B.R. Vipper. Introduction to the Historical Study of Art 1
Preface 1
I GRAPHICS 6
I.I FIGURE 8
I.II PRINTED GRAPHICS 21
II SCULPTURE 54
III PAINTING 106
IV Appendix I 148
FROM AVENUE "INTRODUCTION" 148
GENRES IN PAINTING 149
V Appendix II 149
THE PROBLEM OF SIMILARITY IN A PORTRAIT 149
VI ARCHITECTURE 155
Notes 205
Notes 205
Foreword
The work of B. R. Vipper "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" organically combines the qualities of a full-fledged scientific research and the systematic nature of a special university course. The uniqueness of this work in Russian and Soviet art criticism is determined by the fact that it deeply and thoroughly illuminates genre and technical problems, the specifics of the technical foundations of each of the genres of fine art and their varieties, based on the vast material of the history of fine arts, on the results of long-term historical research conducted by the author .
One of the greatest Soviet art historians, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR Boris Robertovich Vipper (1888 - 1967) returned to the theme and materials of this work for many years, improved the text between the beginning of the 1930s (when the original edition was formed) and the last years of his life (when preparing it for publication). In the first literary version, it was a fully recorded course of lectures under the general title "Theory of Art". Even then, the course material was based on many observations and conclusions from the totality of other works of the author, from the great personal experience of an art historian who dealt with his various periods. Since 1908, B. R. Vipper appeared in the press with scientific articles, since 1915 he began working at Moscow University, then he defended his master's thesis "The Problem and Development of Still Life" and became a professor at the university, where he read a number of courses and conducted seminars on the history of fine arts . Work in Russian museums, visits to libraries and museums in Vienna, Paris, Berlin, a number of Italian cities, Holland - all this enriched his artistic experience from an early age.
So, by the time the new university course was created, B. R. Vipper was fully armed with an art historian, had a huge amount of material as his researcher, developed a system of his own views, in particular, on a number of problems of the specifics of artistic creativity in various types of fine arts. Already in the first edition of the course "Theory of Art" the scientific level was so significant that the author, as early as 1936-1940, was able to publish (in Riga, then in Moscow) some of its fragments as original problematic articles of independent significance. In the future, the scientific basis of the course of lectures was deepened, partially updated, so that in the last edition of 1964-1966 it was published in 1970 as a scientific study entitled "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art".
As a result, now we have before us a complex work, at the same time theoretically systemic, in-depth into the issues of artistic technique and historically substantiated on a wide chronological and geographical scale, that is, in essence, both "Theory of Art" and "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" together. Here it is necessary to remember that, carefully and thoughtfully studying the monuments of fine art themselves as artistic organisms, B. R. Vipper sought to practically comprehend the nature of technology in various types of graphic art, in sculpture with various materials, in different genres of painting and types of architecture. Even in his younger years, immediately after graduating from the university, he practically studied painting in the workshops of artists, in particular Konstantin Yuon, and also delved into the principles of architectural design under the guidance of I. I. Rerberg. He wanted to accurately, on specific examples, in materials, under the conditions of certain techniques, to know how it's done, what exactly is achieved by certain methods, what they ultimately serve according to the ideas of this or that artist. Moreover, B. R. Vipper sought to comprehend how it was done in different historical epochs, how and why the technique of different types of art evolved, how its new features and types arose. At the same time, his memory turned out to be amazing on the widest historical scale, from references to the art of Ancient Egypt or China to examples from our own time. All historical periods were, so to speak, at his disposal, they all supplied him with rich, diverse material. It can be concluded that the history of art is ultimately covered by him in its theoretical and technical base. But the opposite is also true: the technique of various genres and varieties of art is explained by the artistic trends of various styles and historical periods.
Everything is concrete in this work of B.R. Vipper, up to the characteristics of the materials with which the painters, sculptors, architects worked, the “tools” for their production, the compositions of paints or varnishes, the methods of engraving, as well as the choice of one or another technique within each art . But, as a rule, technology is not considered here only in itself. It is connected with the creative problems of different genres in certain epochs, and serves various, historically changing artistic tasks. The reader will learn about the advantages of certain materials, techniques, engraving methods or the possibilities of masonry for various purposes of sculpture, painting, graphics, architecture. This principle of artistic substantiation of technology in connection with the problems of form and in subordination to the figurative system of art runs through the entire work of B. R. Vipper and gives it high merits. It has a wide cognitive significance, covering the full range of technical problems and rising to the level of aesthetic judgments.
As you know, in the vast majority of works on the history of fine arts, they only very briefly, incidentally touch upon the issues of the technique of artistic creation, or do not trace at all, how is it done in artist's workshop. On the other hand, all kinds of technical recommendations addressed to graphic artists, painters, sculptors, especially in the process of their training, are usually not very connected with the range of aesthetic problems, with the nature of the subject matter, with the specifics of this or that genre, that is, with the tasks of creativity proper. In this sense, "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" by B. R. Wipper plays a special role: it teaches the basics of technology (even crafts), introduces its historical development, reveals many subtleties of technical skill, delves into the very flesh of art and at the same time gives countless examples. , data of analysis, evaluation, comparison of monuments of art, thus revealing ultimate meaning of technology, its capabilities or its limitations. So the advantages of different types of painting - watercolors or pastels, frescoes or oils - are evaluated depending on the subject, style, certain figurative preferences in various historical conditions. From a similar position and in historical specificity, the advantages (or known imperfections) of different types of wood, different types of stone or metal for certain creative purposes of sculptors are considered.
In each of its four sections - "Graphics", "Sculptures", "Paintings", "Architecture" - substantiation and evaluation are connected with the general idea of the work of B. R. Vipper specifics each of the considered arts. Specific examples clearly show the characteristic differences between graphics and painting and sculpture, the strengths of graphics, its special expressive possibilities and limits these possibilities. In the same way, the specific artistic qualities of sculpture are comprehensively assessed in comparison with other visual arts. The great advantages of painting are also revealed, and yet its peculiar limitations in comparison with graphics or sculpture. It is in connection with these definitions of the great strength and relative weakness of this or that art that the choice of graphics (rather than painting), sculpture (rather than graphics and not painting) becomes natural for the creative solution of certain artistic problems: various types of graphics for book illustration, caricatures, posters, sculptures - primarily for the plastic image of a person. “If architecture creates space,” writes B. R. Vipper, “and sculpture creates bodies, then painting connects bodies with space, figures with objects, together with their entire environment, with the light and air in which they live.” However, as the author notes further, the possibilities of painting are by no means unlimited. Its advantages are "bought at a high price - the price of abandoning the third dimension, from real volume, from touch. Painting is the art of the plane and one point of view, where space and volume exist only in illusion."
It is noteworthy that B. R. Vipper defines architecture as fine art. Like painting and sculpture, it is associated with "nature", with reality, but its pictorial tendency differs from the principles of depiction in painting and sculpture: "... it has not so much a" portrait "as a generalized symbolic character - in other words, it seeks to embody not the individual qualities of a person, object, phenomenon, but the typical functions of life. In any style, in any monument of artistic architecture, the researcher claims, "... we will always find ... a real structure that determines the stability of the building, and a visible, depicted structure, expressed in the direction of lines, in relation to planes and masses, in the struggle light and shadow, which gives the building a vital energy, embodies its spiritual and emotional meaning.We can say more: it is the ability of the image that distinguishes artistic architecture as an art from simple construction.An ordinary building serves practical needs, it "is" a residential building, a station or theater; the work of artistic architecture depicts what it "should be", reveals, expresses its meaning, its practical and ideological purpose.
Tracing the historical development of each type of fine art, B. R. Vipper talks about the evolution of his techniques from the moment they appeared, about the changes in preferred materials and methods of processing them, about the emergence of more and more new varieties, such as graphics, new compositional problems in sculptural the image of a person, about the different understanding of space at different stages of painting, about the expansion of the range of genres in it at one time or another. At the same time, concrete examples are drawn in abundance from the history of each type of art, the range of which is amazingly wide and diverse, however, with a completely understandable predominance of the classical heritage, outstanding artistic phenomena, and bright creative figures. So in the section "Graphics" B. R. Vipper refers to the origin of drawing in the Paleolithic era, to its dominance in the Ancient World, to its role in the Middle Ages and focuses on the Renaissance, affecting the work of Leonardo, Raphael, Titian, Tintoretto, Dürer among a large number of other names. Describing various forms of printed graphics, the researcher relies on a wide range of examples from Dürer and Hans Holbein the Younger to Aubrey Beardsley, Gauguin, Munch, Ostroumova-Lebedeva, Favorsky, Kravchenko... many other authors are included, including Daumier, Toulouse-Lautrec, Soviet cartoonists and then a long line of masters bookstore graphics, starting from Botticelli with his illustrations for Dante's "Divine Comedy" and ending with Vrubel and Soviet graphics.
It is quite natural that in the section "Sculpture" many provisions are illustrated and supported by materials of ancient art and references to the work of Renaissance masters. But here, too, samples of the 17th century are involved, in particular Bernini, and here the researcher turns to examples of modern times, including the art of Rodin and Vera Mukhina.
The other two sections of "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" should, in principle, be evaluated somewhat differently, since in them - in each in a different way - not all the material of artistic creativity used by the author is shown, disclosed to the reader. Although this material is very rich, and in the section "Painting" B. R. Vipper, no doubt, had in mind an even wider range of phenomena, which he intended to talk about in connection with the problems of various genres. To an even greater extent, this applies to the section "Architecture": the published text was supposed to be supplemented with the problems and materials of modern times, which the author has not been able to do.
In order to explain the reasons for some difference between the first two sections and the third and fourth sections of the work of B. R. Vipper, it is necessary to turn to the history of its creation as a whole, from the original idea of the course "Theory of Art" to the text we publish "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" . In the annual university course, as it was read (and written down) by B.R. Whipper half a century ago, in addition to the four sections now known to the reader, there were two more sections: the course opened with a series of lectures on the history of aesthetic teachings, and ended with an analysis of the then latest theories of development art. At the same time, the section "Painting", for example, judging by the surviving materials, was wider and covered a number of other problems that were not reflected in the original author's text. One way or another, B. R. Vipper clearly sought to replenish it in the future, which is fully proved by the composition of the prospectus "Painting" for the new edition, which was carried out in the 1960s.
Returning to the content of this course of lectures, B. R. Vipper partly revised his text in accordance with the requirements of the time. During the years of evacuation, he taught a number of courses in Tashkent at the Central Asian University, among them "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art." In this regard, a new outline of the course has arisen. The introductory lectures on aesthetic teachings and the conclusion on the theories of the development of art were excluded from it. The essence of the central sections has not changed radically. The section "Painting" was supplemented with provisions on historical painting, in a number of cases the historical substantiations of certain artistic phenomena and processes were deepened, and some new accents arose.
And then B. R. Vipper repeatedly returned his thoughts to this work of his, apparently feeling its relevance both in educational everyday life and on a wider scale of scientific problems. He had long ago come to the conclusion that the section on aesthetic teachings in its former form was outdated, and could not but become outdated, so he excluded it from the new editions. However, this reduction was later more than compensated, so to speak. When creating a new complex work "History of European Art History" (1960–1966) at the Institute of Art History of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, B.R. Vipper, as its initiator, leader and one of the main authors, conceived on the basis of Marxist methodology to highlight the evolution of antiquity to our modern times. Without a doubt, this completely covered the more modest tasks of the previous introduction to the course of lectures.
Naturally, on the other hand, when B. R. Vipper, already a corresponding member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR, worked on the preparation of "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" for publication, he left only four of its central sections from the previous composition of the work. Now he considered "Graphics", "Painting", "Sculpture", "Architecture" as a kind of cycle of research devoted to the problems of the specifics of these art forms in connection with their technical foundations.
The sections "Graphics" and "Sculpture" were prepared by the author in a new edition in 1964-1965. The section "Painting" was begun by revision in 1966 and was not completed, those were the last lines written by B. R. Vipper shortly before his death. The "Architecture" section has remained in its original form and has not yet been subjected to the last revision. Thus, the first edition of "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art", carried out in 1970 1 , included a new author's text for the sections "Graphics" and revised text of the section "Architecture" by the author. This prompted the editorial board to supplement the "Painting" section with some appendices from the author's materials - a fragment of "Genres in Painting" (from a new prospectus compiled by Vipper for the "Painting" section) and an early article by B. R. Vipper "The Problem of Similarity in a Portrait", published in the first issue of the collection "Moscow Mercury" in 1917. The text of the section "Architecture" would undoubtedly have been significantly supplemented by the author himself, because the latest development of this art would require changes and significant additions. Unfortunately, I had to come to terms with the well-known incompleteness of the section, which, however, even in this form is rich in content, interesting in terms of problems and will be very useful for readers.
On the whole, the work of B. R. Vipper has not only undeniable scientific significance, but also a genuine scientific and practical value. It is original in terms of the general plan and its implementation, bears a clear imprint of the creative personality of the scientist. Its first edition, carried out in 1970, interested a wide circle of readers, turned out to be extremely useful for art historians and in practice was recognized as a unique textbook in the art universities of our country. Indeed, for those who are still preparing to become a graphic artist, sculptor, painter, architect, as well as for many young artists, "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" will bring both theoretical and practical benefits. It will really introduce them into the system of technique characteristic of the types of fine arts at different times, and will ultimately explain the evolution of this system by aesthetic laws that arose in different historical eras. Young art historians will also gain a lot of value for themselves, since in their judgments about artistic creativity they pay little and seldom attention to the peculiarities of various techniques in engraving, painting, sculpture, and they almost never find examples of such treatment in modern scientific literature.
Meanwhile, the named collection "Articles about Art", which included, among other works, B. R. Vipper and "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art", sold out immediately after being published. Therefore, it seems to us expedient to publish this work in a separate edition in order to satisfy the needs of numerous Soviet readers, and primarily artistic youth, future specialists trained in higher educational institutions.
T. N. Livanova
The work of B. R. Vipper "Introduction to the historical study of art"
organically combines the qualities of a full-fledged scientific research and
the systematic nature of the special university course. The uniqueness of this work is
Russian and Soviet art criticism is determined by the fact that it is deeply and
covers in detail the genre and technical problems, the specifics of technical
the foundations of each of the genres of fine arts and their varieties,
relying on the vast material of the history of fine arts, on the results of
long historical research conducted by the author.
One of the largest Soviet art critics, corresponding member
Academy of Arts of the USSR Boris Robertovich Vipper (1888 - 1967) during
returned to the topic and materials of this work for many years, improved
text between the early 1930s (when the original
edition) and the last years of his life (when he was preparing it for publication). In the first
literary edition, it was a fully recorded course of lectures under the general
titled Theory of Art. Even then, the course material was based on many
observations and conclusions from the totality of other works of the author, from a large
personal experience of an art historian who dealt with its various periods. WITH
1908 B. R. Wipper appeared in the press with scientific articles, since 1915
began working at Moscow University, then defended his master's
dissertation "The Problem and Development of Still Life" and became a professor
University, where he taught a number of courses and conducted seminars on the history of fine arts
arts. Work in Russian museums, visits to libraries and museums in Vienna,
Paris, Berlin, a number of Italian cities, Holland - all this from a young age
enriched his artistic experience.
So, by the time the new university course was created, B. R. Wipper
was fully armed with an art historian, had a huge amount of material
its researcher, developed a system of his own views, in particular on
a number of problems of the specifics of artistic creativity in various genres
visual arts. Already in the first edition of the course "Theory of Art"
the scientific level was so significant that the author, back in 1936-1940, was able to
publish (in Riga, then in Moscow) some of its fragments as
original problematic articles of independent significance. Further
the scientific basis of the course of lectures was deepened, partially updated, so that in
the last edition of 1964-1966, it was published in 1970 as
scientific study entitled "Introduction to the historical study of
arts".
As a result, now we have before us a complex work, at the same time theoretically
systemic, in-depth in the issues of artistic technique and historically
justified on a wide chronological and geographical scale, that is,
in essence, both "The Theory of Art" and "Introduction to the Historical Study
art" together. Here it is necessary to remember that, carefully and thoughtfully
studying the monuments of fine art themselves as artistic
organisms, B. R. Vipper sought in practice to comprehend the nature of technology in
various types of graphic art, in sculpture with various
materials, in different genres of painting and types of architecture. Back in the young
years, immediately after graduation, he practically studied painting in
workshops of artists, in particular Konstantin Yuon, and also delved into
principles of architectural design under the guidance of I. I. Rerberg. He
wanted exactly, on specific examples, in materials, under certain conditions
technique to know how it is done, what exactly is achieved by certain
techniques, to which they ultimately serve according to the plans of one or another
artist. Moreover, B. R. Vipper sought to comprehend how this was done in
different historical eras, how and why it evolved
technique of different kinds of art, how new features and types of it arose.
At the same time, his memory in the widest historical
scale, from references to the art of Ancient Egypt or China to examples from
our modernity. All historical periods were, so to speak, in his
at his disposal, they all supplied him with rich, diverse material. Can
conclude that the history of art is ultimately covered by him in her
theoretical and technical base. But the opposite is also true: the technique of various genres and
varieties of art is explained by the artistic directions of various
styles and historical periods.
Everything is concrete in this work by B. R. Vipper, up to the characteristics
materials with which painters, sculptors, architects worked, "tools"
their production, compositions of paints or varnishes, methods of engraving, as well as
the choice of one or another technique within each art. But, as a rule,
technique is not considered here only in itself. She is associated with
creative problems of different genres in certain eras, serves various,
historically changing artistic tasks. The reader will learn about
the advantages of certain materials, techniques, methods
engraving or masonry possibilities for various sculpture purposes,
painting, graphics, architecture. This principle of artistic justification
technology in connection with the problems of form and in submission to the figurative system of art
runs through the entire work of B. R. Vipper and informs her of high merits.
It has a wide educational value, covering a full range of technical
problems and rising at the same time to the level of aesthetic judgments.
As is known, in the vast majority of works on history
fine arts only very briefly, incidentally touch upon issues
techniques of artistic creation or do not trace at all how it
made in the artist's studio. On the other hand, various technical
recommendations addressed to graphic artists, painters, sculptors, especially in
process of their education, are usually not too associated with the circle of aesthetic
problems, with the nature of the subject, with the specifics of a particular genre, that is
with creative tasks. In this sense, "Introduction to the historical
the study of art" by B. R. Vipper has a special role: it teaches the basics
technology (even crafts), introduces its historical development, reveals
many subtleties of technical skill, delves into the very flesh of art and
simultaneously gives countless examples, analysis data, evaluations,
comparison of monuments of art, thus revealing the ultimate meaning
technology, its capabilities or its limitations. So the advantages of various
types of painting - watercolors or pastels, frescoes or oils - are evaluated at
depending on the subject, style, certain figurative preferences in
various historical conditions. From similar positions and in the historical
specificity considers advantages (or known imperfections)
different types of wood, different types of stone or metal for certain
creative goals of sculptors.
In each of his four
sections -- "Graphics", "Sculptures", "Paintings", "Architecture" --
substantiation and assessment of the specifics of each of the considered arts.
Specific examples clearly show the characteristic differences between graphics and
painting and sculpture, the strengths of graphics, its special expressive
possibilities and the limits of these possibilities. Just as comprehensive
the specific artistic qualities of the sculpture are evaluated in comparison
with other visual arts. Huge Benefits Revealed
painting, and yet its peculiar limitations in comparison with graphics or
sculpture. It is in connection with these definitions of great power and
relative weakness of this or that art becomes natural
the choice of graphics (rather than painting), sculpture (rather than graphics and painting) for
creative solution of certain artistic problems: various types
graphics for book illustration, caricature, poster, sculpture - first
queue for a plastic image of a person. "If architecture creates
space, - writes B. R. Vipper, - and sculpture - bodies, then painting
connects bodies with space, figures with objects, together with all their
environment, with the light and air in which they live. "However, as
the author notes further, the possibilities of painting are by no means unlimited.
Its advantages are "bought at a high price - the price of giving up a third
measurements, from real volume, from touch. Painting is art
plane and one point of view, where space and volume exist only in
illusions."
It is noteworthy that B. R. Vipper defines architecture as
art. Like painting and sculpture, it is associated with
"in kind", with reality, but its pictorial tendency is different
from the principles of the image in painting and sculpture: "... it has not so much
"portrait", how much a generalized symbolic character - in other words, she
seeks to embody non-individual qualities of a person, object,
phenomena, but typical functions of life". In any style, in any monument
artistic architecture, the researcher claims, "...we always
find... the real structure that determines the stability of the building, and
visible, depicted construction, expressed in the direction of the lines, in
relation of planes and masses, in the struggle of light and shadow, which gives the building
vital energy, embodies its spiritual and emotional meaning. We can
to say more: it is precisely the ability of the image that distinguishes the artistic
architecture as an art from simple construction. Ordinary building
serves practical needs, it "is" a residential building, a railway station or a theatre;
the work of artistic architecture depicts what it "should
to be", reveals, expresses its meaning, its practical and ideological
appointment".
Tracing the historical development of each of the types of fine
art, B. R. Wipper talks about the evolution of his techniques with
the moment of their appearance, about changes in preferred materials and methods for their
processing, about the emergence of more and more new varieties, for example
graphics, new compositional problems in the sculptural image of a person, about
different understanding of space at different stages of painting, about expansion in
her range of genres at one time or another. Moreover, from the history of each species
art are attracted in abundance by specific examples, the range of which
amazingly wide and diverse, however, with a completely understandable predominance
classical heritage, outstanding artistic phenomena, bright creative
figures. So in the section "Graphics" B. R. Vipper refers to the origin of the drawing
in the Paleolithic era, on its dominance in the Ancient World, on its role in the middle
century and focuses on the Renaissance, affecting the creativity
Leonardo, Raphael, Titian, Tintoretto, Durer among a large number
other names. Describing various forms of printed graphics, the researcher
draws on a wide range of examples from Dürer and Hans Holbein the Younger
to Aubrey Beardsley, Gauguin, Munch, Ostroumova-Lebedeva, Favorsky,
Kravchenko... The problems of caricature, poster, book graphics are still expanding
this circle, which includes many other authors, including Daumier,
Toulouse-Lautrec, Soviet caricaturists and then a long line of book masters
graphics, starting from Botticelli with his illustrations for the "Divine Comedy"
Dante and ending with Vrubel and Soviet graphics.
It is quite natural that in the section "Sculpture" there are many provisions
illustrated and supported by materials of ancient art and references to
work of the masters of the Renaissance. But even here samples of the 17th century are involved, in
particular Bernini, and here the researcher turns to examples of the latest
time, including the art of Rodin and Vera Mukhina.
The other two sections of "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" in
principle should be evaluated somewhat differently, since in them - in each
in different ways - shown, disclosed to the reader, not all used by the author
art material. Although this material is very rich, and in
section "Painting" B. R. Vipper, no doubt, had in mind an even wider
the range of phenomena about which I intended to speak in connection with the problems
various genres. This applies even more to the "Architecture" section:
the published text was supposed to be supplemented with problems and materials
The latest time, which the author has not been able to carry out.
In order to explain the reasons for some difference between the first two sections
from the third and fourth sections of the work of B. R. Vipper, it is necessary
turn to the history of its creation as a whole, from the original intent of the course
"Theory of Art" to the text we publish "Introduction to the Historical
study of art". In the annual university course, as he read (and
wrote down) B. R. Vipper half a century ago, in addition to the four sections known
now to the reader, there were two more sections: the course opened with a series of lectures on
history of aesthetic teachings, and ended with an analysis of the then latest theories
art development. However, the section "Painting", for example, judging by
surviving materials, was wider and covered a number of problems,
which were not reflected in the original author's text. So or
otherwise, B. R. Vipper clearly sought to replenish it in the future, which was completely
is proved by the composition of the prospectus "Painting" for the new edition,
implemented in the 1960s.
Returning to the content of this course of lectures, B. R. Vipper partly
revised his text according to the requirements of the time. He read in Tashkent in
Central Asian University during the years of evacuation a number of courses and among them
"Introduction to the Historical Study of Art". In this regard, a new
course outline. It excluded the introductory lectures on aesthetic
teachings and a conclusion about the theories of the development of art. The essence of the central
sections have not changed radically. Section "Painting" was added
provisions on the historical picture, in some cases deepened historical
substantiation of certain artistic phenomena and processes, arose
some new accents.
And then B. R. Vipper more than once returned his thoughts to this work of his,
apparently feeling its relevance both in educational everyday life and in more
a wide range of scientific issues. He had long ago come to the conclusion that
about aesthetic teachings in its former form is outdated, and could not help but
outdated, so he dropped it from new editions. However, this reduction
was later more than compensated, so to speak. When created in
Institute of Art History of the USSR Academy of Sciences of a new complex work
"History of European Art History" (1960-- 1966) B. R. Wipper as his
initiator, leader and one of the main authors conceived on the basis of
Marxist methodology to highlight the evolution of the methods of art history from its
origins in antiquity to the present day. Without a doubt, it is completely
blocked the more modest tasks of the previous introduction to the course of lectures.
Naturally, on the other hand, when B. R. Vipper, already
corresponding member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR, worked on the preparation
"Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" to print, he left from
of the former composition of the work, only four of its central sections. Now he
considered "Graphics", "Painting", "Sculpture", "Architecture" as
a kind of cycle of research devoted to the problems of the specifics of these species
art in connection with their technical foundations.
Sections "Graphics" and "Sculpture" were prepared by the author in a new
editions in 1964-1965. Section "Painting" started with revision in 1966
year and not completed, these were the last lines written by B. R. Wipper
quite shortly before his death. The section "Architecture" remained in its
original form and has not yet been subjected to the latest processing. So
Thus, the first edition of "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art",
implemented in 1970*, included new author's text for sections
"Graphics" and "Sculpture", partially updated text of the section "Painting" and
the former text, created in 1933-1942, not revised by the author
section "Architecture". This prompted the editorial board to supplement the section "Painting"
some applications from the author's materials - a fragment of "Genres in
painting" (from a new prospectus compiled by Whipper for the section
"Painting") and an early article by B. R. Vipper "The problem of similarity in a portrait",
published in the first issue of the collection "Moscow Mercury" in 1917.
The text of the "Architecture" section, of course, would be significantly replenished
by the author himself, for the latest development of this art would require
changes and significant additions. Unfortunately, I had to come to terms with
the well-known incompleteness of the section, which,
__________________
* Vipper B.R. Articles about art. M., 1970.
however, even in this form it is rich in content, interesting in terms of issues and
will be very helpful to readers.
In general, the work of B.R. Vipper has not only undeniable scientific
value, but also a genuine scientific and practical value. She is original in
general idea and its implementation, bears a clear imprint of a creative personality
scientist. The first edition of it, carried out in 1970, interested
a large circle of readers, proved to be extremely useful for
art critics and in practice has been recognized as the only one in
a kind of teaching aid in the art universities of our country. In the very
in fact, for those who are still preparing to become a graphic artist, sculptor, painter,
architect, as for many young artists, "Introduction to the historical
the study of art" will bring both theoretical and practical benefits. It
really introduce them into the system of technique characteristic of the species
fine arts at different times, will explain the evolution of this system in
ultimately aesthetic patterns that arose in various
historical eras. Young people will also gain a lot of valuable
art historians, because in their judgments about artistic creativity they are few and
rarely pay attention to the peculiarities of various techniques in engraving, painting,
sculpture, and examples of such treatment are almost never found in modern
scientific literature.
Meanwhile, the named collection "Articles about Art", which included
among other works by B. R. Wipper and "Introduction to the historical study
art", sold out immediately after publication. Therefore, we
it seems expedient to publish this work in a separate edition in order to
satisfy the needs of numerous Soviet readers, and in the first place
line of artistic youth, future specialists trained in
higher educational institutions.
T. N. Livanova
Introduction to the historical study of art
B.R. Whipper
Introduction to the historical study of art
Content
Foreword
GRAPHIC ARTS
SCULPTURE
PAINTING
Appendix I
From the prospectus "Introduction".
genres in painting.
Annex II.
The problem of "similarity in the portrait
ARCHITECTURE
Notes
Foreword
The work of B. R. Vipper "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" organically combines the qualities of a full-fledged scientific research and the systematic nature of a special university course. The uniqueness of this work in Russian and Soviet art criticism is determined by the fact that it deeply and thoroughly illuminates genre and technical problems, the specifics of the technical foundations of each of the genres of fine art and their varieties, based on the vast material of the history of fine arts, on the results of long-term historical research conducted by the author .
One of the greatest Soviet art historians, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR Boris Robertovich Vipper (1888-1967) returned to the theme and materials of this work for many years, improved the text between the beginning of the 1930s (when the initial edition was formed) and the last years life (when preparing it for publication). In the first literary version, it was a fully recorded course of lectures under the general title "Theory of Art". Even then, the course material was based on many observations and conclusions from the totality of other works of the author, from the great personal experience of an art historian who dealt with his various periods. Since 1908, B. R. Vipper appeared in the press with scientific articles, since 1915 he began working at Moscow University, then he defended his master's thesis "The Problem and Development of Still Life" and became a professor at the university, where he read a number of courses and conducted seminars on the history of fine arts . Work in Russian museums, visits to libraries and museums in Vienna, Paris, Berlin, a number of Italian cities, Holland - all this enriched his artistic experience from an early age.
So, by the time the new university course was created, B. R. Vipper was fully armed with an art historian, had a huge amount of material as his researcher, developed a system of his own views, in particular, on a number of problems of the specifics of artistic creativity in various types of fine arts. Already in the first edition of the course "Theory of Art" the scientific level was so significant that back in 1936-1940 the author was able to publish (in Riga, then in Moscow) some of its fragments as original problematic articles of independent significance. In the future, the scientific basis of the lecture course was deepened, partially updated, so that in the last edition of 1964-1966 it was published in 1970 as a scientific study entitled "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art."
As a result, now we have before us a complex work, at the same time theoretically systemic, in-depth into the issues of artistic technique and historically substantiated on a wide chronological and geographical scale, that is, in essence, both "Theory of Art" and "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" together. Here it is necessary to remember that, carefully and thoughtfully studying the monuments of fine art themselves as artistic organisms, B. R. Vipper sought to practically comprehend the nature of technology in various types of graphic art, in sculpture with various materials, in different genres of painting and types of architecture. Even in his younger years, immediately after graduating from the university, he practically studied painting in the workshops of artists, in particular Konstantin Yuon, and also delved into the principles of architectural design under the guidance of I. I. Rerberg. He wanted to know precisely, on specific examples, in materials, under the conditions of certain techniques, how this is done, what exactly is achieved by certain methods, what they ultimately serve according to the ideas of this or that artist. Moreover, B. R. Vipper sought to comprehend how this was done in different historical eras, how and why the technique of various types of art evolved, how its new features and types arose. At the same time, his memory turned out to be amazing on the widest historical scale, from references to the art of Ancient Egypt or China to examples from our own time. All historical periods were, so to speak, at his disposal, they all supplied him with rich, diverse material. It can be concluded that the history of art is ultimately covered by him in its theoretical and technical base. But the opposite is also true: the technique of various genres and varieties of art is explained by the artistic trends of various styles and historical periods.
Everything is concrete in this work of B.R. Vipper, up to the characteristics of the materials with which the painters, sculptors, architects worked, the “tools” for their production, the compositions of paints or varnishes, the methods of engraving, as well as the choice of one or another technique within each art . But, as a rule, technology is not considered here only in itself. It is connected with the creative problems of different genres in certain epochs, and serves various, historically changing artistic tasks. The reader will learn about the advantages of certain materials, techniques, engraving methods or the possibilities of masonry for various purposes of sculpture, painting, graphics, architecture. This principle of artistic substantiation of technology in connection with the problems of form and in subordination to the figurative system of art runs through the entire work of B. R. Vipper and gives it high merits. It has a wide cognitive significance, covering the full range of technical problems and rising to the level of aesthetic judgments.
As is known, in the vast majority of works on the history of fine arts, they only very briefly, in passing, touch upon the issues of the technique of artistic creation, or they do not trace at all how this is done in the artist's studio. On the other hand, all kinds of technical recommendations addressed to graphic artists, painters, sculptors, especially in the process of their training, are usually not very connected with the range of aesthetic problems, with the nature of the subject matter, with the specifics of this or that genre, that is, with the tasks of creativity proper. In this sense, "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" by B. R. Wipper plays a special role: it teaches the basics of technology (even crafts), introduces its historical development, reveals many subtleties of technical skill, delves into the very flesh of art and at the same time gives countless examples. , data of analysis, evaluation, comparison of monuments of art, thus revealing the ultimate meaning of technology, its possibilities or its limitations. So the advantages of various types of painting - watercolors or pastels, frescoes or oils - are evaluated depending on the subject, style, certain figurative preferences in various historical conditions. From a similar position and in historical specificity, the advantages (or known imperfections) of different types of wood, different types of stone or metal for certain creative purposes of sculptors are considered.
