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The first exhibition of the Wanderers in the Academy of Arts opened
"The biggest art news at present in St. Petersburg is a traveling exhibition. No matter from which side you look at it, it is always something special and unprecedented: the original idea and purpose, and united efforts of the artists themselves and an amazing collection of excellent works. Who could have recently imagined that a time will come when Russian artists would not limit themselves with just their own business, but would suddenly abandon their art burrows and plunge into the ocean of real life".
Art Critic Vladimir Stasov
November 29 (December 11), 1871 at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts opened the first exhibition of the Wanderers - painters and sculptors of the realistic and democratic school who were part of the largest Russian creative association, the Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions.
9 (21) November 1863 fourteen best students of the Imperial Academy of Arts, admitted to the competition for the first gold medal, led by I. N. Kramskoy, appealed to the Council of the Academy with a request to replace the competition task with free choice of subjects. Having been refused by the Council, all 14 people left the Academy ("revolt of fourteen"), to form an independent Artel of Artists.
Over the years the Artel of Artists had been a kind of art center in St. Petersburg, opposing the Academy. At the end of 1869 Moscow artists (V. G. Perov, V. E. Makovsky, I. M. Pryanishnikov, A. K. Savrasov) suggested that the Petersburg Artel join them to form a new society. In 1870, the Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions, the ideological inspirer of which was Kramskoy, was approved by the government and started its activities.
The Charter of the Society said that its members should be responsible for their own affairs, not depending in this respect on anyone, as well as arrange their personal exhibitions and take them to different cities ("move" over Russia) to introduce the Russian art to the country. Both these points were decisive in shaping the principles and style of the artist, making the art independent of government and bringing it closer to the population throughout the country.
The first general meeting of the Society was held on 6 (18) December, 1870 and the first exhibition opened on November 29 (December 11), 1870 until January 2 (14), 1871. The exhibition included 47 works by 16 artists (V. F. Ammon, S. N. Ammosov, A. P. Bogolyubov, N. N. Ge, K. F. Gun, L. L. Kamenev, F. F. Kamensky (sculptor), M. K. Clodt, M. P. Clodt , I. N. Kramskoy, V. M. Maksimov, G. G. Myasoedov, V. G. Perov, I. M. Pryanishnikov, A. K. Savrasov, I. I. Shishkin.). All genres were represented - historical, genre art, landscape, portrait.
In his letter to a young artist Vasilyev, forced by illness to live in the Crimea, Kramskoy wrote: "Now I'll share with you the news. We opened the exhibition ... and it is a success, at least the entire St. Petersburg is talking about it. This is the biggest news of the city, according to newspapers. Ge reigns firmly, followed by Perov, and even your humble servant is mentioned. Savrasov’s landscape is the best, and it really is, although Bogolyubov, Baron Klodt and Shishkin are good too. But it's all trees, water and even air, but the soul is only in "Grachi".
The first exhibition of the Society made an unprecedented impression and caused a very large influx of visitors at that time. The exhibition was seen as a keynote address of democratic artists; the press welcomed its educational, ideological and democratic nature, the activity of the invasion of artists in life, their connection with the liberation movement.
From St. Petersburg the exhibition moved to Moscow and then to Kiev and Kharkov. Later the exhibitions of Wanderers were held annually in many cities of Russia, and the last one, the 48th, was held in Moscow in 1923.
Wanderers were unanimous in their rejection of "academic art" with its mythology, decorative landscapes and bombastic theatricality. The central place in the exhibitions held by Wanderers, was occupied by genre art motifs, the whole Russia in its diverse daily life. Genre source set the tone for portraits, landscapes and even images of the past, which were as close as possible to the spiritual needs of the society.
In 1870-1880’s the activity of the Society reached its highest peak. It brought together almost all of the most talented artistic forces of the country. Among its members at various periods of time were: Perov, Kramskoy Myasoedov, V. Makovsky, Savitsky, Maksimov, Pryanishnikov, Ge, Savrasov, Shishkin, Kuindzhi, Dubovskoy, Vasnetsov, Polenov Kostandi, Pimonenko, Gun, Nevrev, Repin, Surikov, Serov, Levitan, Yaroshenko, Nesterov, Kasatkin, S. Ivanov, Pozen, Andreev, Popov, Arkhipov, Baksheev, Byalynitsky-Birulya and many others. In some exhibitions of Wanderers participated Antokolsky, Vereshchagin, K. Korovin, S. Korovin, Malyavin, Ryabushkin, Volnukhin, Konenkov and others.
Lit.: Передвижники // Большая советская энциклопедия. М., 1975. Т. 19; Салтыков-Щедрин М. Е. Первая русская передвижная выставка // Собрание сочинений в 20 т. М., 1970. Т. 9; Товарищество Передвижных Художественных Выставок. Письма и документы. 1869-1899 гг. Книги 1, 2. М., 1987.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials: