Bronze horseman illustration. Description and analysis of illustrations A

"Academician Alexander Benois is the finest esthete, a wonderful artist, a charming person." A.V. Lunacharsky

worldwide fame Alexander Nikolaevich Benois acquired as a decorator and director of Russian ballets in Paris, but this is only part of the activity of an ever-seeking, addicted nature, who had irresistible charm and the ability to light others with her necks. Art historian, art critic, editor of the two largest art magazines "World of Art" and "Apollo", head of the painting department of the Hermitage and, finally, just a painter.

Himself Benois Alexander Nikolaevich wrote to his son from Paris in 1953 that "... the only work worthy of outliving me ... will probably be" a multi-volume book " A. Benois remembers", because "this story about Shurenka is at the same time quite detailed about a whole culture."

In his memoirs, Benois calls himself "the product of an artistic family." Indeed, his father Nicholas Benois was a famous architect, maternal grandfather A.K. Kavos - no less significant architect, creator of St. Petersburg theaters. Elder brother A.N. Benois-Albert is a popular watercolourist. With no less success, one can say that he was a "product" of an international family. On the father's side - a Frenchman, on the mother's side - an Italian, more precisely a Venetian. His kinship with Venice - the city of beautiful corruption of once powerful muses - Alexander Nikolaevich Benois felt particularly acute. He also had Russian blood. The Catholic religion did not interfere with the amazing reverence of the family for the Orthodox Church. One of the strongest childhood impressions of A. Benois is St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral (St. Nicholas of the Sea), a work of the Baroque era, the view of which was opened from the windows of the Benois family house. With all the understandable cosmopolitanism, Benois was the only place in the world that he loved with all his heart and considered his homeland - Petersburg. In this creation of Peter, which crossed Russia and Europe, he felt "some great, strict force, great predestination."

That amazing charge of harmony and beauty, which A. Benois received in childhood, helped to make his life something like a work of art, striking in its integrity. This was especially evident in his novel of life. On the threshold of the ninth decade, Benoit admits that he feels very young, and explains this "curiosity" by the fact that his adored wife's attitude towards him has not changed over time. AND " Memories He dedicated his own to her, Dear Ate"- Anna Karlovna Benois (née Kind). Their lives are connected from the age of 16. Atya was the first to share his artistic enthusiasm, the first creative tests. She was his muse, sensitive, very cheerful, artistically gifted. Not being a beauty, she seemed irresistible to Benois with her charming appearance, grace, and lively mind. But the serene happiness of the children in love was to be tested. Tired of the disapproval of relatives, they parted, but the feeling of emptiness did not leave them during the years of separation. And, finally, with what joy they met again and married in 1893.

The couple Benoit had three children - two daughters: Anna and Elena, and son Nikolai, who became a worthy successor to his father's work, a theater artist who worked a lot in Rome and in the Milan theater ...

A. Benois is often called " artist of Versailles". Versailles symbolizes in his work the triumph of art over the chaos of the universe.
This theme determines the originality of Benoit's historical retrospectivism, the sophistication of his stylization. The first Versailles series appears in 1896 - 1898. She was named " The last walks of Louis XIV". It includes such famous works as " The king walked in any weather», « Fish feeding". Versailles Benoit begins in Peterhof and Oranienbaum, where he spent his childhood years.

Nevertheless, the first impression of Versailles, where he got for the first time during his honeymoon trip, was stunning. The artist was seized by the feeling that he "already once experienced it." Everywhere in the works of Versailles there is a slightly dejected, but still outstanding personality of Louis XIV, the King - the Sun. The feeling of the decline of a once majestic culture was extremely consonant with the era of the end of the century, when he lived Benoit.

In a more refined form, these ideas were embodied in the second Versailles series of 1906, in the most famous works of the artist: "", "", " Chinese pavilion», « jealous», « Fantasy on a Versailles theme". The grandiose in them coexists with the curious and exquisitely fragile.

Finally, let us turn to the most significant that was created by the artist in the theater. This is primarily a staging of the ballet "" to the music of N. Cherepnin in 1909 and the ballet " Parsley to the music of I. Stravinsky in 1911.