In each of its four sections - "Graphics", "Sculptures", "Paintings", "Architecture" - the substantiation and assessment of the specifics of each of the considered arts are connected with the general idea of the work of B. R. Vipper. Specific examples clearly show the characteristic differences between graphics and painting and sculpture, the strengths of graphics, its special expressive possibilities and the limits of these possibilities. In the same way, the specific artistic qualities of sculpture are comprehensively assessed in comparison with other visual arts. The great advantages of painting are also revealed, and yet its peculiar limitations in comparison with graphics or sculpture. It is in connection with these definitions of the great strength and relative weakness of this or that art that the choice of graphics (rather than painting), sculpture (rather than graphics and not painting) becomes natural for the creative solution of certain artistic problems: various types of graphics for book illustration, caricatures, posters, sculptures - primarily for the plastic image of a person. “If architecture creates space,” writes B. R. Vipper, “and sculpture creates bodies, then painting connects bodies with space, figures with objects, together with their entire environment, with the light and air in which they live” . However, as the author notes further, the possibilities of painting are by no means unlimited. Its advantages are "bought at a high price - the price of abandoning the third dimension, from real volume, from touch. Painting is the art of the plane and one point of view, where space and volume exist only in illusion."
It is noteworthy that B. R. Vipper defines architecture as fine art. Like painting and sculpture, it is associated with "nature", with reality, but its pictorial tendency differs from the principles of representation in painting and sculpture: "... it has not so much a" portrait "as a generalized symbolic character - in other words, it seeks to embody not the individual qualities of a person, object, phenomenon, but the typical functions of life. In any style, in any monument of artistic architecture, the researcher claims, "... we will always find ... a real structure that determines the stability of the building, and a visible, depicted structure, expressed in the direction of lines, in relation to planes and masses, in the struggle light and shadow, which gives the building a vital energy, embodies its spiritual and emotional meaning.We can say more: it is the ability of the image that distinguishes artistic architecture as an art from simple construction.An ordinary building serves practical needs, it "is" a residential building, a station or theater; the work of artistic architecture depicts what it "should be", reveals, expresses its meaning, its practical and ideological purpose.
Tracing the historical development of each type of fine art, B. R. Vipper talks about the evolution of his techniques from the moment they appeared, about the changes in preferred materials and methods of processing them, about the emergence of more and more new varieties, such as graphics, new compositional problems in sculptural the image of a person, about the different understanding of space at different stages of painting, about the expansion of the range of genres in it at one time or another. At the same time, concrete examples are drawn in abundance from the history of each type of art, the range of which is amazingly wide and diverse, however, with a completely understandable predominance of the classical heritage, outstanding artistic phenomena, and bright creative figures. So in the section "Graphics" B. R. Vipper refers to the origin of drawing in the Paleolithic era, to its dominance in the Ancient World, to its role in the Middle Ages and focuses on the Renaissance, affecting the work of Leonardo, Raphael, Titian, Tintoretto, Dürer among a large number of other names. Describing various forms of printed graphics, the researcher relies on a wide range of examples from Dürer and Hans Holbein the Younger to Aubrey Beardsley, Gauguin, Munch, Ostroumova-Lebedeva, Favorsky, Kravchenko... many other authors are included, including Daumier, Toulouse-Lautrec, Soviet cartoonists and then a long line of masters of book graphics, from Botticelli with his illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy to Vrubel and Soviet graphic artists.
It is quite natural that in the section "Sculpture" many provisions are illustrated and supported by materials of ancient art and references to the work of Renaissance masters. But here, too, samples of the 17th century are involved, in particular Bernini, and here the researcher turns to examples of modern times, including the art of Rodin and Vera Mukhina.
The other two sections of "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" should, in principle, be evaluated somewhat differently, since in them - in each in a different way - not all the material of artistic creativity used by the author is shown, disclosed to the reader. Although this material is very rich, and in the section "Painting" B. R. Vipper, no doubt, had in mind an even wider range of phenomena, which he intended to talk about in connection with the problems of various genres. To an even greater extent, this applies to the section "Architecture": the published text was supposed to be supplemented with the problems and materials of modern times, which the author has not been able to do.
In order to explain the reasons for some difference between the first two sections and the third and fourth sections of the work of B. R. Vipper, it is necessary to turn to the history of its creation as a whole, from the original idea of the course "Theory of Art" to the text we publish "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" . In the annual university course, as it was read (and written down) by B.R. Whipper half a century ago, in addition to the four sections now known to the reader, there were two more sections: the course opened with a series of lectures on the history of aesthetic teachings, and ended with an analysis of the then latest theories of development art. At the same time, the section "Painting", for example, judging by the surviving materials, was wider and covered a number of other problems that were not reflected in the original author's text. One way or another, B. R. Vipper clearly sought to replenish it in the future, which is fully proved by the composition of the prospectus "Painting" for the new edition, which was carried out in the 1960s.
Returning to the content of this course of lectures, B. R. Vipper partly revised his text in accordance with the requirements of the time. During the years of evacuation, he taught a number of courses in Tashkent at the Central Asian University, among them "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art." In this regard, a new outline of the course has arisen. The introductory lectures on aesthetic teachings and the conclusion on the theories of the development of art were excluded from it. The essence of the central sections has not changed radically. The section "Painting" was supplemented with provisions on historical painting, in a number of cases the historical substantiations of certain artistic phenomena and processes were deepened, and some new accents arose.
And then B. R. Vipper repeatedly returned his thoughts to this work of his, apparently feeling its relevance both in educational everyday life and on a wider scale of scientific problems. He had long ago come to the conclusion that the section on aesthetic teachings in its former form was outdated, and could not but become outdated, so he excluded it from the new editions. However, this reduction was later more than compensated, so to speak. When creating at the Institute of Art History of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR a new complex work "History of European Art History" (1960-- 1966), B. R. Vipper, as its initiator, leader and one of the main authors, conceived on the basis of Marxist methodology to highlight the evolution of methods of art history from its origins from antiquity to our present day. Without a doubt, this completely covered the more modest tasks of the previous introduction to the course of lectures.
Naturally, on the other hand, when B. R. Vipper, already a corresponding member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR, worked on the preparation of "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" for publication, he left only four of its central sections from the previous composition of the work. Now he considered "Graphics", "Painting", "Sculpture", "Architecture" as a kind of cycle of research devoted to the problems of the specifics of these art forms in connection with their technical foundations.
The sections "Graphics" and "Sculpture" were prepared by the author in a new edition in 1964-1965. The section "Painting" was begun by revision in 1966 and was not completed, those were the last lines written by B. R. Vipper shortly before his death. The "Architecture" section has remained in its original form and has not yet been subjected to the last revision. Thus, the first edition of "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art", carried out in 1970 *, included a new author's text of the sections "Graphics" and "Sculpture", a partially updated text of the section "Painting" and the former, created in 1933-1942, the text of the section "Architecture" not revised by the author. This prompted the editorial board to supplement the "Painting" section with some appendices from the author's materials - a fragment of "Genres in Painting" (from a new prospectus compiled by Whipper for the "Painting" section) and an early article by B. R. Wipper "The Problem of Similarity in a Portrait", published in the first issue of the collection "Moscow Mercury" in 1917. The text of the section "Architecture" would undoubtedly have been significantly supplemented by the author himself, because the latest development of this art would require changes and significant additions. Unfortunately, I had to come to terms with the well-known incompleteness of the section, which,
__________________
* Vipper B.R. Articles about art. M., 1970.
however, even in this form it is rich in content, interesting in terms of issues and will be very useful for readers.
On the whole, the work of B. R. Vipper has not only undeniable scientific significance, but also a genuine scientific and practical value. It is original in terms of the general plan and its implementation, bears a clear imprint of the creative personality of the scientist. Its first edition, carried out in 1970, interested a wide circle of readers, turned out to be extremely useful for art historians and in practice was recognized as a unique textbook in the art universities of our country. Indeed, for those who are still preparing to become a graphic artist, sculptor, painter, architect, as well as for many young artists, "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" will bring both theoretical and practical benefits. It will really introduce them into the system of technique characteristic of the types of fine arts at different times, and will ultimately explain the evolution of this system by aesthetic laws that arose in different historical eras. Young art historians will also gain a lot of value for themselves, since in their judgments about artistic creativity they pay little and seldom attention to the peculiarities of various techniques in engraving, painting, sculpture, and they almost never find examples of such treatment in modern scientific literature.
