This exhibition can be called the culminating event in a series of festive events dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the great artist in his native Kazan. The curator of the exhibition Svetlana Semikolenova, director of the Ostrovsky House-Museum, a branch of the Bakhrushin State Central Theater Museum, conducted a tour for the first visitors.
She draws our attention to the wall, where photographs of Fyodor Chaliapin in various roles hang. And in the center is the one where the artist is naked to the waist.
– I call her “Naked Chaliapin”, – says Svetlana Semikolenova with a smile. -One of the first biographers of Fyodor Ivanovich, the art critic Siegfried, has interesting observations about his figure and face. He claimed that Chaliapin was created to wear makeup, theatrical costumes, and reincarnate. And I would like to emphasize that he is not just a vocalist, not just a bass player. This is a great Russian musical theater actor. “I wrote my system of Fyodor Chaliapin,” says Konstantin Stanislavsky.
Even playing in the same performance, with a common paper drawing, the artist never repeated himself. And Chaliapin was helped to create magnificent images by the best artists of his time, with whom he was friends with him. For example, in the exhibition you can see a sketch of the costume of Mephistopheles for “Faust” made by Vasily Polenov, sketches of scenery for the opera “Sadko” by Konstantin Korovin and the development of makeup for the Assyrian king Holofernes in the opera. “Judith” by Valentin Serov.
At the exhibition you can see rare photographs of Fyodor Chaliapin in different images. Photo: Alexander Ashkinin
However, what sketches! How good are the costumes themselves, be it Melnik’s rags (“Mermaid”) or Vladimir Galitsky’s outfit (“Prince Igor”). Not only is the cut and richness of the materials striking, but also the size. Chaliapin’s height was 198 centimeters, and his foot size was 46-47. Great artist in every way!
The environment, of course, influenced his artistic taste and helped to show new facets of his talent. Fedor Ivanovich began to collect paintings. The exhibition presents works by Konstantin Yuon from his collection. The artist himself will write about them to his friend Gorky as follows: “I really liked Yuon’s sketches for the production of Boris Godunov. I persuaded the artist to sell them.”
Chaliapin himself also loved to draw. I did it everywhere: in the dressing room, on napkins in a restaurant. The exhibition presents a sketch of a portrait of Ivan the Terrible, made by the artist.
But perhaps the most amazing exhibit is the sculptural self-portrait of Fyodor Ivanovich. According to Svetlana Semikolenova, the idea was born during a playful conversation while she was visiting Gilyarovsky. The actor took a room under the workshop, brought clay there and began to sculpt his own bust under the close supervision of Moscow reporters.
Chaliapin, the sculptor, willingly posed. Newspaper articles with photographs have been preserved. According to the curator of the exhibition, in the last image the artist is standing near the sculpture: “Now I’ll just finish the lock and that’s it.”
Bast shoes and felt boots from the operas “Mermaid” and “Ivan Susanin”. The size is impressive. Photo: Alexander Ashkinin
And finally, Chaliapin also had literary abilities. The wonderful memories that he left are proof of this. And the “Inspiration and Work” chapter of this book suggested the name of the exhibition to the organizers.
– This chapter describes the creative credo of Fyodor Ivanovich, – explains Svetlana Semikolenova. -The artist refutes the opinion that his gift is reduced to one voice. As if God kissed him at birth, and he rode and rode from Kazan to Paris with his talent. All his life he studied with enthusiasm: from writers, artists, actors, he absorbed knowledge like a sponge. Behind each new role of Chaliapin was a great job.
