Benois "Chasing. Frontispiece to a separate edition of the poem A

In the first decades of the 20th century, drawings by Alexander Nikolaevich Benois (1870 - 1960) for The Bronze Horseman were made - the best that was created in the entire history of Pushkin's illustration.
Benoist began working on The Bronze Horseman in 1903. Over the next 20 years, he created a cycle of drawings, intros and endings, as well as a huge number of options and sketches. The first edition of these illustrations, which were prepared for a pocket edition, was created in 1903 in Rome and St. Petersburg. Diaghilev printed them in a different format in the first issue of the magazine "World of Art" for 1904. The first cycle of illustrations consisted of 32 drawings made in ink and watercolor.
In 1905, A.N. Benois, while in Versailles, reworked six of his previous illustrations and completed the frontispiece for The Bronze Horseman. In the new drawings for The Bronze Horseman, the theme of the Horseman's persecution of a little man becomes the main one: the black horseman over the fugitive is not so much Falcone's masterpiece as the personification of brutal force, power. And Petersburg is not the one that captivates with its artistic perfection and scope of building ideas, but a gloomy city - a cluster of gloomy houses, shopping arcades, fences. The anxiety and anxiety that gripped the artist during this period turn here into a real cry about the fate of a person in Russia.
In 1916, 1921-1922, the cycle was revised for the third time and supplemented with new drawings.

In the drawings of A.N. Benois, the images of A.S. Pushkin’s “Petersburg Tale” are, as it were, colored by the reflections and experiences of a person at the beginning of the 20th century.
Therefore, it was the “modernity” of Benois’s illustrations that caught the eye of art connoisseurs at the beginning of the 20th century, it seemed to them no less significant than the artist’s inherent sense of style, understanding of the Pushkin era and the ability to skillfully theatricalize the action, having developed a number of “masterfully staged mise-en-scenes”. The artist and art critic Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar at that time wrote to Benois about these illustrations of his: “They are so good that I still cannot recover from the novelty of impressions. The era and Pushkin are damned conveyed, while there is absolutely no smell of engraving material, no patina. They are terribly modern - and this is important..."

Benois Alexander Nikolaevich. A set of postcards with illustrations by the artist for the poem by A.S. Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman" (Publishing "Soviet artist". Moscow. 1966)

1916 illustration
On the shore of desert waves
He stood, full of great thoughts,
And looked into the distance. Wide before him
The river rushed...

1903 illustration

A hundred years have passed, and the young city,
Midnight countries beauty and wonder,
From the darkness of the forests, from the swamp blat
Ascended magnificently, proudly;
Where before the Finnish fisherman,
The sad stepson of nature,
Alone by the low shores
Thrown into unknown waters
Your old net, now there
Along busy shores
The slender masses crowd
Palaces and towers; ships
Crowd from all corners of the earth
They strive for rich marinas;
The Neva is dressed in granite;
Bridges hung over the waters;
Dark green gardens
The islands covered her...

1916 illustration

I love you, Petra creation,
I love your strict, slender look,
Neva sovereign current,
Its coastal granite,
Your fences have a cast-iron pattern,
your thoughtful nights
Transparent dusk, moonless brilliance,
When I am in my room
I write, I read without a lamp,
And the sleeping masses are clear
Deserted streets, and light
Admiralty needle,
And, not letting the darkness of the night,
To golden skies
One dawn to replace another
Hurry, giving the night half an hour.

Illustration 1903
Above the darkened Petrograd
November breathed autumn chill.
Rushing in a noisy wave
At the edge of its slender fence,
Neva rushed about like a patient
Restless in your bed.
It was already late and dark;
The rain beat angrily against the window,
And the wind blew, sadly howling.
At the time of the guests home
Eugene came young ...

Illustration 1903

Terrible day!
Neva all night
Rushed to the sea against the storm,
Without defeating their violent dope ...
And she couldn't argue...
In the morning over her shores
Crowded crowds of people
Admiring the splashes, the mountains
And the foam of furious waters

Illustration 1903

And Petropolis surfaced like Triton,
Immersed in water up to my waist.
Siege! Attack! evil waves,
Like thieves climbing through the windows. Chelny
With a running start, glass is smashed astern.
Trays under a wet veil,
Fragments of huts, logs, roofs,
thrifty commodity,
Relics of pale poverty,
Storm-blown bridges
A coffin from a blurry cemetery
Float through the streets!

