Kustodiev Boris Mikhailovich pictures Shrovetide. Shrovetide by Kustodiev

“The people are the crown of earthly color, the beauty and joy of all flowers ...”

Alexander Blok

The First World War, revolution, civil war... And at this time, the sick master creates wonderful in composition and color, cheerful and joyful images of ideal Russia, with its bright scarves and pot-bellied samovars, cheerful peasants and broken merchants, shining church domes and carved platbands of huts . Like the city of Kitezh or "Summer of the Lord" by Ivan Shmelev, the Russia of Boris Kustodiev appears before the viewer. And a special place here is occupied by a series of works dedicated to Maslenitsa.

The first three paintings "Shrovetide" were written in 1916, and this theme did not leave the artist until 1922. So, more and more new versions are created in 1917 and 1919, and in 1921 Kustodiev paints a portrait of Fyodor Chaliapin again against the backdrop of Shrovetide festivities. The action of these works always takes place in the city, the landscape of which is a collective image of many provincial and metropolitan places, and the plot is almost always divided into many mise-en-scenes, in which a variety of “folk” types participate - peasants, merchants, peddlers, merchants, officers and accordionists . The atmosphere of the holiday and carnival is conveyed by the artist through an extremely rich and bright color. Here the viewer sees sleigh rides, a booth, and ice slides - typical "pre-revolutionary" entertainments on Maslenitsa.

In "Maslenitsa" Kustodiev's passion for painting by old Netherlandish masters, first of all, was most fully reflected. It is impossible not to note both the similarity in composition, the abundance of small details and scenes, and the peculiarities of the angle of all the paintings - a look at what is happening from a high point, as if “in flight”, which allows you to simultaneously show the beauty of the landscape, and give a lot of “theatrical” plans for action. characters. But what is even more important to note is the common (both for Kustodiev and for Brueghel) love for the everyday joys of ordinary people, a sincere admiration for life and its poetry.

Here is what the artist himself wrote about this: “In my works I want to approach the Dutch masters, to their attitude to their native life ... Dutch artists loved simple, everyday life, for them there was neither “high”, nor “vulgar”, “low” , they all wrote with the same enthusiasm and love.

The canvases of Boris Kustodiev, dedicated to Russian festive life, are always realistic at the same time, full of reliable details - beautifully painted costumes and utensils, architectural motifs, signs of the season. And at the same time, of course, these are collective, idealized images, broadcasting to the viewer a special, magical and full of folk poetry world, similar to the fairy tales of Pushkin and Gogol.

And it is impossible not to admire the feat of the master, who recreated in his works a picture of the bygone Russian world with its bright festive colors shining against the background of a white winter, the joys of the “little people” so beloved by Russian literature. “Love for life, joy, cheerfulness, love for one’s own, “Russian”, have always been the only “plot” of my paintings,” this is how Boris Kustodiev himself described his work at the end of his life.

Boris Kustodiev

Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev was born in Astrakhan in 1878. There he received his first painting lessons, and then as a young man he went to St. Petersburg and ended up in the workshop of Ilya Efimovich Repin at the Academy of Arts. Kustodiev quickly grew from a simple student into an assistant and young colleague of his professor, helping Repin in his work on the monumental painting “The Solemn Meeting of the State Council on May 7, 1901”. In response, Ilya Efimovich did not skimp on praise: “I have high hopes for Kustodiev. He is a gifted artist, loving art, thoughtful, serious, attentively studying nature. Distinctive features of his talent: independence, originality and deeply felt nationality ... "

Even during his studies, Boris Kustodiev proved himself to be an excellent and subtle portrait painter (suffice it to recall the wonderful portrait of the artist Ivan Bilibin). However, he chooses genre painting as a diploma and creates the work “At the Bazaar” based on Kostroma studies and observations, which received a gold medal and the right to a pensioner's trip abroad.

Upon returning from Europe, where the artist copied and studied old masters, Kustodiev worked hard, later becoming a member of the Academy of Arts and various art groups, communities and circles, the most famous of which was, of course, the World of Art. He continues to be occupied by peasant and folk life - this is how the series “Village Holidays” and “Fairs” are created.