Meanwhile, the named collection "Articles about Art", which included, among other works, B. R. Vipper and "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art", sold out immediately after being published. Therefore, it seems to us expedient to publish this work in a separate edition in order to satisfy the needs of numerous Soviet readers, and primarily artistic youth, future specialists trained in higher educational institutions.
T. N. Livanova
GRAPHICS1*
Each art has its own specifics, sets itself special tasks and has its own specific techniques for solving them. At the same time, the arts have some common features that unite them into certain groups. The distribution of the arts according to these general characteristics is called the classification of art. This classification of the arts allows a closer approach to understanding the very essence of this or that art. Therefore, we will give several examples of such classification schemes.
Art can be classified from different points of view. The most common is the classification into spatial and temporal arts. Architecture, sculpture, painting are classified as spatial arts, since their forms unfold in space, while music, facial expressions and poetry are temporal arts, since their forms exist in time. Other groups unite the arts, if they are divided according to the use of artistic means - into direct, or immediate, and indirect, or mediated, arts. The direct arts include facial expressions, poetry, and partly music, where the artist can do without special tools and materials, with one human body and voice; to indirect, mediated - architecture, sculpture, painting, where the artist uses special materials and special tools.
If we take time as the fourth dimension, then one could group the arts according to dimensions as follows: there is no art with one dimension; one art - painting - exists in two dimensions; two arts - sculpture and architecture - in three dimensions; and three arts - music, facial expressions and poetry - in four dimensions. At the same time, each art strives to overcome its own scale of measurements and move to the next group. Thus, painting and graphics create their images on a plane, in two dimensions, but they strive to place them in space, that is, in three dimensions. Thus, architecture is a three-dimensional art, but it strives to move into the fourth, since it is quite obvious that we are capable of perceiving all the volumes and spaces of architecture only in motion, in displacement, in time. This peculiar trend was reflected in the definitions of architecture, which were given to it by some representatives of aesthetic thought: Schlegel, for example, called architecture "frozen music", Leibniz considered architecture and music "arts that unconsciously operate with numbers." If we take some line segment, divide it in half and draw one half with transverse strokes, then this half will seem to us longer, since it requires a longer perception. Summing up the above considerations, one could say that geometrically architecture is a spatial art, but aesthetically it is also a temporal one.
In characterizing the fine arts, we turn primarily to graphics. This name has been established, although it combines two completely different creative processes, and although various other names have been proposed: among others, for example, "the art of the slate" (M. Klinger) * or "the art of the paper sheet" (A. A. Sidorov) ** .
Why do we start our review of the stylistics and problems of the visual arts with graphics? First of all, because graphics are the most popular of the visual arts. Every person is faced with the tools and techniques of graphics at school, at work or during leisure. Who did not hold a pencil in his hand, did not draw profiles or houses with smoke rising from the chimneys? And brushes and chisels, paints and clay -
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* In the following, all footnotes marked with asterisks belong to the author. Editorial notes with figures are placed at the end of the collection.
not everyone knows how to deal with them. Graphics in many cases is a preparatory stage for other arts (as a sketch, draft, project, drawing), and at the same time, graphics is a popularizer of works of other arts (the so-called reproduction graphics). Graphics is closely connected with everyday life and with the social life of a person - as a book illustration and cover decoration, as a label, poster, poster, etc. Despite the fact that graphics often play a preparatory, applied role, this art is completely independent, with their own tasks and specific techniques.
The fundamental difference between graphics and painting (later we will dwell on this problem in more detail) is not so much in how it is usually said that graphics are "the art of black and white" (color can play a very significant role in graphics), but in a very special relationship between the image and the background, in a specific understanding of space. If painting, by its very nature, must hide the plane of the image (canvas, wood, etc.) in order to create a three-dimensional spatial illusion, then the artistic effect of graphics just consists in a kind of conflict between the plane and space, between the three-dimensional image and the white, empty plane of the paper sheet.
The term "graphics" is of Greek origin; it comes from the verb "graphein", which means to scrape, scratch, write, draw. So "graphics" became an art that uses a stylus - a tool that scratches, writes. Hence the close connection between graphic art and calligraphy and writing in general (which was especially noticeable in Greek vase painting and Japanese graphics). The term "graphic" (for example, "graphic style") has not only a descriptive, classifying meaning, but also includes a special, qualitative assessment - it emphasizes the qualities of a work of art that organically follow from the material and technical means of graphics (however, it should be emphasized that that "graphic" can be works of painting, for example, some paintings by Botticelli, and, conversely, graphics may turn out to be non-graphic, for example, some illustrations by G. Dore).
At the same time, it should be remembered that the term "graphics" covers two groups of works of art, united by the general principle of the aesthetic conflict between the plane and space, which we spoke about above, but which at the same time are completely different in their origin, in the technical process and according to its purpose - drawing and printed graphics.
The difference between these two groups appears primarily in the relationship between the artist and the viewer. The drawing is usually (although not always) the artist makes for himself, embodying his observations, memories, inventions in it, or conceiving it as a preparation for future work. In the drawing, the artist seems to be talking to himself; the drawing is often intended for internal use in the workshop, for one's own folders, but can also be made for the purpose of showing the audience. The drawing is like a monologue, it has the personal handwriting of the artist with its individual texture, original and unique. It may be incomplete, and even in this incompleteness lies its charm. It should be emphasized, finally, that the drawing exists in only one copy.
Theoretical course of the largest Soviet art historian, corresponding member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR, Professor B.R. Vipper (1888-1967) consists of a series of studies “Graphics. Sculpture. Painting. Architecture". The book with deep historicism, appeal to various countries and eras - from primitive art to the art of the 20th century - highlights the theory of genres, defines the specifics of each type of fine art, the predominant possibilities of one or another type, technique and material. The first edition appeared in 1970. For students of art universities and anyone interested in the theory and history of fine arts.
- Foreword
- Graphic arts
- Sculpture
- Painting
- Genres in painting
- The problem of similarity in the portrait
- Architecture
- Notes
Foreword
The work of B.R. Vipper's "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" organically combines the qualities of a full-fledged scientific research and the systematic nature of a special university course. The uniqueness of this work in Russian and Soviet art criticism is determined by the fact that it deeply and thoroughly illuminates genre and technical problems, the specifics of the technical foundations of each of the genres of fine art and their varieties, based on the vast material of the history of fine arts, on the results of long-term historical research conducted by the author .
One of the greatest Soviet art critics, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR Boris Robertovich Vipper (1888-1967) returned to the theme and materials of this work for many years, improved the text between the beginning of the 1930s (when the initial edition was formed) and the last years of his life. (when preparing it for publication). In the first literary edition, it was a fully recorded course of lectures under the general title "Theory of Art". Even then, the course material was based on many observations and conclusions from the totality of other works of the author, from the great personal experience of an art historian who dealt with his various periods. Since 1908, B. R. Vipper appeared in the press with scientific articles, since 1915 he began working at Moscow University, then he defended his master's thesis "The Problem and Development of Still Life" and became a professor at the university, where he taught a number of courses and conducted seminars on the history of fine arts . Work in Russian museums, visits to libraries and museums in Vienna, Paris, Berlin, a number of Italian cities, Holland - all this enriched his artistic experience from an early age.
So, by the time the new university course was created, B. R. Vipper was fully armed with an art historian, had a huge amount of material as his researcher, developed a system of his own views, in particular, on a number of problems of the specifics of artistic creativity in various types of fine arts. Already in the first edition of the course "Theory of Art", the scientific level was so significant that the author, back in 1936-1940, was able to publish (in Riga, then in Moscow) some of its fragments as original problematic articles of independent significance. In the future, the scientific basis of the course of lectures was deepened, partially updated, so that in the last edition of 1964-1966 it was published in 1970 as a scientific study entitled "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art".
As a result, now we have before us a complex work, at the same time theoretically systemic, in-depth into issues of artistic technique and historically substantiated on a wide chronological and geographical scale, that is, in essence, both "Theory of Art" and "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" together. Here it is necessary to remember that, carefully and thoughtfully studying the monuments of fine art themselves as artistic organisms, B. R. Vipper sought to practically comprehend the nature of technology in various types of graphic art, in sculpture with various materials, in different genres of painting and types of architecture. Even in his younger years, immediately after graduating from the university, he practically studied painting in the workshops of artists, in particular Konstantin Yuon, and also delved into the principles of architectural design under the guidance of I. I. Rerberg. He wanted to know precisely, on specific examples, in materials, under the conditions of certain techniques, how this is done, what exactly is achieved by certain methods, what they ultimately serve according to the ideas of this or that artist. Moreover, B. R. Vipper sought to comprehend how this was done in different historical eras, how and why the technique of various types of art evolved, how its new features and types arose. At the same time, his memory turned out to be amazing on the widest historical scale, from references to the art of Ancient Egypt or China to examples from our own time. All historical periods were, so to speak, at his disposal, they all supplied him with rich, diverse material. It can be concluded that the history of art is ultimately covered by him in its theoretical and technical base. But the opposite is also true: the technique of various genres and varieties of art is explained by the artistic trends of various styles and historical periods.
Everything is concrete in this work of B. R. Vipper, up to the characteristics of the materials with which the painters, sculptors, architects worked, the “tools” for their production, the composition of paints or varnishes, the methods of engraving, as well as the choice of a particular technique within each art . But, as a rule, technology is not considered here only in itself. It is connected with the creative problems of different genres in certain epochs, and serves various, historically changing artistic tasks. The reader will learn about the advantages of certain materials, techniques, engraving methods or the possibilities of masonry for various purposes of sculpture, painting, graphics, architecture. This principle of artistic substantiation of technology in connection with the problems of form and in subordination to the figurative system of art runs through the entire work of B. R. Vipper and gives it high merits. It has a wide cognitive significance, covering the full range of technical problems and, moreover, rising to the level of aesthetic judgments.
As is known, in the vast majority of works on the history of fine arts, they only very briefly, in passing, touch upon the issues of the technique of artistic creation, or they do not trace at all how this is done in the artist's studio. On the other hand, all kinds of technical recommendations addressed to graphic artists, painters, sculptors, especially in the process of their training, are usually not very connected with the range of aesthetic problems, with the nature of the subject matter, with the specifics of this or that genre, that is, with the tasks of creativity proper. In this sense, "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" by B. R. Wipper plays a special role: it teaches the basics of technology (even crafts), introduces its historical development, reveals many subtleties of technical skill, delves into the very flesh of art and at the same time gives countless examples. , data of analysis, evaluation, comparison of monuments of art, thus revealing the ultimate meaning of technology, its possibilities or its limitations. So the advantages of different types of painting - watercolors or pastels, frescoes or oils - are evaluated depending on the subject, style, certain figurative preferences in various historical conditions. From a similar position and in historical specificity, the advantages (or known imperfections) of different types of wood, different types of stone or metal for certain creative purposes of sculptors are considered.
In each of its four sections - "Graphics", "Sculptures", "Paintings", "Architecture" - the substantiation and assessment of the specifics of each of the considered arts are connected with the general idea of the work of B. R. Vipper. Specific examples clearly show the characteristic differences between graphics and painting and sculpture, the strengths of graphics, its special expressive possibilities and the limits of these possibilities. In the same way, the specific artistic qualities of sculpture are comprehensively assessed in comparison with other visual arts. The great advantages of painting are also revealed, and yet its peculiar limitations in comparison with graphics or sculpture. It is in connection with these definitions of the great strength and relative weakness of this or that art that the choice of graphics (rather than painting), sculpture (rather than graphics and not painting) becomes natural for the creative solution of certain artistic problems: various types of graphics for book illustration, caricatures, posters, sculptures - primarily for the plastic image of a person. “If architecture creates space,” writes B. R. Vipper, “and sculpture creates bodies, then painting connects bodies with space, figures with objects, together with their entire environment, with the light and air in which they live.” However, as the author notes further, the possibilities of painting are by no means unlimited. Its advantages are “bought at a high price - the price of renouncing the third dimension, from real volume, from touch. Painting is the art of the plane and one point of view, where space and volume exist only in illusion.
It is noteworthy that B. R. Vipper defines architecture as fine art. Like painting and sculpture, it is connected with “nature”, with reality, but its pictorial tendency differs from the principles of depiction in painting and sculpture: “... it has not so much a “portrait” as a generalized symbolic character - in other words, it seeks to embody not the individual qualities of a person, object, phenomenon, but the typical functions of life. In any style, in any monument of artistic architecture, the researcher claims, “... we will always find ... a real structure that determines the stability of the building, and a visible, depicted structure, expressed in the direction of lines, in relation to planes and masses, in the struggle light and shadow, which gives the building vital energy, embodies its spiritual and emotional meaning. We can say more: it is the ability of the image that distinguishes artistic architecture as an art from simple construction. An ordinary building serves practical needs; it "is" a residential building, a railway station, or a theatre; the work of artistic architecture depicts what it "should be", reveals, expresses its meaning, its practical and ideological purpose.
Tracing the historical development of each type of fine art, B. R. Vipper talks about the evolution of his techniques from the moment they appeared, about the changes in preferred materials and methods of processing them, about the emergence of more and more new varieties, such as graphics, new compositional problems in sculptural the image of a person, about the different understanding of space at different stages of painting, about the expansion of the range of genres in it at one time or another. At the same time, concrete examples are drawn in abundance from the history of each type of art, the range of which is amazingly wide and diverse, however, with a completely understandable predominance of the classical heritage, outstanding artistic phenomena, and bright creative figures. So in the section "Graphics" B. R. Vipper refers to the origin of drawing in the Paleolithic era, to its dominance in the Ancient World, to its role in the Middle Ages and focuses on the Renaissance, affecting the work of Leonardo, Raphael, Titian, Tintoretto, Dürer among a large number of other names. Describing various forms of printed graphics, the researcher relies on a wide range of examples from Dürer and Hans Holbein the Younger to Aubrey Beardsley, Gauguin, Munch, Ostroumova-Lebedeva, Favorsky, Kravchenko... many other authors are included, including Daumier, Toulouse-Lautrec, Soviet cartoonists and then a long line of masters of book graphics, from Botticelli with his illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy to Vrubel and Soviet graphic artists.
It is quite natural that in the "Sculpture" section, many provisions are illustrated and supported by materials from ancient art and references to the work of Renaissance masters. But here, too, samples of the 17th century are involved, in particular Bernini, and here the researcher turns to examples of modern times, including the art of Rodin and Vera Mukhina.
The other two sections of "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" should, in principle, be evaluated somewhat differently, since in them - in each in a different way - not all the material of artistic creativity used by the author is shown, disclosed to the reader. Although this material is very rich, and in the section "Painting" B. R. Vipper, no doubt, had in mind an even wider range of phenomena, which he intended to talk about in connection with the problems of various genres. To an even greater extent, this applies to the section "Architecture": the published text was supposed to be supplemented with the problems and materials of modern times, which the author has not been able to do.
In order to explain the reasons for some difference between the first two sections and the third and fourth sections of the work of B. R. Vipper, it is necessary to turn to the history of its creation as a whole, from the original idea of the course "Theory of Art" to the text we publish "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" . In the annual university course, as it was read (and written down) by B.R. Whipper half a century ago, in addition to the four sections now known to the reader, there were two more sections: the course opened with a series of lectures on the history of aesthetic teachings, and ended with an analysis of the then latest theories of development art. At the same time, the section "Painting", for example, judging by the surviving materials, was wider and covered a number of other problems that were not reflected in the original author's text. One way or another, B. R. Vipper clearly sought to replenish it in the future, which is fully proved by the composition of the prospectus "Painting" for the new edition, which was carried out in the 1960s.
Returning to the content of this course of lectures, B. R. Vipper partly revised his text in accordance with the requirements of the time. During the years of evacuation, he taught a number of courses in Tashkent at the Central Asian University, among them "Introduction to the historical study of art." In this regard, a new outline of the course has arisen. The introductory lectures on aesthetic teachings and the conclusion on the theories of the development of art were excluded from it. The essence of the central sections has not changed radically. The section "Painting" was supplemented with provisions on the historical picture, in a number of cases the historical justifications for certain artistic phenomena and processes were deepened, and some new accents arose.
