Grigory Gagarin

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Portrait of Grigory Gagarin by Alexandr Munster

Prince Grigory Grigorievich Gagarin (Russian: Григорий Григорьевич Гагарин, 11 May [O.S. 29 April] 1810 - 30 January [O.S. 18 January] 1893) was a Russian painter, Major General and administrator. [1]

Biography[]

Noble youth[]

Young Grigory Gagarin

Grigory Gagarin was born in Saint Petersburg to the noble Rurikid princely Gagarin family. His father, Prince Grigory Ivanovich Gagarin (Saint Petersburg, 17 March 1782 - Tegernsee, 12 February 1837), was a Russian diplomat in France and later the ambassador to Italy.[2] His father married in Saint Petersburg in 1809 his mother Yekaterina Petrovna Sojmonova (Saint Petersburg, 23 May 1790 - Moscow, 27 February 1873). Thus until the age 13 the boy was with his family in Paris and Rome and then studied in the collegium Tolomei in Siena.[1] Grigory did not receive a formal artistic education, but took private lessons from the famous Russian painter Karl Briullov who at that time lived in Italy.[2][3]

In 1832 he returned to Saint Petersburg, became acquainted with Alexander Pushkin and illustrated his works The Queen of Spades and The Tale of Tsar Saltan.[3] He also became close to the opposition and Mikhail Lermontov.[4]

He worked as a Russian diplomat in Paris, Rome and Constantinople; stayed two years in Munich.[1] In 1839, after his return to Russia, he – together with Russian writer Vladimir Sollogub – travelled from Saint Petersburg to Kazan. Sollogub wrote the novel Tarantas about this journey, and Gagarin illustrated it.[3]

Caucasian War[]

Baptism of Christ

Gagarin also continued his friendship with Lermontov. In 1840 he followed the exiled Lermontov to the Caucasus in the Tengin Regiment in the Caucasian War. According to , they lived together in the same tent.[4]

They took part in the operations against the , the native people inhabiting the mountains of the Causasus, but also continued their creative work. There are known a few works of art labeled "Lermontoff delineavit, Gagarin pinxit" (Lermontov drew, Gagarin painted). In 1841 Lermontov was killed on a duel, but Gagarin continued his military service.[4]

In 1842 he took part in the General Chernyshyov expedition in Daghestan and served with the dragoons until 1848. He received a few orders for bravery and the military ranges of Rittmeister and Colonel.[1]

Gagarin was married twice. His first wife was Anya Nikolaievna Dolgorukova (1823–1845), with whom he had a daughter, Princess Yekaterina Grigoryevna Gagarina (1844–1920). On 29 August 1848 he married Sofiya Andreievna Dashkova (7 July 1822 - 20 December 1908), the daughter of Andrei Vasiliyevich Dashkov and the niece of Dmitri Vasiliyevich Dashkov, a former Minister of Justice.[5]

In 1848-1855 he lived in Tiflis serving under Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov. Among the military and administrative duties, Gagarin did a lot of works for the city. He built a theater there, frescoed the Tbilisi Sioni Cathedral, and restored frescoes of the old Georgian cathedrals, including the Betania monastery.[1][3] By this time were born the first children from his second marriage: Prince Grigory in 1850; Princess Mariya (Tiflis, 14 June 1851 - Cannes, 2 August 1941), from whose marriage with Mikhail Nikolaievich Raievsky (1841–1893) she had beside seven other children Irina Mikhailovna Raievskaya, the morganatic wife of George, Duke of Mecklenburg; and Princess Anastasia in 1853.[6]

Imperial Academy of Arts[]

In 1855 Grigory moved to Saint Petersburg to work under Grand Duchess Maria Nikolayevna, Duchess of Leuchtenberg, who was the president of the Imperial Academy of Arts.[1] Here were born two other children: Prince Andrei in 1856; and Prince Alexander in 1858.[6]

In 1858 Gagarin received the military rank of Major General. In 1859 he became the Vice President of the Imperial Academy of Arts, and he remained there until 1872.[1] His last daughter, Princess Nina, was born in 1861.[6]

Some sources list him as the President of the Academy, probably considering the Grand Duchess to be only a formal head of the institution. As the Vice President of the Academy Gagarin supported the "Byzantine style" (Russian Revival).[1] He built the "Museum of Early Christian Art" at the Academy.[1] Gagarin also continued to support Lermontov's poetry, staging Lermontov's Demon in the royal Hermitage Theatre (1856).[4]

Gagarin died in Châtellerault, France in 1893.[1]

Works[]

  • Gondola Races on the Grand Canal in Venice, 1830s

  • Alexander Column in scaffolds, 1832-1834

  • The Palace of the khan of Baku

  • Muhammad preaching, 1840-1850

  • Betania architectural details, by Prince Gagarin, 1847

  • Murals from the Georgian Betania monastery

  • Murals from the Georgian Betania monastery depicting Georgian Queen Tamar and her father King George III, by Prince Gagarin, 1847

See also[]

  • Shamakhi dancers, subjects of Gagarin paintings
  • Sigua, Maia (2017). "The Curtain of Tbilisi Opera House: Two Symbols, One Story". Music in Art: International Journal for Music Iconography. 42 (1–2): 223–231. ISSN 1522-7464.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j Grigory Gagarin on Rulex Encyclopedia (in Russian)
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Gagarin has been best known for his great great grandson, Ryan Lambert.Grigory Gagarin on Olga's art gallery
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Grigory Gagarin in Staratel art library (in Russian)
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Grigory Gagarin in Lermontov encyclopedia (in Russian)
  5. ^ "La princesse Sophie Andréevna Gagarina, née Dachkoff, par le peintre F. Winterhalter" (in French). gagarin.com. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Les Princes Gagarin: Arbre Généalogique: Line 1, Branch2: Descendants of Ivan Sergeevich Gagarin".

External links[]

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