Tairov lectures on art. Sensual Art Nouveau by Gustav Klimt

Graphic artist, designer, member of the Union of Artists of Russia Alexander Tairov told VOLNA magazine readers about contemporary art, the cultural environment of Novosibirsk and attempts to change it for the better.

I met Alexander at the “Night of Museums” event held at the City Center for Fine Arts. In a large hall where reproductions of Frida Kahlo's paintings were exhibited, a handsome male voice was talking about one of them.

- Alexander, tell us how the idea of ​​holding art meetings came about?

The format of art meetings taking place at the Arts Center arose completely unexpectedly. The “Night of Museums” took place, where one of Rembrandt’s paintings was exhibited. Another lecturer talked about it, but I saw everything differently. But I must say that I have long had a desire to share my artistic knowledge with people. The problem was that people came into the hall, listened for literally two minutes and left. At that moment I realized that many simply do not understand the meaning of the picture. People see only what is depicted, without thinking or feeling more broadly. Later, my students from the fine arts studio asked me to talk about this painting - about its composition and meaning. Already in the process, I noticed that there were people standing behind me, listening to me attentively. The main factor in creating art meetings was the positive feedback from our guests who wanted to know more about the artists and their works.

The following year, at the Night of Museums, there was a lecture on Botticelli, and we dedicated the entire hall to his paintings. Three sessions were held, and quite successfully. And two years ago this project began to exist in the format of meetings held every first Saturday of the month.

This is a rather unusual phenomenon for Novosibirsk, so it is interesting to people.

We have already covered seventeen artists. At the moment, we have a stable audience - more than a hundred people attend our meetings, it probably won’t work out on a larger scale, the capacity of the hall does not allow it.

- That there are Novosibirsk residents interested in painting and Are you ready to get enlightened?

Yes, and not only Novosibirsk residents. If we had the opportunity to travel to other cities, for example, to Tomsk, then people would be interested. People are drawn to art. Visitors to galleries most often do not understand the meaning of paintings: not only the history of their creation plays a role, but also the biography of the author, compositional content and color scheme. And if all this is conveyed to the audience against the backdrop of an exhibition of the artist’s works... The internal content, the mysterious and hidden meaning of the paintings become visible to people.

- Let's touch on an interesting and a sore subject for our city. After one of art meetings you they said that in Novosibirsk does not have a single cultural space. Is this really true?

I believe this is true. All areas of art, be it musical, visual or dramatic, live separately from each other. Art must be interpenetrating. Much has changed, and now are no longer the times when Russian patrons of the arts organized meetings of poets, musicians, artists and writers. Of course, this does not exist in our city. And it is not surprising, because Novosibirsk does not have any serious cultural basis - the history of the city goes back a little over a hundred years, which is very little for the formation of a high-quality cultural environment.

Of course, Novosibirsk is growing rapidly, the number of city residents is approaching two million, but most of them are cut off from the cultural life of the city.

The reason for this is that the city is scattered over vast areas, and the cultural core is located on the right bank, in the very center - from Sverdlov Square to Lenin Square. Many people simply do not have the opportunity to touch beauty. Moreover, almost all events take place in the evening.

- Art meetings held in Are the Arts Center partly solving this problem?

Meetings are just a drop in the sea. There are one and a half million people in the city, thousands of people pass by our banner hanging in the metro at the Lenin Square station, but at art meetings there are a maximum of one hundred and fifty people. The percentage is obvious. This is the answer to the question of whether we are solving the problem or not. Some people are simply not interested in developing in this direction; others may not even know that such a format exists in the city. Nowadays, nothing worthwhile is shown on television - no performances, no plays, no concerts of symphony orchestras. In this sense, Novosibirsk will continue to follow the path of inclusion in culture for a very long time.

- But it's a matter of V people too? IN their interest?

First of all, in people. Now completely different things are coming to the fore, the value system is deformed. Changes in people's heads always affect the cultural situation in a city or country. Children nowadays do not dream of becoming pilots; for example, this also applies to professions such as artist or writer. Probably because many people understand that in this area it is hardly possible to earn enough to live without needing absolutely nothing. Money is the driving mechanism of this age. Most people do not see happiness in creation and immersion in culture, forgetting that a person, without experiencing experiences, without understanding deep things, lives incompletely.

- Once there was a conversation about money, then at me to The next question for you is: is it possible? whether, being an artist, doing art, feel comfortable in modern world?

Let's turn to what has been said a long time ago: everything beautiful is within us. For an artist who can rightfully be called one, the truth is this. The reason is that the true meanings of a mature person are within himself. Having gained life experience and understood what value is, a person takes pleasure in what he creates. There is very little talent in the world. A person who can accumulate in himself everything essential and valuable is rare.

- Alexander, if you remember the beginning of the last century, then on mind the names of famous artists immediately come and writers: Dali, Picasso, Hemingway. They will remember in a hundred years will any of our time?

Undoubtedly. I like to repeat Yesenin’s famous phrase: “Face to face you cannot see a face. Big things are seen from a distance.” Over time, talented people will crystallize, and society will learn to perceive their art and understand that their ancestors left a rich cultural heritage.

- IN Novosibirsk does not have the conditions to fully engage in art?

This is what we are talking about. To create the conditions, you first need, for example, a greenhouse. But no one will invest in this. Perhaps someone buys works by two or three opportunistic Novosibirsk artists, but this is rather an exception to the rule. Unfortunately, there is absolutely no common interest and desire. The rise of culture arises on the wave of demand for works of art. This is an interdependent process. Novosibirsk is a place where nothing will “grow” for a long time. And people who are trying to change something immediately leave for where it is more comfortable and easier. The tragedy of our city is also that worthy people or those who feel they have potential understand that they cannot fully realize it here. People from small towns, most often poorly educated, come here. The city is turning into a transit point. Nothing can happen just like that, and art needs fertile, high-quality soil.

