IETA Vladimir

Vladimir Matthew (1877-1914). Everyone who knew his people Matthew seemed a man of unusual. Now, . when it was three quarters of a century after his unexpected death, . He is seen in the context of its era it an organic part, . moreover, . one of the most characteristic figures of the time, . embody the almost all new spiritual influences Russia's Culture 1910-ies,
. In historical perspective, Matthew presents an artistic figure of the universal type, sensitively caught the needs of internal self-Russian and European culture at the beginning of XX century.
Waldemar Matvejs was a Latvian, a native of Riga. On his arrival in Petersburg he was recommended to the Russian style Vladimir Ivanovich Matveev and often performed under a pseudonym in. Markov.

Matthew received his primary art education in Riga at the school drawing B. Blum, who graduated with honors. His diploma painting "Birches at sunset," was exhibited in Paris and Rome, where she won a gold medal. After a short time, Matthew worked as a teacher of drawing in the small town of Tukums, and then moved to the capital, where he wanted to continue the arts education. The Academy of Fine Arts, he did not immediately admitted and since 1903 about two years in the studio well-known graphic and teacher Tsionglinskogo; from 1906 to 1914, was a student at the Academy of Arts, . which is not finished, . he died a month before the submission of a competitive final picture,
. This seemingly simple and brief canvas, as it were, is just cooked and the approach to follow an independent life, says nothing about the actual spiritual and creative life of Matthew. Official study therefore dragged him so long that he assigned her time left from the scientific and artistic activities, from travel and community service.

. Matthew came to the art at that time, . when most of the legacy of the XIX century the principles of artistic reflection of reality has ceased to correspond to the outlook of people, . sinkopicheskim sensitive to the rhythms of the century XX, . when she became "more homeless, . darker gloom of life ",
. Milling and worn canons postrenessan-Snoy system of formal plastic natures were modified language, not organic to send a new status of a person in the world. The found blocks of words "homeless" accurately reflects the discrepancy had broken through a new outlook of the traditional concept of the universe with its solid space, . centered on the creative personality, . subordinating everything around her (and only) point of view,
. It required a strong update and expansion of means of artistic expression, the 1910's were a time of bold experiments, often naive and immature, sometimes excessive and destructive rather than constructive.

. Matthew on his spiritual constitution was the perfect transition period the experimenter
. In his method was intuitive and dreamy contemplation of the artist, and the conscious analytical work thought aesthetics and art. The fruit of his observations and research was a small book "Texture. The principles of creativity in the plastic arts "(St. Petersburg, 1914). Assuming to resolve the question of questions - what makes an object of aesthetic properties, . Matthew has done a consistent analytical description neizobrazitelnyh elements of artistic creation - material, . light-dim, . Instrument, . ligaments and foundations, . writing techniques, . frames etc., . that is all that, . that after half a century will be the subject of semiotic studies and will be called "semantic form",
. "Driving around the wide world - wrote Matthew - just make sure that every nation, every city, every village has its own tuning fork, more or less clearly expressed". To create a "fork" contemporary artists, according to Matthew, "must consciously choose materials. If the artist is interested to get a tuning fork of gravity, stiffness ... he should seek advice only to the old painting, and only she can help him to find out what made a particular tuning fork. "

. Thus, . Matthew played here as a theorist of the avant-garde, . but unlike, . say, . Futurists, . with whom at one time was a friend, . did not call anyone to throw off the "ship of modernity", . but, . opposite, . the voyage into the future, he thought it necessary to use long-forgotten map and hitherto unknown pilots,
. His artistic credo Matthew formulated in another posthumously published book: "familiarity with alien to us creative methods should give a new point of departure of artistic ideas and open new creative possibilities."

. Find new and innovative forms of expression Matthew spent the last few years of life
. And his work is not confined to laboratory formotvorchestvu. He collected the grain of art treasures, not only from books, but where few people before it came into his head to look for them - in ethnographic museums, fairs, the abandoned village church. Over five years, . regularly leaving for several months in Europe, . Matthew went to Sweden, . which discovered the harsh northern Gothic churches, . conciseness wooden carving, . something akin to his native Latvian, . went to Italy and a dozen other countries,
. Foot and by bike, like his older contemporary B. Bernson, who was born, like Matthew, in Russia's Baltic region, he walked around dozens of Italian towns and villages, photographing, studying and sketching the monuments protorenessansa. According to the memoirs of the artist in. Bubnov, he is always carrying a small sketchbook, which recorded the color balance of the old frescoes and altarpiece.