The brighter and purer the colors on the canvases of Boris Kustodiev become, the heavier the atmosphere in Russia and the personal circumstances of the artist's life. Since 1909, he has undergone a series of operations caused by a tumor of the spinal cord. For the last 15 years of his life, Kustodiev is actually chained to a wheelchair and paints while lying down.

Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev is a great master who sings of Russian life, Russian way of life, Russian soul. Most of all, the soul of the Russian people was revealed during the general festivities. The artist was especially attracted by the original Russian tradition of celebrating Maslenitsa. It is on such days of universal nationwide festivities that the unification of such a diverse Russian people takes place. Here, as if at a fair, everything was mixed up, spinning like a bright carousel.

Kustodiev at different times of his work created a whole series of paintings united by the common theme of the celebration of Maslenitsa. In 1919 B.M. Kustodiev writes another canvas called "Maslenitsa (Shrovetide Skating)". The Maslenitsa festivities are depicted in this work in the most vivid, dense, dense stream of a joyful wave of noisy conversations, jerky glances, loud laughter and radiant, heated faces. The work is characterized by an atmosphere of abundance of snow, an abundance of people. A kind of redundancy effect is born. An excess of colors, sounds, various grocery amusements. All this creates a colorful decorative picture, similar to a magnificent, very rare and very beautiful decoration. The celebration takes place on the central square of one of the small provincial cities of Russia. This can be judged by the multitude of all kinds of shops that unfolded around. There is also a bakery, and fruits, and groceries selling cheese and caviar, and besides, a theater. The urban landscape, cheerful, Shrovetide, is covered with snow and hoarfrost. People crowd around each shop, someone plays the accordion, buys colorful balloons, argues, gossips, bargains, in a word, desperately has fun, forgetting about everything. The central motif of the canvas can be called Shrovetide horseback riding, which contains a subtle cultural symbol of the comparison of Russia and the troika. “Isn’t it true that you too, Russia, that a brisk, unbeatable troika are rushing about? The road is smoking under you, bridges are rattling, everything is lagging behind ... ”N.V. Gogol, referring to the unrestraint, wild strength, power of Russia. And above all this, as in many other works of Kustodiev, rises the image of the cathedral and the pale sky, as if glowing from within. Large images of frosty trees covered with a dense snow cap give rise to a poetic feeling of a “wonderful city”, the image of which merges into a single general state of fun, carefree laughter, songs, games and a strong enthusiasm for Shrovetide skating.

The canvas “Shrovetide (Shrovetide Skating)” is very interesting to consider, study, the work is so detailed and skillfully written out. The picture carries and excites in us a kind of overlap of emotions, delight, interest, infects us with the magic of the holiday, awakening a completely childish joy from the arrival of spring.

Thus, it turned out to be a rather complex plot canvas “overloaded” with details and images, reminiscent of a fairy-tale illustration, which is characterized by a grotesque, a special, too decorative language, an abundance of decorations, details, hidden mysteries, and implicit allegorical meanings.

Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev (1878 - 1927).

This is perhaps the only case in the world when a person doomed to immobility and slow death created the most festive, most colorful and joyful creations. From the age of thirty-three, the artist Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev began to feel signs of a serious illness, which later turned out to be a tumor of the spinal cord. Five years later, in 1916, despite painful operations, his legs were paralyzed. And he, sometimes in a wheelchair, sometimes lying down, overcoming terrible pains, painted on canvas full of health, brightly dressed merchants, merry Shrovetide, noisy taverns ... Even knowing that death was very close, Boris Mikhailovich did not change his favorite holiday themes , did not make the palette darker and duller; it was then that he conceived a large series of works close to folk popular prints and new to him in terms of technique. I took the plots from modern folk ditties, which I carefully wrote down. He managed to make Only two compositions: "Under the cutie's accordion" and "I robbed the Strawberry". How the names of these linocuts do not fit with the word "death", which interrupted the work of the artist!

From the very beginning of his career, Kustodiev declared himself not only as a writer of everyday life, but no less interesting as a portrait painter. While still a student, in 1901 he painted a portrait of I. Ya. Bilibin. The beauty of the painting, the bold stroke, the nobility of the image attracted general attention. At an exhibition in Munich, the young artist received a gold medal for this portrait.

With all his work, Kustodiev claims that the Russian people are not a dull, suffering mass, that centuries of poverty, deprivation and severe social oppression could not kill the dreams of a happy life in the Russian people.

Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev. Shrovetide.

In the painting "Shrovetide" there is a holiday mood. The artist, as it were, says that the people who, after hard work, are able to have fun and enjoy life with all their hearts are great. Blowing up snowdrifts, well-fed horses race the sleigh. Diving among the white hills and frost-covered bushes on the high slope of the ravine, the owners of the sledge strive to outdo each other in boldness, speed, beauty of horses and decorations. The arches are painted, the horse harness is elegant, the back of the sleigh is lined with colored fabric. Coachmen in bright blue caftans, in hats with scarlet tops, drive dashingly, people sitting in sledges are smiling, wrapped in warm coats, in furs, covered with bright canopies. Boys and girls gathered on a nearby hillock, sitting on a log, talking, listening to an accordion, and on the other, boys fight in snowballs, sledding. Booths, people crowding around, groups of people at crossroads are clearly visible against the background of snow from above. Smoke swirls over the city roofs in the frosty haze, colorful domes and bell towers flaunt, bright and colorful near and transparently airy from a distance; and the whole city looks like a winter fairy-tale mirage, spread out in blue snows under a sky in pink, lemon-yellow and green tints.

The movement in the picture takes place, as it were, in a huge spiral, and the giant bell tower is the center: as if all of Russia, cheerful, flushed with frost, decorated with hoarfrost, pink-blue snow, laughing and rejoicing, rushes along a huge carousel around the pink bell tower.

Russian artist - Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev
According to T. Savitskaya, V. Lebedeva

(1878-1927) repeatedly addressed the theme of festive festivities in the Russian provinces. He was attracted by the breadth of the soul of the Russian people, reckless recklessness, a dizzying whirlwind of dancing and fisticuffs, riding in troikas and a mountain of treats on tables placed right there, among the snowdrifts. The artist wanted to display on the canvas the whole color of the festival, to forever capture a bright event in the life of the Russian people.

Start

"Shrovetide" is one of his works dedicated to the most joyful holiday, which falls on the last week before the start of Lent. Shrovetide week, unrestrained fun became the plot for the picture, painted in 1916. The artist himself during the period of work on "Maslenitsa" was not in a festive mood, the illness received on the fronts of the First World War made itself felt.

What did the artist depict?

The description of Kustodiev’s painting “Shrovetide” can be started with the fact that in the upper part of the canvas you can see how winter is receding: there are clouds in the sky, painted in a pastel cream color, which happens at the very beginning of spring. Above is a flock of rooks, the birds have arrived and are waiting for the spring warmth. In the center of the picture is a painted sleigh drawn by a pair of horses. A driver in festive clothes and a hat with a crimson top pulls on the reins, behind him a young couple sits decorously. The junker and his girlfriend strive to sit in the sleigh on the move, they are on the left. Another sleigh rushes towards, at a distance two teams also try to get ahead of each other. On the left side of the picture, two wagons are seen flying up the hill. They are trying to overtake the team, which is in the center of the picture.

A little further away, the kids are sleighing down a steep hill, enjoying the last snowy days. Behind the mountain there was a booth, around which the people gathered in anticipation of the performance. Houses are covered with snow, churches with bell towers - in a solid white veil.

Burning an effigy

Kustodiev's painting "Maslenitsa" breathes with the atmosphere of the holiday. There is a fair below, we seem to hear a cheerful hubbub: trade is going on. The festivities are in full swing, however, if you look closely, the picture shows subtle signs of the onset of evening. Soon the birds will disappear, the sleighs will disperse, people will go home. The next day, the holiday will return to the city again, then again. And so the whole week, until the time comes for the main ritual - the burning of the effigy of Winter. The description of Kustodiev's painting "Maslenitsa" can be ended with a bow in honor of a talented artist who managed to masterfully convey the whole essence of one of the most grandiose Russian holidays. The canvas is in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.

Kustodiev, "Pancake week" (1919): description of the painting

Three years later, Kustodiev again returns to the topic of Maslenitsa festivities. This time the action takes place on the square of a small provincial town. In the rays of the winter sun, declining to sunset, the holiday is in full swing. A trio of horses, harnessed to a small wagon on skids, rush by. The sedate native stallion tries to restrain the frisky harness - but where is it! Young horses carry light sledges, and the coachman urges them on with a whip. There are three people in the sleigh: a lady in a white fox fur coat, next to her is a friend in a fox fur coat, and opposite them is a boyfriend who, apparently, organized a fun trip.

