Shvarts, Viacheslav Grigorevich

Shvarts, Viacheslav Grigor’evich 

Born Sept. 22 (Oct. 4), 1838, in Kursk; died there Mar. 29 (Apr. 10), 1869. Russian painter.

Shvarts studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts from 1859 to 1863 under B. P. Villeval’de. He perfected his painting technique in Germany (1861) and France (1863–64, 1867). The founder of the historical genre in Russian painting, he strove to depict historical events realistically, to reveal the life-style and national character of the Russian people of past ages, and to impart deep significance to landscape in the imagery of a picture.

Works by Shvarts include Ivan the Terrible by the Body of the Son He Has Slain (1864, Tret’iakov Gallery, Moscow), illustrations for A. K. Tolstoy’s novel Prince Serebrianyi (pen and ink, 1863–65, Tret’iakov Gallery), and Scene From the Domestic Life of the Russian Tsars (1865, Russian Museum, Leningrad).

REFERENCE

Vereshchagina, A. G. V. G. Shvarts: 1838–1869. Leningrad-Moscow, 1960. (Contains bibliography.)