P aleh has been famous for its icon painters since pre-Petrine times. Palekh icon painting reached its greatest flourishing in the 18th - early 19th centuries. The local style developed under the influence of the Moscow, Novgorod, Stroganov and Yaroslavl schools.

Palekh miniature, which arose as a result of social and cultural changes that occurred in Russia after 1917, managed to preserve the centuries-old traditions of icon painting and transfer them to new forms. From icon painting, the Palesians took the materials and method of painting with tempera emulsion paints, compositional techniques, the style of stylization of human figures, architecture and landscape, the skills of linear drawing with paints, created gold, but at the same time they embodied them in new forms and with new subjects of secular content on the themes of modern rural life, history, epics, fairy tales, classical Russian literature.

In 1918, former icon painters created the Palekh artistic decorative artel, which was engaged in painting on wood. The founder of the Palekh style is considered to be I. I. Golikov, who in 1922, having become acquainted with the products of Fedoskino masters, created the first work in the so-called Palekh style.

The people of Palestine began to master a new material - papier-mâché, which was the basis for Fedoskin's lacquer miniatures. Palekh masters transferred to papier-mâché the traditional technology of tempera painting for ancient Russian icons and the conventional stylistics of the image. An expensive semi-finished product - papier-mâché blanks - was initially purchased from the Fedoskino artel, but soon they established their own production.

For the first time, Palekh miniatures on papier-mâché, commissioned by the Handicraft Museum, were presented at the All-Russian Agricultural and Handicraft Exhibition in 1923. At the end of 1924, Palekh artists united in the Artel of Ancient Painting, and already in 1925, Palekh miniatures were exhibited at the World Exhibition in Paris, where they created a real sensation and enjoyed great success. In 1935, the artel was transformed into the Palekh Artists' Association, and in 1954 the Palekh art and production workshops of the USSR Art Fund were formed.

Already from the first years of the existence of the Artel of Ancient Painting, the question of training specialists arose. In 1928, a vocational school of ancient painting opened in Palekh. In 1935, it was transformed into the Art College, which later became known as the Palekh Art School named after A.M. Gorky.

The assortment and shapes of objects painted by Palekh masters was quite large: brooches, bead holders, chests, boxes, cigarette cases and snuff boxes, eyeglass cases and powder compacts and much more. The Palekh miniature of the pre-war period has a pronounced ornamental beginning, while it lacks vivid images and a developing storyline. The most successful and popular compositions of that period were battles, shepherdesses, hunting and folk festivals.

In the first post-war decades, many masters of Palekh miniatures depicted in their works various battle scenes from both the end of World War II and other great battles that glorified the Russian army.

In the 1950s, lacquer miniatures in Palekh experienced a clear crisis, which was caused by the tendency of many artists towards excessive realism, pretentiousness and monumentality, which displaced from the products the romance and sublime sophistication characteristic of the works of previous years. In the 1960s, poetry and allegory returned to the works of Palekh artists. During this period, Paleshan artists, in search of themes for their works, turned to folklore sources and works of classical literature, as well as to modern songs. At the same time, socially significant events, such as, for example, human flight into space, are also reflected in the products of craftsmen.

Having survived the difficult 1990s, the Paleshans did not abandon their traditional craft. The Palekh Art School annually graduates young masters who carefully preserve the traditions and features that make Palekh miniature so interesting. Today there are several artels and family businesses that produce traditional lacquer products in Palekh.

Palekh painting, like any other folk art formed in a particular area, has its own distinctive characteristics and traditions. The Palekh style differs from other folk schools of lacquer painting in the following features: writing with egg tempera paints; use of dark backgrounds; gold painting; variety of color transitions; general soft tone of the letter; patterned ward writing; a variety of rainbow lights; miniature (small) multi-stamp letter; variety of composition elements and their picturesqueness; miniature painting; patternedness and ornamental richness of the design; careful detailing of each element; elongation and fragility of human figures; the subtlety of drawing people's body parts.

