What is a silhouette in fine art. Silhouette

The silhouette of a person walking or standing is seen by everyone every day. This little green man at the traffic light shows you when you can cross the road. Where did this word come to us from?

Origin of the word

Silhouette is translated from French as “outline, contour” (silhouette). This word interesting story. The concept of an outline has existed for a long time, but it was the “silhouette” that the shaded outline began to be called in France under Louis XV.

Count Etienne de Silhouette, who was then Minister of Finance, became known for his economy and extreme frugality. The fashion for suits responded immediately: pockets and snuff-box decorations disappeared, and the style as a whole became much simpler. They called it a silhouette. At the same time, one of the Seychelles islands also received the name Silhouette.

At this time, Chinese shadow art came to France. Fashion fads elevate him to the pinnacle of popularity. The portrait was completed within a few minutes, since there was no need to draw facial features. An outline was drawn, usually in profile, then filled in with ink. Sometimes thin lines two or three lines were drawn with white paint.

The joint stock company created by Etienne de Silhouette was quickly seized by panic over the delay in paying dividends. General discontent spread throughout all sectors of society, and the minister resigned from his post.

Apparently, it was a coincidence that the caricature that appeared of the minister was made in the genre of new Chinese technology. The minimum funds for its creation determined its name. She was dubbed the “silhouette”, just like a new style clothes.

Cloth

Maybe this will make you smile, but clothes also have their own silhouette - these are its contours, which the fashion designer sketches on a piece of paper. Conventionally, it is customary to distinguish four types of modern silhouettes: straight (rectangular), oval, adjacent (fitted) and trapezoidal (or A-line).

There is a concept of “silhouette lines” in clothing tailoring. These are the parts of the pattern that form the outline. By skillfully using modeling and design, you can advantageously emphasize the advantages of a figure and carefully hide flaws.

The silhouette of clothing must be taken into account when depicting a person. Drawings by fashion designers are called “fashion sketch”, they have different body proportions.

Christian Dior's drawings from Figaro magazine are a clear confirmation of this. If in an academic drawing the head relates to the body as 1:8, then in the sketches of fashion designers it is 1:12. This provides an advantageous view of the model.

Man silhouette

Meanwhile, the art of silhouette spread beyond France and into late XVIII century in St. Petersburg it became fashionable to order a portrait from famous master from Paris Sideau. He created silhouettes of members of the reigning house and many courtiers.

Sido worked with pen and Chinese ink, engraved on copper, and cut out of black paper. His competitor was Fr. Anting. But soon the nobility got tired of the fun, and carving portraits became the craft of traveling artists. They were constantly met at fairs and the works of home-grown “artists” were not distinguished by their quality and good taste.

It seemed that this art died with the departure of the French school. But along comes Paul Konewka, the German maestro of this style. In his execution, the silhouette is no longer a profile portrait. Entire compositions, united by one theme, complex and sweet, delight the audience.

Russian artist Elizaveta Merkuryevna Bem was also famous for her silhouette works. Her illustrations for children's magazines were highly appreciated by I. Repin.

Paintings with hidden silhouettes

There are paintings where the silhouette of a human figure is hidden - a tree branch on foreground turns into bushes and mountains in the distance. It turns out to be a girl. For the first time, paintings with “camouflaged silhouettes” depicted flowers, usually lilies, and the profiles of royalty were recognizable in the interweaving of lines.

Now there is such a direction in painting, surrealism, in which some kind of subtext is hidden in a seemingly ordinary landscape. The master of this embodiment is the Mexican artist Octavio Ocampo. His painting "Kiss of the Sea" depicts seascape, which hides 6 portraits.

A silhouette is an outline image, and everything beyond it can be anything. This is the principle of O. Ocampo. A seagull that hovers over the water seems to connect lovers.

Shadow play

Perhaps the most striking embodiment of the contour is used in shadow theater. The actors play behind the stage, with a screen stretched in front of them. There is a strong spotlight in the background, casting shadows. The advantage is that shadows can depict something that no amount of makeup can achieve.

You can create a home mini-theater from homemade figures using a table lamp. Any fabric will act as a screen, the main thing is to pull it tightly onto the stretcher. A wire is attached to the black figures to move them. This cannot be done with your hands, as they will create unnecessary shadows.

Try to make such a theater with the guys and get unforgettable moments of magic when a ray of light brings fairy tale characters to life. Or maybe this will become your hobby.

Any graphic drawing can be attributed either to linear graphics, or to spot. In the first case it will be a line drawing, in the second - a spot drawing. It is also possible to combine a line and a spot in one composition. Each of these cases has its own peculiarity for perception, its own meaning and beauty.

SILHOUETTE IN GRAPHICS
The simplest version of black and white compositions is a SILHOUETTE, a black image on a white background or white on black. You've probably come across these black and white drawings in books.
These drawings are two-dimensional, very conventional and laconic.

Silhouette art has ancient history and goes back to figurative painting on vessels Ancient Greece. Remember those beautiful images on amphoras: mythological scenes, Olympic Games, figures of Greek beauties and athletes?..

The real boom in silhouette art occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries. You could say that silhouette making was a craze back then.

Many artists paid tribute to this type of graphics and created beautiful examples of silhouette works.

Wherever they found a use: illustrations, portraits, drawings on screens, dishes and in the interior... The ability to create silhouette compositions was taught even at the Institute of Noble Maidens!

Traditionally, silhouette portraits were cut out of black paper and pasted onto White background. The contrast of black and white made it possible to accurately and quickly convey facial features, because the profile of a person in silhouette is very easily recognizable.

Ease of execution and, accordingly, low cost made this type of graphics very popular. However, in order for the picture to be expressive, it is important to very accurately note the features of the shape of a particular character and give its characteristic details.

Although, of course, silhouette compositions can be much more complex and attractive to look at than just portraits.

BLACK AND WHITE DRAWINGS WITH SHADES OF GRAY
However, in addition to the locally black spot, all shades of gray can be used in the graphics. We see these gradations in drawings with charcoal, sauce, pastel, and ink.

In this case, the image can already be three-dimensional, realistic, very reliably conveying reality.

But be that as it may, here too the plasticity and expressiveness of the spot are of no small importance. Artists from China and Japan are especially virtuoso in mastering the expressiveness of spots.

Despite the simplicity of the motif, their graphic sheets are unusually attractive. Game of blurry and clear spots, beautiful flow gray colors, perfection and harmony of forms.

And now we feel with all our guts the delicate, refined, so fragile leaves of an orchid, the soft fur of a cat, the speed of a rushing horse, the joy of a bird in flight...

From the example of these works, we can understand that a spot pattern is something more than a recognizable silhouette.

This is very important point which I would like to convey to you.

The expressiveness of the image can be determined

NOT ONLY in the recognition of the silhouette (what is depicted),

but also IN THE FORM OF the spot (as depicted).

WHAT CAN A STAIN TELL ABOUT?
Let's take different spots as an example.

Even if our eye does not find familiar outlines in any of these spots (and it tries very hard), then we can associate the shape of the spot with certain sensations.

For example, we can say whether this spot is calm or mobile, aggressive or friendly, delicately refined or monumentally massive.

What associations do certain stains evoke in you? Can you feel them?

THE IMPORTANCE OF SPOT SHAPE
Of the main forms of spots, we can distinguish four, each of which has a different effect on the viewer:

Square and rectangle.
A complete, stable form, ready to express affirming images. The square is the most static and heavy, not prone to movement.
Circle.
Closed, compact form, focused on itself. Without a clear foundation, a circle is always unstable. For a person, a circle is associated with the concepts of “good”, “happiness”, “life”.
Triangle.
The most mobile, dynamic form is stable only if one of the sides is horizontal. The triangle is a symbol of movement, energy, and sometimes even aggression.
Amoeba form.
Its fluidity expresses images that are unstable in nature in a wide range from romance, melancholy to pessimism.

Modern artists actively use stain as a “stain”.

“THE MOST PLEASANT SHADOW” IN RUSSIA

L.L. RUDENKO

The origins of the art of silhouette take us back to ancient times...

The art of depicting black-figure contour scenes has come down to us on ancient vessels produced in Attica. Ancient artists(VI century BC) masterfully mastered expressive contour and stroke, creating complex multi-figure profile compositions.

With the invention of paper in Ancient China(105 AD) "Chinese shadows" appeared. From China along the Great silk road they penetrate Western Europe, Where public culture begins to master a new art. But to mid-18th century century European life The art of the “Chinese shadow” fades away and experiences its Renaissance already in France, where it received the name “silhouette”.

