Sudkovsky Rufin

Rufin Gavrilovich Sudkovsky (1850-1885) – the famous Russian artist, representative of Russian landscape painting of the second half of the XIX century.

He came from a priest’s family, which obliged him to continue the work of his father. At first R. Sudkovsky studied at the Odessa Theological School, then at the seminary, but the craving for art overpowered, and he began to attend evening classes at the Odessa Drawing School. There he met I.K. Aivazovsky. In 1868, with the aim of entering the Imperial Academy of Arts, R. Sudkovsky interrupted his studies at the seminary. During his studies at the Academy in 1870, he was awarded small and large silver medals for landscape studies.

Since 1873, Sudkovsky constantly lived in Ochakovo, where he was a hereditary honorary citizen of the city. He worked as a landscape painter, a marine painter.

In 1880 he made trips to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, brought many sketches. In the 1880s he visited Finland, the Caucasus, the Balkans, Asia Minor. At the same time, the artist carried out orders of the Ministry of the Sea. In Ochakov, he painted the icons “Walking on the Waters” and “The Nativity of Christ” for the Naval Cathedral. In 1882, the artist was awarded the title of academician for the painting “The Storm Near Ochakovo”. In 1883 he married Elena Petrovna Benard, who is known in the history of Russian art as E.P. Samokish-Sudkovskaya. (After the death of R. Sudkovsky she married the artist N. Samokish)

Over his entire career, the artist has exhibited a lot. He took part in academic exhibitions (1867-1885, with breaks), exhibited his works at the All-Russian Art and Industry Exhibition in Moscow (1882) and the World Exhibition in Antwerp (1885). He held solo exhibitions in Odessa (1876, 1880, 1884), Petersburg (1882, 1883, 1884; all together with Yu. Clover), Kiev (1884-1885), Nikolaev (1885), was a member of the Society for the Exhibition of Artworks (1874-1883), the Society for the Promotion of Arts (1880s), the Odessa Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts (since 1885).

In his work, the artist was influenced by I. Aivazovsky. The master’s works are characterized by careful elaboration of details, interest in lighting effects, the ability to realistically portray nature in all respects, to convey “its peace and movement, its transparency and vastness, the friendly play of sun or moonlight in it in calm weather, its severity and formidable grandeur storm time. ” However, the canvas by R. Sudkovsky does not belong to the artist’s illustrious marine theme. “Crossing Shipka” is an example of classical academic painting. The plot of the picture was Shipka’s defense – one of the key and most famous episodes of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-78. After the Russian army crossed the Danube, the army commander decided to immediately take over the passages through the Balkan Range, for further movement deep into Turkey. The tactical place was Shipka Pass. Like many other paintings by the artist, this large-scale canvas is characterized by the artist’s particular attention to detail and the accurate display of the landscape.

In the early 1880s, R. Sudkovsky was at the peak of his skill, the more unexpected was his death in early 1885. He died of typhus in the house of his parents in Ochakovo at the age of 35. The artist did not live a long life, fame came to him too late. And yet, in spite of everything, he managed to leave a memory of himself as a talented artist.

The works of R. Sudkovsky are in many museum collections, including the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, the Central Naval Museum in St. Petersburg, the Kiev Museum of Russian Art, the Odessa Art Museum and others.