Palekh- a small village in the Ivanovo region, the first mention of which dates back to the beginning of the 17th century. And today it is the world's most famous center of iconography and lacquer painting, which has no analogues in any corner of our planet. The works of Palekh masters do not leave anyone indifferent,
who once saw them.
At the turn of the 16-17th century, Palekh masters appeared who painted holy images, painted temples and cathedrals, and restored ancient frescoes. At the beginning of the 19th century, Palekh icon painting flourished, which is in great demand not only in Russia, but also abroad. The peculiar, elegant art of Palekh lacquer miniature combines the principles of ancient Russian painting and folk art.
If in some cities the creation of icons had an almost industrial distribution, then in Palekh for many years the original writing of holy images was preserved, which were painted by members of peasant families in their free time from agricultural labor.
It was noteworthy that in the peasant families of icon painters there was a division of labor: the drawing on the base was applied by the "signer", the clothes and chambers were painted by the "dolicnik", and the faces - by the "personalist". Palekh icons were created for a long time and scrupulously, they were sustained according to the canons of ancient samples, so their value was high.
But by the end of the 19th century in Rus', the number of icon painters greatly increased, which caused a decrease in the cost and deterioration in the quality of icon painting, and the demand for Palekh icons dropped sharply due to the high cost.
And the 1917 revolution that took place in Russia changed not only the whole way of life in Russia, but also the attitude towards the church. The production of icons became unclaimed and icon painters were left without work at all.
But the lacquer painting miniature of Palekh is a relatively young direction, which arose only about two centuries ago. The prerequisite for the emergence was that at the end of the 18th century, the Moscow merchant Korobov founded the production of varnished visors for army caps. And when snuff came into fashion, he also began to produce lacquered snuff boxes.
Over time, these caskets acquired a luxurious and rich look, they began to serve to decorate the premises. Using colorful coloring and Russian folk themes, Palekh masters used various plots of fairy tales, epics and legends in their work.
At the end of the civil war, Palekh craftsmen resumed their craft, now making caskets, brooches, powder boxes and other items from papier-mâché. They depicted plots from Russian folk tales, scenes of village life, and also used the work of Russian writers and poets.
The Second World War also brought its own plots to the Palekh painting - colorful military scenes. During the Soviet era, Palekh was characterized by pathos, ideology, and monumentalism. And only years later, the artists managed to restore romance and sublimity, poetry and allegoricalness.
To this day, lacquer miniatures are distinguished by bright colors on a black background, elongated figures, and thin lines. The decorativeness of landscapes and architecture, the elegant gold ornament framing the composition - all this makes the Palekh painting unique.
Each of the master miniaturists has his own professional style. This painstaking work requires from them not only inspiration, but also great precision and accuracy, since all painting is done by hand, and very often this requires a magnifying glass. Most of the miniatures are unique or produced in very small quantities.
The craft of Russian lacquer miniature began its history in 1795, with the first production of papier-mâché snuff boxes. The technology was brought by the merchant P.I. Korobov from Germany to the deep suburbs of Moscow to the village of Danilovka, which is now part of the village of Fedoskino. It was in those parts that the art of lacquer miniatures on snuffboxes began to develop, on which Russian folklore was depicted. Palekh painting is one of the branches of this art.
Ancient craft of Palekh
In Palekh, icon painters have been engaged since ancient times. In the village, where the inhabitants of Suzdal and Vladimir fled from the Tatar-Mongol yoke, they were engaged in monography with entire families, monumental painting, restoration of cathedrals and churches, and in particular the Novodevichy Convent, the churches of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the Faceted Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin.
Palekh painting on caskets, caskets, ashtrays, brooches and pincushions appeared much later after the revolution. Ivan Golikov, inspired by the works of the Lukutin masters in the Moscow Handicraft Museum, created his first miniature "Adam in Paradise", golden drawings on a black background. Later, together with a relative A.A. Glazunov created a workshop with Palekh masters. The picture shows the peculiarity of the craft.
After success at the exhibitions of the first works in Moscow and Venice, an artel of ancient painting was opened, and in 1933 the Palekh art school. Over the years, Palekh art has undergone ups and downs, but the works of Palekh artists are known to many and do not lose their successors in their work. The Palekh miniature was revived in 1980 and the production of boxes with this painting exists in the modern 21st century.
painting technique
Features of the Palekh lacquer miniature are recognizable among many arts. Traditional images of epic stories, fairy tales, the ancient life of peasants and merchants are characterized by conditional forms, drawn figures, and medieval stylization.
The palette of colors in miniatures corresponds to the old Russian traditions, where red, yellow, and green colors are combined, richly studded with gold, made on a black background.
The technique of painting miniatures in Palekh has preserved the stylistic customs of painting icons, as well as the manufacturing technology of the so-called tempera paints, which are made on the basis of dry pigments in the form of a powder, diluted with water. For the binder, chicken yolk was used, and later special polymers, oils in an adhesive solution. Tempera paints have now been replaced by oil paints, but are still used today for painting, as they have a high durability.
Gold paint is made from sheet gold, which is crushed and mixed with gum arabic, dissolved in water, then dried under a lamp. The process of making paint is very labor intensive., debris should not get into it, otherwise the paint will not go well. Paleshians also use aluminum powder. Under the varnish, it turns yellow.
The traditions of creating lacquer miniatures on caskets have retained their technology. Such a box is made in workshops for about two months. First, papier-mache is made from cardboard and paste, pressed, dried for about 10 days, soaked in warm linseed oil, then dried and pressed. From these blanks of papier-mâché, blanks of caskets are turned, primed with red clay, cleaned, and polished several times.
Then the product goes to the masters of painting, they apply the drawing in several stages. The first step is to paint with white, then by applying colored spots. At the end, contours and individual details are drawn, then the drawing is fixed with varnish, after which it can be applied with gold and silver.
After that, several layers of varnish are applied, which are gradually polished until the product is sufficiently even and smooth. Then they are put into soft packages.
