tretyakov gallery, moscow _ picture gallery, the masterpieces (1)

State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Picture Gallery, The Masterpieces

(1)

VRUBEL, MikhailSwan princess 1900Oil on canvas, 142 × 83 cm Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

VRUBEL, MikhailSwan princess (detail)1900Oil on canvas, 142 × 83 cm Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

VRUBEL, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Demon (sitting)1890 Oil on canvas. 116.5 cm x 213.8 cm Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

VRUBEL, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Demon (sitting)(detail)1890 Oil on canvas. 116.5 cm x 213.8 cm Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

KUSTODIYEV, Boris Mikhailovich A beauty1915oil on canvas, 141 х 185State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

KUSTODIYEV, Boris Mikhailovich A beauty (detail)1915oil on canvas, 141 х 185State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

BOROVIKOVSKY, Vladimir LukichPortrait of E.A. Naryshkina1799oil on canvas, 72.8 x 59.6State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

BOROVIKOVSKY, Vladimir LukichPortrait of E.A. Naryshkina (detail)1799oil on canvas, 72.8 x 59.6State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

KRAMSKOY, Ivan Nikolayevich An Unknown Lady1883oil on canvas, 75,5 x 99State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

KRAMSKOY, Ivan Nikolayevich An Unknown Lady (detail)1883oil on canvas, 75,5 x 99State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

PUKIREV, Vasily Vladimirovich The Unequal Marriage1862Oil on canvas, 173 х 136,5State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

PUKIREV, Vasily Vladimirovich The Unequal Marriage (detail)1862Oil on canvas, 173 х 136,5State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow_Gallery, The Masterpieces (1)

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PUKIREV, Vasily Vladimirovich The Unequal Marriage

The painting was received with delight by the public. The Imperial Academy of Arts in St Petersburg awarded the author the title of professor (1863) in recognition of this work and this was seen by the critics as a victory of new tendencies in art: “The Academy is making a professor of a man who painted a large canvas, but what canvas? A painting which does not show a fire, or a battle, or either ancient or modern history…” Everyone was excited by the new and contemporary topic, about the power of money and the author’s

opinion which were clearly expressed by the figure of the young man standing behind the bride. The position was shown so openly, that the painting was considered to be autobiographical and the young man was assumed to be the artist’s own self portrait

This painting depicts a wedding ceremony in an Orthodox church. The young, dowerless bride is marrying an old official against her will. According to one theory, the painting depicts the artist’s own romantic drama. Vasily Pukirev’s former bride-to-be served as the prototype for the image of the bride. Also, the image of the best man, shown behind the

bride at the edge of the painting, with his arms across his chest, portrays the artist himself.

VRUBEL, MikhailSwan princess

Swan Czarevna is the heroine of the "Tales about Tzar Saltan" by A.S.Pushkin, suggested by the images of Old-Slavic myths. Pushkin's fairy tale found new life in the opera of the same title by N.A.Rimsky-Korsakov (1900). Vrubel designed the scenery for the production, with the artist's wife, Nadezhda Zabela-Vrubel (1868-1913) starring as Swan Czarevna. "All

the singers sing like birds; and Nadya, as a human being!"

Vrubel used to say about her performance. But the painting is not a costume portrait of the actress; it is a charming myth about supreme beauty, about the secret of its manifestation in the world. The aesthetics of symbolism interprets the swan as the epitome of inspiration, which may either elevate the soul or reveal to it darker, mysterious sides of life. The artist

imparts to his image demonic traits.

Swan Czarevna is a creature of dual nature: she epitomizes two elements: the dark, cold element of water, and the airy, celestial element pointing heavenward. The artist tries to seize the moment when a maiden turns into a bird, the miraculous metamorphosis of shapes, which seem to be melting in the last rays of the setting sun. He freezes the elusive movement

of departing czarevna. The picture seems to be a disembodied phantom of a vision.

KUSTODIYEV, Boris Mikhailovich A beauty

In his best-known picture Kustodiyev managed to fuse the images of national romanticism movement in art with the perfection of neo-classical forms.

