Portrait painters of the first half of the 19th century. Russian portrait painters of the first half of the 19th century

Russian portrait has its own history of development and its wonderful portrait artists.

In general terms, we will talk about how the portrait genre developed in Russia. In general - because this topic is vast for one article.

History of Russian portrait

In the Middle Ages, the Russian portrait differed from the understanding of this genre in later times: the individual traits of a particular person were almost not reflected in his image. In medieval portraiture it was a timeless image. Individuality was manifested only in the depiction of his social status, or rather, the ideal that corresponded to representatives of a certain level in the feudal hierarchy. Naturally, only noble people, church leaders and other high-ranking officials of their time were depicted in the portraits.

Miniature from “Svyatoslav’s Collection” 1073 “Svyatoslav with his family.” Svyatoslav is on the far right. Svyatoslav is the third son of Yaroslav the Wise and Ingegerda of Sweden.

And here is a group portrait of “The Daughter of Yaroslav the Wise.” Here we see some individualization of the images, although it is not the main criterion in this portrait; for the artist it was more important to show the princely dignity of the girls.
Some iconographic images of Dionysius are distinguished by individual characteristics. For example, the icon of Joseph of Volotsk.

Dionysius. Icon of Joseph Volotsky

Dionysius (c. 1440-1502) is a famous Moscow icon painter, a successor to the traditions of Andrei Rublev.
In the 16th century The secular portrait is emerging in Russia. The Council of the Hundred Heads in 1551 legalized the possibility of writing kings, princes and people on icons; a little later it was allowed to write parables along with ordinary subjects on icons - this made it possible to insert everyday motifs into icons. At the same time, according to the decision of the Stoglavy Council, kings, princes, saints, and peoples who are alive could appear in the bottom row of icons.
And Ivan the Terrible himself demanded that historical events and his deeds be reflected in art. Under him, a royal workshop was created, which in the 17th century. became the basis of the school of royal isographers of the Armory Chamber.
In the Russian kingdom of that period, the portrait genre was called “parsuna” - a distorted transcription of the Latin word “persona” - “personality”, “person”. Parsuns of the 17th century, with rare exceptions, do not have signatures of the authors and no indication of the time of writing. And although the portrait resemblance in the parsun is conveyed rather conditionally, and the signature helps to determine the identity of the person depicted, nevertheless, this was already a step towards the further development of the Russian pictorial portrait.

Parsun of the 17th century. "Portrait of Tsarevich Peter Alekseevich." Russia, late XVII-early XVIII centuries. Unknown artist. Canvas, oil.
By the 16th century These include lifetime images of Ivan the Terrible and many other historical figures of that time.

Parsuna of Ivan the Terrible
In the 17th century The genre of portraiture continues to develop, the iconographic face begins to approach the individual face more and more, artists no longer depict only kings, but also boyars, stewards, and merchants. It is especially important that resemblance to the model becomes mandatory. The innovators in the field of creating a realistic portrait image were the artists of the Armory Chamber, Iosif Vladimirov and Simon Ushakov. Vladimirov creates the image the way he sees it in life. Their work approaches realism. Ushakov worked a lot on the depiction of the human face. He created new icon-painting images with anatomically correct, three-dimensionally modeled faces, real representation of the shape of the eyes and the brilliance of the pupils. But these were only individual steps towards a realistic portrait.
XVIII century contributed his achievements to the portrait genre: artists introduced direct perspective, depth and three-dimensionality of the image on a plane; comprehend the relationship between light and color, the role of light as a means of constructing volume and space.
The central theme of the art of Peter the Great's era becomes the person, and the main genre is the portrait. At this time, the transition from parsuna to portrait was made. By the middle of the 18th century. Original and talented portrait painters have already appeared. The domestic school of portraiture was represented by artists Ivan Nikitin, Andrey Matveev, Ivan Vishnyakov, Alexey Antropov, Ivan Argunov. Let's turn to the work of at least one of them.

Ivan Petrovich Argunov (1729-1802)

I.P. Argunov was a serf of the Sheremetev counts. He studied portrait painting from his cousin Fyodor Leontyevich Argunov, as well as from foreign masters. Under the guidance of his teacher Georg Christopher Groot, he created icons for the church of the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo.

I. Argunov “Self-portrait”
He is the author of excellent ceremonial and intimate portraits. Portraits of St. Petersburg nobility, for example, P.B. Sheremetev, brought Argunov fame. In 1762, Argunov received an order to create a portrait of Empress Catherine II.

I. Argunov “Portrait of Catherine II” (1762)
The portrait was painted in the tradition of a ceremonial portrait. The Empress is depicted in an emphatically theatrical pose, her gaze directed at the viewer from top to bottom. The details are carefully painted: a fragment of a column, luxurious draperies, gilded furniture parts, regalia.
Portraits of children and youth occupy a special place in I. Argunov’s work. One of the most famous portraits of the artist is “Portrait of an unknown peasant woman in Russian costume.”

I. Argunov “Portrait of an unknown peasant woman in Russian costume” (1784)
In this portrait, he managed to show the natural beauty and dignity of a person, regardless of his class. Soft facial features, a friendly smile and a calm pose - all this emphasizes the modesty, openness and kindness of a woman from the people.
We should not forget that foreign artists also worked in Russia during Peter’s time and also contributed to the development of the portrait genre. Thanks to them, this genre began to develop in a new quality. To designate Western European artists who worked in Russia, there is a special term - “rossika”. Here are some names: Georg Christophor Groot, John Wedekind, Louis Caravaque, Alexander Roslin, Pietro Rotari, Stefano Torelli and many others.

L. Caravaque “Portrait of princesses Anna Petrovna and Elizaveta Petrovna”
In works of the portrait genre, composition, color, and style are developed.

I.G. Tannauer "Portrait of Peter I"
The next new step in the portrait genre was made by artists of the 18th century. F. Rokotov, D. Levitsky, V. Borovikovsky. Read about them. By the end of the 18th century. The Russian portrait, in its high level of quality, is equal to contemporary world examples. Levitsky and Rokotov move from a ceremonial portrait to a chamber portrait. Their portraits are characterized by delicacy, thoughtfulness, and restrained attentiveness.
In the genre of official portrait at the end of the 18th century. S. Shchukin (1762-1828), a student of D. Levitsky, was considered an indisputable authority. The famous portrait painters Vasily Tropinin and Alexander Varnek were students of S. Shchukin himself.

S. Shchukin “Paul I in the Maltese Crown” (1799). Hermitage, St. Petersburg
For this portrait, S. Shchukin was awarded the title of academician.
By the end of the 18th century. Russian portrait art began to develop in accordance with the pan-European style trends of baroque, rococo, classicism, and sentimentalism.

