Abstract on the discipline

History of world literature and art

A story about the painting by M.A. Vrubel "The Swan Princess"

Plan

1) Lifetime.

2) The historical nature of the era.

3) Artistic movements to which he was close.

IV. Composition and color scheme.

V. Symbolism of details.

VI. Innovation.

Swan Princess. M. A. Vrubel (1900)

1) Vrubel M.A. (Mikhail Vrubel, 1856–1910), Russian artist, the largest representative of symbolism and modernism in Russian fine art. Born in Omsk on March 5 (17), 1856. Vrubel studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1880–1884) with P.P. Chistyakov; took watercolor lessons from I.E. Repin.

2) Among Russian painters who created works on the themes of fairy tales and epics, Vrubel has a special place. The artist managed to penetrate into the very structure of poetic fiction, he managed to give a special philosophical meaning to the images of folk fantasy.

3) A wonderful painter, poet, using colors and lines, Vrubel develops his own language, his own style, his own understanding of color. He strives to bring together the elements of color harmonies. In the best of his decorative canvases, he avoids the flatness that was characteristic of the decorative painters of the Art Nouveau era. And like the best colorists of all times and peoples, Vrubel knew how to carefully distribute his colorful riches on the canvas with reflections.

Like most writers, poets, and artists who worked at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Vrubel sought to depict in his work a special world, far from the unsightly and vulgar everyday life. But, possessing a powerful gift of true talent, he did not confine himself to the realm of mystical, otherworldly symbols, like many of his contemporaries. Vrubel painfully sought an answer to many burning questions of his time, turning to significant and majestic images, to extraordinary natures, capable of boldly challenging everything that fetters the spiritual and creative powers of man. He was torn apart by the contradictions between the ethical and the aesthetic, the divine and the human, he was tormented by the eternal questions: can beauty be evil, and evil can be beautiful.

Vrubel’s personality as a Russian artist explains one feature of all Russian art. This art never relies on cold calculations of the mind. It is warmed by a living feeling. Vrubel went down in art history as an artist of rare sincerity.

This picture is typical of Vrubel’s work. It is written in the genre of mythology, in which a number of paintings were presented. Such as Demon, Pan, Bogatyr.

III. Genre.

This picture was painted in the genre of mythology.

(MYTHOLOGICAL GENRE - dedicated to the events and heroes about which myths tell.)

"The Swan Princess". Deep meaning lies in just two words. The charm of native nature, the proud and gentle soulfulness of a fairy-tale bird girl.

The secret spells of yet conquered evil witchcraft.

Loyalty and firmness of true love. The power and eternal force of good.

All these features are combined into a wonderful image, marvelous in its unfading freshness and that special majestic beauty characteristic of folk tales.

IV. Composition and color scheme.

"The Swan Princess". The wide-open, enchanting eyes of the princess look into the very depths of your 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. She seems ready to say something, but remains silent.

The turquoise, blue, emerald semi-precious stones of the patterned crown-kokoshnik flicker, and it seems that this tremulous radiance merges with the reflection of dawn on the crests of the sea waves and with its ghostly light it seems to envelop the delicate features of a pale face, making the rustling folds of a semi-airy white veil, held against the breeze, come to life wind with a girl's hand.

Huge snow-white but warm wings emit pearlescent, pearly light. The sea is agitated behind the Swan Princess. We can almost hear the measured sound of the surf on the rocks of the miracle island, shining with crimson, scarlet, welcoming magic lights.

Far, far away, at the very edge of the sea, where it meets the sky, the rays of the sun broke through the gray clouds and lit the pink edge of the evening dawn. . .

It is this magical flickering of pearls and precious stones, the trembling of dawn and the glare of the flames of the island lights that creates the fabulous atmosphere that permeates the picture, making it possible to feel the harmony of high poetry sounding in the folk legend. Incredible goodness is poured into the canvas.

Maybe sometimes only the slight rustle of wings and the splash of waves break the silence. But there is so much hidden songfulness in this silence. There is no action or gesture in the picture. Peace reigns.