Kustodiev's painting "Maslenitsa" conveys the spirit of merchant provinciality. Away from the roadway, two people converged, they have common interests. Wives a little further away, talking about their own. On the other side of the road - rides, carousel and other entertainment. There is also a circus tent. Pierrot and Harlequin on the balcony invite the audience. The circus is depicted under the sign "Teatr". People crowd at the entrance, those who have already been to the performance are in no hurry to leave, the rest are waiting for their turn.

A lot of noise was made by the canvas created by Kustodiev - "Shrovetide" (1919). The description of the painting by critics was ambiguous. Particularly shocked was the appearance of a masterpiece by artists from Moscow and St. Petersburg. But each of them admitted that he would like to be in the place of Boris Kustodiev. Universal recognition provided invaluable moral support to the sick artist, who in recent years was confined to a wheelchair. And Boris Kustodiev began work on the third canvas dedicated to the Russian holiday.

Troika buckskin

Kustodiev's painting "Maslenitsa", written in 1920, became the artist's third and last work on the theme of Russian festivities. placed in the center and along the edges of the picture. The artist gave the foreground to the children riding down the hill. The canvas gives off a bit of popular popular art, but this does not spoil it. And again, in the center of the picture, a sleigh pulled by a trio of buckskin horses rushes by. Both the root and the harness are ready to rush at full speed, but the driver does not give: people are walking around. A portly merchant's wife sits in a sleigh, next to him is a puny merchant. For them, Shrovetide has just begun, all day long - riding on a troika, then on a carousel, after the rides - a performance in the theater, and in the evening - to the table with pancakes and red caviar. All this is conjectured when looking at Kustodiev's masterpiece, the third in a row on the theme of Shrovetide.

"Autumn"

The artist's health was deteriorating. He resisted the disease as best he could, but the disease turned out to be stronger. At the end of his life, Boris Kustodiev was forced to paint while lying in bed. He finished the famous "Russian Venus" with great difficulty, after working for several minutes, resting for two or three hours. The artist's perseverance was rewarded, the painting was recognized as a world-class masterpiece. The canvas called "Autumn" Kustodiev repeatedly postponed, but, feeling his imminent death, he nevertheless tried to finish the work.

Shades and midtones

The first reproduction of Kustodiev's painting "Maslenitsa" was made in 1928, after the death of the artist. The master used the technique of an engraving machine using the multi-color copying method. The result was far from the original, since the engraving conveys only the primary colors, and cannot display the midtones. Kustodiev's paintings are rich in shades. "Shrovetide" - a painting by the artist Kustodiev - fascinates with a subtle play of bluish-gray halftones. and hats on the branches of trees on the eve of the onset of spring, the snow-covered plain serves as a backdrop for the plot content of the picture.

Kustodiev and Surikov

Another Russian artist who masterfully mastered the technique of depicting snow cover is Vasily Surikov. His unique works - "Suvorov's Crossing the Alps", "The Capture of a Snowy Town" - would be impossible without a snowy background. But still, Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev is considered the most skillful master of depicting a white cover. The painting "Shrovetide" in three versions is a confirmation of this.

The painting "Shrovetide" was written in the style, by the Russian artist Kustodiev B.M. in 1916. All the actions in the picture take place on the main square of a provincial town.

Composition based on the painting by Kustodiev “Maslenitsa” - Grade 5

Option 1

The theme of Kustodiev's painting "Maslenitsa" was the image of folk festivals. Against the backdrop of a winter landscape, people are depicted hurrying to the main square of the town. They ride in sleighs pulled by horses. A cheerful festive atmosphere reigns all around.

The central place is occupied by a pair of beautiful stately horses harnessed to beautiful painted sledges. On one of them, a gilded patterned arc is clearly visible. Those sitting in the sleigh are also in a hurry to the holiday. It can be seen that there are a lot of people in them, there are also women. The man drives the horses.

Still, in the background, a church flaunts surrounded by trees. Also, houses and other city buildings are visible in the picture. And, the farther their image is, the more they seem to merge with the snowy expanses seen in the distance.

