"I've loved the sun all my life. I wanted to paint the sunshine. But the war haunted me." This statement by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin describes a dichotomy that marked the life of the artist. Vereshchagin came from the Russian landed gentry and started a military career at the age of eight. As a cadet in the Russian Navy he travelled through Western Europe and also got to know the Middle East. After graduating from the Naval Academy, however, he left military service to become a painter. The military and war was one of the constants in his life, the other was his passion for travelling. In the following years he travelled Europe, India, the Middle East, the Asian part of Russia and the Himalayan region.
Although he periodically returned to Russian military service, and served as an officer in the tsarist army during the Russian-Turkish war of 1877/78, for example, the horror of the war did not leave him and became his main artistic subject. Just as the military never quite let go of him, Vereshchagin always returned to Russia, although he followed the path of many Russian intellectuals to Western Europe. For many years Munich was the centre of his life, where he maintained a studio. His relentless war paintings, which depicted the suffering and violence of war, caused a sensation. Vereshchagin developed a photorealistic style that provoked fierce reactions among his contemporaries. His orientation towards the new medium of photography caused irritations. Again and again his documentary style was criticized.
Vereshchagin was a political artist who pursued a clear didactic goal through his paintings. By depicting the horrors of war, he wanted to popularize his belief in the necessity of peace. With his artistic mission, he encountered a deeply divided culture at the end of the 19th century, which was imperialist in the mainstream, but which also produced strong pacifist movements as a counter impulse. One of his major works, the "Apotheosis of War", had such an effect on the German Chief of General Staff Helmuth von Moltke during a visit to an exhibition in Munich that the military left the exhibition speechless and immediately prohibited German soldiers from visiting the exhibition. The effect was quite intended, Vereshchagin dedicated his painting to all conquerors of the past, present and future. In Russia his pictures of the war were not allowed to be shown in public and also not to be printed in books. The depiction of a shooting scene in a British colonial war in India led to fierce reactions in the British public.
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.jpg "Napoleon Bonaparte on the Borodino Heights, 1897 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Napoleon in the Petrovsky Palace by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The Vanquished. Requiem for the Dead by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The Doors of Tamerlane, 1871-1872 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_La_tombe_royale_de_Juda_(In_Jerusalem_The_Royal_Tomb_Of_Jud_-_(MeisterDrucke-1323457).jpg "In Jerusalem. The Royal Tomb of Judah by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Crucifixion by the Romans by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The Apotheosis of War, 1871 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Arabs in the desert. Koran Study by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "An Afghan by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Snow on the Himalayas, India by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The Gallery of Alexander Basilewsky Residence in Paris by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The Apotheosis of War by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Bukharan Soldier Sarbaz by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Night at Golgotha, 1869 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1637380).jpg "On the road – Retreat and escape by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_-_Peintur_-_(MeisterDrucke-1317928).jpg "Arabs in the Desert, Koran Study by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-381990).jpg "A Room in Alexander Basilewsky")
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.jpg "The letter remains incomplete by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1629200).jpg "Wait – let them come nearer by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "In the Frost, Napoleon in Winter Dress, 1899-1900 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1641765).jpg "Firing Squad Executing Prisoners by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1641765).jpg)
_dans_le_fort_Rouge_dAgra_en_Inde_(The_Pearl_-_(MeisterDrucke-1320230).jpg "The Pearl Mosque in Red Fort of Agra in India by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Gate Near Kutub-Minar, Old Delhi, 1875 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Surprise Attack, 1871 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1630406).jpg "Napoleon I on the Borodino Heights by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The Shinto Shrine at Nikko, 1903 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "A Vishnu Statue in the Indra Temple by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The French Retreat from Moscow in October 1812 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1630405).jpg "On the Way – Bad News From France by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Sunset in the Himalayas, 1879 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1629199).jpg "Captured with arms – Shoot them by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The Great Church of Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra in Kiev by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Moti Masjid, Agra by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The Deluge by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1629754).jpg "Napoleon Bonaparte stands among his soldiers before Moscow by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "In a military Hospital by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Yard in the Palace Harem, 1870s by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "A Horseman in Jaipur by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Interrogation of a Deserter by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The Sherdar Madrasah at the Registan Square in Samarkand by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1629201).jpg "The Night Bivouac of the Great Army by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The French in Moscow, 1897-1898 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The Coronation of the Emperor Alexander III in the Moscow Kremlin on 15th May 1883 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_(episode_de_la_guerre_hispano_americaine_ou_desastre_de_98_(av_-_(MeisterDrucke-1323287).jpg "A Spy (Episode of the Spanish-American War) by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Main Street in Samarkand, Early Morning by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Blowing from guns in British India, c. 1890 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1105052).jpg "Near the Monastery of St. George, Krym, Ukraine by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1629196).jpg "Return to Peter")