Everything seems to be enchanted. But you hear, hear the living heartbeat of a Russian fairy tale, you seem to be captivated by the gaze of the princess and are ready to endlessly look into her sad, kind eyes, admire her charming, sweet face, beautiful and mysterious.

The artist captivated us with the magic of his magical muse.

V. Symbolism of details.

The symbol is formed on the basis of numerous meanings, so it deepens its content and so it carries within itself not only the idea of ​​one work, but also the entire creative work. "The Swan Princess" opera by Rimsky-Korsakov. This is no coincidence. Modernism is characterized by the use of such images that exist in culture as symbols, denoting any “eternal” ideas. They are often used by artists and after each use, their meaning deepens, the content is filled with the thoughts that the authors put into them. Vrubel has a certain connection between the characters in his paintings. Taken together, they can form a kind of myth, a picture of the world that will reflect the characteristics of the artist’s perception of reality. Vrubel’s images are always on the verge of the real world and fantasy, as was the case with the artist’s inner world. He has human loyalty, the purity of love can be represented in the guise of Ophelia, the Swan Princess.

For example, the image of the Swan, the winged princess, the bride, is created on the basis of pearl coloring, combining the mystery of “living stone” with the sparkle of stars and snow. Speaking about the three main symbols of Vrubel's coloring, it can be noted that red, blue, yellow are three absolutely pure colors in painting, also called primary, because the spectrum is based on them. They cannot be created by mixing other colors, just like white.

"The Swan Princess" we see only a white bird, transformed into a beautiful princess, against the backdrop of a dark seascape. But in the trembling movement of her figure, in the anxious turn of her head and the depth of her gaze, there is the tragedy of Vrubel’s worldview, the loneliness and defenselessness of beauty, its sacrifice and fragility. In the eyes of the princess - knowledge of her fate and everything around her.

The heroine of the canvas “The Swan Princess” is immersed in mystery and darkness.

VI. Innovation.

Vrubel was in many ways an innovator for his time. The artist breaks with the academic principles of fine art of the 19th century: the indispensable image of movement and the presence of intrigue. In the work “The Swan Princess” (1900), Vrubel’s Russian theme was succinctly reflected.

Application

LITERARY SOURCES

1. Suzdalev P.K. Vrubel. Personality. Worldview, method. M., 1992

2. website: www.studzona.com

3. http://vrubel.narod.ru

The painting “The Swan Princess” is one of those works of art that fascinate, that are memorable and push to certain experiences. Today the painting is displayed in the Tretyakov Gallery.

What does the picture say?

The picture is thematic. It depicts a young woman who was drawn from the top image of the main character of “The Tale of Tsar Saltan.” It was the artist, the author of the canvas, Vrubel who worked on the decorations for the famous opera. It is interesting that the role was sung by the wife of a famous artist. Perhaps this is what inspired him to create such a subtle and poetic canvas.

According to critics and art researchers, this painting is the most striking “theatrical,” so to speak, creation of Vrubel. As contemporaries said, the singer’s voice and appearance were surprisingly combined with what she created on stage for the audience. The voice was amazing, it was impossible to compare it with anything, it was both light and gentle, but it combined so many bright colors that it overwhelmed those who listened to it with emotions. At the same time, the voice combined expressiveness and amazing calmness.

Everything about this princess is absolutely extraordinary:

• Her eyes are wide, like deep lakes and the endless blue sky;
• Pleasant and mysterious smile;
• Graceful body curves.

Moment of the painting

The canvas conveys exactly the moment when the swan transforms into a mysterious beauty. At this moment, it seems as if everything around is freezing, as if time has stopped and nothing else exists in the world except this beautiful princess, mesmerizing with her beauty. The amazingly beautiful kokoshnik also plays a significant role in the image. It is rich and beautiful, and only emphasizes the beautiful face of the heroine of the picture.