Palekh is characterized by multilayer tempera painting based on a pattern outlined in white. First, color spots are applied, then miniatures and details are painted, then gold and the so-called space are introduced, when paint is applied to the light parts in several stages, increasing the amount of white in the main tone. Paleshians, as a rule, resort to a complex painting technique - glazing or "floating" painting, which consists of multi-layered writing with transparent strokes, when the lower layers of the painting are visible through the upper ones.

Work on a product begins with the creation of a blank. Cardboard plates are greased with flour paste made from wheat or peklevanny (a mixture of rye and wheat) flour and glued one on top of the other on a table or horizontal board. The number of layers depends on the required thickness of the product and ranges from 3 to 30. The sides of caskets, boxes, cases and other items are made by wrapping strips of cardboard onto round or rectangular blanks (up to 12 layers).

Then the blanks are crimped using a press. The compressed semi-finished products are dried in a dry, dark room for 3–15 days. After drying, the workpiece is soaked in heated linseed oil, in a vat with which it remains for about a day. After this, the blanks are dried for two to three days in a sealed cabinet at a temperature of +100 degrees.

A semi-finished product made in this way becomes as strong as the strongest types of wood, and lends itself well to carpentry and turning: it can be sawed and planed, it can be turned into various shapes on a lathe, and hinges and locks can be inserted into it.

Each blank is made for four products at once. Then they are sawed. Then the workpieces are carefully selected and handed over to carpenters, who process the workpiece with a file, and round products are finished on a lathe. The bottom of the products is made separately, glued into place and adjusted with a plane. Then the workpiece is ground on a sanding wheel and finished with an emery brush.

After carpentry, the products go to the painting preparation workshop, where they are smoothed with sandpaper and primed. The soil consists of river silty clay mixed with soot and ground with boiled oil (linseed oil) on a stone slab with a smooth stone chime. The primer is applied three times with a bristle brush and leveled with a flat board or spatula. After applying each layer of primer, the products are thoroughly dried in the oven, cleaned with sanding blocks and water and dried again. Then all the outer sides are painted with soot dissolved in oil varnish, and the inner parts are painted with cinnabar mixed with carmine dissolved in the same varnish. After this, the black surfaces are coated three to four times with black varnish. At the end of the preparation, the product is coated with light varnish: black surfaces once, and red internal ones - three times. After each operation with varnish, the products are dried well in the oven, and the last time for at least 12 hours. This long process of processing products for painting creates a durable and even tone on all its surfaces. In this form they go to the artist, who decorates them with his painting.

When the semi-finished products are ready, they are handed over to the artists. Paints in Palekh are diluted traditionally - using egg emulsion. In the old days, and later in lacquer miniatures, artists prepared paints themselves. They were made with egg yolk diluted with table vinegar or bread kvass (less often with beer or rainwater), and they were called “egg” or “yolk”. To do this, carefully separate the yolk from the white, since even an insignificant amount of it will interfere with the artist’s work (the white will hang on the brush and will not allow thin lines to be drawn). The chicken egg was carefully broken from the blunt end, the punched hole was leveled and the white was released through it. Then they rolled the yolk into the palm of their hand, washed the shell well and, having broken the film on the yolk, poured it back into the now clean shell, into which more vinegar was poured. Mix everything together well with a round spatula. The liquid prepared in this way is a solvent for dry paints. The egg yolk serves as a binder in it, and the vinegar turns the paint powder into a liquid mass and eats up the excess fat content of the yolk.

The painting of the product is carried out in several stages. First, the drawing is transferred to it. To do this, the reverse side of the drawing is rubbed with dry chalk powder or whitewash with a finger; then the drawing is superimposed on the surface of the object and carefully translated with a finely sharpened pencil. To prevent the design from shifting or warping during translation, its upper corners can be temporarily glued to the surface of the object with some light glue. When the drawing is removed, a clear imprint remains on the surface of the object. The remaining white powder is brushed off with a quill pen so that the contours of the design remain clean.