Benois in these productions showed himself not only as a brilliant theater artist, but also as a talented libretto author. These ballets, as it were, personify two ideals that lived in his soul. "" - the embodiment of European culture, the Baroque style, its pomp and grandeur, combined with overripeness and withering. In the libretto, which is a free adaptation of the famous work by Torquato Tasso " Liberated Jerusalem”, tells about a certain young man, Viscount Rene de Beaugency, who, during a hunt, finds himself in the lost pavilion of an old park, where he is miraculously transferred to the world of a living tapestry - the beautiful gardens of Armida. But the spell is dispelled, and he, having seen the highest beauty, returns to reality. What remains is the eerie impression of life forever poisoned by a mortal longing for extinct beauty, for fantastic reality. In this magnificent performance, the world of retrospective paintings seems to come to life. Benoit.

AT " Petrushka But the Russian theme was embodied, the search for the ideal of the people's soul. This performance sounded all the more poignant and nostalgic because the booths and their hero Petrushka, so beloved by Benois, were already becoming the past. In the performance, dolls animated by the evil will of the old man - a magician act: Petrushka - an inanimate character, endowed with all the living qualities that a suffering and spiritualized person has; his lady Colombina is a symbol of eternal femininity and "arap" is rude and undeservedly triumphant. But the end of this puppet drama Benoit sees not the same as in the usual farce theater.

In 1918, Benois became the head of the Hermitage art gallery and did a lot to make the museum the largest in the world. In the late 1920s, the artist left Russia and lived in Paris for almost half a century. He died in 1960 at the age of 90. A few years before death Benoit writes to his friend I.E. Grabar, to Russia: “And how I would like to be where my eyes were opened to the beauty of life and nature, where I first tasted love. Why am I not at home?! Everyone remembers some pieces of the most modest, but so sweet landscape.

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.

ILLUSTRATIONS
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
Young Eugene came ...

Illustration 1903

Terrible day!
Neva all night
Rushed to the sea against the storm,
Not having overcome 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

Around the foot of the idol
The poor madman walked around
And brought wild eyes
On the face of the ruler of the semi-world.
His chest was shy..

Illustration 1903

And he's empty
Runs and hears behind him -
As if thunder rumbles -
Heavy-voiced galloping
On the shaken pavement...
And, illuminated by the pale moon,
Stretch out your hand above
Behind him rushes the Bronze Horseman
On a galloping horse...

Illustration 1903

And all night the poor madman
Wherever you turn your feet
Behind him everywhere is the Bronze Horseman
Jumped with a heavy thud.

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.

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. In the drawings by A.N. essential than the artist's 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 Bronze Horseman (read by I. Smoktunovsky)

World of Art

B. M. Kustodiev.

Story

Characteristic

- "WORLD OF ART"

Alexander Nikolaevich Benois

Russian series (1907-1910)

"Echo of the past time" is heard in the image of the panorama of St. Petersburg at the end of the 18th century. The still unfinished Mikhailovsky Castle appears before the viewer, in which the emperor will later be killed. In the meantime, Paul I, sitting on a white horse, commands the parade of troops. The king's predilection for military drill and the organization of armies for amateur parades and formations that satisfied his vanity are ridiculed by the artist. The rigidity and discipline of the atmosphere of the parade are felt in the graphic and linearity indicated in the details - the polished steps of the march with the legs of the soldiers raised on command, the even rhythm of the verticals of weapons and scaffolding in the background.

The compositional solution of the work is interesting - Benois removes the action of the parade from the viewer with the frame of the barrier, thereby giving the work a “pictorial” sound, and not immersing in what is happening. Flying snowflakes bring revival and a kind of comfort to the image of the event of a bygone era.

book graphics

The artist entered the history of Russian book graphics with his book "The Alphabet in the Pictures of Alexander Benois" (1905) and illustrations for "The Queen of Spades" by A. S. Pushkin, performed in two versions (1899, 1910), as well as wonderful illustrations for "The Bronze Horseman" ", to the three variants of which he devoted almost twenty years of work (1903-22).

ABC in Pictures (1905)

Along with the earlier works of Polenova, Malyutin and Bilibin, The ABC in Pictures can be placed at the origins of a new variety of Russian graphics: the history of illustrated publications for children begins from here.

