How the philanthropist Savva Mamontov revived Russian ceramics: Abramtsev's unique majolica

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Everyone knows about the influence that the patron Savva Mamontov, who brought together the greatest artists in his Abramtsevo estate, had on Russian culture. But his creation of the famous majolica plant requires special attention. With the help of talented artists and an equally talented chemist, the production of Savva Mamontov made a real breakthrough in the technology of making ceramics. Abramtsevo majolica, preserved on the facades of houses, still pleases the eye as a monument to the Art Nouveau era and an unsurpassed art form.

An experimental ceramics and art workshop appeared in this unique corner of Russian culture in 1889, 19 years after Savva Mamontov acquired the estate from the writer Sergei Aksakov.

A successful blend of talents

Talented Russian artists undertook to revive Russian majolica (unique works of art made of colored baked clay and covered with glaze). Repin, Vasnetsov and many other painters, and even … Savva Ivanovich Mamontov himself, tried their hand at this workshop. But the greatest contribution to the revival of this art was made, perhaps, by Pyotr Vaulin and Mikhail Vrubel.

According to the organizers of this venture, Abramtsev's majolica was supposed to revive the fashion for old manor stoves of the 16th-17th centuries with beautiful tiles, which, as the artists hoped, would certainly return.

By the way, at the dawn of the workshop, Vrubel made designs for the stoves of the manor house and the outbuildings of Mamontov in Abramtsevo, as well as the gravestone of Andrei Mamontov.

Vrubel brought his imagination, talent of decorative art and courage of ideas into the production of the "new majolica". Vaulin is a unique and modern production method. As a chemist by training, he developed a new technological process and came up with unique coating recipes. Moreover, the method of firing, which Vaulin developed, made it possible to achieve very original and incredibly beautiful artistic effects in the manufacture of products.

The tandem of Vrubel and Vaulin, with the very important participation of other talented artists, led to the creation of masterpieces and a new direction in art. But, of course, without the financial (and not only financial) patronage of the influential Savva Mamontov, they would hardly have been able to achieve such brilliant results.

And the results were not long in coming. Majolica Abramtseva was highly appreciated both in Russia and abroad, the works of artists occupied high places at prestigious exhibitions.

A few years after the creation of the workshop, Mamontov transferred production from Abramtsevo to Moscow, where he built a plant for the production of majolica. The enterprise received a new name - pottery factory "Abramtsevo".

The majolica produced at the plant continued to be wildly popular. Its uniqueness was not only in the amazingly beautiful coating and the skill of the great artists, but also in the fact that the products were made from multi-modular parts, which made them somewhat reminiscent of a mosaic. (Vrubel is considered the ancestor of this idea, although it is also found in the works of the Spanish architect Gaudi of the same period).

In 1900, Mamontov presented samples of his production at the World Exhibition in Paris. Majolica Abramtseva was highly appreciated: the owner of the plant was awarded a gold medal as a manufacturer, and Vrubel was awarded a gold medal as an artist for the fireplace "Volga's Meeting with Mikula Selyaninovich" presented at the exhibition, which, by the way, was even used for its intended purpose for some time, and for sculptures based on opera plots.

It was at the Abramtsevo enterprise that the Vrubelevskaya "Princess of Dreams" and other ceramic panels that adorned the facade of the "Metropol" were created.

Here, at the Mamontov plant, according to the sketches of Konstantin Korovin, a panel was made dedicated to the North of Russia, which adorned the building of the Yaroslavsky railway station. The frieze, located above the windows of the second floor of the station, was also made at the Abramtsevo pottery enterprise.

And the majolica friezes that adorned the facade of the Tretyakov Gallery were made by the plant according to the sketches of Viktor Vasnetsov.

The famous Abramtsevo majolica can also be seen on the building of the Swiss diplomatic mission in Khlebny lane - once this mansion was built for himself by the famous architect and restorer Sergei Soloviev. He generously decorated his house with a variety of decor - including 14 majolica panels “Rome. Forum at Night”, which can be seen on the facade of the building from the side of Khlebny Lane. The authorship of these panels has not been precisely determined - among the most likely candidates, art critics name Vrubel and Vasnetsov.

The majolica of great artists, made at the Mamontov plant, can still be found on buildings throughout Russia, which is great.

It is believed that the majolica of the Abramtsevo plant is not inferior to either the works of modern European masters or ancient ceramic artists. Many art critics even claim that it is superior to its "competitors" from any era and it simply has no analogues.

Products made at the Abramtsevo pottery factory can be seen not only on buildings, but also in expositions of the largest national museums in our country - for example, in the Tretyakov Gallery, the Kuskovo Ceramics Museum and the Russian Museum.

Majolica before Mamontov's workshop

The history of Russian majolica can be traced back to the ceramic factory opened in Strelna by Prince Menshikov, as well as from the Moscow Grebenshchikov factory. In Strelna, richly decorated tiles for palaces and temples were produced (production was deployed on the model of Dutch manufactories). Since 1724, the Moscow enterprise has been producing mainly large tiles with monochrome painting and earthenware.

Then majolica appeared in the famous village of Gzhel near Moscow and in Yaroslavl. At first, Russian masters adopted the techniques of ceramic painting from their Western European and Chinese predecessors, but over time, the majolica produced in Russia acquired a national flavor.

Continuing the theme of patronage - material about what the most famous merchant families have done for the good of Russia.