The painting “Unknown” by Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy was painted in 1883.
This is a half-length portrait of a young woman sitting in a stroller.
The lady is dressed according to last word fashions of the 1880s: a velvet beret, at that time such berets were called “Francis”, reminiscent of the headdress in the painting of aristocrats of the 16th century - the same shape, the same ostrich feather attached with a gold agraph with pearls.
A heavy knot of dark hair on the neck. The coat, by association with the general’s overcoat, is called “Skobelev”, it is clearly expensive cloth,
trimmed with sable fur and dark blue silk ribbons.
The muff is also trimmed, which was fashionable then, with sable and dark blue silk ribbons. On his hands, to match his overall attire, are dark blue kid “Swedish” gloves and on his left hand is a massive gold bracelet.
When analyzing this work, critics often attribute to the woman the properties of “The Lady of the Camellias,” arguing that it depicts a certain lady of the demimonde, an expensive kept woman, or perhaps an actress enjoying patronage. This is motivated by the fact that the lady is defiantly fashionably and expensively dressed.
At that time, the nobility, experiencing an economic crisis, did not have the opportunity to dress like this, and in general, strict adherence to fashion was a characteristic of the “nouveau riche”, people who came to high society thanks to money, and not origin.
Composition
The first thing the viewer sees is a dark spot of the silhouette of a woman in a stroller. The composition is such that it resembles a close-up film frame. Very unusual for that time.
The second is a light transparent background - the contours of the Anichkov Palace.
Presumably, the stroller is located on the Anichkov Bridge.
The shift in scale creates a completely unexpected effect - the face becomes the main thing in the picture. The first thing we see is the eyes! A distant, sad, slightly arrogant look.
The source of light, the direction of the shadows, the warmth and density of tone indicate that the figure was painted in a studio, and the landscape was painted on location. The atmosphere of winter St. Petersburg is conveyed absolutely masterfully.
History of creation
The history of this work - Kramskoy called it not a “portrait”, but a “picture” - is contradictory. The author left no comments, letters, diary entries, accounts or donations related to this painting.
A sketch written for the painting was recently found in the private collection of Dr. Dusan Friedrich in Czechoslovakia in the city of Prague.
It is known that the person who posed for the same sketch was not a professional model, but someone’s acquaintance, who by chance ended up in Kramskoy’s studio and served as a model for him and several of his colleagues for a full-scale study.
One of the participants, a colleague at TPVC, writes about this episode in his memoirs. It seems that this model is depicted in the sketch for the painting.
The sketch is written in the same color and from the same perspective, but the facial features are not so correct, the hairstyle is different, the expression is different, harsher.
There are a few different versions creation of this work. One of them is a portrait of Kramskoy’s deeply beloved daughter, Sophia, also an artist with a tragic fate.
It is also assumed that this is a commissioned portrait of Ekaterina Dolgorukova, the morganatic wife of Emperor Alexander II, who remained with the artist after the death of the emperor.
There is a version that says that this is a portrait of Matryona Savvishna, who, as a maid on the Bestuzhev estate, charmed the young Count Bestuzhev with her unusual beauty - he married her and brought her to St. Petersburg, where the artist met her.
One of the attractive and quite probable theories is that the painting depicts Varvara Turkestanova, a Georgian princess. Ivan Nikolaevich saw her cameo portrait, learned about her tragic fate, and this inspired him to create the painting.
Resonance
The painting was first shown at the 11th exhibition of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions, where it had the effect of a bomb exploding. The composition, plot and mood of this piece did not correspond at all to either the concept of the Partnership or the ideas of that time about what was permitted.
Tretyakov initially refused to purchase it, but eventually bought the work despite not exhibiting it for many years.
At Soviet power and during the period of democratization of society, this work is presented in the Tretyakov Gallery as one of the most popular works of I.N. Kramskoy, symbolizing Russian culture.
All these theories do not clarify the real identity of the "Unknown". Perhaps this was precisely the task of the artist who wrote collective image women of their time.
On March 2, 1883, the 11th exhibition of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions opened in the building of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. The painting “Unknown” by Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy became a sensation. Visitors tried unsuccessfully to guess the name of the lady captured by the master. The leader of the Itinerants answered all modest and not so modest questions evasively, which only provoked the scandal-hungry public.
Woman from Nowhere
One of the most famous and mysterious paintings of the Russian school of painting appeared as if out of nowhere. In Kramskoy’s extensive epistolary heritage there is not a word about work on “The Unknown”. The diaries and memoirs of contemporaries do not clarify the situation - nothing anywhere. Some kind of mysterious “figure of silence” instead of a thoroughly documented creative background to the creation of the masterpiece called “Russian Mona Lisa”. The conclusion suggests itself: famous artist, who had wide circle customers in different strata of St. Petersburg society - from rich noble and merchant houses to grand ducal and royal palaces - he deliberately wrote "The Unknown" in secret from everyone. For Ivan Nikolaevich, such secrecy was unnatural: as a rule, he willingly shared his creative ideas.
The intrigue continued to unfold... Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov did not buy for his gallery the undoubted masterpiece of the Itinerant and constant correspondent so valued by him and refrained from commenting.