Both in "Toys" and in "ABC" the plot-figurative system of illustrations is devoid of edification: its basis must be sought in the lyrical field, in the artist's memoirs about his own childhood, about children's games, joys, holidays. These are original graphic memoirs - it is not for nothing that Benois is here at the same time the author of the general idea, text and drawings. On the other hand, the desire to combine various creative functions in the name of the aesthetic integrity of the work should be noted as a tendency that is generally characteristic of Benois (it will manifest itself with particular force later in his theatrical works). Let's pay attention to the traditions that are used by the author. They should be looked for not at all in Western European graphics, as it might seem, if you believe the legend about the “pro-Western” orientation of the master, but in Russian folk art - in folk toys and popular prints, in the performances of the fair theater and the Petrushki puppet theater. The graphic language of the modern Russian book, as the artist imagines it, must be, above all, national.

Theatre

Nowadays, sketches of scenery and costumes for the performances of Alexandre Benois are classics. Benois worked closely with Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko for a long time, worked as the first production designer of the Moscow Art Theater. It was Benois who first came up with the idea that the artist, when staging a performance, should have the same power as the director.

When analyzing numerous works by A. Benois: “Harlequinade. Fantasy on the theme of Italian comedy (1906, Russian Museum), "Italian Comedy" (1901, Russian Museum. Two sketches), "Figures for Italian Comedies" (1901, Russian Museum), "Harlequinade" (1906, State Tretyakov Gallery), "Italian Comedy. Love Note" (1905, State Tretyakov Gallery), "Italian Comedy" (1919, National Art Museum), "Italian Comedy" (1905, IHM), "Harlekinade" (GMII) and others. , with the help of which the artist conveys an effective dance with a huge role of facial expressions and gestures. Actors live here, completely immersed in their game. The action is frankly theatrical, addressed to the public. Heroes are not psychologically developed characters, but rather masks, conditional figures raised to the power of a symbol. Probably, Benois did not seek to make his heroes of the Commedia dell'Arte look like ballet dancers, but the expressive means of Italian comedy themselves have many points of contact with the choreographic theater.

Subsequently, with participation in the preparation of performances for the Russian Seasons, Benois' new approach to the development of theatrical scenery and costumes helped the Diaghilev troupe to perform triumphantly on the stages of European theaters.

Parsley

Sketches of scenery, costumes and props: “Sketch of scenery for the first, second, third scenes of the ballet “Petrushka” (all - timing), sketches of props: “Horse”, “Samovar”, “Swing”, “Carousel” (all - timing) , as well as sketches of costumes (GRM, GTsTM) give rise to contrasts of color, emotions, images. Even a cursory look at the costume sketches: "Street Dancer", "Gypsy", "Masked Mask", "Nurse", "Coachman", "Merchant", "organ grinder", "Shopkeeper", "Merchant", "Magician", etc. He draws the types of a diverse crowd, the bustle of a noisy fairground festivities, where a puppet show of Petrushka, Ballerina and Moor unfolded. Here, A. Benois's love was manifested not only for the old way of life, but also the vigilance of the artist's gaze, who knows how to notice its characteristic touches in real life. The theme of mummers receives special development - it reveals a thirst for diversity, a craving for the diversity of human manifestations. The concreteness of everyday life here coexists with the abstractness of the symbol, albeit with fantasy, a folk festival with the throwing of a lonely soul, a naive popular print with worldly art refinement.

Parsley Ballerina Arap

Konstantin Somov

Konstantin Somov was born into the family of Andrei Ivanovich Somov, a well-known museum figure and curator of the Hermitage. His mother, Nadezhda Konstantinovna (nee Lobanova) was a good musician, a well-educated person. In 1879-1888 he studied at the K. May gymnasium. From September 1888 to March 1897 he studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts: the main course - until 1892, then, from October 1894, classes in the workshop of I. Repin. In 1894, for the first time, he participated in the exhibition of the Society of Russian Watercolorists. In 1897 and 1898 he studied at the Académie Colarossi in Paris. Since 1899 he lived in St. Petersburg.

Even at the gymnasium, Somov met A. Benois, V. Nouvel, D. Filosofov, with whom he later participated in the creation of the World of Art society. Somov took an active part in the design of the magazine "World of Art", as well as the periodical "Art Treasures of Russia" (1901-1907), published under the editorship of A. Benois, created illustrations for "Count Nulin" by A. Pushkin (1899), stories N. Gogol's "The Nose" and "Nevsky Prospekt" (1901), painted the covers of K. Balmont's poetry collections "The Firebird. Pipe Slav”, V. Ivanov “Cor Ardens”, the title page of the book by A. Blok “Theater”, etc.