The rise of Russian portraiture

With the advent of the era of romanticism at the beginning of the 19th century. The portrait genre received new development. The most famous masters of this period were Orest Kiprensky, V. Tropinin, K. Bryullov, Alexander Varnek.

Alexander Grigorievich Varnek (1782-1843)

A. Varnek “Self-portrait”
Graduate and later teacher at the Academy of Arts, master of portraiture. The main theme of his work was portraits. They note his ability to capture the likeness, choose lighting, and portray the model truthfully and without embellishment. He painted many portraits of his contemporaries. For example, a portrait of M.M. Speransky, Russian public and statesman, reformer, who participated in the education of Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich.

A. Varnek “Portrait of Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky” (1824). Canvas, oil. Irkutsk Regional Art Museum named after. V. P. Sukacheva
From the middle of the 19th century. The best examples of the realistic portrait genre are created by the Itinerant artists Vasily Perov, Ivan Kramskoy, Nikolai Ge, Nikolai Yaroshenko, Valentin Serov, Ilya Repin. They created portraits of representatives of the intelligentsia of this era, many of which were made directly by order of P.M. Tretyakov, a famous philanthropist and art collector.

I. Kramskoy “Self-portrait”
Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy created a number of portraits of outstanding Russian writers, artists and public figures: L.N. Tolstoy (1873), I.I. Shishkin (1873), P.M. Tretyakov (1876), M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin (1879), A.S. Griboyedov, V. Solovyov, Emperor Alexander III and many others.

I. Kramskoy “Portrait of Emperor Alexander III” (1886)
Portraits are also widely introduced into paintings of everyday and historical genres, for example, in the paintings of V. Surikov.
Valentin Aleksandrovich Serov (1865-1911) – Russian portrait master.

V. Serov “Self-portrait”
His most famous portrait is “Girl with Peaches”.

V. Serov “Girl with Peaches” (1887). Oil on canvas, 91 x 85 cm. State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow)
This portrait was painted at the Abramtsevo estate by Savva Ivanovich Mamontov, a Russian entrepreneur and philanthropist. And the portrait shows Mamontov’s daughter, 12-year-old Vera. Her spontaneity, lively mind and curiosity are skillfully conveyed by the artist. Although the portrait took almost 2 months to create, and all this time the girl posed for the artist, there is no feeling of stability on the canvas. It seems that Vera only ran into the dining room for a minute to eat a peach, and now she will run about her business again. By the way, peaches were grown in the Mamontov greenhouse.
V. Serov created a portrait gallery of “highest persons,” including portraits of Grand Duke Georgiy Mikhailovich, Emperor Alexander III, Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich, the coronation portrait of Nicholas II, etc.

V. Serov “Portrait of Nicholas II”

Portrait painters of the Silver Age

The portrait genre continued its development in the works of Mikhail Vrubel, Sergei Malyutin, Abram Arkhipov, Boris Kustodiev, Malyavin.
These artists created portraits of types of people from the people. Their works are mostly colorful, full of optimism, color and freshness of perception.

A. Arkhipov “Baba in Red” (1910)
Viktor Borisov-Musatov, Konstantin Somov, Zinaida Serebryakova’s portraits are more lyrical. K. Somov, for example, created a gallery of portraits of his contemporaries (A. Blok, E. Lanceray, S. Rachmaninov, V. Ivanov, M. Dobuzhinsky, etc.)

K. Somov “Portrait of S. Rachmaninoff”
As you know, the Silver Age was a time of searching for a new artistic language, and the portraits of that time reflected this search. Portrait artists of the Silver Age: Kazimir Malevich, Ilya Mashkov, Pyotr Konchalovsky, Aristarkh Lentulov, Alexander Osmerkin, Robert Falk, Nathan Altman and others.

P.P. Konchalovsky “Portrait of V. E. Meyerhold” (1938). Oil on canvas, 211 x 233 cm. State Tretyakov Gallery
The famous director is depicted in the portrait shortly before his arrest and death. The conflict between the individual and the surrounding reality is emphasized. The composition of the portrait plays an important role, to some extent it is allegorical: it seems that the canvas depicts a dreamer, whose dreams are embodied in colored patterns covering the entire wall and the sofa to the floor. But at the same time, we see a person immersed in his thoughts, as if detached from the world around him. The image is revealed through contrast: a bright ornament, and against its background there is a monochrome figure, as if lost and entangled in the countless curves of the patterns.

N. Altman “Portrait of A. A. Akhmatova” (1914). State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
The portrait of A. Akhmatova was painted in the style of cubism.
An outstanding graphic artist of this period is Yuri Annenkov. He created a large gallery of pictorial and graphic portraits of many figures of Russian culture: A. A. Akhmatova, A. N. Benois, A. M. Gorky, E. I. Zamyatin, A. V. Lunacharsky, B. L. Pasternak, etc. .

Y. Annenkov “Portrait of B. Pasternak” (1921)

By the 30s of the XX century. In the Russian portrait genre, realism again became in demand; it was now called “socialist realism”. The image of a contemporary was also in demand. But this image had to be ideologically correct. “The main content of the Soviet portrait is the image of a new man, a builder of communism, a bearer of such spiritual qualities as collectivism, socialist humanism, internationalism, and revolutionary determination. The main character of the Soviet portrait is the representative of the people” (Great Soviet Encyclopedia). New type portraits and painting portraits are emerging, reflecting the everyday life of Soviet people and their heroic deeds (artists Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin, Georgy Ryazhsky, Alexander Deineka, Sergei Gerasimov, Semyon Chuikov).

A. Deineka “Runners” (1934)
Entire pictorial cycles have emerged dedicated to the leaders of the revolution and the Soviet state (Leniniana, Staliniana).

One of the most famous paintings about the war was “Mother of the Partisan” by artist S. Gerasimov.

S. Gerasimov “Mother of the Partisan” (1943-1950). Oil on canvas, 184 x 229 cm. State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow)
The theme of his painting is the heroism of ordinary Soviet people during the war. In the center of the picture stands the partisan’s mother with her head held high. S. Gerasimov said this about the idea of ​​this painting: “I wanted to show in her image all the mothers who sent their sons to war.” The woman cannot be intimidated by the German invaders. Behind her is her native land. The face is the embodiment of popular anger, which even the fascists feel: against the background of this heroic Russian woman, the German officer seems pitiful.
In the second half of the 20th century. The genre of Russian pictorial portrait was enriched by artists of a new generation: Nikolai Andronov, Viktor Popkov, Tair Salakhov, Boris Korneev, Lev Rusov, Evsey Moiseenko, Oleg Lomakin, as well as Dmitry Zhilinsky, Alexander Shilov (working in the manner of “photorealism”), Ilya Glazunov.
T. Salakhov created a gallery of images of cultural figures: composers D. D. Shostakovich, Kara Karaev, F. M. D. Amirov, artist R. Rauschenberg, actor M. Schell, writers Rasul Rza, G. Hesse, M. Ibragimbekov, cellist M. L. Rostropovich and others.