As recalled by the artist's daughter, "the picture was based on Russian popular pictures, signs, toys made craftsmen, Russian embroidery and costumes". The folk ideal was rendered in Kustodiyev's works singularly monumental: his tradeswomen are sort of goddesses, who personify folk ideas of happy life, full belly and wealth. But the artist

hyperbolized the people's dream. He turns to the genre of nude model, which is rare for the history of Russian art.

The tradeswoman, dazed from her sleep, emerges from under a satin blanket like Aphrodite rising from a seashell. The picture's every detail is a metaphor, with everything designed to provide an illustration to the folk ideas of female beauty: straw-coloured hair, scarlet cherry-like lips, apple-red cheeks, swan-like neck, groomed smooth "blood-and-

milk" body. In portraying his beauty, Kustodiyev superimposes the vision of a naive artist and sophisticated aestheticism of the Russian Silver Age

VRUBEL, Mikhail Aleksandrovich Demon (sitting)

The painting is the first significant work of Russian symbolism to define its central theme: the creative artist's quest for supreme beauty. The artist creates an image in line with the spiritual quest of his time. He states that his hero "is a spirit, but a spirit that is not so much vicious as suffering and melancholic, but for all that, a spirit that is majestic and

power-hungry".

Demon's image is full of contradictions: a spiritual face and mighty body. The gesture of clasped strong hands is like the effort of breaking chains. The hero is lost in melancholic contemplation of the dying colours of sunset. His powerful figure feels cramped in the horizontal format of the composition. But Demon's sadness is not sterile. The world around

him emerges in a new transformed state.

The artist portrays the metamorphosis of shapes, with flowers appearing as crystals as a result. Working with a palette-knife (a thin steel plate), Vrubel seems to combine the techniques of a painter and a sculptor, which results in creation of shapes to resemble faceted stones. This gives rise to monumental technique to imitate mosaic. The theme of

Demon, an epitome of eternal struggle of anguished spirit, became central to the artist's work.

BOROVIKOVSKY, Vladimir LukichPortrait of E.A. Naryshkina

The portrait of Yelena Aleksandrovna Naryshkina (1785–1855) is one of the best female portraits painted by Borovikovsky at the end of the 18th century. Naryshkina was the daughter of senior chamberlain A.P. Naryshkin. Her first marriage was to the son of Field Marshal A.V. Suvorov, Count A.A. Suvorov-Rymniksky.

After becoming a widow, she remarried, becoming the wife of Prince V.S. Golitsyn. Е.А. Naryshkina had good musical talent. The Italian composer Giacomo Rossini wrote a cantata in her honour. She was a friend of the poets V.A. Zhukovsky and I.I. Kozlov. The artist has depicted her as a still young and charming girl with a languorous smile and

regard directed straight at the viewer.

The model is dressed in a delicate and modest frock with her curled locks let down to her shoulders. We can sense in the portrait an influence of Late Classicism – the precise drawing, the definition of the outlines, the colour range which gravitates towards local tones.

KRAMSKOY, Ivan Nikolayevich An Unknown Lady

The viewer is intrigued both by the model and her name. We see here depicted a young woman in a carriage against the background of the Anichkov Palace in St Petersburg.

The woman is not particularly beautiful but she is impressive and “chic.” Her costume corresponds to the latest fashion of the time and indicates that she belonged to the “ladies of the demi-monde.” Not without reason the critics called her “the coquette in a carriage,” “the dear camellia” and “one of the offspring of big cities.” Kramskoi

emphasizes a certain demonism in his heroine’s features - the sensuous lips; eyes that seem to be hazy, under a veil, thick eyebrows forming a broken arc. The topic of the beauty of sin became fashionable among the next generation of Russian artists.

The painting is unusually bright, densely painted, and relaxed. Kramskoi clearly tried to shine with his outstanding painterly mastery

tretyakov gallery, moscow _ picture gallery, the masterpieces (1)

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