Merchants Vasily (1899-1935)

Vasily merchants - Pskov, was the son of a shoemaker in 1899. The decisive event in his life was the arrival in 1913 fall into a mosaic of Pskov branch of Art and Design School. NF Van der Fleet, where he soon gained a reputation as one of the most talented students.

 After leaving school in 1918, "with the reward and praise for the practical training in workshops," he was retained by the mosaic workshop as a master teacher of practical work, but already in 1921 g.uezzhaet towards GubONO to Petrograd to continue art education.

 Despite the financial difficulties and other hardships-time, years of study at the Academy were happy for him. Merchants, full of strength, hope, excitement, and despite the complexity of messages between Pskov and Petrograd, manages to participate in art exhibitions Pskov, consistently bringing in them the spirit of rebellion and discussion, and no wonder: in Petrograd, he gets into the thickened atmosphere of daring, sometimes revolutionary art Searching. He becomes a member of the "circle of artists' associations, is committed to the creation of" style of the era. "

 In addition, at the end of 1920. Merchants fall into the field of attraction of another, even more powerful "generator" of creative ideas - Pavel Filonov , the creator of the revolutionary "analytical method", overturned earlier ideas about art. It is interesting that as a passionate supporter of artistic and philosophical system Filonov , merchants are in no way did not become mindless followers and among his students occupied a separate place.

 By 1932, the artist has already achieved artistic maturity, with justifiable pride calls himself a "master-researcher" and completely absorbed in his work on the paintings on the theme of aviation.
 There is reason to believe that his passion for airplanes has arisen in Pskov. Those were the years of the First World War. Kupcov classmate at Art Industrial School Alexey Ivanovsky recalled: "The city was troubled. Were many soldiers. Came 7th Regiment ... On Zavelich'e was allotted airfield - the field where cattle grazed before. Over this airfield Farman and Nieuports every day surprised the crowd of onlookers that their dead loops, rolls, immelmanami ... Then one day came, "Ilya Muromets" - a miracle of the technology, and on it right away 16-man squad. We went to see "Elijah." He was standing among a field . It could inspect, though. He unguarded. sight was amazing. Surprisingly we were and how this huge chest of drawers, made ​​of plywood and does not fall apart in the air, and if it is not in the air, then landing on the airfield clumpy " .
already known to us in the first significant work Kupcov, "May Day" (1929), now kept in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, festively decorated town is shown with the height of an airplane.

 Still remain, three canvases Kupcov on the air: "Airplanes. Aeros' 1931 (Pskov Museum)," ANT-20 Maxim Gorky ", 1934 (State Russian Museum) and" airship. Air fleet the service sotsstroitelstva "1933 (Museum of the Armed Forces of Russia, Moscow).

 Creative way talented, fanatically devoted to art of the artist suddenly interrupted. This tragic end was directly related to the increased prosecution P. Filonov and his entourage so-called repressive authorities. 10th October 1935 marked Entries Filonov's next record, "I Kupcov was searched. Came at night - all dug up, took them to my rewrite of" The ideology of Fine Arts, "little book of Bakunin and Kropotkin."
 unable to withstand stress in anticipation of imminent arrest merchants soon hanged himself. In the memoirs of Sister Filonov, T. Glebova read: "24 October 1935 Filonov a phone call and was told that merchants had committed suicide, the enemy was shocked and went the next day ... goodbye ..." As it was reported obituary in the October 28, placed in the evening edition of the "Red newspaper", "Merchants recently worked on a large painting" Storming of the gods (Tsiolkovsky airship in the sky). "For the exhibition" The Industry of Socialism ", he made ​​a creative application for the painting" The Bolsheviks storming heaven " and has already started making sketches. "

 Source PSKOV CHRONICLES