T. Salakhov “Portrait of M. Rostropovich”

Group portrait of D. Zhilinsky “Spring of the Art Theater” (1988)
Take a closer look at the faces of the characters and you will find many familiar faces.
D. Zhilinsky created portraits of people close to him in spirit.

D. Zhilinsky “Richter is playing”
In the portrait gallery of I. Glazunov there are his contemporaries: from a simple rural carpenter to heads of state. He created a series of portraits of Soviet and foreign political and public figures, writers, and artists. The artist created many artistic images of historical characters.

I. Glazunov “Portrait of the writer Valentin Rasputin” (1987). Canvas, oil. 121 x 90 cm

I. Glazunov “The Kiss of Judas” (1985). Canvas, oil

We see how diverse the creative searches of portrait artists of the 20th century are.

Modern Russian portrait

Russian portraiture continues to develop. Now he is no longer bound by any ideological conditions, although the ceremonial portrait has been preserved - customers exist at all times.
The most famous authors of this genre are Alexander Shilov, Nikas Safronov, Leningrad artist Sergei Pavlenko, who lives in London and received two orders for portraits of the British royal family, including Queen Elizabeth. He works in line with the school of Korovin and Nesterov.

S. Pavlenko “Portrait of Elizabeth II”, 250 x 210 cm

S. Pavlenko “Olga”. Oil, 163 x 95 cm
Natalya Tsarkova, a graduate of I. Glazunov’s studio and the Surikov School, is the official court portrait painter at the court of Pope Benedict XVI. But Tsarkova paints portraits of dads from photographs, because for dad
You're not supposed to pose. Natalya Tsarkova is the only woman in the world who painted portraits of four popes.

N. Tsarkova “The Last Supper” (2002)
This is how the artist herself explains this work: “In essence, I didn’t change anything in this well-known evangelical story, I just “went” from the other side. Jesus sits at the table opposite the apostles and looks half-turned directly at the viewer from behind. In the corner of the canvas, in the image of a maid, I depicted myself, looking through the slightly open door. This is also incompatible with the traditional canons of the “Supper,” but in this way I wanted to emphasize the connection with today. This is a view from the third millennium.
The large white canvas lay in my studio for a whole year before the solution to the painting emerged. Ideas appeared spontaneously, like insights, during the work process. I redid many details several times. And in the role of the apostles, I decided to portray my Italian friends and acquaintances. For example, the person who posed for Christ for me is Count Pippi Morgia, a light designer by profession.”
Portrait painter Ivan Slavinsky is popular in France, Georgy Shishkin is an artist in Monaco.

It is obvious that Russian contemporary realist artists are in demand and successful in the world. Why? Are there really not enough talented artists there? Of course they are. But the classical art school practically no longer exists in Europe. And the European aristocracy prefers to have their images for posterity in a classic, recognizable manner. Therefore, among the court artists of our time there are many Russian names.

Among the many Russian and foreign artists who worked in Russia, the outstanding masters of portraiture in the 18th century can safely be called

A.P. Antropova, I.P. Argunova, F.S. Rokotova, D.G. Levitsky, V.L. Borovikovsky.

On his canvases A.P. Antropov and I.P. Argunov sought to portray a new ideal of a person - open and energetic. Cheerfulness and festivity were emphasized by bright colors. The dignity of those depicted, their corpulence was conveyed with the help of beautiful clothes and solemn static poses.

A.P. Antropov and his paintings

Self-portrait of A.P. Antropov

In the works of A.P. Antropov still has a noticeable connection with icon painting. The master paints the face with continuous strokes, and clothes, accessories, background – freely and broadly. The artist does not “fawn over” the noble heroes of his paintings. He paints them as they really are, no matter what features, positive or negative, they have (portraits of M.A. Rumyantseva, A.K. Vorontsova, Peter III).

Among the most famous works of the painter Antropov are portraits:

• Izmailova;
• A.I. and P.A. Quantitative;
• Elizaveta Petrovna;
• Peter I;
• Catherine II in profile;
• Ataman F. Krasnoshchekov;
• portrait of the prince Trubetskoy

I.P. Argunov - portrait artist of the 18th century

I.P. Argunov “Self-portrait”

Developing the concept of a national portrait, I.P. Argunov quickly and easily mastered the language of European painting and abandoned old Russian traditions. What stands out in his legacy are the ceremonial retrospective portraits that he painted from lifetime images of P.B.’s ancestors. Sheremetev. His work also predicted the painting of the next century. He becomes the creator of a chamber portrait, in which great attention is paid to the high spirituality of the image. This was an intimate portrait, which became more common in the 19th century.

I.P. Argunov “Portrait of an unknown woman in a peasant costume”

The most significant images in his work were:

• Ekaterina Alekseevna;
• P.B. Sheremetev in childhood;
• the Sheremetev couple;
• Catherine II;
• Ekaterina Alexandrovna Lobanova-Rostovskaya;
• unknown woman in peasant costume.

F.S. Rokotov - artist and paintings

A new phase in the development of this art is associated with the name of the Russian portrait artist F.S. Rokotova. He conveys the play of feelings and the variability of human character in his dynamic images. The world seemed spiritual to the painter, and so are his characters: multifaceted, full of lyricism and humanity.

F. Rokotov “Portrait of an unknown man in a cocked hat”

F.S. Rokotov worked in the genre of semi-ceremonial portrait, when a person was depicted from the waist up against the background of architectural buildings or a landscape. Among his first works are portraits of Peter III and Grigory Orlov, seven-year-old Prince Pavel Petrovich and Princess E.B. Yusupova. They are elegant, decorative, colorful. The images are painted in the Rococo style with its sensuality and emotionality. Thanks to Rokotov's works, you can learn the history of his time. The entire advanced noble elite sought to be captured on the canvases of the great painter.

Rokotov's chamber portraits are characterized by: a bust-length image, a ¾ turn towards the viewer, the creation of volume by complex cut-off modeling, and a harmonious combination of tones. Using these expressive means, the artist creates a certain type of canvas, which depicts the honor, dignity, and spiritual grace of a person (portrait of the “Unknown Man in a Tricorne Hat”).

F.S. Rokotov “Portrait of A.P. Struyskaya”

The artist’s youthful and female images were especially remarkable, and he even developed a certain Rokotov type of woman (portraits of A.P. Struyskaya, E.N. Zinovieva and many others).

In addition to those already mentioned, the following works brought fame to F.S. Rokotov:

• IN AND. Maykova;
• Unknown in pink;
• V.E. Novosiltseva;
• P.N. Lanskoy;
• Surovtseva;
• A.I. and I.I. Vorontsov;
• Catherine II.

D.G.Levitsky

D. G. Levitsky Self-portrait

They said that the portraits of D. G. Levitsky reflected the entire century of Catherine. No matter who Levitsky portrayed, he acted as a subtle psychologist and certainly conveyed sincerity, openness, sadness, as well as the national characteristics of people.

His most outstanding works: portrait of A.F. Kokorinov, a series of portraits “Smolyanka”, portraits of Dyakova and Markerovsky, a portrait of Agasha. Many of Levitsky’s works are considered intermediate between ceremonial and chamber portraits.

D.G. Levitsky “Portrait of A.F. Kokorinov”

Levitsky combined in his work the accuracy and truthfulness of Antropov’s images and Rokotov’s lyrics, as a result of which he became one of the most outstanding masters of the 18th century . His most famous works are:

• E. I. Nelidova
• M. A. Lvovoy
• N. I. Novikova
• A. V. Khrapovitsky
• the Mitrofanovs
• Bakunina

V.L. Borovikovsky - master of sentimental portrait

Portrait of V.L. Borovikovsky, artist. Bugaevsky-Blagodatny

The personality of the domestic master of this genre V.B. Borovikovsky is associated with the creation sentimental portrait. His miniatures and oil portraits depicted people with their experiences, emotions, and conveyed the uniqueness of their inner world (portrait of M.I. Lopukhina). Female images had a certain composition: the woman was depicted against a natural background, waist-deep, leaning on something, holding flowers or fruits in her hands.

V.L. Borovikovsky “Portrait of Paul I in the costume of the Order of Malta”

Over time, the artist’s images become typical of the entire era (portrait of General F.A. Borovsky), and therefore the artist is also called the historiographer of his time. The artist's portraits are from Peru:

• V.A. Zhukovsky;
• “Lisanka and Dashenka”;
• G.R. Derzhavina;
• Paul I;
• A.B. Kurakina;
• "Beardless with daughters."

For the development of Russian painting, the 18th century became a turning point. Portrait becomes the leading genre . Artists adopt painting techniques and basic techniques from their European colleagues. But the focus is on a person with his own experiences and feelings.

Russian portrait painters tried not only to convey similarities, but also to reflect on their canvases the soulfulness and inner world of their models. If Antropov and Argunov sought to overcome conventions and truthfully portray a person, then Rokotov, Levitsky and Borovikovsky went further. Inspired personalities look out from their canvases, whose mood was captured and conveyed by the artists. They all strove for the ideal and sang beauty in their works, but physical beauty was only a reflection of the humanity and spirituality inherent in Russian people.

The 19th century left indelible marks on all forms of art. This is a time of changing social norms and requirements, colossal progress in architecture, construction and industry. Reforms and revolutions are being actively carried out in Europe, banking and government organizations are being created, and all these changes directly affected artists. Foreign artists of the 19th century took painting to a new, more modern level, gradually introducing such trends as impressionism and romanticism, which had to go through many tests before becoming recognized by society. Artists of past centuries were in no hurry to endow their characters with violent emotions, but depicted them as more or less restrained. But impressionism had in its features an unbridled and bold fantasy world, which was vividly combined with romantic mystery. In the 19th century, artists began to think outside the box, completely rejecting accepted patterns, and this fortitude is conveyed in the mood of their works. During this period, many artists worked, whose names we still consider great and their works inimitable.

France

Spain

The Iberian Peninsula also gave us many famous names, including:

Netherlands

Vincent van Gogh is one of the most prominent Dutchmen. As everyone knows, Van Gogh suffered from severe mental illness, but this did not affect his inner genius. Made using an unusual technique, his paintings became popular only after the artist’s death. The most famous: “Starry Night”, “Irises”, “Sunflowers” ​​are included in the list of the most expensive works of art in the whole world, although Van Gogh did not have any special art education.

Norway

Edvard Munch is a native of Norway, famous for his painting. The work of Edvard Munch is sharply distinguished by melancholicity and a certain recklessness. The death of his mother and sister in childhood and dysfunctional relationships with ladies greatly influenced the artist’s painting style. For example, the well-known work “The Scream” and the no less popular “Sick Girl” carry pain, suffering and oppression.

USA

Kent Rockwell is one of the famous American landscape painters. His works combine realism and romanticism, which very accurately conveys the mood of the person depicted. You can look at his landscapes for hours and interpret the symbols differently each time. Few artists have been able to depict winter nature in such a way that people looking at it truly feel the cold. Color saturation and contrast are Rockwell’s recognizable style.

The 19th century is rich in brilliant creators who made enormous contributions to art. Foreign artists of the 19th century opened the doors to several new movements, such as post-impressionism and romanticism, which, in fact, turned out to be a difficult task. Most of them tirelessly proved to society that their creativity has the right to exist, but many succeeded, unfortunately, only after death. Their unbridled character, courage and readiness to fight are combined with exceptional talent and ease of perception, which gives them every right to occupy a significant and significant cell.

Portrait is the art of reproducing the image of a person or group of people with absolute accuracy. As a rule, this is an artistic drawing that follows a certain style. The artist who painted the portrait may belong to one or another school of painting. And his works are recognizable due to the individuality and style that the painter follows.

Past and present

Portrait artists depict real-life people by drawing from life, or reproduce images from the past from memory. In any case, the portrait is based on something and carries information about a specific person. Often such a picture reflects some era, be it modernity or the past. In this case, portrait artists, instead of the usual background, depict several accompanying conventional features, such as the architecture of the time indicated in the background, or other characteristic objects.

Rembrandt

Fine art is diverse, and its individual genres can exist independently of each other, or can be synthesized. Likewise, in a portrait, different subjects are combined into one whole, but the person’s face always dominates. The great portrait painters of the past mastered the art of artistic depiction to perfection. Such masters include the Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669), who painted many portraits. And each of them is recognized as a masterpiece of painting. True art is immortal, because the paintings of Rembrandt van Rijn are already more than five hundred years old.

Engraving is a fine art

The great portrait painters of the past are the national treasure of the countries in which they were born, lived and created their paintings. A noticeable mark in the history of painting was left by the German artist Albrecht Durer (1471-1528), who worked in the genre of engraving. His paintings are exhibited in the most prestigious museums in the world. Paintings painted by the artist at different times, such as “Portrait of a Young Venetian Woman”, “Portrait of Emperor Maximilian”, “Portrait of a Young Man” and others, are unsurpassed masterpieces. Great portrait painters differ from all other artists in their high level of self-expression. Their paintings are an example to follow.