The first personal exhibition of paintings, sketches and drawings (162 works) was held in St. Petersburg in 1903; 95 works were shown in Hamburg and Berlin in the same year. In 1905 he began to collaborate in the magazine "Golden Fleece".

Along with landscape and portrait painting and graphics, Somov worked in the field of small plastic arts, creating exquisite porcelain compositions "Count Nulin" (1899), "Lovers" (1905), etc.

In January 1914 he received the status of a full member of the Academy of Arts.

In 1918, the publishing house of Golike and Vilborg (St. Petersburg) published the most famous and complete edition with Somov’s erotic drawings and illustrations: “The Book of the Marquise” (“Le livre de la Marquise”), where the artist created not only all the elements of the design of the book, but also picked up texts in French. There is a rare version of this edition, the so-called "Big "Book of the Marquise"" supplemented with even more frivolous illustrations.

In 1918 he became a professor at the Petrograd State Free Art Educational Workshops; worked at the school of E. N. Zvantseva.

In 1919, his anniversary solo exhibition took place at the Tretyakov Gallery.

In 1923, Somov left Russia for America as a representative of the "Russian Exhibition"; in January 1924, at an exhibition in New York, Somov was presented with 38 works. He did not return to Russia. From 1925 he lived in France; in January 1928 he bought an apartment on Boulevard Exelmans (fr. Boulevard Exelmans) in Paris.

He died suddenly on May 6, 1939 in Paris. He was buried in the cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois, 30 km from Paris.

Somov became especially close with Benois, who wrote the first article about him, which appeared in the journal "World of Art" for 1898. In this article, the art critic emphasized the influence of German graphics on Somov's work (O. Beardsley, S. Konder, T. Heine), as well as the influence of French painting of the 18th century. (A. Watteau, N. de Largilliere), "small Dutch" and Russian painting of the first half of the 19th century.

Returning to Russia, Somov paid tribute to the portrait genre. He created portraits of his father (1897), N. F. Ober (1896), A. N. Benois (1896) and A. P. Ostroumova (1901)

.

Portrait of Ostroumova Portrait of N.F. Ober

The pinnacle of creativity in this period was the portrait of the artist E. M. Martynova (" lady in blue", 1897-1900), depicted against the backdrop of a landscape with flute players. Refinement and brokenness, spirituality and poetry of the image fully corresponded to the aesthetic creed of the "World of Art", embodying the harmony of dreams and reality. A special place is occupied by the graphic portraits of the creative intelligentsia performed by Somov. They are purely real - with its intellectual energy - the images of people of creativity created by him (portraits of poets A.A. Blok, M.A. Kuzmin, V.I. Ivanov, painted in mixed media), artists E. E. Lansere (1907), M. V. Dobuzhinsky (1910), etc., which are rightfully considered extremely objective.Made in pencil with highlighting in watercolor, gouache, colored pencils or whitewash, they are distinguished by their virtuoso technique, laconism of composition and subtlety of coloristic solutions.

Portrait of A. A. Blok (1907)

Portrait of M. A. Kuzmin (1909)

In addition to portraiture, Somov also worked in the field of book illustration. At the beginning of the XX century. the artists of the "World of Art", among whom was Somov, revived this art form after a long oblivion. The design of the book, all its elements - font, format, edge, cover, splash screens and vignettes - had to form a single whole.

Leon Bakst (1866 - 1924)

Lev Rosenberg was born on February 8 (January 27), 1866 in Grodno in a poor Jewish family of a Talmudic scholar. After graduating from the gymnasium, he studied as a volunteer at the Academy of Arts, moonlighting as an illustration of books.

At his first exhibition (1889) he adopted the pseudonym Bakst, a shortened surname of his grandmother (Baxter). In the early 1890s he exhibited at the Society of Watercolorists. In 1893-1897 he lived in Paris, often returning to St. Petersburg. From the mid-1990s, he joined the circle of writers and artists that formed around Diaghilev and Alexander Benois, which later turned into the World of Art association. In 1898, together with Diaghilev, he took part in the founding of the publication of the same name. The graphics published in this magazine brought fame to Bakst.