The next stage is bleaching preparation, which is done so that the color of the paints on the varnish stays stronger. The artist, working on the composition, thinks about where and what tones to put, and according to this, the whitening preparation is done. The lightest places are prepared with thick white, tones of medium brightness - less thick, and darker ones - with liquid white; very dark places are left without bleaching preparation. It is melted cleanly and softly, without roughness, in strict accordance with the drawing. With properly performed bleaching preparation, the work looks like it is almost finished, done according to the principle of a light silhouette. Serious preparation with white helps to speed up the artist’s work in its further stages.

Next, the artist begins painting with paints - applying colored spots. For coating, as well as for preparing with white, use a medium-sharp brush. From the prepared paints, tones of different densities are compiled on a palette. One of the techniques of revealing is when all the elements of painting are revealed in a fluid manner, each with its own main tone. This technique reveals human clothing, animal figures and some other elements of painting. With such an opening, the evenness and transparency of the melt is maintained, while the revealed elements do not look like they were painted with pure paint, and each melt plays with a lively tone. When fluffed, it creates the impression of volume of the element. Since paints tend to settle (their light parts settle down, and the dark ones rise to the top of the melt), the larger the paint layer, the more dark particles of paint appear on the surface, and if the artist covers it unevenly with the melt, then the coating appears in dark spots. A well-versed artist knows how to use this property of paints. The opening of the heads and naked parts of the human body - sankir - is compiled according to the type chosen by the artist: it can be light yellow, for a tanned face - brownish, for a pale one - yellow-greenish, etc. The opening and sankir are made at the same time.

The next stage is painting - drawing in a dark tone all the contours and details: the contours of tree trunks and branches, the general shapes of leaves, mountain ledges, the pattern of waves, the contours and folds of human clothing, the contours of animals, buildings and their details, as well as all other elements compositions. For painting, a dark tone is made, in most cases from burnt umber, which is diluted with egg thinner, and then the painting is done with a sharp squirrel brush. The artist does the painting not with the same lines, but with soft, smooth, dark, living lines of different thicknesses and different strengths, thereby revealing the volumes of the images. It is important that the lines of the painting do not look separate from the roofing, but merge with it in the overall tone.

After painting, the shadow and light parts of all elements of the composition are fused with a medium-sharp brush in order to further emphasize the volume. The shadow parts are melted in tones somewhat darker than the cover, and on the light parts in tones somewhat lighter than it, so that the tone of each element looks more sonorous and more picturesque. The result is a play of several different tones, and the overall tone becomes more sonorous.

The subsequent final finishing of clothes, human figures and all landscape objects with paints aims to further enhance the conventional volume of all elements and give them completeness. On some clothes and human figures, gaps are made - most of them in gold, a smaller part in paint. The space is painted on clothes, the highest places of the human body (on the shoulders, chest, stomach, knees) or the body of an animal, which emphasizes their shape. The space is often done in three tones, consonant with the covering, painting and shadow fusion. The space has a main spot called the snare, from which there are strokes that emphasize the shape of the body parts. The first tone of the space is wider and slightly lighter than the flare, the second is somewhat lighter and narrower than the first, and the third tone, lighter, is made in one line, which emphasizes the second tone and is called the revitalization of the space. For a better sound, space bars are placed on warm tones with cold tones, and on cold ones with warm tones. All finishing with paints is done softly, does not break out of the tones of the overlay and fusion, organically connects with all the surrounding tones and gives completeness to the entire painting.

Next comes the smelting (registration with liquid paints) of the head. The melting is done in several stages with a medium-sharp brush. During the first melt (ohrenia), convex places on the face, neck, ears, arms, legs are melted in a flesh tone in such a way that it shines through the subsequent melts. After drying, the second melt follows - applying blush, composed of cinnabar, on the cheeks, brow ridges, end of the nose, lips, earlobes, on the bends of the fingers and toes, on the elbows, palms and knees. The third melt is when burnt umber melts the pupils of the eyes, eyebrows, mustaches, and dark hair. The fourth melt - the lining - is made up of ocher and cinnabar and is designed to combine all the previous melts with sankir, so that the light parts of the face and figure are shrouded in a light halftone. The tone of the fifth fusion - the fusion - is compiled according to the tone of the depicted face chosen by the artist. It should be applied so that the previous melts can be seen through it. Finally, the sixth and last step is the overlay of highlights. Next comes the final finishing of the heads and naked parts of the body with the restoration of the drawing - inventory. To do this, take a sharp brush, create a dark brown tone (from burnt umber) and use it to draw all the facial features with thin, lively lines. With these lines, the artist reveals a certain image of a person, his psychological state and character. At the same time, the hair on the head, beard, and mustache is combed in a tone slightly lighter than the applied highlights. The pupils of the eyes and eyelashes are marked with soot.