Women's theme

Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931), Italian artist, ranks high on the list of "Great Portrait Painters of the World." He is recognized as an unrivaled master of female portraiture. You can look at his paintings for hours, the images are so accurate and picturesque. Rich colors, mostly cool shades, contrasting strokes, play of halftones - everything is collected in his paintings. The artist manages to convey the character of the lady depicted on the canvas, and even her mood.

Famous portrait artists of Russia

There have always been great artists in Rus'. Portrait art originated in the 14th century AD, when talented painters such as Andrei Rublev and Theophanes the Greek appeared. Their work did not fully correspond to the genre of portraiture, since these artists painted icons, but the general principles of creating images coincided.

During the same period, the famous artist Dionysius (1440-1502), a protege of Ivan III, Tsar of Moscow, worked. The monarch commissioned the artist to paint a cathedral or church, and then watched him create his masterpieces. The king liked to participate in such a godly activity.

One of the first masters of Russian portrait art was Ivan Nikitin (1680-1742), who trained in Europe. He enjoyed the favor of Emperor Peter the Great. Nikitin's most famous works are portraits of Augustus II, King of Poland and Duke of Mecklenburg.

Alexey Zubov (1682-1750), an outstanding master of portrait art. He was a favorite of Peter the Great. Together with his father, the famous icon painter Fyodor Zubov, he participated in the design of the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin.

The great portrait painters of the 18th century in Russia, as a rule, painted to order.

Vasily Tropinin (1776-1857), a famous Russian artist, truly became famous in 1827. He created a half-length portrait of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, the brightest representative of Russian poetry. The order was made by the poet himself. And the painting was intended for Alexander Sergeevich’s friend, Sobolevsky. The portrait became the most famous creation of all that ever depicted Pushkin. Tropinin's painting "Alexander Pushkin" forever became a classic of the genre.

Orest Kiprensky (1782-1836) began writing at the age of 22. The first portrait was created by Kiprensky in the style of Rembrandt; the canvas depicted A. K. Walbe. The artist’s most famous work is considered to be “Portrait of E.V. Davydov,” painted in 1809. Several paintings by Orest Kiprensky are in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Alexey Venetsianov (1780-1847) is a Russian artist who is considered the founder of the narrative style in portrait art. He was a student of the venerable painter Vladimir Borovikovsky. The young artist Venetsianov gained wide fame thanks to the painting “Portrait of a Mother,” created in 1801.

Borovikovsky Vladimir (1757-1825), a native of Mirgorod, became famous and famous after meeting Catherine II, traveling as part of her 1787 tour. The painter created a series of artistic paintings in the palace, which was located on the route of the empress. Catherine was delighted with Borovikovsky’s work and awarded him a large sum of money.

The list of “Great portrait painters of Russia of the 19th century” is headed by Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy (1837-1887), an outstanding painter, master of religious wall paintings. Kramskoy's portrait art allowed him to create a number of images of famous people, including P. M. Tretyakov, S. P. Botkin, I. I. Shishkin, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, L. N. Tolstoy and others.

The most famous portrait painters of modern Russia

Igor Belkovsky (born 1962), corresponding member of the Russian Art Academy, member of the Union of Artists of Russia, laureate of the “For a Bright Future” award, established by the governor of the Chelyabinsk region.

Alexander Shilov (born 1943), People's Artist of the USSR, member of the Presidential Council for Culture and Art. Author of numerous portraits of his contemporaries.

A visitor to the Russian Museum, moving from the icon painting exhibition to the hall of Peter I, experiences sensations similar to those experienced by Neo in the film “The Matrix”, who took the red pill from the hands of Morpheus. Just now we were surrounded by spiritual images, bright colors and harmonious lines, which only vaguely resembled what was visible around us, but with their incorporeal beauty they represented in our world the law and order established during the creation of the Universe. Welcome to reality - crossing the threshold, we descend into this world of dark colors and deliberate physicality, sculptured faces sculpted by light, as if peeling off from black backgrounds. We came to look, but we ourselves found ourselves in the crossfire of views: almost all the exhibits here are portraits. From this time on and for the entire coming century, the portrait will become synonymous with Russian painting.

The history of the Russian portrait of the 18th century is a picture of the visual self-awareness of the nation, the unfolding process of the Russian person acquiring a “face” unfolded over time. In the era of Peter the Great, people became accustomed to the appearance of an individual embedded in the social hierarchy. From the class standard, fixed in a rather limited repertoire of poses and facial expressions, the portrait goes to building more subtle relationships between the appearance and the inner world of the character. With the advent of sentimentalism, it is the life of the soul that becomes a value, a sign of a personality that harmoniously combines nature and civilization. Finally, romanticism and the era of 1812 will allow, probably for the first time in Russian art, the image of an internally free person to be born.

Speaking about the portrait, we need to remember a few things. First of all, in a class society, he is a privilege, a marker and at the same time a guarantor of the model’s status. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the heroes of the portraits were representatives of the highest social strata. A portrait in which the necessary image conventions (pose, costume, surroundings and attributes) are observed and agreed upon will automatically certify the high social status of its subject. The portrait reflects and transmits standards of social behavior. He seems to say: “This is a noble man in front of you. Be like him! Thus, for centuries, a noble portrait represents not only a nobleman-activist, but also a person who is characterized by graceful ease, that is, a property that has long served as a physical expression of nobility and education, and therefore, belonging to the elite.

Portraiture is a kind of industry. The very nature of the portrait market implies a high degree of unification. Portraits are quite clearly divided into ceremonial (ceremonial) and more intimate (private). They, in turn, presuppose a certain set of formats, poses and attributes, as well as a corresponding price list, which takes into account whether the artist himself executed the portrait from start to finish or entrusted less responsible areas of work to apprentices.

From its first steps in the Ancient world, the portrait played a magical role: it literally replaced the person depicted and extended his existence after death. The memory of these archaic functions accompanied the portrait even when it became one of the genres of painting and sculpture of the New Age. It was conveyed, in particular, by literary works that described imaginary communication with a portrait: poetic “interviews” with it, stories about falling in love with portraits, and, in the era of romanticism, scary stories about images coming to life. They always say that the portrait is “as if alive,” he “breathes,” he only lacks the gift of speech, etc. As a rule, the pictures described by poets were the figment of their imagination. However, the tradition itself, preserved by literature for centuries, set the way of perceiving the portrait and reminded that it belongs not only to the world of art, but is directly related to the problem of human existence.

