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Famous Russian artists. The development of the portrait in Russian painting of the 19th century Russian portrait painters of the 18th and 19th centuries

Famous Russian artists. The development of the portrait in Russian painting of the 19th century Russian portrait painters of the 18th and 19th centuries

23.06.2020

Introduction

I. Russian portrait painters of the first half of the 19th century

1.3 Alexey Gavrilovich Venetsianov (1780-1847)

II. Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions

Chapter IV. The Art of Portraiture

Conclusion

The purpose of this work is to tell about the importance of the portrait as one of the main genres of art, about its role in the culture and art of that time, to get acquainted with the main works of artists, to learn about Russian portrait painters of the 19th century, about their life and work.

In this work, we will consider the art of portraiture in the 19th century:

The greatest masters of Russian art of the 19th century

Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions.

What is a portrait?

The history of the appearance of the portrait.

First half of the 19th century - the time of addition in Russian painting of the system of genres. In painting of the second half of the 19th century. the realist direction prevailed. The nature of Russian realism was determined by the young painters who left the Academy of Arts in 1863 and rebelled against the classical style and historical and mythological themes that had been implanted in the academy. These artists organized in 1870

Association of traveling exhibitions, whose task was to provide members of the association with the opportunity to exhibit their work. Thanks to his activities, works of art became available to a wider range of people. Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov (1832–1898) from 1856 collected works by Russian artists, mainly the Wanderers, and in 1892 he donated his collection of paintings, along with the collection of his brother S.M. Tretyakov, to Moscow. In the portrait genre, the Wanderers created a gallery of images of prominent cultural figures of their time: a portrait of Fyodor Dostoevsky (1872) by Vasily Perov (1833–1882), a portrait of Nikolai Nekrasov (1877–1878) by Ivan Kramskoy (1837–1887), a portrait of Modest Mussorgsky (1881) , made by Ilya Repin (1844–1930), a portrait of Leo Tolstoy (1884) by Nikolai Ge (1831–1894) and a number of others. Being in opposition to the Academy and its artistic policy, the Wanderers turned to the so-called. "low" topics; images of peasants and workers appear in their works.

The growth and expansion of artistic understanding and needs is reflected in the emergence of many art societies, schools, a number of private galleries (the Tretyakov Gallery) and museums not only in the capitals, but also in the provinces, in the introduction to school education in drawing.
All this, in connection with the appearance of a number of brilliant works by Russian artists, shows that art took root on Russian soil and became national. The new Russian national art differed sharply in that it clearly and strongly reflected the main currents of Russian social life.

I. Russian portrait painters of the first half of the 19th century.

1.1 Orest Adamovich Kiprensky (1782-1836)

Born at the Nezhinskaya manor (near Koporye, now in the Leningrad region) on March 13 (24), 1782. He was the natural son of the landowner A.S. Dyakonov, recorded in the family of his serf Adam Schwalbe. Having received his freedom, he studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1788–1803) with G.I. Ugryumov and others. He lived in Moscow (1809), Tver (1811), St. Rome and Naples.

The very first portrait - of the adoptive father of A.K. Schwalbe (1804, Russian Museum, St. Petersburg) - stands out for its emotional coloring. Over the years, the skill of Kiprensky, manifested in the ability to create not only socio-spiritual types (which prevailed in Russian art of the Enlightenment), but also unique individual images, improved. It is natural that it is customary to begin the history of romanticism in Russian fine arts with the paintings of Kiprensky.

The Russian artist, an outstanding master of the Russian fine art of romanticism, is known as a wonderful portrait painter. Portraits of Kiprensky are imbued with a special cordiality, a special simplicity, they are filled with his high and poetic love for a person. In the portraits of Kiprensky, the features of his era are always palpable. This is always invariably inherent in each of his portraits - and the romantic image of the young V.A. Zhukovsky, and wise E.P. Rostopchin (1809), portraits: D.N. Khvostov (1814 Tretyakov Gallery), the boy Chelishchev (1809 Tretyakov Gallery), E.V. Davydov (1809 GRM).

An invaluable part of Kiprensky's work is graphic portraits, made mainly in pencil with tinted pastels, watercolors, and colored pencils. He portrays General E.I. Chaplitsa (TG), P.A. Olenina (TG). In these images we have before us Russia, the Russian intelligentsia from the Patriotic War of 1812 to the December uprising.

Portraits of Kiprensky appear before us complex, thoughtful, changeable in mood. Discovering various facets of the human character and the spiritual world of a person, Kiprensky each time used different possibilities of painting in his early romantic portraits. His masterpieces, as one of the best lifetime portraits of Pushkin (1827 State Tretyakov Gallery), a portrait of Avdulina (1822 Russian Museum). The sadness and thoughtfulness of Kiprensky's heroes is sublime and lyrical.

"Favorite of light-winged fashion,

Though not British, not French,

You created again, dear wizard,

Me, a pet of pure muses. -

And I laugh at the grave

Gone forever from the bonds of death.

I see myself as in a mirror

But this mirror flatters me.

It says that I will not humiliate

The passions of important aonids.

From now on, my appearance will be known, -

Pushkin wrote to Kiprensky in gratitude for his portrait. Pushkin valued his portrait and this portrait hung in his office.

A special section is made up of Kiprensky's self-portraits (with tassels behind his ear, c. 1808, Tretyakov Gallery; and others), imbued with the pathos of creativity. He also owns the soulful images of Russian poets: K.N. Batyushkov (1815, drawing, Museum of the Institute of Russian Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg; V.A. Zhukovsky (1816). a number of remarkable everyday characters (like the Blind Musician, 1809, Russian Museum) Kiprensky died in Rome on October 17, 1836.

1.2 Vasily Andreevich Tropinin (1776-1857)

A representative of romanticism in Russian fine arts, a master of portrait painting. Born in the village of Karpovka (Novgorod province) on March 19 (30), 1776 in the family of serfs Count A.S. Minikh; later he was sent to the disposal of Count I.I. Morkov as a dowry for the daughter of Minich. He showed the ability to draw as a boy, but the master sent him to St. Petersburg to study as a confectioner. He attended classes at the Academy of Arts, at first furtively, and from 1799 - with the permission of Morkov; during his studies, he met O.A. Kiprensky. In 1804, the owner summoned the young artist to his place, and from then on he alternately lived either in Ukraine, in the new Morkovo estate Kukavka, or in Moscow, in the position of a serf painter, who was obliged to simultaneously carry out the household tasks of the landowner. In 1823 he received his freedom and the title of academician, but, having abandoned his career in St. Petersburg, he remained in Moscow.

An artist from serfs who, with his work, brought a lot of new things to Russian painting in the first half of the 19th century. He received the title of academician and became the most famous artist of the Moscow portrait school of the 20-30s. Later, the color of Tropinin's painting becomes more interesting, the volumes are usually molded more clearly and sculpturally, but most importantly, a purely romantic feeling of the moving elements of life insinuatingly grows, Tropinin is the creator of a special type of portrait - a painting. Portraits in which features of the genre are introduced, images with a certain plot plot: "Lacemaker", "Spinner", "Guitarist", "Golden Sewing".

