Alexander E. Yakovlev (1887-1938)

AE Yakovlev was the son of a naval officer. Art education at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1905-13), in the workshop D. Kardovsky , pay special attention to the training pattern. Even then, Yakovlev became interested in drawing and began working in the art magazines of those years as a graphic artist. His drawings have appeared in "Apollo," he drew a lot of "Satyricon", and later - for the "New Satyricon" and "Fields".

Artist early in 1909 began to participate in exhibitions. His large group portrait "On Academic summer residence" shown at the Baltic exhibition in 1912 in Malmo (Sweden), has earned an approving response A. Benois .

In the academic years struck up a close friendship and creative collaboration with Yakovlev V. I. Shuhaevym ; contemporaries jokingly referred to them as artists-twins.

Passing a short period of apprenticeship impressionism, Yakovlev turned for inspiration to classical art. His competitive work "Bathing" and "In the bath" (both 1913) demonstrated the orientation of the young artist on the art of the old masters. They occurred as early as his attraction to the "neo-classical". For this work Yakovlev received the title of the artist and the pensioner's trip abroad. 1913-15 years. he spent in Italy, where he studied painting old. Then traveled to Spain, on the island of Mallorca.

Along with the huge number of field studies carried out in Italy, artist self-portrait in the form of Harlequin, which became part of the double self-portrait Shuhaeva and Yakovlev. This picture of the artists was considered one of the greatest of his works. Yakovlev painted himself in a theatrical make-up and colorful costume, invented by the artist Nikolai Sapunov. Theatrical portrait is the best match funds from the arsenal of the old art: the exact figure, almost sculptural modeling forms, the local color, some primitive coming from Russian popular print. Elements of styling, follow the masters of the Italian Renaissance, or the art of primitive seen in the works of other artists, such as in the film "Fiddler" (1915).

This and some of the works created in Italy, Yakovlev shown at the exhibition "World of Art" on his return to Petrograd in 1915, they caused a flurry of wide variety of estimates. Council of Arts, in particular, took paintings by the artist. In the second half of the 1910s. Yakovlev engaged in portrait painting and drawing, reaching great success in technology sanguine. Among the most important works of this period include "Portrait Kazaroza (Artist's Wife)" (1916) and "Self-Portrait" (1917), graphic portraits of Fyodor Chaliapin, NE Radloff.