Classical art theory does not place a high value on the portrait. This genre also occupies a corresponding place in the academic hierarchy. At the end of the 18th century, for example, it was believed that “in a portrait... type, only one figure is always made, and for the most part in the same position... This type cannot be... compared with the historical one...”. At this time, portraiture, associated with the imitation of an imperfect nature, should not have become a prestigious occupation. Meanwhile, a different situation has developed in Russia: a portrait in demand by society has become one of the artist’s surest paths to success. Starting with Louis Caravaque, Ivan Nikitin or Georg Groot, the creation of portraits was one of the main tasks of court painters. But the artist of the first half - mid-18th century is still a multi-study worker: the Sheremetev serf Ivan Argunov fulfilled the various whims of his owner and ended his career as a housekeeper, leaving painting; Andrei Matveev and Ivan Vishnyakov supervised the architects and decorators of the Chancellery from buildings; Alexei Antropov had similar responsibilities at the Synod. However, for just one copy of his own coronation portrait of Peter III, ordered by the Senate, the artist received 400 rubles - only a third less than his annual synod salary.

With the founding of the Academy of Arts in 1757, the situation began to change. Previously, the Russian portrait painter, like a Renaissance apprentice, learned his craft in the studio of a practicing artist or took lessons from a visiting celebrity. Forty-year-old Antropov improved under the guidance of Pietro Rotari, a painter with a European reputation who moved to Russia. Argunov studied with Groot, and at the behest of the empress he himself taught painting to singers who had “slept from their voices,” among whom was the future historical painter Anton Losenko. Now, the basis of the artist’s education was the holistic method proven by generations. The portrait class at the Academy was founded in 1767.

Despite the seemingly low status of the genre, of the nine first-time students who graduated from the Academy, five graduated as portrait painters, and only two specialized in historical painting. Portraits occupied an important place at academic exhibitions and allowed the artist to make a full-fledged career - to become an “appointed” (that is, corresponding member) or even an academician. Borovikovsky received the first title in 1794 for his depiction of Catherine II on a walk in Tsarskoye Selo Park, and a year later - the second, for the portrait of Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich. A portrait of a person of a creative profession in itself could symbolically increase his status. Levitsky depicted the architect Kokorinov in 1769 according to the standard of a portrait of a statesman: the rector of the Academy of Arts with a sword and in a luxurious suit worth his annual salary, with a gesture filled with nobility, points to the secretary with the academic treasury, the seal Academy and its plan. Four years later, the artist will literally reproduce this scheme in the portrait of Vice-Chancellor Prince Golitsyn.

Vladimir Borovikovsky. Catherine II on a walk in Tsarskoye Selo Park. 1794State Tretyakov Gallery

Vladimir Borovikovsky. Portrait of Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich. 1795Chuvash State Art Museum

Dmitry Levitsky. Portrait of A.F. Kokorinov. 1769

Dmitry Levitsky. Portrait of Vice-Chancellor Prince A. M. Golitsyn. 1772State Tretyakov Gallery

The second half of the century opens up an alternative for the portrait painter - working on private orders. Fyodor Rokotov most likely came from serfdom, but served as a nobility in the military department. When his career at the Academy of Arts did not work out, he moved to Moscow in 1766-1767, and the noble nobility of the old capital formed an extensive clientele for the artist. Using his example, we can get an idea of ​​the position of a sought-after painter. For the royal portrait painted on her own initiative, Catherine awarded Rokotov 500 rubles. The first historiographer of Russian art of the 18th century, Jacob Shtelin, testifies that even in St. Petersburg the artist was “so skillful and famous that he could not alone cope with all the works ordered to him... He had about 50 portraits in his apartment, very similar, nothing was finished on them except the head [this probably implied the participation of apprentices].” If in the 1770s his standard portrait cost 50 rubles, then in the 1780s it was already valued at a hundred. This allowed the artist to purchase a plot of land for 14,000 rubles, build a two-story stone house on it, become a member of the English Club and earn the irritated remark of a contemporary: “Rokotov became arrogant and important after fame.”

The contrast between the icon painting and the portrait of the 18th century clearly shows the radicalism of Peter the Great's revolution. But the Europeanization of visual forms began earlier. In the 17th century, masters of the Armory Chamber and other isographers created a hybrid of icon and portrait - parsuna (from the word “person”, which in the first half of the 18th century replaced the word “portrait” in Russia). By the end of the 17th century, Parsuna was already using with might and main the scheme of the European parade port, borrowed through Poland and Ukraine. From the portrait came the task - the appearance of a person in his social role. But the visual means in many ways remain iconic: the flatness of form and space, the conventionality of the structure of the body, the explanatory text in the image, the ornamental interpretation of clothing and attributes. These features were preserved for a long time in the 18th century in provincial noble portraits, in portraits of merchants and clergy.

Peter's pensioner Ivan Nikitin, who studied in Italy, is the first Russian master who “forgot” about the parsuna. His portraits are quite simple in composition, he uses only a few iconographic types, rarely paints hands and prefers a dark color scheme. His portraits are often marked by special verisimilitude, the face is interpreted in emphatic relief, recognition prevails over idealization. Chancellor Gabriel Golovkin is the ideal image of Peter’s meritocratic monarchy: an elongated pyramid of a figure, caught in the light, crowned by an oval face framed by a wig. Calm dignity, pride and self-confidence are conveyed to the hero by his restrained but natural pose and the direct gaze that greets the viewer. The ceremonial camisole with orders and ribbon almost merges with the background, allowing you to focus all attention on the face. The dark environment pushes Golovkin out, the hand of his left hand marks the boundary of the space of the canvas, and the filigree blue order bow seems to break through it, emerging into our space. This pictorial trick, enhancing the illusion of presence, at the same time helps to reduce the psychological and social distance between the model and the viewer, which was insurmountable in the pre-Petrine parsuna.

Andrei Matveev, who returned from the Netherlands, created a portrait of himself with his young wife around 1729. If we agree with this identification, generally accepted today, then we have before us not just the first known self-portrait of a Russian painter. This image of commoners shows a balance between men and women, unexpected for Russia at that time. With his left hand, the artist ceremoniously takes the hand of his companion; with his right hand, hugging her protectively, he directs her towards the viewer. But the entire formal meaning of these gestures of domination and appropriation is unexpectedly erased. In a very simply organized canvas, the female figure is not only on the right hand of the man, but also occupies exactly the same picture space as him, and the heads of the spouses are located strictly along the same line, as if scales frozen at the same level.