But why? What did contemporaries see in this portrait that we do not see?
And your humble servant tried to look at female portrait through the eyes of the first visitors to the “picture exhibition” of 1883, claiming aristocracy and strict observance of secular decency.
Yes - the woman is riding in a stroller. Note - double. That is, this is either someone’s departure (which is an indicator of a high position) or, at a minimum, an expensive reckless driver. At the same time, the heroine is alone in the stroller. Although it would be fitting for a decent lady to travel with someone - her husband, father, brother, finally, a friend or companion...
The aristocrat would never allow herself such a demonstrative violation of the rules of the world. An aristocrat would not have dressed the way “Unknown” did.
And this is already a clue for the search, in which the research of specialists in the history of costume helped me 1.
Manto in memory of Skobelev
A small velvet “Francis” hat with a curled white ostrich feather, a “Skobelev” coat with sable fur, expensive leather gloves - things were super fashionable for 1883. The real trend of the season, as they would say these days: the “white general” Mikhail Dmitrievich Skobelev passed away under very mysterious circumstances in the summer of 1882, and the death of the young military leader continues to excite minds. But wearing so many expensive and fashionable things at once is bad form for a lady from high society. A rich woman with a sense of style will wear one thing that emphasizes her status - and that’s enough. Dressing up in the best clothes is a nouveau riche style.
Let us remember that the picture was painted in the years of the birth of Russian capitalism, when the then “new Russians” entered the arena - railway magnates, bankers... It was they and their ladies who boasted of luxury, which caused grins - the upstarts were amusing their complexes. Pushkin precisely said about the future:
And silently exchanged glances
He received a general sentence.
The conclusion is obvious: the lady depicted by Kramskoy either does not belong to secular society, or has a unique opportunity to violate its rules of conduct with impunity. The “Unknown” is removed from the jurisdiction of the omnipotent and cruel secular rumor and realizes her own lack of jurisdiction: the harsh sentences of the world are not for her.
This is possible in one and only case: the lady is supported by the Emperor himself, who does not want to keep his special relationship with the “Unknown” secret. All that remains is to say her name. This is Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgorukova (1847 - 1922), who was close to Alexander II (1818 - 1881) for 14 years. And letters to which he always began with the words: “Hello, dear angel of my soul” 2.
Second in a stroller
Both the emperor himself and his favorite viewed this closeness not as a sinful relationship, but as a secret marriage union, for which they received a blessing “from God.” The State Archive of the Russian Federation contains extensive correspondence of this couple: 3,450 letters from Alexander II and 1,458 letters from the princess.
Having studied the correspondence, a historian from St. Petersburg and the author of “Motherland” Yulia Safronova wrote a wonderful book “Ekaterina Yuryevskaya. A Novel in Letters”, in which she very delicately, but psychologically accurately wrote about this incident. From the very beginning of the relationship, the couple developed their own “love formulas”:
“Katya even wrote about their mutual feeling as an event predetermined in heaven: “We are created to be a sacred exception.” Such constant self-hypnosis made it possible to avoid discussions of the illegality of an extramarital affair. The novel was never thought of in terms of sin, but, on the contrary, - as following God's command. At the same time, the couple understood that from the outside their relationship could be assessed differently. The uncertainty hidden from themselves is visible in the obsessive repetition: “We alone fully understand the sanctity of this feeling, which we are happy and proud of...In a different way.” to answer internal doubts was to declare one’s feelings unique, inaccessible to anyone, and therefore not subject to general laws: “... we are the only couple who loves with such passion as we do, and who knows the joy of the cult that God has instilled in us.” The extreme degree of isolation of oneself from the world was the declaration of everything external as insignificant, without meaning..." 3
The couple repeatedly violated the unwritten rules of behavior in society. During her vacation in Crimea, the princess could go for a walk alone. The Empress's maid of honor, Countess Alexandra Andreevna Tolstaya, recalled with poorly concealed indignation how she once saw Princess Dolgorukova "on the road, in front of everyone... walking" 4 . An even greater violation of social decency was lovers walking together in an open carriage. On June 30, 1872, the princess wrote to the Tsar: “I adore driving your convertible, clinging all the way to your beautiful body, which is mine, I would have eaten it all" 5.
Based on this intimate confession, Alexander II could be located in the free space to the left of the “Unknown”. It is possible that Kramskoy originally intended to depict the Tsar next to his morganatic wife. Moreover, the emperor was often depicted either in a sleigh or in a carriage. In Yaroslavl art museum Nikolai Egorovich Sverchkov’s painting “Riding in a Stroller (Alexander II with Children)” is kept. Do a little thought experiment: in your own imagination, transfer the figure of the king from this canvas and sit him in the free place next to the “Unknown” - and may art critics forgive me for such blasphemy!
An engraving with a dotted line and a burin at the end of the first is also known. quarter of the XIX century: Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich (future Emperor Nicholas I, father of Alexander II) with his wife Alexandra Feodorovna sits in a carriage and masterfully rules the horses. The august couple is depicted against the background of the Anichkov Palace, in which they then lived 6. But to the left of the “Unknown” we also see the Anichkov Palace, which during the reign of Alexander II belonged to Tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich.