He continued to engage in easel painting, creating portraits of Malyavin (1899), Rozanov (1901), Andrei Bely (1905), Zinaida Gippius (1906). He also taught painting to the children of Grand Duke Vladimir. In 1902, in Paris, he received an order from Nicholas II for a meeting of Russian sailors.

In 1898, Bakst showed his work at the "First Exhibition of Russian and Finnish Artists" organized by Diaghilev; at exhibitions of the "World of Art", at the exhibition "Secession" in Munich, exhibitions of the Artel of Russian Artists, and so on.

In 1903, he converted to Lutheranism for the sake of marriage with the daughter of P. M. Tretyakov, L. P. Gritsenko.

During the revolution of 1905, Bakst worked for the magazines Zhupel, Infernal Mail, Satyricon, and later in the art magazine Apollo.

In 1907, together with Serov, he traveled to Greece, where he studied the archaeological finds of the Cretan-Mycenaean period. Bakst discovered for himself (and later for the whole of Europe) that archaic Greece is not the white color that everyone has so popularized for centuries, but a riot of colors. It was then that the foundations of Bakst's style were determined: the archaic Greek looseness of the costume, combined with the luxury of the East.

Since 1907, Bakst lived mainly in Paris and worked on theatrical scenery, in which he made a real revolution. He created scenery for Greek tragedies, and since 1908 he went down in history as the author of scenery for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes (Cleopatra 1909, Scheherazade 1910, Carnival 1910, Narcissus 1911, Daphnis and Chloe 1912). In 1910 he divorced Gritsenko and returned to Judaism. All this time he lived in Europe, because, being a Jew, he did not have a residence permit outside the Pale of Settlement.

During visits to St. Petersburg, he taught at the Zvantseva school. In the period 1908-1910, one of his students was Marc Chagall, but in 1910 they broke off relations. Bakst forbade Chagall to go to Paris, because, in his opinion, this would harm Chagall's art, and financially lead the young artist to starvation (Chagall did not paint theatrical scenery). Chagall nevertheless went, did not die of hunger and found his own style of painting.

In 1914 Bakst was elected a member of the Academy of Arts.

In 1918, Bakst finally broke off relations with Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. On December 27, 1924, he died in Paris of pulmonary edema.

Ancient Horror ("Terror Antiquus") (1908)

In the pagan worldview, the “ancient horror” is the horror of life in the world under the rule of a gloomy and inhuman Fate, the horror of the impotence of a person enslaved by it and hopelessly submissive (Fatum); as well as the horror of chaos as an abyss of non-existence, immersion in which is disastrous. It is pointed out that Christianity with its new concept of fate freed man from the power of the ancient horror, but the de-Christianization of culture means its return.

A large canvas of almost square format is occupied by a panorama of the landscape, written from a high point of view. The landscape is illuminated by a flash of lightning. The main space of the canvas is occupied by the raging sea, which destroys ships and beats against the walls of fortresses. In the foreground there is a figure of an archaic statue in a generation cut. The contrast of the calm smiling face of the statue is especially striking in comparison with the violence of the elements behind her back. Perhaps the destruction of Atlantis is depicted.

The depicted female statue is a type of archaic kora, which smiles with an enigmatic archaic smile and holds a blue bird (or a dove - the symbol of Aphrodite) in her hands. Traditionally, it is customary to call the statue depicted by Bakst - Aphrodite, although it has not yet been established which goddesses were depicted by the bark. The prototype of the statue was a statue found during excavations on the Acropolis. Bakst's wife posed for the unpreserved hand. It is curious that Maximilian Voloshin points to the similarity of the face of the archaic Aphrodite in the picture with the face of Bakst himself.

The island landscape unfolding behind the back of the goddess is a view from the Athenian Acropolis. At the foot of the mountains on the right side of the picture in the foreground are buildings, according to Pruzhan - the Mycenaean Lion Gate and the remains of the palace in Tiryns. These are buildings belonging to the early, Crete-Mycenaean period of Greek history. On the left, a group of people fleeing in terror among the buildings characteristic of classical Greece - most likely, this is the Acropolis with its propylaea and huge statues. Behind the Acropolis is a valley lit by lightning, overgrown with silvery olives.