The mid-century portrait is, for the most part, a portrait not of personality but of status. A typical example is the Lobanov-Rostov spouses, painted by Ivan Argunov (1750 and 1754). Despite all the familiarity of the characters, the viewer sees first of all the “noble nobleman” and the “gracious beauty,” whose position is once and for all fixed by their uniform, ermine mantle and dress with silver embroidery. The artist of the mid-18th century - Russian and foreign - extremely carefully conveys the costume and its elements: fabric, sewing, lace; writes out jewelry and awards in detail. In these portraits by Argunov, the character’s body is constrained by space, unfolded along the plane of the canvas, and fabrics and decorations are painted with such detail that they make one remember the parsuna with its decorativeness and a special, superficial vision of the human body.

Ivan Argunov. Portrait of Prince I. I. Lobanov-Rostovsky. 1750State Russian Museum

Ivan Argunov. Portrait of Princess E. A. Lobanova-Rostovskaya. 1754State Russian Museum

Today we value more those works of Russian portraiture of the 18th century, in which the conventional image seems to have lost its integrity, and the decorum (the balance of the ideal and the real in the portrait) is violated in favor of verisimilitude. Obviously, this is where the charm that the image of ten-year-old Sarah Fermor (1749) has for the modern viewer stems from. Her father’s subordinate in the Office of Buildings, Ivan Vishnyakov, presented the child in the image of an adult girl, fitting the fragile figure into the ceremonial composition with a column and curtain-weight in the background. Hence the attractiveness of such images, where a face devoid of external beauty seems to be the key to a truthful conveyance of character: such are Anthropov’s portraits of state lady Anastasia Izmailova (1759) or Anna Buturlina (1763).

Ivan Vishnyakov. Portrait of Sarah Eleanor Fermor. 1749State Russian Museum

Alexey Antropov. Portrait of State Lady A. M. Izmailova. 1759State Tretyakov Gallery

Alexey Antropov. Portrait of A. V. Buturlina. 1763State Tretyakov Gallery

In this row are portraits of the Khripunov couple by Argunov (1757). Kozma Khripunov, an elderly man with a massive nose, clutches a sheet of folded paper in his hands and, as if looking up from reading, stops the viewer with a sharp gaze. His young wife holds an open book in her hands and looks at us with calm dignity (according to the confessional books, Feodosia Khripunova is hardly more than twenty years old: the characters in 18th-century portraits often look older than their age). Unlike modern France, where in the era of the Encyclopedia a book was not uncommon even in an aristocratic portrait, characters in Russian paintings of the 18th century are very rarely represented reading. Poor in attributes and restrained in style, portraits of the Khripunov couple in Europe would be classified as portraits of the third estate, reflecting the values ​​of the Enlightenment. In them - as, for example, in the portrait of the doctor Leroy by Jacques Louis David (1783) - what is important is not the status, but the activity of the hero, not the goodness of appearance, but the honestly presented character.

Ivan Argunov. Portrait of K. A. Khripunov. 1757

Ivan Argunov. Portrait of Kh. M. Khripunova. 1757Moscow Museum-Estate "Ostankino"

Jacques Louis David. Portrait of Doctor Alphonse Leroy. 1783 Musée Fabre

For the first time in modern Russia, the names of Rokotov and Levitsky are associated with the idea of ​​a strictly individual manner, which seems to subordinate the model to itself: now one can safely talk about a lady “stepped out of Rokotov’s canvas”, about a gentleman “from Levitsky’s portrait”. Different in style and spirit, both painters make you see in their portraits not only images of specific people, but also feel painting as such, which affects the brushstroke, texture, color - regardless of the subject. Obviously, this is evidence of a gradual change in the status of the artist, his self-esteem and the emerging public interest in art.

Rokotov is Russia’s first master of emotional portraiture. The development of his manner is associated with the influence of the Italian Rotary, whose girlish “heads” are generally considered to be piquant rococo trinkets. But Rokotov could see in them an example of diverse, subtle, elusive intonations - what distinguishes the images of the Russian artist himself. From the dark background of his predecessors, Rokotov moves away to an indefinite background, like a haze, not so much bringing the figure closer to the viewer as absorbing it. The body dressed in a uniform or dress acquires a subordinate meaning, the face is now completely dominant. It is worth taking a closer look at how Rokotov paints eyes: in such things as the famous portrait of Alexandra Struyskaya (1772), the pupil is painted with fused strokes of similar colors with a bright highlight - the gaze loses clarity, but gains depth. The vagueness of the surroundings, the smoothness of the contour, along with the blurred but intense gaze of the characters, create a feeling of multi-dimensionality of character that has no analogues in Russian portraits, in which - especially for women - emotions play a decisive role. In this regard, Rokotov’s characters are people of sentimentalism, in which the priority is not social roles and ambitions, but the emotional depth and mental mobility of a person.

It seems no coincidence that Rokotov’s sophisticated, but devoid of external effects, style took shape in Moscow with the tradition of private life, nepotism and friendship that it nurtured. At the same time, in the aristocratic and court capital of Catherine, following world artistic fashions, the most brilliant painter of Russia of the 18th century, Dmitry Levitsky, flourished. In the work of this native of the family of a Ukrainian priest who graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, Russian painting reached the European level for the first time. He was endowed with the gift of creating full-blooded and noble images, the ability to mesmerizingly accurately convey a variety of textures - fabrics, stone, metal, the human body. At the same time, a number of his works introduced Russian art into the context of the advanced mental movements of the era.

Thus, the ideas of subordinating autocracy to law, relevant for the Russian Enlightenment, were embodied by Levitsky in the painting “Catherine II - Lawgiver in the Temple of the Goddess of Justice” (1783). The ceremonial portrait of the ruler always embodies his official image. Levitsky’s canvas is a unique case when the image of a monarch, fully meeting the canons of the genre, is a message from society to the sovereign, conveying the aspirations of the enlightened nobility.

The Empress in a laurel wreath and civil crown, sacrificing her peace, burns poppies on the altar standing under the statue of Themis with the inscription “for the common good.” The profile of Solon, the Athenian lawgiver, is carved on the pedestal of the sculpture. The imperial eagle sits on the tomes of laws, and in the sea opening behind the queen the Russian fleet is visible under the St. Andrew's flag with the rod of Mercury, a sign of protected trade, that is, peace and prosperity. In addition to the educational idea of ​​the rule of law, other political overtones are also possible here. It was suggested that the canvas was supposed to become the center of the ensemble of portraits of the Duma of Knights of the Order of St. Vladimir and be located in Sofia in Tsarskoe Selo, thus becoming part of Catherine’s ideological apparatus.