A strong emotional arc ensues. The artist’s art unexpectedly removes the thick veil hiding an important secret of the Romanov dynasty.
Change of scenery
On July 6, 1880, after the death of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, the sovereign hastened to marry the princess in the “camp” church of Tsarskoe Selo. Ekaterina Mikhailovna received the title of Most Serene Princess Yuryevskaya, and with her the children born before marriage - son George (Goga) and daughters Olga and Ekaterina; another son, Boris, died in infancy. Already in September 1880, the sovereign transferred Special Capital, amounting to 3,409,580 rubles 1 kopeck, to the disposal of Princess Yuryevskaya. Vera Borovikova, the princess’s maid, recalled that Alexander II began to openly ride in the same carriage with her mistress two weeks after the wedding: “... and everyone saw it in Tsarskoe Selo, but no one spoke aloud about the wedding” 8.
The high society was in shock, realizing that the matter would not be limited to walks between the emperor and his morganatic wife.
The dynastic crisis again came very close to the threshold of the House of Romanov. Actual Privy Councilor Anatoly Nikolaevich Kulomzin recalls: “... There were ominous rumors about the sovereign’s desire to crown Princess Yuryevskaya... All this worried to the core. ... It was ordered to find in the archives of the Ministry of the Court the ceremony of the coronation of Catherine I by Peter the Great. Having learned about In this case, the heir announced that if this event occurred, he and his wife and children would leave for Denmark, which was followed by a threat from Alexander II, in the event of such a departure, to declare George, born before marriage from Yuryevskaya, heir to the throne..." 9
The "Unknown" could have been crowned Catherine III.
Should have cooked Russian society to the fact that in the novel “What to do?”, cult book several generations of Russians was called a “change of scenery.”
Alexander II, who had reigned for a quarter of a century, dreamed of abdicating the throne and spending the rest of his life as a private person with Katenka - in Cairo or America. “Ah! How tired I am of everything, and what would I give to give up everything, go somewhere with you, angel of my soul, and live only for you” 10.
It was at this time that the recognized luminary portrait painting Kramskoy and received an order to paint a portrait of Princess Yuryevskaya. They asked not to advertise the order. This is my hypothesis. It is based on facts.
Can't see faces
In the fall of 1880, another fashionable and very expensive metropolitan artist, Konstantin Egorovich Makovsky (the tsar called him “my painter” 11), painted in Livadia ceremonial portrait princesses. Count Sergei Dmitrievich Sheremetev, the Tsarevich’s favorite adjutant, wrote impartially about the unbearable atmosphere that had developed in the imperial residence: “... I witnessed a lot that I would not want to see, and an eyewitness to a troubled and gloomy era (the complete decay and decline of the charm of the tsarist power) ... Makovsky was making a portrait of Princess Yuryevskaya at that time; it was necessary to go and admire it. family life royal family It was hell."
The ceremonial portrait of Princess Yurievskaya, painted by Makovsky, which was considered lost, was recently discovered in Stockholm and on December 13, 2017, was sold at auction for a record 11 million crowns ($1.304 million).
Sergei Makovsky, the artist’s son, remembered a colorful detail: the artist began the painting in Livadia, painting the model’s face from life, and finished it in St. Petersburg, using the services of a model, who, for greater authenticity, posed for him in the blue hood of Princess Yuryevskaya. Apparently, Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna clearly lacked patience and perseverance. And portrait painters had to take this feature into account.
IN private collection Dušana Friedrich (Prague) contains a sketch by Kramskoy working hours above "Unknown" is a young woman in a stroller in the same pose. Something like the heroine of the picture. Although the face is rougher, and the look is certainly defiantly arrogant. In the entire appearance of this model there is some kind of unbearable and daring vulgarity.
Who is pictured? Most likely - a model. Maybe - lung woman behavior. Kramskoy wanted to capture the pose he needed, and at the same time painted the face for memory. The master prepared in advance so that when working on the portrait of Princess Yuryevskaya, he would not waste time on working out the details. Who knows if the impatient princess will want to pose for many sessions?!
But Kramskoy did not have the chance to realize this plan.
Canceled order shadow
Well-known events followed: on March 1, 1881, Alexander II was killed by a Narodnaya Volya bomb, and his son Alexander III took the throne. Princess Yurievskaya cut off her luxurious hair (long braid reached the floor) and placed them in the emperor’s coffin. Under open pressure from Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna, the inconsolable widow first left her apartment in Winter Palace, and then completely left Russia with her children and settled in her own villa in Nice.
Kramskoy found himself involuntarily involved in someone else’s family drama, while he treated all its “characters” well (Alexander III and Empress Maria Feodorovna too, their portraits by Kramskoy are known). The order disappeared by itself - well, okay. But what next - spit and forget? Alas, that’s not how an artist works! An idea that has sunk into the soul does not let go, it hurts, it develops into another... In general, he begins to feverishly work on a completely different canvas.
Of course, there could now be no talk of any portrait resemblance between the “Unknown” and Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna.