The author conveys anxious anticipation through the absence of the slightest movement. This happens because dusk is gathering, because soon, after a few moments that fly by unnoticed, the viewer can no longer contemplate this beauty. But in the picture it is precisely the moment when she is in front of us, when we turned out to be worthy of the princess paying attention and giving her unique look. It is not only beautiful, but also carries a certain meaning. This is a farewell look. She is sad, and this makes her even more beautiful. The snow-white image gives the heroine innocence and fragility.

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"The Swan Princess". Deep meaning lies in just two words. The charm of native nature, the proud and gentle soulfulness of a fairy-tale bird girl.
The secret spells of yet conquered evil witchcraft.
Loyalty and firmness of true love. The power and eternal force of good.
All these features are combined into a wonderful image, marvelous in its unfading freshness and that special majestic beauty characteristic of folk tales.
What a gift it was necessary to have in order to translate this pure and chaste appearance into a picture!

Tell in the language of painting about a dream, about the incredible. Only a great artist who understood the beauty of Rus' could do this.

“Wings are native soil and life,” wrote Mikhail Vrubel, and in another address to a close comrade he exclaimed:

“How much beauty we have in Rus'... And you know what stands at the head of this beauty - a form that has been created by nature forever. And without references to the code of international aesthetics, but it is endlessly dear because it is the bearer of the soul, which will be revealed to you alone and will he tell you yours?"

In this way, very few people are given the ability to understand the depth of the most intimate in art, and that is why Vrubel was able to write a masterpiece of our school, because he loved the Fatherland, the people, and the beauty.

"The Swan Princess". The wide-open, enchanting eyes of the princess look into the very depths of your 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. She seems ready to say something, but remains silent.

The turquoise, blue, emerald semi-precious stones of the patterned crown-kokoshnik flicker, and it seems that this tremulous radiance merges with the reflection of dawn on the crests of the sea waves and with its ghostly light it seems to envelop the delicate features of a pale face, making the rustling folds of a semi-airy white veil, held against the breeze, come to life wind with a girl's hand.

Huge snow-white but warm wings emit pearlescent, pearly light. The sea is agitated behind the Swan Princess. We can almost hear the measured sound of the surf on the rocks of the miracle island, shining with crimson, scarlet, welcoming magic lights.

Far, far away, at the very edge of the sea, where it meets the sky, the rays of the sun broke through the gray clouds and lit up the pink edge of the evening dawn...

It is this magical flickering of pearls and precious stones, the trembling of dawn and the glare of the flames of the island lights that creates the fabulous atmosphere that permeates the picture, making it possible to feel the harmony of high poetry sounding in the folk legend. Incredible goodness is poured into the canvas.

Maybe sometimes only the slight rustle of wings and the splash of waves break the silence. But there is so much hidden songfulness in this silence. There is no action or gesture in the picture. Peace reigns.

Everything seems to be enchanted. But you hear, hear the living heartbeat of a Russian fairy tale, you seem to be captivated by the gaze of the princess and are ready to endlessly look into her sad, kind eyes, admire her charming, sweet face, beautiful and mysterious.

The artist captivated us with the magic of his magical muse.
http://www.art-catalog.ru/picture.php?id_picture=1319

"The Swan Princess" is essentially a stage portrait of Zabela. This type of theatrical portrait was popular among many Russian symbolist artists; just remember Konstantin Somov and Alexander Golovin. Vrubel paints his wife against the backdrop of his own scenery for “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”, in a costume he created for the play. But the stage convention was transformed by the powerful onslaught of Vrubel’s brush, transformed into a fairy tale. Before the eyes of the viewer, the miracle of the transformation of the sea surf into the wings of the Swan Princess, also likened to her precious clothes, takes place. The incorrect light of sunset transforms reality, making it unsteady and ambiguous. This kind of poetics of allusions and associations, characteristic of symbolism, is inherent in many of Vrubel’s works. The pearly color of the picture seems to be generated by music. Vrubel had the gift of synesthesia - the ability to see music in color. “I can endlessly hear the orchestra, especially the sea. Every time I find new charm in it, I see some fantastic tones,” Vrubel said about Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “Sadko.”
The unsteady and gentle, mysterious and exciting image of the Princess retains the lyricism and sincerity of Zabela’s singing.
Text - Valery Maloletkov.

