Maslenitsa 1889

Petr Nikolaevich Gruzinsky is a personality for the Russian fine arts, of course, extraordinary and worthy of attention. This most talented battle painter undoubtedly made an invaluable contribution to the Russian school of painting, but due to the fact that the time of his work coincided with the heyday of the itinerant school, he is often unjustly forgotten.
The future academician of the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts was born in the Kursk province, in a poor landowner's family on December 19, 1937. From an early age he was noticed in a passion for drawing, and therefore he began his training already in his parents' house, and in 1950 he began to attend the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists in St. Petersburg, after which, a year later, he began to study at the Academy of Arts, having entered the course the famous battle artist B.P. Villevalde. Studying under the guidance of the professor was easy for young Peter, allowing him to combine it with the creation of multi-figured works, which are quite complex for a still not quite experienced student. This pursuit of promising gifting is also a success. Some of the early canvases attract the attention of academics, moreover, they are awarded gold and silver medals. In particular: in 1860, the painting "Gypsy camp" was awarded a small gold medal, and in 1962, a large gold medal was awarded to the canvas "Capture of Gunib in the Caucasus in 1959". In the same year, having received the title of class artist of the first degree, Gruzinsky completed his studies and in 1963 went to Paris, using the right of a pension trip, given by the Imperial Academy.
The artist spends the next six years not only in France, but also in Germany, Italy, Austria. In the European period of the life and work of Pyotr Nikolaevich such paintings as "The Picket of the Imperial French Riflemen on Maneuvers", "The Dance of the Italians on One of the Streets of Paris", "The Market at Fontainebleau" appeared. The works are undoubtedly successful and have received unanimous approval from the ranks of foreign critics. In them, the battle painter reveals new facets of his talent, describing pictures from French life. It turns out that he superbly recreates the plots of not only military operations, but is also able to subtly convey all the features and subtlest touches of the people's life. However, such a change in activity did not find understanding among the authorities from the Imperial Academy, in connection with which Gruzinsky was ordered to engage exclusively in battle painting.

In 1965, Pyotr Nikolayevich went to the Caucasus, with the aim of preparing sketches for one of his main works "Abandonment of auls by the mountaineers when the Russian troops approached." The canvas made a splash at international exhibitions in London and Vienna. It is this picture that can be safely called the center of his work, because it was for her in 1972 that he was awarded the title of academician of battle painting. In the same year, Gruzinsky returned to his homeland, to St. Petersburg, where he worked a lot on orders for the imperial family. In 1976 his paintings were exhibited at the World's Fair in Philadelphia.

In 1889, Pyotr Nikolaevich transferred to the Imperial Academy a huge collection of Kurdish and Circassian clothing and weapons, collected by him during his numerous visits to the Caucasus.

The artist died in 1892.
Of course, the most famous paintings of the artist are battle canvases. They never have a central hero, that is, he is, but this is not one specific person, it is always a people glorious in their strength of mind and therefore invincible. The artist was very good at conveying all the drama of the war.
The most striking illustrations of his work on a military theme are "The capture of Gunib in the Caucasus in 1959", "The abandonment of the auls by the mountaineers when the Russian troops approached", "The capture of the convoy of Marshal Davout by the Life Guards regiment of the Ulan on November 5, 1812", "Bivouac of cavalry guards ".
However, even despite the instructions of the Academy, Gruzinsky did not stop painting landscapes and everyday scenes. In this direction, his "Pochtovaya Troika", "Troika in a Blizzard", "Woodcutters", "Village Walks", "Meeting of the Newlyweds", "Gypsies" are very famous.