The North in the Opinion Journalism of V. Vereshchagin (On the Inter-Source Connections in the Artist’s Verbal Works)

In the article, the problem of the visual-verbal correlation in the work of V. Vereshchagin is considered through the prism of the analysis of his texts devoted to the Russian North, including drafts of his articles for Novosti i birzhevaya gazeta found in the Manuscript Department of the State Tretyakov Gallery. It has been shown that in terms of verbal creative development, Vereshchagin represents a type of artist who eventually overcomes the narrow framework of the profession and moves on to the study of larger socially significant problems. Therefore, his taking on journalistic writing seems logical. Vereshchagin’s verbal creative work never lost its genetic connection with the visual in terms of genre specificity, style, and, in some sense, instrumentation, but in the process of development it revealed a tendency to isolation. It is characterized by the assemblage of composition and frequent interspecific and intraspecific transfer of the same structural components. Vereshchagin’s “northern” texts of the 1880s–90s, which initially served as explanations and additions to his paintings, changed places with them in importance, eventually freed from any visual accompaniment, and became full-fledged journalistic statements. Following that, regional focus also changed. Starting with individual episodes of “unveiling” the North as a background in biographical narratives, Vereshchagin moved towards its holistic perception as a vital areal and comprehension of specific topics, from preservation of ancient monuments to the provision of medical care, the fight against the schism, and the development of public education.

Bakhtin, M.M. Sobranie sochinenii: [Collected works], 7 vols. Vol. 1, Filosofskaya estetika 1920-kh godov  [Philosophical aesthetics of the 1920s], edited by S.G. Bocharov, and N.I. Nikolaev. Moscow: Russkie slovari, Yazyki slavyanskoi kul'tury, 2003. (In Russian)
Chudakov, A.P. Poetika Chekhova. Mir Chekhova: vozniknovenie i utverzhdenie [Poetics and the world of Anton Chekhov: emergence and approval]. St Petersburg: Azbuka, Azbuka-Attikus, 2016. (In Russian)
Esin, B.I. Istoriya russkoi zhurnalistiki (1703–1917): uchebno-metodicheskii komplekt [History of Russian journalism (1703–1917): learning and teaching kit]. Moscow: Flinta, Nauka, 2006. (In Russian)
Jancke, G. “Dnevniki v istoricheskikh issledovaniyakh: teksty i konteksty rannego Novogo vremeni” [Diaries in historical research: Early Modern texts and contexts]. Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, no. 3 (157) (2019): 89–106. (In Russian)
Kim, E.V. “O vnov' vyyavlennykh proizvedeniyakh russkoi serii V.V. Vereshchagina” [About the newly found works of the Russian series by V.V. Vereshchagin]. In V.V. Vereshchagin. Iskusstvo i obshchestvo: materialy Vserossiiskoi nauchnoi konferentsii [V.V. Vereshchagin. Art and society: proceedings of the All-Russian scientific conference], edited by L.Kh. Malikova, 11–21. Cherepovets: [n. p.], 2017. (In Russian)
Kim, E.V. “V.V. Vereshchagin – I.A. Shlyakov (dokumenty i paradoksy tekstologii).
K 165-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya I.A. Shlyakova” [V.V. Vereshchagin – I.A. Shlyakov (documents and paradoxes of textual criticism). To I.A. Shlyakov’s 165th birthday]. In Istoriya i kul'tura Rostovskoi zemli. 2007: materialy nauchnoi konferentsii (Rostov, 7–9 noyabrya 2007 g.) [History and culture of the Rostov land. 2007: proceedings of the scientific conference (Rostov, November 7–9, 2007)], edited by V.V. Zyakin et al., 255–77. Rostov: [n. p.], 2008. (In Russian)
Kim, E.V. “V.V. Vereshchagin – I.A. Shlyakov. Yaroslavskii proekt 1888 goda” [V.V. Vereshchagin – I.A. Shlyakov. The Yaroslavl project of 1888]. In Soobshcheniya Rostovskogo muzeya. Vypusk XVIII [Communications of the Rostov Museum. Issue 18], edited by V.V. Zyakin, 112–45. Rostov: [n. p.], 2010. (In Russian)
Kim, E.V. “V.V. Vereshchagin v Rostove Velikom (fakty, gipotezy, domysly)” [V.V. Vereshchagin in Rostov (facts, hypotheses, speculation)]. In Soobshcheniya Rostovskogo muzeya. Vypusk XVI [Communications of the Rostov Museum. Issue 16], edited by V.V. Zyakin, 414–63. Rostov: [n. p.], 2006. (In Russian)
Kim, E.V. “V.V. Vereshchagin v Rostove Velikom (neizvestnye stranitsy biografii)” [V.V. Vereshchagin in Rostov (unknown pages of biography)]. In Istoriya i kul'tura Rostovskoi zemli. 2006: materialy nauchnoi konferentsii (Rostov, 12–14 noyabrya 2006 g.) [History and culture of the Rostov land. 2006: proceedings of the scientific conference (Rostov, November
12–14, 2006)], edited by V.V. Zyakin et al., 317–31. Rostov: [n. p.], 2007. (In Russian)
Koshelev, V.A. “Memuarnaya proza V.V. Vereshchagina: metod i masterstvo” [V.V. Vereshchagin’s memoir prose: method and skill]. In “Nedarom pomnit vsya Rossiya…”: materialy Mezhdunarodnoi nauchnoi konferentsii, posvyashchennoi 160-letiyu V.V. Vereshchagina i 190-letiyu Borodinskogo srazheniya [“With cause all Russia fashions lays…”: proceedings of the International scientific conference dedicated to V.V. Vereshchagin’s 160th birthday and the 190th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino], compiled by N.A. Britvina, 28–38. Cherepovets: Cherepovetskii gosudarstvennyi universitet, 2003. (In Russian)
Koshelev, V., and A. Chernov. “‘Etot vse mozhet’” [‘This one can do everything’]. In V.V. Vereshchagin, Povesti. Ocherki. Vospominaniya [Stories. Essays. Memoirs], compilation, introduction and commentary by V.A. Koshelev, and A.V. Chernov, 5–22. Moscow: Sovetskaya Rossiya, 1990. (In Russian)
Kulikova, O.V. “Palestinskaya seriya i skandal na vystavke v Vene” [The Palestinian series and the scandal at the exhibition in Vienna]. In Brat'ya Vereshchaginy: iskusstvo i obshchestvo: sbornik dokladov nauchnykh konferentsii [The Vereshchagin brothers: art and Society: a collection of papers from scientific confereences], edited by A.E. Novikov, 30–35. Cherepovets, Vologda: Cherepovetskii gosudarstvennyi universitet, Cherepovetskoe muzeinoe ob"edinenie, Sad-Ogorod, 2021. (In Russian)
Lebedev, A.K. Vasilii Vasil'evich Vereshchagin. Zhizn' i tvorchestvo (1842–1904) [Vasily Vasil'evich Vereshchagin. Life and work (1842–1904)], edited by A.V. Solodovnikov. Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1972. (In Russian)
Moiseev, V.A. Rossiya i Kitai v Tsentral'noi Azii (vtoraya polovina XIX v. – 1917 g.) [Russia and China in Central Asia (second half of the 19th century – 1917)]. Barnaul: AzBuka, 2003. (In Russian)
Novakovskaya-Bukhman, S. “Sobranie V.V. Vereshchagina” [Collection of V.V. Vereshchagin]. In Vasily Vereshchagin, edited by I. Afanas'eva, 37–41. St Petersburg: Gosudarstvennyi Russkii muzei; Palace Editions, 2022. (In Russian)
Panofsky, E. Etyudy po ikonologii: Gumanisticheskie temy v iskusstve Vozrozhdeniya [Studies in iconology: humanistic themes in the art of the Renaissance], translated from English by N.G. Lebedeva, and N.A. Osminskaya. St Petersburg: Azbuka-klassika, 2009. (In Russian)
Rimmer, E.P. “V.V. Vereshchagin i moskovskii metsenat P.I. Shchukin” [V.V. Vereshchagin and Moscow Maecenas P.I. Shchukin]. In V.V. Vereshchagin i ego “kartiny russkoi zhizni, russkoi istorii”: materialy Vserossiiskoi nauchnoi konferentsii [V.V. Vereshchagin and his “pictures of Russian life and Russian history”: proceedings of the All-Russian scientific conference], edited by O.Yu. Belozerova et al., 29–36. Cherepovets: [n. p.], 2011. (In Russian)
Sergeev, E.Yu. Bol'shaya igra, 1856–1907: mify i realii rossiisko-britanskikh otnoshenii v Tsentral'noi i Vostochnoi Azii [The Great Game, 1856–1907: myths and realities of Russo-British relations in Central and East Asia]. Moscow: Tovarishchestvo nauchnykh izdanii KMK, 2012. (In Russian)
Solov'eva, S.V. “Byl li V.V. Vereshchagin voennym agentom? Otnosheniya khudozhnika i voennogo vedomstva (po materialam rossiiskikh arkhivov)” [Was V.V. Vereshchagin a military agent? Relations between the artist and the military department (based on materials from Russian archives)]. In Ivan Aivazovskii. Vzglyad iz XXI veka; Vasilii Vereshchagin: bol'she chem khudozhnik: materialy nauchnykh konferentsii [Ivan Aivazovsky. A look from the 21st century; Vasily Vereshchagin: more than an artist: materials of scientific conferences], edited by G.S. Churak et al., 195–222. Moscow: Gosudarstvennaya Tret'yakovskaya galereya, 2019. (In Russian)
Yudenkova, T.V. Brat'ya Pavel Mikhailovich i Sergei Mikhailovich Tret'yakovy: mirovozzrencheskie aspekty kollektsionirovaniya vo vtoroi polovine XIX veka [Brothers Pavel Mikhailovich and Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov: ideological aspects of collecting in the second half of the 19th century]. Moscow: BukcMArt, 2020. (In Russian)