In Vrubel’s painting, the mysterious bird with the face of a maiden is unlikely to become a man’s wife, and her farewell, languid gaze, her hand gesture, warning, calling for silence, do not promise well-being. The mood of the picture is alarming: the blue twilight is thickening, the crimson streak of sunset is visible and some evil red lights in the distance are not the same as in the clear city of Ledenets. The princess does not approach, she floats away into the darkness, and only turned around for the last time to make her strange sign of warning. Her face is unusually beautiful: the “indescribable beauty” of fairy-tale princesses, and her magically shimmering plumage, smoky, shimmering pink, and an airy veil, and kokoshnik pearls, and shining precious rings. “The Swan Princess” perhaps represents the culmination, crowning and end of the fairy tale theme. Alexander Blok was especially fond of the painting “The Swan Princess”. A photograph of it always hung in his office in Shakhmatovo.

Dry lips, sunken eyes,
The opal moisture of the blue night.
It's good that you can't absorb it,
You can't when your soul doesn't want to
No broken wings in the facet of existence,
Diamonds not cracked in the mirror,
There are drops of life in wounded wounds, but yours is
A calm, unconfused mind.
The earthly cannot express everything,
To penetrate through the thickness of understandings.
Let thin into the eye sockets, like through a window
Closed - flies in and knocks.

Painting: 1900
Canvas, oil.
Size: 142.5 × 93.5 cm

Description of the painting “The Swan Princess” by M. Vrubel

Artist: Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel
Title of the painting: “The Swan Princess”
Painting: 1900
Canvas, oil.
Size: 142.5 × 93.5 cm

The mysticism of M. Vrubel has long been a generally accepted fact, given all his demons. The artist seemed to be attracted by otherworldly forces. Fairy tales, not folk tales, but literary ones, were no exception.

He created their unsteady, fantastic and not understandable world. The origins of this are in the education of the painter. He was interested in music, theater and opera. After meeting Nadezhda Zabela, he discovered the world of theatrical scenery and sketches of stage costumes for his wife. They amazed the audience and critics so much that they expected not so much the premiere of the play, but rather came to see the costumes of the opera singer with their own eyes.

The wife became a muse for portraits, and Vrubel was in love with her voice, with the image created by the woman, with what her imagination so helpfully suggested. In 1900, composer N. Rimsky-Korsakov presented the opera “The Swan Princess” to the Moscow public. Vrubel worked on sketches of costumes for the actors, and Nadezhda Zabela performed the role of the Princess. The artist himself, as is known, idolized his wife and lived for her, attended all rehearsals, spent nights working on sets and costumes, and painted countless times. Inspired by the music and beauty of the fairy-tale heroine, the master created the painting “The Swan Princess,” for which his wife served as the prototype.

The picture is striking in its static nature. You will not see a live play of chiaroscuro here, you will only feel a vague anxiety. The frozen water and lifeless lights of a distant city, the huge eyes of a pale-skinned girl evoke memories of those mysterious and fatal women, because of whom men do not sleep at night and abandon their families.

If we draw a parallel between demons and the Swan Princess, many will confidently say that she is a demoness. According to the opera and fairy tale, this girl helps Guidon. But cultural connoisseurs involuntarily face the question: “Why did the kite want to kill her?” She was a sorceress, a sorceress, that is, she had a direct connection with the other world. And not the viewer, not the reader, does not know where this stranger in crystal white clothes and a luxurious kokoshnik came from. The origin of all the heroes of Pushkin’s fairy tale is known exactly, but it only “... floats on top of flowing waters.”

The second association is Aphrodite, born from the waters and a line from Tsvetaev’s “I am the mortal foam of the sea.” The Swan Princess emerged from the sea, in which, according to a list of myths and legends, beautiful maidens with a charming voice and bottomless eyes lived, and in order to get out of the abyss, they turned into beautiful white birds.