Russia's fascination with silhouettes is in its second half XVIII century. The honor of introducing Russians to the European silhouette belongs to Empress Catherine the Great, a German princess by origin, and to the French master F. G. Sido, who was rightly called the “artist of scissors.” He painted a portrait of Catherine the Great and presented her as a gift with her silhouette with the caption “The most pleasant shadow of Catherine II, Autocrat of All Russia.”

The master worked in St. Petersburg for only two years, from 1782 to 1784, and in such a short time he created about 200 portraits. An album of silhouettes by F. G. Sido “The Court of Empress Catherine II, her employees and associates” was published in St. Petersburg in Russia in 1899.

F. Sido. Silhouette portraits
on the left – “The Pleasant Shadow of Catherine II” (1729-1796)”
on the right is a portrait of Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky (1739-1791)

F. Sido.
on the left – Emperor of Prussia Frederick the Great (1712-1786)
on the right is Pope Pius VI (1717-1799).

At approximately the same time as Sido, the German draftsman I.F. worked in St. Petersburg. Anting (1753-1803),
who released the album “Collection de cent silhouettes” in 1791.

I.F. Anting. Russian scientist Razumovsky S.Ya. (1734-1812),

In the first half of the 19th century, silhouette portraiture became one of the favorite artistic entertainments of the Russian nobility. The “silhouette” baton is picked up by the Russian master Fyodor Tolstoy (1783-1873), sculptor, medalist, draftsman and painter.

F. Tolstoy. Russian Tsar Alexander the First (1777-1825)

F. Tolstoy.
on the left – Soldier (1812-1820),
right – Man reading a book (37x35)

The best silhouettes of F. Tolstoy are dedicated to Patriotic War 1812. Of particular interest is F. Tolstoy’s silhouette composition “Parade of the Pavlovsk Regiment at the Suvorov Monument” from the time of Emperor Nicholas I (1796-1855).

F. P. Tolstoy. Parade of the Pavlovsk Regiment at the monument to Suvorov
1816 – 1820s (Illustration: – 7x21cm.)
.

F. Tolstoy's silhouettes, depicting the everyday life of Russian life, attract attention due to the breadth and versatility of the artist's interests. Russian peasants in his works are worthy, strong, attractive people who evoke deep respect.

F. P. Tolstoy. Scene in the hut. 1816 – 1820s
(Illustration note – 8x21cm.)

IN mid-19th century, interest in silhouette art in Russia almost disappeared and cutting out silhouettes turned into the profession of traveling artists, who earned themselves a meager piece of bread through this activity at public festivities and fairs. People in the secular circle have lost interest in this art.

In the second half of the 19th century, “the beautiful Diana” became F. Tolstoy’s successor. This is what contemporaries called E. Boehm (1843-1914). She created the genre of children's scenes - the whole world of childhood. Her best works are inspired by images of children.

E. M. Bem. Self-portrait.

E. Boehm. Silhouettes from the Lives of Children (1877).

A new period of silhouette revival begins in late XIX V. in the work of the Russian artist K. Somov (1869-1939) - “he is a master of lines, he is a magician of lines” in the words of A. Benois.

K. Somov. Screensavers for the magazine “Golden Fleece”, 1906:
on the left “Kiss”; on the right is “Lady with a Dog.”

But the time of real revival of the art of silhouette was the beginning of the 20th century. Returning to the traditions of the past to understand the present was completely in the spirit of ideas Silver Age. The 20th century brought new names: Nina Simonovich - Efimova (1878-1958), Georgy Narbut (1886-1920), Mikhail Dobuzhinsky (1875 - 1957) and Elizaveta Kruglikova (1865 - 1941).

N. Simonovich-Efimova. Sledging.

G.Narbut. Self-portrait with family.

G. Narbut. And Krylov (1769-1844), Russian fabulist.

With the name of M. Dobuzhinsky, the greatest master book graphics, in the history of the Russian silhouette is associated whole line“decorative” vignettes and endings for the magazine “Apollo”, distinguished by the decorativeness and whimsicality of the forms of the original pattern. Dobuzhinsky cares not so much about the expressiveness of the black spot as about the complex tortuosity of the contour lines, trying to tell as much as possible with them.

M. V. Dobuzhinsky. The ending. 1909

M. V. Dobuzhinsky. Madrigal. 1908.

Another major master of silhouette was E. Kruglikova. Her work was distinguished by her search for new modern means and forms of expression and developed in a realistic direction.