All that remains is to paint the entire work in gold and silver, but first it is necessary to secure all the work done with varnish. You cannot paint with gold on a loose painting: the paints absorb the gold. An object painted with paints is coated with copal varnish twice. Dry thoroughly after each coating. Before painting with gold, the varnish surface is rubbed with pumice until matte, since gold does not stick to the varnish. Pumice powder is brushed off the wiped surface with a goose feather.

Gold leaf is carefully crushed and rubbed with fingers. Gum arabic (transparent acacia resin) is used as a binder. Gold painting is also done with the finest brush. Sometimes silver or aluminum powder is used. Gaps with gold and aluminum are applied on clothes in those places where gaps in color are not applied: in dark tones - in gold, in light tones - in silver. They also make all the ornamental decorations. Painting with gold and silver on miniatures is used in three types: “in bristles”, with inoculation and ornamental painting.

In order for the gold applied to the product to acquire shine, it must be polished. A wolf tooth was used for this because it has a particularly smooth surface.

After the artist has signed the piece, it is varnished and dried, and then polished on a mechanical wheel covered in plush or velvet. The final finishing touches during polishing are done only by hand. The surface is covered with lard and treated for an hour with a palm moistened with water. From friction, the surface of the varnish heats up, becomes completely leveled and acquires a mirror shine.

Palekh painting, sparkling with semi-preciousness, seems to splash on the black surface of boxes, boxes, caskets, forming a colorful pattern covered with the finest golden touches and ornaments on clothes, trees, buildings. In the compositions, reality is intricately combined with fantasy. People, houses, trees, observed in real life, but depicted with special plastic acuity, coexist with fantastic “slides”, “chambers”, “trees”. The subject compositions on the top and side surfaces of objects are decorated with thin gold ornaments of a wide variety of never-repeating patterns.

Palekh miniatures are known throughout the world and have existed for almost a hundred years. But in fact, this artistic tradition is several centuries old. Palekh became a center in the 17th century; The Palekh icon before the revolution was no less famous than the Palekh box today, and these two types of art are directly related. In 1924, seven years after the revolution, Palekh hereditary icon painters figured out how to apply their skills and preserve the ancient Russian artistic tradition in a new, atheistic culture. Masters Ivan Bakanov, Ivan Vakurov, Ivan Golikov, Alexander Kotukhin, Ivan Markichev and art historians Anatoly Bakushinsky and Alexander Glazunov created the Palekh Artel of Ancient Painting and transferred icon-painting styles to lacquer miniatures  The masters of Kholuy and Mstera did a similar thing, but although these three centers of lacquer miniatures are often put on the same line, each of them is original. Palekh is the founder of the artistic style and unique author's works in miniature, monumental art, book graphics, scenography and porcelain decoration. Kholui and Mstyora deal exclusively with lacquer miniatures. Kholuy is more laconic in his compositions and focused on mass copying from samples; The genre of miniature landscape was created there. Mstera loves realistic painting, completely fills the black background and prefers a warm golden or bluish-gray color tone.. Of course, the Soviet government did not call Palekh artists heirs of a centuries-old tradition; for them, the art of Palekh became a folk craft, and the artists became peasants. The “nationality” imposed by the ideology dictated the plots and their perception: in any event, be it a space flight or harvesting, a wonderful fairy tale was seen. In post-Soviet mythology, the diverse art of Palekh is “agitlak,” the mass production of products with Soviet symbols and themes. But in fact, miniatures of the Palekh Artel of ancient painting were painted on eternal subjects like “The Harvest” or “The Kiss” and were sent for export. The West, which first saw Palekh art at an exhibition in Venice in 1924, has since then regularly ordered boxes and waited not for propaganda, but for apolitical subjects. The revolutionary theme of the works was mainly situational: the boxes were created for all-Union exhibitions or as exclusive gifts to the party leadership. For example, one of the most interesting compositions with a Soviet theme is the plate  Plate- interior decoration made of papier-mâché. Pavel Bazhenov “Guarding the Borders of the USSR” 1935.