The landscape itself is also interesting. The shades of the sky are golden with a barely noticeable pale blue tint and pink clouds in the center of it. Against this background of the winter sky, flocks of birds soared up. The snowdrifts in the picture are a whitish-bluish hue with a slight pale pink reflection. Horse tracks are visible on them.

Trees stand, flaunting around silvery from the snow. On the left side of the central image of a sleigh with horses and people, birch trees are depicted in close-up. They stand on a snow-covered hill, which is cordoned off in a circle by small trees below. Behind this hill, the carousel and the crowding people are visible.

On the right side there are a few more trees that the artist singled out from the general background by drawing them larger. Beside them are several people. The rest of the trees are drawn small. But apparently there are a lot of them. The sleigh comes out from behind the trees. There are trees in the square, where people have fun. And, throughout the town they are scattered in their winter outfits. They merge with the general landscape.

Option 2

Shrovetide in the artist's work is the most common theme, one of his favorites. Over the years, Kustodiev painted several paintings dedicated to this Russian holiday (in the period from 1916 to 1920).

As you know, Maslenitsa is a traditional holiday among the Slavic peoples, anticipating Easter and marking the arrival of spring. From time immemorial, Maslenitsa was widely celebrated by Russian people for a whole week, each day of which had its own traditions and customs. Kustodiev's canvas depicts, presumably, the most vividly celebrated day - Thursday.

The artist aims to depict a collective image of jubilant Russia, for the holiday united all the townspeople, any boundaries and conventions are erased - here are wealthy merchants, and small grocers, and noisy children running after frisky troikas with bells, and crowds of onlookers who have gathered at the theater waiting for the performance to begin. Only the Russian soul, having cast aside all the hardships of a difficult life, can walk and rejoice so widely and carefree.

Symbols-attributes of the holiday are easily recognized in the picture. If the canvas is mentally divided into three parts, in each one can find something meaningful. On the left, everything related to the meal is depicted: signs with alluring names speak of this on the buildings - “Bakery”, “Cheese and Caviar”, a tavern, where tables bursting with dishes can be seen through the windows.

In literature, the symbolism of eating and eating feasts “for the whole world” is a fairly common phenomenon. The subtext of this author's move speaks for itself. Carnivals and festivities, where everyone is only engaged in eating food is nothing more than a distraction from surrounding events that are not always positive (the picture was painted in 1919 - in the post-revolutionary period).

The next shot - a bright red sign "Theater" near the building, the roof of which resembles the dome of a circus, and an announcement on the wall with the clearly distinguishable word "Struggle" in the title open to the right. Here, the author already refers to the tradition of arranging fights and performances for Shrovetide week, it was believed that in this way you need to let off “steam”, get rid of all the negativity that has accumulated over the winter and open yourself to a new life. The culminating symbol of all this action is the church.

The Church in Russia was of tremendous importance; its absence was not allowed in any settlement. This is a centripetal force, this is all that unites people in an unshakable faith. The church stands on a hillock, as if watching, giving the go-ahead for the celebration. Maslenitsa is still a truly Christian holiday. And even something more - this is the hope for the revival of life, this is the purity of thoughts and aspirations, this is purification, both spiritual and physical, before the upcoming celebration of Great Easter.

Such holidays dedicated to seeing off winter are typical not only for Russians - there are analogues for other peoples. But that love and that color that is fully conveyed by Kustodiev in Maslenitsa cannot be found anywhere else.

Option 3

In front of me is a painting by Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev “Shrovetide”. The artist depicted when Maslenitsa is celebrated. This is a national holiday of seeing off winter. On this day, people walked, rested, ate pancakes. Maslenitsa is a very cheerful and beautiful holiday.

In the foreground of the picture, I see people, smartly dressed, enthusiastically talking about something. Immediately, a trio of horses rides, driven by a coachman. Horses look very beautiful on snow-white snow. They are richly decorated: a harness with bells, an arc with bells, red blankets. White horses are galloping in the distance, they are pulling a sleigh with two riders. There are many people around. Someone is going to visit, others go shopping. A large crowd near the theater building: people came to watch the performance of the wrestlers. There are shops, grocery stores, in which there is a brisk trade.