And then B. R. Vipper repeatedly returned his thoughts to this work of his, apparently feeling its relevance both in educational everyday life and on a wider scale of scientific problems. He had long ago come to the conclusion that the section on aesthetic teachings in its former form was outdated, and could not but become outdated, so he excluded it from the new editions. However, this reduction was later more than compensated, so to speak. When creating at the Institute of Art History of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR a new complex work "History of European Art Studies" (1960-1966), B. R. Vipper, as its initiator, leader and one of the main authors, conceived on the basis of Marxist methodology to highlight the evolution of methods of art history from its origins in antiquity to our modern times. Without a doubt, this completely covered the more modest tasks of the previous introduction to the course of lectures.
Naturally, on the other hand, when B. R. Vipper, already a corresponding member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR, worked on preparing the “Introduction to the Historical Study of Art” for publication, he left only four of its central sections from the previous composition of the work. Now he considered "Graphics", "Painting", "Sculpture", "Architecture" as a kind of cycle of research devoted to the problems of the specifics of these art forms in connection with their technical foundations.
The sections "Graphics" and "Sculpture" were prepared by the author in a new edition in 1964-1965. The section "Painting" was begun by revision in 1966 and was not completed, those were the last lines written by B. R. Vipper shortly before his death. The "Architecture" section has remained in its original form and has not yet been subjected to the last revision. Thus, the first edition of "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art", carried out in 1970, included a new author's text of the sections "Graphics" and "Sculpture", a partially updated text of the section "Painting" and the former, created in 1933-1942, not revised the author of the text of the section "Architecture". This prompted the editorial board to supplement the "Painting" section with some appendices from the author's materials - a fragment of "Genres in Painting" (from a new prospectus compiled by Wipper for the "Painting" section) and an early article by B. R. Wipper "The Problem of Similarity in a Portrait", published in the first issue of the collection "Moscow Mercury" in 1917. The text of the "Architecture" section, of course, would have been significantly supplemented by the author himself, because the latest development of this art would require changes and significant additions. Unfortunately, I had to come to terms with the well-known incompleteness of the section, which, however, even in this form is rich in content, interesting in terms of problems and will be very useful for readers.
On the whole, the work of B. R. Vipper has not only undeniable scientific significance, but also a genuine scientific and practical value. It is original in terms of the general plan and its implementation, bears a clear imprint of the creative personality of the scientist. Its first edition, carried out in 1970, interested a wide circle of readers, turned out to be extremely useful for art historians and in practice was recognized as a unique textbook in the art universities of our country. Indeed, for those who are still preparing to become a graphic artist, sculptor, painter, architect, as well as for many young artists, "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" will bring both theoretical and practical benefits. It will really introduce them into the system of technique characteristic of the types of fine arts at different times, and will ultimately explain the evolution of this system by aesthetic laws that arose in different historical eras. Young art historians will also gain a lot of value for themselves, since in their judgments about artistic creativity they pay little and seldom attention to the peculiarities of various techniques in engraving, painting, sculpture, and they almost never find examples of such treatment in modern scientific literature.
Meanwhile, the named collection Articles on Art, which included, among other works, B. R. Vipper and Introduction to the Historical Study of Art, sold out immediately after it was published. Therefore, it seems to us expedient to publish this work in a separate edition in order to satisfy the needs of numerous Soviet readers, and primarily artistic youth, future specialists trained in higher educational institutions.
T. N. Livanova
Foreword
I. Graphics
Drawing
Printed graphics
II. Sculpture
III. Painting
Appendix I
From the prospectus "Introduction".
genres in painting.
Annex II.
The problem of similarity in the portrait
IV. Architecture
Notes
Foreword
The work of B. R. Vipper "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" organically combines the qualities of a full-fledged scientific research and the systematic nature of a special university course. The uniqueness of this work in Russian and Soviet art criticism is determined by the fact that it deeply and thoroughly illuminates genre and technical problems, the specifics of the technical foundations of each of the genres of fine art and their varieties, based on the vast material of the history of fine arts, on the results of long-term historical research conducted by the author .
One of the greatest Soviet art historians, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR Boris Robertovich Vipper (1888 - 1967) returned to the theme and materials of this work for many years, improved the text between the beginning of the 1930s (when the original edition was formed) and the last years of his life (when preparing it for publication). In the first literary version, it was a fully recorded course of lectures under the general title "Theory of Art". Even then, the course material was based on many observations and conclusions from the totality of other works of the author, from the great personal experience of an art historian who dealt with his various periods. Since 1908, B. R. Vipper appeared in the press with scientific articles, since 1915 he began working at Moscow University, then he defended his master's thesis "The Problem and Development of Still Life" and became a professor at the university, where he read a number of courses and conducted seminars on the history of fine arts . Work in Russian museums, visits to libraries and museums in Vienna, Paris, Berlin, a number of Italian cities, Holland - all this enriched his artistic experience from an early age.
So, by the time the new university course was created, B. R. Vipper was fully armed with an art historian, had a huge amount of material as his researcher, developed a system of his own views, in particular, on a number of problems of the specifics of artistic creativity in various types of fine arts. Already in the first edition of the course "Theory of Art", the scientific level was so significant that the author, as early as 1936-1940, was able to publish (in Riga, then in Moscow) some of its fragments as original problematic articles of independent significance. In the future, the scientific basis of the lecture course was deepened, partially updated, so that in the last edition of 1964-1966 it was published in 1970 as a scientific study entitled "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art".
As a result, now we have before us a complex work, at the same time theoretically systemic, in-depth into the issues of artistic technique and historically substantiated on a wide chronological and geographical scale, that is, in essence, both "Theory of Art" and "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" together. Here it is necessary to remember that, carefully and thoughtfully studying the monuments of fine art themselves as artistic organisms, B. R. Vipper sought to practically comprehend the nature of technology in various types of graphic art, in sculpture with various materials, in different genres of painting and types of architecture. Even in his younger years, immediately after graduating from the university, he practically studied painting in the workshops of artists, in particular Konstantin Yuon, and also delved into the principles of architectural design under the guidance of I. I. Rerberg. He wanted to know precisely, on specific examples, in materials, under the conditions of certain techniques, how this is done, what exactly is achieved by certain methods, what they ultimately serve according to the ideas of this or that artist. Moreover, B. R. Vipper sought to comprehend how this was done in different historical eras, how and why the technique of various types of art evolved, how its new features and types arose. At the same time, his memory turned out to be amazing on the widest historical scale, from references to the art of Ancient Egypt or China to examples from our own time. All historical periods were, so to speak, at his disposal, they all supplied him with rich, diverse material. It can be concluded that the history of art is ultimately covered by him in its theoretical and technical base. But the opposite is also true: the technique of various genres and varieties of art is explained by the artistic trends of various styles and historical periods.
Everything is concrete in this work of B.R. Vipper, up to the characteristics of the materials with which the painters, sculptors, architects worked, the “tools” for their production, the compositions of paints or varnishes, the methods of engraving, as well as the choice of one or another technique within each art . But, as a rule, technology is not considered here only in itself. It is connected with the creative problems of different genres in certain epochs, and serves various, historically changing artistic tasks. The reader will learn about the advantages of certain materials, techniques, engraving methods or the possibilities of masonry for various purposes of sculpture, painting, graphics, architecture. This principle of artistic substantiation of technology in connection with the problems of form and in subordination to the figurative system of art runs through the entire work of B. R. Vipper and gives it high merits. It has a wide cognitive significance, covering the full range of technical problems and rising to the level of aesthetic judgments.
As is known, in the vast majority of works on the history of fine arts, they only very briefly, in passing, touch upon the issues of the technique of artistic creation, or they do not trace at all how this is done in the artist's studio. On the other hand, all kinds of technical recommendations addressed to graphic artists, painters, sculptors, especially in the process of their training, are usually not very connected with the range of aesthetic problems, with the nature of the subject matter, with the specifics of this or that genre, that is, with the tasks of creativity proper. In this sense, "Introduction to the Historical Study of Art" by B. R. Wipper plays a special role: it teaches the basics of technology (even crafts), introduces its historical development, reveals many subtleties of technical skill, delves into the very flesh of art and at the same time gives countless examples. , data of analysis, evaluation, comparison of monuments of art, thus revealing the ultimate meaning of technology, its possibilities or its limitations. So the advantages of different types of painting - watercolors or pastels, frescoes or oils - are evaluated depending on the subject, style, certain figurative preferences in various historical conditions. From a similar position and in historical specificity, the advantages (or known imperfections) of different types of wood, different types of stone or metal for certain creative purposes of sculptors are considered.