This portrait, the program of which belongs to Nikolai Lvov, and the commission to Alexander Bezborodko, was probably the first work of Russian painting that turned out to be a public event. It is consonant with the ode of the State of Wine, which appeared in the same year of 1783. At the same time, Ippolit Bogdanovich published a stanza to the artist, to which Levitsky, unfolding the ideological program of the portrait, was the first case of a Russian painter directly addressing the public. Thus, the portrait took on the functions of a narrative historical canvas, which formalizes ideas that excite society and becomes an event for a relatively wide audience. This is one of the first signs of a new process for Russia: fine art ceases to serve the utilitarian needs of the elite (representation of political and personal ambitions, decoration of life, visualization of knowledge, etc.) and gradually becomes an important element of national culture, organizing dialogue between different parts of society.

Seven canvases of the “Smolyanka” series, written in 1772-1776, depict nine pupils of the Smolny Institute of noble maidens of different “ages” (periods of study). This is a monument to an experiment that reflected the key ideas of the European Enlightenment: the education of a new person, advanced education for women. They also clearly indicate a gradual change in attitude towards the periods of human life: if previously a child in a Russian portrait was, as a rule, presented as a small adult, then the Smolyanka women demonstrate steps on the path to adolescence, which was first presented in this portrait series - falls into a separate, independent stage. The girls dance and perform theatrical roles, but the two images of “senior students” Glafira Alymova and Ekaterina Molchanova that close the series seem to sum it up, embodying the two hypostases of an enlightened woman. Alymova plays the harp, representing the arts that are associated with the sensual nature of man. Mol-cha-nova represents the intellectual principle. She poses with a book and a vacuum pump - a modern tool that allows you to explore the material nature of the world. From a portrait attribute, it turns here into a sign of advanced knowledge based on scientific experiment.

Dmitry Levitsky. Portrait of Feodosia Rzhevskaya and Nastasya Davydova. 1771–1772State Russian Museum

Dmitry Levitsky. Portrait of Ekaterina Nelidova. 1773State Russian Museum

Dmitry Levitsky. Portrait of Ekaterina Khrushcheva and Ekaterina Khovanskaya. 1773State Russian Museum

Dmitry Levitsky. Portrait of Alexandra Levshina. 1775State Russian Museum

Dmitry Levitsky. Portrait of Ekaterina Molchanova. 1776State Russian Museum

Dmitry Levitsky. Portrait of Glafira Alymova. 1776State Russian Museum

Dmitry Levitsky. Portrait of Natalia Borshchova. 1776State Russian Museum

The works of Vladimir Borovikovsky, a student and fellow countryman of Levitsky, clearly show that sentimentalist values ​​in the last decades of the 18th century became the basis for the representation of a private person. Now the portrait is clearly divided into front and private. The image of the “diamond prince” Kurakin (1801-1802), so nicknamed for his love of jewelry and ostentatious pomp, shines with deliberate luxury. Like a number of Goya’s paintings, it shows that the splendor of painting becomes one of the last arguments in favor of the greatness of the aristocracy: the models themselves are no longer always able to withstand the pathos dictated by the genre.

A hybrid characteristic of the “era of sensitivity” is an image of Catherine II in Tsarskoe Selo (see above). The full-length portrait against the backdrop of the monument to military glory is designed in a distinctly intimate manner: it represents the empress in a dressing gown during a solitary walk in the alleys of the park. Catherine did not like the portrait, but, most likely, it suggested to Pushkin the mise-en-scene of Masha Mironova’s meeting with the Empress in “The Captain’s Daughter.” It was with Borovikovsky that landscape, for the first time among Russian artists, became the constant background of a portrait, denoting a whole complex of ideas associated with the ideas of naturalness, sensitivity, private life and the unity of kindred souls.

Nature as a projection of emotional experiences is a characteristic feature of the culture of sentimentalism, indicating that the inner world of a person becomes an unconditional value. True, in many of Borovikovsky’s works, the character’s “involvement with nature” takes on the character of a cliché, indicating that sensitivity and naturalness have turned into fashion. This is especially noticeable in masterfully executed female portraits, following the ideal of young “natural” beauty and replicating the poses and attributes of the model. On the other hand, this frame of a pastoral portrait made it possible to include serfs among the characters. Such, for example, are “Lizynka and Dashinka” (1794) - courtyard girls of Lvov, who patronized the painter, almost indistinguishable in appearance from young noblewomen.

If, in the person of Levitsky and Borovikovsky, Russian painting became in line with modern artistic trends, then the next generation of Russian portraitists solved a new problem: their art finally built a dialogue with the great painting of Europe of the 16th-17th centuries, the tradition of which was pre-Petrine. Russian Russia was absent. The prerequisites for it were the formation of a Hermitage collection of unique quality back in Catherine’s era, as well as long trips abroad by young artists who had successfully graduated from the Academy. Karl Bryullov constructed his own image based on the patterns of the “old master” and at the same time recreated on Russian soil the splendor of the Vandyck ceremonial portrait with its symphonic luxury of color (“Horsewoman”, 1831; portrait of the Shishmarev sisters, 1839).

Orest Kiprensky. Portrait of the artist's father Adam Karlovich Schwalbe. 1804 State Russian Museum

In the portrait of Pushkin (1827), a dialogue with tradition is built at the level of iconography, still understandable to a European at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. The poet's arms crossed on his chest and his gaze directed into space are an echo of the personifications of melancholy - a temperament that, since the Renaissance, has been considered as a sign of genius.

The generation of 1812 became the collective hero of Kiprensky’s works. These portraits are distinguished by the relaxed “behavior” of the characters, unprecedented in Russian art. A comparison of the “formal” portrait of Colonel Evgraf Davydov (1809) and a series of graphic portraits of participants in the Patriotic War of 1812-1814 (Alexey Lansky, Mikhail Lansky, Alexey Tomilov, Efim Chaplits, Pyotr Olenin and others, all 1813) is indicative. The first varies the type of noble portrait characteristic of Europe in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Davydov’s pose not only demonstrates detached ease, it iconographically ennobles the character, since it goes back to the famous “Resting Satyr” by Praxiteles: the perfection of a classical statue guarantees the dignity of the hero of the canvas. But the sensual bodily peace of a satyr is only the other side of his animal nature, and Kiprensky makes excellent use of this memory of the prototype (at the same time symbolic and plastic), creating the image of a hero who is in relaxed peace, but capable of straightening out like a spring. Each of the pencil portraits of young “veterans” is also to some extent subject to some portrait cliché, but together they demonstrate unprecedented graphic freedom and a variety of formal solutions: body turns, head tilts, gestures, glances. In each individual case, the artist proceeded not from predetermined roles, but from the personality revealed to him. This ease of the characters, together with the demonstrative ease of execution, act as a visible embodiment of the internal “self-standing” of the generation - a feeling of freedom unprecedented in Russian history until then.