The temple building is shown in the background. It looks beautiful against the background of snow and trees covered with frost. In general, there is a lot of snow in the picture. He is everywhere: on the roofs of houses, on trees, on the ground. The abundance of snow makes this canvas so wintery, elegant, bright. It seems that the wind will blow now, and prickly snow will fall from the trees.

B.M. Kustodiev used bright colors to paint the picture. These are yellow, pink, brown, white paints. They create an atmosphere of celebration and fun. After all, spring is ahead, which means that soon all nature will come to life after a winter sleep. Streams will flow, trees will be covered with leaves, the sun will shine brightly. In the meantime, people say goodbye to winter, have fun, talk peacefully and visit each other!

I liked the picture "Shrovetide" very much. Looking at it, I want to be on this square and plunge into the atmosphere of folk festivals.

Composition based on the painting by Kustodiev “Pancake week”

"Shrovetide" - an essay on a painting for grade 7

Option 1

Maslenitsa, seeing off winter is an exclusively Russian holiday that reflects the national spirit. Kustodiev tried to convey this spirit in his picture.

In the foreground we see people riding in painted sledges. Merchants trade nearby and noble townspeople walk around. The fun is stormy and carefree, and in the background you can see the domes of the church. This neighborhood is not accidental, since the church is a symbol of Orthodoxy in Russia. She protects the country and its population from all sorts of troubles, guides on the right path. Probably because of this, people who prefer to rest their souls in this wonderful place go to the church in the picture.

To depict festivities and shopping malls, the artist chose bright colors: green and red patterns on sleighs, on the facades of buildings. But the church is painted with light colors - and it is surrounded by snow-white trees. These colors were not chosen by chance, as they convey the attitude to faith and justice. In fact, white is a symbol of the purity and kindness that Russians are famous for.

Kustodiev's painting "Maslenitsa" is a reflection of the life of the Russian people and immersion in its history. I really liked this canvas for its warmth and originality, so I wanted to learn more about folk traditions. I hope this will help you better understand the history of your native country.

Option 2

Russian artist Boris Kustodiev painted several paintings related to the theme of folk festivals, a holiday that takes place before Easter - Maslenitsa. This is one of the traditional and favorite celebrations in Russia, heralding the arrival of spring.

Maslenitsa was celebrated for a whole week, each day had its own special rules and customs. In his works, Kustodiev skillfully conveys the character of the Russian soul: its breadth, the ability to have fun and rejoice, as well as the flavor of the holiday, erasing all classes. Here you can see wealthy merchants, ordinary people, of course, children. The weather also matches the mood of the people. It was a bright sunny day.

All trees are white with frost. The sky is bright blue and turquoise. Apparently, a new snowball has fallen, its whiteness refreshing the picture. On the left are shops, shops and a tavern. This is evidenced by signs: "Cheese and caviar", "Bakery". Tables and chairs shine through the large windows of the tavern. Not far away, right on the street, there is a small merchant. He offers lollipops for children, clay whistles. On the right hangs a bright sign - "Theater". Its roof is made in the form of a dome. The building was decorated with a garland of colorful flags. A poster hangs from the end of it, where the word “Struggle” is highlighted.

The tradition of the holiday included fisticuffs. Since ancient times, it was customary to show the heroic prowess and strength of men. Next to the theater carousel. Adults and children loved to ride on it. On a hillock there is a church, which is decorated with domes. Faith united all people. Moreover, Maslenitsa is an Orthodox holiday. It will be followed by Great Lent and the feast of the birth of a new life - Easter.

What a walk without horses with bells! Therefore, Kustodiev placed them at the forefront of his work. Before us is a trio of horses, in the sleigh of which there are many cheerful and jubilant people. Nearby, two elderly merchants are talking, not far from them are two women and a man. The artist truly conveyed the color and mood of the festivities.

Apparently Maslenitsa was his favorite holiday. Looking at the canvas, one can actually imagine what is depicted there: hear the ringing of bells, the sounds of an accordion and the joyful conversations of the gathered citizens.

Option 3

For many, the winter holiday - Shrove Tuesday, which heralds the onset of spring, is one of their favorites. People come to spend the winter with joy and cheerful mood. This is the kind of jubilation, gaiety and enthusiasm that the artist Kustodiev showed us in his painting “Pancake Week”.