The eyes of Vrubel’s heroine are a separate matter. They captivate you and don’t let go, they look like the look of a creature from another universe. They are scary and mysterious at the same time, and this mystery is so wild and primordial that it simply cannot be explained.

The girl depicted in the picture is quite difficult to call beautiful according to standard canons. But her pale skin, dark hair and fragile long fingers definitely have magic and attraction for the stronger sex. Prince Guidon could not resist the Swan.

The mysterious princess occupies the entire composition of the picture. Her outfit is white with hints of silver, so light that they are almost invisible. Moreover, the color of the dress and wings is not soft and cheerful, but crystalline with shades of blue - so amazingly cold and lifeless that you involuntarily think about the Snow Queen.

In the background of the canvas on the left side are the lights of the miracle island. The waves beat against its rocks, as if luring you towards them. It is impossible to make out the houses and the princely castle, since in the picture there are only reflections of red, orange and yellow - the only light spots in the entire composition. They symbolize life, and also the passion that the Princess’s gaze hides. The island is washed by the waters of a deep blue sea, so dark that it seems as if it is about to “boil and howl”, merging with the dark blue, crimson and gloomy sky. A narrow strip of light in the distance seems to indicate that there is something human in the appearance of the Swan - she was able to fall in love.

The entire background of the canvas is filled with deepening twilight. This is the farewell of night and day, the most mysterious time of the day. Twilight darkness covers the wonderful island, the surface of the sea and the Princess herself. The same mystery begins - transformation. You see snow-white swan wings, which in a split second will become sea foam, and the transformation itself seems endless. The reality of Vrubel’s painting is so distorted that it seems as if some demonic forces have stopped time. First of all, this is manifested in the clothes of the Swans. A luxurious kokoshnik, decorated with intricate patterns, white and blue stones - everything shines like pagan jewelry. The dress of the demonic beauty is white, the color of innocence and purity, and also of infinity and cold, somewhat reminiscent of a wedding dress. Perhaps the artist conveyed the moment when the Princess was supposed to reveal herself to Guidon.

Therefore, the mystical girl does not approach the viewer, she leaves him towards her happiness, like Blok’s stranger. She looks at you half-turned, as if warning that not everyone can pacify demons.

The painting was made in the painter’s favorite technique - all the same clear facial features, limbs and details, the play of shadows that gives them volume, but otherwise - rough strokes with a palette knife, cleaned up with a knife.

They say Vrubel went crazy painting demons. Wasn't the Swan Princess one of them? Critics, art historians, and even the descendants of the artist himself are looking for an answer to this question and have not found it to this day.

They say that art therapy is Vrubel’s invention. By drawing his demons and demonesses, he could control his shaky psyche. Psychiatrists who examined the artist’s paintings came to the conclusion that there were improvements in his condition when he was painting and flashes when he was just conceiving the picture.

They say that the artist, faithful to his wife, was seduced. And it is true. He was seduced by that unknown and elusive, mystical and dangerous power of art, which he only wanted to stop for a moment in the painting “The Swan Princess”. It turned out he stopped for eternity.

Essay based on the painting: M. Vrubel “The Swan Princess”.
Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel is a famous Russian artist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His works are the embodiment in painting of images of Russian folk tales, epics, and legends. The painting “The Swan Princess” was no exception. The heroine of A.S. Pushkin’s fairy tale, the swan girl from Russian folklore, served as the prototype for the creation of the canvas.
The picture is amazing. There is no movement in it. Everything froze in some kind of anxious anticipation: either the deepening twilight carries anxiety, or parting with a beautiful girl who is about to melt in the darkness of the night, sailing into an unknown distance. The look of the Swan Princess is a farewell look. Her huge eyes are full of sadness and kindness. What is the beautiful princess sad about? About the passing day? Or about the upcoming separation? Or is she worried about something unknown, approaching in the twilight of the night?
The darkness around the Swan Princess thickens. And only she herself, her snow-white robe, veil and kokoshnik crown sparkle in the rays of the setting sun. Everything sparkles with mother of pearl. The precious stones on her jewelry glow with a mysterious flicker. There is a pearlescent shine on the girl’s face too. Her wing clothes almost merge with the glimpses of the evening dawn there in the distance, where the beautiful Swan will soon rush. The sea splashes around. The splash of the waves is visually noticeable. The Swan Princess emerged from the water, her wings spread out over the water surface, almost dissolving in it.
Vrubel created an image that became a symbol of girlish beauty and grandeur, the mysterious charm of the heroines of Russian fairy tales, helpers and intercessors, craftswomen and needlewomen who selflessly love everything around them.