In 1907, Bakst designed the Russian Concerts organized by Chaliapin and Diaghilev in Paris. In 1908, Bakst finished work on the painting "Antique Terror" (prize at the International Exhibition in Brussels in 1910).

In 1909, exiled from St. Petersburg, Bakst joined the ballet troupe of S. P. Diaghilev's "Russian Ballet". Along with A. N. Benois and M. M. Fokin, he was his closest collaborator with Diaghilev, and since 1911 he was the artistic director of the enterprise. His talent as a set designer unfolded to the full extent in the performances: “Cleopatra” (“Egyptian Nights”) to the music of Arensky, S. I. Taneyev and M. I. Glinka (1909), “Scheherazade” to the music of Rimsky-Korsakov (1910), Stravinsky's The Firebird (1910), Carnival (1910), Tcherepnin's Narcissus (1910), K. M. Weber's Vision of a Rose (1911) ), "Daphnis and Chloe" by Ravel (1912), "The Blue God" by R. Hahn (1912), "Afternoon of a Faun" to the music of C. Debussy (1912), "Tamara" to the music of M. A. Balakirev (1912), "Peri" (this performance was not destined to see the light), "Butterflies" (1914), "Games" (1913), "The Legend of Joseph" by R. Strauss (1914) , "Jokers" to the music of D. Scarlatti (1917), "Sleeping Beauty" by P. I. Tchaikovsky (1921).

Set design for the first production of Daphnis and Chloe (picture 2).

It is he who invents the salute that dazzled the audience of the Opera Garnier on the occasion of the premiere of the ballet Scheherazade. The "Russian Seasons" in Paris left an unforgettable impression not only with the skill of the ballet dancers, but also with the scope and color, exoticism and expression of the costumes and scenery created by Bakst. The costumes designed by Bakst, referring the audience to the colors and forms of Orientalism and Louis' Grand Style, were so striking that they began to go beyond the theater and ballet. "Paris was truly drunk on Bakst," Levinson later wrote. Mstislav Dobuzhinsky wrote about this period as follows: “The penetration of art into life through the ramp, the reflection of the theater in everyday life, its influence on the field of fashion, was reflected in the deep impression that accompanied the brilliant triumphs of Diaghilev's Russian Seasons in Paris. The public change of taste that followed these triumphs was due to the greatest extent to Bakst, to those new revelations that he gave in his productions of exceptional beauty and charm, which struck not only Paris, but the entire cultural world of the West.

Set design for the ballet The Afternoon of a Faun. 1911

Design techniques developed by Bakst marked the beginning of a new era in ballet scenography. The name of Bakst, the leading artist of the Russian Seasons, thundered along with the names of the best performers and famous choreographers. Orders from theaters rained down on him from all sides.

Nijinsky. 1912

He actively collaborates with Ida Rubinstein: scenery and costumes for The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian by C. Debussy (1911), Tamar (1912), The Blue God (1912), Faun Noon (1912) d.), "Helen of Sparta" by D. de Severac (1912), "Pisanella" (1913) "Confused Artemis" (1922), "Phaedra" (1923), "Istar" (1924 G.).

Costume design for Ida Rubinstein for the ballet "Helena of Sparta"

For Anna Pavlova, Bakst designs scenery and costumes for the performances "Oriental Fantasy" (to music by M. M. Ippolitov-Ivanov and M. P. Mussorgsky, 1913) and "The Big Show", staged in 1916 at the Hippodrome Theater in New York.

Working on sketches of theatrical costumes, Leon Bakst unwittingly began to influence Parisian and then European fashion. This leads him to try his hand at the art of "haute couture". In 1912, he creates "Fantasy on the theme of modern costume" for Paquin, which received a great response in the world of Parisian fashion. “Understanding and feeling, as rare as any stylist is, all the magic of ornament and the charm of colorful combinations, he created his own special, Bakstian style. This spicy fabulous East captivated with an extraordinary scope of imagination. The sophistication of bright colors, the luxury of turbans with feathers and fabrics woven with gold, the lush abundance of ornaments and decorations - all this was so amazing to the imagination, so in line with the thirst for the new that it was perceived by life. Worth and Paken - the trendsetters of Parisian fashion - began to propagandize Bakst ”(M. Dobuzhinsky). “Bakst managed to capture that elusive nerve of Paris that rules fashion, and his influence is now felt everywhere in Paris - both in ladies' dresses and at art exhibitions” (Maximilian Voloshin). Bakst's motifs are visible in the works of the Parisian fashion houses Paquin, Callot Soeurs, Drecoll and Babani - these are bloomers, turbans, women's bodices, oriental pillows. The toilets, made according to his sketches, struck with the brightness of colors, the harmony of colors and the sophistication of decoration, drapery, a successful selection of beads and pearls.