Look at the picture. The artist depicted on it houses, a theater and people who are having fun and having fun at the holiday. If you dream up a little and for a while mentally move to a winter holiday, you can hear the sonorous voices of merchants offering to buy their souvenirs.

Do you like to participate in competitions? At the Shrovetide festivities - for any preference. Your efforts will surely be rewarded with sweet candies in the form of small animals. And here are funny comic songs to the harmonica. How beautifully both girls and boys sing. Or maybe we will ride in a sleigh that is harnessed to a trio of horses?

Pay attention to the people that the artist painted in the painting "Shrovetide". All of them are dressed in bright rich costumes. Women wear expensive shawls and short fur coats, men wear fur coats and hats. It can be seen that the celebration took place on a cold day, because many of them are wearing mittens, and frosty freshness is felt in the air. But the fact that spring is near is telling us the sun's rays, scattered throughout the picture.

The paints that Kustodiev uses in the canvas are distinguished by their brightness and saturation. The contrast between the snow and the patterned sleigh is clearly visible, and richly painted houses also give expressiveness to the picture. All this conveys the magnificent atmosphere of the winter celebration and the wonderful mood that the artist shares with the audience.

There is another important point in the picture. Do you see a church painted on the canvas? Perhaps Kustodiev reminds us that after Shrovetide comes a great post. In addition, the church with golden sparkling domes is a sign of the protection of the Russian people from various hardships.

Together, all the details in the picture symbolize justice, purity and faith, which at all times have been characteristic of the Russian soul.

Description of the artwork «Shrovetide»

Option 1

The famous Russian artist Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev, who painted the famous painting “”, several times in his work turned to the festive theme of seeing off winter, revealing it each time with a feeling of joy from brightness and frosty freshness. One of these bright works, Kustodiev's painting Maslenitsa was written in 1916, subsequently continuing this creative theme, he creates two more colorful canvases in 1919 and 1920. Although some sketches and sketches of the Russian holiday were made by him earlier.

This is a difficult time for Russia, forced to take part in the First World War. Kustodiev is seriously ill and has not picked up brushes for a long time. But after the operation, overcoming excruciating pain, being in a wheelchair, he begins work and creates works about provincial life. He writes "Shrovetide", full of cheerful frosty happiness, as if opposing her illness.

The traditional folk festival of the long-awaited meeting of spring, seeing off winter, various competitions, the best outfits, obligatory pancakes, the construction of a snowy town, tug of war, spread tents and sleigh rides get out of the chests. Shaggy earflaps, colorful scarves and shawls, bright mittens - all this flickers like in a round dance.

The picture of Kustodiev Maslenitsa - stands out significantly compared to the works of other Russian masters, with its unusual brilliance of writing and a certain primitivism of pictorial strokes, nevertheless, the perception of his colorful holiday idyll in the Russian provinces is very easy and understandable, which accordingly uplifts the mood.

Horseback riding, sledding down the mountains, burning a straw effigy, which was a symbol of a long cold winter ... This is a whole week on the eve of Lent. The celebration of the meeting of spring and seeing off winter was carried out in Russia in pagan times by the ancient Slavs. Fun festivities were held in the center of any settlement. Shrovetide ended with the burning of a straw effigy, symbolizing winter.

Maslenitsa 1916 Mini Last evening rays illuminate the snow-covered city, high spiers and multi-colored domes of churches. And below, multi-colored swings and carousels creak, rotating, from afar you can hear the cheerful hubbub of the fair. A brightly painted sleigh driven by a pair of horses along the street. It can be seen that there is a competition, who is faster, louder, more distant. Fun embraces everyone.

This is a fabulous reality, like a testament of a sick artist to always look at life with optimism and certainly believe that life itself is a holiday. The sun is nearing sunset, but its rays seem to linger to look at the merry festivities. , which served Kustodiev as a backdrop for his work, creates an atmosphere of carnival.

Painted sleighs, birds soaring up, downhills. The viewer seems to be watching the action from a bird's eye view. Fun, Russian prowess - all this is depicted by the painter in a collective image - a folk holiday. The size of the canvas is 89 by 190.5 cm, 1916. The painting is in the Russian Museum, in the city of St. Petersburg.

Option 2

One holiday is depicted in another painting by Kustodiev in 1919. In the pink-golden rays of the sunset, a mass celebration of the inhabitants of a provincial town takes place. The movement of the holiday can be felt on the dashingly racing sleigh. The work of the artist on the theme of winter is filled with genuine joy.

Here you have a dashing trio of horses in the center of the canvas, a team drawn by two horses is catching up with it, and in the foreground on the left, a merchant couple on a sleigh with a harnessed white horse is modestly but cheerfully cutting through the alley.

Seeing off winter is a special folk holiday that Kustodiev so many times sought to convey: painted sledges, merchants conduct leisurely trade and the nobility march imposingly. Carefree fun, and in the distance you can see the domes of a small church - a symbol of Orthodoxy. The author chooses bright colors: a bright red or green pattern of painted sleighs, the facade of houses. But the temple is depicted as bright and located between beautiful trees. This expresses his attitude towards faith. Canvas size 71 by 98 cm, located in St. Petersburg, in the museum apartment of I. Brodsky

Shrovetide 1920 Kustodiev In 1920, another painting “Shrovetide” comes out from under the brush of Kustodiev - this is the life of the people of Russia and its centuries-old history. The artist unfolds before us the most fascinating stories with the smallest details, in multi-figure compositions, colored with admiration and its elusive irony.

Among the people, this holiday was very famous for folk amusements and colorful fair booths. It looks like a carnival, against the backdrop of a high church, where everything is so decorative: the townspeople dressed in expensive fur coats are leisurely strolling, someone is selling only baked pies, horses are gallantly racing, merrily jingling with golden bells.

In the foreground, children are sledding. It seems that even nature dressed up for this occasion by decorating the trees with hoarfrost, delighting the townspeople with its spring sunny, but still frosty weather. This is an amazing, bright, multi-colored and festive sketch, echoing popular popular art. The size of the painting is 69x90 cm, the location of the painting is unknown.

In the paintings that are dedicated to the mass festivities, the artist sought to note the reckless and daring whirlwind of emotions. Most often, this was expressed in the image of a racing Russian troika. In these works there is something from the scenery of the theater: the contrast and even the use of "backstage". They are very colorful, in composition, reminiscent of unique Russian caskets.

Many of Kustodiev's paintings were painted from memory. The main characters of such works seem to be cleansed of negativity: they are kind, poetic, and full of dignity. There is a feeling that the way of patriarchal Russian life is a thing of the past. The plot of such paintings is often associated with festive images in Russian painting. Kustodiev conveys the brightest side of life, in which there is light, fun, happiness. And Maslenitsa is a mass holiday, with the participation of people, regardless of their class and material wealth.

Kustodiev's painting becomes more colorful with each new work, becoming truly national. It carries a charge of amazing energy, a radiant feeling of the fullness of life. The artist is vigilant and sometimes mockingly observant, he knows how to find joy in any manifestation of life, so diverse and colorful.

Option 3

In the foreground of the painting, people are seen riding in a painted sleigh drawn by a pair of festively decorated horses with bells and an arc with bells.

On the cheeks of people, ruddy from frost, smiles, joy, laughter. Trading merchants are located nearby and townspeople are visible walking around. The driver barely holds back the three horses. You can see how happy kids ride down the hills, snowballs are flying from the boy's fight. Below is a bustling carousel, a noisy fair and crowds of people walking, shopping, or watching a performance. Several more sleighs are also visible, the mass nature of the festive fun is transmitted.

Winter colorful landscape serves as an excellent backdrop for the picture. The artist used an amazing palette of colors: turquoise, blue, gold and red. A parade of bright colors: pink and gold clouds set in an emerald green sky; snow shimmers with gentle - blue, pink and pale lilac flowers. Red and green patterns are used for the shades of the sleigh.

The church, surrounded by trees, is painted in light colors. These colors were not chosen by chance, they radiate the transmission of attitudes towards justice and faith, because white is a sign of kindness and purity. The bright sun is equipped with contrasts and looms against the backdrop of a snowy shroud. Snow sparkles in the sun, and hoarfrost falls from the trees in flakes, and its amount in the picture makes it elegant in winter.

Looking at the picture, one gets the feeling of being at this festive festivities. It conveys the impressive warmth of this holiday. She is very optimistic and fully conveys the moments of the carnival festivities.