The best of Tropinin's portraits, such as the portrait of Arseny's son (1818 Tretyakov Gallery), Bulakhov (1823 Tretyakov Gallery). Tropinin in his work follows the path of clarity, balance with simple portrait compositions. As a rule, the image is given on a neutral background with a minimum of accessories. This is exactly how Tropinin A.S. Pushkin (1827) - sitting at the table in a free position, dressed in a house dress, which emphasizes the natural appearance.

Tropinin's early works are restrained in color and classically static in composition (family portraits of the Morkovs, 1813 and 1815; both works are in the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow). During this period, the master also creates expressive local, Little Russian images-types Ukrainian, (1810s, Russian Museum, St. Petersburg). Bulakov, 1823; K. G. Ravich, 1823; both portraits in the Tretyakov Gallery).

Over the years, the role of the spiritual atmosphere - expressed by the background, significant details - only increases. The best example is the 1846 Self-Portrait with Brushes and Palette, where the artist imagined himself in front of a window with a spectacular view of the Kremlin. Tropinin dedicates a number of works to fellow artists depicted in work or in contemplation (I.P. Vitali, ca. 1833; K.P. Bryullov, 1836; both portraits in the Tretyakov Gallery; and others). At the same time, a specifically intimate, homely flavor is invariably inherent in Tropinin's style. In the popular Woman in the Window (based on M.Yu. Lermontov's poem The Treasurer, 1841), this laid-back sincerity takes on an erotic flavor. The late works of the master (Servant with a damask, counting money, 1850s, ibid.) testify to the fading of color mastery, however, anticipating the keen interest in dramatic everyday life characteristic of the Wanderers. An important area of Tropinin's work is also his sharp pencil sketches. Tropinin died in Moscow on May 3 (15), 1857.

Russian artist, representative of romanticism (known primarily for his rural genres). Born in Moscow on February 7 (18), 1780 in a merchant family. In his youth he served as an official. He studied art largely on his own, copying the paintings of the Hermitage. In 1807–1811 he took painting lessons from VL Borovikovsky. He is considered the founder of Russian printed cartoons. Surveyor by education, leaving the service for the sake of painting. In the portrait genre, he created with pastel, pencil, oil, amazingly poetic, lyrical, romantic images fanned by a romantic mood - a portrait of V.S. Putyatina (TG). Among his most beautiful works of this kind is his own portrait (Museum of Alexander III), painted richly and boldly, in pleasant, thick gray-yellow and yellow-black tones, as well as a portrait painted by him from the old painter Golovochy (Imperial Academy of Arts) .

Venetsianov is a first-class master and an extraordinary person; which Russia should be quite proud of. He zealously sought out young talents directly from the people, mainly among painters, attracted them to him. The number of his students was over 60 people.

During the Patriotic War of 1812 he created a series of agitational and satirical pictures on the themes of popular resistance to the French occupiers.

He painted portraits, usually small in size, marked by subtle lyrical inspiration (M.A. Venetsianova, the artist’s wife, late 1820s, Russian Museum, St. Petersburg; Self-Portrait, 1811, Tretyakov Gallery). In 1819 he left the capital and since then he lived in the village of Safonkovo (Tver province) he bought, inspired by the motives of the surrounding landscape and rural life. The best of Venetsianov's paintings are classic in their own way, showing this nature in a state of idealized, enlightened harmony; on the other hand, a romantic element obviously prevails in them, the charm is not of ideals, but of simple natural feelings against the backdrop of native nature and life. His peasant portraits (Zakharka, 1825; or Peasant woman with cornflowers, 1839) appear as fragments of the same enlightened, natural, classic-romantic idyll.

New creative searches are interrupted by the death of the artist: Venetsianov died in the Tver village of Poddubie on December 4 (16), 1847 from injuries - he was thrown out of the wagon when the horses skidded on a slippery winter road. The pedagogical system of the master, cultivating love for simple nature (around 1824 he created his own art school), became the basis of a special Venetian school, the most characteristic and original of all the personal schools of Russian art of the 19th century.

1.4 Karl Pavlovich Bryullov (1799-1852)

Born November 29 (December 10), 1798 in the family of the artist P.I. Bryullov, brother of the painter K.P. Bryullov. He received his primary education from his father, a master of decorative carving, then studied at the Academy of Arts (1810-1821). In the summer of 1822 he and his brother were sent abroad at the expense of the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. Having visited Germany, France, Italy, England and Switzerland, in 1830 he returned to St. Petersburg. Since 1831 - professor at the Academy of Arts. A man of remarkable destiny, instructive and peculiar. Since childhood, he has been surrounded by impressions of Russian reality. Only in Russia did he feel at home, he strove for her, he yearned for her in a foreign land. Bryullov worked with inspiration, success, and ardor. Within two or three months, such masterpieces of portraiture appeared in his studio, such as portraits of Semenova, Dr. Orlov, Nestor and Platon Kukolnik. In the portraits of Bryullov, executed with merciless truth and exceptionally high skill, one can see the era in which he lived, the desire for genuine realism, the diversity, naturalness and simplicity of the depicted person.

Departing from historical painting, Bryullov's interests lay in the direction of portrait painting, in which he showed all his creative temperament and brilliance of skill. His brilliant decorative painting "Horsewoman" (1832 Tretyakov Gallery), which depicts a pupil of Countess Yu.P. Samoilova Giovanina Pacchini. Portrait of Samoilova herself with another pupil - Amazilia (1839, Russian Museum). In the face of the writer Strugovshchikov (1840 Tretyakov Gallery), one can read the tension of inner life. Self-portrait (1848 Tretyakov Gallery) - a sadly thin face with a penetrating look. A very lifelike portrait of Prince Golitsin, resting on an armchair in his office.

Bryullov possessing a powerful imagination, a keen eye and a faithful hand. He gave birth to living creations, consistent with the canons of academism.

Relatively early moving away from practical work, the master was actively engaged in teaching at the Academy of Arts (since 1831 - professor). He also left a rich graphic heritage: numerous portraits (by E.P. Bakunina, 1830–1832; N.N. Pushkina, wife of the great poet; A.A. Perovsky, 1834; all in watercolor; etc.), illustrations, etc. .d.; here the romantic features of his talent manifested themselves even more directly than in architecture. He died on January 9 (21), 1887 in St. Petersburg.

An inspiring example for the partnership was the "St. Petersburg Artel of Artists", which was established in 1863 by participants in the "rebellion of fourteen" (I.N. Kramskoy, A.I. Korzukhin, K.E. Makovsky and others) - graduates of the Academy of Arts, defiantly left it after the Council of the Academy forbade writing a competitive picture on a free plot instead of an officially proposed theme from Scandinavian mythology. Standing up for the ideological and economic freedom of creativity, the "artels" began to organize their own exhibitions, but by the turn of the 1860s and 1870s, their activities had practically come to naught. A new stimulus was the appeal to the "Artel" (in 1869). With due permission, traveling art exhibitions in all cities of the empire, in the form of: a) providing residents of the provinces with the opportunity to get acquainted with Russian art and follow its progress; b) development of love for art in society; and c) making it easier for artists to market their works.” Thus, for the first time in the visual arts of Russia (with the exception of Artel) a powerful art group arose, not just a friendly circle or a private school, but a large community of like-minded people, which assumed (despite the dictates of the Academy of Arts) not only to express, but also independently determine the process of development of artistic culture throughout the country.

The theoretical source of the creative ideas of the "Wanderers" (expressed in their correspondence, as well as in the criticism of that time - primarily in the texts of Kramskoy and the speeches of V.V. Stasov) was the aesthetics of philosophical romanticism. New art, liberated from the canons of academic classics. In fact, to open the very course of history, thereby effectively preparing the future in their images. Among the “Wanderers”, modernity appeared as such an artistic and historical “mirror” in the first place: the central place at the exhibitions was occupied by genre and everyday motifs, Russia in its many-sided everyday life. Genre beginning set the tone for portraits, landscapes and even images of the past, as close as possible to the spiritual needs of society. In the later tradition, including the Soviet tradition, which tendentiously distorted the concept of "peredvizhniki realism", the matter was reduced to socially critical, revolutionary-democratic subjects, of which there really were quite a few. It is more important to keep in mind the unprecedented analytical and even visionary role that was given here not so much to the notorious social issues, but to art as such, creating its own sovereign judgment on society and thereby separating itself into its own ideally self-sufficient artistic realm. Such aesthetic sovereignty, which grew over the years, became the immediate threshold of Russian symbolism and modernity.

At regular exhibitions (there were 48 in total), which were shown first in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and then in many other cities of the empire, from Warsaw to Kazan and from Novgorod to Astrakhan, over the years one could see more and more examples of not only romantic-realistic, but also modernist style. Difficult relations with the Academy eventually ended in a compromise, since by the end of the 19th century. (following the wish of Alexander III “to stop the split between artists”), a significant part of the most authoritative Wanderers was included in the academic faculty. At the beginning of the 20th century in the Partnership, friction between innovators and traditionalists intensified; the Wanderers no longer represented, as they themselves used to consider, everything artistically advanced in Russia. Society was rapidly losing its influence. In 1909, his provincial exhibitions ceased. The last, significant burst of activity took place in 1922, when the society adopted a new declaration, expressing its desire to reflect the life of modern Russia.

Chapter III. Russian portrait painters of the second half of the 19th century

3.1 Nikolai Nikolaevich Ge (1831-1894)

Russian artist. Born in Voronezh on February 15 (27), 1831 in the family of a landowner. He studied at the mathematical departments of Kyiv and St. Petersburg Universities (1847-1850), then entered the Academy of Arts, from which he graduated in 1857. He was greatly influenced by K.P. Bryullov and A.A. Ivanov. Lived in Rome and Florence (1857-1869), in St. Petersburg, and since 1876 - on the Ivanovsky farm in the Chernihiv province. He was one of the founders of the Association of the Wanderers (1870). He did a lot of portrait painting. He began working on portraits while still studying at the Academy of Arts. For many years of creativity, he painted many of his contemporaries. Basically, these were advanced cultural figures. M.E. Saltykov - Shchedrin, M.M. Antokolsky, L.N. Tolstoy and others. Ge owns one of the best portraits of A.I. Herzen (1867, State Tretyakov Gallery) - the image of a Russian revolutionary, a fiery fighter against autocracy and serfdom. But the idea of the painter is not limited to the transfer of external similarity. Herzen's face, as if snatched from the twilight, reflected his thoughts, the unbending determination of a fighter for social justice. Ge captured in this portrait a spiritual historical personality, embodied the experience of her whole life, full of struggle and anxiety.

His works differ from the works of Kramskoy in their emotionality and drama. Portrait of the historian N.I. Kostomarov (1870, State Tretyakov Gallery) is written in an unusually beautiful, temperamental, fresh, and free manner. The self-portrait was painted shortly before his death (1892-1893, KMRI), the face of the master is lit up with creative inspiration. Portrait of N. I. Petrunkevich (1893) was painted by the artist at the end of his life. The girl is depicted almost in full growth at the open window. She is immersed in reading. Her face in profile, tilt of the head, posture express a state of thought. As never before, Ge paid great attention to the background. Color harmony testifies to the unspent forces of the artist.

From the 1880s Ge became a close friend and follower of Leo Tolstoy. In an effort to emphasize the human content of the gospel sermon, Ge moves to an increasingly free manner of writing, sharpening color and light contrasts to the limit. The master painted wonderful portraits full of inner spirituality, including a portrait of Leo Tolstoy at his desk (1884). In the image of N.I. Petrunkevich against the background of a window open to the garden (1893; both portraits in the Tretyakov Gallery). Ge died on the Ivanovsky farm (Chernigov province) on June 1 (13), 1894.

3.2 Vasily Grigorievich Perov (1834-1882)

Born in Tobolsk on December 21 or 23, 1833 (January 2 or 4, 1834). He was the illegitimate son of a local prosecutor, Baron G.K. Kridener, but the surname "Perov" was given to the future artist in the form of a nickname by his literacy teacher, a provincial deacon. He studied at the Arzamas School of Painting (1846-1849) and the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1853-1861), where one of his mentors was S.K. Zaryanko. He was particularly influenced by P.A. Fedotov, the master of satirical magazine graphics, and from foreign masters - by W. Hogarth and genre painters of the Düsseldorf school. Lived in Moscow. He was one of the founding members of the Association of the Wanderers (1870).

The best portrait works of the master belong to the turn of the 60-70s: F.M. Dostoevsky (1872, Tretyakov Gallery) A.N. Ostrovsky (1871, Tretyakov Gallery), I.S. Turgenev (1872, Russian Museum). Dostoevsky is especially expressive, completely lost in agonizing thoughts, nervously clasping his hands on his knee, an image of the highest intellect and spirituality. Sincere genre romance turns into symbolism, imbued with a mournful sense of frailty. Portraits by the master (V.I. Dal, A.N. Maikov, M.P. Pogodin, all portraits - 1872), reaching a spiritual tension unprecedented for Russian painting. No wonder the portrait of F. M. Dostoevsky (1872) is rightfully considered the best in the iconography of the great writer.

In the last decades of his life, the artist discovers an outstanding talent as an essay writer (stories Aunt Marya, 1875; Under the Cross, 1881; and others; last edition - Stories of the Artist, M., 1960). In 1871-1882 Perov taught at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where among his students were N.A. Kasatkin, S.A. Korovin, M.V. Nesterov, A.P. Ryabushkin. Perov died in the village of Kuzminki (in those years - near Moscow) on May 29 (June 10), 1882.

3.3 Nikolai Alexandrovich Yaroshenko (1846-1898)

Born in Poltava on December 1 (13), 1846 in a military family. He graduated from the Mikhailovsky Artillery Academy in St. Petersburg (1870), served in the Arsenal, and in 1892 retired with the rank of major general. He studied painting at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts under I.N. Kramskoy and at the Academy of Arts (1867–1874). He traveled a lot - in the countries of Western Europe, the Near and Middle East, the Urals, the Volga, the Caucasus and the Crimea. He was a member (since 1876) and one of the leaders of the Association of the Wanderers. He lived mainly in St. Petersburg and Kislovodsk.

His works can be called a portrait - such as "Stoker" and "Prisoner" (1878, State Tretyakov Gallery). "Stoker" - the first image of a worker in Russian painting. "Prisoner" - a relevant image in the years of the stormy populist revolutionary movement. “Cursist” (1880, Russian Museum) a young girl with books walks along the wet St. Petersburg pavement. In this image, the whole era of the struggle of women for the independence of spiritual life found expression.

Yaroshenko was a military engineer, highly educated with a strong character. The Wanderer artist served revolutionary democratic ideals with his art. Master of the social genre and portrait in the spirit of the Wanderers. He won a name for himself with sharply expressive pictorial compositions that appeal to sympathy for the world of the socially outcast. A special kind of anxious, “conscientious” expression gives life to the best portraits by Yaroshenko (P.A. Strepetova, 1884, ibid; G.I. Uspensky, 1884, Art Gallery, Yekaterinburg; N.N. Ge, 1890, Russian Museum, St. Petersburg ). Yaroshenko died in Kislovodsk on June 25 (July 7), 1898.

3.4 Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy (1837-1887)

Born in the Voronezh province in the family of a petty official. From childhood he was fond of art and literature. After graduating from the district school in 1850, he served as a scribe, then as a retoucher for a photographer. In 1857 he ended up in St. Petersburg working in a photo studio. In the autumn of the same year he entered the Academy of Arts.

The predominant area of artistic achievement remained for Kramskoy portrait. Kramskoy in the portrait genre is occupied by a sublime, highly spiritual personality. He created a whole gallery of images of the largest figures of Russian culture - portraits of Saltykov - Shchedrin (1879, State Tretyakov Gallery), N.A. Nekrasov (1877, Tretyakov Gallery), L.N. Tolstoy (1873, State Tretyakov Gallery), P.M. Tretyakov (1876, State Tretyakov Gallery), I.I. Shishkin (1880, Russian Museum), D.V. Grigorovich (1876, State Tretyakov Gallery).

For the artistic manner of Kramskoy, a certain protocol dryness, the monotony of compositional forms, schemes are characteristic, since the features of work as a retoucher in his youth are noticeable in the portrait. The portrait of A.G. Litovchenko (1878, State Tretyakov Gallery) with picturesque richness and beauty of brown, olive tones. Collective works of peasants were also created: "Woodsman" (1874, State Tretyakov Gallery), "Mina Moiseev" (1882, Russian Museum), "Peasant with a bridle" (1883, KMRI). Repeatedly Kramskoy turned to this form of painting, in which two genres came into contact - portrait and everyday life. For example, works of the 80s: "Unknown" (1883, State Tretyakov Gallery), "Inconsolable grief" (1884, State Tretyakov Gallery). One of the peaks of Kramskoy's work is the portrait of Nekrasov, Self-portrait (1867, State Tretyakov Gallery) and the portrait of the agronomist Vyunnikov (1868, Museum of the BSSR).

In 1863-1868 Kramskoy taught at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists. In 1870, Kramskoy became one of the founders of the TPHV. When writing a portrait, Kramskoy often resorted to graphic techniques (the use of must, whitewash and pencil). This is how the portraits of artists A.I. Morozov (1868), G.G. Myasoedov (1861) - State Russian Museum. Kramskoy is an artist of great creative temperament, a deep and original thinker. He always fought for advanced realistic art, for its ideological and democratic content. He fruitfully worked as a teacher (at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, 1863-1868). Kramskoy died in St. Petersburg on March 24 (April 5), 1887.

3.5 Ilya Efimovich Repin (1844-1930)

Born in Chuguev in the Kharkov province in the family of a military settler. He received his initial artistic training at the school of typographers and from local artists I.M. Bunakov and L.I. Persanova. In 1863 he came to St. Petersburg, studied at the Drawing School of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists under R.K. Zhukovsky and I.N. Kramskoy, then was admitted to the Academy of Arts in 1864.

Repin is one of the best portrait painters of the era. A whole gallery of images of his contemporaries was created by him. With what skill and power they are captured on his canvases. In Repin's portraits, everything is thought out to the last fold, every feature is expressive. Repin possessed the greatest ability of the artist's flair to penetrate the very essence of psychological characteristics, continuing the traditions of Perov, Kramskoy, and Ge, he left images of famous writers, composers, actors who glorified Russian culture. In each individual case, he found different compositional and coloristic solutions, with which he could most expressively reveal the image of the person depicted in the portrait. How sharply the surgeon Pirogov squints. The mournfully beautiful eyes of the artist Strepetova (1882, State Tretyakov Gallery) are darting about, and the sharp, intelligent face of the artist Myasoedov, the thoughtful Tretyakov, are painted. With merciless truth, he wrote "Protodeacon" (church minister 1877, Russian Museum). Patient M.P. was written with warmth. Mussorgsky (1881, Tretyakov Gallery), a few days before the death of the composer. The portraits of the young Gorky, the wise Stasov (1883, Russian Museum) and others are penetratingly executed. “Autumn Bouquet” (1892, State Tretyakov Gallery) is a portrait of Vera’s daughter, how sunny the face of the artist’s daughter shines in the warm shade of a straw hat. With great love, Repin conveyed an attractive face with his youth, cheerfulness, and health. The expanses of fields, still blooming, but touched by the yellowness of the grass, green trees, and the transparency of the air bring an invigorating mood to the work.

The portrait was not only the leading genre, but also the basis of Repin's work in general. When working on large canvases, he systematically turned to portrait studies to clarify the appearance and characteristics of the characters. Such is the portrait of the Hunchback associated with the painting "The procession in the Kursk province" (1880-1883, State Tretyakov Gallery). From the hunchback, Repin persistently emphasized the prosaic, squalor of the hunchback's clothes and his whole appearance, the ordinariness of the figure more than its tragedy and loneliness.

The significance of Repin in the history of Russian Art is enormous. In his portraits, in particular, his closeness to the great masters of the past affected. In portraits, Repin reached the highest point of his pictorial power.

Repin's portraits are surprisingly lyrically attractive. He creates sharply characteristic folk characters, numerous perfect images of cultural figures, graceful secular portraits (Baroness V.I. Ikskul von Hildebrandt, 1889). The images of the artist's relatives are especially colorful and sincere: a number of paintings with Repin's wife N.I. Nordman-Severova. His purely graphic portraits, executed with graphite pencil or charcoal, are also virtuosic (E.Duse, 1891; Princess M.K.Tenisheva, 1898; V.A.Serov, 1901). Repin also proved to be an outstanding teacher: he was a professor-head of the workshop (1894-1907) and rector (1898-1899) of the Academy of Arts, at the same time he taught at the school-workshop of Tenisheva.

After the October Revolution of 1917, the artist was separated from Russia, when Finland gained independence, he never moved to his homeland, although he maintained contact with friends living there (in particular, with K.I. Chukovsky). Repin died on September 29, 1930. In 1937, Chukovsky published a collection of his memoirs and articles about art (Far Close), which was later reprinted several times.

3.6 Valentin Alexandrovich Serov (1865-1911)

Born in St. Petersburg in the family of the composer A.N. Serov. Since childhood, V.A. Serov was surrounded by art. Repin was the teacher. Serov worked with Repin from early childhood and very soon discovered his talent and independence. Repin sends him to the Academy of Arts to P.P. Chistyakov. The young artist won respect, and his talent aroused admiration. Serov wrote "The Girl with Peaches". Serov's first major work. Despite the small size, the picture seems very simple. It is written in pink and gold tones. He received an award from the Moscow Society of Art Lovers for this painting. The following year, Serov painted a portrait of his sister, Maria Simonovich, and later called it "The Girl Illuminated by the Sun" (1888). The girl is sitting in the shade, and the glade in the background is illuminated by the rays of the morning sun.

Serov became a fashionable portrait painter. Famous writers, aristocrats, artists, artists, entrepreneurs and even kings posed in front of him. In adulthood, Serov continued to write relatives, friends: Mamontov, Levitan, Ostroukhov, Chaliapin, Stanislavsky, Moskvin, Lensky. Serov carried out the orders of the crowned - Alexander III and Nicholas II. The emperor is depicted in a simple jacket of the Preobrazhensky regiment; this painting (destroyed in 1917, but preserved in the author's replica of the same year; Tretyakov Gallery) is often considered the best portrait of the last Romanov. The master painted both titled officials and merchants. Serov worked on each portrait to the point of exhaustion, with complete dedication, as if the work he had started was his last work. , minimizing or even eliminating the difference between a study and a painting. The black-and-white drawing was also an equal form of creativity (the latter's self-worth was fixed in his work from 1895, when Serov performed a cycle of animal sketches, working on illustrating the fables of I.A. Krylov).

At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. Serov becomes perhaps the first portrait painter in Russia, if someone in this regard is inferior, then only one Repin. It seems that best of all he succeeds in intimate lyrical images, female and childish (N.Ya. Derviz with a child, 1888–1889; Mika Morozov, 1901; both portraits are from the Tretyakov Gallery) or images of creative people (A. Mazini, 1890; K.A. Korovin, 1891; F. Tamagno, 1891; N.A. Leskov, 1894; all - in the same place), where the colorful impression, free stroke reflect the state of mind of the model. But even more official, secular portraits organically combine subtle artistry with the no less subtle gift of an artist-psychologist. Among the masterpieces of the "secular" Serov - Count F.F. Sumarokov-Elston (later - Prince Yusupov), 1903, Russian Museum; G. L. Girshman, 1907; V.O. Girshman, 1911; I.A. Morozov, 1910; Princess O.K. Orlova, 1911; everything is there).

In the portraits of the master in these years, Art Nouveau completely dominates with its cult of a strong and flexible line, monumental catchy gesture and pose (M. Gorky, 1904, A. M. Gorky Museum, Moscow; M. N. Ermolova, 1905; F.I. .Chaliapin, charcoal, chalk, 1905; both portraits are in the Tretyakov Gallery; Ida Rubinstein, tempera, charcoal, 1910, Russian Museum). Serov left a grateful memory of himself as a teacher (in 1897–1909 he taught at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where among his students were K.F. Yuon, N.N. Sapunov, P.V. Kuznetsov, M. S. Saryan, K.S. Petrov-Vodkin). Serov died in Moscow on November 22 (December 5), 1911.

chapter. The Art of Portraiture

The portrait is a significant and important genre in art. The very word "portrait" goes back to the old French word "pourtrait", which means: the image of the devil in the devil; it also goes back to the Latin verb "protrahere" - that is, "extract out", "discover"; later - "depict", "portrait". In Russian, the word "portrait" corresponds to the word "like".

In the visual arts, to which this term originally belongs, a portrait means the image of a certain specific person or group of people, in which the individual appearance of a person is conveyed, reproduced, his inner world, the essence of his character are revealed.

The image of a person is the main theme of painting. Its study begins with sketches of the head. All formal pictures are subordinated to the creation of an image, the transfer of the psychological state of a person. In painting, the image of a human head from nature should correspond to our usual three-dimensional vision and understanding of the world around us.

The methods of head painting in the Russian academic school of the first half of the 19th century continue the tradition of sculpting the form with the help of strong and hot shadows. We can judge academic methods by considering the works of O. Kiprensky, K. Bryullov, A. Ivanov. It is impossible to consider academic methods as something the same for all artists, but what is common for the students of the academy is the discipline of form.

A portrait can be considered quite satisfactory when the intimate and personal features of the depicted person are conveyed, when the original is reproduced exactly, with all the features of his appearance and inner individual character, in his most familiar pose, with his most characteristic expression. The satisfaction of this requirement is part of the scope of the tasks of art and can lead to highly artistic results if performed by gifted masters who put their personal taste and sense of nature into the reproduction of reality.

Painting is primarily an image of form, volume. Therefore, the form is often pre-worked out in one color exactly with all the details. Then the lights were painted cold, thick, textured; shadows hot, transparent, using varnishes, oils, resins. All this applies to oil painting. Watercolors of that time are only tinted drawings, and tempera was used for church paintings, far from works from nature.

Of great importance in academic painting was the sequence of work, the system. Dry and wet glazing gave the head its final shape, color and expression. But probably some heads of K.P. Bryullov painted immediately, while maintaining strict modeling, cold lights and hot shadows. The same hot shadows lie on the portraits of I. N. Kramskoy. Their redness is softened by the usually diffused museum light. But if a ray of the sun falls on the portrait, you are amazed at the conditional brightness of the red shadows.

The Impressionists paid the most attention to the importance of warm and cold light in sculpting a living head. Either the lights are cold and the shadows are warm, or vice versa. In each model, the conditions of the situation are selected, based on the complexion, clothes of the general appearance. To create interesting lighting, screens are used - cardboard, canvas, paper. The screen can darken part of the background or clothes, which makes the face stand out better.

Keeping the preparatory sketch of M. A. Vrubel for the portrait of N. I. Zabela - Vrubel, where the boundaries of all color changes are drawn in pencil. The surface of the face is divided into very small areas, like a mosaic. If you fill each of them with the appropriate color, the portrait will be ready.

The portrait image reflects not only the model, but also the artist himself. Therefore, the author is recognized by his works. The same person looks completely different in the portraits of different artists. After all, each of them contributes to the portrait their attitude to the model, to the world, their feelings and thoughts, their way of seeing and feeling, their mental warehouse, their worldview. The artist does not just copy the model, not only reproduces its appearance - he communicates his impressions of her, conveys, expresses his idea of her.

The portrait genre occupied a large place in the system of academic education, since teachers of the early 19th century saw it in the depiction of a person as a way for the artist to directly address nature.

With the development and establishment of democratic tendencies in Russian art in the process of solving common creative problems, there is a convergence of searches in different genres, and especially in portraiture.

Working on a portrait brings the artist into close contact with representatives of various social strata of modern society, and working from nature significantly expands and deepens the understanding of the psychology of the embodied images in the picture. Portrait painting is enriched with typical folk images. The psychological characteristics of the person depicted in the portrait, his moral, social understanding are deepened. In the portrait, not only a critical attitude to life, characteristic of the Wanderers, but also the search for a positive image, which is most strongly manifested in the images of representatives of the intelligentsia, is especially felt.

Russian art has a rich tradition of realistic portraiture dating back to the 18th century, which left a significant legacy. They fruitfully developed in the first half of the 19th century. In these eras, it was the portrait, relatively free from the power of the canons, in the realistic completeness of its images, that went ahead of both the plot - historical, and everyday painting, which took only the first steps in Russian art.

The best portrait painters of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century convey to us the typical features of their contemporaries. But the tasks of typification while preserving the individual in the human image came into conflict in these portraits with the dominant classical concept, in which the typical was understood as abstract from the individual. In the Wanderer’s portrait, however, we encounter a reverse understanding of the typical: the deeper the penetration into a person’s individuality, the more concrete and brighter his image is recreated, the more clearly the common features that have developed under the influence of certain living conditions appear in his portrait.

Bibliography

1. Aleshina L.S. Russian art of the 19th - early 20th centuries -M., "Art" 1972.

2. Benois A. History of Russian painting in the XIX century - M., "Republic" 1999.

3. Gomberg - Verzhbitskaya E.P. Wanderers: a book about the masters of Russian realistic painting from Perov to Levitan - M., 1961.

4. Ilyina T.V. Art history. Domestic art - M., "Higher School", 2005.

5. The art of the portrait. Collection - M., 1928.

6. Brief dictionary of terms of fine arts.

7. Likhachev D.S. Russian art from antiquity to the avant-garde - M., "Art", 1992.

8. Matafonov S.M. Three centuries of Russian painting - Sib., "Kitezh" 1994.

9. Pushkin A.S. Complete works in one volume - M., 1938.

10. Roginskaya F.S. Wanderers - M., 1997.

11. Shchulgin V.S., Koshman L.V., Zezina M.Z. Culture of Russia IX - XX centuries. uch. allowance - M., "Prostor" 1996.

12. Yakovlev V.M. About the great Russian artists - M., "Publishing House of the Academy of Artists of the USSR" 1952.

Pushkin A.S. Complete works in one volume. M., 1983, p.9.

Shulgin V.S., Koshman L.V., Zezina M.Z., Culture of Russia in the 9th - 20th centuries. uch. allowance - M. "Prostor", 1996 S. 205

The art of the portrait. Collection. M., 1928 P.77.

A short dictionary of terms of fine arts. M., 1959 P.126.

Gomberg - Verzhbitskaya E.P. Wanderers: a book about the masters of Russian realistic painting from Perov to Levitan - M., 1961. P. 44.

6.07.2019 at 15:34 · VeraSchegoleva · 11 620

Top 10 most famous portrait painters whose names everyone should know

A portrait is an image of a group of persons or one person with absolute accuracy. Usually this is a drawing made in a certain style.

A portrait artist reproduces an image from memory or draws a person from life. Through their paintings, portrait painters convey not only the appearance of people, but also their unique features, character traits.

A portrait is an individual attitude of the artist to a particular person. Such an interpretation of a person is elitist, exclusive and not accessible to everyone, therefore it is valuable and very attractive.

Consider the most famous portrait painters who best revealed the spiritual essence of people through paintings.

10. Anthony Van Dyck

Anthony Van Dyck- graphic artist and master of religious subjects and court portraits. His homeland is Belgium.

This artist was a child prodigy, he created his self-portrait at the age of fourteen. When Van Dyck was eighteen, he was accepted into the Guild of St. Luke, which united printers, sculptors and artists.

At the age of twenty, Van Dyck had already begun to create portraits of aristocrats, who were distinguished by incredible skill. Typically, portrait painters reached this level by the age of forty.

The master always paid a lot of attention to his hands: they were beautiful, graceful, relaxed, with long fingers. The work of Van Dyck can be recognized precisely by the manner of drawing hands.

Van Dyck lived in Italy, was a court painter in England.

Notable portraits: "Heads of an Elder", "Family Portrait", "Portrait of Cardinal Guido Bentivoglio", "Portrait of Charles I on the Hunt".

9. Hans Holbein

Hans Holbein the Younger one of the most famous German artists. He learned to draw from Holbein the Elder, his father, who specialized in altar painting.

The master became famous at the age of twenty-one. He was a painter at the court of Henry VIII.

The portraits created by Hans Holbein are very accurate, he conveyed the images and characters of the people depicted with maximum clarity. The artist confidently played with chiaroscuro, he liked to highlight various small details that emphasize his idea.

Many portraits of the master are not devoid of sarcasm and irony: they betrayed his true attitude towards the persons depicted.

Notable portraits: "Portrait of Thomas More", "Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam", "Portrait of Henry VIII".

8. Diego Velazquez

Diego Velazquez- painter from Spain, court painter of Philip IV. Velázquez began studying painting when he was ten years old.

Already at the age of eighteen, the artist managed to open his own workshop: Francisco Pacheco, his teacher, helped him in this.

At the beginning of his career, Velasquez painted still lifes, various kitchen scenes. Color and shade, color saturation became the features of these paintings.

Then the master moved to the capital and became a court painter. He not only painted custom ceremonial portraits, but also tried to capture the most unfortunate, humiliated people: freaks, jesters, dwarfs.

Famous portraits: "The Innkeeper", "The Old Cook", "Portrait of King Philip IV of Spain in Armor", "Portrait of a Lady with a Fan", "Jester Juan of Austria".

7. Ilya Efimovich Repin

Ilya Efimovich Repin- Russian artist, professor, teacher, member of the Imperial Academy of Arts. One of the main representatives of Russian realism.

In his youth, the artist lived in poverty. He tried to make money by selling his paintings.

Then, for a good study at, Repin got the opportunity to go to Europe to study foreign art. By that time, he had already gained quite a lot of fame and began to receive large orders.

Distinctive features of Repin's work are frequent appeals to emotional peaks, the display of social anxieties and tasks, and subtle psychologism.

Famous portraits: "Portrait of Leo Tolstoy", "Portrait of Mussorgsky", "Portrait of Mother", "Portrait of Konstantin Petrovich Pobedonostsev".

6. Rembrandt Van Rijn

Rembrandt- artist from Holland, master of chiaroscuro, engraver. He was one of the largest representatives of the golden age of Dutch painting.

His paintings embodied the whole spectrum of human experiences. Rembrandt preferred to omit minor details and reveal as much as possible the state of mind of the depicted person.

The future master began to learn to draw when he was thirteen years old. He was constantly in creative search and created paintings in various genres: portraits, genre scenes, landscapes, still lifes and so on.

Notable portraits: "Young Saskia", "Portrait of Jan Utenbogart", "Flora", "Portrait of Maria Trip".

5. Peter Paul Rubens

Rubens- Flemish painter, collector, diplomat. He became one of the main representatives of baroque art. In portraiture, the talent of the master was fully revealed. For him, gesticulation, look, turn of the head, pose of the model have always been very important.

Depicting the fair sex, Rubens, as it were, enjoyed their sensuality, femininity, and splendor of bodies.

The artist had a very high ability to work: he could create paintings from morning to evening. While working, Rubens was very fond of talking with students and visitors.

Famous portraits: "Portrait of the Marquise Brigitta Spinola Doria", "Portrait of the maid Infanta Isabella", "Portrait of Helena Fourman with two children".

4. Albrecht Dürer

Durer- graphic artist and painter from Germany, one of the most famous representatives of the Western European Renaissance. He left behind not only paintings, but also treatises and engravings.

Albrecht Dürer perfected the art of woodcutting. He lived in Italy, studied the creative methods of Italian artists.

Dürer created many self-portraits, he especially liked to draw himself in his youth. His work is permeated by the desire to know the laws of nature, as well as the attraction to the ideal, harmonious beauty. It is imbued with a high intensity of feelings, a rebellious spirit.

Notable portraits: "Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam", "Portrait of Bernard von Riesen", "Emperor Maximilian I".

3. Titian

Titian Vecellio- a famous painter from Italy. His work is associated with eternity and immortality. The brushes of this artist were credited with magical properties during his lifetime.

Titian created wonderful portraits: it seemed that the souls of the people depicted were hidden in them. He painted many epic paintings on mythological and religious themes.

Titian's path in creativity was fruitful and long: the artist lived to almost a hundred years. His paintings have been repeatedly copied, but no one has ever been able to achieve the same level of skill.

Notable portraits: "Portrait of Petro Aretino", "Portrait of Charles V", "Portrait of a Young Woman".

2. Raphael Santi

Raphael- Italian graphic artist and painter. His paintings reflected the ideals of the Renaissance.

The world became cleaner and kinder when the eyes of the Madonnas depicted by Raphael began to look at it: Pasadena, Sistine, Orleans, Conestabile.

He skillfully embodied in the paintings a variety of emotional shades. Raphael was considered one of the most "balanced" artists. The master died very early, at the age of 37, but left behind a colossal artistic legacy.

Notable portraits: "Donna Velata", "Portrait of Castiglione", "Portrait of Julius II", "Portrait of Pope Leo X with two cardinals".

1. Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci- Italian artist, architect, sculptor, scientist, musician,. He was a unique "universal man".

Research, discoveries, creations of da Vinci were ahead of time by more than one era. He helped in the development of urban planning, anatomy.

Da Vinci's appearance was also striking: angelic appearance, tall stature and incredible strength.

For this artist, painting was an adjunct to science: he was always focused on capturing reality.

Notable portraits: "Mona Lisa", "Lady with an Ermine", "Portrait of Ginerva de Benci", "Portrait of a Musician".

Readers' Choice:

Introduction

I. Russian portrait painters of the first half of the 19th century

1.1 Orest Adamovich Kiprensky (1782-1836)

1.2 Vasily Andreevich Tropinin (1776-1857)

1.3 Alexey Gavrilovich Venetsianov (1780-1847)

1.4 Karl Pavlovich Bryullov (1799-1852)

II. Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions

Chapter III. Russian portrait painters of the second half of the 19th century

3.1 Nikolai Nikolaevich Ge (1831-1894)

3.2 Vasily Grigorievich Perov (1834-1882)

3.3 Nikolai Alexandrovich Yaroshenko (1846-1898)

3.4 Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy (1837-1887)

3.5 Ilya Efimovich Repin (1844-1930)

3.6 Valentin Alexandrovich Serov (1865-1911)

Chapter IV. The Art of Portraiture

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

In this work, we will consider the art of portraiture in the 19th century:

The greatest masters of Russian art of the 19th century

Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions.

What is a portrait?

The history of the appearance of the portrait.

The growth and expansion of artistic understanding and needs is reflected in the emergence of many art societies, schools, a number of private galleries (the Tretyakov Gallery) and museums not only in the capitals, but also in the provinces, in the introduction to school education in drawing. All this, in connection with the appearance of a number of brilliant works by Russian artists, shows that art took root on Russian soil and became national. The new Russian national art differed sharply in that it clearly and strongly reflected the main currents of Russian social life.

Russian portrait painters of the first half of the 19th century.

1.1 Orest Adamovich Kiprensky (1782-1836)

"Favorite of light-winged fashion,

Though not British, not French,

You created again, dear wizard,

Me, a pet of pure muses. -

And I laugh at the grave

Gone forever from the bonds of death.

I see myself as in a mirror

But this mirror flatters me.

It says that I will not humiliate

The passions of important aonids.

So Rome, Dresden, Paris

From now on, my appearance will be known, - 1

Pushkin wrote to Kiprensky in gratitude for his portrait. Pushkin valued his portrait and this portrait hung in his office.

The majestic and diverse Russian painting always pleases the audience with its inconstancy and perfection of art forms. This is the peculiarity of the works of famous masters of art. They always surprised with their unusual approach to work, reverent attitude to the feelings and sensations of each person. Perhaps that is why Russian artists so often depicted portrait compositions that vividly combined emotional images and epicly calm motifs. No wonder Maxim Gorky once said that an artist is the heart of his country, the voice of the entire era. Indeed, the majestic and elegant paintings of Russian artists vividly convey the inspiration of their time. Like the aspirations of the famous author Anton Chekhov, many sought to bring into Russian paintings the unique flavor of their people, as well as the unquenchable dream of beauty. It is difficult to underestimate the extraordinary canvases of these masters of majestic art, because truly extraordinary works of various genres were born under their brush. Academic painting, portrait, historical painting, landscape, works of romanticism, modernism or symbolism - all of them still bring joy and inspiration to their viewers. Everyone finds in them something more than colorful colors, graceful lines and inimitable genres of world art. Perhaps such an abundance of forms and images that Russian painting surprises with is connected with the huge potential of the surrounding world of artists. Levitan also said that in every note of lush nature there is a majestic and unusual palette of colors. With such a beginning, a magnificent expanse appears for the artist's brush. Therefore, all Russian paintings are distinguished by their exquisite severity and attractive beauty, from which it is so difficult to break away.

Russian painting is rightly distinguished from world art. The fact is that until the seventeenth century, domestic painting was associated exclusively with a religious theme. The situation changed with the coming to power of the tsar-reformer - Peter the Great. Thanks to his reforms, Russian masters began to engage in secular painting, and icon painting separated as a separate direction. The seventeenth century is the time of such artists as Simon Ushakov and Iosif Vladimirov. Then, in the Russian art world, the portrait was born and quickly became popular. In the eighteenth century, the first artists appeared who switched from portraiture to landscape painting. The pronounced sympathy of the masters for winter panoramas is noticeable. The eighteenth century was also remembered for the birth of everyday painting. In the nineteenth century, three trends gained popularity in Russia: romanticism, realism and classicism. As before, Russian artists continued to turn to the portrait genre. It was then that world-famous portraits and self-portraits of O. Kiprensky and V. Tropinin appeared. In the second half of the nineteenth century, artists more and more often depict the simple Russian people in their oppressed state. Realism becomes the central trend of painting of this period. It was then that the Wanderers appeared, depicting only real, real life. Well, the twentieth century is, of course, the avant-garde. The artists of that time significantly influenced both their followers in Russia and around the world. Their paintings became the forerunners of abstractionism. Russian painting is a huge wonderful world of talented artists who glorified Russia with their creations

April 5, 2015

Portrait - the art of reproducing the image of a person or group of persons with absolute accuracy. As a rule, this is an artistic drawing that obeys a certain style. The artist who painted the portrait may belong to one or another school of painting. And his works are recognizable thanks to the individuality and style that the painter follows.

Past and present

Portrait painters depict real-life people by drawing from life, or reproduce images from the past from memory. In any case, the portrait is based on something and carries information about a particular person. Often, such a picture reflects some era, whether it be modernity or the past. In this case, instead of the usual background, portrait painters depict several accompanying conventional signs, such as the architecture of that time, indicated in the background, or other characteristic objects.

Rembrandt

Fine art is diverse, and its individual genres can exist independently of each other, or they can be synthesized. So in the portrait, different subjects are combined into one whole, but at the same time the person's face always dominates. The great portrait painters of the past mastered the art of artistic representation to perfection. Such masters include the Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), who painted many portraits. And each of them is recognized as a masterpiece of painting. True art is immortal, because the paintings of Rembrandt van Rijn are more than five hundred years old.

Engraving is a fine art

The great portrait painters of the past are the national treasures of the countries in which they were born, lived and created their paintings. A noticeable mark in the history of painting was left by the German artist Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), who worked in the genre of engraving. His paintings are exhibited in the most prestigious museums in the world. Paintings painted by the artist at different times, such as "Portrait of a Young Venetian", "Portrait of Emperor Maximilian", "Portrait of a Young Man" and others, are unsurpassed masterpieces. Great portrait painters are distinguished from all other artists by their high level of self-expression. Their paintings are an example to follow.

Women's theme

Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931), Italian painter, ranked high on the list of "Great Portraitists of the World". He is recognized as an unsurpassed master of the female portrait. His canvases can be viewed for hours, the images are so accurate and picturesque. Juicy colors, mostly cold shades, contrasting strokes, the play of halftones - everything is collected in his paintings. The artist manages to convey the character of the lady depicted on the canvas, and even her mood.

Famous Russian portrait painters

There have been great artists in Rus' at all times. Portrait art originated in the 14th century AD, when talented painters such as Andrei Rublev and Theophanes the Greek appeared. Their work did not fully correspond with the portrait genre, since these artists painted icons, but the general principles for creating images coincided.

In the same period, the famous artist Dionysius (1440-1502), a protege of Ivan III, Tsar of Moscow, worked. The monarch instructed the artist to paint the cathedral or church, and then watched how he creates his masterpieces. The king liked to participate in such a charitable work.

One of the first masters of Russian portrait art was Ivan Nikitin (1680-1742), who was trained in Europe. He enjoyed the favor of Emperor Peter the Great. The most famous works of Nikitin are portraits of August II, the King of Poland and the Duke of Mecklenburg.

Zubov Alexey (1682-1750), an outstanding master of portrait art. He was a favorite of Peter the Great. Together with his father, the famous icon painter Fyodor Zubov, he participated in the design of the Armory of the Moscow Kremlin.

The great portrait painters of the 18th century in Russia, as a rule, painted to order.

Vasily Tropinin (1776-1857), famous Russian painter, really became famous in 1827. He created a half-length portrait of Pushkin Alexander Sergeevich, the brightest representative of Russian poetry. The order was made by the poet himself. And the picture was intended for a friend of Alexander Sergeevich, Sobolevsky. The portrait became the most famous creation of all, which ever depicted Pushkin. The painting "Alexander Pushkin" by Tropinin has forever become a classic of the genre.

Orest Kiprensky (1782-1836) began writing at the age of 22. The first portrait was created by Kiprensky in the style of Rembrandt, A. K. Walbe was depicted on the canvas. The most famous work of the artist is "Portrait of E.V. Davydov", written in 1809. Several paintings by Orest Kiprensky are in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Alexei Venetsianov (1780-1847) is a Russian artist who is considered the founder of the narrative style in portrait art. He was a student of the venerable painter Vladimir Borovikovsky. The young artist Venetsianov became widely known thanks to the painting "Portrait of a Mother", created in 1801.

Borovikovsky Vladimir (1757-1825), a native of Mirgorod, became famous and famous after meeting with Catherine II, traveling as part of her 1787 tour. The painter created a series of artistic paintings in the palace, which was on the path of the empress. Catherine was delighted with the work of Borovikovsky and awarded him a large sum of money.

The list of "Great portrait painters of Russia of the 19th century" is headed by Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy (1837-1887), an outstanding painter, master of religious wall paintings. Portrait art of Kramskoy allowed him to create a number of images of famous people, including P. M. Tretyakov, S. P. Botkin, I. I. Shishkin, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, L. N. Tolstoy and others.

The most famous portrait painters of contemporary Russia

Igor Belkovsky (b. 1962), Corresponding Member of the Russian Art Academy, member of the Union of Artists of Russia, laureate of the "For a Bright Future" award established by the Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region.

Alexander Shilov (born 1943), People's Artist of the USSR, member of the Presidential Council for Culture and Art Author of numerous portraits of his contemporaries.