An essay based on M. Vrubel's painting "The Swan Princess".
At the end of the 1890s, N. Rimsky-Korsakov actively collaborated with Savva Mamontov’s Private Opera, where N. Zabela, Vrubel’s wife, sang. One after another, his works “Sadko”, “The Tsar’s Bride”, “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” were staged on the theater stage. N. Zabela performed in the title roles and soon became the composer’s favorite singer. Vrubel was not aloof from all this, attracted by Mamontov to productions as a theater artist. Vrubel and Rimsky-Korsakov became friends.
This poignant picture is the fruit of their friendship. N. Zabela gained great success in the role of the Swan Princess in the play “The Tale of Tsar Saltan.” A photograph of her in a theatrical costume, presented to the composer, prompted Vrubel to create this canvas. Despite the fact that the work has an obvious theatrical echo, the artist managed to create a soulful musical image of a fragile and alien creature thrown into our world. Many critics noted the very “immateriality” of pictorial matter, somehow miraculously expressed by the artist.
The great Russian artist Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel, who worked in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, very often made characters from famous Russian folk tales and other folklore works the heroes of his paintings. My favorite painting by Vrubel is “The Swan Princess,” the image of which the artist transferred from the famous fairy tale by Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.
This picture is extraordinary, it amazes with its naturalness. Everything seemed to freeze in this picture, waiting for something great, unusual, new. In the painting “The Swan Princess” you can feel some kind of hidden anxiety, which makes you look at the painting without a hint of indifference. The picture is so alive that one gets the impression that the beautiful girl depicted in it is about to disappear. There is sadness lurking in the eyes of the Swan Princess, forcing you to turn on your imagination and think about where she is from, what she is sad about, what happened?
Against the backdrop of the approaching darkness, the Swan Princess looks beautiful in her snow-white robe. The sea is raging next to her, and the viewer of Vrubel’s painting involuntarily begins to feel the sound of sea waves.
Mikhail Vrubel managed to paint an extraordinary, amazing painting “The Swan Princess”. The girl depicted on the canvas is an image of the beauty, mystery and greatness of the heroines of Russian folklore.

Description of the painting "The Swan Princess".
Very often Vrubel found inspiration in national folklore, in the Russian epic. Based on epics, legends or myths, the artist created his own images, his own colorful and intense poetic world, which is full of mystery and beauty. The heroes of this fairy-tale world are subject to human suffering and earthly melancholy. Vrubel was prompted to create the image of the “swan princess” by the image that his muse and singer, Nadezhda Zabela, created on stage in Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera. After Zabela’s performance as the “Swan Princess,” a postcard was issued, which was the impetus for the painting. All the charm of the native land, the gentle and proud soul of the mythical bird girl, finds a place in the picture. The firmness and fidelity of true love, the secret spells of witchcraft, the eternal and powerful power of good, everything fit into this wonderful image, distinguished by its special majesty and beauty. It seems that the artist is telling the audience about his incredible dream. Vrubel described the picture - “the wings of a girl, this is the native soil and life. There is so much beauty in Rus' and it is difficult to say what is at the head of this beauty.” This shows how much Vrubel loved his people, his fatherland and beauty.
The composition of the picture is built in such a way that the viewer gets the feeling that he has looked into a fairy-tale world, in which he sees a magical bird girl who is about to disappear. The last rays of the sun shimmer with rainbow colors on the girl’s snow-white plumage. The blue, turquoise and emerald gems of the patterned kokoshnik shimmer. Warm, huge and snow-white wings emit pearly, mother-of-pearl light. Behind the princess is a swan, we hear the sound of the exciting sea, the waves of which beat against the rocks of the miracle island. In the distance, near the sea horizon, the rays of the sun penetrated the gray clouds and lit up the evening dawn. The fabulous atmosphere that is felt in every moment of the picture is created by the thrill of dawn, the flickering of precious stones and pearls, and the glare of flame. A feeling of incredible goodness is poured into the canvas. Only the splash of waves and the rustle of wings can break the silence, but in this silence there is a lot of hidden songfulness. In the picture you will not see any gestures or actions. Complete peace reigns, everything seems to be enchanted. Katina "The Swan Princess" is perhaps one of the most sincere and captivating female images that the artist created.