Take another look at "Unknown". The heroine is alone in a double stroller. Logically, next to her there should be... Who is the man she loves? But he is no longer there. Dead? What's on the canvas in the background? Anichkov Palace is the one in which Alexander III lived quite recently. The heroine is leaving Anichkov Palace forever! And in her eyes there is an amazing range of feelings: pain, sadness, arrogance... But arrogance is of a special kind: you, the crowd on the street, have no right to gossip about me, to judge me...
And I no longer want to discuss the pretentiousness of the outfits of the proud and sad beauty riding along Nevsky. Kramskoy worked for centuries - who, centuries later, remembers the subtleties of the then fashion? Look at her face! It's stupid to say that this is someone's portrait. This is not a portrait at all. This picture is a different genre. And it was no longer Princess Yuryevskaya who was written. There is something in the heroine, perhaps from the model from the sketch. Something from his daughter Sofia, who often posed for her father. And most of all - from a woman about whom the artist himself thought. And don't ask who she is.
She is "Unknown".
“Unknown” appeared in the State Tretyakov Gallery only in 1925 - after the nationalization of one of the private collections.
1. Kirsanova R.M. Portrait of an unknown woman in a blue dress. M.: Kuchkovo pole, 2017. P. 370, 390.
2. Safronova Yu.A. Ekaterina Yuryevskaya. A novel in letters. St. Petersburg 2017. P. 107.
3. Ibid. P. 121.
4. Ibid. P. 172.
5. Ibid. P. 163.
6. Rovinsky D.A. A complete dictionary of Russian engraved portraits. T. I: A - D. St. Petersburg. 1886. Stlb. 34. N 86.
7. Safronova Yu.A. Ekaterina Yuryevskaya. A novel in letters. St. Petersburg 2017. P. 162.
8. Ibid. P. 226.
9. Kulomzin A.N. Experienced. Memories. M.: Political Encyclopedia, 2016. P. 313, 329.
10. Safronova Yu.A. Ekaterina Yuryevskaya. A novel in letters. St. Petersburg 2017. P. 122.
11. Makovsky S.K. Portraits of contemporaries. M.: Agraf, 2000 // http://e-libra.ru/read/229599-portrety-sovremennikov.html
One of the most outstanding works of the Russian school of painting of the second half of the 19th century century is the painting "The Stranger". Kramskoy painted it in 1883. The painting was first presented to the public in the same year at the exhibition of the Itinerants in St. Petersburg. Its original name is "Unknown". After the public saw her, many rumors immediately appeared. Who is the young lady that Ivan Kramskoy depicted in the picture? It was not possible to obtain an exact answer to this question until today. The study of the artist’s diaries and personal correspondence also failed to clarify the situation: Kramskoy never mentioned the identity of the woman who became the main character of his most famous work.
Search for the prototype of an unknown girl
There are several versions about whose image the painting “Stranger” conveys. The description of the appearance of the Kursk beauty peasant woman Matryona Savvishna, who became the wife of the nobleman Bestuzhev, most closely matches the heroine of the canvas. Some researchers of Kramskoy’s work believed that the model posing for him while painting was his daughter Sofia. Some art critics were of the opinion that the prototype of the girl from the canvas was Anna Karenina, others attributed her resemblance to Nastasya Filippovna Barashkova, the heroine of Dostoevsky’s novel “The Idiot.” At the beginning of the 20th century, the young lady from the picture began to be associated with Blok’s gentle and mysterious “Stranger.”
Critics rating
Many of Kramskoy’s contemporaries believed that the painting “The Stranger” was painted with the aim of exposing the moral foundations of society, which could not serve as an example to follow. Art critic V. Stasov called the beauty on canvas “a cocotte in a stroller.” According to N. Murashko, the canvas depicted a “dear camellia,” that is, a woman of easy virtue. Describing “The Stranger,” critic P. Kovalevsky called it “one of the fiends big cities".
Description of the young lady
What is the painting "The Stranger"? Kramskoy depicted a beautiful young woman riding in an open carriage along the Anichkov Bridge. The young lady, looking regal against the backdrop of snowy St. Petersburg, is dressed expensively and fashionably. The artist describes all the details of the stranger’s elegant wardrobe with special care. A luxurious coat with blue satin ribbons, trimmed with sable furs, a hat with feathers, gloves made of the finest leather, a gold bracelet - all this reveals her as a wealthy woman.
The beauty's gaze, framed by fluffy eyelashes, is arrogant, contempt for others slides through it. But at the same time, in her eyes you can read the uncertainty characteristic of all people who depend on the world in which they live. Despite the dismissive attitude, the girl is very beautiful, graceful, and attracts admiring glances. The unknown young lady clearly did not belong to high society. The manner of dressing in the latest fashion, as well as painted lips and heavily penciled eyebrows indicate that she was most likely the kept woman of some noble gentleman.
Czech find
Approximately 60 years after the painting of “The Stranger,” a sketch for this painting was accidentally discovered in one of the private Czech collections. In it, the young lady is dressed in a dark closed dress, her hair is tied up in a high hairstyle. The woman depicted in the sketch bears a striking resemblance to the “Stranger,” but her gaze shows even more contempt for those around her. Kramskoy portrayed the beauty as arrogant and smug, giving her facial expression a certain caricature. From the sketch it is clear that the master had long been nurturing the idea of creating an accusatory portrait, ridiculing the vices of society.
