New pages in the creative biography of Vladimir Kazantsev: Ekaterinburg – Saint Petersburg – Poltava

Abstract

The article summarises and systematises biographical information about the Ural artist Vladimir Gavrilovich Kazantsev (1849–1903), who became one of the first professional artists of Ekaterinburg. The author considers the main milestones of the master's life and work: the Ekaterinburg period and the peculiarities of upbringing in an Old Believer family; a long way to the opportunity to learn the craft of painting at the Imperial Academy of Arts; the flowering of creativity, which fell on the 1880s, travelling in the Urals and moving to Poltava. In addition, the article mentions information about the last years of Vladimir Kazantsev's life, spent by him in Poltava. Although sources of information about Vladimir Kazantsev's life during the Poltava period outside of the Russian Federation are currently unavailable, the author highlights the need to address this gap for future researchers. For the first time Vladimir Kazantsev's role in the organisation of the Siberian-Ural Scientific and Industrial Exhibition of 1887 is considered in detail; his participation in Russian academic exhibitions and his entry to the international level at the Paris World Exhibition of 1889 are mentioned. Outlining the range of V.G. Kazantsev's professional successes, the publication has a generalising character and is accompanied by new data about the artist, taken from periodicals of the second half of the 19th century. A separate block of the article is devoted to the artist's hobbies and favourite pastimes. A number of artworks by Vladimir Kazantsev from the collection of the Ekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts are introduced into the scientific turnover for the first time.