Vrubel. "The Swan Princess".
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel found the source of his inspiration in the Russian epic epic and national folklore tradition. Based on myth, legend, 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 of fairy-tale heroes with their earthly melancholy and human suffering.
Nadezhda Ivanovna Zabela, a famous singer and muse of the artist, brought not only the charm of feminine charm into Vrubel’s inner world. Music entered his heart even more. Vrubel’s art and Zabela’s creativity were inextricably linked with each other by invisible but strong threads. Zabela's talent was formed with the direct participation of Vrubel.
Nadezhda Ivanovna created an unforgettable image of the Swan Princess in Rimsky-Korsakov's opera "The Tale of Tsar Saltan". A sign of this success was also a postcard issued after the benefit performance - a photograph of Zabela in the role of the Swan Princess. This postcard, apparently, was the impetus for the appearance of Vrubel’s new work - the painting “The Swan Princess”.
True musicality is in the painting itself, in the way the airy, weightless colors in the foreground flicker and shimmer, 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.
The charm of native nature, the proud and gentle soulfulness of a fairy-tale bird girl. The secret spells of yet conquered evil witchcraft. Loyalty and firmness of true love. The power and eternal force of good. All these features are combined into a wonderful image, marvelous in its unfading freshness and that special majestic beauty characteristic of folk tales.
There is a deep meaning in these two words. The charm of native nature, the proud and gentle soulfulness of a fairy-tale bird girl. Loyalty and firmness of true love. The power and eternal force of good. Only a great artist who understood the beauty of Rus' could tell about this.
.The wide-open, enchanting eyes of the princess peer into the very depths of your soul. It's like she sees everything. Both today and tomorrow. That’s why, perhaps, the sable eyebrows are raised so sadly and a little surprised, and the lips are closed. She seems ready to say something, but remains silent. Turquoise, blue, emerald semi-precious stones of the patterned kokoshnik crown shimmer. Huge snow-white but warm wings emit pearlescent, pearly light.
The sea is agitated behind the Swan Princess. We can almost hear the measured sound of the surf on the rocks of the miracle island, shining with crimson, scarlet magic lights.
Incredible goodness is poured into the canvas. Maybe sometimes only the slight rustle of wings and the splash of waves break the silence. Peace reigns. Everything seems to be enchanted. But you hear, hear the heartbeat of the 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 captivated us with the magic of his magical muse. And for a moment we find ourselves in the unknown realm of dreams. The painter-magician strengthens in our hearts the feeling of faith in goodness, in beauty.

Painting "The Swan Princess".
Vrubel felt the power of the heroic epic, but, probably, he was closer to more fragile and lyrical images, “melting and slipping away,” similar to those that his wife created on stage. A large string of fairy-tale works is crowned by two famous paintings, which are certainly remembered by everyone who knows Vrubel’s paintings at all: “Pan”, painted in 1899, and, finally, in conclusion -
"The Swan Princess" in 1900.
Different opinions have been expressed about the merits of The Swan Princess - not everyone agrees to consider it a masterpiece. It does not have that serenity that is so touching in “The Sea Princess” - anxiety and prophetic premonitions suddenly creep into the fairy-tale world. A.P. Ivanov spoke about this picture: “Isn’t it the Virgin of Resentment herself who, in the words of the ancient poem, “splashes her swan wings on the blue sea” before the days of great disasters?”
Yes, Vrubel's Swan Princess is more likely to originate from the Virgin-Offense "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" than from the heroine of Pushkin's "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" or Rimsky-Korsakov's opera on this plot. In Pushkin and Rimsky-Korsakov it is daytime, bright. Tsarevich Guidon saved her from the evil kite, she becomes Guidon’s wife and arranges everything for everyone’s happiness. In Vrubel’s painting, the mysterious bird with the face of a maiden is unlikely to become a man’s wife, and her languid farewell gaze, her hand gesture, warning, calling for silence, do not promise well-being. The mood of the picture is alarming: the blue twilight is thickening, the crimson streak of sunset is visible and some evil red lights in the distance are not the same as in the clear city of Ledenets. The princess does not approach - she floats away into the darkness and only turned around for the last time to make her strange sign of warning.
Her face is extraordinarily beautiful - indeed, the “indescribable beauty” of fairy-tale princesses, and her magically shimmering plumage, smoky, shimmering pink, and her airy veil, and her kokoshnik pearls, and her shining precious rings. Everything is even “too beautiful” - maybe that’s why not everyone likes this picture now. She is accused of being theatrical. But, I think, it is no more and no less theatrical than Vrubel’s other fantastic paintings: in his “magic theater” “The Swan Princess” perhaps represents the culmination, crowning and end of the fairy-tale theme. There are no direct connections with the stage interpretation of “Tsar Saltan” in the film, and the princess herself does not even look like N.I. Zabela - a completely different person, unlike “The Sea Princess,” where the portrait resemblance is undeniable. N. A. Prakhov found in the face of the Swan Princess similarities with his sister, E. A. Prakhova. Most likely, Vrubel came up with the face of the Princess, in which the features of both his wife and the daughter of the woman he once loved, and perhaps someone else’s, were distantly reflected and merged.
Alexander Blok was especially fond of the painting “The Swan Princess”. A photograph of it always hung in his office in Shakhmatovo. It was inspired by a large poem with the subtitle “To Vrubel.” There are no direct “illustrative” rehashes of Vrubel’s images in it - poetic ideas arise associatively, are inspired, awakened by the picture, its shimmers and flashes of colors, its atmosphere of unclear prophecies, farewell to the past, premonitions of the new...
The distances are blind, the days are without anger,
Mouths closed.
In the princess's deep sleep,
The blue is empty.
There were days - above the towers
The sunset was blazing.
Gently in white words
Brother called to his brother...
A magical horseman appears:
A white horse, like a cherry blossom...
The stirrups are shining...
His caftan is brocade
Spring has poured.
It spilled - it will disappear in the clouds,
It will flash behind the hill...
There are premonitions of turmoil:
There will be springs in eternal change
And the falls are oppressive.
A whirlwind filled with visions
- Pigeon years...
What instant powerlessness?
Time is a light smoke...
We will spread our wings again,
Let's fly off again!
And again, in a crazy shift
Cutting through the firmament,
Let's meet a new whirlwind of visions,
Let's meet life and death!
This was written by the young Blok, the author of “Poems about a Beautiful Lady” and “Unexpected Joy”; wrote, standing at a crossroads, saying goodbye to the mystical idylls of his youth. “I am vitally connected with Vrubel,”
he will say later.
Vrubel knew nothing about this - he did not know either Blok or young Russian poetry in general; he loved Rimsky-Korsakov, Turgenev, Chekhov, Ibsen, he had his own “whirlwind full of visions” and his farewells. “With the Swan Princess,” he said goodbye to the “lack of anger,” the anxietylessness of the Russian epic - the beautiful princess floated away, the fairy tale ended, and again the Demon persistently called, that “monumental Demon” that was postponed for the future.