Rumors about the curse of the painting
It is not only the mystery of the image of the main character that attracts art lovers to the painting “The Stranger.” The artist created a truly mystical work, because for decades it has attracted troubles and failures to its owners.
Having painted the canvas, Kramskoy invited Tretyakov to buy it for his gallery, but he refused, being sure that the portraits beautiful women capable of drawing strength from a living person. "Stranger" found shelter in private collections, first in Russia, then abroad, but it brought misfortune to all its owners. A curse hung over Kramskoy himself: a few months after the picture was released, his two sons passed away one after another.
After long travels in 1925, the mysterious “Stranger” returned to Russia and finally took its place in the Tretyakov Gallery, where it remains to this day. Since then, she has ceased to bring misfortune to others. Admirers of Kramskoy’s work are confident that if the painting had initially ended up in Tretyakov’s collection, then it would not have gained notoriety, because that’s where it should have been from the very beginning.
Russian GiocondaOne of the most outstanding works Ivan Kramskoy - painting “Unknown”, written in 1883 and part of the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery.
When this portrait was presented at the 11th exhibition of the Association of Itinerants (1833), a scandal suddenly broke out. And what could have caused the indignation of the advanced Russian intelligentsia in it? The image is just of a lady sitting in an open carriage. Yes, she is luxuriously dressed and seems to have stepped out of a fashion picture of her time. This is a gorgeous woman who clearly has considerable means to be not just prosperous, but courageous and independent, to look somewhat down on the public around her.
This is an intriguing painting that remains 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 appearance of a type of woman who did not fit into the previous system of values. “It is unknown who this lady is, decent or corrupt, but a whole era sits in her” (from the statements of contemporaries about the painting).
During the artist’s lifetime, there were many rumors around this painting; many interesting versions arose regarding the prototype of the most famous “Unknown”.And we, descendants, never cease to be amazed by this beauty and try to unravel the mystery of the painting. And we continue to ask the same questions, looking at the smallest details paintings.
The canvas depicts a young woman driving in an open carriage along Nevsky Prospect near the pavilions of the Anichkov Palace. To the right behind her is visible Alexandrinsky Theater. She is dressed in the latest fashions of the 1880s. Like a queen, she rises above the foggy white cold city, driving in an open carriage along the Anichkov Bridge.This is roughly the place then:
Anichkov Bridge in the 19th centuryAnd now:
Anichkov Bridge
Alexandrinsky Theater (aka Russian State academic theater dramas named after A.S. Pushkin) In the picture - on the right behind the Stranger’s back.
Anichkov Palace, one of the imperial palaces of St. Petersburg, near the Anichkov Bridge on the embankment of the Fontanka River (Nevsky Prospekt, 39). Front Entrance (2012)
In the painting The Stranger at the pavilions of the Anichkov PalaceNext, we look at the outfit of the unknown woman. It was described in detail by contemporaries: the “Francis” hat, trimmed with elegant light feathers, “Swedish” gloves made of the finest leather, the “Skobelev” coat, decorated with sable fur and blue satin ribbons, a muff, a gold bracelet - all these are fashionable details of a woman’s costume 1880s, claiming to be expensive elegance.
Who now remembers what the “Francis” hat and “Skobelev” coat could have been like? And why are “Swedish” gloves Swedish?Yes, and most importantly: the latest outfit did not then 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. What's it like? Can the inhabitants of today's Rublyovka, who dress according to the latest foreign fashion, imagine this?
What is the conclusion? Only one thing - that the girl still did not belong to high society?
Contemporaries saw in the image a kind of vulgarity, that is, excessive sensuality that did not fit with the idea of a society lady.Maybe as a comparison - a female portrait of an aristocrat by Kramskoy.
Portrait of a Lady, 1881 Ekaterinburg Museum fine artsAll these details are a clue to solving the mystery, but do not provide an answer.
The author did not reveal this secret. Neither in the letters nor in the diaries of Ivan Kramskoy there is any mention of the identity of this woman.By the way, the artist Kramskoy himself, what kind of person was he?
Kramskoy Ivan Nikolaevich (life - 1837-1887) is known as a talented portrait painter and historical painter. His hometown is Ostrogozhsk, Voronezh province. There, in the family of a minor official, little Vanya was born. He was interested in painting since childhood. At every opportunity, he picked up a pen or pencil and tried to sketch everything he saw around him. He loved to read.
At the age of 13, Vanya had already begun his career. At first he worked as a scribe, and then as a retoucher for a photographer friend, with whom he traveled almost all of Russia. In 1857 they arrived in St. Petersburg, where the future artist decided to stay, taking a job in the photo studio of A. I. Denier. In the same year, Ivan Kramskoy realized his dream - he entered the Academy of Arts to study.