Illustration 1916

Then, on Petrova Square,
Where the house in the corner has risen new,
Where above the elevated porch
With a raised paw, as if alive,
There are two guard lions
On a marble beast,
Without a hat, hands clenched in a cross
Sitting motionless, terribly pale
Evgeniy….

Illustration 1916

The water has drained, and the pavement
Opened, and my Eugene
Hurries, soul freezing,
In hope, fear and longing
To a barely calm river.
But, the triumph of victory is full,
The waves were still seething,
As if a fire smoldered under them,
Still their foam covered,
And Neva was breathing heavily,
Like a horse running from a battle.
Eugene looks: he sees a boat;
He runs to her as if to a find;
He calls the carrier...

Illustration 1903

And long with stormy waves
An experienced rower fought
And hide deep between their rows
Hourly with daring swimmers
The shuttle was ready...

Illustration 1903

What is this?...
He stopped.
Went back and turned back.
Looks... goes... still looks.
Here is the place where their house stands;
Here is the willow. There were gates here
They took them down, you see. Where is the house?
And, full of gloomy care,
Everyone walks, he walks around...

Illustration 1903

But my poor, poor Eugene...
Alas, his troubled mind
Against terrible shocks
Didn't resist. Rebellious Noise
Neva and winds resounded
In his ears. Terrible thoughts
Silently full, he wandered.
... He will soon light
Became a stranger. Walked all day,
And slept on the pier; ate
In the window filed piece.
The clothes are shabby on him
It tore and smoldered. Evil children
They threw stones at him.

Illustration 1903
He found himself under the pillars
Big house. On the porch
With a raised paw, as if alive,
There were guard lions,
And right in the dark sky
Above the walled rock
Idol with outstretched hand
He sat on a bronze horse.
Eugene shuddered. cleared up
It has terrible thoughts. He found out
And the place where the flood played
Where the predatory waves crowded,
Revolting viciously around him,
And the lions, and the square, and that,
Who stood still
In the darkness with a copper head,
Togo, whose fateful will
The city was founded under the sea...

Illustration 1903

And since then, when it happened
Go that square to him
His face showed
Confusion. To your heart
He hastily pressed his hand
As if pacifying his torment
Worn-out symal cap,
I didn't raise my confused eyes
And walked to the side.

Painting by A. Benois “The Chase. The frontispiece to a separate edition of A. S. Pushkin's poem "The Bronze Horseman" is unusual in that, in addition to being interesting in itself as a work of art, it is an illustration of the immortal poem of the genius of Russian literature.

Few people know that in fact the monument to Peter I, standing in St. Petersburg on Senate Square, was made of bronze by the sculptor E. Fontane. And the unofficial name - "The Bronze Horseman" - he received after the release of the poem by A.S. Pushkin.

In addition, the story is interesting, why

A. Benois came to the illustration of Pushkin's poem. It is worth looking at the historical context here. The year the picture was created is 1905. The beginning of the first Russian revolution. Breakdown of historical eras. The country is on the eve of other great upheavals. And in this context, its capital is perceived as the focus of all the negativity that the agonizing regime of power, bureaucracy, and the military brings with it.

Therefore, A. Benois wanted to "rehabilitate" the image of St. Petersburg, including on the material of the poem by A.S. Pushkin. Therefore, the artist took up the pen, ink, watercolor, ink - those materials with which the picture was created.

Frontispiece

- this is a drawing that is printed on the title spread of the publication, setting the tone for all further illustrations. Therefore, the theme of Yevgeny's escape through the night Petersburg from The Bronze Horseman is a key one both in the poem itself and in the illustrations to it.

The black and white palette of the picture is absolutely acceptable for the action unfolding at night. Eugene, who had previously angered the Bronze Horseman, without knowing it, "revived" him and is now trying to escape from under the hooves of Peter riding a horse.

Yevgeny's face is not visible - it is in the shadows and almost not drawn by the artist. But his whole figure conveys those feelings of indescribable fear and animal horror that the Pushkin hero experiences. He rushes so fast that it seems that he is already falling and is about to fall under the horse's hooves.

The Bronze Horseman himself is depicted in his classic pose - in the same position as at the monument on Senate Square. Thus, it is not possible to understand whether the rider on horseback is chasing Eugene or is it the fruit of his sick imagination. But the famous St. Petersburg architecture, recreated by the artist in the background of the picture, is easily guessed. The moon peeps through the clouds and casts terrible, ominous shadows from the figure of both Eugene and the horseman.