. From dragging an Italian primitive, already familiar from the pre-Raphaelite artists, Matthew organically joined to the study of non-European artistic traditions
. Naturally, he could not ignore popular at the time of Orientalism, the fruit of his Chinese Studies was the book of translations of Chinese poetry, "The Pipe China". Transfers, more precisely, with transcriptions of the French translations of Judith Gautier and the German Max Vetge, he performed with the young poet Vyacheslav Egorevym. The book begins with a long article on Chinese poetry, to which he came as an artist. Not knowing the Chinese language, he nevertheless felt fine willed features of this literature, never broke with fine. "Chinese poetry - he wrote - thanks to the property of their language, had won two of beauty: music and the picturesque. Translations Matthew, according to today's ideas are far from perfect, but they are extremely interesting as one of the first attempts to express the Chinese imagery of Russian poetry. These verses rather clumsy and a little ridiculous in their borrowing, sadly:

Raging autumn wind.
White clouds overtake the flock of ducks.
Rapidly faded leaves worn in the air.
Niknut lotuses and dispel the scent of roses ...
Nevertheless, these translations can not be limited to recidivism kitayschiny, inherited from modernism. The desire for a visible graphic quality images rather closer to acmeism - Chinese theme attracted, by the way, and H. Gumilev (Collection "Porcelain Pavilion"). However, the culture of the Far East did not dominated the passions Matthew. More characteristic was his enthusiasm that come only from the XX century, - first and foremost an African plastics. Interest in this art made Matthew in 1912 and 1913 to explore museums Christian, Copenhagen, Hamburg, London, Paris, Cologne, Brussels, Leiden, Amsterdam, Leipzig, Berlin and St. Petersburg. These materials and their views Matthew outlined in his book "The Art of the Negro," where he, in particular, wrote: "After the most cursory review ... we must make sure that the art of the Negro is not baby talk, but a serious independent art with its strict laws and traditions ". This view was understandable at the time. In addition to Picasso but a dozen artists, very few (perhaps the same Gumilev, who has an African theme is colonial exotic flavor) really looked at those idols and gods. As if responding to the bewilderment of the public, . Matthew exclaimed at the end of the book: "Do not obtained Negro beauty are an extension of the concept of beauty, . not represent a valuable contribution to the treasury of the world of beauty? "This book came out after the revolution, . 1919, . published by ISO Narcompros,
. Word about the book at the College of Fine Arts said in. Mayakovsky. The very publication produced V. Bubnov and LI Zheverzheyev, friends of Matthew on the Union of Youth "- the creative association, which included M. Larionov, N. Goncharova, K. Malevich, P. Filonov In. Tatlin (cm. brief biography), O. Rozanov, numerous Burliuks, IN. Khlebnikov B. Livshits, A. Kruchenykh, E. Guro other. Organizer and soul of the Confederacy was Matvey. He wrote theoretical articles in the magazine "Youth Union", actively participated in the exhibitions.

Picturesque heritage Matthew quite considerably - about 120 paintings, mostly sketches. His paintings often graphically, he loved the bright local color, often encircled with black expressive contour. The line from Matthew is very expressive, it falls a considerable artistic load. Some songs cause association with Munch, others - something similar to the early Gauguin PONT avenskogo period. Such, for example, landscape sketches in 1913, written on coarse-grained canvas with a thin layer of liquid paints. The painted motifs are given generalized silhouettes. Their local spot plane and graphically.

Matthew died incomplete 37 years, on the rise, in three days, burning with a random disease. His friend and wife in. Bubnov, Matthew went through almost 70 years, wrote in the foreword to "The Art of the Negro": "His life was a simple soul - humane and clear, and all aimed at seeking a beautiful form."