I.N. Kramskoy
This is how he was in 1882 around the time of writing "The Unknown"Even during his studies, the artist tried to unite all active academic youth around him. And after completing his studies, together with other graduates of the Academy, he created the St. Petersburg artel. They say that the atmosphere of friendliness and mutual understanding that reigned there is entirely his merit. When the St. Petersburg artel slowly began to disintegrate, he became the organizer of the association of traveling art exhibitions - the "Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions" - the Peredvizhniki. Thus, it can be said without exaggeration that Ivan Kramskoy was an outstanding figure in cultural life Russia 60-80 century before last
There is a version that his daughter, Sofya Kramskaya, posed for the artist for this painting. If you compare “Unknown” with the painting “Girl with a Cat” - a portrait of her daughter, then the external resemblance is really striking.
portrait of her daughter “Girl with a Cat” (1882, Kiev Museum of Russian Art)About the tragic fate of Ivan Kramskoy’s daughter Sophia
Portrait of the artist's daughterBut of course, Sophia could be (and probably was) only a model, and not the heroine of the picture herself.
Could the portrait of the “Unknown” be an illustration of a literary heroine?Who? Nastasya Filippovna of Dostoevsky (“The Idiot”) or Anna Karenina of Tolstoy? A kept woman who dared to rise spiritually above her position as a fallen woman, or an aristocrat who descended from her heights social status? The image is akin to both: it shows the freedom, independence, and pride of a woman in the time of change that has come, and at the same time there is something surprisingly simple-minded that remains in the character of the Russian woman of the past.
Several years before the appearance of “The Unknown,” “Anna Karenina” by L. Tolstoy was published, which gave rise to some researchers to claim that Kramskoy depicted main character novel. Maybe Anna Karrenina's prototypes will be close to the truth.
As you know, Anna Karenina repeated tragic fate Anna Stepanovna Pirogova, whose unhappy love led to death, in 1872 (because of A.I. Bibikov)
From the memoirs of Sofia Andreevna, wife of L.N. Tolstoy:
She left home with a bundle in her hand and returned to the nearest Yasenki station, (near Yasnaya Polyana), there she threw herself onto the tracks under a freight train. L.N. Tolstoy went to the railway barracks to see the unfortunate woman.In 1868, in the house of General A. A. Tulubiev, L. N. Tolstoy met Maria Alexandrovna Hartung, Pushkin’s daughter. Tolstoy gave Anna Karenina some of her features appearance: dark hair, white lace and a small purple garland of pansies.
Maria Alexandrovna HartungMost researchers are still inclined to think that the prototype has not a literary, but a very real origin.
Allegedly, the external resemblance led to talk that the artist depicted the beautiful Matryona Savvishna- a peasant woman who became the wife of the nobleman Bestuzhev, with whom Kramskoy was familiar.
Many argue that “Unknown” is a collective image of a woman who could not serve as an example to follow. Allegedly, Kramskoy painted the picture with the aim of exposing the moral principles of society - painted lips, fashionable expensive clothes indicate that a woman is a rich kept woman. Critic V. Stasov called this painting “Cocotte in a Carriage,” other critics wrote that Kramskoy depicted “an expensive camellia,” “one of the fiends of big cities.”
Collection of Dr. Dusan Friedrich. Prague. Unknown. sketch 1883Later, a sketch for this painting was discovered in one of the private Czech collections. The woman in it looks arrogant and rude; she looks defiantly at those passing by. This gave rise to the assertion that the artist really had the idea of creating an incriminating portrait. However, in the final version, Kramskoy softened the features of the stranger, ennobling her appearance.
The picture was seen as having an accusatory meaning. However, in the heroine’s face one can see not only arrogance, but also sadness and hidden drama.
Keeping a mistress in the high society of the capital of the Russian Empire in the 19th century was considered good manners. But most often they were beautiful ballerinas. Many great princes from the Romanov dynasty, regardless of their legal wives, almost openly had a second family for many years. For Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich (Alexander’s brother), the role of the second wife was played by famous ballerina Ekaterina Chislova. She gave birth to the prince four children. Prince Konstantin Nikolaevich lived with the ballerina Anna Kuznetsova, who bore him five children. Children, for obvious reasons, did not have the right to bear the Romanov surname. However, caring fathers did not leave their offspring without their attention. All of them received noble dignity: the first family bore the title and surname Nikolaev; the second is the Knyazevs. The examples can go on...
The very fact of the appearance of a lady without a name among other “our” portraits at the exhibition of the Association of the Wanderers: people with names - cultural and scientific figures - turned out to be scandalous; or “ideological” paintings with heroes - ordinary working citizens (peasants, merchants, students). And for some reason the public at the exhibition immediately “wrote” the unsigned face as an expensive kept courtesan.
And even more, in the portrait we could see the features of Catherine Dolgoruky, a powerful aristocrat - the favorite of Emperor Alexander II.
Therefore, they say, Kramskoy kept the secret of the portrait.
Princess E.M. DolgorukayaEmperor Alexander was getting old. He was already over sixty. And his beloved Katenka, even after the birth of her children, was in the full splendor of her beauty, in last years During Alexander's life, she lived in the Winter Palace, and her chambers were located directly above the rooms of Alexander II's wife Maria Alexandrovna, on the floor above. Dolgorukaya wanted to reign in art, and not just in the heart of the sovereign. That’s why the emperor decided to order her portrait from one of the most popular artists of that time, Ivan Kramskoy (he had already painted portraits of his children from his first marriage). Catherine wished to be depicted in a carriage traveling along Nevsky. She wanted to look proud and independent against the backdrop of the Anichkov Palace, where the heir to the throne, Alexander Alexandrovich, lived with his family.
