Etude of the life of the Russian Tsars (Chess playing)Наследие семьи Шварц: [каталог выставки]: к 170-летию Вячеслава Григорьевича Шварца [The Schwarts Family Legacy: [Exhibition catalogue]: 170th anniversary of Vyacheslav Grigorievich Shvarts] (in Russian). Курск: ПОЛСТАР. 2008. P. 19. . (Russian: Сцена из домашней жизни русских царей, also known as Chess Game,Вячеслав Григорьевич Шварц: переписка, 1838—1869: к 175–летию со дня рождения [Vyacheslav Grigorievich Shvarts: Correspondence, 1838-1869: 175th anniversary of his birth] (PDF) (in Russian). Курск: ПОЛСТАР. 2013. p. 108. The Tsar Plays Chess, exhibited at the exhibition Russian Historical Painting in 1939 under the title Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Playing Chess, under this name it was widely known in Soviet times and mentioned in historical monographs)In particular, under this title the picture is reproduced in the book Bokhanov A. N. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. M.: Veche, 2012. P. 384. (Great Historical Persons). is a painting by the Russian artist Vyacheslav Grigoryevich Schwarz (1838–1869), created in 1865. In September of the same year, Vyacheslav Schwarz submitted three paintings to the regular exhibition of the Imperial Academy of Arts: "1) Celebration of Palm Sunday in Moscow in the half of the 17th century", "2) Soldier of the Zemstvo militia (16th century)", "3) Scene from the domestic life of the Russian tsars (half of the 17th century) — a chess game", accompanied by a petition to grant him the title of Academician after their examination, which he received.
The famous collector and art patron Nikolai Stroganov bought the painting from the artist in 1865. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, it was exhibited at many prestigious exhibitions. The painting is now part of the collection and permanent exhibition of the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.
At different times, art historians and cultural studies scholars have assessed the artist's painting differently. For example, the Soviet art historian Alla Vereshchagina wrote that the choice of these episodes instead of "the great multitude of tragic and dramatic episodes of the turbulent 17th century" was determined by the artist's limited understanding of Russian history. On the contrary, the contemporary art historian Maria Chukcheeva believes that the painting reflects the urgent needs of the 1860s, when the study of pre-Petrine life was "one of the most pressing issues" of historical scholarship. Nevertheless, art historians are unanimous in their appreciation of the artist's recreation of 17th-century everyday life; even the artist's contemporaries noted his "fine, philigran work", "remarkable diligence and fidelity" to the details of the period depicted.
History of the painting's creation and its final destiny
Vyacheslav Schwarz's historical painting and work up to 1865
In the 1860s, Russian society became interested in Russian history. It took a prominent place in literature (there were plays about the Times of Troubles by Alexander Ostrovsky, a trilogy by Alexei Tolstoy...), numerous publications by great historical scholars in the magazines Sovremennik and Otechestvennye Zapiski. At the same time, the opera Boris Godunov was conceived by Modest Mussorgsky. The interest in the past was largely due to the liberal reforms of Alexander II in the 1860s. The prevailing academic trend in history painting was unable to satisfy the demands of society, and its works seemed to contemporaries far removed from real life, becoming symbols of reaction or stagnation. The leading genre of Russian fine art became the genre art, with its topical themes and denunciatory character. The demands of public opinion for the renewal of the idea of history in Russian painting were formulated by the realist artist Ivan Kramskoy, the leader of the Petersburg Artists' Union and the Society for Travelling Art Exhibitions: Russia needs a historical artist "who will speak to the world in an understandable language to all peoples... an artist who will sense the historical moment in people's current lives".
By the time he made Etude on the Life of the Russian Tsars (Chess Game), Vyacheslav Schwarz had decided to give up his studies at the Imperial Academy of Arts (this happened in 1863). After receiving the second and then the first silver medal for painting, he was awarded the title of artist of the third class.Наследие семьи Шварц: [каталог выставки]: к 170-летию Вячеслава Григорьевича Шварца [The Schwarts Family Legacy: [Exhibition catalogue]: 170th anniversary of Vyacheslav Grigorievich Shvarts] (in Russian). Курск: ПОЛСТАР. 2008. pp. 10, 19. . He had already stopped working in the military art, which he had started with, and concentrated on the historical genre, which brought him fame. Vyacheslav Schwarz made two long training trips abroad, where he studied in the workshops of famous masters of the history genre — to Germany (where he studied at the school of Julius Schrader, and for a short time was fascinated by the work of Wilhelm von Kaulbach); During the four months of his journey, he visited Berlin, Dresden, Cologne, Frankfurt am Main, Augsburg, Karlsruhe, Darmstadt) and France (on behalf of the Empress Maria Alexandrovna, the artist had to compile and publish illustrations for Alexei Tolstoy's historical novel Prince Serebrenni, In addition to the cities of fragmented Germany, he visited Antwerp, Brussels and Paris, lived for a long time in the village of Barbizon, the young painter was greatly impressed by the work of Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier). Vyacheslav Schwarz's meeting with the music and art critic Vladimir Stasov, who led the realist trend in Russian culture, was of serious importance for the development of the artist's views on art.
