Fedor
Petrovich Tolstoy

Professor medal art. Vice President of the Imperial Academy of Arts. In 1849, he was appointed Deputy President at the Special Committee on the Design of the Mosaic Facility established at the Academy of Arts. In 1851 he was in charge of the art department of the Mosaic Department (the technical part was under the authority of the Manager of the Imperial Porcelain and Glass factories).

(Kondakov)

One of the most interesting and distinctive artists of the first half of the XIX century - was born in 1783 in St. Petersburg in the family of the head of the Kriegs Commissariat and, according to the customs of that time, was immediately recorded as a sergeant in the Transfiguration Regiment. Parents, dreaming of seeing their son in the military, gave the boy to the Jesuit school in Polotsk, and then to the Marine Corps. The artistic abilities of the young man showed up very early. Being engaged in the building, F. P. Tolstoy as a volunteer began to attend the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. Gradually, the desire to become a professional artist matured, but for this it was necessary to resign, abandon a military career, prepare for the wrath of parents, family, break with relatives, acquaintances. Only the infinite love of art, courage allowed to decide on such an act. In 1804, he resigned. For a young artist began a life full of hardships and difficulties.

At the Academy of Arts, Tolstoy studied sculpture with Professor I. P. Prokofiev, and here he became friends with O. A. Kiprensky, whose council was guided in drawing plaster.

The artist enthusiastically copies the ancient statues, studies the ancient history, customs and customs of people from the distant past. Sincere and deep love for ancient art, which originated in his youth, in the future will pass through his entire creative path. Tolstoy quickly achieves success with exceptional talent and hard work. The first works of the artist - drawings and bas-reliefs on antique themes. So, in 1806, he performed the drawings “The Confidence of Alexander the Great of Macedonian to the Doctor Philip”, “The Court of Paris”, “The Fight of Hercules” and others (RM). For the wax bas-relief “The Triumphal Entry of Alexander the Great into Babylon” (1809, State Hermitage Museum) FP Tolstoy is elected an honorary member of the Academy of Arts.

Medal, sculpture and graphics, and later painting and decoration art - in almost every area of artistic creativity this distinctive and brilliant master showed himself. His early works, high reliefs of pink wax - “Boy under the veil”, “Bathing children” (both 1808-1809, Kalinin Regional Picture Gallery), “Dear” (1808-1809, State Hermitage Museum) - testify to great professionalism. The beauty of the lines, the smoothness of the outlines, the softness and expressiveness of the moldings are characterized by the figure of Dushenka. Knowledge of nature, great possession of the secrets of wax technique was noted by contemporaries in its high reliefs.

A very special place in the works of the early period is occupied by wax portraits - small-sized profile images made in low relief of light, yellow and pink wax on a black board or glass. If in the early portrait bas-reliefs, the sculptor seeks to express the intense inner life of his characters (portrait of A.F. Dudina, portraits of brothers), then later he follows the line of generalization and typing of images, showing greater freedom in using artistic means (portraits K. Leberecht, P. A. Tolstoy, etc.).

The beginning of the artist's work as a medalist is connected entirely with the St. Petersburg Mint, where in 1810 he was assigned. The medal, in his opinion, must be clear and intelligible, "so that everyone can understand right away for what reason she is beaten out."

“The writing of the medals entrusted to me,” wrote F.P. Tolstoy, “I thought of producing in the ancient Greek form, as the best in the fine arts, strictly observing the loyalty of customs, costumes, terrain and country of the time depicted on the medal known event ... "

In 1809, the first medal “In memory of the educational activities of Chatsky” appeared, performed in the best traditions of classicism, and in 1813-1817 there were medals, among which was an award medal to students of the Academy of Arts. All of them are distinguished by the classical rigor of the composition, the beauty of the contours, the smoothness of the rhythms and the accuracy of the pattern. Working long and hard in the field of medal art, Tolstoy created the doctrine of "what and how a person who wants to be an artist-medalist, and not a master-medalist, must learn."

The artist gained real fame and fame after creating a series of medallions on the themes of the Patriotic War of 1812. “I am Russian and proud of this name,” wrote F. P. Tolstoy during the days of the Patriotic War, “wanting to participate in the glory of compatriots, wanting to share it ... I dared to a company that would have impeded the greatest artist. But the glory of our days, unheard of until now ... maybe even a mediocre talent to animate so that he sees the gates of the coming times ... I decided to give the descendants weak shades of feelings that I performed, I wanted to tell them that in our time everyone thought I, and everyone was happy, bearing the name of the Russian. "

It is important to note that this work, which lasted for more than twenty years, was done by the artist not at the request or request of high-ranking officials, but solely out of sincere patriotic motives. The famous military actions he immortalized not with portraits of generals, but with figures symbolically depicting the Russian army and people's militia. He carefully studied the details of the battles, read the records of military experts, talked with war veterans. Surviving drawings and sketches give. an opportunity to trace the creative process of working on each composition and convince us that the artist’s laconism and expressiveness of the artistic language were achieved at the cost of great quest, persistent and hard work. He managed to achieve that "everyone, looking at the finished medal, could find out, without resorting to a signature, to what case it was knocked out."