Dolgorukaya posed for Kramskoy in fits and starts, and the artist was forced to invite other models. This is what confuses art historians: the portrait was painted using sketches and different women. The work took a long time. Kramskoy was looking for generalizations, and the portrait moved further and further away from the original. And yet, the one depicted is very similar to the surviving photographs of the princess. This is the version...
Varvara Ilyinichna TurkestanovaOne of the most interesting versions belongs to the author of the book “The Fate of Beauty. Stories of Georgian wives" to Igor Obolensky.
He claims that the prototype of the stranger was Princess Varvara Turkestanishvili (Turkestanova)- maid of honor of Empress Maria Feodorovna, favorite of Alexander I, to whom she gave birth to a daughter. After the birth of his daughter, the emperor lost interest in both mother and child, and Varvara then committed suicide. In the 1880s Kramskoy saw the cameo with a portrait of the princess, which the emperor once gave her. He was amazed by the beauty and tragic death Georgian woman and decided to paint her portrait.
Princess Varvara Ilyinichna Turkestanova (1775-1819), maid of honor of Empress Maria Feodorovna, beloved of Emperor Alexander I, “The Unknown” of Kramskoy, is buried here.
(Necropolis of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra)However, all versions remain at the level of assumptions, and the “Unknown” is a stranger, and
namely “Stranger”, like Blok’s.Stranger
In the evenings above the restaurants
The hot air is wild and deaf,
And rules with drunken shouts
Spring and pernicious spirit.Far above the dust of the alley,
Above the boredom of country dachas,
The bakery's pretzel is slightly golden,
And a child's cry is heard.And every evening, behind the barriers,
Breaking the pots,
Walking with the ladies among the ditches
Tested wits.Oarlocks creak over the lake
And a woman's squeal is heard,
And in the sky, accustomed to everything
The disk is bent senselessly.And every evening my only friend
Reflected in my glass
And tart and mysterious moisture
Like me, humbled and stunned.And next to the neighboring tables
Sleepy lackeys hang around,
And drunkards with rabbit eyes
“In vino veritas!”* they shout.And every evening, at the appointed hour
(Or am I just dreaming?),
The girl's figure, captured by silks,
A window moves through a foggy window.And slowly, walking between the drunken,
Always without companions, alone
Breathing spirits and mists,
She sits by the window.And they breathe ancient beliefs
Her elastic silks
And a hat with mourning feathers,
And in the rings there is a narrow hand.And chained by a strange intimacy,
I'm looking for dark veil,
And I see the enchanted shore
And the enchanted distance.Silent secrets have been entrusted to me,
Someone's sun was handed to me,
And all the souls of my bend
Tart wine pierced.And ostrich feathers bowed
My brain is swinging
And blue bottomless eyes
They bloom on the far shore.There's a treasure in my soul
And the key is entrusted only to me!
You're right, drunken monster!
I know: the truth is in the wine.
http://klin-demianovo.ru/http:/klin-demianovo.ru/analitika/92464/russkaya-dzhokonda/
http://www.kulturologia.ru/blogs/220815/25927/
http://rodon.org/art-071104184243
http://melanyja.livejournal.com/644092.html
http://www.stihi-rus.ru/1/Blok/90.htm
Original post and comments at
I.N. Kramskoy "Unknown" 1887. Moscow. Tretyakov Gallery.
WHO IS SHE, this captivating woman who leans back so proudly on the back of the carriage? Anyone who has seen her at least once, in the morning winter fog of St. Petersburg, driving past the Anichkov Palace, is unlikely to forget this picture... Why did this society lady, dressed with all the luxury of fashion, excite the imagination of the democratic artist I. N. Kramskoy? Why did he paint her portrait?
Dressed in the latest fashion of the 1880s, with a proud, mysterious and slightly arrogant look, she looks like a queen against the backdrop of a white, foggy city. She is wearing a hat with light feathers, a coat trimmed with sable fur and satin ribbons, a gold bracelet, a muff, and thin leather gloves. All these details characterize expensive elegance, but do not indicate belonging to high society, rather, on the contrary.
The image of a woman is not immersed in the atmosphere of a frosty winter landscape, but is placed as if in front of it. With great care, the artist paints all the details of the lady’s wardrobe - there is a feeling of challenge, as if beauty is on display.
Fragment of a painting. Unknown."
The sensual beauty of the woman, her graceful posture, dark skin, dark eyes and velvet eyelashes seem to tease the viewer. But at the same time, some sadness, some drama can be discerned in the woman’s eyes - perhaps the author wants to show a feeling of insecurity in front of the falsehood and cold calculation of the society in which she lives.
THERE ARE SEVERAL VERSIONS OF WHO IS SHOWN IN THIS PICTURE.
The FIRST of them is that the portrait was painted from the wife of the artist Yaroshenko, Maria Pavlovna Yaroshenko, or from his niece, because there is some similarity in the face.
