Our week
long Russian trip has just started and we have already managed to visit the
Russian museum in St. Petersburg. Therefore, we have found out that art here
does not flourish only in Hermitage, and the Russian museum offers a vast
collection of masterpieces too. Tired after an exhausting journey we
appreciated several couches from which we could in peace observe and analyse
the canvases. A little bit less appreciated, on the other hand, ended up the
main building of the museum, which is practically a maze and the map, honestly,
did not make much of a difference.
In such an
inspiring place like gallery it is, apart from getting inspired, also easy to
get overwhelmed. Especially, if there are too many objects to observe, and even
though Russian museum is not the biggest gallery, it offers enough space to get
a bit, let’s say – over excited? Therefore, I usually find helpful to know in
advance which objects I want to see, and I subsequently use them as my target
points. However, that does not mean that I do not pay attention to other artworks.
I do. I always discover new “favourites”, but my group of masterpieces protects
me from running from one painting to another all confused and unfocused.
The Russian
museum offers primarily Russian art (what a shocker), and not all of it could
be considered as “Picasso/Monet famous” kind, (at least for us non-Russians).
For that reason, I have decided to write down some paintings, which either
belonged to my target group or I discovered and fell in love with while
visiting. Hopefully, it could work as an inspiration or simply as a motivation for
visiting the Russian museum or the city of St. Petersburg in general.
Ilja Repin
(1844-1930) - The Volga Boatmen
Yep, you got that right. That one was on my list long
before I visited the Russian museum. This picture definitely belongs to „must
see“ masterpieces.
Ilja Repin was a Russian (born in Ukraine, at that
time part of the Russian empire) painter who with his realist paintings helped to
bring the Russian art into the European mainstream.
The picture depicts the exhaustion of men dragging a
barge on the Volga River. Repin was often attracted by day by day images of
common folk. In this picture he depicted an inhuman work and men’s dignity.
Alexei Sundukov (1952 - ) : Queue
This painter was born in Russia, but moved to the US in 1989 and most of his work is, therefore, exhibited in the US.
For most of the people Soviet art is represented by the ideological paintings depicting the Soviet leaders or motivated and happy workers. And indeed, these paintings existed and were used as a tool of propaganda the Soviet Union since the Stalin era. However, after the death of Stalin, and especially the destruction of his cult, the so called non-conformists arose. They started to depict some disturbing images from lives of ordinary Soviet citizens. And Alexei Sundukov was one of them, rejecting the propagandist purpose of Soviet art.
Pavel
Chistyakov (1832-1919): Giovannina sitting on the Window-sill
I have
noticed that picture only by an accident, but the atmosphere together with the
composition enthralled me.
There is
not much written neither about the author nor the actual painting. However,
Pavel Chistyakov was mostly known for his historical and genre scenes and portraits.
Arkhip
Kuindzhi (1842- 1910) : Moonlight Night On The Dnieper
This
enchanting painting belongs to the ones I hadn’t known before the visit. And it
simply attracted my attention and I enjoyed observing it.
This
painter comes from a poor background and through working as a retoucher in the
photography studio, studying art independently he finally managed to receive
some appreciation for his paintings. He liked playing with light, which is also
visible in the picture “Moonlight Night on The Dnieper” where using light
effects and intense colours shown in main tones he depicted the illusion of
illumination.
Valentin
Serov (1865 – 1911): Ida Rubinstein
I caught
myself staring at the picture for a while. It was probably the expressive shape
of the body together with the gloomy colours, which struck me the most. (My
current possession with expressionism probably played a role in that.) But I
mean, don’t you like it?
This
painting belongs to the late period of the painter’s career. He left his
impressionistic tendencies behind and his modernistic style developed. He dedicated
his works mostly to the dramatic portraits of famous people. The one below
depicts Russian dancer and actress - Ida
Rubinstein.
P.N.Filonov
(1883 – 1941) : Formula of Spring and Acting Forces
I am not usually
very fond of paintings, which are too abstract. Nevertheless, the unusual
layout and dynamic of colours made me interested.
Filonov was
member of the so called Russian avant-garde movement and one of the founders of
non-objective art, and apart from being a painter he was also a poet and art
theorist. His Spring Formula shows
a striving for generalized plasticity, depth of meaning, and versatility of
symbols. A work of art should grow as any other living body in the nature. The
very idea of spring is connected with growth, movement, awakening of nature.
The composition of the painting is built from colourful atoms, as a living body
that the artist sees from inside. P. Filonov developed an analytical art theory
and gave his pupils the following advice: “Paint every atom with precision,
meticulously inject colour into each atom you work on, let it sink in, as heat
sinks into a body, let it be organically connected with the form, as the cells
of a plant with a flower”. [1]
Aleksandr
Deyneka (1899 – 1969) : Young Woman With Book
Who would
ever guessed, that I could become a fun of Socialist Realism, but hands down…
some of Deyneka’s works are just awesome.
Deyneka
mostly depicted sports, genre scenes and labour. And btw, apart from the “Young
Woman With Book” it is also the “Worker on a Bicycle” worth seeing.
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Hopefully,
I have provided a brief guideline or at least a small drop of inspiration. The
Russian museum is often being overlooked, mostly because of all the famous
paintings exhibited in the Hermitage (also awesome, btw). However, the Russian art has a lot to offer
as well, and my article was just a tiny appetizer from the savory dish of Russian paintings exhibited in the State Russian museum.
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