Genres of painting appeared, gained popularity, faded away, new ones arose, subspecies began to be distinguished within the existing ones. This process will not stop as long as a person exists and tries to capture the world around him, whether it be nature, buildings or other people.
Previously (before the 19th century), there was a division of the genres of painting into the so-called "high" genres (French grand genre) and "low" genres (French petit genre). Such a division arose in the 17th century. and was based on what subject and plot were depicted. In this regard, the high genres included: battle, allegorical, religious and mythological, and the low genres included portrait, landscape, still life, animalism.
The division into genres is rather arbitrary, because. elements of two or more genres can be present in the picture at the same time.
Animalism, or animalistic genre
Animalism, or animalistic genre (from lat. animal - animal) - a genre in which the main motive is the image of an animal. We can say that this is one of the most ancient genres, because. drawings and figures of birds and animals were already present in the life of primitive people. For example, in the well-known painting by I.I. Shishkin's "Morning in a Pine Forest", nature is depicted by the artist himself, and the bears are completely different, just specializing in depicting animals.
I.I. Shishkin "Morning in a pine forest" How can a subspecies be distinguished Ippian genre(from the Greek hippos - horse) - a genre in which the image of a horse acts as the center of the picture.
NOT. Sverchkov "Horse in the stable" Portrait
Portrait (from the French word portrait) is a picture in which the image of a person or a group of people is central. The portrait conveys not only an external resemblance, but also reflects the inner world and conveys the artist's feelings towards the person whose portrait he paints.
I.E. Repin Portrait of Nicholas II The portrait genre is subdivided into individual(picture of one person), group(image of several people), by the nature of the image - to the front when a person is depicted in full growth against a prominent architectural or landscape background and chamber when a person is depicted chest-deep or waist-deep against a neutral background. A group of portraits, united according to some attribute, forms an ensemble, or a portrait gallery. An example is portraits of members of the royal family.
Separately allocated self-portrait on which the artist depicts himself.
K. Bryullov Self-portrait The portrait is one of the oldest genres - the first portraits (sculptural) were already present in ancient Egypt. Such a portrait acted as part of a cult about the afterlife and was a “double” of a person.
Landscape
Landscape (from French paysage - country, area) is a genre in which the image of nature is central - rivers, forests, fields, sea, mountains. In a landscape, the main point is, of course, the plot, but it is equally important to convey the movement, the life of the surrounding nature. On the one hand, nature is beautiful, admired, and on the other hand, it is rather difficult to reflect this in the picture.
C. Monet "Field of poppies at Argenteuil" The subspecies of the landscape is seascape or marina(from French marine, Italian marina, from Latin marinus - sea) - an image of a sea battle, the sea or other events unfolding at sea. A prominent representative of marine painters - K.A. Aivazovsky. It is noteworthy that the artist wrote many details of this picture from memory.
I.I. Aivazovsky "The Ninth Wave" However, often artists also strive to draw the sea from nature, for example, W. Turner to paint the painting “Snowstorm. The steamer at the entrance to the harbor gives a distress signal, hitting the shallow water, "spent 4 hours tied up on the captain's bridge of a ship sailing in a storm.
W. Turner “Snowstorm. The steamer at the entrance to the harbor gives a distress signal, hitting the shallow water. The water element is also depicted in the river landscape.
Separately allocate cityscape, in which city streets and buildings are the main subject of the image. The urban landscape is Veduta- the image of the urban landscape in the form of a panorama, where the scale and proportions are certainly maintained.
A. Canaletto "Piazza San Marco"There are other types of landscape - rural, industrial and architectural. In architectural painting, the main theme is the image of the architectural landscape, i.e. buildings, structures; includes images of interiors (interior decoration). Sometimes Interior(from French intérieur - internal) is distinguished as a separate genre. In architectural painting, another genre is distinguished — Capriccio(from Italian capriccio, caprice, whim) - an architectural fantasy landscape.
Still life
Still life (from the French nature morte - dead nature) is a genre dedicated to the depiction of inanimate objects that are placed in a common environment and form a group. Still life appeared in the 15th-16th centuries, but as a separate genre was formed in the 17th century.
Despite the fact that the word "still life" is translated as dead nature, in the pictures there are bouquets of flowers, fruits, fish, game, dishes - everything looks "like a living thing", i.e. like real. From its inception to the present day, still life has been an important genre in painting.
C. Monet "Vase with flowers" How can a separate subspecies be distinguished Vanitas(from Latin Vanitas - vanity, vanity) - a genre of painting in which the central place in the picture is occupied by a human skull, the image of which is intended to remind of the vanity and frailty of human life.
The painting by F. de Champagne presents three symbols of the frailty of being - Life, Death, Time through the images of a tulip, a skull, an hourglass.
historical genre
Historical genre - a genre in which the paintings depict important events and socially significant phenomena of the past or present. It is noteworthy that the picture can be dedicated not only to real events, but also to events from mythology or, for example, described in the Bible. This genre is very important for history, both for the history of individual peoples and states, and for humanity as a whole. In the paintings, the historical genre is inseparable from other types of genres - portrait, landscape, battle genre.
I.E. Repin "Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan" 
K. Bryullov "The Last Day of Pompeii" Battle genre
The battle genre (from the French bataille - battle) is a genre in which the paintings of which depict the climax of the battle, military operations, the moment of victory, scenes from military life. Battle painting is characterized by the image in the picture of a large number of people.
A.A. Deineka "Defense of Sevastopol" Religious genre
The religious genre is a genre in which the main storyline in the paintings is biblical (scene from the Bible and the Gospel). According to the subject matter, iconography also belongs to religious, their difference lies in the fact that paintings of religious content do not participate in the services held, and for the icon this is the main purpose. icon painting translated from Greek. means "prayer image". This genre was limited by strict limits and laws of painting, because. designed not to reflect reality, but to convey the idea of God's beginning, in which artists are looking for an ideal. In Rus', icon painting reached its peak in the 12th-16th centuries. The most famous names of icon painters are Theophanes the Greek (frescoes), Andrei Rublev, Dionysius.
A. Rublev "Trinity" How the transitional stage from icon painting to portrait stands out Parsuna(distorted from lat. persona - personality, person).
Parsuna of Ivan the Terrible. author unknown household genre
The paintings depict scenes from everyday life. Often the artist writes about those moments of life, of which he is a contemporary. Distinctive features of this genre are the realism of the paintings and the simplicity of the plot. The picture can reflect the customs, traditions, structure of the everyday life of a particular people.
Household painting includes such famous paintings as “Barge Haulers on the Volga” by I. Repin, “Troika” by V. Perov, “Unequal Marriage” by V. Pukirev.
I. Repin "Barge haulers on the Volga" Epic-mythological genre
Epic-mythological genre. The word myth comes from the Greek. "mythos", which means tradition. The paintings depict the events of legends, epics, legends, ancient Greek myths, ancient legends, plots of folklore.
P. Veronese "Apollo and Marsyas" allegorical genre
Allegorical genre (from the Greek allegoria - allegory). Pictures are written in such a way that they have a hidden meaning. Intangible ideas and concepts, invisible to the eye (power, good, evil, love), are transmitted through the images of animals, people, other living beings with such inherent characteristics that have symbolism already fixed in the minds of people, and help to understand the general meaning of the work.
L. Giordano "Love and vices disarm justice" Pastoral (from French pastorale - shepherd, rural)
A genre of painting that glorifies and poetizes the simple and peaceful rural life.
F. Boucher "Autumn Pastoral" Caricature (from Italian caricare - to exaggerate)
A genre in which, when creating an image, a comic effect is deliberately used by exaggerating and sharpening features, demeanor, clothing, etc. The purpose of a caricature is to offend, unlike, for example, a cartoon (from French charge), the purpose of which is simply to play a joke. Closely related to the term "caricature" are such concepts as splint, grotesque.
Nude (from French nu - naked, undressed)
Genre, in the paintings of which a naked human body is depicted, most often a female.
Titian Vecellio "Venus of Urbino" Deception, or trompley (from fr. trompe-l'œil - optical illusion)
A genre whose characteristic features are special techniques that create an optical illusion and allow you to blur the line between reality and image, i.e. the deceptive impression that the object is three-dimensional, while it is two-dimensional. Sometimes snag is distinguished as a subspecies of still life, but sometimes people are also depicted in this genre.
Per Borrell del Caso "Escape from Criticism" For the completeness of the perception of tricks, it is desirable to consider them in the original, because. a reproduction is unable to fully convey the effect that the artist depicts.
Jacopo de Barberi "The Partridge and the Iron Gloves" Plot-thematic picture
A mixture of traditional genres of painting (everyday, historical, battle, landscape, etc.). In another way, this genre is called a figurative composition, its characteristic features are: the main role is played by a person, the presence of an action and a socially significant idea, relationships (a conflict of interests / characters) and psychological accents are necessarily shown.
V. Surikov "Boyar Morozova" Genre (from French Genre - view) - a set of works combined:
The general range of topics or subjects of the image; or
Way of understanding and interpretation: allegory, fantasy.
Genre is a few special features inherent in works of art, by which we distinguish one of them from others.
An artist-painter paints, and there are a lot of techniques, ways of working with them, they are complex and diverse, this is a whole science. But depending on what is shown in the picture, you can determine its genre.
SELF-PORTRAIT - a portrait painted from oneself.
ALLEGORY - the image of abstract concepts through associative close specific images, creatures and objects, usually endowed with attributes explaining their content.
ANIMALISTIC - associated with the depiction of animals in painting, sculpture and graphics; combines natural science and artistic principles.
BATTLE - dedicated to depicting war and military life. In the works of the battle genre, the main place is occupied by scenes of battles and military campaigns of the present or the past.
HOUSEHOLD - associated with the image of the everyday private and public life of a person.
HISTORICAL - one of the main genres of fine art, dedicated to historical events of the past and present, socially significant phenomena in the history of peoples.
CARICATURE - a genre of fine art that uses the means of satire and humor, grotesque, caricature, artistic hyperbole; image in which the comic effect is created by exaggeration and sharpening of characteristic features.
MYTHOLOGICAL - dedicated to the events and heroes that myths tell about.
STILL LIFE - a genre of fine art showing inanimate objects placed in a real household environment and organized into a specific group; a picture depicting household items, flowers, fruits, broken game, caught fish.
Nude - a genre of fine art dedicated to the naked body, its artistic interpretation.
PASTORAL - an image of the idyllic peaceful life of shepherds and shepherdesses in the bosom of nature.
LANDSCAPE - an image of any area, pictures of nature: rivers, mountains, fields, forests, rural or urban landscape; according to the subject of the image, they distinguish the architectural and urban, industrial landscape, veduta, marina (depicts the sea), historical, fantastic (futurological), lyrical, epic landscape.
PORTRAIT - a genre of fine art dedicated to the image of a person or a group of people; varieties - self-portrait, group portrait, ceremonial, chamber, costume portrait, portrait miniature, parsuna.
CARTOON - a kind of caricature, a humorous or satirical image in which the characteristic features of a person are changed and emphasized.
5. Theater
Theater(Greek θέατρον - the main meaning is a place for spectacles, then - a spectacle, from θεάομαι - I look, I see) - a spectacular art form, which is a synthesis of various arts - literature, music, choreography, vocals, fine arts and others, and has its own specificity: the reflection of reality, conflicts, characters, as well as their interpretation and evaluation, the approval of certain ideas here occurs through dramatic action, the main carrier of which is the actor.
The generic concept of "theater" includes its various types: drama theater, opera, ballet, puppet, pantomime theatre, etc.
At all times, the theater has been a collective art; in the modern theater, in addition to the actors and the director (conductor, choreographer), the stage designer, composer, choreographer, as well as props, costumers, make-up artists, stage workers, and illuminators participate in the creation of the performance.
The development of the theater has always been inseparable from the development of society and the state of culture as a whole - its heyday or decline, the predominance of certain artistic trends in the theater and its role in the spiritual life of the country were associated with the peculiarities of social development.
A genre is a type of fine art that has developed historically as a result of the classification of images on canvases according to thematic features. The genres of painting presented in modern art began to form in the era of the ancient civilizations of Rome and Greece - in art, the first signs of gradation by type are distinguished. Genre, as one of the key concepts in painting, began to take shape in the Renaissance. In the 17th century, the concepts of "high" and "low" genres appeared. For example, a portrait, still life - "low", historical and religious painting - "high" views. The classification was relevant until the 19th century.
The specifics of the image transmission depended on the style that dominated in a certain historical era:
- Baroque: 16th - 17th centuries: dynamic transmission of images, bright, lush decoration.
- Classicism: 17th - 19th centuries, a characteristic feature is a return to the traditions of antiquity.
- Realism: 19th - 20th centuries, formed under the influence of the philosophy of positivism, at the end of the 19th century gave rise to two movements - impressionism and naturalism. Representatives of the direction are Russian "wanderers", verismo in Italy, "trash can schools" in the USA. In the 200th century, socialist realism, critical and magical trends, and hyperrealism emerged from realism.
- Avant-garde is a direction in the art of the 20th century, which is divided into many types.
In contemporary art, there is such a gradation of types:
history painting
View formed during the Renaissance. Presents works depicting real historical events. Mythological, religious, some allegorical plots are considered manifestations. The purpose of historical painting is the glorification of heroes, the formation of an ideology and a certain way of thinking. Examples: V. Surikov "Suvorov Crossing the Alps", K. Bryullov "The Last Day of Pompeii", E. Delacroix "Freedom on the Barricades".
Portrait
An image of a realistic appearance of a person or group of people. The features of the image transfer were influenced by the features of the style dominant in a certain era, the canons of beauty of the historical period, and the individual style of the artist.
Still life
A type of painting, the purpose of which is the image of objects, fruits, bouquets of flowers. In other words - the image of dead nature. Formed in the 15th century in Western Europe. Initially, flowers, fruits and other attributes were part of religious painting, which stood out in a separate genre during the Renaissance.
Mythology
The mythological type of fine art is one of the areas of historical painting that has a similar semantic load. The heroes of myths, legends, epics are in the center of attention of artists. Depending on the style characteristic of a particular historical era, the mythological genre was distinguished by various features.
Battle
Batalistics is considered a kind of historical painting. The focus of the painters is the scenes of battles. The picture in the battle direction is characterized by: monumentality, dynamics, realism, attention to detail. The genre has a serious informative and semantic value. Many of the canvases were painted by artists who were direct eyewitnesses of the events - especially the painting of the 19th and 20th centuries. The battle genre includes canvases depicting the life of wartime.
household genre
A genre that reflects everyday life, contemporary to the artist. The direction originated in the Middle Ages, since the 16th century - there has been a rise in the form of fine art. Realism, humanism, democracy became the ideological foundations of the genre, which gave rise to an increased interest in folk life. Through paintings, artists sought to convey the social problems of society.
Landscape
Genre of painting, singled out in the era of modern times. For many centuries, the landscape has existed as a backdrop for a religious or mythological painting. Canvases depicting nature are presented in the works of artists of different styles and trends. The main theme of the works of landscape painters is open space: city, village, mountains, sea. Based on the object depicted on the canvas, landscapes are classified, highlighting marinas, panoramic and industrial canvases, urban and rural landscapes. Feature of the genre: a person can be present in the image, but will never be the center of attention.
Animalism
A genre of art dedicated to the depiction of animals. Artists work in the styles of realism, abstractionism, impressionism to convey the features of representatives of the fauna or fantasy animals - heroes of fairy tales and myths. Animalism originated in the days of ancient civilizations.
Works in various genres are presented by artists of the Middle Ages, the New Age, the Enlightenment, modernity and other historical periods, demonstrating the characteristic features of the painting of their time.
Painting is distinguished by a variety of genres and types. Each genre is limited by its range of subjects: the image of a person (portrait), the world around (landscape), etc.
Varieties (types) of painting differ in their purpose.
In this regard, there are several types of painting, which we will talk about today.
easel painting
The most popular and well-known type of painting is easel painting. So it is called for the reason that it is performed on a machine - an easel. The basis is wood, cardboard, paper, but most often canvas stretched on a stretcher. An easel painting is an independent work made in a certain genre. She has a richness of color.
Oil paints
Most often easel painting is executed with oil paints. Oil paints can be used on canvas, wood, cardboard, paper, metal.
Oil paints
Oil paints are suspensions of inorganic pigments and fillers in drying vegetable oils or drying oils or based on alkyd resins, sometimes with the addition of auxiliary substances. They are used in painting or for painting wooden, metal and other surfaces.
V. Perov "Portrait of Dostoevsky" (1872). Canvas, oil
But a picturesque picture can also be created with the help of tempera, gouache, pastels, watercolors.
Watercolor
Watercolor paints
Watercolor (French Aquarelle - watery; Italian acquarello) is a painting technique using special watercolor paints. When dissolved in water, they form a transparent suspension of fine pigment, due to this, the effect of lightness, airiness and subtle color transitions is created.
J. Turner "Fierwaldstadt Lake" (1802). Watercolor. Tate Britain (London)
Gouache
Gouache (French Gouache, Italian guazzo water paint, splash) is a type of adhesive water-soluble paints, more dense and matte than watercolor.
gouache paints
Gouache paints are made from pigments and glue with the addition of white. The admixture of white gives the gouache a matte velvety, but when it dries, the colors are somewhat whitened (lightened), which the artist must take into account in the process of drawing. With the help of gouache paints, you can cover dark tones with light ones.
Vincent van Gogh "Corridor in Asulum" (black chalk and gouache on pink paper)
Pastel [e]
Pastel (from Latin pasta - dough) - artistic materials used in graphics and painting. Most often produced in the form of crayons or rimless pencils, having the form of bars with a round or square section. There are three types of pastels: dry, oil and wax.
I. Levitan "River Valley" (pastel)
Tempera
Tempera (Italian tempera, from Latin temperare - to mix paints) - water-borne paints prepared on the basis of dry powder pigments. The binder of tempera paints is the yolk of a chicken egg diluted with water or a whole egg.
Tempera paints are one of the oldest. Before the invention and distribution of oil paints until the XV-XVII centuries. tempera paints were the main material of easel painting. They have been used for over 3,000 years. The famous paintings of the sarcophagi of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs are made with tempera paints. Tempera was mainly easel painting by Byzantine masters. In Russia, the technique of tempera writing was predominant until the end of the 17th century.
R. Streltsov "Daisies and violets" (tempera)
Encaustic
Encaustic (from other Greek ἐγκαυστική - the art of burning out) is a painting technique in which wax is the binder of paints. Painting is done with melted paints. Many early Christian icons were painted in this technique. Originated in ancient Greece.
"Angel". Encaustic technique
We draw your attention to the fact that you can also find another classification, according to which watercolor, gouache and other techniques using paper and water-based paints are classified as graphics. They combine the features of painting (the richness of tone, the construction of form and space with color) and graphics (the active role of paper in the construction of the image, the absence of a specific relief stroke characteristic of the pictorial surface).
monumental painting
Monumental painting - painting on architectural structures or other grounds. This is the oldest type of painting, known since the Paleolithic. Due to stationarity and durability, numerous examples of it remained from almost all cultures that created developed architecture. The main techniques of monumental painting are fresco, and secco, mosaic, stained glass.
Fresco
Fresco (from Italian fresco - fresh) - painting on wet plaster with water-based paints, one of the wall painting techniques. When dried, the lime contained in the plaster forms a thin transparent calcium film, which makes the fresco durable.
The fresco has a pleasant matte surface and is durable in indoor conditions.
Gelati Monastery (Georgia). Church of the Holy Mother of God. Fresco on the top and south side of the Arc de Triomphe
A secco
And secco (from Italian a secco - dry) - wall painting, performed, unlike frescoes, on hard, dried plaster, re-moistened. Paints are used, ground on vegetable glue, egg or mixed with lime. Secco allows more surface area to be painted in a working day than fresco painting, but is not as durable a technique.
The asecco technique developed in medieval painting along with fresco and was especially common in Europe in the 17th-18th centuries.
Leonardo da Vinci The Last Supper (1498). A secco technique
Mosaic
Mosaic (fr. mosaïque, ital. mosaico from lat. (opus) musivum - (work dedicated to the muses) - decorative, applied and monumental art of different genres. Images in a mosaic are formed by arranging, setting and fixing multi-colored stones, smalt, ceramic tiles and other materials on the surface.
Mosaic panel "Cat"
stained glass
Stained-glass window (fr. vitre - window glass, from lat. vitrum - glass) - a work of colored glass. Stained glass has been used in churches for a long time. During the Renaissance, stained glass existed as a painting on glass.
Stained-glass window of the Palace of Culture "Mezhsoyuzny" (Murmansk)
Diorama and panorama also belong to the varieties of painting.
Diorama
The building of the diorama "Assault on the Sapun Mountains on May 7, 1944" in Sevastopol
A diorama is a ribbon-shaped, semicircularly curved painting with a foreground subject plan. The illusion of the presence of the viewer in the natural space is created, which is achieved by the synthesis of artistic and technical means.
Dioramas are designed for artificial lighting and are located mainly in special pavilions. Most of the dioramas are dedicated to historical battles.
The most famous dioramas are: "Assault on the Sapun Mountains" (Sevastopol), "Defense of Sevastopol" (Sevastopol), "Fights for Rzhev" (Rzhev), "Breakthrough of the Siege of Leningrad" (Petersburg), "Storm of Berlin" (Moscow), etc.
Panorama
In painting, a panorama is a picture with a circular view, in which a flat pictorial background is combined with a three-dimensional subject foreground. Panorama creates the illusion of real space surrounding the viewer in a full circle of the horizon. Panoramas are mainly used to depict events covering a large area and a large number of participants.
Museum-panorama "Battle of Borodino" (museum building)
In Russia, the most famous panoramas are the Battle of Borodino Panorama Museum, the Volochaev Battle, the Defeat of the Nazi Troops at Stalingrad in the Battle of Stalingrad Panorama Museum, the Defense of Sevastopol, and the panorama of the Trans-Siberian Railway.
Franz Rubo. Canvas panorama "Battle of Borodino"
Theatrical and decorative painting
Scenery, costumes, make-up, props help to reveal the content of the performance (film) more deeply. The scenery gives an idea of the place and time of the action, activates the viewer's perception of what is happening on the stage. The theater artist seeks to sharply express the individual character of the characters, their social status, the style of the era, and much more in sketches of costumes and make-up.
In Russia, the heyday of theatrical and decorative art falls on the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. At this time, outstanding artists M.A. began working in the theater. Vrubel, V.M. Vasnetsov, A.Ya. Golovin, L.S. Bakst, N.K. Roerich.
M. Vrubel "City Lollipop". Sketch of the scenery for the opera by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" for the Russian Private Opera in Moscow. (1900)
Miniature
A miniature is a pictorial work of small forms. Particularly popular was the portrait miniature - a portrait of a small format (from 1.5 to 20 cm), characterized by a special subtlety of writing, a peculiar technique of execution and the use of means inherent only to this pictorial form.
The types and formats of miniatures are very diverse: they were painted on parchment, paper, cardboard, ivory, metal and porcelain, using watercolor, gouache, special artistic enamels or oil paints. The author can inscribe the image, in accordance with his own decision or at the request of the customer, in a circle, oval, rhombus, octagon, etc. A classic portrait miniature is a miniature made on a thin ivory plate.
Emperor Nicholas I. Fragment of a miniature by G. Morselli
There are several miniature techniques.
Lacquer miniature (Fedoskino)
Miniature with a portrait of Princess Zinaida Nikolaevna (Yusupov's jewels)
Painting- the most common type of fine art, the works of which are created using paints applied to any surface.
In works of art created by painters, drawing, color, chiaroscuro, expressiveness of strokes, texture and composition are used. This allows you to reproduce on the plane the colorful richness of the world, the volume of objects, their qualitative material originality, spatial depth and light-air environment.
Painting, like any art, is a form of social consciousness, is an artistic and figurative reflection of the world. But, reflecting the world, the artist simultaneously embodies his thoughts and feelings, aspirations, aesthetic ideals in his works, evaluates the phenomena of life, in his own way explaining their essence and meaning, expresses his understanding of the world.
The world of painting is rich and complex, its treasures have been accumulated by mankind over many millennia. The most ancient works of painting were discovered by scientists on the walls of caves inhabited by primitive people. With amazing accuracy and sharpness, the first artists depicted scenes of hunting and the habits of animals. This is how the art of depicting paints on the wall arose, which had features characteristic of monumental painting.
monumental painting There are two main types of monumental painting fresco (from Italian fresco - fresh) and mosaic (from the Italian mosaique, literally - dedicated to the muses).
Fresco- This is a technique of painting with paints diluted with pure or lime water, on fresh, damp plaster.
Mosaic- an image made of homogeneous or different particles of stone, smalt, ceramic tiles, which are fixed in a layer of soil - lime or cement.
Fresco and mosaic are the main types of monumental art, which, due to their durability and color fastness, are used to decorate architectural volumes and planes (wall painting, plafonds, panels). Among Russian monumentalists, the names of A.A. Deineki, P.D. Korina, A.V. Vasnetsova, B.A. Talberg, D.M. Merpert, B.P. Milyukov and others.
easel painting(picture) has an independent character and meaning. The breadth and completeness of the coverage of real life is reflected in the variety of types inherent in easel painting and genres: still life, household, historical, battle genres, landscape, portrait.
Unlike monumental easel painting, it is not connected with the plane of the wall and can be freely exhibited. The ideological and artistic significance of easel art works does not change in. depending on the place where they are located, although their artistic sound depends on the exposure conditions.
In addition to these types of painting, there are decorative- sketches of theatrical and film scenery and costumes, - as well as miniatures and icon painting.
A monument of high skill of ancient Russian painting of the XV century. by right is considered a masterpiece created by Andrei Rublev - the icon "Trinity", stored in the All-Russian Museum Association "State Tretyakov Gallery" (ill. 6). Here, in a perfect, highest form for its time, the moral ideal of the harmony of the spirit with the world and life is expressed. The icon is filled with deep poetic and philosophical content. The image of three angels is inscribed in a circle that subjugates all contour lines, the consistency of which produces an almost musical effect. Lightened, pure tones, especially cornflower blue ("stuffed cabbage") and transparent green, merge into a finely coordinated range. These colors are in contrast to the dark cherry robe of the middle angel, emphasizing the leading role of his figure in the overall composition.
The beauty of Russian icon painting, names Theophan the Greek, Andrey Rublev, Dionysius, Prokhor from Gorodets, Daniil Cherny opened to the world only after the XX century. learned how to clear ancient icons from later records.
Unfortunately, there is a simplified understanding of art, when in the works they are looking for the obligatory intelligibility of the plot, the recognition of what the painter depicted, from the standpoint of “similar” or “unlike”. At the same time, they forget: not in all types of art one can find a direct similarity of what is depicted on canvas with a picture of a familiar concrete life. With this approach, it is difficult to assess the merits of Andrei Rublev's painting. Not to mention such "non-pictorial" types of creativity as music, architecture, applied and decorative arts.
Painting, like all other forms of art, has a special artistic language, through which the artist conveys his ideas and feelings that reflect reality. In painting, "a full-time image of reality is realized through an artistic image, line and color. Despite all its technical perfection, painting is not yet a work of art, if it does not arouse empathy, emotions of the viewer.
With absolutely exact performance, the artist is deprived of the opportunity to show his attitude to the depicted, if he sets himself the goal of conveying only similarity!
In famous masters, the image never completely and accurately conveys reality, but only displays it from a certain point of view. The artist mainly reveals what he consciously or intuitively considers especially important, the main thing in this case. The result of such an active attitude to reality will be not just an accurate image, but artistic image of reality, in which the author, summarizing individual details, emphasizes the most important, characteristic. Thus, the worldview and aesthetic position of the artist are manifested in the work.
Still life- one of the independent genres of painting. The originality of the genre lies in its great pictorial possibilities. Through the material essence of specific objects, a true artist can in a figurative form reflect the essential aspects of life, tastes and customs, the social status of people, important historical events, and sometimes an entire era. Through purposeful selection of image objects and their interpretation, he expresses his attitude to reality, reveals his thoughts and feelings.
For comparison, let's take a still life painted by an outstanding Soviet painter M.S. Saryan(1880-1972), "Yerevan Flowers" (ill. 7). The master expressed his attitude to flowers in the words that became the epigraph to the monograph of his creative works: “What can be more beautiful than flowers that adorn a person’s life? ... When you see flowers, you immediately become infected with a joyful mood ... The purity of colors, transparency and depth that we see in flowers can only be seen in the plumage of birds and fruits”1.
"Behind the seeming lightness and immediacy of writing is a great pictorial culture and vast experience of a highly talented artist. His ability, as if in one breath, to write a large (96x 103 cm) picture, deliberately ignoring the details typical of the creative manner of the painter, who seeks to convey the main thing - the boundless richness of the colors of the nature of native Armenia.
household genre, or simply "genre" (from the French word genre - genus, type) - the most common type of easel painting in which the artist refers to the image of life in its everyday manifestations.
In Russian fine art, the everyday genre took a leading position in the 19th century, when 154 prominent representatives of the democratic trend in painting made their contribution to its development: VK. Perov (1833- 1882), K.A. Savitsky (1844-1905), N.A. Yaroshenko (1846 -1896), V.E. Makovsky (1846-1920), I.E. Repin (1844-1930).
The undoubted creative success of A.A. Plastova (1893- 1972) the painting "Spring" is considered, in which the artist expressed a chaste and subtle feeling of admiration for motherhood. Against the backdrop of light spring snow, the figure of a mother tying a scarf on her child's head looks great. The artist devoted many genre paintings to the simple life situations of his fellow villagers.
historical genre formed in Russian art in the second half of the XIX century. He helped leading Russian artists pay close attention to the past of the Motherland, to the acute problems of the then reality. Russian historical painting reached its heights in the 80-90s of the last century in the work of I.E. Repin, V.I. Surikov, V.M. Vasnetsova, K.P. Bryullov. Famous Russian artist P.D. Korin (1892-1967) created a triptych (a composition of three separate canvases connected by a common theme) "Alexander Nevsky". The work was created in the harsh time of the Great Patriotic War (1942-1943). In the difficult years of the war, the artist turned to the image of the great warrior of Ancient Rus', showing his inextricable connection with the people, with the Russian land itself. The triptych of Korin became one of the most striking documents of the heroic period of our history, expressing the artist's faith in the courage and resilience of the people who were subjected to severe trials.
Battle genre(from the French bataille - battle) is considered as a kind of historical genre. The outstanding works of this genre include paintings A.A. Deineka Defense of Petrograd (1928), Defense of Sevastopol (1942) and Downed Ace (1943).
Landscape often used as an important addition to everyday historical and battle paintings, but can also act as an independent genre. The works of landscape painting are close and understandable to us, although the person on the canvas is often absent.
The images of nature excite all people, giving rise to similar moods, experiences and thoughts in them. Which of us is not close to the landscapes of Russian painters: “Rooks have arrived” A.K. Savrasova, "Thaw" F. Vasilyeva,"Rye" I.I. Shishkin,"Night on the Dnieper" A.I. Kuindzhi,"Moscow courtyard" VD. Polenova and "Above Eternal Peace" I.I. Levitan. We involuntarily begin to look at the world through the eyes of artists who have revealed the poetic beauty of nature.
Landscape painters saw and conveyed nature in their own way. Their favorite motives were I.K. Aivazovsky (1817-1900), depicting a different state of the sea, ships and people struggling with the elements. His canvases are characterized by a subtle gradation of chiaroscuro, the effect of lighting, emotional elation, an inclination towards heroism and pathos.
Remarkable works in this genre by Soviet landscape painters: ST. Gerasimov (1885-1964), the author of such paintings as "Winter" (1939) and "Ice has passed" (1945),
N.P. Krymova(1884-1958), creator of the paintings "Autumn" (1918), "Gray Day" (1923), "Noon" (1930), "Before Twilight" (1935) and others, watercolors A.P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva(1871-1955) - "Pavlovsk" (1921), "Petrograd. Field of Mars (1922), paintings A.M. Gritsaya (b. 1917)"Summer Garden" (1955), "Noon" (1964), "May. Spring warmth "(1970), etc.
Portrait(from the French portraire - to depict) - an image, an image of a person or group of people that exists or existed in reality.
One of the most important criteria for portraiture is the similarity of the image with the model (original). There are various solutions for the composition in the portrait (bust, waist, full-length figure, group). But with all the variety of creative solutions and manners, the main quality of portraiture is not only the transfer of external resemblance, but also the disclosure of the spiritual essence of the person being portrayed, his profession, social status.
In Russian art, portrait painting began its brilliant history from the beginning of the 18th century. F.S. Rokotov (1735-1808), D.G. Levitsky (1735-1822), V.A. Borovikovsky (1757-1825) by the end of the 18th century. reached the level of the highest achievements of world art.
At the beginning of the XIX century. Russian artists V.A. Tropinin (1776-1857) and O.A. Kiprensky (1782-1836) created widely known portraits of A.S. Pushkin.
The Wanderers continued the traditions of Russian pictorial portraiture: V.G. Perov (1833/34-1882), N.N. Ge (1831 - 1894), I.N. Kramskoy (1837-1887), I.E. Repin (1844-1930) and etc.
A brilliant example of solving the compositions of portraits of prominent figures of science and art is a series of canvases created by the artist M.V. Nesterov (1877-1942). The master, as it were, found his heroes at the most intense moment of their creative, concentrated thought, spiritual search (ill. 13). This is how the portraits of famous Soviet sculptors were solved I.D. Shadra (1934) and V.I. Mukhina (1940), academician I.P. Pavlova (1935) and prominent surgeon S.S. Yudina (1935).