In fact, many of the murals retain their technology, which is unparalleled in terms of quality and durability, the craftsmen use the old methods of producing original products, mixing paints, while obtaining the right colors that convey the ancient spirit and mystery. Illustrations of Palekh lacquer miniatures depict images in motion, creating liveliness in the plot. Developing manes, cloaks of heroes, whirlwinds of winds and waves of the seas.
The works of Palekh masters contain fairy tales depicting Pushkin's tales, in particular, the tale of the fisherman and the fish, Tsar Saltan, Ruslan and Lyudmila, as well as other folk tales and epics for children. The depicted images in the drawings are easily recognizable: three heroes, a fire bird, a learned cat and black horses with golden manes, as well as other fairy-tale characters known to us since childhood, as in the photo below.
Many people know Palekh primarily as a center of lacquer miniatures. But lacquer miniature painting in Palekh was started only after the revolution of 1717, when it became impossible to engage in icon painting, for which the city had been famous since ancient times. It is good for politicians who are instantly rebuilt with a change in the political system, and artists have to painfully look for new directions in their creative activity. And this happened more than once in the 20th century. When icon painting became irrelevant at the beginning of the century, the best artists of Palekh created the phenomenon of Palekh lacquer miniatures, which became famous all over the world. In the 1990s, the creative work of Palekh artists again required a restructuring, when the collectivist artel structure created during the years of Soviet power was completely destroyed. But the Palekh artists again came out of the situation with honor and were able to preserve the accumulated centuries-old experience both in icon painting and in the creation of lacquer miniatures. Fortunately, the connection between generations was not interrupted.
We visited Palekh during the already traditional summer trip to the cities of the Golden Ring. If last year the main city of the trip was Plyos, then this year Palekh became such a city. The city made an indelible impression. Many note the originality of the atmosphere of Palekh and the unusual aura of this place - an amazing city of artists. A river with a beautiful name, Paleshka, flows through the city. And the inhabitants of Palekh call themselves Paleshans. Palekh is the birthplace of the Firebird, on the coat of arms and flag of the city the Firebird flaunts, executed in the style traditional for Palekh lacquer miniatures - gold on a black background.
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Coat of arms of Palekh
Flag of Palekh
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Entrance to the city
History of Palekh
The history of Palekh goes back to ancient times. There are several versions of the origin of the toponym Palekh. In ancient times, Finno-Ugric tribes lived in these places in impenetrable forests and swampy swamps, which later merged with the tribes of the southern Slavs. Palekh in Finno-Ugric means an elevated place. Perhaps the name comes from the words "fell, scorch", that is, to burn the forest for settlement and plowing fields. It is known from written sources that already in the 12-13th century Palekh was a large village. It is assumed that the icon painters came to Palekh and the surrounding villages after the capture of Vladimir by the Tatars in 1238, that is, the Tatars could not do without them. Part of the population of the Vladimir-Suzdal land, including icon painters-monks, fled from the Tatars to dense, impenetrable forests, where they settled and preserved the art of icon painting. Icon-painting was a tribal affair and there were entire family dynasties, where boys first became icon painters by birth, and only then by vocation. In the 18th century, the art of Palekh icon painters acquired a peculiar style, later called "Palekh letters". Palekh icons were famous for the special subtlety of writing, bright tempera paints with the use of gold on the clothes of saints. The Paleshans were also known as masters of monumental murals; they participated in the painting and restoration of many churches and cathedrals throughout Russia. For example, the masters of the workshop of the Belousov brothers painted the Faceted Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin. The list of religious objects, the painting and restoration of which Palekh icon painters had a hand in, is impressive: these are the Dmitrovsky and Assumption Cathedrals of Vladimir, the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, the Assumption Cathedral of the Sviyazhsky Monastery, St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow, the Ipatiev Monastery in Kostroma and a lot others.
The well-known Russian historian Georgy Dmitrievich Filimonov, one of the founders of the first Public Museum in Moscow and head of the archives of the Armory, who visited Palekh in 1863, spoke of the Palekh artists in the following way: , because iconography here is not one means, but an end. And another quote: "Instead of miserable peasant artisans, quite unexpectedly, I met with a developed people, full of bright convictions and knowing their history ...". With the light hand of G.D. Filimonov, the name “village-academy” has stuck to Palekh since then.
In those days, the fame of Palekh went far beyond the borders of Russia. From the correspondence of the historian N. M. Karamzin, it is known that the German poet Goethe, in his declining years, dreamed of coming to Palekh and seeing how, among the Russian open spaces, artists, more like peasants, paint icons on wood that Byzantine masters would envy. Vladimir Governor A.N. Suponev even sent two icons to Weimar as a gift to Goethe, made by Palekh icon painters, the Kaurtsev brothers.
Arising in a deep province, in a peasant environment, Palekh icon painting has become a significant phenomenon in Russian artistic culture. But all icon-painting work naturally ceased with the coming to power of the Bolsheviks. Many families were left without a livelihood, many craftsmen forever parted with artistic craft. However, many among the Paleshans turned out to be those who could not imagine themselves outside the artistic profession. And a new artistic phenomenon happened, once again glorifying a small settlement in the Ivanovo region to the whole world. Palekh miniature, which arose as a result of social and cultural changes that occurred in Russia after the revolution of 1717, managed to preserve the centuries-old traditions of icon painting as a high art, transfer them to new forms and fill them with a different content demanded by society.
The founder of the Palekh style is Ivan Golikov, who wrote the first work in the so-called Palekh style in the Moscow workshop of Alexander Glazunov. This work was called "Adam in Paradise". The craftsmen mastered painting on the new papier-mâché material, from which they made caskets, powder boxes, jewelry, and transferred to them the technology of tempera painting, traditional for ancient Russian icons, and the conditional style of the image. For the first time, Palekh miniatures on papier-mache, commissioned by the Handicraft Museum, were presented at the All-Russian Agricultural and Handicraft Exhibition in 1923, where they were awarded a 2nd degree diploma. In 1924, seven Palekh artists, formerly established icon-painters, led by Ivan Golikov, united in the Artel of Ancient Painting. Already in 1925, Palekh miniatures were exhibited at the World Exhibition in Paris and received a gold medal there. In 1932, after the famous Moscow exhibition "The Art of Palekh", which aroused extraordinary public interest, the Union of Palekh Artists arose. In 1954, the Palekh art and production workshops of the Artistic Fund of the USSR were formed, which were successfully closed in the 90s.
What to see in Palekh
State Museum of Palekh Art. The museum's website is very informative and has an interesting video tour of Palekh. The museum was organized in 1934. Maxim Gorky took an active part in organizing the museum, although he had never been to Palekh. The Museum of Palekh Art is a significant museum complex, which includes many departments. The last to open was the exposition and exhibition center, which today houses the museum of icons. The exposition of the museum has many authentic ancient Palekh icons.
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The exposition and exhibition center, which houses the museum of icons
Icon "Akathist to the Savior" 1770s It is considered the standard of the Palekh style of icon painting. One of the most valuable icons of the Palekh Museum.
The Palekh lacquer miniature section is housed in a separate two-story building across Bakanov Street. The exposition of the museum of lacquer miniatures begins with showcases that tell about the artistic materials used in Palekh, the technology for making products from papier-mâché, and the methods of Palekh painting. The next room tells about the work of the founders of the art of Palekh lacquer miniatures N. I. Golikov, A. V. Kotukhin, I. V. Markichev and other masters, including modern ones. Through the exposition, one can trace the entire history of Palekh lacquer miniatures. It is better to take a tour in the museum, then the art of Palekh will definitely not pass by your consciousness. For us, the tour was conducted by a representative of one of the most famous dynasties of Palekh artists - the Korins. She is an artist by profession, like most of her relatives and ancestors, her husband is a sculptor.
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Lacquer miniatures are stored in showcases under glass and are difficult to photograph
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Classic examples of Palekh lacquer miniatures
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Ideologically sustained works
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Work dedicated to Gagarin. They say that Yuri Gagarin personally ordered this work to Palekh masters and planned to present it to Khrushchev.
Holy Cross Church. Erected in 1762-1774 in the strict forms of ancient Russian architecture of the 17th century by master Yegor Dubov on a high hill and dominates Palekh. The temple was built at the expense of parishioners. The wall painting was completed by 1807. The temple consists of four limits and a high bell tower. The interior of the temple is covered with frescoes, made by Palekh masters under the guidance of the Sapozhnikov brothers, owners of an icon-painting workshop in Moscow. Biblical history is presented in numerous compositions. All paintings are made in cold blue tones of a cloudless sky. Unfortunately, photography is not allowed inside the temple. The blue color of the domes of the Exaltation of the Cross Church is its distinguishing feature; you rarely see such a delicate heavenly color of the design of the domes. All members of our small company unanimously noted the architectural originality and exceptional beauty of the color design of the temple and associated it with the good artistic taste of the Palekh residents. The Exaltation of the Cross Church was not destroyed during the era of persecution of the church, and this is also the merit of the Paleshans. They showed some cunning when they applied to the People's Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR for the inclusion of the temple in the museum's exposition. In the spring of 1936, the property of the Exaltation of the Cross Church, including ancient icons, was transferred to the State Museum of Palekh Art, which actually saved the temple and all its contents.
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Exaltation of the Cross Church
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Bell tower of the Exaltation of the Cross Church
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A fragment of the outer wall of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Church with the author's inscription: "This temple of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is master Egor Dubov."
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Evening panorama of Palekh with the bell tower of the Exaltation of the Cross Church
House-Museum of Ivan Ivanovich Golikov. The first memorial museum in Palekh, connected with the creative heritage of the Paleshians. I. I. Golikov is considered the founder of the Palekh lacquer miniature and one of the most talented and brilliant artists of Palekh. The house-museum was opened in 1968 and is located in the courtyard of the museum of Palekh icons. The exposition of the museum consists of a memorial room, where personal belongings of the artist are presented, as well as a historical part, which tells about the creation of the Artel of ancient painting in Palekh. Unique old photographs of Palekh are presented. One of the museum stands presents the process of creating a Palekh box with Golikov's rare personal instruments. Among the exhibits of the museum there is a rare book "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" published in 1934 with illustrations by Golikov. It is noteworthy that the artist not only created illustrations for the book, but also wrote the entire text by hand.
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Golikov House-Museum
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Bust of I. I. Golikov in front of the house-museum
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Workplace of I. I. Golikov. The flask is an analogue of a fluorescent lamp, under which Palekh masters worked. A weak solution of copper sulphate was poured into it, and after reflecting the glow of a kerosene lamp, the light took on the desired spectrum.
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The stand demonstrates the sequence of creation of the famous Palekh casket. There are personal instruments of I. I. Golikov on the stand.
House-Museum of Korin. In 1974, the House-Museum of Pavel Dmitrievich Korin, People's Artist of the USSR, laureate of the Lenin and State Prizes, was opened in Palekh. P. D. Korin carefully preserved this old house, built at the end of the 19th century by his grandmother, the furnishings and things used by his ancestors and bequeathed all this to his native city, along with a unique collection of icons, iconography and Western European engravings. The museum also has works by many members of the Korin dynasty of artists - father, brothers and P. D. Korin himself: “A branch of mountain ash”, “Palekh is being built”, “Landscape with pines”, etc.
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House-Museum of Korin
Museum-workshop of N. V. Dydykin. In 1978, the museum-workshop of the sculptor Nikolai Vasilyevich Dydykin, Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR, was opened in Palekh. By analogy with the House of Korin, this house keeps the memory of the ancient Palekh family of the Dydykins, whose representatives cherished and were proud of their craft. In this tiny workshop, sculptural portraits of the oldest lacquer miniature artists: I. I. Golikov and N. M. Zinoviev, several sculptural and painting works by Andrei Rublev, portraits of A. Blok, D. Byron, S. Rachmaninov and others were created. Workshop and more than a hundred works by N.V. Dydykin were bequeathed to the State Museum of Palekh Art.
Church of Elijah the Prophet or Elias Church. It is an architectural monument of the 17th century. The church is located on the territory of an old churchyard, where the graves of famous Palekh artists have been preserved: the Sofonovs, the Korins, I.I. Golikov, I.M. Bakanov and others.
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Elias Church
The streets of old Palekh are a kind of museum, where each house reminds of the icon painters and masters of Palekh miniatures who lived and worked in them, their children and grandchildren were born here - the next generation of artists.
A bright poster in the Palekh style hangs on the main street, which depicts the main sights.
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The sights of Palekh, everything is within walking distance:
1-Hotel "Ark" 2-Salon "Russian varnishes" 3-Museum of lacquer miniatures 4-Museum of icons 5-House-museum of I. I. Golikov 6-Bust of I. I. Golikov 7-House of Culture of Palekh 8-Fountain "Ear of » 9-Exaltation of the Cross Church 10-Information and Local Lore Center 11-Stables 12-Temple of Elijah the Prophet (St. Ilyinskaya Church) 13-A. Nevsky Chapel 14-Monument to Paleshani Warriors 15-House-Museum of P. D. Korin 16-Museum-Workshop N. V. Dydykina 17-Dining room "Palekh" 18-Palekh art school 19-Art workshop "Palekh style"
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Here is such a central street of Palekh
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The Paleshka River is located very close to the center of the village.
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Creek on the Paleshka River
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And this is the Central House of Culture
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Almost the only local hotel called "Ark" with 7 rooms
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One of the main attractions is the stone house of the icon painter Nikolai Mikhailovich Sofonov. The house was built in 1860 and has survived to this day. N. M. Sofonov (1844-1910) - the most famous master of icon painting, knew ancient Russian icon painting to perfection, its styles, carefully preserved the traditions of this art and educated his masters and students in this spirit. Up to 250 employees worked in his icon-painting workshop, for the impeccable quality of work he was awarded the title of "Supplier of His Imperial Majesty". He was an excellent owner, paid good salaries to his workers, gave them the opportunity to work seriously, built houses for his workers in Ilyinskaya Sloboda (now Gorky Street), some of which have survived to this day. The workers of his workshop, among other works, carried out the restoration of ancient monuments of icon painting: frescoes of the Moscow Kremlin, the Novodevichy Convent, the Assumption Cathedral of Vladimir, the churches of Sergiev Posad, Pskov, Tsaritsyn and other cities of Russia.
On the way back from Palekh, we drove past the Palekh Art School and noticed an announcement above its entrance that an exhibition was being held in its foyer to sell the best works of the school's students. They could not refuse to look at the work of a new generation of Palekh artists. To comment on the work of students, the director of the school, Mikhail Romanovich Belousov, a very famous person in Palekh, easily came down to us. It is largely his merit that the school has such a high reputation in the Russian art community. As a souvenir, we bought a box of the best student of the school, in appearance it cannot be distinguished from the best examples of Palekh art, and this cannot but rejoice.
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But do not rush to run away to learn Palekh writing, in fact this is a hell of a job. First you need to make a form on which the painting will be done. It is made of cardboard, the best material is coniferous wood. The cardboard is cut into strips, smeared with flour paste and put in several layers on a wooden form (blank). After the desired thickness has been obtained, the blank, together with the cardboard, is fixed in a special press. Under the influence of pressure, a workpiece of the required shape and size is obtained. The workpiece is dried at room temperature for about two weeks. Then it is dipped for a day in warm linseed oil for impregnation, after which it is dried for several days in a special oven, the temperature in which is maintained at a certain level. At the next stage, the workpiece is primed and polished. After grinding, several layers of black varnish are applied to its outer surface, and oil varnish with cinnabar is applied to the inner surface. Cinnabar is a well-known scarlet-colored mercury mineral. At the end of the process, the entire surface is varnished with several layers of light varnish. After applying each layer, the workpiece is dried in an oven. Finally, the workpiece is treated with pumice so that the paint does not roll off a smooth surface. Only after all these manipulations, the artist will be able to start painting. But this is just preparation. The painting itself is made with fresh egg tempera paints layer by layer for quite a long time. The contour of the future drawing is applied to the product with a sharp pencil, then with the help of whitewash, underpainting is done. It is on it that the master will apply many transparent and thin layers of painting. To apply them, you need the thinnest brushes, and each artist himself knits them from squirrel hair. The work ends with the writing of created gold leaf (preparation of created gold on egg yolk is a separate song) and “silver” based on aluminum. The golden frame of the picture is a key element of the Palekh writing technique. After that, the drawing painted with gold is polished with the fang of a wild boar or wolf, and then the entire product is covered with several layers of varnish. After applying each of them, the drawing is dried, polished on a special polishing wheel, and then it is finished by hand polishing. Final polishing is done by hand only. The surface is processed within a few hours with a palm moistened with water. The lacquer surface, polished by hand to a mirror finish, gives the image additional depth and richness. And how, after such work, will the tongue turn to say that the Palekh caskets are too expensive?
There are such heartfelt poems by the local poet from Ivanovo Dmitry Semenovsky (1894-1960), dedicated to Palekh, who could not fail to mention:
Let the colors of the board polished ...
Over the overflow of the casket ...
Will look at the enchanted gaze ...
The soul of the people of the creator ...
We liked Palekh as a city of ancient folk craft, which has been preserved and developed despite the turbulent Russian history of the 20th century. It cannot be said that today everything is easy and simple for Palekh artists. There are problems, like the whole country, but after visiting the city, there was a bright feeling that everything will go well with the Palekh masters. The appearance of the city is somewhere unsettled, you can work on roads and transport, some houses require repair. And if we compare Palekh with small cozy Western European cities, then the comparison in appearance will certainly not be in favor of Palekh, but in terms of emotional impact on a Russian person, not a single foreign city is even close to Palekh.
A few words about the features of the lacquer miniature - the "calling card" of Palekh, too many fakes can be found today. The lacquer miniature is traditionally black and red inside. On the front side of the product in the lower left corner there must be a gold inscription "Palekh", and in the lower right - the initials of the author. On the bottom of the product there should be the brand name of the enterprise, varnished. The cost of the product cannot be low - Palekh painting is an expensive pleasure.
How to get to Palekh
There is no railway station in Palekh, the nearest station is 30 km away in Shuya. From Moscow by train it is better to go to Ivanovo. Next by bus. By car from the capital, the shortest route passes through Vladimir and Kovrov, a distance of about 350 kilometers. You need to go along the M7 road through Vladimir and Ivanovo, and then along the P152 through Shuya - the transfer will take about 6 hours. From Ivanovo to Palekh - 65 kilometers, from Nizhny Novgorod - 170 km.
Palekh painting originated in the village of Palekh, Ivanovo region, from where it got its name. This type of arts and crafts is truly unique, because, despite the fact that it has existed for more than one century, the technologies and methods of creating compositions do not change - the master himself prepares the object to be painted from beginning to end. Therefore, it is impossible to find two identical products painted in the Palekh style. The peculiarities of the Palekh painting are the elegance of the figures, the clarity, subtlety and fineness of the drawings, the dark background, a large number of shading made in gold.
As a rule, souvenirs and items that serve as interior decoration - caskets, chests, panels, ashtrays, brooches and similar items are painted with Palekh miniatures.
Artists do not perform individual ornaments or figures, but draw whole pictures depicting certain subjects. All the figures of the drawing by the Palekh artist are elongated - people, horses, and animals. The heroes of the paintings are always on the move, as evidenced by the clearly defined folds of clothing and waves of hair. The masters took and take the theme for the miniature from everyday life, fairy tales, songs, epics and fables, and thanks to the variety of colors and small details, the effect of lightness and celebration is created.
The peculiarities of Palekh painting are related to the fact that it was born from icon painting and is based on its traditions and techniques, even masters still use egg tempera as a paint, which icons are painted with.
For Palekh painting, a black or dark background is used, which symbolizes darkness, from which life and color are born in the process of painstaking and complex work, besides, it has an internal volume, which gives the paintings a special depth.
The technique of applying, fixing and processing a pattern has been passed down from generation to generation since ancient times, thanks to which unique things made using the Palekh technique are popular all over the world and are part of the culture not only of our country, but of the whole world.
We study the technology of making Palekh painting in miniature
Cardboard is used as a blank for Palekh miniatures. The craftsman cuts it into shapes and, using flour paste, glues it together in several layers (depending on the thickness of the product). Then the workpiece is pressed and thoroughly dried for several days.
After drying, the semi-finished product is impregnated with linseed oil - for this, it is immersed in a vat of hot oil for a day, after which it is dried in an oven for 2 days at a temperature of 100 °. After that, the product is treated with an emery brush, polished and the necessary accessories are fixed.
At this stage, the product is primed with a special composition of a mixture of oil, soot and red clay and varnished - 2 - 3 layers of black lacquer on the outside and oil varnish with vermilion on the inside. Then seven more (!) layers of light varnish are applied, each layer must be dried in the oven. Only after all these preparatory manipulations, the product becomes suitable for painting - the master lightly passes over the surface of the product with pumice, draws the contours of the picture and then paints it with a thin brush made of squirrel hair. Individual drawings in the composition are so small that the masters have to use a magnifying glass.
It is noteworthy that the master makes all the tools and materials on his own - paints, brushes, varnishes with primers, and other compositions necessary for high-quality work.
At this stage, the painted product is dried and the pictures are fixed with a special varnish. After that, the master proceeds to painting with gold and silver leaf, polishing it all with agate or a wolf's tooth (for extra shine). Then all products are again covered with several layers of varnish, dried and polished to a mirror finish. Due to the large number of lacquer layers that cover the product in the process of work, Palekh painting is also called lacquer miniature.
Due to the brightness of colors and liveliness of images, drawings in the style of Palekh painting are used to illustrate children's books with fairy tales. For children, these images are very interesting, since the drawing represents not just a static picture, but the whole story or plot of the work. But the photo below shows illustrations for some children's fairy tales, made in the Palekh style.
Video on the topic of the article
In order to get better acquainted with Palekh painting, we suggest watching several video clips that present various options for lacquer miniatures and describe in detail the stages of creating these unique and amazing images.
Palekh painting is a kind of folk arts and crafts that arose from icon painting traditions and is a Russian miniature painting with tempera paints on papier-mâché and wooden objects.
Palekh painting originated in the village of Palekh, Ivanovo region, already in Soviet times, but its roots go back centuries. The first mention of the art of Palekh painters dates back to the 17th century. The word Palekh itself refers to the Finno-Ugric group, the speakers of which completely disappeared among the Slavic people, leaving only geographical names - Palekh, Sezun, Purekh, etc. in their memories of their linguistic culture. It is believed that the village of Palekh was formed by people fleeing from the Tatar-Mongol on the site of a scorched area of \u200b\u200bthe forest, which is called singed in the common people. And so the name of the settlement was born, from which the names “Palekh icon painting”, “Palekh painting” and “Palekh miniature” originated.
General features of Palekh painting
Like any folk applied art related to a particular area, Palekh painting has a number of its own characteristics and features based on the traditions of the masters of this school. Since the founders of the art of Palekh miniatures were former icon painters, this fact could not but affect the style of writing artistic compositions created by Palekh painters. The Palekh masters of icon painting were distinguished by their impeccable sense of color and the finest drawing of every detail, which they brought to the drawings on caskets, cigarette cases and other handicrafts. We can say that the entire Palekh lacquer miniature is based on icon painting, its traditions and techniques.
Palekh painting differs from the painting style of other Russian folk schools in that the artists do not depict ornaments or individual figures, but draw whole compositions - real miniature paintings depicting a particular plot. The art of Palekh is poetry in drawing, moments of Russian songs and fairy tales, imprinted by the artist's hand on the surface of objects. The subjects of the master of miniature painting were taken from everyday life, Russian folk tales, songs and epics, as well as classical works of literature, for example, from Pushkin's fairy tales and Krylov's fables. Due to their sophistication, richness of colors and details of the drawing, Palekh miniatures create a feeling of lightness and celebration.
Distinctive features of the Palekh school are:
- miniature letter;
- the general soft tone of writing the composition;
- ornamental sophistication of the pattern;
- saturation of the composition with elements;
- picturesqueness of every detail;
- patterning of the letter;
- variety of color transitions;
- trees with naturalistic foliage;
- Stroganoff elongation and fragility of figures;
- the subtlety of drawing the naked parts of the human body;
- saturation with movement;
- gold painting;
- spaces;
- backgrounds of dark tones.
The black background, made with varnish and being the main “space” for the future composition, is not accidental in the Palekh miniature. The fact is that the art of lacquer miniature originated in the ancient countries of the Far East, where the material on which the image was painted was lacquer wood - a natural raw material. There was no such thing in Russia, so Russian craftsmen began to use papier-mâché covered with black varnish for painting. This coating has become the hallmark of Palekh painting. In addition, the black background for the Palekh miniature symbolizes darkness, from which, in the process of painting, life and color are born. In addition, the black background has its own internal volume, which gives the finished drawings depth in the composition.
Another distinctive feature of Palekh painting is that from the beginning of the art of Palekh miniature painting to this day, artists paint pictures with egg tempera, which was used to paint icons.
The golden color is not only part of the color scheme of the drawing and a distinctive feature of the works of Palekh painters. Thin lines of gold and silver serve to reveal light and shadows, reveal the shape of figures and individual elements of the composition. In addition, gold symbolizes light, which in the Christian worldview means something Divine, eternal.
The work of a miniaturist requires filigree precision, accuracy of every line, accuracy. Often, Palekh masters have to use a magnifying glass when writing their miniature masterpieces. The unique manner and elegance of the Palekh lacquer miniature is based on the centuries-old traditions of ancient Russian painting and the rich experience of folk art.
You can see the features of the technology in the pictures.
History of origin and development in Russia
The birth of the art of miniature painting in Palekh is not accidental. It arose from the centuries-old traditions of Russian painting and folk art, which is its basis. The experience of many generations of Palekh painters and icon painters is very diverse and rich.
Palekh's icon painters developed their own unique style under the influence of their neighbors - the Novgorod, Stronovo and Yaroslavl schools, as well as the Volga painting of the 17th century. Despite the fact that the icon-painting style adhered to strict canons, each school tried to bring its own features and characteristics into the painting of icons, expressed in the selection of colors, details of the image of people, objects, clothing, or landscape elements. Depending on the time and conditions of writing icons, the manner of depiction and the set of elements changed. On some Palekh icons you can find details from the everyday life of people of that time: dishes, interior items, weapons or clothes. There are images of chambers, wagons, landscapes and architectural elements.
The first mention of Palekh is found in chronicles dating back to the beginning of the 17th century. In the historical documents of that time, there are descriptions of Palekh as a place with a well-developed icon-painting industry - by that time there were about twenty icon-painting workshops in the village. However, its own style, distinguished by its special elegance, filigree accuracy of the image, subtlety and smoothness of lines, and a large number of colors of golden hues used to write the robes of saints, developed only closer to the middle of the 18th century.
In addition to painting icons, the Paleshians were also engaged in monumental painting, taking part in the painting of temples and churches, creating real masterpieces on the walls, without which we cannot imagine the decoration of even the most modest church interiors. For example, from 1762 to 1774, the Exaltation of the Cross Church was erected in the very center of Palekh, the painting of which was entirely done by local artists.
By the middle of the 17th century, folk rumor had spread the news about the magnificent works of the Palekh painters and reached the major cities of Russia, including Moscow. Palekh masters began to be invited to the capital city for painting and restoration of temples, cathedrals and churches. The art and talent of the icon painters of the village, located on the Paleshka River, can be appreciated even today by visiting such famous historical monuments of Russia as the Faceted Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin, the Novodevichy Convent or the Sergiev Posad Lavra.
Palekh icons were a very expensive pleasure, as they were painted for a long time and carefully, according to the samples of the preserved old works of the masters of the past, and were the best examples of the Russian icon painting tradition. Despite the high price, there was no shortage of demand for icons painted in Palekh, and from the 18th century Palekh became the center of icon painting, preserving the best traditions of the Russian painting school of the 15th-17th centuries. The Palekh school became famous throughout the country, the icon-painting industry flourished, and the works of the masters were bought up very willingly.
However, by the end of the 19th century, the creation of icons in Russia took on an almost industrial scale, which led to a deterioration in the quality of works. In pursuit of the speed of creating icon-painting compositions, for an increase in the number of works, everything that was so valued in Russian painting was lost - drawing details, creating airiness, transparency of the image, filling the volume with various elements, conveying the subtlest emotions on the faces of saints. Icons were becoming cheaper, and their quality was getting worse and worse. A particularly heavy blow to the traditions of manuscript painting was the invention and spread of mass printing, as a result of which very cheap and affordable printed icons appeared. However, the last and most crushing blow to Russian, including Palekh, icon painting was dealt by the socialist revolution of 1917. After those events, the Palekh masters were left practically without work, since under the new government, the creation of icons became not only unprofitable, but simply dangerous. Thus, a sharp turn was marked for Palekh painting, when it took all the experience accumulated over the centuries to be used in another area of creativity. Well, icon painting has ceased to exist.
The art of Palekh miniatures is relatively young. It was born already during the Soviet era. After the end of the civil war, the Palekh masters came up with a new kind of application of their art. Literally within five or six years, a new art of the great Palekh was born - a lacquer miniature on all kinds of items used in everyday life: caskets, cigarette cases, brooches, notebooks, powder boxes and other necessary little things made of papier-mâché. The new art was also characterized by a new theme - plots from village life, plots from Russian folk tales, plots taken from the work of Russian writers and poets were added.
