Orest kiprenski (слайд 5)

PART II

RUSSIAN PAINTING (XIX-XX CENTURIES)

NEO-CLASSICISM (слайды 1,2)

KARL BRULLOV (слайд 3)

(1799 - 1852)

K. Brullov was Russia’s first all-round artist, and because of this he will always remain important; even today, when tastes are dominated by the appeal of a very different style, the pictorial qualities in many of his canvases, and especially in his portraits, are absolutely evident.

The artistic life of the country was then entirely controlled by the Academy of Fine Arts (established in 1754). The Academy had proclaimed that “art must aim at revealing virtue, at im­mortalizing the deeds of the great men who deserve the nation’s gratitude, and at encouraging the heart and mind to emulate them”, and historical painting became the part of the Academy’s curriculum. Unfortunately, the themes were invariably drawn from mythological or classical sources, and they were therefore de­void of any sense of actuality.

The academic outlook was deeply rooted in Brullov, like so many of his contemporaries, he often responded to the canons of taste created by the Romantic movement, though his training saved him from succumbing to temptation of excessive sentimentality, as did many of his contemporaries. “The Rider” (1833) (слайд 4) shows the artist at his best, revealing his technical mastery, his fine sense of composition, and his feeling for elegance and grace. The Romantic spirit which imbued the painting enhances its appeal, for it is bereft of the sentimentality which marks so many paintings of this period.

OREST KIPRENSKI (слайд 5)

(1782 - 1836)

Indeed, only two painters, both of them the sons of serfs, were true Romantics who succeeded in imbuing their works with the Byronic spirit without ever turning it into a formula. His talent carried him to the Academy and his work is as a result very accomplished, but it is owing to his innate artistic abilities that it is also al­most always interesting. He studied in Petersburg Art Academy (1788-1803) and had been the pensioner of Academy up to 1809. Passionate in his approach and endowed with a better sense of colour than most of his contemporaries, his canvases are not only valuable records of the period, but of­ten also true works of art. He was the best at portraiture. His most familiar work is the “Portrait of Alexander Pushkin” (слайд 6) which prompted the poet to remark that “ the mirror flatters me ”. Besides, his best portrait is considered to be the “Portrait of E.V. Davidov” created in 1809. (слайд 7) The contrast between a lighted model’s face and a dark background helped the painter to show a special depth in disclosing a psychological condition of the sitter.