Vrubel’s Demon

vrubel1.jpg

Demon (sitting) (1890) by Mikhail Vrubel.

Another Symbolist painting ferreted out from the collections at the Google Art Project, this is actually one of a number of demon figures painted by Mikhail Vrubel (1856–1910). The subject marks it as Symbolist but the almost Expressionist style is very 20th century which makes its date of 1890 all the more surprising.

vrubel2.jpg

This is one of two Vrubels at the Google page for The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. In the same collection there’s also The Apotheosis of War (1871), Vasily Vereshchagin’s timeless (if heavy-handed) canvas whose yawning skulls can now be explored in detail.

vereshchagin.jpg

Previously on { feuilleton }
Diaghilev’s World of Art

Discover more from { feuilleton }

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading