Applied arts. Decorative and applied art of the mid-18th century Monuments of Russian culture

In the second half of the 18th century, Russian applied art achieved a significant rise. This was facilitated by the development of economics, trade, science and technology and, to a large extent, close ties with architecture and fine arts. The number of large and small factories, factories, workshops producing fabrics, glass, porcelain, and furniture grew. Landowners set up various workshops based on serf labor on their estates.

The humanistic ideas of the Enlightenment were uniquely reflected in the applied art of the late 18th century. The craftsmen of this time were distinguished by their attention to personal tastes and human needs, and the search for convenience in the environment.

The new style - Russian classicism - at the turn of the 1770-1780s was established in all forms applied arts. Architects M. F. Kazakov, I. E. Starov, D. Quarenghi, C. Cameron, A. N. Voronikhin created interiors in the spirit of noble simplicity and restraint with a clear division of parts, with a constructively justified arrangement of both plastic and picturesque architectural decor.

Furniture, candelabra, and chandeliers were designed using the same principles for palace premises. In the ornamentation of furniture, dishes, and fabrics, built in a clear rhythm, antique motifs appeared - acanthus, meander, ionics, vividly interpreted flowers, garlands, images of cupids, sphinxes. Gilding and colors became softer and more restrained than in the middle of the 18th century.

At the end of the 18th century, the passion for antiquity forced people to abandon even the complex and magnificent costume. Light, loose dresses with flowing folds and a high belt in an antique style came into fashion (V. L. Borovikovsky. “Portrait of M. I. Lopukhina.” 1797).

The synthesis of arts in Russian classicism is based on the principle of a harmonious combination of all types of arts.

Furniture. During the period of classicism, its forms are simple, balanced, clearly constructed, and the rhythms are calm. The outlines still retained some softness and roundness, but vertical and horizontal lines already stood out. Decorations (low carvings, paintings, bronze and brass plates) emphasized the expressiveness of the structures. There was more concern for convenience. Suites were designed for front rooms for various purposes: living room, office, front bedroom, hall. New furniture forms have emerged: tables for card game, handicrafts, lightweight portable bean tables (with a bean-shaped lid), various types of chests of drawers. Sofas have become widespread, and in office furniture, secretarial bureaus, bureaus with a cylindrical roll-up lid.

As in previous periods, Russian furniture, compared to Western furniture, is more massive, more generalized, and simpler in detail. The material for it was local wood species - linden, birch (gilded and painted in light colors), walnut, oak, poplar, ash, pear, bog oak. At the end of the 18th century, Karelian birch and imported colored wood of mahogany, amaranth, rosewood and other species began to be used. The craftsmen knew how to show their beauty, structure, color, shine, skillfully emphasized by polishing.

Russian masters achieved great achievements in the technique of typography (marquetry). Its essence is to compose ornaments and entire Paintings (usually based on engravings) from pieces of colored wood on the surface of wooden objects. This kind of work is known not only from the capital's court furniture makers, but also from former serfs who worked in Moscow and the Moscow region: Nikifor Vasilyev (ill. 78), Matvey Veretennikov and the nameless masters of Tver and Arkhangelsk, who introduced walrus ivory into the set. Samples high art The carvings of the furniture of the Ostankino Palace belong to the serfs Ivan Mochalin, Gavrila Nemkov and others. In St. Petersburg, the furniture and carvings of masters from Okhta, who were transferred to the capital from various places under Peter I, were famous. The artistic appearance of the furniture was completed by upholstery with patterned silks, velvet, printed chintz, linen fabrics, which was in harmony with the decoration of the walls.

Fabrics. Of all the industries in the second half of the 18th century, textiles developed most successfully (Moscow, Ivanovo, Yaroslavl, Vladimir province). Its rise was determined not only by large manufactories, but also by small peasant enterprises. The craftsmen achieved particular perfection in new patterned linen fabrics with complex weaves, with a play of natural silver-white shades of linen. The traditions of peasant weaving and a deep understanding of the material were reflected here. Cheap and mass-produced motley and dyed goods were also produced. The decorative qualities of colored cloth and woolen fabrics have significantly improved.

The production of silk fabrics for dresses and decorative fabrics, scarves, and ribbons developed rapidly (ill. 80). By the end of the 18th century, they were not inferior in quality to French ones - the best in Europe. Russian weavers learned to use a variety of threads and complex weaving patterns reminiscent of embroidery. Compositional techniques, the richness of the palette in decorative fabrics achieved the transfer of space, the subtlety of tone transitions, and the accuracy of the design of flowers, birds, and landscapes. Such fabrics were used to decorate palaces and sent abroad as gifts.

In fabrics for dresses, especially in sundress fabrics, until the 1780s - 1790s, patterns of complex, wavy floral garlands, ribbons, and beads were used. But gradually the garlands were replaced by stripes, the patterns became simpler, their rhythms smoother, the colors lighter and softer.

In the 1750-1760s in St. Petersburg and later in Moscow, in the village. Ivanovo (now the city of Ivanovo) developed the production of calico (cotton fabric with a printed pattern using infused, non-fading dyes and subsequent polishing). In calico patterns, craftsmen, especially those from Ivanovo, uniquely processed the motifs of silk fabrics. Based on folk printed material, they combined a rich pictorial spot and graphic cutting (pattern contours, grids, background dots). At first, calicoes were very expensive. By the end of the 18th century, cheap varieties began to be produced.

Porcelain. By the end of the 18th century, Russian porcelain became one of the best in Europe. The State Porcelain Factory in St. Petersburg operated successfully. His products were distinguished by their slightly warm whiteness, shiny glaze, and high technical quality. The shapes of dishes, vases, and their painting were not inferior to Western ones.

The most significant of the services is created - Arabesque for court receptions (1784, ill. 77). The table decoration of this service of nine allegorical sculptures glorifies the annexation of Georgia and Crimea, the “virtue” of Catherine II (sculptor Zh. D. Rashet). It is dominated by calm poses characteristic of classicism of the late 18th century, light gilding, strict proportions of the forms of serving dishes with paintings in the form of arabesques, based on ancient ornaments.

In the 1780s, a series of sculptures “Peoples of Russia” (creative processing of engravings) was created - brightly decorative, with characteristic images - representatives of individual nationalities (Yakut, Samoyed, Tatar). Sculptural figures of street vendors and artisans were produced, depicted in motion and at work. Porcelain sculpture has become a favorite decoration of noble interiors for many decades.

Of the private porcelain factories, the factory of Franz Gardner (1765) (Verbilki village near Moscow) turns out to be the most viable. Already at the end of the 18th century, he made sets for the royal house with the original use of Russian order motifs in the paintings. Quite cheap Gardner porcelain tableware, characterized by simplicity of form, lush floral painting, close to folk traditions, was a success both in the capital and in the provinces (ill. 79).

Glass. Colored glass brought true glory to Russian glass in the last third of the 18th century. M.V. Lomonosov, with his work on the theory of color and the technology of colored glass, opened new paths to Russian glassmaking, enriched the palette of glass, and revived Russian mosaics. He organized a factory for the production of smalt, beads and glass in the village of Ust-Ruditsa, St. Petersburg province. The masters of the State Factory in St. Petersburg, Druzhinin and Kirillov, were trained in the melting of colored glass by Lomonosov. The plant is mastering the production of glass in deep and pure tones - blue, violet, rose-red, emerald green. Now its production is no longer dominated by engraved crystal, but by thin colored and colorless glass. Shot glasses, goblets, and decanters receive smooth shapes in which the body smoothly transitions into the stem, creating soft, graceful contours. The gold and silver paintings of garlands, bows, stars, and monograms are calm in rhythm and emphasize the plastic volumes of the vessels.

So-called milky-white glass is also produced (mugs, decanters, church objects), reminiscent appearance and the nature of the paintings are more expensive porcelain.

By the end of the 18th century, private companies were developing and achieving great success. glass factories Bakhmetyev in the Penza province, the Maltsevs in the Vladimir and Oryol provinces and many others. Their colorless and colored glass and crystal are widely distributed throughout Russia.

Artistic metal processing. The flourishing of jewelry art in Russia began in the middle of the 18th century and continued throughout the century. It has artistic materials of extraordinary beauty: diamonds, emeralds, sapphires and other precious and semi-precious stones, painted enamels, non-ferrous metals (gold, silver, platinum, alloys). The art of cutting stones reaches a high degree of perfection. To enhance the play of the stone, jewelers find a variety of artistic and technical techniques for mounting and movably securing parts. Jewelry artists create intricately shaped, multi-colored jewelry: earrings, rings, snuff boxes, shoe buckles, buttons for luxurious suits for both men and women.

In the last third of the 18th century, the forms of jewelry acquired balance, colors precious stones becomes stricter.

During this period, silversmiths achieved great success. In accordance with new tastes, the shapes of silver services are simple and clear. They are decorated with flutes and antique ornaments. On silver glasses, master snuff boxes Veliky Ustyug reproduce images of ancient scenes and victories of Russian troops from engravings.

An outstanding phenomenon in applied art XVII 1st century - steel artistic products of Tula masters: furniture, boxes, candlesticks, buttons, buckles, snuff boxes. They build the decorative effect of their works on the juxtaposition of smooth light steel and decorations in the form of faceted pieces that sparkle like diamonds. Craftsmen use bluing (heat treatment in a forge at different temperatures) of metal, which gives various shades - green, blue, purple, from thick to lightened. The traditions of folk art are reflected in the love of bright colors and a deep understanding of the material.

Colored stone. In the second half of the 18th century, deposits of marbles, cherry-pink orlets in the Urals, multi-colored jaspers, variegated breccias, Altai porphyries, and blue Baikal lapis lazuli were discovered. In addition to the Peterhof (1722-1723) and Yekaterinburg (early 1730s), the Loktev factory began operating in the very heart of Altai in 1787 (since 1802 it was replaced by the Kolyvan factory). There are wide possibilities for using colored stone in finishing and decorating monumental and decorative works of palace interiors.

The ability to identify the aesthetic qualities of a material has always distinguished Russian craftsmen, but it was especially clearly expressed in the art of stone cutting. Working according to architects' designs, stone cutters artistically reveal the fabulous beauty of the stone, its natural pattern, extraordinary shades of color, shine, enhancing them with excellent polishing. Gilded bronze in the form of handles, the pommel only complements and emphasizes the shape. Projects for stone carvings, obelisks, vases, based on ancient forms, were created by Quarenghi and Voronikhin.

The flourishing of Russian applied art of the 18th century was associated with the work of architects Kazakov, Starov, Quarenghi, Cameron, Voronikhin and a number of trained folk artists. But its true glory was created mostly by serf craftsmen who remained unknown - furniture makers, carvers, weavers, stone cutters, jewelers, glass makers, ceramists.

Already in the art of the 17th century, especially its second half, trends were observed that prepared the ground for the rapid development of secular realistic art of the 18th century. Iconographic convention gives way to life-like reproduction of people, landscapes and historical events. The traditional floral ornament, interpreted rather conventionally, is replaced by the reproduction of realistically rendered flowers, fruits, leaves, garlands and shells. On works of applied art, painting on religious subjects takes on an almost secular character, sometimes emphatically decorative and theatrical. The shapes of objects become magnificent, solemn, with a wide variety of decorations. Many ancient types of household items are disappearing, such as cups with flat shelves and handles, and silver coins. Traditional ancient ladles are turning into purely decorative reward items that have lost their practical meaning. New types of utensils appeared: cups decorated with baroque ornaments, everyday scenes and secular inscriptions, cups in the shape of an eagle, cups made of horn on stands and many others. Church utensils and household items of the clergy were now no different in style from purely secular things, and sometimes even surpassed them in greater pomp and material value.

After the secularization of the lands in 1764, the Trinity-Sergius Lavra lost its possessions, but its wealth by this time was so great that this reform did not affect the scope of construction work in the monastery, nor the rich decoration of church interiors, personal chambers of the governor and metropolitan who lived in the monastery, as well as from the wealth of its sacristy and treasury. The monastery continued to receive contributions from empresses and high court dignitaries, the Moscow Metropolitan and other clergy. As a rule, these were works made the best masters Moscow, St. Petersburg, Veliky Ustyug, Rostov-Yaroslavl and other centers of applied art. Therefore, the Lavra collection of applied art of the 18th century. represents the most diverse types of jewelry techniques of this time.

The art of silver coinage acquired a unique look, especially from the mid-18th century. These are mostly large baroque scrolls masterfully executed in rather high relief in combination with images of fruits, baskets of flowers, cupids, garlands of flowers and leaves. The embossing was often made openwork and in this case had an additional background that illuminated the pattern.

Classic example Similar coinage is the massive setting of the Gospel made in Moscow in 1754, contributed by Empress Elizabeth1. Silver plates with painted enamel images of the Trinity, the Evangelists, and scenes from the life of Christ are placed in tall chased bezels and squares. They are distinguished by their secular character.

The Moscow master P. Vorobey made a silver bowl in 1768 (used in the monastery as a holy bowl). It is decorated with an excellent chased ornament of peculiar curled cartouches and wide leaves on a gilded background. The legs of the bowl are lion paws, holding smooth balls in their claws. A salt shaker made in 1787 by a Moscow master, decorated with chasing and niello, is a gift from Catherine II to Metropolitan Plato3.

New center jewelry making - St. Petersburg - is represented in the museum's collection by a chased silver hand-wash with a spout in the shape of an eagle's head, made in 1768 by master Claes Johann Ehlers4. The same master made a chased silver dish with a baroque ornament on the field and a depiction of a biblical scene: a whale washes up Jonah5. At the same time, the master depicted here the shore of St. Petersburg with the Peter and Paul Fortress and the spire of the cathedral. The hand and the dish are the contribution of Metropolitan Plato.

Objects for ritual purposes also acquired a secular, decorative character, and their solemnity was emphasized by their unprecedentedly large sizes. Typical for the 18th century. a set of liturgical vessels (chalice, paten, star and two plates) contributed in 1789 by A. V. Sheremetyev6. The tall communion cup here has a large hammered bell-shaped base, an openwork silver casing on the body of the cup and a socket with painted enamel. Large-diameter paten and plates, specially made for this chalice, are decorated with engravings depicting traditional iconographic scenes.

The art of filigree takes on a completely different character. Instead of a flat curl with branches curling on the smooth surface of the metal in ancient works, the filigree drawing of the 18th century. it is further complicated by additional decorations placed on top, sometimes in combination with enamel and precious stones. In some cases, the filigree is made openwork and superimposed on an additional background. Sometimes the item was made from filigree threads.

An outstanding piece of filigree work is the tabernacle of 1789, contributed by Metropolitan Plato7. Here are openwork filigree, filigree combined with enamel, and filigree superimposed on a smooth silver background. The tabernacle has the appearance of a secular box, as evidenced by its completely non-ecclesiastical shape, elegant decoration and flowers planted in the corners made of thin metal parts with enamel.

An example of skillful relief filigree is the cover of the book “Officer of the Bishop's Service”, also a contribution by Metropolitan Plato in 17898.

Great development was achieved in the 18th century. Solvychegodsk and Veliky Ustyug enamels with their single-color (blue or white) background, on which they are applied in the form of separate metal plates human figures, flowers and other images, sometimes additionally colored with enamels. The museum has a large collection of household items from Solvychegodsk and Ustyug.

In the 18th century For the interior of the Lavra temples, monumental structures were made from silver according to drawings famous artists Moscow and St. Petersburg. For the altar of the Trinity Cathedral, by order of Metropolitan Plato, a large silver seven-candlestick in the shape of a laurel tree was made9; the tiblas of the iconostasis of the Trinity Cathedral were also decorated with silver. The Moscow master David Prif made a silver canopy over the shrine of Sergius of Radonezh from a Caravacca design (commissioned by Emperor Anna Ivanovna10). Thus, applied art XVIII V. represented in the museum's collection by the most characteristic works.

Works artistic craft in the museum's collection make it possible to trace its development from the early monuments of the Grand Ducal Moscow to the end of the 18th century. Over the course of this long period, technical skill changed and improved, old forms of objects disappeared and new forms appeared, the nature of decoration changed, always dependent on aesthetic views determined by the socio-economic and political conditions of the time, the development of the domestic and foreign markets, the scale and method of production.

On works of the XIV-XV centuries. the picture of the gradual revival of artistic crafts after the Tatar-Mongol devastation of the Russian land in the 13th century is revealed. Masters of Moscow and other art centers Ancient Rus' master various artistic techniques and improve their skills.

In the 16th century Moscow is finally gaining a leading place in cultural life countries. The applied arts of this period are distinguished by a variety of forms and artistic decorations, as well as great technical skill. The complex art of enamel, which has taken on a mainly ornamental character, is being improved, and the art of gold niello, embossing and engraving is achieving greater mastery.

Works made of silver for household and church purposes follow the traditions of folk art and are associated with the living conditions of the people, their rituals and way of life.

The colorfulness and decorativeness of 17th-century products, the complexity of ornaments, the appearance of painted enamels, and the use of large quantities of precious stones, pearls and colored glass give a more secular character to applied art.

In the 18th century new forms of objects, a realistic character of ornament and enamel painting were adopted. In the collection of the Zagorsk Museum, this period is represented by the best workshops of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Their works make it possible to judge the new changes taking place in the applied arts.

High artistic skill works of applied art, presented over more than five centuries, places the collection of the Zagorsk Museum in a prominent place in the history of Russian artistic culture

The history of Russia at the end of the 17th - first quarter of the 18th century is inseparable from the name of one of the largest political figures in Russia - Peter I. Significant innovations invaded at this time not only the field of culture and art, but also industry - metallurgy, shipbuilding, etc. At the beginning of the 18th century, the first mechanisms and machines for metal processing appeared. Much has been done in this area by Russian mechanics Nartov, Surnin, Sobakin and others.

At the same time, the foundations of the state system of general and special education are laid. In 1725, the Academy of Sciences was established, with a department of artistic crafts opened.

A. Nartov. Lathe. Peter's era. XVIII century

In the 18th century, new principles of architecture and urban planning were formed. This period was marked by the strengthening of the characteristic features of Western European Baroque (Holland, England) in the formation of products.

As a result of the initiatives of Peter I, products of traditional Russian forms quickly disappear from the royal and aristocratic life of the palace, while still remaining in the homes of the masses of the rural and urban population, as well as in church use. It was in the first quarter of the 18th century that a significant difference in stylistic development emerged, which remained characteristic of professional creativity and folk artistic crafts for a long time. In the latter, the centuries-old traditions of Russian, Ukrainian, Estonian, etc. applied art are directly and organically developed.

The norms of noble life require a demonstration of wealth, sophistication and splendor in the life of a sovereign person. The forms of the old way of life, including that of Peter the Great (still businesslike and strict), were finally being supplanted by the middle of the 18th century. The dominant position in Russian art is occupied by the so-called Rococo style, which logically completed the trends of the late Baroque. The ceremonial interiors of this time, for example, some rooms of the Peterhof and Tsarskoye Selo palaces, are almost entirely decorated with elaborate carvings.

The general features of rocaille ornamentation (curvature of lines, abundant and asymmetrical arrangement of stylized or close to nature flowers, leaves, shells, eyes, etc.) are fully reproduced in Russian architecture and furniture of that time, ceramics, clothing, carriages, ceremonial weapons, etc. . d. But the development of Russian applied art nevertheless followed a completely independent path. Despite the unconditional similarity of the forms of our own products with Western European ones, it is not difficult to notice the differences between them. So, but compared to French ones, Russian furniture products have much freer shapes and are softer in outline and drawing. The masters still retained the skills of folk carving, larger and more generalized than in the West. No less characteristic is the polychrome nature of Russian products and the combination of gilding and painting, which is rarely found in France, but is accepted everywhere in Russia.

Since the 60s of the 18th century, a transition to classicism began in Russian architecture with its laconic and strict forms, directed towards antiquity and marked by great restraint and grace. The same process occurs in applied art.

In the layout, equipment and decor of city mansions and palaces (architects Kokorinov, Bazhenov, Quarenghi, Starov, etc.) a clear symmetry and proportional clarity appear. The walls of the rooms (between the windows or opposite them) are hidden with mirrors and panels made of silk damask, decorative cotton fabrics, and cloth.

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Sofa - Rococo style. Russia (fragment). Mid-18th century

Classic style chair. Russia. Second half of the 18th century.

The floors are made of wood of various species, and sometimes covered with canvas or cloth; the ceilings are painted (for example, using the grisaille technique, imitating relief modeling). Instead of stacked parquet, spruce planks “under wax” are used. Walls and ceilings are often covered with fabric or covered with wallpaper. If impressively sized marble fireplaces are installed in the main rooms, then in the intimate rooms more traditional stoves are built on tables or legs, lined with tiles. The difference in lamps is just as noticeable: in the halls there are jewelry-made and expensive chandeliers, candelabra, sconces, in the chambers there are much more modest candlesticks and lamps. There is even more contrast in the shapes of formal and household furniture. All this speaks not so much about the desire of the owners of palaces and mansions to save money, but about their consideration of the subject environment as an important factor in the psychologically appropriate atmosphere.

Most furniture and a number of other products at the end of the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries were not constantly needed; if there was no need, they were either removed or moved to inactively used parts of the premises. Seating furniture must be covered. In the same regard, transformable furniture with a working surface has received great development - tea and card tables, a folding dining table, a table for needlework, a system of uneven-high tables that fit under each other, etc. All this significantly increased the comfort of life, the subtle differentiation of its functional support and variety of appearance of premises in different everyday situations. At the same time, a number of everyday processes that took place outside the building during the warm season - on the terrace and in the park - were especially highlighted. As a result, new types of products became widespread - garden furniture, umbrella awnings, park lamps, etc. In the 18th century, serf workshops were organized at individual estates, producing fairly large batches of furniture, porcelain, rugs and other products.

At the end of the 18th century, in the equipment of large palaces, the separation of the actual design of products (furniture, lamps, clocks, tapestries and other utensils and furnishings) as a special area of ​​creative activity from their craft production was already noticeably affecting. The role of designers is mainly played by architects and professional artists. The production of products for the mass market uses machines and mechanical methods of processing materials, turning the engineer into a leading figure in production. This leads to distortion and loss of the high aesthetic qualities inherent in consumer products, to the separation of industry from art. This trend was natural in the conditions of capitalist development of society and one of the main ones for the entire 19th century.

During the intensive development of capitalist relations in Russia in the 19th century, industrial production capacity increased. By the middle of the 19th century, there was already an urgent need for artistically professional personnel of product developers and craftsmen. For their training, specialized educational institutions were opened in Moscow (Count Stroganov) and St. Petersburg (Baron Stieglitz). Their very name - “technical drawing schools” - speaks of the emergence of a new type of artist. Since 1860, special craft education for master performers has been developed. Many books are published on the technology of processing various materials: wood, bronze, iron, gold, etc. Trade catalogs are published, replacing the previously published Economic Store magazine. Since the middle of the 19th century, sciences related to issues of occupational hygiene and the use of household items have been formed. However, throughout the entire 19th century, all mass factory products artistically remained completely subordinated to the undividedly dominant idea of ​​beauty as the decorative and ornamental design of products. The consequence of this was the introduction of stylistic elements of classicism into the form of most of the products: complex profile finishes, fluted columns, rosettes, garlands, ornaments based on ancient motifs, etc. In a number of cases, these elements were introduced into the forms of even industrial equipment - machine tools.

In the stylistic development of applied art and household products in the 19th century, three main periods are chronologically conventionally distinguished: the continuation of the trends of classicism in line with the so-called Empire style (the first quarter of the century); late classicism (circa 1830-1860) and eclecticism (after the 1860s).

The first quarter of the 19th century was marked by a general rise in ideological spirit and construction scope in Russian architecture, which caused a significant revival in the applied arts.

Empire style armchair. First quarter of the 19th century.

Victory in the War of 1812 to a certain extent accelerates and completes the process of formation of Russian national culture, which is acquiring pan-European significance. The activities of the most famous architects - Voronikhin, Quarenghi, Kazakov, closely connected with the classicism of the previous era, occurred only in the first decade of the century. They are being replaced by a galaxy of such wonderful masters as Rossi, Stasov, Grigoriev, Bove, who brought new ideas and a different stylistic spirit to Russian art.

Severity and monumentality are characteristic features of the architecture and forms of various household items in the Empire style. In the latter, decorative motifs noticeably change, or rather, their typology expands through the use of decorative symbols of Ancient Egypt and Rome - griffins, sphinxes, fasces, military attributes (“trophies”), wreaths intertwined with a garland, etc. Compared with examples of early classicism in general the amount of decor, its “visual weight” in the compositional design of products increases. Monumentalization, sometimes as if the coarsening of forms, occurs due to the greater generalization and geometrization of classical ornamental motifs - edging, wreaths, lyres, armor, etc., which are increasingly moving away from their real prototypes. Painting of objects (scenes, landscapes, bouquets) almost completely disappears. The ornament tends to be spotty, contouring, and applicative. Most products, especially furniture, become large, massive, but varied in overall configuration and silhouette. The heaviness of the Empire style in furniture almost disappeared already in the 1830s.

From the middle of the 19th century, new searches began in the field of architecture, applied and industrial creativity.

A pan-European artistic movement was born, called “Biedermeier”, named after the bourgeoisie of one of the characters. German writer L. Eichrodt (the work was published in the 1870s) with his ideal of comfort and intimacy.

Factory made iron. Russia. Second half of the 11th century.

In the second half of the 19th century, manual labor was further displaced from the production of utilitarian household products. Over the centuries, the methods and techniques of their artistic solution, the principles of form-building, that have developed over the centuries, come into conflict with new economic trends in the mass production and profitability of producing things for the market. The response to the changing situation is twofold. Some masters - the majority of them - make compromises. Considering inviolable the traditional view of all everyday things as objects of decorative and applied art, they begin to adapt the ornamental motifs of classicism to the capabilities of the machine and serial technologies. “Effective” types of decoration and finishing of products appear. Back in the 1830s in England, Henry Kuhl put forward a seemingly reformist slogan to decorate factory products with elements “from the world of fine art forms.” Many industrialists willingly pick up the slogan, trying to take maximum advantage of the consumer masses’ attachment to the externally decorated, ornamentally enriched forms of home furnishings.

Other theorists and practitioners of applied art (D. Ruskin, W. Morris), on the contrary, propose organizing a boycott of industry. Their credo is the purity of the traditions of medieval craft.

In countries Western Europe And in Russia, for the first time, handicraft artels and masters, in whose work deep folk traditions were still preserved, attracted the attention of theorists and professional artists. In Russia, Nizhny Novgorod fairs of the 1870-1890s demonstrate the viability of these traditions in new conditions. Many professional artists - V. Vasnetsov, M. Vrubel, E. Polenova, K. Korovin, N. Roerich and others - enthusiastically turn to the folk origins of decorative art. In various regions and provinces of Russia, in cities such as Pskov, Voronezh, Tambov, Moscow, Kamenets-Podolsk, etc., craft enterprises are emerging, the basis of which is manual labor. The work of the workshops in Abramtsovo near Moscow, in Talashkino near Smolensk, the enterprise of P. Vaulin near St. Petersburg, and the Murava ceramic artel in Moscow were especially important for the revival of creative, dying crafts.

Samovar. XIX century

Russia. Second half

Industrial pump. XIX century

However, the products of all these workshops constituted such an insignificant part of total consumption that they could not have any noticeable influence on mass production, although they proved the legitimacy of the existence, along with mass machine production, of items of decorative art that preserve folk traditions. This was later confirmed by the invasion of machine technology into such areas of decorative and applied arts as jewelry, carpet weaving, and tailoring, which led to a sharp drop in their artistic quality.

In the forms of the bulk of manufactured products in the second half of the 19th century, practically nothing new has yet been developed. However, the novelty of the general situation already at this time contributes to the formation of internal prerequisites for innovative quests - the awareness of stylistic searches as an important creative need, as a manifestation of the artistic individuality of the master. If until now style trends (Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Classicism, etc.) were born and spread, as a rule, as a result of general, almost “global”, spontaneously crystallized trends in the aesthetic development of the world, then from the middle of the 19th century, stylistic originality is regarded as a direct creative achievement of an individual artist or architect. In this regard, interest in the heritage of art of all times and peoples is sharply intensifying. This rich heritage becomes a source of imitations, direct borrowings, or is subjected to bizarre creative processing.

Art Nouveau style table with chair. End of the 19th century

As a result, the bulk of the products present an unusually motley picture, in which either obvious or subtle reminiscences of antiquity, the Romanesque era, Gothic, Italian or French Renaissance, the art of Byzantium and Ancient Russia, Baroque, etc. flicker, often eclectically mixing into design of one product, interior, building. Therefore, this period in the history of architecture and applied art was called eclectic. IN folk life Nevertheless, products (lamps, metal buckets, troughs, dishes, stools, etc.) are beginning to be introduced, relatively cheap, but made without any artistic purpose, often in ugly forms and of poor quality.

The search for a new style is carried out taking into account the real need in the conditions of machine production, a fundamentally new approach to the shaping of products, on the one hand, and the preservation of the decorative traditions of the past, on the other. The bourgeoisie, which by the end of the 19th century had occupied a strong position in the Russian economy, strove for its own artistic ideology in architecture and design - the cult of the rational, relative freedom from the archaisms of noble culture, encouraging in art everything that could compete with the styles of the past. This is how the Art Nouveau style appeared at the end of the 19th century - “new art” in Belgium, Great Britain and the USA, “Jugendstil” in Germany, “Secessions style” in Austria, “free style” in Italy. Its name - “modern” (from the French moderne) meant “new, modern” - from lat. modo - “just now, recently.” In its pure form, fading out and mixing with other stylistic movements, it lasted relatively short, until about 1920, i.e., about 20-25 years, like almost all stylistic movements of the 17th-20th centuries.

Art Nouveau is diverse in different countries and in the work of individual masters, which complicates the understanding of the problems they solved. However, the almost complete eradication of all previously used decorative and ornamental motifs and techniques and their radical renewal became characteristic. Traditional cornices, rosettes, capitals, flutes, “rolling wave” belts, etc. are replaced by stylized local plants (lilies, iris, carnations, etc.), female heads with long curly hair, etc. Often there is no decoration at all , and the artistic effect is achieved due to the expressiveness of the silhouette, divisions of form, lines, usually finely drawn, as if freely flowing, pulsating. In the forms of Art Nouveau products one can almost always feel some whimsical will of the artist, the tension of a tightly stretched string, and exaggerated proportions. In extreme manifestations, all this is sharply aggravated, elevated to a principle. Sometimes there is a disregard for the constructive logic of form, an almost sham enthusiasm for the spectacular side of the task, especially in the design of interiors, which are often spectacularly theatricalized.

Despite all the weaknesses - pretentiousness, sometimes loudness of forms, a new approach to solving the building, interior, furnishings with the logic of a functional, constructive and technological solution arose.

Art Nouveau style candlestick. Beginning of the 20th century

Set of dishes. End of the 19th century

Dressing table from the Art Nouveau period. Beginning of the 20th century

Art Nouveau in the vast majority of its examples did not abandon the decoration of products, but only replaced old decorative motifs and techniques with new ones. Already at the beginning of the 20th century, at the time of the triumphs of the new style, the fashion for old styles returned again, timidly at first, then widely, which had a well-known connection with the beginning of preparations for the celebration of the centenary Patriotic War 1812. The exhibition “Modern Art”, organized in St. Petersburg in 1903, clearly showed the birth of “classicizing modernity”.

The results of modernity are complex. This is the purification of applied art from eclecticism, and from the “anti-machinism” of champions of handcrafts, and from failed attempts to restore the styles of the past. These are the first symptoms of architecture and applied art entering the path of functionalism and constructivism, the path of modern design. At the same time, soon revealing a tendency to nationalize style, Art Nouveau caused a new wave of purely decorative quests. Many painters turn to applied art and interior design (S. Malyutin, V. Vasnetsov, A. Benois, S. Golovin, etc.), gravitating towards the colorfulness of the Russian fairy tale, to the “gingerbread”, etc. In the perspective of the subsequent historical process , solutions to pressing problems of mass industrial production, such experiments could not have serious ideological and artistic significance, although they gave impetus to the development of another branch of applied art - artistic crafts and especially theatrical and decorative art.

Modernity, as it were, cleared and prepared the way for the establishment of new aesthetic and creative principles in the art of creating everyday things, and accelerated the emergence of a new artistic profession - artistic design (design).

The formation of functionalism and constructivism into special directions in the architecture and artistic design of Western countries occurred at the end of the 1910s in connection with the stabilization of life and economic success after the First World War. But the fundamental foundations of new modern architecture were determined in the pre-war period in the work of such architects as T. Garnier and O. Perret (France), H. Berlaga (Holland), A. Loos (Austria), P. Behrens (Germany), F. Wright (USA), I. Shekhtel, I. Rerberg (Russia), etc. Each of them overcame the influence of modernity and struggled in their own way.

In 1918, special departments for architecture and the art industry were formed under the Fine Arts Department of the People's Commissariat for Education. Serious attention is paid to the issues of training specialists. In 1920, V.I. Lenin signed a decree on the creation of the Higher State Artistic and Technical Workshops (VKHUTEMAS). Graduates created new samples of fabrics, furniture, dishes, etc.

Training in workshops (in 1927 transformed into the VKHUTEIN All-Union Art and Technical Institute) was conducted in the faculties: architecture, ceramics, textiles, etc. At the faculty of wood and metal processing under the direction of A. Rodchenko, D. . Lisitsky, V. Tatlin and other masters searched for new forms and designs of various objects. All activities of VKHUTEMAS were aimed at developing in students the skills of an integrated approach to designing the subject environment of everyday life and production.

In the 1920s, a movement of “industrial art” emerged, developing the principles of functionalism and constructivism, which sought to establish in the minds of artists the aesthetic ideal of rationally organized material production. Any previous forms of art were declared bourgeois “productionists” and unacceptable for the proletariat. Hence their rejection of not only “practically useless” fine art, but also all purely decorative creativity, for example jewelry. In the 20s, the technical and economic conditions in our country were not yet ripe for the implementation of their ideas.

VKHUTEMAS and the “production workers” of the 1920s were ideologically and aesthetically closely connected with the Bauhaus and in a number of important moments represented with it essentially a single movement in the artistic design of that time. Within the framework of this new movement, the aesthetics of modern design was formed, overcoming the contradictions in the applied art of the previous period. The practical artistic activity of the founders of design was also the development of an arsenal of artistic and expressive means of the art of creating things. In their works (furniture, lamps, dishes, fabrics, etc.), the closest attention was paid to such properties of materials and form as texture, color, plastic expressiveness, rhythmic structure, silhouette, etc., which acquired decisive importance in the composition products, without conflicting with the requirements of constructive logic and manufacturability of the form. Another direction that successfully developed in our country in the 20s was engineering design. In 1925, in Moscow, according to the design of the outstanding engineer V. Shukhov, the famous radio tower was erected, the openwork silhouette of which became a symbol of Soviet radio for a long time. A year earlier, J. Gakkel created, based on the latest technological advances, the first Soviet diesel locomotive, the shape of which even today looks quite modern. In the 1920s, the need for scientific research into the patterns of human activity in an artificially created environment was realized. The Central Institute of Labor is being organized, within its walls research is being conducted on issues of scientific organization of labor and production culture. The attention of scientists and designers is drawn to issues of biomechanics, organoleptics, etc. Among the notable works of those years is the design of a tram driver's workplace (N. Bernstein).

Ya. Gakkel. Locomotive. Early 1930s

Changes in everyday life and their impact on arts and crafts. Features of ornament and decor of the artistic styles of Baroque, Rococo, Classicism.

Silver and gold making: St. Petersburg school, Moscow craftsmen and manufactories, niello silver of Veliky Ustyug. New types of dishes made of precious and non-ferrous metals: teapots, coffee pots, bouillottes, samovars. Household and church utensils. State regalia. Orders and medals. Enamels. Enamel artists A.G. Ovsov, G.S. Musikiysky.

The emergence of Russian porcelain. D.I.Vinogradov. Imperial and private porcelain factories. Majolica, faience. Art glass. Decorative fabrics and tapestries. New in clothes. Cabinet and type-setting furniture. Marquetry. Wooden carvings in civil and church interiors. Crews. Decorative stone. Cameos.

