Alexei Petrovich Bogoliubov

Bogolyubov’s Copenhagen Harbor was one of the most beloved paintings by Emperor Alexander III. The present canvas was one of many by Bogolyubov, in the Emperor’s personal collection of over 800 works by various masters. This renowned collection was exhibited in the Winter Palace, Anichkov Palace, Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo, Gatchina and Belovezhsky Palaces, during and after the Emperor’s rein.

Alexei Bogolyubov was not only one of the Emperor’s favorite artists but also his close personal friend. The artist held an intimate role in the formation of the Emperor’s paintings collection, with his advice and most importantly with the Emperor’s frequent commissions. From 1867 to 1870 Bogolyubov also took on an honorable role as a personal painting teacher to Empress Maria Fedorovna, the wife of Alexander the III.

In 1867, Bogolyubov spent the summer in Denmark, and traveled to Copenhagen, Bernstorf and Klampenberg. During this time Bogolyubov painted a lot from nature and gathered materials to create an album for Empress Maria Fedorovna depicting the various scenes of Denmark. After having returned to St. Petersburg he started giving lessons in drawing to the heir and to the crown princess. Bogolyubov was asked to draw small vignettes, as special tokens on personal letters from Maria Fedorovna to her mother Luisa, Queen of Denmark, and from the Crown Prince to his relatives.

On October 12, 1868 Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich wrote in a letter from Tsarskoe Selo to his mother, Empress Maria Alexandrovna: “My Dearest Mom, I haven’t written you for a long time and now I decided to write again. As you see I asked A.P. Bogolyubov again to draw me vignettes for letters, this view comes from the Danish collection and depicts the entrance to the Copenhagen Harbor. [ the sketches spoken of here are those which Bogolyubov created in June-July 1867, during his sojourn to Denmark] This work is really a triumph and Bogolyubov himself seems very proud of it. I ordered a painting with the same subject, but in oil and on a much larger-scale”. The commission in the Emperor’s letter precisely describes the present painting by Alexei Bogolyubov–Copenhagen Harbor.

Copenhagen Harbor was painted in 1868, a year after the Emperor’s letter to his mother, also confirmed by Bogolyubov’s own recollection of the trip to Denmark in November 1868 as follows: “During one of the soirées thrown by the Crown Prince we received news about the shipwreck near the Danish shores of the Alexander Nevsky frigate, a ship which the Grand Duke Alexey Alexandrovich was sailing. The frigate was smashed to smithereens, but His Highness luckily survived. I portrayed this event on two canvases, by order of His Majesty the Emperor. These canvases were entitled The Disembarkment of the Grande Duke and Te Deum in the Evening after the Shipwreck at Shore. I went to Denmark for the purpose of painting this subject and do extensive studies of the landscapes and the sea…On my way back I visited Copenhagen where I was received by the King and Queen. I had breakfast there, received several letters and parcels and left for St. Petersburg” (A.P. Bogolyubov, Memoirs of the Sailor-Artist, Saratov, 1996, p. 121).

Evidently, according to the records, Bogolyubov received 250 rubles as payment for Copenhagen from the Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich (fig. 1). In 1870s (as is noted in the inventory) the present canvas was placed in the Dining Room of Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo by the request of the Crown Prince. The Emperor called this room “The Bogolyubov Hall”, as he proudly displayed 35 canvases by the master here (fig. 2).

Under the influence of Alexei Bogolyubov, the Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich began to compose a catalogue of his own painting collection (The Catalogue of Paintings Belonging to His Imperial Highness Crown Prince, 1872). The Copenhagen Harbor was listed in the catalogue under number 4. Later the painting was also included in The Catalogue of Paintings of Alexander Palace dated 1880-90s: 1/4. A.P. Bogolyubov. Emperor Alexander III's and Maria Fedorovna’s rooms in Alexander Palace were closed in 1931. Most of the personal items including this present canvas by Bogolyubov were placed at the disposal of the State Funds Commission.

We would like to thank Rifat Garifullin, the Archives Curator at State Museum Preserve, Pavlovsk for kindly providing this note.