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_dAvout_dit_Davout_(1770-1823)_dans_le_-_(MeisterDrucke-1314035).jpg "Marshal Louis-Nicolas Davout in the Chudov Monastery in the Kremlin of Moscow by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
_dAvout_dit_Davout_(1770-1823)_dans_le_-_(MeisterDrucke-1314035).jpg)
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1634887).jpg "Napoleon Bonaparte in the Palais Pierre by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_(A_Chinese_Temple_Ruin_in_Akkent)_-_-_(MeisterDrucke-1325507).jpg "A Chinese Temple Ruin in Akkent (Turkey) by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The Shinto Temple at Nikko, Japan by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The Taj Mahal. Evening by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Shoot Those with Weapons in Their Hands by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Meeting House of the Solones, Ak-Kent, 1869-70 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1628275).jpg "Soldiers guide Napoleon Bonaparte through the fire in Moscow by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Marshal Davout in the Chudov Monastery, Moscow Kremlin by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_sur_la_place_du_Registan_a_Samarcande_(_-_(MeisterDrucke-1313455).jpg "The Sherdar Madrasah at the Registan Square in Samarkand by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
_sur_la_place_du_Registan_a_Samarcande_(_-_(MeisterDrucke-1313455).jpg)
.jpg "Pearl Mosque at Delhi by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_-_Peinture_de_Vasili_Vasilyev_-_(MeisterDrucke-1324961).jpg "Egyptian Temple Ruins by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
_-_Peinture_de_Vasili_Vasilyev_-_(MeisterDrucke-1324961).jpg)
_-_Une_infirmiere_am_-_(MeisterDrucke-1323518).jpg "The Letter Remains Incomplete by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "A Chinese Temple Ruin in Akkent by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Evening at the Lake, Jaipur District of Rajasthan State, India by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "They are Triumphant by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The Execution of the Terrorists in Russia by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The Taj Mahal, 1874-76 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The Spy by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Interior of the Peter and Paul Church in Puchug, 1894 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_dans_le_Kremlin_de_Moscou_-_(MeisterDrucke-1320596).jpg "The Coronation of the Emperor Alexander III in the Moscow Kremlin on 15th May 1883 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The Pearl Mosque Moti Masjid, Delhi by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Sunset in the Himalayas by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Necropolis Shah-i-Zinda The Living King in Samarkand by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_(Tetes_decapitees_pendant_la_conquete_-_(MeisterDrucke-1423414).jpg "Display of Trophies by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
_(Tetes_decapitees_pendant_la_conquete_-_(MeisterDrucke-1423414).jpg)
_(The_Shinto_Shrine_at_Nikko)_-_Peinture_de_-_(MeisterDrucke-1322950).jpg "The Shinto Shrine at Nikko by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
_(The_Shinto_Shrine_at_Nikko)_-_Peinture_de_-_(MeisterDrucke-1322950).jpg)
.jpg "The Siege of the Trinity Sergius Cloister 1608-10 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1629198).jpg "Bayonet Charge – Hurrah-Hurrah by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "In a Military Hospital by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The Pearl Mosque at Agra, End of 1870s-Early 1880s by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Interior of the Peter and Paul Church in Puchug by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Prisoner Meeting His Family, 1868 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Napoleon Amid the Burning Ruins of Moscow by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The Death Memorial in Ladakh by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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 1873 - (MeisterDrucke-67355).jpg "Bokharan Soldier (Sarbaz), 1873 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
 1873 - (MeisterDrucke-67355).jpg)
_(Conquete_du_Turkestan_par_la_Russie_im_-_(MeisterDrucke-1320204).jpg "A Sudden Attack by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
_(Conquete_du_Turkestan_par_la_Russie_im_-_(MeisterDrucke-1320204).jpg)
_-_(MeisterDrucke-1633275).jpg "At Gorodnia – breakthrough or withdraw by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Picket on the Danube by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "A Spy by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "A Resting Place of Prisoners by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The Spy by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Courtyard of the Harem in the Fatehpur Sikri Imperial Palace by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Evening at the Lake by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_-_(MeisterDrucke-1627939).jpg "Napoleon Bonaparte and Jacques Lauriston by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Lezginka. Globus by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Interrogation of a deserter by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Napoleon Bonaparte dressed in heavy winter clothing on a military campaign by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Morning in Kashmir, 1875 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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_-_Peinture_de_Vasili_Vasilyevich_Vereshchagin_(Vassili_Ver_-_(MeisterDrucke-1325681).jpg "An Afghan by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "The Doukhobors praying by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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.jpg "Samarkand, 1869-71 by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
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 Receiving the Ambassadors - (MeisterDrucke-590518).jpg "Grand Duke Vladmir Receiving the Ambassadors by Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin")
 Receiving the Ambassadors - (MeisterDrucke-590518).jpg)
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