Artistic folk crafts. Carved and inlaid bottom of Gorodets. Bone carving Kholmogory. Gold embroidery of the Tver province. Lace of Galich and Vologda. Ceramics of Gzhel.

Music and theater in the 18th century

Polyphonic choral singing. Edges. Instrumental music and orchestras. Opera art. Ballet. Music in court, city and peasant life. The emergence of a national school of composition. E.I.Fomin. I.E.Khandoshkin. D.S. Bortnyansky. M.S.Berezovsky. A.O. Kozlovsky.

Attempts to create an accessible public theater under Peter the Great. Amateur performances at court. School theaters in spiritual and secular educational institutions. Professional troupes of foreign actors.

Dramaturgy of Russian classicism: tragedies and comedies. The influence of sentimentalism on the theatrical repertoire. The emergence of drama and comic opera on the Russian stage. A.P. Sumarokov - playwright and theatrical figure. The founder of the Russian professional theater, actor and director F.G. Volkov. His friend and follower I.A. Dmitrevsky. Mass theatrical performances.

Fortress theater. Troupe of Count P.B. Sheremetev. P.I. Kovaleva-Zhemchugova, T.V. Shlykova-Granatova and other artists. Palace Theater in Ostankino. People's Theatre.

ABBREVIATIONS FOR THE NAMES OF THE MAIN MUSEUM COLLECTIONS MENTIONED IN THE LIST OF CULTURAL MONUMENTS

BAN - Library Russian Academy Sciences (St. Petersburg)

VMDPNI - All-Russian Museum decorative, applied and folk art (Moscow)

State Historical Museum - State Historical Museum(Moscow)

HMGS - State Museum of Urban Sculpture (St. Petersburg)

GMMK - State Museums of the Moscow Kremlin (Moscow)

GNIMA - State Scientific Research Museum of Architecture (Moscow)

GOP - State Armory Chamber (Moscow)

State Russian Museum - State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg)

Tretyakov Gallery - State Tretyakov Gallery(Moscow)

GE - State Hermitage Museum(St. Petersburg)

ZIKHMZ - former Zagorsk (now Sergiev-Posad) historical- art museum-reserve (Sergiev Posad, Moscow region)

MIFA - Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine (Kiev)

MPIB - Museum of Applied Art and Life of the 17th Century "The Cathedral of the Twelve Apostles and the Patriarchal Chambers in the Moscow Kremlin" (Moscow)

GPS - Novgorod United State Museum-Reserve (Novgorod)

NGP - Novgorod Faceted Chamber (Novgorod)

SHM - Samara Art Museum (Samara)

MONUMENTS OF RUSSIAN CULTURE

SECTION I. HISTORY OF RUSSIAN CULTURE IN ANCIENT AND MIDDLE AGES

(UNTIL THE END OF THE 17TH CENTURY)

FOLK WOODEN ARCHITECTURE

CULT BUILDINGS

1. Kletsky churches: Church of Lazarus from the Murom Monastery (14-16 centuries) - Kizhi Nature Reserve; Church of the Deposition of the Robe from the village of Borodavy (15th century) - Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve; Church of the Transfiguration from the village of Spas-Vezhi (17th century) - Kostroma Museum-Reserve; St. Nicholas Church from the village of Tukholya (17th century) - Novgorod Museum-Reserve "Vitoslavlitsy"; Chapel of Michael the Archangel from the village of Lelikozero (18th century) - Kizhi Museum-Reserve; Church of St. Nicholas from the village of Glotova (18th century) - Suzdal Museum-Reserve.

2. Tent churches: St. Nicholas Church in the village of Lyavlya (16th century); Church of St. George from the village of Vershina (17th century) - Arkhangelsk Museum-Reserve "Malye Korely"; Resurrection Church from the village of Patakino (18th century) - Suzdal Museum-Reserve; Church of the Assumption (18th century) in the city of Kondopoga.

An important place in the culture of the 18th century. occupied by decorative and applied arts. Interior design in the Rococo style made the space light, the walls seemed thin, hidden behind decorative panels and mirrors reflecting each other, and screens played an important role. Furniture becomes elegant, seems fragile, and takes on bizarre shapes. The color scheme of wallpaper and furniture is dominated by pastel colors.

The room was supposed to give the impression of a boudoir (a room intended for communication only with close people).

Rococo interiors were often complemented by either genuine Chinese products: screens, porcelain, lacquer painting, or decorative compositions stylized as Chinese painting.

From the middle of the 18th century. With the development of neoclassicism, interior design became simple and quite strict. If French interiors were an example of Rococo, then English ones were an example of Neoclassicism. The interiors of the English architect became especially famous Robert Adam(1728-1792). When creating manor houses, the artist decorated them with columns, pilasters, and sculptures. This style was called the “Adam style”. It is distinguished by its grace and decorativeness, which at times organically includes genuine antique objects.

In clothes and hairstyles of the 18th century. a change in styles is also revealed. In the era of Louis XV, a person’s appearance became a work of art: the toilets of the nobility were elaborate and sophisticated, fantastic hairstyles (wigs came into fashion), black spots on a powdered face became a special language in a love dialogue. “A woman, dressed up and combed like a toy, and wearing narrow high-heeled shoes, had to step very carefully in order to maintain balance and not fall apart - this developed the habit of a floating gait and smooth movements of the minuet. They wanted to see a woman as a precious doll, a bird of paradise, or an exquisite flower. The fantastic and capricious airy surroundings of rocaille interiors befitted such creatures” (2, 45).

A suit, especially a woman's one, becomes a work of art. This costume was uncomfortable and impractical, but extremely attractive.

The men's suit was just as elegant as the women's, and delicate shades of pastel colors were chosen.

The love for everything elegant contributed to the flourishing of jewelry and porcelain.

The heyday of European porcelain art also occurred in the mid-18th century. and is associated with the Rococo style. The most famous are French porcelain from the city of Sevres and German porcelain from Meissen (Saxony). In their compositions, Meissen masters depicted “gallant festivities” - the sophisticated entertainment of aristocrats.

Rococo was not a style like Gothic and Baroque; it did not become a large and holistic artistic movement. The spread of the tastes of the Regency era was prepared by the very fate of the French nobility, which prospered in the 18th century. in only one thing - in creating a prosperous and happy life. It was an idle life, surrounded by elegant luxury. Art was an adornment to the idle life of the French nobility.