All these feelings of fear and unreality of what is happening are conveyed by A. Benois very clearly and vividly emphasize the tragedy of Pushkin's poem, the relationship of a small man with a big city.

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A.S. Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman"

The history of the creation of the poem The poem is based on the real story of the flood that occurred in November 1824 in St. Petersburg. During the flood, Pushkin was in exile in Mikhailovsky, so in the poem he described the events according to the testimony of eyewitnesses. The story about the "revived monument" could have been taken by Pushkin from the story of how in 1812 Emperor Alexander I wanted to take the monument to Peter out of St. Petersburg. But the emperor was stopped by reporting a major's dream. In his dream, the major saw the Bronze Horseman galloping through the streets of St. Petersburg and, approaching the emperor, said to him: “Young man! What have you brought my Russia to! But for now I am in place, my city has nothing to fear.” According to another version, Pushkin could borrow the idea of ​​a revived monument from Don Juan.

Illustrations by A. N. Benois for the poem "The Bronze Horseman" Eugene at the place where his beloved lived Eugene talking to the Bronze Horseman

Alexander Nikolaevich Benois Alexander Nikolaevich Benois (April 21, 1870, St. Petersburg - February 9, 1960, Paris) - Russian artist, art historian, art critic, founder and main ideologist of the World of Art association.

Born on April 21, 1870 in St. Petersburg, in the family of architect Nikolai Leontievich Benois and his wife Camilla, daughter of architect A.K. Kavos. For some time he studied at the Academy of Arts, also studied fine art on his own and under the guidance of his older brother Albert. In 1894 he graduated from the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. In 1894, he began his career as a theorist and art historian, writing a chapter on Russian artists for the German collection History of Painting of the 19th Century. In 1896-1898 and 1905-1907 he worked in France. He became one of the organizers and ideologists of the artistic association "World of Art", founded the magazine of the same name. In 1916-1918, the artist created illustrations for A. S. Pushkin's poem "The Bronze Horseman". In 1918, Benois headed the Art Gallery of the Hermitage and published its new catalogue. He continued to work as a book and theater artist and director, in particular, he worked on staging and designing performances of the Petrograd Bolshoi Drama Theater. In 1925 he took part in the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris. In 1926 A. N. Benois left the USSR. He lived in Paris, where he worked on sketches of theatrical scenery and costumes. Participated in S. Diaghilev's ballet enterprise "Ballets Russes" as an artist and director of performances. He died on February 9, 1960 in Paris. In recent years, he worked on memoirs.

Illustrations by M. S. Rodionov for the poem "The Bronze Horseman" Death of Eugene Peter I on the banks of the Neva

Mikhail Semenovich Rodionov Mikhail Semyonovich Rodionov (1885, Uryupinsk district of the Volgograd region - 1956, Moscow) - Russian artist and art teacher.

He studied in Moscow, initially in the studios of F. Rerberg and I. Mashkov, then at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in the painting department (1908-1910) and after a break in sculpture (1915-1918). In the 1920s was a member of the art association "Makovets". In the pre-war period, he actively worked in the field of book illustration, especially for the works of L. N. Tolstoy; The Great Encyclopedia "Terra" names the best of these works as the lithographs for the story "Kholstomer" (1934, for the publishing house "Academia"). Among the later works, a series of lithographic portraits of cultural figures stands out. He was married to Elizaveta Vladimirovna Giatsintova (1888-1965), daughter of art critic Vladimir Giatsintov and sister of actress Sofya Giatsintova.

SPb.: Committee for the Popularization of Artistic Publications, 1923. 73, p.: tsv. ill., 1 l. front, (ill.). Circulation 1000 copies. Copies are numbered, the edition is printed on laid paper. In an illustrated two-colour publisher's cover. 35x27 cm. The set was made back in 1917 in the old orthography with a special decorative font. The circulation was printed in the Ivan Fedorov Printing House (the former printing house of the suppliers of the Court of His Imperial Majesty R. Golike and A. Vilborg - one of the best Russian printing houses) under the supervision of the most authoritative printer of the first quarter of the 20th century V.I. Anisimov. The publication is made on hand-made paper, made before the revolution. Filigree - "Seal of the Imperial Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture" with a double-headed eagle. Bibliophilic edition, which has become a work of printed and artistic art.

