his stay in France, Bashindjagyan got over his liking for dark, sombre tones. According to R. Drampyan, a Soviet art historian, the colours he put on his palette became "pure and joyful".28 In 1901, the artist came back and settled down in Tiflis for the rest of his life. Between 1902 and 1911, his landscapes featured prominently at exhibitions in Baku, Tiflis, and St Petersburg. He took to writing and produced two books of memoirs which were published in 1910 in London and from 1895 to 1916 in St Petersburg.
In addition to Bashindjagyan's finest landscapes, the present book brings to the public some of his previously unproduced works, including two portraits and a few still lifes, sketches and drawings. Many of Bashindjagyan's sketches are nothing short of accomplished works, as is amply shown by his sketches of haystacks and Study in Purple — one of his last paintings. It is interesting to compare the view from the artist's studio in Paris with the view
from his studio in Tiflis. The former is a study in dove-grey and blue pink. The latter is painted in vivid red and orange and seems to irradiate the glow of the scorching Caucasian summer. Bashindjagyan's best landscapes date back to the period between 1890 and 1915. They include Early Spring (1890), Summer Day on Lake Sevan (1903), Lake Sevan at Night (1894), and his masterpiece Mt. Ararat with a Ploughed Field in the Foreground (1912). Despite their dissimilarity, these landscapes make up a harmonious whole. They are like many voices mingling in a paean to Nature.
Bashindjagyan was a great master at depicting panoramic vistas and choosing the right point and angle of view. Lake Sevan at Night is dominated by the infinity of the sky which seems to engulf the dark shimmering waters. On the contrary, in Blue Sevan the lake is enormous and a distant island looks like a small boat drifting out to sea. The seascape impression is accentuated by the narrow band of the sky along the upper margin of the picture A seasoned traveller, Bashindjagyan loved the motif of the road. It recurs as a salient thematic element in many of his landscapes and assumes profound philosophical connotations. His dirt roads and tortuous mountain trails are all symbols of continuous movement.
He rarely used contrasting colours, preferring a gamut of almost transparent pearly hues which blend softly with one another. But he could also vividly portray rustic, down-to-earth rural scenes. He was naturally averse to saccharine idylls and pastorals and never beautified such scenes in order to mask or transform plain and crude objects. A good example of Bashindjagyan's approach to the portrayal of rural life is Village Landscape which he produced in 1898. In this picture, the sun-bleached walls of humble dwellings are splashes of white set off by the dark hues of the fields painted with broad, bold strokes which clearly show how unyielding the soil is and what it takes to till it.
An artist of consummate skill, Bashindjagyan produced a great many landscapes of rare brilliance, but even among these his Summer Night in Tiflis stands out as exquisitely poetic. Perhaps it is also one of Bashindjagyan's most personal and self-conscious paintings, for it shows a city which was part and parcel of his life and which he loved more than any other city in the world.
Konstantin Paustovsky, outstanding Soviet novelist and ardent lover of nature, visited Tiflis in 1925 and was carried away by viewing the city from the top of a high hill "on a fairylike moonlit night in the magic hour when the sky loses colour, the mountains become ashen, and the gardens lie dove-grey and mysterious in the pale pink mist of almond trees in blossom, in the shadowless hour when one can hear the voice of silence".
That "magic hour" is shown with peerless skill in Summer Night in Tiflis with its pale coppery moon, hazy mountains, dimly shimmering river, and blurred silhouettes of bridges and buildings which seem to float in shadowless mists.
Technical brilliance means a lot, but it takes more than that to excel in landscape painting. It takes plenty of dedication and inspiration which are only born of understanding and Jove. Love of beauty and harmony. Love of Man. Love of eternal, undying, and continuously and infinitely changeable Nature. The turn of the century was marked by far-reaching developments in Armenia's cultural life. During that period, Bashindjagyan was closely associated with a number of his compatriots prominent in literature and the arts, including the poet Hovanes Tumanyan, the composer Sogomon Komitas, the authors Alexander Shirvan-zadeh, Alexander Tsaturyan and Ioannes loannisyan, the artists Yegisheh Tatevosyan and Fa-nos Terlemezyan, and the celebrated actor Petros Adamyan.
He always did all he could to promote young talent. Thus, he took under his wing the budding poets Ave-tik Isaakyan and Iosif Grishashvili. Nationalistic attitudes were totally alien to Bashindjagyan. Like his paintings, his short stories and novelettes depict the life of both the Armenians and the Georgians. He was familiar with and appreciated Russian art and literature and in 1916 paid a posthumous tribute to Leo Tolstoy, portraying him against the typically Russian background of his country estate. He was fluent in the three major Caucasian languages and had a profound knowledge of classical Georgian literature. His translations introduced to the Armenian public the work of the outstanding Georgian poet Akaky Tsereteli. He designed the plaque
which was installed in Tbilisi in memory of Sayat-Nova, one of the greatest poets of Transcaucasia. On many occasions, he resolutely raised his voice against all sorts of social injustice.30 He was unswervingly loyal to realism in art. In 1904, he wrote an essay on painting, which says in part: "The principal objective of literature, painting, sculpture and other arts is the portrayal of truth, therefore they must abide by the laws of Nature."31 Bashindjagyan's activities as an artist, writer and public figure were closely linked with contemporary political and cultural developments. After the establishment of Soviet power in Armenia, he took an active part in the work of the Centre of Armenian Art in Tbilisi. In 1921, his paintings were displayed at exhibitions held by the Armenian Artists' Union in Tbilisi and Yerevan. In 1924, he participated in an exhibition organized by the Armenian Artists' Society in Yerevan. In February of the same year he was elected an honorary member of the Georgian Artists Union.
Bashindjagyan's elder sons went to study in Petrograd. They took an active part in the revolutionary events in Transcaucasia and subsequently they became prominent scientists.
The artist died on 4th October 1925. In accordance with his will, he was buried at the side of Sayat-Nova's tomb in Tbilisi.
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