Róka Enikő szerk.: Zichy Mihály, a „rajzoló fejedelem” (A Magyar Nemzeti Galéria kiadványai 2007/4)

Zichy Mihály művészi pályája Oroszországban ASZJA KANTOR-GUKOVSZKAJA

Encouragement of Artists. The aim of this society was to promote the success of fine arts in Russia by mainly publishing artistic albums illustrated with lithographs. He regularly attended the so called 'Friday night drawing sessions' which served as weekly gatherings of the youths dedicated to arts and were held in the flat of various members of the Society, (fig. 70.) Works of art which were the products of these sessions were then exhibited in Beggrov's small artistic shop, so that people should be able to buy them in order to support the worse-off members of the above mentioned circle of artists. In addition, Zichy was a regular visitor to the so called 'Thursday Sessions', which were the meetings of the Association of Artists as well as being a member of the Russian Board, a select committee set up for the publication of collected works by some of the greatest Russian writers such as Gontcharov and Turgueniev. The artist made illustrations in collaboration with llya Repin, Vasnetsov and Miasoiedov for an educational publication entitled For Our Children. However, it is also possible that this work led to his falling from favour, because one of his illustrations involved a covert reference to freedom. Mutual alienation was percievable since the artist had become tired of court commissions, whereas the Imperial Court was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with him for his experimenting in other forms of art. In any case, this might explain for his application for a pension which was subsequently accepted and Zichy left Russia in the summer of 1874. During his sojourn in Paris Russia had again become appealing to him from afar. In 1879 he was glad to accept an offer from Glazounov, the owner of a Russian publishing house, to make a series of drawings for a special edition of The Demon, a narrative poem by Lermontov. In the summer of 1881 Zichy left for the Caucasus to collect artistic material. In 1882 he staged ten tableux vivants in the theatre of Tiflis, (today Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia) for themes taken from The Knight in the Panther's Skin, a narrative poem by Shota Rustaveli. His sketches made at the time later served as a basis for the future illustration of the poem. The Knight in the Panther's Skin was published in Georgian in 1888. Then Zichy returned to St Petersburg and by 1882 he had almost entirely completed the full page and text illustration of The Demon, including several delineations of To Princess Mary. However, he was deeply disappointed when Glazounov unexpectedly terminated his contract. The series of drawings made for the illustration of The Demon remained incomplete and only a few pages were published. As he had to make a living, he was compelled to accept the offer of the minister of the court, so he took the position of court painter again. By doing so, he resumed putting up with the well-known cycle of tediousness. In 1883 he was engaged with painting the events of the crowning of Tsar Alexander III as well as compiling an album on the crowning. However, the great number of obligations that fell on him finally distracted Zichy from this work and following the death of Tsar Alexander III he almost completely gave it up. The illustrations and individual pages of graphics, especially during the last decades of his life in St Petersburg, constitute a major chapter of his art. Although he never ceased to take an interest in the affairs of his beloved home country, Zichy became ever profoundly attached to Russian culture. Anything to do with Russian literature, especially with poetry and folklore, seemed to attract him. Among his contemporaries he was the first artist to have made a whole series of illustrations for The Demon and for the novel A Hero of Our Time by Lermontov, including illustrations of To Princess Mary and those of Eugene Onegin, a novel in verse by Pushkin, as well as for the works of Gogol and Gontcharov. By the mid-1890s Mihály Zichy had become a widely known illustrator, draughtsman and aquarelle painter. At the same time he was regarded as Russia's foremost illustrator. Almost fifty years after his arrival in St Petersburg Zichy was granted an official recognition as well when he was elected Honorary Member of the Academy of Arts at its general assembly on 23rd February 1898. Mihály Zichy died in St Petersburg on 15th February (28th February, new style calendar) 1906. His body was taken to Hungary and laid to rest in peace in Budapest. However, in Russia Zichy has been considered as a Russian artist for a long time and the memory of his art is still remembered.