The Tretyakov brothers came from an old, but not very rich merchant family. Their father, Mikhail Zakharovich, gave them a good home education. From their youth they took up family matter, first commercial and then industrial. The brothers created the famous Big Kostroma linen manufactory, did a lot of charity work and social activities. Both brothers were collectors, but Sergei Mikhailovich did this as an amateur, but for Pavel Mikhailovich it became his life’s work, in which he saw his mission.
Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov is not the first collector of Russian art. Famous collectors were Kokorev, Soldatenkov and Pryanishnikov; at one time there was a Svinin gallery. But it was Tretyakov who was distinguished not only by artistic flair, but also by democratic convictions, deep true patriotism, and responsibility for his native culture. The important thing is that he was both a collector and a patron of artists, and sometimes an inspirer, a moral co-author of their work. We owe him a magnificent portrait gallery prominent cultural figures and public life. He was an honorary member of the Society of Art Lovers and Musical Society from the day of their foundation, he contributed substantial sums, supporting all educational endeavors.
The first paintings by Russian artists were acquired by Tretyakov back in 1856 (this date is considered the year the gallery was founded). Since then, the collection has been constantly replenished. It was located in a family-owned house in Zamoskvorechye, on Lavrushinsky Lane. This building is the main building of the museum. It was constantly expanded and rebuilt to suit the needs of the exhibition, and at the beginning of the twentieth century it acquired a familiar appearance. Its facade was made in the Russian style according to the design of the artist Viktor Vasnetsov.
From the moment the gallery was founded, Pavel Tretyakov decided to transfer it to the city and already in his will of 1861 he stipulated the conditions of this transfer, allocating large sums for its maintenance. On August 31, 1892, in his application to the Moscow City Duma about the transfer of his gallery and the gallery of his late brother to Moscow, he wrote that he was doing this “wishing to contribute to the establishment of useful institutions in my dear city, to promote the prosperity of art in Russia and at the same time to preserve for eternity the collection I collected over time.” City Duma She gratefully accepted this gift, deciding to allocate five thousand rubles annually for the purchase of new exhibits in the collection. In 1893, the gallery was officially opened to the public.
Pavel Tretyakov was a very modest man who did not like the hype around his name. He wanted quiet opening and, when the celebrations were organized, he went abroad. He refused the nobility that had been granted to him by the emperor. “I was born a merchant and I will die a merchant,” Tretyakov explained his refusal. However, he gratefully accepted the title of honorary citizen of Moscow. This title was awarded to him by the City Duma as a sign of high distinction and gratitude for his high merits in preserving Russian artistic culture.
History of the museum
An important milestone in the history of the Tretyakov Gallery was the appointment in 1913 of Igor Grabar, an artist, art critic, architect and art historian, to the post of its trustee. Under his leadership, the Tretyakov Gallery became a museum of European level. Early years Soviet power Grabar remained the director of the museum, which was given the status of a national treasure by decree of the Council of People's Commissars in 1918.
Alexey Shchusev, who became director of the gallery in 1926, continued to expand the museum. The Tretyakov Gallery received a neighboring building in which the administration, manuscript and other departments were located. After the closure of the Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi, it was converted into storerooms for the museum, and in 1936 a new building, called “Shchusevsky,” appeared, which was first used as an exhibition building, but then it also housed the main exhibition.
At the end of the 1970s, a new building of the museum was opened on Krymsky Val. Large-scale art exhibitions are constantly held here, and a collection is also stored here. Russian art XX century.
Branches of the Tretyakov Gallery also include the House-Museum of V. M. Vasnetsov, the Museum-Apartment of his brother - A. M. Vasnetsov, the Museum-Apartment of the sculptor A. S. Golubkina, the House-Museum of P. D. Korin, as well as the Temple Museum St. Nicholas in Tolmachi, where services have been resumed since 1993.
Museum collection
The most complete collection of art from the second half of the 19th century is unparalleled. Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov was, perhaps, the main buyer of the works of the Itinerants from their very first exhibition. Paintings by Perov, Kramskoy, Polenov, Ge, Savrasov, Kuindzhi, Vasiliev, Vasnetsov, Surikov, Repin, acquired by the founder of the Tretyakov Gallery himself, are the pride of the museum. Truly the best examples of the golden age of Russian painting are collected here.
The art of artists who did not belong to the Itinerants is also well represented. Works by Nesterov, Serov, Levitan, Malyavin, Korovin, as well as Alexander Benois, Vrubel, Somov, and Roerich took pride of place in the exhibition. After October 1917, the museum’s collection was replenished both due to nationalized collections and thanks to works contemporary artists. Their canvases provide insight into the development Soviet art, its official movements and underground avant-garde.
The Tretyakov Gallery continues to replenish its funds. Since the beginning of the 21st century, there has been a department of the latest trends, which collects works of contemporary art. In addition to paintings, the gallery has a large collection of Russian graphics, sculpture, and a valuable archive of manuscripts. Rich collection ancient Russian art, the icon is one of the best in the world. It was started by Tretyakov. After his death it amounted to about 60 items, and in this moment has about 4000 units.
The Tretyakov Gallery is the most visited museum in the country. The gallery was founded in late XIX century by famous merchants and philanthropists - Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov, who donated their collections to the city. The gallery is located in the former estate of the Tretyakov brothers on Lavrushinsky Lane. The museum's fund was significantly replenished after the October Revolution of 1917 with collections of wealthy noble and merchant families. The spacious halls of the Tretyakov Gallery display ancient Russian icons and paintings of the Russian school of painting. Moving through the chronologically arranged halls of the museum, you can study in detail Russian fine art from the 17th century to the beginning of the 20th century.
The Tretyakov brothers lost their father when the eldest, Pavel, was seventeen years old, and the youngest, Sergei, was fifteen. They turned out to be entrepreneurs from God. Very soon the brothers expanded the business from ordinary trade in shops to their own large store of linen, paper and woolen goods on the famous merchant street Ilyinka. They organize the trading house “P. and S. Tretyakov brothers.” In the mid-1860s, they acquired the Novo-Kostroma linen manufactory, which they later made one of the best in Russia. Historian of the Moscow merchants P.A. Buryshkin named the Tretyakovs among the five richest merchant families in Moscow
The Tretyakovs were famous donors and philanthropists. Pavel Mikhailovich was a trustee of the Arnold School for the Deaf and Mutes, provided financial assistance research expeditions, donated money for the construction of temples. Sometimes Tretyakov's donations exceeded the cost of purchasing paintings. Sergei Mikhailovich actively participated in the public life of Moscow. He was a member of the Moscow City Duma and the mayor. In this position, he did a lot for Moscow. Thanks to Tretyakov, Sokolnicheskaya Grove became the Sokolniki city park: he bought it with his own money.
In 1851, the Tretyakovs purchased an estate in Lavrushinsky Lane from the merchants Shestovs with a two-story mansion decorated with a classic attic and an extensive garden. Alexandra Danilovna was the full-fledged mistress of the house, and the Tretyakov brothers focused on trade. It was an ideal family and business union, rare among merchants. At the same time, the Tretyakovs had different characters. Pavel was reserved, he liked to work and read in solitude, and could spend hours looking at and studying paintings and engravings. Sergei, more sociable and cheerful, was always visible and loved to show off.
One day, Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov came to St. Petersburg on company business and ended up in the Hermitage. He was so amazed by the richness of the art collection that he certainly wanted to start collecting. Soon he acquired nine paintings of little-known Western artists. “The first two or three mistakes in such a difficult matter as determining the authenticity of old paintings turned him away forever from collecting paintings by old masters,” wrote I.S. Ostroukhov after the death of the collector. “The most authentic painting for me is the one that I personally bought from the artist,” Tretyakov liked to say.” Soon Tretyakov becomes acquainted with the collection of F.I. Pryanishnikov and decides to collect paintings by Russian artists.
In the Tretyakov Gallery, the founding year of the museum is considered to be 1856, when Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov acquired the first two paintings “Temptation” by N.G. Schilder and “Clash with Finnish Smugglers” by V.G. Khudyakova. Today they hang side by side in the same room. The condition by which Pavel Mikhailovich selected paintings for his gallery can be found in his words addressed to the artists: “I don’t need rich nature, magnificent composition, spectacular lighting, no miracles, give me at least a dirty puddle, but so that It really was poetry, and there can be poetry in everything, it’s the work of the artist.”
But this does not mean that Tretyakov simply bought all the paintings he liked. He was a bold critic who did not recognize other people's authorities, often made comments to artists, and sometimes sought corrections. Usually Pavel Mikhailovich bought a canvas before the opening of exhibitions, right in the studio, when neither critics, nor spectators, nor journalists had yet seen the painting. Tretyakov had an excellent understanding of art, but this was not enough to choose the best. Pavel Mikhailovich possessed a unique gift of a seer. No authorities could influence his decision. The case described by S.N. is indicative. Durylin in the book “Nesterov in life and work”:
“At the preliminary, closed, vernissage of the XVIII Traveling Exhibition, where a few selected friends of the Wanderers were allowed, Myasoedov led V.V. to “Bartholomew.” Stasova, tribune-apologist of Itinerant Movement, D.V. Grigorovich, secretary of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, and A.S. Suvorin, editor of the newspaper “Novoye Vremya”. All four judged the picture the last judgment; All four of them agreed that it was harmful... Evil must be uprooted. We went to look for the Moscow silent artist at the exhibition and found him somewhere in the far corner, in front of some painting. Stasov was the first to speak: this painting ended up in the exhibition due to a misunderstanding, it had no place at the Association’s exhibition.
The objectives of the Partnership are known, but Nesterov’s picture does not answer them: harmful mysticism, the absence of the real, this ridiculous circle around the old man’s head... Mistakes are always possible, but they should be corrected. And they, his old friends, decided to ask him to abandon the picture... A lot of smart, convincing things were said. Everyone found a word to brand poor “Bartholomew.” Pavel Mikhailovich listened silently, and then, when the words ran out, he modestly asked them if they had finished; when he learned that they had exhausted all the evidence, he replied: “Thank you for what you said. I bought the painting in Moscow, and if I hadn’t bought it there, I would have bought it here now, after listening to all your accusations.”
Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov began collecting his collection fifteen years later than his brother and managed to acquire only about a hundred works. However, his collection was one of a kind, because he was interested in modern Western painting - J.-B. C. Corot, C.-F. Daubigny, F. Miele and others. Pavel Mikhailovich, unlike his brother, who collected paintings for himself, sought to create a publicly accessible museum of national art. Back in 1860 (and he was then only twenty-eight years old), he drew up a will, according to which he bequeathed one hundred and fifty thousand rubles for the establishment of an “art museum” in Moscow. Pavel Mikhailovich persuaded his brother to do the same.
In 1865, Pavel Mikhailovich’s wedding took place with Vera Nikolaevna Mamontova, his cousin famous philanthropist Savva Ivanovich Mamontov. The Tretyakovs had six children - four daughters and two sons. Everyone in the family loved each other. Pavel Mikhailovich wrote to his wife: “I sincerely thank God and you from the bottom of my heart that I had the opportunity to make you happy, however, the children have a lot of blame here: without them there would be no complete happiness!” Sergei Mikhailovich married much earlier than his brother, in 1856, but his wife died soon after the birth of their son. Only ten years later, Sergei Mikhailovich entered into a second marriage.
Pavel Mikhailovich adhered to traditional merchant views on raising children. He gave the children wonderful things home education. Of course, artists, musicians and writers, who visited Tretyakov almost every day, played a significant role in the formation of children. In 1887, Pavel Mikhailovich’s son Vanya, everyone’s favorite and his father’s hope, died of scarlet fever complicated by meningitis. Tretyakov painfully endured this bereavement. The second son Mikhail suffered from dementia and could not become a full-fledged heir and continuer of the family business. Daughter Alexandra recalled: “From that time on, my father’s character changed a lot. He became gloomy and silent. Only his grandchildren made the former affection appear in his eyes.”
For a long time, Tretyakov was the only collector of Russian art, at least on such a scale. But in the 1880s he had a more than worthy rival - Emperor Alexander III. There are many legends associated with the confrontation between Tretyakov and the Tsar. Pavel Mikhailovich literally stole paintings from under Alexander’s nose several times by artists who, with all due respect to the august person, preferred Tretyakov. Alexander III, who was called the “peasant king,” became furious if, while visiting traveling exhibitions, he saw on the best paintings the marks “property of P.M. Tretyakov".
But there were cases when representatives of the emperor simply outbid Tretyakov. For example, after the death of Alexander III, his son Nicholas II offered an incredible sum for those times for the painting “The Conquest of Siberia by Ermak” by V.I. Surikov - forty thousand rubles. The newly-minted emperor did not want to skimp in memory of his father, who dreamed of purchasing this painting. Surikov already had an agreement with Pavel Mikhailovich, but he could not refuse such a lucrative deal. Tretyakov simply could not offer more. As a consolation, the artist gave the collector a sketch for the painting, completely free of charge, which still hangs in the museum.
In 1892, Sergei Mikhailovich died. Long before his death, the Tretyakov brothers decide to donate their collections to Moscow. In his will, Sergei Mikhailovich donated to the city half of the house on Lavrushinsky Lane, all the paintings and the amount of one hundred thousand rubles. Pavel Mikhailovich gave his huge collection(more than three thousand works) Moscow during his lifetime, together with his brother’s collection. In 1893, the Moscow Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov was opened, and the collection Western art hung next to paintings by Russian artists. On December 4, 1898, Tretyakov died. His last words were: “Take care of the gallery and be healthy.”
After Tretyakov's death during 1899-1906 main house was converted into exhibition halls. The façade, designed according to a drawing by V.M. Vasnetsov, became the emblem of the Tretyakov Gallery for many years. The central part of the facade was highlighted by a chic kokoshnik with a relief image of St. George the Victorious - ancient coat of arms Moscow. At that time, artists showed interest in the forms of ancient Russian art. Luxuriously decorated portals, lush window frames, bright patterns and other decorations - all this speaks of Vasnetsov’s desire to turn the Tretyakov Gallery into an ancient Russian fairy-tale tower.
In 1913, the artist I.E. became a trustee of the Tretyakov Gallery. Grabar. The reworking of the exhibition began on a scientific principle, as in the best museums in the world. The works of one artist began to hang in a separate room, and the arrangement of paintings became strictly chronological. In 1918, the Tretyakov Gallery was nationalized and transferred to the People's Commissariat of Education. It was at this time that the museum was significantly replenished with huge collections of P.I. and V.A. Kharitonenko, E.V. Borisova-Musatova, A.P. Botkina, V.O. Girshman, M.P. Ryabushinsky and collections from estates near Moscow.
In the 1980s, a grandiose reconstruction of the gallery took place. The project involved “the creation of a large museum complex, including storage facilities, an extensive exhibition space, a conference hall through the development of courtyards and the refurbishment of an old building while preserving its historical appearance" Unfortunately, the new building, built at the intersection of Lavrushinsky and Bolshoi Tolmachevsky lanes, turned out to be alien to the architectural ensemble of the old Tretyakov buildings. The reconstruction resulted in the actual destruction of the monument. The new corner building turned out to be outside the traditional connections with the surroundings.
As a result of reconstruction, the exhibition area of the Tretyakov Gallery increased by one and a half times. In 1998, the first permanent exhibition of twentieth-century art, built according to historical, chronological and monographic principles, opened in the new building of the museum on Krymsky Val. The museum's collection now numbers about one hundred and fifty thousand works. Pavel Mikhailovich's collection has increased more than fifty times. The Tretyakov Gallery is a huge educational and Cultural Center, engaged in scientific, restoration, educational, publishing, popularization and other types of activities.
In one of the letters to the artist Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin P.M. Tretyakov wrote: “Your indignation against Moscow is understandable; I myself would be indignant and would have long ago given up my goal of collecting works of art, if I meant only our generation, but believe me, Moscow is no worse than St. Petersburg: Moscow is only simpler and seemingly more ignorant. Why is St. Petersburg better than Moscow? In the future, Moscow will be of great, enormous importance (of course, we will not live to see that).” Pavel Mikhailovich Tretkov was a true patriot and noblest man. And then he turned out to be a real seer.
Every time we come to the gallery, we remember its great creator, not only because there is a monument to Tretyakov in front of the entrance (a wonderful monument, by the way). Pavel Mikhailovich is not just a collector, the founder of the museum, he, along with artists, created Russian fine art, and Tretyakov’s role here is objectively greater than the role of any of them. I.E. Repin (and he knew a lot about this) once said: “Tretyakov brought his work to grandiose, unprecedented proportions and carried on his shoulders the question of the existence of an entire Russian school of painting.”
State Tretyakov Gallery, Tretyakov Gallery (also known as Tretyakov Gallery) - Art Museum in Moscow, founded in 1856 by merchant Pavel Tretyakov and having one of the largest collections of Russian fine art in the world. The exhibition in the engineering building “Russian painting of the 11th - early 20th centuries” (Lavrushinsky Lane, 10) is part of the All-Russian museum association “State Tretyakov Gallery”, formed in 1986.
Pavel Tretyakov began collecting his painting collection in the mid-1850s. This, after some time, led to the fact that in 1867 the “Moscow City Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Tretyakov” was opened to the general public in Zamoskvorechye. Her collection consisted of 1276 paintings, 471 drawings and 10 sculptures by Russian artists, as well as 84 paintings by foreign masters. In 1892, Tretyakov bequeathed his gallery to the city of Moscow. The facades of the gallery building were designed in 1900-1903 by the architect V. N. Bashkirov based on the drawings of the artist V. M. Vasnetsov. The construction was managed by the architect A. M. Kalmykov.
In August 1892, Pavel Mikhailovich donated his art gallery to Moscow. By this time, the collection included 1287 paintings and 518 graphic works of the Russian school, 75 paintings and 8 drawings European school, 15 sculptures and a collection of icons. On August 15, 1893, the official opening of the museum took place under the name “Moscow City Gallery of Pavel and Sergei Mikhailovich Tretyakov.”
On June 3, 1918, the Tretyakov Gallery was declared “state property of the Russian Federative Soviet Republic” and received the name State Tretyakov Gallery. Igor Grabar was appointed director of the museum. With his active participation, the State Museum Fund was created in the same year, which until 1927 remained one of the most important sources of replenishment of the Tretyakov Gallery collection.
Ilya Efimovich Repin, Portrait of Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov
From the first days of the Great Patriotic War, the dismantling of the exhibition began in the Gallery - like other museums in Moscow, the Tretyakov Gallery was preparing for evacuation. In mid-summer 1941, a train of 17 carriages departed from Moscow and delivered the collection to Novosibirsk. Only on May 17, 1945, the State Tretyakov Gallery was reopened in Moscow.
In 1985, the State Art Gallery, located on Krymsky Val, 10, was merged with the Tretyakov Gallery into a single museum complex under the general name of the State Tretyakov Gallery. Now the building houses the updated permanent exhibition “Art of the 20th Century”.
Part of the Tretyakov Gallery is the Museum-Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi, which represents a unique combination of a museum exhibition and a working temple. The museum complex on Lavrushinsky Lane includes the Engineering Building and the Exhibition Hall in Tolmachi intended for temporary exhibitions.
Included in the federal government agency culture All-Russian Museum Association State Tretyakov Gallery (FGK VMO Tretyakov Gallery) includes: Museum-workshop of the sculptor A.S. Golubkina, House-Museum of V.M. Vasnetsov, Museum-Apartment of A.M. Vasnetsov, House-Museum of P.D. Korina, Exhibition Hall in Tolmachi.
Paintings from the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery
Ivan Kramskoy. Unknown, 1883.
This is perhaps Kramskoy’s most famous work, the most intriguing, remaining to this day incomprehensible and unsolved. By calling his painting “Unknown,” Kramskoy forever attached to it an aura of mystery. Contemporaries were literally at a loss. Her image evoked concern and anxiety, a vague premonition of a depressing and dubious new thing - the emergence of a type of woman who did not fit into the previous system of values. “It is unknown who this lady is, but a whole era sits inside her,” some stated. In our time, Kramskoy’s “Unknown” has become the embodiment of aristocracy and secular sophistication. Like a queen, she rises above the foggy white cold city, driving in an open carriage along the Anichkov Bridge. Her outfit - a “Francis” hat, trimmed with elegant light feathers, “Swedish” gloves made of the finest leather, a “Skobelev” coat, decorated with sable fur and blue satin ribbons, a muff, a gold bracelet - all these are fashionable details of a women’s costume of the 1880s years, claiming expensive elegance. However, this did not mean belonging to high society, rather the opposite - the code of unwritten rules excluded strict adherence to fashion in the highest circles of Russian society.
I.E. Repin. Autumn bouquet, 1892
In the painting, the artist depicted his daughter, Vera Ilyinichna Repina. She collected the last autumn flowers while walking in the vicinity of Abramtsevo. The heroine of the picture herself is full of vital energy. She only stopped for a moment, turning her beautiful bright face towards the viewer. Vera's eyes narrow slightly. It seems that she is about to smile, giving us the warmth of her soul. Against the backdrop of fading nature, the girl looks like a beautiful, fragrant flower, cheerful youth and beauty emanate from her strong and stately figure. The artist skillfully and truthfully depicted her in full growth - radiating energy, optimism and health.
Repin wrote:
I begin with a portrait of Vera, in the middle of the garden with a large bouquet of rough autumn flowers, with a boutonniere of thin, graceful ones; wearing a beret, expressing a feeling of life, youth, bliss.
Looking at this blooming girl, one believes in the eternal triumph of life, its infinity and renewal. Painting by I.E. Repin's "Autumn Bouquet" gives hope for the inevitable victory of good over evil, beauty over decay and the immortality of human talent.
The portrait occupies a prominent place in the legacy of Ilya Efimovich Repin. Everything attracted the artist in his models - the expressiveness of the face, poses, temperament, clothing... And each work is distinguished by its fullness of life and versatility of characteristics. The artist’s artistic vigilance made it possible not only to convey the characteristics of the person depicted, but also to create a generalized image - an image of the time in which he lives.
Valentin Aleksandrovich Serov. Girl with peaches, 1887.
Valentin Aleksandrovich Serov stayed for a long time in Abramtsevo, the estate of Savva Ivanovich Mamontov near Moscow. Here, in the dining room of the manor house, it was written famous painting“Girl with Peaches” is a portrait of Vera Mamontova (1875–1907), the twelve-year-old daughter of a philanthropist. This is one of the first works of impressionistic painting in Russia. Pure colors and lively, energetic brush strokes give rise to an image of youth, full of poetry and happiness. Unlike French impressionists Serov does not dissolve the objective world in light and air, but takes care of conveying its materiality. This revealed the artist’s closeness to the realists, his predecessors and teachers – I.E. Repin and P.A. Chistyakov. Special attention he pays attention to the girl’s face, admiring the clarity and seriousness of its expression. By combining a portrait with an image of an interior, the artist created a new type of portrait-picture.
Valentin Serov spoke about the work on this picture:
All I was striving for was freshness, that special freshness that you always feel in nature and don’t see in paintings. I painted for more than a month and exhausted her, poor thing, to death, I really wanted to preserve the freshness of the painting and complete completion - just like the old masters
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel. Swan Princess, 1900.
The prototype of the image was the artist’s wife Nadezhda Ivanovna Zabela-Vrubel. The master was amazed by her stage embodiment of the role of the Swan Princess in Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “The Tale of Tsar Saltan.” Nadezhda Ivanovna, famous singer and the artist's muse brought into inner world the painter's charm of feminine charm. The art of Vrubel and the work of Zabela were connected by invisible but strong threads. Mikhail Alexandrovich’s source of inspiration was also Russian epic epic and national folklore traditions. Based on legend, myth, epic, the artist did not illustrate them, but created his own poetic world, colorful and intense, full of triumphant beauty and at the same time disturbing mystery, the world fairy-tale heroes with their earthly melancholy and human suffering.
The wide-open, enchanting “velvet” eyes of the princess peer into the very depths of our soul. It's like she sees everything. That’s why, perhaps, the sable eyebrows are raised so sadly and a little surprised, and the lips are closed. It's like she's under a spell. But you hear the heartbeat of a Russian fairy tale, you are captivated by the princess’s gaze and are ready to endlessly look into her sad kind eyes, admire her charming, sweet face, beautiful and mysterious. The artist conveyed the play of emerald semi-precious stones on the princess’s kokoshnik and the position of the feathers on her wings with rhythmic strokes and strokes similar to a mosaic. This rhythmicity gives the image a musical quality. It is “heard” in the flickering and shimmer of airy, weightless colors in the foreground, in the finest gradations of gray-pink, in the truly immaterial pictorial matter of the canvas, “transforming”, melting. All the languid, sad beauty of the image is expressed in this special pictorial matter.
...There is a princess beyond the sea,
What you can't take your eyes off:
During the day the light of God is eclipsed,
At night it illuminates the earth.
The moon shines under the scythe,
And in the forehead the star is burning...
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin
Ivan Shishkin, Konstantin Savitsky. Morning in a pine forest, 1889.
The film is popular due to its entertaining plot. However true value The work is a beautifully expressed state of nature. It is not a dense forest that is shown, but sunlight, making his way through the columns of giants. You can feel the depth of the ravines and the power of centuries-old trees. And the sunlight seems to timidly peek into this dense forest. The frolicking cubs feel the approach of morning. We are observers of wildlife and its inhabitants.
The idea for the painting was suggested to Shishkin by Savitsky K.A. Savitsky painted the bears in the film itself. These bears, with some differences in poses and numbers (at first there were two of them), appear in preparatory drawings and sketches. Savitsky turned out the bears so well that he even signed the painting together with Shishkin. And when Tretyakov acquired this painting, he removed Savitsky’s signature, leaving the authorship to Shishkin.
Victor Vasnetsov. Alyonushka, 1881.
The artist began work on the painting in 1880. At first he painted landscape sketches on the banks of the Vori in Abramtsevo, near the pond in Akhtyrka. Many sketches from this time have survived.
Painting "Alyonushka" by V.M. Vasnetsova became one of his most touching and poetic creations. A girl sits on the shore of a dark pool, sadly bowing her head in her hands. Around her, yellowing birch trees shed their leaves into the still water, and behind her, a dense wall of spruce forest stood.
The image of Alyonushka is both real and fabulous at the same time. The sad appearance and shabby, poor clothes of the young heroine recreate in memory the artist’s full-scale sketch made of an orphan peasant girl in the year the picture was painted. The vitality of the image is combined here with fairy-tale and poetic symbolism. Above the head of Alyonushka, sitting on a gray cold stone, a thin branch with chirping swallows arched. According to the famous researcher of Russian folk tale A.N. Afanasyev, whom Vasnetsov knew through the Abramtsevo circle, the swallow brings good news, consolation in misfortune. Dark forest, a pool and loose hair were identified in ancient beliefs with misfortune, danger and heavy thoughts, and a birch tree growing near the water was a sign of healing.
Even if the artist did not put such detailed symbolism into the canvas, it does not give the impression of hopelessness, perhaps because we remember a fairy tale with a happy ending.
Vasnetsov himself spoke about his painting this way: “Alyonushka” seemed to have been living in my head for a long time, but I really saw it in Akhtyrka, when I met one simple-haired girl who captured my imagination. There was so much melancholy, loneliness and purely Russian sadness in her eyes... Some special Russian spirit wafted from her.
Critic I.E. Grabar called the painting one of the best paintings of the Russian school.
Alexey Kondratievich Savrasov. The rooks have arrived, 1871.
“The Rooks Have Arrived” is a famous painting by Russian artist Alexei Savrasov, created in 1871. The painting is Savrasov’s most famous work; in fact, he remained “an artist of one painting.”
Sketches for this painting were painted in the village of Molvitino (now Susanino) in the Kostroma province. The finalization of the painting took place in Moscow, in the artist’s studio. At the end of 1871, the painting “The Rooks Have Arrived” was first presented to the public at the first exhibition of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions. “Rooks” became a discovery in painting. The static landscapes of Kuindzhi and Shishkin immediately lost their innovative status.
The work was immediately purchased by Pavel Tretyakov for his collection.
Konstantin Dmitrievich Flavitsky. Princess Tarakanova, 1864.
The basis for the creation of the picture was the story of Princess Tarakanova, an adventuress who pretended to be the daughter of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna and the sister of Emelyan Pugachev. By order of Empress Catherine II, she was arrested and in May 1775 she was taken to the Peter and Paul Fortress, subjected to a lengthy interrogation by Field Marshal Prince Golitsyn, during which she gave various testimonies. She died of consumption on December 4, 1775, hiding the secret of her birth even from the priest.
The painting was painted in 1864, and in the same year it was exhibited for the first time at the Academy of Arts. V.V. Stasov, a famous critic of the time who highly valued the painting, called Flavitsky’s painting:
“a wonderful painting, the glory of our school, the most brilliant creation of Russian painting”
The painting was acquired by Pavel Tretyakov for his collection after the artist’s death.
The plot for the picture was the legend about the death of Tarakanova during a flood in St. Petersburg on September 21, 1777 (historical data suggests that she died two years earlier than this event). The canvas depicts a casemate of the Peter and Paul Fortress, outside of which a flood is raging. A young woman stands on the bed, fleeing the water rushing through the barred window. The wet rats climb out of the water, approaching the prisoner's feet.
For the painting “Princess Tarakanova” the artist Konstantin Flavitsky was awarded the title of professor of historical painting.
Vasily Vladimirovich Pukirev. Unequal marriage, 1862.
The work was painted in 1862, immediately after graduating from the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. The painting “Unequal Marriage” was presented at the academic exhibition in 1863; its general idea, strong expression, unusual size for an everyday subject and masterful execution immediately propelled the artist to one of the most prominent places among Russian painters. For her, the Academy awarded him the title of professor.
The plot of the picture - unequal marriage young beautiful girl and a decrepit rich old man. There are indifferent faces around, only one young man, with his arms crossed, looks accusingly at the couple. It is believed that the artist depicted himself in this man, as if expressing his protest.
Isaac Levitan. March, 1895.
The whole picture is filled with that special human joy that comes in spring. The unlocked door and the horse Dianka left at the porch speak of the invisible presence of people. Isaac Ilyich knew how to talk about a person through the landscape, he knew how to “search and discover in nature - in the words of Mikhail Mikhailovich Prishvin (1873-1954) - the beautiful sides of the human soul.”
The canvas was painted in 1895 in the Tver province on the estate of the Turchaninovs’ acquaintances, Gorki. Isaac Ilyich observed and wrote the first days of spring, and its rapid approach forced him to hurry. In several sessions, without any sketch preparation, the master painted his radiant March entirely from life. What is shown on the canvas? The backyard of an ordinary estate, warmed and illuminated by the sun, melting snow with blue shadows, thin tree branches against the sky, a bright wall of a house... There is so much spring melody in all this!
The revival of nature in this composition is revealed through the poetry of light, dazzlingly bright March sun, and only then reinforced with loose snow. We are used to calling it “white,” but for the keen eye of a landscape painter, whiteness is created from many color shades. The snow in Levitan’s painting lives – breathes, flickers, reflects blue sky. The picturesque range with its color shadows is built on an impressionistic combination of complementary colors. If the impressionists dissolve color in light, then Levitan sought to preserve the color of the depicted object. The canvas March is written in bright, joyful colors. An unpretentious, everyday motif drawn from village life, the author managed to impart emotional richness and charm the viewer with the spontaneity of conveying lyrical feelings. The means of painting evoke not only visual, but also other sensations. We hear all the rustles and sounds of nature: the rustling of tree branches, the singing of raindrops. Levitan created a landscape full of life, sun, filled with light and air.
Ivan Kramskoy. Christ in the desert, 1872.
Conceived in 1868, the painting required several years of intense internal work. The completed work was immediately purchased directly from the artist’s studio by Pavel Tretyakov. "In my opinion, this is the best picture in our school for Lately", he wrote.
Presented at the Second Traveling Exhibition, "Christ in the Desert" became a sensation. Heated discussions flared up in front of the picture, the public was looking for a certain hidden meaning in this strong but hopelessly lonely figure, lost in a barren stone desert. Kramskoy managed to create a time of exceptional expressiveness equal to, perhaps, the most tragic pages of gospel history. The asceticism of color and painting techniques only strengthens the focus on the moral side of the content of the work. The difficult spiritual experiences of Christ, perhaps for the first time in Russian fine arts make you think about the problem of personal choice. In this deep drama, the inadequacy of the expectation of Christ and human possibilities is already revealed from the very beginning.
“I see clearly that there is one moment in the life of every person, more or less created in the image and likeness of God, whether to take a ruble for the Lord God or not to yield a single step to evil. We all know how such hesitation usually ends,” the artist wrote .
Kuzma Sergeevich Petrov-Vodkin. Bathing the red horse, 1912.
The most famous painting by artist Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin. Painted in 1912, it became a milestone for the artist and brought him world fame.
In 1912, Petrov-Vodkin lived in the south of Russia, on an estate near Kamyshin. It was then that he made the first sketches for the painting. And also the first, unpreserved version of the canvas was written, known from black and white photography. The picture was a work of everyday life rather than symbolic, as happened with the second version; it depicted simply several boys with horses. This first version was destroyed by the author, probably soon after his return to St. Petersburg.
Petrov-Vodkin based the horse on a real stallion named Boy, who lived on the estate. To create the image of a teenager sitting astride him, the artist used the features of his nephew Shura.
The large, almost square canvas depicts a lake of cold bluish shades, which serves as the background for the semantic dominant of the work - the horse and rider. The figure of the red stallion occupies the entire foreground of the picture almost completely. He is given so large that his ears, croup and legs below the knees are cut off by the picture frame. The rich scarlet color of the animal seems even brighter in comparison with the cool color of the landscape and the light body of the boy.
Waves of a slightly greenish tint, compared to the rest of the surface of the lake, scatter from the front leg of the horse entering the water. The entire canvas is an excellent illustration of the spherical perspective so beloved by Petrov-Vodkin: the lake is round, which is emphasized by a fragment of the shore in the upper right corner, the optical perception is slightly distorted.
In total, the painting depicts 3 horses and 3 boys - one in the foreground riding a red horse, the other two behind him on the left and right sides. One leads by the reins white horse, the other, visible from the back, riding an orange one, rides deeper into the picture. These three groups form a dynamic curve, emphasized by the same curve of the red horse's front leg, the same curve of the boy rider's leg, and the pattern of the waves.
It is believed that the horse was originally bay (red), and that the master changed its color after becoming acquainted with the color scheme of Novgorod icons, which he was shocked by.
From the very beginning, the picture caused numerous disputes, in which it was invariably mentioned that such horses do not exist. However, the artist claimed that he adopted this color from ancient Russian icon painters: for example, in the icon “The Miracle of the Archangel Michael” the horse is depicted completely red. As in the icons, in this picture there is no mixing of colors; the colors are contrasting and seem to collide in confrontation.
The painting so impressed contemporaries with its monumentality and fate that it was reflected in the works of many masters of brush and words. This is how Sergei Yesenin came up with the following lines:
“I have now become more stingy in my desires.
My life! Or did I dream about you!
As if I were a booming early spring
He rode on a pink horse."
The red horse acts as the Fate of Russia, which the fragile and young rider is unable to hold. According to another version, the Red Horse is Russia itself, identified with Blokov’s “steppe mare.” In this case, one cannot help but note the prophetic gift of the artist, who symbolically predicted with his painting the “red” fate of Russia in the 20th century.
The fate of the picture was extraordinary.
The painting was first shown at the World of Art exhibition in 1912 and was a stunning success.
In 1914, she was at the “Baltic Exhibition” in Malmo (Sweden). For participation in this exhibition, K. Petrov-Vodkin was awarded a medal and a certificate by the Swedish king.
The outbreak of the First World War, then the revolution and Civil War led to the painting remaining in Sweden for a long time.
After the end of World War II and after stubborn and grueling negotiations, finally, in 1950, Petrov-Vodkin’s works, including this painting, were returned to their homeland.
The artist’s widow donated the painting to the collection of the famous collector K.K. Basevich, and she donated it to the Tretyakov Gallery in 1961.
F. Malyavin. Whirlwind, 1906.
The painting “Whirlwind” - the pinnacle of the work of Philip Andreevich Malyavin - was conceived by him in 1905 (the sketch for it from the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery is dated this year). The events of the first Russian revolution of 1905–1907 influenced the choice of subject and the pictorial style of the huge monumental canvas. The scale of the canvas emphasizes the significance of the concept. The entire field of the picture is filled with a riotous whirlwind of colors, skirts and shawls fluttering as they dance, among which the heated faces of peasant women flash. The predominant red color, due to the expression of the brush and the intensity of the intensity, loses the properties of indicating the objective world, but acquires symbolic meaning. It is associated with fire, fire, and uncontrollable elements. This is a harbinger of an impending popular revolt and at the same time an element of the Russian soul. Malyavin’s symbolic perception of color largely comes from the icon - as a child, he studied icon painting for several years at the Athos Monastery in Greece, where he was noticed by the sculptor V.A. Beklemishev and sent by him to the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg.
Kazimir Malevich. Black Square, 1915.
Black Square is the most famous work of Kazimir Malevich, created in 1915. It is a canvas measuring 79.5 by 79.5 centimeters, which depicts a black square on a white background.
The work was completed by Malevich in the summer and autumn of 1915. According to the artist, he wrote it for several months.
The work was exhibited at the last futurist exhibition “0.10”, which opened in St. Petersburg on December 19, 1915. Among the thirty-nine paintings exhibited by Malevich in the most prominent place, in the so-called “red corner”, where icons are usually hung, hung “Black Square”.
Subsequently, Malevich made several copies of “Black Square” (according to some sources, seven). It is reliably known that in the period from 1915 to the early 1930s, Malevich created four versions of the “Black Square”, which differ in design, texture and color. One of the “Squares”, although dated by the author in 1913, is usually attributed to the turn of the 1920s-1930s. He also painted the paintings “Red Square” (in two copies) and “White Square” (“Suprematist composition” - “White on White”) - one.
There is a version that “Square” was written for the exhibition - since the huge hall needed to be filled with something. This interpretation is based on a letter from one of the exhibition organizers to Malevich:
I need to write a lot now. The room is very large, and if we, 10 people, paint 25 paintings, then it will only be possible.
Initially famous square Malevich first appeared in the scenery for the opera “Victory over the Sun” as a plastic expression of the victory of active human creativity over the passive form of nature: a black square instead of a solar circle. This was the famous set for the fifth scene of Act 1, which was a square within a square, divided into two areas: black and white. Then this square migrated from decoration to easel work.
The largest art critic at that time, founder of the World of Art association Alexander Benois wrote immediately after the exhibition:
Undoubtedly, this is the icon that the Futurists are putting up to replace Madonna.
At the landmark exhibition of 2004 in the Warsaw gallery "Zachęta" "Warsaw - Moscow, 1900-2000", where more than 300 paintings, sculptures, installations were exhibited (in particular, many paintings of the Russian avant-garde) "Square" from the Tretyakov Gallery was presented as the central exhibit of the exhibition. Moreover, it was hung in the “red corner”, as at the “0.10” exhibition.
Currently, there are four “Black Squares” in Russia: in Moscow and St. Petersburg there are two “Squares” each: two in the Tretyakov Gallery, one in the Russian Museum and one in the Hermitage. One of the works belongs to the Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin, who purchased it from Inkombank in 2002 for 1 million US dollars (30 million rubles) and transferred this first of the works to the Hermitage for indefinite storage existing options canvas depicting the “Black Square” by the founder of Suprematism.
One of the "Black Squares", painted in 1923, is part of a triptych that also includes "Black Cross" and "Black Circle".
In 1893, a similar painting by Alphonse Allais, entitled “The Battle of the Negroes in deep cave dark night."
Yuri Pimenov. New Moscow, 1937.
The painting is part of a series of works about Moscow, which the artist has been working on since the mid-1930s. The artist depicted Sverdlov Square (now Teatralnaya), located in the city center, not far from the Kremlin. The House of Unions and the Moscow Hotel are visible. The subject of the picture is a woman driving a car - a rather rare phenomenon for those years. This image was perceived by contemporaries as a symbol of new life. The compositional solution is also unusual, when the image looks like a frame captured by a camera lens. Pimenov focuses the viewer’s attention on the figure of a woman, shown from the back, and, as it were, invites the viewer to look at the morning city through her eyes. This creates a feeling of joy, freshness and spring mood. All this is facilitated by the artist’s impressionistic brushwork and the delicate coloring of the painting.
The Tretyakov Gallery is another sight Moscow, which every tourist must visit. The largest collection of paintings in Russia is located here. Now the mansion on Lavrushinsky Lane, the façade of which is decorated with stucco, is a famous gallery, but in the 19th century it was a merchant’s house. In 1851, this mansion was bought by a philanthropist, the owner paper spinning factories and art collector Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov. Initially, the house was bought for living and only much later it turns into a gallery.
In 1854, Tretyakov acquired 9 canvases and 11 sheets of graphics by ancient Dutch masters and placed them in his mansion. According to historians, this was the reason for the creation of the famous gallery. However, the official year of its foundation is 1856. This year for his collection P. M. Tretyakov acquires two paintings - V. G . Khudyakov “Skirmish with the Finnish smugglers" and N. G . Schilder "Temptation".
Together with Pavel, his brother Sergei is also involved in purchasing paintings by famous painters. For some time, only a narrow circle of people can admire the collection of the Tretyakov brothers. But in 1867 it became available to the general public for the first time. By this year, the collection of the Tretyakov brothers already consisted of 471 drawings, 10 sculptures and 1276 paintings. The vast majority of works were by domestic artists.
Time passed. The collection kept growing. Additional extensions had to be made to the house. New halls appeared. In 1892, Pyotr Mikhailovich Tretyakov donated the gallery to Moscow. In 1904, the building of the art gallery acquired the famous Vasnetsov facade. The sketch of the facade was created by the famous Russian painter V. M. Vasnetsov (the façade was named after him), and was designed by V. N. Bashkirov.
Every year the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery increased, it was necessary to organize it. Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar, having become in 1913 first a trustee and then director of the gallery, for the first time in Russia introduced the arrangement of paintings in chronological ok .
After the revolution, it was decided to transfer the neighboring buildings to the Tretyakov Gallery. First, a house in Maly Tolmachevsky Lane (the former property of the merchant Sokolikov) was assigned to it, and then the Church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi. In order to extend the gallery's operating hours, it was electrified in 1929.
In 1941, the collection was evacuated, and the building itself was seriously damaged. However, by 1945, most of the halls of the Tretyakov Gallery had been restored, the exhibits were returned to Moscow, and tourists could once again admire the works of Russian masters.
In 1986, the gallery building was closed for major renovations, which lasted almost 10 years. Part of the exhibition was located in one of the buildings on Krymsky Val. The same year is also the moment of formation of the All-Russian Museum Association, which received the name “ State Tretyakov Gallery ". Today in the composition State The Tretyakov Gallery, in addition to these two buildings, also includes the house-museum of P. Korina, museum-church of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi, house-museum of V. Vasnetsov and the museum-apartment of A. Vasnetsov, as well as the museum-workshop of A. Golubkina. Since 1995, the building of the merchant Tretyakov has housed a collection of exhibits dating back to the beginning of the last century. Works from the 20th century are located exclusively in the building on Krymsky Val.
Now the Tretyakov Gallery collection includes over 55 thousand exhibits. There are not only paintings here, but also icons, sculptures, and works of decorative and applied art. An excursion to the Tretyakov Gallery will be very interesting and will bring a lot of impressions.