The publication was designed by the outstanding watercolor artist, talented art critic Alexander Nikolaevich Benois (1870-1960), the founder and inspirer of the famous art association "World of Art". Contemporaries saw in the artist a living embodiment of the spirit of artistry. In his work, A. Benois is inspired by the aesthetics of French romanticism of the 18th century, the architecture of Versailles and old St. Petersburg. It is in it that the origins of a bold reassessment of the art of the 18th century lie, which is one of the greatest merits of the "World of Art" and A. Benois personally. Of great importance in the formation of artistic ideas of A. Benois was a passion for the theater and the genre of drama, one of the clearest expressions of which was the production of works by A.S. Pushkin. The first edition of the illustrations for The Bronze Horseman was created in 1903 in Rome and St. Petersburg. “The crown of Petersburg illustration”, “the most remarkable book of the Committee”, publications, this was conceived by the Circle of Lovers of Russian Fine Editions: in 1903, by order! Chairman of the Circle V.A. Vereshchagin A.N. Benois made 33 black ink drawings, but they were rejected as "decadent". The illustrations were purchased by S.P. Diaghilev and published them together with the poem in the magazine World of Art! (1904. No. 1). Benoit's drawings "made a splash and were recognized by all connoisseurs of the book as an ideal graphic work." In 1905, the artist, while in Versailles, reworked six of his previous illustrations and completed the frontispiece for The Bronze Horseman - for an edition released in 1912 by the St. Petersburg Literacy Society, and then in 1916 - for the Community of St. Evgeniya. In 1916, 1921-1922, the cycle was revised for the third time and supplemented with new drawings, and already in this final form saw the light. In the year of the publication of the book, 20 years have passed since the beginning of work on this cycle. In 1917, the book was typed in the printing house of R.R. Golik and A.I. Vilborg, but this enterprise was nationalized, and the book was published only in 1923 - under the brand of the Committee for the Promotion of Artistic Publications.

It was printed in the State Printing House. Ivan Fedorov under the supervision of its director V.I. Anisimov and with the assistance of the Petrograd branch of the State Publishing House. The book includes 37 drawings by Benois: a frontispiece, 29 full-page illustrations (they accompanied each page of the text on the spread), 6 black-and-white intros and endings, and a plot vignette on the cover. All of them, with the exception of the famous frontispiece, made for the first edition of the 1905 cycle, were created anew. Using the best of the previous drawings, Benoit reworked them, increasing the size and outlining each with a contour line. Executed in ink and watercolor, the drawings imitated colored woodcuts. In the book, all images in color are reproduced by photochromolithography, black - by zincography, vignette on the cover - by phototype. In an effort to create a compositional harmony of drawing and text, the artist carefully thought out the layout of the book. Drawings of different sizes, shapes and proportions, he arranged either horizontally or vertically, each time giving the spread a visual variety.

And although the opinion of the critics was not unanimous, the majority nevertheless agreed that "the illustrations for The Bronze Horseman supplemented Pushkin's work so much that the graphics and the St. Petersburg story were an inseparable whole and are currently unthinkable one without the other." The text of The Bronze Horseman was first printed in the final version of the poet, without censorship distortions and according to the old spelling (from a set made back in 1917, for which the publishing house had to obtain special permission). The font of the publication is stylized as the font of Pushkin's time, which completed the feeling of organic unity of all elements of the publication and formed its unique aesthetics. The introductory article to the publication was written by the famous Pushkinist P.E. Shchegolev. At the end of the book was placed "Information about the illustrations for the Bronze Horseman", which briefly outlined the history of the creation of this graphic series. The edition was published in an illustrated cover and dust jacket. The title, the author's surname on the cover, the title page and half-titles, the texts inside the book were typed in typographic type, stylized as the type of Pushkin's time. As part of the circulation, nominal and numbered copies were issued.

Most of the edition was printed on yellowish paper, the rest - on white paper with a watermark depicting a double-headed eagle, with an inscription around it: “Print by Imi. Acad. painting, sculpture and architecture. The edition was sold quite expensive - 15 rubles each. The significance of Benois's illustrations for The Bronze Horseman is far from being exhausted by their purely graphic quality. The artist has invested in this work and his life experience. It is the "modernity" of Benois's illustrations that is no less significant in this publication than the artist's inherent sense of style, understanding of the Pushkin era and the ability to skillfully theatricalize the action. In Benois's drawings, the images of Pushkin's "Petersburg Tale" are colored by the reflections and experiences of a man of the early 20th century, which makes the "Bronze Horseman" of the KPI a historically significant publication. The publication of The Bronze Horseman with illustrations by A. Benois was a landmark event in the history of publishing and book graphics.