Decorative arts play a special role (even gastronomy is elevated to the level of art).

The main task of art is to please; art itself is identified with luxury, playfulness and mockery.

Mirrors become a favorite wall decoration; they are placed opposite each other, giving an endless number of reflections.

The need for luxury goods created entire branches of artistic production in France thanks to the work of furniture makers, weavers, modelers, jewelers and embroiderers.

Favorites decorative motifs Rococo - shell, stems and flowers.

In the field of decoration, neoclassicism turned to the interior of the halls, furnished in an antique manner. The exploits of Napoleonic army brought new decorative motifs: swords, banners. During the Napoleonic era, changes occurred in clothing and hairstyles. Fashion is spreading to everything antique: from the silhouette and cut of dresses reminiscent of chitons and tunics, to freely falling loose curls. Not only crinolines and hoops disappeared, but also diamonds; carved stones set into frames (gems) came into fashion.

Unlike other forms of art, music XVIII V. Baroque as a style movement was still widely represented. The greatest masters of the Baroque era in music were Bach and Handel.

Johann Sebastian Bach(1685-1750) was the greatest musician of the 18th century, and the power of his music is ever increasing. His composing work was surprisingly versatile despite his outwardly modest life (he was a cantor - the leader and conductor of a church choir). Since childhood, Bach was deeply religious, and adhered to the Protestant religion. It was the Reformation in Germany that brought forward the fervor of Protestant chorale (choral chant). By making church ritual simpler and stricter, Protestantism increased the importance of music in it. The church became the center of musical art, and the church organist was its representative. Organ art was extremely widespread in Germany and therefore it is not surprising that the organ accompanied Bach’s entire life. His organ heritage includes several genres, among which chorale preludes and two-part polyphonic cycles stand out. l fugue. Bach's music expresses religious humility, pathos, lyricism, and impulse. Along with naturalness and simplicity, his works are characterized by sublimity and significance. Among Bach's musical creations there are a huge number of true masterpieces that have received worldwide recognition.

Next to Bach stands another major figure of the musical Baroque - George Frideric Handel(1685-1759). His life was spent in big European cities, he received an excellent music education. The first opera Rinaldo staged in London brought Handel fame. Handel wrote music in many genres, but the pinnacle of his legacy is formed by oratorios (large vocal-symphonic works with a developed plot). Literary source The composer's most famous oratorio was the first part of the Bible - the Old Testament. Handel lived in England and its events political history, as well as the epic scope of biblical stories, could not but arouse his interest.

The composer was primarily characterized by civil themes. Electing biblical stories, Handel admires the power of human passions. It was passion, dynamism, and the image of confrontation that were characteristic of the Baroque.

If the first half of the 18th century. In music, Baroque was defined as a musical style, then its second half became the heyday of the work of composers of the Viennese classical school:

Gluck, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. The highest achievements of classicism were associated with Vienna, the capital of the vast Austrian Empire, a city thoroughly saturated with music.

The Viennese classical school responded to the sentiments and ideas of the Enlightenment. Musical art reflected the spiritual quest and controversial artistic processes of his time. For example, Lessing influenced the work of Mozart.

The principles of classicism found their implementation in the music of the Enlightenment.

Christoph Willibald Gluck(1714-1787) entered the history of music as a reformer of the art of opera, who laid the foundation for a new operatic style. The operas that Gluck wrote were unusual both in content and in the manner of expressing the feelings of the characters. Gluck's activities took place in Vienna and Paris and were also associated with polemics in philosophy and aesthetics, in which educators were involved. They criticized the court opera and believed that the ancient theater ideally combined music, plastic and declamation.

Gluck tried to dramatize the opera, to give it truthfulness and naturalness. All best operas Gluck, starting with "Orpheus", were written precisely in antique stories, in them the composer found powerful characters and strong passions. During Gluck's lifetime, his operas caused fierce controversy, but time has shown the viability of the principles, and it is no coincidence that other outstanding composers also implemented them.

Joseph Haydn(1732-1809) remained a conductor (leader of the choral and orchestral chapel) for almost three decades, and devoted only his free time to composing music. If Gluck reformed opera, Haydn created perfect symphonies. His creative path ran through different artistic eras, but the composer’s work was connected specifically with the Age of Enlightenment. The Enlightenment believed in the progress of society and man, and Haydn's music expresses optimism and the desire for happiness. Haydn's creations are quite rationalistic: they are characterized by thoughtfulness and harmony, which is also in tune with the rationalistic principles of the Enlightenment.

In his oratorios, Haydn turns to the theme of nature, the cult of which was characteristic of such an enlightener as Rousseau. It was Haydn who became the brightest composer era of Enlightenment.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart(1756-1791) began composing in early childhood, he traveled a lot, and gained fame early. Like Gluck, Mozart became a great reformer of opera, not only symphonizing it, but also updating it. By choosing a play like “Crazy Day or The Marriage of Figaro,” Mozart showed his commitment to educational ideas. In The Magic Flute, the composer presents a kind of utopia, close to the Enlightenment’s belief in the moral progress of mankind. Music of Mozart amazingly combines naturalness and harmony, sincerity and perfection, impeccable clarity and reverent excitement. The highest achievement of Mozart's music was the famous "Requiem" - his last composition.

German composer Ludwig van Beethoven(1770-1827) spent most of his life in Vienna. His writings also bear the imprint of the Enlightenment. The composer distinguished himself precisely in the genres of sonata and symphony, which finally took shape in this era. His works reveal the thoughtfulness of the entire plan and individual details, and the clarity of forms.

In his most famous works, the heroic theme, the theme of struggle, is embodied, which is associated both with the personality of the composer himself and with the peculiarities of his biography: the events of the Great french revolution he survived as a nineteen-year-old youth. Although the ideas of the Enlightenment were characteristic of Beethoven's music, he already represents new era, anticipating romanticism. The composer's musical style differs from the art of others Viennese classics scope, drama, emotional power. These are the “Pathétique Sonata”, the Third Symphony (“Eroic”), the Fifth and Ninth Symphonies, especially the “Ode to Joy”, which concludes the last. Beethoven's entire legacy had a tremendous impact on the development of music, especially on the formation of romanticism.