There are many talented people in the world. But so that several abilities are combined in one person is a rarity. The great native of Ukraine, whom we want to talk about, is just one of those - generously gifted by God. He is known as a great poet and also as an artist.
In a large family
There is a village Morintsy in Cherkasy region. Taras Shevchenko was born here (March 9, 1814). The poet died on 1861-10-03. This is the year of the abolition of serfdom. And Taras Grigoryevich Shevchenko was a "servant". Not the master of himself, his life, activities and hobbies.
Father - Grigory Ivanovich - was also a serf. And all his many children. They are the property of the landowner, whose name was Vasily Engelhardt. On the father's side, Taras's ancestors descended from the Zaporozhye Cossack Andrey. And in the family of the mother (Katerina Yakimovna) - immigrants from the Carpathians.
With unkind stepmother
Soon the family moved to the village of Kirillovka. Shevchenko Taras Grigoryevich spent his early years here. Yes, soon grief fell on all of them - their mother died. My father married a widow. She had three children of her own. She especially disliked Tarasik. His older sister Katya looked after him - she was kind,compassionate. Soon she got married and left the family. And just two years after the death of his mother, his father also died.
Taras turned 12. At first he worked with a teacher. Then he got to the icon painters. They moved from village to village. Shevchenko Taras Grigoryevich also grazed sheep as a teenager. Served a priest.
One thing was good: I learned to read and write at school. "Bogomazy" introduced the boy to the simplest rules of drawing.
In the master's house
But he is 16. Shevchenko Taras Grigoryevich became the servant of the new landowner - Pavel Engelhardt. The very one whose portrait he would paint later, in 1833. This would be Shevchenko's earliest known watercolor work. It was made in the style of a then fashionable miniature portrait.
But first Taras played the role of a cook. Then he was assigned to the Cossacks. However, he was already interested in painting and fell in love with it.
Thanks to the master. Noticing all this in the serf guy, when he was in Vilna (now Vilnius), he sent Taras to Jan Rustem, a teacher at the local university. He was a good portrait painter. And when his master decided to settle in the capital, he took a talented servant with him. Like, you will be my kind of house painter.
Meet in the park
Taras was already 22 years old. Once he was standing in the Summer Garden and redrawing the statues. Started a conversation with one artist, who turned out to be his fellow countryman. It was Ivan Soshenko. He became a close friend of Taras. For a while they even lived in the same apartment. When Shevchenko died, Ivan Maksimovichaccompanied his coffin to Kanev.
So, this Soshenko, after talking with the Ukrainian poet Yevgeny Grebenka (who was one of the first to understand how talented Shevchenko Taras Grigorievich is an artist), led the newcomer to get acquainted with the “necessary” people. He was brought to Vasily Grigorovich. It was the secretary of the Academy of Arts. He, himself a native of Pyriatyn, greatly contributed to the development of art education in Ukraine and in every possible way helped novice painters. He also did everything he could to ransom Shevchenko from serfdom. It was to him that the poet dedicated the poem "Haydamaki" on the day of his release.
Also, Taras was introduced to the master of genre scenes from peasant life, teacher of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts Alexei Venetsianov. And also with the eminent Karl Bryullov, as well as with the famous poet Vasily Zhukovsky. It was a real elite.
Taras Grigoryevich Shevchenko aroused great sympathy among them. His creative biography was just beginning.
It was important to recognize the exceptional talent of this outstanding Ukrainian.
Free, finally
Everything rested on his master - Engelhardt. They appealed to a sense of humanism. It did nothing. And the personal petition for Shevchenko of Karl Bryullov himself - this most famous academician of painting - only fueled the desire of the landowner to make a round sum on the servant. Professor Venetsianov, accepted in the imperial court, also asked for Shevchenko! But even this high authority did not move the matter forward. With bows to the master wentthe most venerable writers. All in vain!
Taras was in despondency. He really wanted freedom. Hearing about another refusal, he came to Ivan Soshenko in the most desperate mood. He even threatened to take revenge on his master…
All the artist's friends are already alarmed. No matter how much more trouble! They decided to act differently. They knew how to buy Engelhardt. They offered him an incredibly large amount for just one serf - 2,500 rubles!
And that's where they came from. Zhukovsky agreed with Bryullov: he would paint his portrait. Then the picture was exhibited at one lottery - in the Anichkov Palace. This very portrait was a win. This is how the 24-year-old serf Shevchenko got his freedom. It was in 1838
How could Taras thank his friends for this? He dedicated "Katerina" to Zhukovsky, his most significant poem.
In the same year - admission to the Academy of Arts. Shevchenko became both a student and a true friend of Karl Bryullov.
These years are the brightest, most joyful in the life of the Kobzar. On the horse, as they say, was Shevchenko Taras Grigorievich. His creativity gained great strength.
Not only art flourished, but also the gift of poetry. Only two years later (after liberation from serfdom) the Kobzar saw the light of day. In 1842 - "Gaidamaki". And in the same year, the painting "Katerina" was created. Many people know her. The artist wrote based on his own poem of the same name.
The critics of St. Petersburg and even the perspicacious Belinsky not only did not understand at all, but also sharply condemned Ukrainian literature in general. The former peasantgot it especially. They even ridiculed the language in which Shevchenko Taras Grigorievich wrote. Only provincialism was seen in his poems.
But Ukraine itself correctly assessed and accepted the poet. He became her prophet.
In a distant link
The 1845-1846 years have come. He draws closer to the Cyril and Methodius Society. These were young people who were interested in the development of the Slavic peoples. In particular Ukrainian.
Ten members of the circle were arrested, accused of creating a political organization. And Shevchenko was found guilty. Although the investigators could not clearly prove his connection with the Cyril and Methodius. He was charged with a “violation” for composing “outrageous” poems in terms of content. Yes, even in the Little Russian language. True, the same famous Belinsky believed that he "received" for his poem "Dream". For it is a clear satire on the king and queen.
As a result, 33-year-old Taras was recruited. Sent as a private in the Orenburg region. Where this region merges with Kazakhstan. But the worst thing was that the soldier was strictly forbidden to write or draw anything.
He sent a letter to Gogol, whom he did not personally know. I also sent an envelope to Zhukovsky. With a request to beg for him only one favor - permission to draw. Many other eminent people also worked for him. Everything is in vain. This ban has not been lifted.
Then Shevchenko took up modeling, trying to somehow show his creative nature. He wrote several books - in Russian. This, for example, is "Princess", also "Artist" and more"Twins". They contain many details from his personal biography.
The poet returned to St. Petersburg in 1857. He immersed himself in both poetry and painting. I even wanted to start a family, but it didn't work out.
I also took it upon myself to compile a school textbook - for the people. And in Ukrainian, of course, language.
He died in St. Petersburg. He was first buried in the local cemetery. And after a couple of months, according to the will of the poet himself, they transported the coffin with his ashes to Ukraine. And they buried it over the Dnieper - on Chernechi Mountain. This is near Kanev. He was only 47 years old.
There was not a single monument to the Kobzar in the Russian Empire. Its widespread perpetuation began after the revolution of 1917. Outside the country, monuments to an outstanding person were erected by the Ukrainian diaspora.
When the 200th anniversary of his birth was celebrated in 2014, all the monuments and other objects named after him were counted. There were 1060 of them in 32 countries. And on different continents.