Costume design for a Jewish dance with a tambourine. 1910

The work of Bakst had a significant impact on the art of scenography in Russia and France.

In his work, a desire for sophistication and stylization was manifested. The artist's works are characterized by a bold composition, bright colors, and a sense of rhythm.

A master of stage costume, Bakst in his sketches arranged rows of rhythmically repeating color patterns in such a way that they not only characterized the stage image, but also emphasized the dynamics of the dance and the movements of the actor.

Evgeny Evgenievich Lansere (1875-1946)

Evgeny Evgenievich Lansere is a versatile artist. The author of monumental paintings and panels decorating the Moscow metro stations, the Kazansky railway station, the Moskva hotel, landscapes, paintings on the theme of Russian history of the 18th century, he was also a wonderful illustrator of classic works of Russian literature (“Dubrovsky” and “Shot” A S. Pushkin, “Hadji Murad” by L. N. Tolstoy), the creator of sharp political cartoons in satirical magazines in 1905, theatrical and decorative artist.

Empress Elizaveta Petrovna in Tsarskoe Selo - Yevgeny Evgenievich Lansere. 1905. Paper pasted on cardboard, gouache. 43.5x62

The picture testifies to the very understanding of historical painting in the art of the early 20th century. Thus, the atmosphere of the era is revealed here through the images of art embodied in architecture and park ensembles, costumes and hairstyles of people, through the landscape, showing court life, rituals. The theme of royal processions became especially favorite. Lansere depicts the solemn exit of the court of Elizabeth Petrovna in her country residence. As if on the stage of the theater, a procession passes in front of the viewer. A stout empress swims regally majestically, dressed in woven clothes of amazing beauty. This is followed by ladies and gentlemen in magnificent dresses and powdered wigs. In their faces, poses and gestures, the artist reveals different characters and types. We see now humiliated and timid, now haughty and stiff courtiers. In the display of Elizabeth and her court, one cannot fail to notice the irony of the artist and even some grotesque. Lansere contrasts the people depicted by him with the noble austerity of the white marble statue and the true greatness embodied in the magnificent architecture of the Rastrelli palace and the beauty of the regular park.

World of Art

"Group portrait of members of the association" World of Art "".1916-1920.
B. M. Kustodiev.

The World of Art (1890-1924) is an artistic association formed in Russia in the late 1890s. Under the same name, a magazine was published, published since 1898 by members of the group.

Story

The founders of the "World of Art" were the St. Petersburg artist A. N. Benois and the theater figure S. P. Diaghilev.

It loudly declared itself by organizing the "Exhibition of Russian and Finnish Artists" in 1898 at the Museum of the Central School of Technical Drawing of Baron A. L. Stieglitz.

The classical period in the life of the association fell on 1900-1904. - at this time, the group was characterized by a special unity of aesthetic and ideological principles. Artists organized exhibitions under the auspices of the World of Art magazine.

After 1904, the association expanded and lost its ideological unity. In 1904-1910, most of the members of the World of Art were part of the Union of Russian Artists. At the founding meeting on October 19, 1910, the artistic society "World of Art" was revived (N. K. Roerich was elected chairman). After the revolution, many of its leaders were forced to emigrate. The association actually ceased to exist in 1924.

Characteristic

The artists of the "World of Art" considered the aesthetic principle in art to be a priority and strove for modernity and symbolism, opposing the ideas of the Wanderers. Art, in their opinion, should express the personality of the artist.

