Gavriil Skorodumov

Gavriil Skorodumov
220px Self-Portrait in the Print Room of the Hermitage, c. or after 1785, watercolor, Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg
Native name	Гавриил Иванович Скородумов
Born	(1755-03-12)March 12, 1755 Saint Petersburg
Died	Saint Petersburg
Resting place	Smolensky Cemetery, Saint Petersburg
Nationality	Russian
Education	Anton Losenko Antoine Radigues Francesco Bartolozzi
Alma mater	Imperial Academy of Arts (1773)
Known for	Engraving draftsmanship painting
Awards	Big Gold Medal of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1772)
Elected	Member Academy of Arts (1785)

Gavriil Ivanovich Skorodumov (Russian: Гавриил Иванович Скородумов; 12 March 1755 – 12 July 1792) was a Russian Empire engraver, draftsman, and painter, best known for his stipple prints. The most notable printmaker from the Catherinian era, Skorodumov had an active career that spanned three decades, and was regarded as the first Russian-born artist to gain international acclaim.

Biography

He was born into a family of hereditary craftsmen. In 1764, he was admitted to the Imperial Academy of Arts, where he studied painting and engraving with Grigoriy Srebrenitsky, Johann Stenglin and Anton Losenko. In 1772, he graduated with a large gold medal for his engraving, Lot with His Daughters, after a painting by Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée. The medal came with a grant for travelling abroad.

The following year, he and Mikhail Belsky, another grant recipient, went to London together. He studied in the workshop of the famous engraver, Francesco Bartolozzi, where he learned engraving techniques that were not in use in Russia (stippling and the "crayon manner"). Before he had finished his studies, he was already taking orders from local publishers, reproducing works by Joshua Reynolds and Benjamin West. He established his fame with 24 engravings based on works by Angelica Kauffman, an especially fashionable artist.

Although he was supposed to leave England in 1776, he continued to put off his return to Russia for as long as possible. He finally yielded in 1782, when he heard that Empress Catherine admired his work and would "give him a thousand two hundred rubles and a thousand for the trip, if only he promised not to be lazy". Upon his arrival in St. Petersburg, she named him Court Engraver and caretaker of engravings at the Hermitage Museum, with a salary of 1,200 Rubles, an apartment worth 600 Rubles, and his own personal printer.

Things did not go as well as planned, however. Within a few months of his arrival, the Empress was apparently tired of his constant complaints and hinted that he was free to leave if he wished. In 1783, she noted that nobody had seen any of his works. In the Spring of 1784, she suspended his salary until he had something to show for it. Nobody knows for certain why his productivity declined, although drinking has been suggested as a likely cause. In 1789, Ivan Krylov published a satire in his magazine, Почта духов, in which one of the characters, an artist named Trudolyubov (Hardworking), laments that he misses England, was better paid there, and is so depressed that he became a drunkard.

During the last few years of his life, he managed to produce some engravings and portrait miniatures. In 1791, he began work on an album, with twelve scenes of St. Petersburg, that was never completed. On the day of his death, he was the guest of a merchant named Strunnikov. After dinner, he laid down on some damp grass to take a nap. By evening, he had become deranged, and was dead before morning, aged only thirty-seven.

Works

• A Sultana by Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg engraved by Gabriel Scorodomoff.jpg

  A Sultana, after Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg, 1777

• 1775 Scorodoomoff Clarissa.jpg

  Reflections on Clarissa Harlowe, after Joshua Reynolds, 1775

• 1775 Scorodoomoff Romeo-Juliet.jpg

  Romeo Parting with Juliet, after Benjamin West, 1775

• 1776 Scorodoomoff Cleopatra.jpg

  Cleopatra, after Angelica Kauffman, 1776

• 1777 Scorodoomoff Justice.jpg

  Justice, after Angelica Kauffman, 1777

• 1778 Scorodoomoff DanceGraces.jpg

  Dance of the Graces, after Angelica Kauffman, 1778

• 1778 Scorodoomoff SacrifCeres.jpg

  Sacrifice to Ceres, after Angelica Kauffman, 1778

• 1777 Scorodoomoff Arrows.jpg

  Cupid Trying to Get Back His Arrows, after Angelica Kauffman, 1777

• 1778 Scorodoomoff SacrifLove.jpg

  Sacrifice to Cupid, after Angelica Kauffman, 1778

• 1778 Scorodoomoff abelard-heloise-fulbert.jpg

  Abelard and Eloise Surprised by Fulbert, after Angelica Kauffman, 1778

• Scorodoomoff 1780 abelard-heloise.jpg

  The Parting of Abelard and Eloise, after Angelica Kauffman, 1780

• 1778 Scorodoomoff Gamblers.jpg

  Gamblers, after Dirck van Baburen, 1778

• 1779 Scorodoomoff Seducers.jpg

  Susanna and the Elders, after Guido Reni, 1779

• 1781 Scorodoomoff Diana-Acteon.jpg

  Diana and Actaeon, after Carlo Maratta, 1781

Further reading

Contemporary sources

General studies

Specialty studies

Additional notes

Reference books

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• Gavriil Skorodumov at the Russian Academy of Arts' official website