The first attempt to switch to a new type of art happened in 1918, when the former masters of icon painting created their “First Artistic Decorative Palekh Artel”, which is engaged in restoration. But because of the civil war, it soon fell apart.
In the middle of 1920, Palekh artists united in a new artel, which was engaged in painting wooden utensils and other household items. And since 1923, the best masters of art painting have found the best application for the traditions of the icon painting genre - they began to use writing and the Palekh style of painting to create painted products from papier-mâché, borrowing the idea from the masters of Fedoskino near Moscow, where such folk craft has existed for more than a century. The desire of Palekh icon painters to sing the beauty of their native nature, to pass on to new generations their richest experience and the secrets of painting, kept for centuries, led to the creation of a special artistic language. A group of former Palekh icon painters managed to create a symbiosis of the classical traditions of Russian painting and folklore, using the techniques of these genres to make unique items made of wood and papier-mâché.
In their miniatures, the masters of the early Soviet era used not only themes from the life of the people and the motives of the nature of their native land, but also fairy tales, episodes from fables and songs. Among the plots of Palekh painting, along with round dances, troikas of horses, musicians and hunting scenes, there are heroes of Krylov's fables, Pushkin's fairy tales and magnificent landscapes of the picturesque places of their native land.
The masters of the twenties and thirties of the last century did not abandon the use of egg tempera, the usual techniques of artistic writing and elements written in gold. For their lacquer miniatures, the Palestinians took as a basis the vast experience in creating icon-painting canvases: the organization and fullness of space, the integrity of the composition, medieval stylization, conventionality of shapes and figures, the use of the ornamental basis of the picture. All these techniques helped to solve the problem of transferring a flat image to the surface of three-dimensional objects.
The works of masters of Palekh painting made an indelible impression on connoisseurs of folk art abroad. Patrons of foreign countries, shocked by the art of Russian painters, offered Palekh masters the most favorable conditions for creative activity. Maxim Gorky, who was one of the admirers of Palekh lacquer miniatures, invited Palekh artists to the Moscow region. However, Russian masters did not want to break away from their roots, preferring to draw their creative inspiration from the beauties of their native land. The slender silhouettes of hipped-roof temples, iridescent glare on the calm water surface of the Paleshka rivulet, black and white birch trunks and foliage playing with the sun's rays, pine crowns shimmering with dark shades of green, towering hills covered with meadow flowers - all this splendor of Russian landscapes found its place among variety of themes in Palekh painting.
Over time, caskets, brooches and other items used for painting began to decorate images associated with the development of the technical progress of the Soviet era. Drawings of the first tractor, mowers, combines, fields sown with wheat and the life of collective farm villages, as well as images of new buildings, holidays dedicated to one or another memorable anniversary, transmitting the pulse of that time, appeared on the black lacquer coating. In the compositions of some of the masters of Palekh of the Soviet era, there are paintings of industrialization, captured in the style of symbolism. Often, artists dress the achievements of the Soviet people in a fairy-tale form to convey images. The theme of electrification is solved through the image of the Firebird, and the shortcomings of people take the form of bad folklore characters in the form of Leshy and Baba Yaga, over whom young pioneers arrange a fair trial. But even in these works, the influence of fresco painting and the best traditions of the Palekh style can be traced.
There is also a children's theme in the Palekh miniature of the Soviet era. On the pictures created by the painters of the Palekh art workshops, stories appear that tell about young naturalists, fishermen, and pioneers.
Each of the creators of Palekh miniatures is unique and diverse. Each of them is a true master of composition. In Soviet times, the strict art of Palekh is transformed: dynamics and freedom are added to the miniatures. Each period brought its own special nuance to Palekh painting, reflecting the events of its time. So in the post-war era, plots glorifying the heroic deed of the people and images of memorable battles of past eras became relevant topics for Palekh painting. Many of the artists turn to military themes, turning the harsh reality of the times of great battles into the sublime romanticism of sacrifice and feat for the sake of their native country and glorifying the Russian people defending their freedom in the battle against foreign invaders.
At the same time, many art historians call the period of the fifties not the most successful. At that time, many of the Palekh artists began to strive for the realism of the created miniatures, sacrificing the sophistication, sublimity and romantic component inherent in the old tradition. The influence of Soviet ideology was manifested in the creation of compositions with maximum external credibility, thanks to which pathos themes appeared in the Palekh miniature, glorifying the labor feat of the people. As a result, the traditional allegorical and poetic beauty of the pictorial language disappeared from Palekh painting for a while. But there was excessive embellishment, pathos and monumentality. But even in those difficult times, adherents of the oldest school of Palekh remained, continuing and passing on to the next generations the traditions and secrets of the masters of the past, creating paintings that did not go beyond the language of true art.
A separate thread of Palekh miniature painting are stories from songs, both folk and those created by Soviet authors. Having gone through all the hardships of post-war life, the Palekh masters again turn to peaceful subjects, drawing them from the song and poetic genre. The Palekh masters, who took the themes of the songs of Soviet classics as the basis of their compositions, managed to convey the entire emotional fullness of life of that time.
The sixties of the last century became a period of overcoming hackneyed canonical forms and excessive naturalism. Palekh painters were looking for new images and themes, referring to the legacy of the classics. Plots from classical operas and literature appear in the works of the masters. Themes from the works of Goethe, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin and other classics were embodied in Palekh lacquer miniatures. At the same time, the artists of Palekh again turn to the original Russian plots: the patriarchal way of life of the villages, shepherd motifs and uncomplicated landscapes of their native land. Simple images of a basket with mushrooms, bouquets of wild flowers, bunches of juicy berries, springs of clear cool water also appear in the drawings.
The image of a Russian woman also finds its place among the works of Palekh painters. The artists were able to fully reveal the essence of the keeper of the hearth - simple in its naturalness, possessing that very elusive, it would seem, beauty that the Russian land itself carries.
A new branch appears in the work of Palekh painters - painting on porcelain. Although attempts to create works on this material have been carried out since 1920, then this did not bring success. In order to still master the necessary writing technique, Palekh artists often visited factories for the production of ceramics and porcelain. And over time, the Paleshians learned to use all the possibilities of a white background, and also mastered the technique of painting with paints on ceramics, which changed their original color when the products were fired.
The seventies and eighties brought a new surge in the work of Palekh masters. The works of artists of that time are distinguished by the expressiveness of the images created in the drawing, the emotionality of the composition, the lively energy of the written characters. In addition to writing traditional miniatures, Palekh painters take part in the creation of scenery for concert programs, in the creation of monumental paintings on fairy-tale themes, in the design of the interiors of cinemas and palaces of cultures. Some artists sought to embody innovative ideas, moving away from traditional canons, but not rejecting the accumulated experience in the technique of writing in a special Palekh style.
The Soviet period not only gave rise to the Palekh lacquer miniature, but also contributed to the development of this craft. The Museum of Ancient Painting in Palekh was organized, which was renamed the State Museum of Palekh Art. The rich experience of the Palekh masters was used to create sketches of scenery for theatrical performances, illustrations for book editions of the works of Pushkin, Krylov, Gorky and other Russian and Soviet writers. Palekh artists took part in the restoration of church murals in many Russian cities, including Moscow. The development of the Palekh miniature brought new trends to Russian folk painting. In the Palekh lacquer miniature, the motifs of antiquity, the Renaissance, as well as the trends of modern art movements began to be used. Palekh masters mastered new color transitions, focusing on more subtle relationships between tones. With the development of Palekh art, the traditional modeling of the volume of the depicted figures with gold spaces became a solution for other tasks of miniature painting - artists began to use gold to fill the space of the picture with light and warmth. Some masters moved away from the theme of their native heritage and turned to the historical motifs of other countries. A special touch in the work of Palekh artists was the theme of the Eastern countries, where the masters of Palekh managed to convey all the brightness of the colors of the East and its unique flavor. Some works of Palekh masters were awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation.
Modernity
At present, Palekh painting is as relevant as in past times. Every year, the Palekh art school produces new masters who have absorbed the traditions and style of the original Palekh painting. They create unique hand-painted works of art. Each thing carries the unique style of the master, individual features inherent in his work and artistic vision.
A huge burden of responsibility has fallen on the shoulders of modern masters, because they are the successors of the traditions of their eminent ancestors, whose hands created real masterpieces that went down in the history of not only Russian art. The best examples of Palekh painting have long been included in the number of works of art that are world heritage.
Modernity has brought many changes to the culture and daily life of the Paleshans. The way of life of the ancient village has changed, which has now become a regional urban-type settlement. More and more comes the influence of large cities and modern themes in art. Meanwhile, folk traditions, naturalness, simplicity and folklore images remain in the past. However, these changes are not capable of seriously affecting the original Russian beginning. The centuries-old traditions of Palekh painting live in the work of Palekh masters to this day. Even in our time, Palekh does not change his picturesque nature. The soul of the people, Russian flavor and centuries-old traditions of craftsmanship, passed down from generation to generation, live in the work of its artists. As before, Palekh artists strive to see beauty in everyday life, turn reality into a fairy tale, capture the beauty of their native nature in their works.
Modern painters of Palekh use all the accumulated experience of the old masters in creating their compositions: natural colors, the traditions of fresco painting, a special style inherent in the artists of this corner of Russia only. Their work is united by sincere devotion to the traditions of their school, the deep sources of Palekh art. Plots for creating unique miniatures of modern masters are eternal themes, which are sung by the classics of the past and the authors of our time. Paleshians draw their inspiration from the rich heritage of Russian culture and the splendor of their native nature.
Conclusion
Preserving the unique traditions of folk craft and the heritage of the great masters of the Palekh school, Fratelli Bassini produces lacquerware in the style of Palekh miniatures of the widest range: from real works of art of museum value to small souvenirs that are so nice to buy as a gift. Caskets, decorative panels, caskets, jewelry, boxes, trunks, cases, made by the hands of our craftsmen, are in museum and private collections in Russia and abroad.
In 2005, an icon-painting workshop was founded at our enterprise, the task of which was the revival of traditional Russian icon-painting. Behind our masters is a wealth of practical experience passed down by past generations of Russian painters. Special art education, the highest professionalism of artists and strict observance of the canons of stylistics and techniques of the Palekh icon-painting style, allow us to complete an order of any complexity from a miniature jewelry fold and icons for the home to the manufacture of iconostasis and monumental cathedral painting.
Own production base and the potential of highly qualified specialists and professional artists make it possible to make unique gifts that exist in a single copy or represent a collection of several items.
The works of our painters were exhibited and were successful at numerous foreign exhibitions: in Hamburg at the "Mark der Volker", in Potsdam at the European Congress of Storytellers, in London (at the Pushkin House), at the Paris office of UNESCO.
New Year's toys are far from just ordinary Christmas tree decorations that evoke a sense of celebration and a feeling of sincere admiration, not only objects of admiration. Currently, these are also the pride of collectors who collect their unique pieces of Christmas tree decorations, testifying to the taste, interests and preferences of the owner. And also about its stability and well-being.
Christmas balls, hand-painted by masters of lacquer miniatures Palekh and Kholuy, are a fairly new phenomenon that has existed on the art market for only a few recent years. Preserving the ancient folk tradition at its core, our miniaturists have mastered the elements and trends of modern fine art in painting toys. It became possible to create New Year's decorations not only with traditional ornaments, but also with modern subjects, made in a different pictorial manner, not constrained by the stylistic canons of craft.
Hand-painted Christmas balls, figurines, caskets and other products with traditional fairy tale, literary, architectural and folklore plots, complemented by congratulatory inscriptions and logos - this is a magnificent and unique gift.
The technology for the production of Christmas decorations basically repeats the traditional one, with the only difference being that the lacquer used for painting is applied to glass, and not to a papier-mâché or wood base. Due to the “bent” base and the fragility of the material, the process of varnishing, painting and polishing requires special skills from craftsmen and artists, which our professionals are fluent in.