Portrait of Maria Pavlovna Yaroshenko. 1875. Art. Yaroshenko
THE SECOND version is that the painting depicts a collective image of a lady from the 1880s, dressed fashionably and tastefully. The slightly arrogant look of an experienced woman who has seen life, on the one hand, and the deep sadness of half-closed eyes, on the other, does not leave any viewer indifferent... The soft fur of the collar emphasizes the warmth and amazing velvety skin, and behind her is the frosty St. Petersburg air... Inaccessible and unapproachable , and at the same time, warm, inviting, almost alive - it seems that he is about to take out his graceful hand in leather glove from the clutch and will give it to get out of the carriage..
THE NEXT version is that the Georgian princess Varvara Turkestanishvili, who was allegedly the favorite of Alexander I and the maid of honor of Empress Maria Feodorovna, posed for Kramskoy.
EAT and a rather sensational assumption that “Unknown” is a portrait of Catherine Dolgoruky, His Serene Highness Princess Yuryevskaya...
In 1878, Emperor Alexander II became a father and had a daughter. But... his daughter was born to him not by the legitimate empress, but by his beloved woman, his last and most ardent love - Catherine Dolgorukaya. And the emperor asked I. Kramskoy to paint her portrait. The artist prepared to write it, but it was all kept in deep secret. Ekaterina Mikhailovna and her children were not recognized by the emperor’s relatives and this greatly offended her. Therefore, when posing for Kramskoy, she expressed her desire to look proud and independent in the portrait, and indicated the place she should pass by in the stroller in the picture. This is Anichkov Palace, where the emperor’s heir and his family lived.
THE MOST ROMANTIC VERSION and therefore perceived as the most truthful. According to this version, the painting depicts Matryona Savvishna, Bestuzhev’s wife, a former Kursk peasant.
Bestuzhev was so fascinated by her beauty, having seen her as a maid of his landowner aunt, he begged her and brought her to St. Petersburg, where she was taught etiquette, dancing, and literacy. Introduced her into high society. He cared about upbringing and education, invited the best teachers. The student turned out to be extremely capable. Later he married her.
Matryona Savvishna was unusually beautiful and had a strong, pleasant voice. The rumor about her beauty spread far. She was kind and truthful. She made many friends. But high society was partial to the young woman and viciously slandered her. The secular nobility could not forgive her simple origin. They said that once Matryona Savvishna met her mistress on the road. The landowner expected the former maid to bow to her, but Matryona Savvishna rode in a rich carriage and did not even look at her. This act literally enraged the lady, but she was already powerless to do anything to Matryona Savvishna.
Perhaps the artist I. N. Kramskoy, who was familiar with the Bestuzhev family, heard this story and painted a picture in which Matryona Savvishna is depicted in a stroller. How much noble dignity there is in her proud bearing! Kramskoy painted the image with deep truth; this simple Russian; women, with great love showed her spiritual beauty
However, Bestuzhev’s family life did not work out: because of his wife’s beauty, he several times initiated duels with particularly active gentlemen, which ended in reconciliation, but still left a negative mark on his life. family life. Then their only son died... And the Bestuzhevs’ relatives asked the church to dissolve the marriage, which was done.
Having learned about this, Kramskoy considered it his duty to see off Matryona Savvishna - she decided to return to her native village to her older sister. At the same time, it was agreed that she would write to him. There was no news for a long time. Kramskoy himself wrote a letter to the village, but received no response. Arriving in Fatezh, Kramskoy learned the sad news: on the way, Matryona Savvishna became seriously ill and died in Fatezh, in the zemstvo hospital.
Unknown. Sketch. 1883. Collection of Dr. Dusan Friedrich. Prague.
In a private collection in Prague there is a picturesque sketch for the painting, convincing that Kramskoy was looking for ambiguity artistic image. The sketch is much simpler and sharper, what has been said and more definite picture. It reveals the insolence and power of a woman, a feeling of emptiness and satiety, which are absent in the final version.
The appearance of "Unknown" at the exhibition caused a great stir. Almost the whole of St. Petersburg came out to look at this mysterious lady. Proudly reclining in the carriage, looking at the audience with the teasing gaze of his half-open twinkling eyes, enticing with tender rounded chin, elastic smooth matte cheeks and a lush feather on her hat - she rode under the pearly sky of a huge canvas, as if in the middle of the world.
Unable to control his excitement, Kramskoy decided to leave the exhibition where his “Unknown” was first shown and return to the end of the opening day. A noisy crowd met him at the entrance and carried him in their arms. It was a complete success. With the keen eye of an artist, he noted that everyone was here: princes and officials, merchants and contractors, writers and artists, students and artisans...
Tell me who is she? - friends pestered the artist.
- "Unknown."
Call it what you want, but tell me where did you get this treasure?
Invented.
But did he write from life?
Maybe from nature...
This is perhaps the most famous work Kramskoy, the most intriguing thing, which remains incomprehensible and unsolved to this day. By calling his painting “Unknown,” the clever 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 appearance of a type of woman who did not fit into the previous system of values. “It is unknown who this lady is, decent or corrupt, but a whole era sits in her,” some stated. In our time, Kramskoy’s “Unknown” has become the embodiment of aristocracy and secular sophistication.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? WHICH VERSION IS MORE LIKELIHOOD?