E. Kruglikova. Silhouette portraits of Russian poets of the Silver Age
On the left is B. Pasternak (1890-1960), on the right is K. Balmont (1867-1942)

E. Kruglikova. Silhouette portrait of a Russian poet
M. Voloshina (1877-1932).

E. Kruglikova. Silhouette portraits of the Russian poetess
A. Akhmatova (1889-1966)

E. Kruglikova. Group portrait of Russian artists E. Lansere, I. Repin and K. Petrov-Vodkin in the halls of an art exhibition.

Having been revived, the art of silhouette no longer died. It was widely used and how independent genre, and as applied for illustrations.

N. Ilyin. Tsarskoye Selo. Russian poet Pushkin A.S. (1799-1837)

V. Helmersen. Ill. to the novel by A. Pushkin “Eugene Onegin”
(Illustration note – 7x7cm.)

The works of contemporary Russian artists of various generations show that the art of silhouette portraits is successfully developing.

Arina Daur (born 1982)

on the left is a self-portrait (12x17), on the right is a portrait of K.Kh. Andersen

Igor Babayants (born 1940).
Portrait of a mother.

Alexander Gusev (born 1953).

Dry and strict, at first glance monotonous and lifeless, art captivates us with its intimacy, mysterious reticence and subtle grace. The closer you look at him, the more you become dissuaded of his “poverty” and “naivety.” Mastering the art of silhouette is not as easy as it seems.

Solidity of drawing, respect for perspective and proportionality are necessary here no less than in any painting. Despite the fact that the silhouette lies in two dimensions, and not in three, the laws of three dimensions, oddly enough, apply to it: a talented silhouette artist knows how to convey movement, relief, and even facial expression in monotonous black spots. The plane and the line that closes it acquire exceptional significance in the art of silhouette. The outline, contour, outline of an object enslave the silhouette artist’s attention, limiting his means, but at the same time forcing him to be especially inventive. There are silhouettes in which there is a positive sense of “sculpture”, the finest “modelling”, even “colorfulness”. Mathematical laconicism, noble abstractness of the silhouette accustoms one to the sophistication of observation and vigilance. Silhouette - as if formula and- simultaneously - a hint of the invisible, a barely perceptible story about something, a phrase begun and unfinished. But even beyond its completeness, this phrase sometimes becomes a revelation, an aphorism, a symbol.
The birthplace of silhouette art is China, where monochromatic black images, the so-called Chinese shadows, have existed for a long time. From there they penetrated into Western Europe, primarily France, where in the mid-18th century the fashion for silhouette portraits became widespread. The very term “silhouette” comes from the name of Etienne Silouette (1709-1767), who was minister of state in 1759. Silouette was known for his frugality and narrow-mindedness, which made him a target for witticisms Parisian society. Everything cheap and trivial began to be named after him, including portraits painted in black paint or made of black paper, “portraits a la Silhouette.” Compared to real picturesque portraits, silhouettes seemed boring and meager to many. However, this art found its masters and admirers, and not only in France, but also in other countries. In Germany, for example, early XIX centuries were famous for their silhouettes by Duttenhofer (depicting a series of German writers and artists), K. Schmidt, Mühlbach, etc. In Russia, our interest in silhouette arose in the era of Catherine II, when the Parisian silhouette artist Sido appeared in St. Petersburg, whose works are still preserved in some houses. Sido painted portraits of Catherine II, members of her family and many representatives of the St. Petersburg nobility. He drew his silhouettes in ink, sometimes engraved them on copper, but most often cut them out of black paper and pasted them into engraved frames. A whole collection of these silhouettes, consisting of 183 sheets, belonged to the Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and was published in phototype photographs in 1899 (“The Court of Empress Catherine II, her employees and associates”). The fascination with silhouette was also reflected in applied arts, - porcelain snuff boxes with silhouettes, cups, embroidery, inlays, etc. appeared. At approximately the same time as Sido, the German draftsman Anting (1753-1803) worked in St. Petersburg and released the album “Collection de cent silhouettes” in 1791. In the middle of the 19th century, interest in silhouette art almost disappeared and cutting out silhouettes turned into the profession of itinerant artists, who earned a meager piece of bread through this activity at public festivities and fairs. People in the secular circle have lost interest in this art.
Gradually forgotten, silhouette drawing was revived in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Artists began to draw in the form of silhouettes not only profile portraits, but also figures in different poses, genre scenes, etc. Perhaps there is not a single major graphic artist who would not pay tribute to this intimate, graceful art. And it’s not in vain - it’s true a lot of expression can be put into “sparse” black spots.