S. Diaghilev wrote in one of the issues of the magazine:

"A work of art is important not in itself, but only as an expression of the personality of the creator"

- "WORLD OF ART"

Alexander Nikolaevich Benois

Alexander Nikolaevich Benois (April 21 (May 3), 1870, St. Petersburg - February 9, 1960, Paris) - Russian artist, art historian, art critic, founder and main ideologist of the World of Art association. From the family of famous Benois architects: son of N. L. Benois, brother of L. N. Benois and A. N. Benois and cousin of Yu. Yu. Benois.

Alexander Benois (Alexandre Benois) was born on April 21 (May 3), 1870 in St. Petersburg, in the family of Russian architect Nikolai Leontyevich Benois and Camilla Albertovna Benois (daughter of architect A.K. Cavos). He graduated from the prestigious 2nd St. Petersburg Gymnasium. 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 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, in particular, he worked on the design of BDT performances. In 1925 he took part in the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris.

In 1926, Benois left the USSR without returning from a business trip abroad. He lived in Paris, worked mainly on sketches of theatrical scenery and costumes. Alexandre Benois played a significant role in the productions of the ballet entreprise of S. Diaghilev "Ballets Russes", as an artist and author - director of performances. Benois died on February 9, 1960 in Paris.

Versailles series (1905-1906)

Walk of the king - Alexander Nikolaevich Benois. 1906. Paper on canvas, watercolor, gouache, bronze paint, silver paint, graphite pencil, pen, brush. 48x62

In the field of easel painting, Benois continues to work in two genres - landscape and historical composition, acquiring in his interpretation the character of a kind of "historical fantasy". Still fond of watercolor, he, however, with particular persistence, moreover, for the first time (and, let us add, the only time throughout his long career) turns to oil painting.

His numerous sketches of 1905 and 1906, made in the seaside town of Primel, are painted energetically, with a free brushstroke, simple and realistic in all their spirit..

The real landscape of the Versailles Park becomes here the basis into which the artist's imagination "inlays" sharp, nervous silhouettes: the king, courtiers, servants. In these original "sketches-paintings" small figures ironically complement, enliven the landscape, make its leading theme clearer and more vivid. In other cases, the puppet characters of Benoit's compositions grow up, turn to the viewer and, suppressing the landscape, begin to play a dominant role in the picture ("King"). The master is trying to see in the majestic image of the old Versailles an idyllic monument of the flourishing of the arts. All people are mortal. There is only one art forever. About this - the paintings "Fantasy on the Versailles theme" and "The King's Walk".

In the "Versailles Series" life is understood as an idle and meaningless game, next to which art reigns. Omnipotent, all-pervading and mighty. But it is also flawed: in the time of Louis, art, "despite all its strength and beauty, wore a shade of puffiness and pomposity - it was false." No wonder life here is like a performance ("Chinese Pavilion", "Marquise's Bath").

The boundaries of theater and reality are blurred. The artist looks at his heroes with the appraising, slightly ironic gaze of a director who is staging another episode of a great performance, where the old park appears as a stage on which one of the acts of the “great human comedy” was once played out.

Russian series (1907-1910)

Watercolors and gouaches on a historical theme, as always with Benois, are combined into a series, but devoted exclusively to national history; in them stronger than before, "the feeling of the motherland sounds." They were made during 1907-1910 by order of the book publisher I. P. Knebel, who published the most interesting edition "Russian History in Pictures" with the participation of Serov, S. Ivanov, Lansere, Kustodiev, Dobuzhinsky, Kardovsky, Roerich. This determined the originality of the genre: we are talking about strictly documented paintings-illustrations, "paintings for printing."

Knebel ordered Benois paintings about the XVIII century - "from Peter to Paul."

In the “Russian Series” by Benois, three compositions are dedicated to Peter and his era (“In the German Quarter”, “Petersburg Street under Peter I” and “Peter I in the Summer Garden”), four others tell about the end of the 18th century (“Morning of the Landowner”, "Suvorov Camp", "Exit of Catherine II in Tsarskoye Selo Palace" and "Parade under Paul I"). The genre episodes depicted here are interpreted from the point of view of an eyewitness, and a lively and acute sense of historical authenticity arises on the basis of the artist's careful reconstructive work - from the study of engraving material, costumes, architecture, and everyday elements. The author is a supporter of the narrative principle of composition

Parade in the reign of Paul I - Alexander Nikolaevich Benois. 1907. Gouache on paper. 59.6x82

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..."