At the same time as studying at the Imperial Academy of Arts, Schwarz attended classes at the Faculty of History and Philology of Saint Petersburg State University as a free student. Here he met Nikolai Kostomarov, a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and one of the most important historians of the time. Kostomarov's lectures and communication with him gave direction to the artist's search for historical painting. As a result, the artist showed him his works while they were still in the sketching stage.Chukcheeva interprets the problem differently: "Nothing is known about Shvarts's reaction to these lectures, but we can assume that the ethnographic approach to the study of Russian history may have interested the artist". As a sign of the artist's merits in the study and depiction of everyday life of past epochs, the Imperial Archaeological Commission elected him a full member in January 1865. In the same year, the Moscow Archaeological Society also elected him a full member.
The painting creation, its evaluation by contemporaries and final destiny Several of the artist's biographers report that in 1865 the Imperial Academy of Arts awarded Vyacheslav Schwarz the title of Academician of Historical Painting for his painting Palm Sunday at the Time of Alexei Mikhailovich, after which the artist created a number of paintings on subjects from the everyday life of the 17th century. Among these paintings was the painting Etude on the Life of the Russian Tsars (Chess Game).Schwarz V. G. Сцена из домашней жизни русских царей (Игра в шахматы). 1865 [Etude of the life of the Russian Tsars (Chess playing). 1865] (in Russian). Русский музей. Виртуальный филиал. Дата обращения: 24 August 2017. Archive: 27 August 2017. In 2013, the original text of Schwarz's "petition" to the Council of the Academy of Arts was published for the first time, in which he reported that he was submitting three paintings for the title of Academician on the basis of the totality of these works. Among them was Scene from the Etude on the Life of the Russian Tsars:Вячеслав Григорьевич Шварц: переписка, 1838—1869: к 175–летию со дня рождения [Vyacheslav Grigorievich Shvarts: Correspondence, 1838-1869: 175th anniversary of his birth] (PDF) (in Russian). Курск: ПОЛСТАР. 2013. p. 112. To the Council of the Academy of Arts... I submit the following paintings for this year's academic exhibition: 1) The Celebration of Palm Sunday in Moscow in the Middle of the 17th Century, 2) A Soldier of the Zemstvo Militia (16th Century), 3) Etude of the life of the Russian Tsars (Chess playing). Please consider the paintings and if the Council finds them worthy, accept me as an academician...Vyacheslav Schwarz studied two periods of Russian history and the two most important personalities of these periods: the reign of Ivan the Terrible and the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. In the last period of his life (1865–1868) he concentrated entirely on the second epoch. In February 1865, the artist first mentioned the title of the painting Etude of the life of the Russian Tsars (Chess playing) in one of his letters to his father.The letter, written by Schwarz on 6 February 1865, is preserved in the collection of the Manuscripts Department of the State Tretyakov Gallery, No. 79 / 275. The artist reported: "Today I am writing a scene from the domestic life of the Russian Tsars. The painting will soon be finished and put on permanent display".
The painting Etude of the life of the Russian Tsars (Chess playing) depicts Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich playing chess with a boyar. Its technique is cardboard on canvas, oil. The size of the canvas is 26.5 × 33 centimetres.Государственный Русский музей. Живопись, XVIII — начало XX века. Каталог [State Russian Museum. Painting, XVIII - early XX centuries. Catalogue] (in Russian). Л.: Аврора, Искусство. 1980. p. 346. It was first shown to the public at an exhibition at the Imperial Academy of Arts in 1865, together with two other paintings by the artist: The Celebration of Palm Sunday in Moscow under Patriarch Nikon and A Soldier of the Zemstvo Militia of the 16th Century. The artist was worried about the reception of the painting by the general public, as he understood that it was far from the critical paintings that made a positive impression on democratically minded journalists and the public at that time. He was particularly disturbed by the painting's proximity to the typically academic works of other artists on display. He wrote to his father: "I am expecting a terrible rugotnya from the journals, especially as this year Maenad and Aphrodite have appeared again, with and without tambourines". Alla Vereshchagina, in her monograph on the artist's work, claimed that critics were indifferent to Schwarz's paintings: there was neither strong condemnation nor admiration. The exhibition itself was heavily criticised in the press. The magazine Sovremennik criticised the artist Fyodor Bronnikov for his historical and everyday paintings of Ancient Rome, and according to Vereshchagina, Schwarz could not help but attribute the negative reviews of his work to his own paintings. All this, according to the Soviet art historian, made Vyacheslav Schwarz "rethink his art".