What paintings of Russian classics were banned from showing, and for what reason they fell out of favor with the censors

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

We are used to associating censorship bans with forbidden books or films. But even in such a seemingly harmless genre of art as painting, artists could go against the ideological attitudes of the authorities, which is why certain paintings were not accepted for display at public exhibitions. Several such stories happened in the Russian Empire, and they are associated not with some little-known artists, but with generally recognized masters of the brush.

Ilya Repin "Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan November 16, 1581"

One of the most famous Itinerants, Ilya Repin, by the 1880s was an artist with great experience. His paintings were bought by Pavel Tretyakov, cultural figures such as the writer Turgenev and the composer Mussorgsky posed for him. In addition to portraits and social themes (for example, Barge Haulers on the Volga), Repin was always interested in historical subjects. The legend that Tsar Ivan the Terrible, in a fit of anger, dealt a fatal blow with his staff to his son Ivan, was known thanks to historical works, although how much it corresponds to the truth is difficult to judge.

There was another interesting source of inspiration for the artist. Repin recalled that the idea of the painting came to him after the assassination of Alexander II on March 1, 1881. During a trip to Europe, he noted that "bloody paintings" are quite popular at Western exhibitions. - wrote Repin.

The first viewers of the picture were Repin's comrades in the art workshop, he showed them the finished canvas in his workshop. The guests were stunned by the result and were silent for a long time. Nevertheless, the risky work was included in the 13th exhibition of the Association of the Itinerants, which opened in 1885 in St. Petersburg. The Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod, Konstantin Pobedonostsev, called the picture "fantastic" in a negative sense and "simply disgusting." And the Emperor Alexander III, who saw it, said that it should not be shown in the provinces.

Nevertheless, the painting was taken to Moscow and included in a local exhibition … until the official censorship responded. “Ivan the Terrible” was demanded to be removed and not shown to the public in the future. The ban did not last long - from April to July 1885. The artist Alexei Bogolyubov, who had connections at court, stood up for the disgraced painting and achieved the lifting of the ban. However, the history of scandals around the painting did not end: in 1913 and 2018, it was attacked by vandals.

Nikolay Ge "'What is Truth?" Christ and Pilate"

The canvases of the artist Nikolai Ge, like Repin, were frequent guests of the exhibitions of the Itinerants. One of the iconic themes for Ge is a religious, Christian theme. For three decades, the artist painted on biblical subjects pictures "Christ in the wasteland", "The Last Supper", "Golgotha", "In the Garden of Gethsemane" and others. But only one picture, "What is truth?", Caused an ambiguous reaction, up to a ban.

The painting depicts an episode of a dialogue between the procurator of Judea Pontius Pilate and Jesus Christ. She quite accurately conveys a fragment from the New Testament, where Pilate throws the phrase: "What is truth?", And, without waiting for Christ's answer, goes to the exit. At the same time, the very atmosphere of Ge's painting was not at all similar to the traditional perception of this plot by contemporaries. Jesus Christ is depicted as a tortured and depressed man, he is hidden in the shadows, while Pilate rises above him and is illuminated by the sun.

In this, of course, there was no insult to the feelings of believers. On the contrary, the picture much better conveyed the tragedy of the situation when Pilate, triumphant in his conviction, like many contemporaries of Christ, did not at all see what was the truth in this situation. He simply could not see the true God in the darkened figure of man.

The painting was shown in 1890 at an exhibition of the Itinerants, and the Holy Synod decided to remove it from the exhibition. The collector Tretyakov also did not appreciate the work and did not want to buy it. His opinion was influenced by a letter from Leo Tolstoy, in which he reproached the collector's shortsightedness: Tretyakov changed his mind and bought the painting. More than a century has passed, and now it is obvious that we are still facing another pearl of Russian painting.

Vasily Vereshchagin "Execution of conspirators in Russia"

Vereshchagin was not a Itinerant, although he was also interested in current social and historical subjects. In the 1880s, he wrote The Execution Trilogy, three paintings united by the theme of the death penalty. Together with the paintings "The Crucifixion on the Cross by the Romans" and "The Suppression of the Indian Uprising by the British" Vereshchagin turned to the Russian plot - the execution of five Narodnaya Volya revolutionaries who killed Alexander II.

People's Volunteers were hanged on April 3, 1881 on the Semyonovsky parade ground. Many public figures were not supporters of revolutionary terror, but were outraged by the backlash of the authorities, who suppressed the revolutionary movement with death sentences to criminals. The same Leo Tolstoy wrote a letter to Alexander III and asked him to mitigate the punishment of the convicted. Vereshchagin also conveyed a negative perception of the execution, depicting it in the form of a rather gloomy and tense scene.

For the first time the picture was shown in 1885 in Vienna at the personal exhibition of Vereshchagin. The Russian censorship imposed a complete ban on it and on any of its reproductions. As a result, the painting was bought by a French citizen Leviton and secretly brought it to St. Petersburg. After the revolution, it became the property of the Museum of the Revolution (now the Museum of Political History in St. Petersburg) and is kept in its funds. In 2018, especially for the exhibition of Vereshchagin in the Tretyakov Gallery, the painting was restored, and hundreds and thousands of visitors could see it.