Medallions of Tolstoy are very diverse in plots and solutions. The main place in them is occupied by the largest battles and battles of the Patriotic War. Reality itself determined the nature of the plots and compositions of medallions, gave the direction of the creative thought of the artist. A deep and close connection with real life filled the works of Tolstoy with anxious and sincere feeling.

Medallions of Tolstoy gained wide popularity not only in Russia, but also abroad. He was elected a member of almost all European academies of arts. The flowering of the artist's work coincided with the period of his most intense political and civic activities. Like many advanced people of his time, Tolstoy dreamed of broad transformations, of changing social orders. In 1816 he was involved in the Freemasonry movement, and later participated in the organization of the so-called “Lancaster schools”, the purpose of which was to spread literacy among the population.

Social activities prepared Tolstoy for entry in 1818 into a secret society — the Union of Prosperity, where he was not an ordinary member, but one of the leaders — the chairman of the Indigenous Council. Tolstoy did not go to the end for the Decembrists, however, he retained his convictions, courage and open-mindedness. This is evidenced by Tolstoy’s two notes submitted to Nicholas 1 in 1826, in which he courageously speaks in defense of the dignity of the human person. The artist took an active part in the release of T. G. Shevchenko, seeking his amnesty.

Tense social activities did not prevent the artist to engage in his favorite art. In 1816 he made four bas-reliefs from wax to Homer's Odyssey (TG). These bas-reliefs represent the most valuable part of the artist’s sculptural heritage. The subtle understanding and knowledge of antiquity, the deep penetration into the world of ancient Greek life that captivated him, helped the artist to revive the pages of a distant history in all the poetic charm and vitality.

In addition to medallions and bas-reliefs, Tolstoy created several sculptures. In 1822, the master was made "Head of Morpheus" (terracotta, timing), in 1839 "Bust of Nicholas I" (marble, timing), in 1848, "Head of Christ" (gypsum, timing, marble, GTG). In 1849, for achievements in the field of sculpture, the Council of the Academy of Arts approved him as a professor.

An important place in the artist's creative heritage is also occupied by the illustrations to the poem by I. Bogdanovich “My dear”. For thirteen years, work continued on the drawings (1820–1833, the State Tretyakov Gallery), after which incisal engravings were later created. These sheets showed Tolstoy's brilliant mastery in the use of the line, characteristic of the artist's entire work. Line, contour were for him the main means of artistic expression. In his hands, the line is resilient, precise, it is then strengthened, now it comes close and disappears, and a complete sensation of volume and materiality of figures and objects is created. The different character of the lines gives the artist the opportunity to solve plastic and spatial problems with the utmost laconicism.

The illustrations of F. P. Tolstoy for “Darling” are the crown of the graphic skill of the artist. They reflected the best aspects of his drawing art - virtuosity and accuracy of drawing, ease of linear rhythms and their musicality, beauty of contours.

Tolstoy is also known as a composer of ballets and operas, as a decorative artist. In 1838 he performed the sets, sketches of theatrical costumes and a large number of drawings fixing various dance steps for the Eol-Harp ballet, and in 1848 for the Echo ballet.

Sculpture, medal work and graphics Tolstoy considered his most important occupation. He gave them all the creative power and time. In the rare clock-free artist, the artist cut out various silhouettes from black paper. Independent from the official dominant tastes, not bound by the requirements of the customers and the Academy, Tolstoy made silhouettes for himself and his friends. Here his realistic aspirations and interest in the life around him were especially vivid. Posted by Tolstoy and several paintings: "Family Portrait" (1830, RM), "Sewing. In the rooms" (TG), "Warwick" (1853, not preserved) and "Type Chad Markovil in Finland" (1855, TG).

Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy died on April 13, 1873 at the age of ninety. A great, hard-filled life lived this wonderful artist. He left a vivid memory of himself. His works, created more than a hundred years ago, live in our time, delighting the audience with remarkable skill.

Materials from the book: Dmitrienko A.F., Kuznetsova E.V., Petrova OF.F., Fedorova N.A. 50 brief biographies of masters of Russian art. Leningrad, 1971