How Palekh miniature inherits icon painting

Four-part icon with saints in the margins. Palekh letters. Second half of the 18th centuryHouse-Museum of P. D. Korin, Moscow / palekh.narod.ru

Pavel Bazhenov. Churilo Plenkovic. Casket. 1934Museum-apartment of A. M. Gorky, Moscow / Wikimedia Commons

Each master of the Palekh artel used his favorite technique in lacquer miniatures, hence the variety of new art. In the works of Ivan Vakurov there are clear traditions of the Novgorod style of the 15th century. In the compositions of Ivan Golikov, Alexander Kotukhin and Dmitry Butorin - the Stroganov school of the 17th century. In the works of Ivan Markichev, Ivan Bakanov one can find the traditions of the frescoes of the Savior on Nereditsa, Andrei Rublev, and the masters of Kostroma and Rostov in the 17th century. Aristarkh Dydykin comes from the traditions of the school of Simon Ushakov and the Palekh style of the 18th century; Ivan Zubkov - from the Fryazhsky letter of the late 19th century. The stylistic features of different icon painting styles are best seen in images of slides, trees and architecture. But the depictions of people and horses underwent greater transformation, because the authors followed the plots and compositional tasks of the 20th century.

Mikhail Zinoviev, Vasily Markichev. Icon of the Menaion with the Resurrection and Passion of the Lord. 19th centuryState Museum of Palekh Art

Ivan Golikov. Bead pot with painting “Battle”. 1926

The bead size is only 4 by 5 cm.

Pre-revolutionary Palekh was famous for its icons of miniature, or, as they were called, petty work. These were small prayer icons based on menya scenes.  Menaea(from the Greek “month-long”) - a book with texts for church or home annual worship., twelve holidays, small hagiographic icons, compositions depicting iconostases. The peculiarity of this type of icons was the preservation of the purity and rigor of the canon, the jewelry meticulousness of the writing, the virtuoso icon-painting technique, but most importantly - on the small surface of the icon board there were many finely painted compositions or images. This skill is one of the foundations of the Palekh style. Masters painted tiny beads and brooches, placing epic scenes with many heroes on them.

Akathist to Saint Nicholas. Stamp “Saving drowning people”. Palekh letters. Mid-18th century

The mark is a plot-wise and compositionally independent part of the icon.

Ivan Zubkov. Cigarette case with the painting “Because of the island on the rod...”. 1927State Museum of Palekh Art

The iconography of Palekh akathists gave many options for visual solutions for a variety of spaces and subjects: the sea, mountains, buildings inside and outside, people in a city square, a lonely traveler in a forest or desert. Artists borrowed these iconographic solutions and developed them coloristically and plastically to solve new problems.

Icon "Great Martyr Barbara". Palekh letters. Second half of the 18th centuryState Museum of Palekh Art

Dmitry Butorin. “Near Lukomorye there is a green oak tree...”State Museum of Palekh Art

Palekh small icons are distinguished by a very complex compositional structure with many mini-plots in one icon and a clear center of the composition. For example, this principle is used by the artist Dmitry Butorin in the miniature “Near the Lukomorye there is a green oak tree...”. He builds the composition according to the canon: Pushkin appears in the center, writing down the cat’s fairy tales, and all other groups of characters from a compositional point of view are subordinate to this center.

Icon of “Joy of All Who Sorrow.” Palekh letters. First half of the 18th centuryState Museum of Palekh Art

Ivan Bakanov. Box with painting "Palekh". 1934State Museum of Palekh Art

The basis of Palekh lacquer art was the complex painting technique of floating, also preserved from icon painting. In this technique, transparent paints of different tones are applied in several layers, each layer responsible for its own section of the drawing. Faces were painted in icons using this method. As a result, the transitions from dark to light are imperceptible, and the sharp whitening engines that complete the image give it dynamism.

Icon "Protection of the Mother of God". Palekh letters. Mid-19th centuryState Museum of Palekh Art

Alexander Kotukhin. Box with painting “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”. 1946State Museum of Palekh Art

In the Palekh icon, painting was organically combined with golden backgrounds. Gold-volume painted the gaps of clothes  Space- a technique of icon painting and Palekh painting, with the help of which a feeling of the volume of figures is achieved; strokes written with white, gold or paint in several layers., patterning of lattices, curtains, vestments. Gold painting is also used in lacquer miniatures, solving a variety of decorative problems (this is another significant difference between Palekh and other centers of lacquer miniatures - Kholuy, Mstera and Fedoskina).

Akathist to the Savior. Icon of Palekh writing. Late 18th century

Palekh painting is one of the rarest and most unique in the world and, despite the complexity of the process, Palekh residents still paint blanks in the “old-fashioned” way.

These are, first of all, lacquer miniatures (boxes, caskets, souvenirs, badges), jewelry, icons, panels, portraits and canvases for interiors.

From the history of Palekh painting

This special type of painting originated in Ancient Rus'. In those days, Palekh painting was used to decorate temples and icons. The abundance of gold, soft tones and elongated figures inherent in this type of painting were perfectly suited for creating biblical scenes. But the monotonous theme did not provide an outlet for the creative self-expression of artists, and over time, some masters moved away from a purely religious theme and wove pictures of Russian nature, fairy tale plots, and folklore motifs into their works.

Icon of the Pantocrator (Pantocrator). Wood, gesso, tempera, oil. 31 x 26.4 cm. State Museum of Palekh Art. Artist V.V. Zhegalov
In addition to icons, boxes, panels, and household appliances (for example, writing utensils, trays) began to appear. Lush flowers bloomed on their surface, dressed in the crimson of the forest, Alyonushka cried by the river, Ivan Tsarevich rushed on a gray wolf, or the Russian people had fun, celebrating Maslenitsa. And each plot was and remains unique, because it is written by hand and is never repeated.

The village of Palekh. Casket (1934). Artist I.M. Bakanov

Palekh painting technique

The Palekh technique cannot be confused with any other, only it is characterized by patterns, thin, graceful lines, elongation and careful linear cutting of figures, and an abundance of landscape decorations. And the technique of applying, fixing and processing the drawing, passed down from antiquity, gives it internal depth and richness of colors. A similar technique was used to paint ancient frescoes, and it has no analogues in the whole world. Modern masters of Palekh painting create their works by hand from start to finish, relying only on old techniques and techniques. The artist independently prepares the future item, specially processes it, paints it, applies gold and seals the result. Due to their high quality, Paleshan products are valued all over the world.

Manufacturing of products for painting

The blank for Palekh lacquer miniatures is cardboard. The master cuts it into shapes of a certain size and glues them one on top of the other on a wooden block using flour paste. The number of layers is determined by the thickness of the product. The workpiece is then pressed and dried for several days. The resulting semi-finished product must be completely saturated with linseed oil (for this purpose flour glue was used, which, unlike synthetic glue, will allow linseed oil to pass through itself and allow it to be deeply absorbed). The workpiece is dipped into a vat of hot oil and kept there for a day. Then oven drying again (2 days at 100˚C). Now the product can be sanded, processed with a file or an emery brush. At the same stage, hooks, canopies, and hinges are attached to the product.

To prime the product, a special composition is prepared from oil, soot and red clay. Several layers of varnish are already applied to the primer: 2-3 layers of black varnish on the outside, and oil varnish with cinnabar (a mineral made of mercury and sulfur) on the inside. The last stage of obtaining the correct workpiece is the application of 7 layers of light varnish with mandatory oven drying of each layer. Light varnish is also made by Palekh craftsmen according to ancient recipes. Now the product is ready for painting, which real artists do only with self-prepared paints from egg yolks, vinegar and minerals. The master goes over the surface of the product with pumice so that the paints do not spread, draws the contours of the pattern first with a pencil, then with whitewash, and then paints it with a thin squirrel hair brush (which he makes himself). The dimensions of the pattern are so small that artists often have to resort to using a magnifying glass.

"Three maidens by the window". Casket (1931). Artist P.D. Bazhenov
The painted product is dried and the design is fixed with varnish. Only after this the master begins to paint the product with gold and silver leaf. To make precious metals shine, they are polished with agate or wolf's tooth. The entire product is again coated with several layers of varnish, dried and sanded to a mirror shine.

"Chichikov at Korobochka." Casket (1936). Artist V.M. Salabanov

Publications in the Traditions section

From icon to casket

P alekh. The name, famous throughout the world for the skill of artists, was not always associated with colorful boxes. According to legend, icon painters from Vladimir and Suzdal fled to the forests on the banks of the Paleshka River. They settled and built on the site of the burnt forest. Before the revolution, icons were painted, but the new government, which was harsh on religious themes, forced us to take up secular motifs - fairy tales, legends, epics. They began to paint miniatures on boxes. We invite you to recall 10 facts from the history of the fishery with Natalya Letnikova.

In the traditions of the first masters. "Palekh - village-folk academy"- said Georgy Filimonov, custodian of Christian and Russian antiquities in the first Public Museum in Moscow, and head of the archive of the Armory Chamber in 1863. The Palekh style is based on the traditions of many icon painting schools. Palekh icons are distinguished by their special subtlety of writing, soft smooth lines and restrained colors. Clothes and ornaments shine with gold - a symbol of light. The color of precious metal in Palekh miniatures is not just a painting technique. In Christian symbolism, it is light that is the prototype of divine grace.

Palekh, Ivanovo region. Photo: russia-open.com

Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Palekh, Ivanovo region. Photo: sobory.ru

Palekh, Ivanovo region. Photo: venividi.ru

Iconographic roots of Palekh painting. Surrounded by forests and away from major roads, along the picturesque Paleshki River. They lived separately in the village, and merchants practically never visited. This is how icon painters preserved their traditions from generation to generation. Only in the middle of the 17th century did rumors about Palekh masters reach Moscow. And only then the artists themselves ended up in Belokamennaya. The Paleshans applied their skills to the Faceted Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin, the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and the Novodevichy Monastery.

New time, new images, new craft. After the October Revolution, artists had to leave biblical images for a long time in search of other themes. The revolution did not favor icon painting. Then the modern Palekh style and papier-mâché boxes in the likeness of Fedoskino appeared. Former icon painters painted boxes and caskets with scenes from folk tales, genre scenes, pictures of rural life and landscapes.

"Artel of Ancient Painting". The artists transferred tempera painting to boxes and united into an artel. In 1924, on the initiative of a group of talented icon painters with the support of art critic and professor Anatoly Bakushinsky, the “Artel of Ancient Painting” was formed. Maxim Gorky, who supported the artists, became an honorary member of the association. Masters painted caskets, boxes, teapots, snuff boxes and powder compacts. At first, blanks were purchased in Fedoskino, but soon they established their own production.

Mikhail Parilov. Nicholas the Wonderworker. End of the 19th century GMPI

Nikolai Korin. John the Baptist in the desert. 1806. GMPI

Ivan Safonov, Mikhail Nefedov. John the Theologian in silence. Beginning of the 20th century GMPI

Talents and fans. Palekh icons were admired by Nikolai Nekrasov, Nikolai Leskov, and Anton Chekhov. In 1814, Johann Goethe showed particular interest in the works of Russian icon painters. The German poet even received from the Vladimir governor as a gift two icons painted in Palekh - “The Twelfth Feasts” and “The Mother of God”. In 1930, a large exhibition of Palekh miniatures was held at the State Russian Museum. The works of Palekh masters became an export item. The painted boxes were bought by Vneshtorg and sold for foreign currency.

Dynasties and secrets of the trade. The artel was famous for its dynasties. The secrets of mastery are a family matter. The painters raised themselves from childhood. One of the oldest Palekh families is the Belousovs. Leonid Ivanovich Belousov - icon painter. He started working in the artel in 1926. Lacquer miniatures became the work of life for his great-grandson, Evgeniy Belousov. And there are many such glorious families in Palekh. The Golikovs, Kotukhins, Sivyakovs... The history of the trade and the secrets of the craft were once kept within the family circle. They even married their own people, Palekh people, protecting the secrets of painting.

Palekh lacquer miniature. Photo: palekh.narod.ru

Palekh lacquer miniature. Photo: kanon-tradition.ru

World recognition. The very first works of Palekh icon painters in the new genre of lacquer miniatures, commissioned by a handicraft museum, received a first-degree diploma at the exhibition of the Academy of Artistic Sciences. In 1924, Palekh boxes made a splash at the Venice Art Vernissage. The Italians even asked to send craftsmen to organize a school. The artists refused to leave Russia. And a year after the formation of the artel, Palekh painting received a gold medal at the World Exhibition in Paris.

Palekh paints are not for battle scenes. It just so happened that Palekh is more and more pictures from rural life and fairy-tale motifs. But this is in peacetime. When the whole country lived with a single thought about Victory, the Battle of Stalingrad became a source of inspiration for artists: “People's Avengers”, “In the Footsteps of the Enemy”, “Attack”, “People's War”. Working in the rear, the craftsmen maintained their craft even during the war. Only old people and pre-conscription youth worked. The art school of the “village academy” - as Palekh was called - did not close either.

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 Palekhov masters do not leave anyone indifferent,
who once saw them.

At the turn of the 16th-17th centuries, Palekh saw the appearance of masters who painted holy images, painted temples and cathedrals, and restored ancient frescoes. The beginning of the 19th century saw the heyday of Palekh icon painting, which was in great demand not only in Russia but also abroad. The unique, elegant art of Palekh lacquer miniatures combines the principles of ancient Russian painting and folk art.

If in some cities the creation of icons was almost industrial, then in Palekh for many years the original painting of holy images was preserved, the painting of which was carried out by members of peasant families in their free time from agricultural work.

It was noteworthy that in the peasant families of icon painters there was a division of labor: the drawing was applied to the base by the “banner”, the clothes and chambers were painted by the “dolicnik”, and the faces by the “lichnik”. Palekh icons were created for a long time and meticulously; they were consistent with the canons of ancient models, so their value was high.

But by the end of the 19th century in Rus', the number of icon painters increased greatly, which caused a decrease in cost and deterioration in the quality of icon painting, and the demand for Palekh icons sharply decreased due to high cost.

And the revolution that took place in Russia in 1917 changed not only the entire structure of Russia but also the attitude towards the church. The production of icons became unclaimed and icon painters were left without work.

But lacquer miniature painting in Palekh is a relatively young movement that emerged only about two centuries ago. The prerequisite for its emergence was that at the end of the 18th century, the Moscow merchant Korobov founded the production of lacquered visors for army caps. And when snuff came into fashion, he also began producing lacquer snuff boxes.

Over time, these boxes acquired a luxurious and rich appearance; they began to be used to decorate rooms. Using colorful colors and Russian folk themes, Palekh craftsmen used various subjects from fairy tales, epics and legends in their work.

At the end of the civil war, Palekh craftsmen resumed their craft, now making boxes, brooches, powder compacts and other items from papier-mâché. They depicted scenes from Russian folk tales, scenes of village life, and also used the work of Russian writers and poets.

The Second World War also introduced its own themes into Palekh painting - colorful war scenes. During Soviet times, Palekh was characterized by pathos, ideology, and monumentalism. And only years later the artists managed to return romance and sublimity, poetry and allegory.

To this day, lacquer miniatures are distinguished by their bright colors on a black background, elongated figures, and fine lines. Decorative landscapes and architecture, elegant gold ornaments framing the composition - all this makes 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 a magnifying glass is required for this. Most of the miniatures are unique or produced in very small quantities.