Based on materials from an article by Erich Hollerbach

October 1922

http://www.silverage.ru/stat/siluet.htm

Origins of silhouette art in Russia

Purpose: The origins of the art of silhouette take us back to ancient times. With the emergence of the first silhouette images ancient legends connected the origin of painting. This article will be of interest to fine arts teachers, educators, educators additional education, and everyone who likes the art of silhouette.

Age: children from 10 years old

Silhouette- a display of something limited by an outline, a one-color outline image of something against a background of a different color, vague outlines of something in the dark, an outline, an outline of a figure without details. The term is also used as a synonym for “profile,” however, unlike a profile, it can depict a person from any angle.
Silhouette- variety graphic technology, when the image appears against the background as a flat spot with a characteristic, expressive contour.

Dry and strict, at first glance monotonous and lifeless, the art of silhouette captivates us with its mysterious reticence and subtle grace. The closer you look at it, the more you realize that mastering the art of silhouette is not as easy as it seems. Solidity of drawing, respect for perspective and proportionality are necessary here no less than in any painting.
Despite the fact that the silhouette lies in two dimensions and not three, oddly enough, the laws of three dimensions apply to it: a talented silhouette artist knows how to convey movement, relief, and even facial expression in monotonous black spots.

Let's take a look at how the art of silhouette was born.
In Ancient Greece, back in the 6th century BC, profile figures were used in vase painting: first black on a red background, and then red on black.

The famous Chinese silhouettes originated in Ancient China.
However, the art of silhouette in its present form received its true birth in France in the first half of the 18th century. It spread very quickly throughout Europe.
It was in France that the name “silhouette” itself was established - after the royal controller of finances, Etienne Silhouette (1709 - 1767), who was fond of cutting out small figures from black paper in his spare time.

In Russia, the silhouette appeared in the middle of the 18th century. These were small portraits of associates of Peter I and Catherine's nobles.
One of the first silhouette images belongs to the largest Russian sculptor F.I. Shubin (1740 - 1805). This is a portrait of an unknown young woman, done in black ink on a gold background.

In the second half of the 18th century, two famous masters silhouette art, who won European fame - F. Sido and F. Anting. French artist F. G. Sido cut out about 200 silhouette portraits of Catherine II's courtiers from paper, and the court silhouette portraitist Johann Friedrich Anting worked in pen and ink. Silhouettes cut out of paper were pasted into engraved ornamental frames.

The technique used to create the silhouettes was very different: they were drawn with ink, cut out of paper, sometimes engraved on wood, and from the beginning of the 20th century on linoleum. The classic silhouette, drawn in ink, was distinguished by a strict and clear outline and a thick black fill. For the most part silhouettes were cut out of black paper with small scissors and pasted onto a board, glass or colored paper.

Silhouette images came into fashion in the early 19th century. They are created not only professional artists, but also numerous amateurs. At this time, the subject matter of silhouette art expanded: silhouettes on historical, everyday and battle themes began to appear.
Today I would like to dwell on the works of Count F.P. Tolstoy, one of the largest and most original masters of silhouette in Russia in the first half of the 19th century.

A sculptor, medalist, draftsman and painter, he brought a fresh spirit to the art of silhouette. Basically, artists who previously worked in the silhouette technique were engaged in portraiture. Fyodor Petrovich primarily worked with battle episodes and scenes from folk life. These were, as a rule, complex, multi-figure compositions.

Tolstoy turned to the silhouette after the War of 1812, when the era of classicism and its final chord - the Empire style - gradually gave way to a new style - romanticism. In his lively, masterfully carved silhouettes, the hand of the sculptor is palpable: each composition is integral and diverse at the same time. The expressiveness of the works allows them to be remembered literally from the first second, but the viewer receives great pleasure when viewing them for a long time. These are whole stories similar to the unfolding theatrical action.
In conclusion, I would like to say that the art of silhouette, despite the limited means of expression, is infinitely diverse, and the scope of its application is extremely wide. Thanks to creativity contemporary artists and amateur silhouette painters, in the 21st century, new cultural discoveries await us, the audience.

References: E.V. Kuznetsova “The Art of Silhouette”, 1969