Video: "Without a dream nothing can be done in life": how the most magical cycle of paintings by Vasnetsov appeared "The Poem of Seven Tales"
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Probably none of the Russian artists of the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. did not cause such controversial reviews about his work as Viktor Vasnetsov: he was either admired and called a true folk artist, or accused of "retrograde and obscurantism." In 1905, he renounced the title of professor at the Academy of Arts in protest against the students' enthusiasm for politics rather than painting. During the revolutionary years Vasnetsov created his most magical series of paintings "Poem of Seven Tales" … In it, he tried to capture the lost old Russia, the person of which he considered himself.
Viktor Vasnetsov was born into the family of a village priest in the Vyatka province, he grew up in a peasant environment and from childhood was immersed in the atmosphere of the primordial Russian folk culture. His first drawings were illustrations for proverbs. Folklore for him was the embodiment of the true essence and spiritual image of the entire people. “I have always been convinced that fairy tales, songs, epics reflect the whole whole image of the people, internal and external, with the past and the present, and maybe the future,” said the artist.
Back in the 1860s. there was a surge of interest in folklore both in science and in art: it was during this period that fundamental historical research appeared, collections of works of oral folklore were published. Repin, Maksimov, Surikov wrote on historical themes, but Vasnetsov was the first among artists to turn to epic and fairy-tale themes. He created a whole series of works about "old Russia", which he contrasted in the revolutionary years to modern Russia, which he called "non-Rus", with a small letter.
The painter turned to the folk epic in the 1880s, and from 1900 until the end of his days (especially intensively in 1917-1918) Vasnetsov worked on the cycle of paintings "Poem of Seven Tales". It includes 7 canvases: "The Sleeping Princess", "Baba Yaga", "The Frog Princess", "Kashchei the Immortal", "Princess Nesmeyana", "Sivka Burka" and "Airplane Carpet". In these fabulous plots, the artist was looking for the embodiment of the main features of the national character of his people, among which he singled out spiritual purity, courage and patriotism.
Vasnetsov's fairy-tale works were for him not an illustration of oral folk art, but "an act of poetic insight into the core of life, closed from people by the veil of reality." The artist did not accept the revolution and suffered as he watched the "old Russia" irrevocably disappear. Fairy tales were a kind of internal emigration for him. He poeticized antiquity, saw in it an ideal, the existence of which, in his opinion, had been forgotten by his contemporaries. Meanwhile, art magazines called Vasnetsov "a dilapidated retrograde and obscurantist."
Contemporary critics find in The Poem of Seven Fairy Tales notes of anxiety for Russia and its future. For example, the artist interpreted the fairy tale plot of The Sleeping Princess in a new way, hinting at the events of his contemporary reality. The girl sleeps on the Pigeon Book, famous for its prophetic predictions. And in this context, the image of the "sleeping princess" looks like a metaphor for the Russian state. Many critics agree that the main heroine of the "Poem of Seven Tales" is Russia - intoxicated and bewitched. And all its inhabitants fell asleep and do not know what is happening around.
He wrote "The Poem of Seven Tales" not to order, but for himself, it was his outlet and a way to isolate himself from the outside world. All the paintings have remained in the artist's studio, in his Moscow house, which resembles an old Russian tower (the people called it that - "little tower"). This house was built according to his sketches, F. Chaliapin said that it was "a cross between a peasant hut and an ancient princely mansion." In 1953, the Vasnetsov House-Museum was opened here. In addition to paintings and drawings, there is a collection of ancient objects and icons, which the artist collected all his life.
"Without poetry, without a dream, nothing can be done in life," the artist argued and embodied this principle in his work. His canvases are symbolic and contain many secrets. Vasnetsov's "heroes": who the artist actually portrayed in the famous painting.
Recommended:
Portrait of Elizabeth II in Self-Isolation, the Mother Goddess and the Magical Worlds: Magical Realism Miriam Escofet
While the whole world was in uncertainty and tension due to the coronavirus epidemic, political upheaval and economic instability, artists continued to create masterpieces. In July 2020, a new official portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by surrealist artist Miriam Escofet was unveiled digitally. The reactions to him were mixed
What can be done from old magazines: the work of Christopher Coppers
If you still have old magazines that you definitely won't read (or maybe you haven't read at all, having limited yourself to viewing pictures, and you don't even know why you bought and save up this waste paper), you can safely take them to the trash heap if you not familiar with Christopher Coppers. This guy rips up prints like Vogue, Playboy, Glamor starting from the cover so that they turn into a real work of art
Some of the celebrities cannot live a day without makeup and, and who can calmly do without a make-up
Every celebrity has their own distinctive, recognizable style. Some give preference to pretentious images, while others, on the contrary, try not to stand out from the crowd, becoming almost gray mice behind the scenes, who are trying once again not to catch the eye of the paparazzi. But one way or another, they all have their own reasons for being who they are. For some, excessive makeup is the norm and a kind of visiting card, and for some, its absence is a call to love ourselves as we are, do not hesitate
Paintings with soul, or done sincerely with love
Touching and at first glance naive works by the Georgian artist Nino Chakvetadze, whose main theme is - kind, lovely children with wise eyes beyond our years, return us to distant childhood, causing the brightest feelings and experiences. Each picture is not only saturated with incredible tenderness, warmth and comfort, but also spiced with a drop of sadness, silently frozen in the air
Fairy tales come to life: 10 magical drawings for children from Viktor Nizovtsev
A fairy tale is, perhaps, the only good that in today's ultra-modern world has not lost its sincerity and warmth. What could be better than grandmother's stories and grandfather's tales told at night to beloved grandchildren? Contemporary artist Viktor Nizovtsev invites you to plunge into the magical world of a fairy tale, his works attract both kids and adults, because they open the way for us to an amazing country called Childhood