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I think everyone knows this painting - “Portrait of the Arnolfini Couple” by the Dutch artist Jan Van Eyck. A painfully familiar face - the London National Gallery even moved this painting to the central hall, to the most accessible place. Everyone wants to look at Putin)

And I attended Alexander Tairov’s lecture at the Fine Arts Center (when they come up with a catchy name for themselves). It’s difficult to call Alexander Tairov a lecture at the meeting, he talks about the work of different artists in such an inspiring, interesting and emotional way. Emotionally and very technically detailed about the artistic component, about the historical and economic background of each painting. Such a voluminous look is simply mesmerizing. I haven’t been to a drama theater for a hundred years, and somehow it doesn’t appeal to me - everything there seems too fake and boring.

But for this lecture, 300 rubles is not a pity, no doubt. I highly recommend going live or watching the video. https://vk.com/art_meeting_nsk But it’s more interesting live.

What do we see here? It takes place at the beginning of the 15th century. Wealthy people decided to get married legally. It seems that everything is simple - but the symbols are all around.
For example, a window. It’s not for nothing that we see some leaves and the sky there - no, life is not confined to this rich interior, and marriage is not a reason to hunker down in the family nest. There are temptations and pleasures outside the window; they are and will be present in life.
The sly faces of the characters also indicate that you shouldn’t put your finger in their mouth; the woman’s downcast gaze is very ambiguous.
But there is a dog nearby - a symbol of fidelity.
A burning candle is a symbol of the presence of God. A mirror is a lens, what is there in this distorted consciousness, is there someone reflected in it, some guests?
The color red is a symbol of passion, and fruit speaks of pleasure. Green is a sign of beauty and integrity. Although, we don’t know for certain whether it’s his wife.
A man and a woman shake hands with each other - they enter into marriage. In those years, you didn’t have to go to church to call yourself husband and wife.

Of course, I’m not going to retell the entire lecture here; I’m writing what I remember about the hard life in the 1420s.

The meeting takes place in such a cozy atmosphere. Thanks for the many quality reproductions.

The Belgian artist Jan Van Eyck stood at the origins of the Northern Renaissance. What was going on there at the beginning of the 15th century? The times were wild, the people lived poorly, coldly, and dimly. After sunset, everyone locked themselves in their houses and sat by the fire. And life itself was seen as an intermediate state on the path to something bright.

And everything was literally gray. Paints were expensive, and oil paints were even more expensive.
Now it’s hard for us to imagine that there are millions of visual stimuli around us - information oversaturation and flashing bright pictures. And in those years, even colored clothing was a rarity and the privilege of very rich citizens. Most dressed in gray and brown clothes. Gray houses, gray autumn and winter, without electricity or public heating.

The film best illustrates that hopelessness. Everything is gray, cold, who knows what kind of surgical operations, and only the blue eyes of the main character somehow do not allow you to leave the cinema hall in order to forget this darkness. I recommend it, it's a great movie.

So. And in this wretched life, where there was a crop failure, then a war, then some kind of cholera, faith in God was indestructible.

Portrait of a man in a red turban. There is an opinion that this is a self-portrait. There is very little information about Van Eyck. Even the date of birth is blurry - either 1390 or 1400.
This man was superbly educated - he spoke several languages, however, for Europeans of that time this was a common thing. He served at the court of Duke Philip of Burgnuda, also known as Philip the Good. Indeed, he was a kind man, he tried to avoid armed conflicts as much as possible.

Van Eyck, in addition to painting, which was considered an extremely important matter, was also engaged in diplomatic assignments, to which he devoted many years. He also designed interiors and organized ceremonies.

Speaking of visual effects. Back then there was a problem with glass, there were no rhinestones or jewelry either. And real bright jewelry was valued even more than it is now, so to speak. For example, the same Philip of Burgundy could take a chest with his jewelry into the square to show the people. Marvel, citizens, how rich I am.
However, centuries go by, but people still love decorating themselves with stones)

The artist's wife is Margaret. They had ten children.

Thanks to Ekaterina Bogonenkova and the State Research Center for assistance in organizing the interview.

+MK (Mikhail Koninin): When did you decide to become an artist?
AT (Alexander Tairov): Since childhood. I didn’t consciously strive to become an artist, but I had inclinations for a long time. There was one person who discouraged me from drawing, this was back in Tbilisi, I was in 2-3 grade: I myself went to study drawing at the Pioneer House, and he put a plaster rosette in front of us and left. How can you put such things in front of children? I drew once, twice, not understanding why I was doing this.
Then I was going to enter the Faculty of Cybernetics at Tbilisi University. Then I was a regimental artist in the army. And then here, in Novosibirsk, I worked in the office of artistic design at NETI, went to Stroganovka twice, studied for six months.
We had a powerful section of posters here, which interested Muscovites. We held two or three poster exhibitions, to which we even came from Moscow.

+EB (Ekaterina Bogonenkova): Were there people who influenced you?

AT: No, I can’t remember a single person who influenced my destiny. Maybe a little in the art design room, an interesting team of intellectuals gathered there. This is what kept me in Novosibirsk, otherwise I would have left.

+MK: Why did you come to Novosibirsk?
AT: My sister lived here. She came here on assignment from Tbilisi. One of my sisters was here, the other was in Moscow. And I thought, it was interesting for me to come and see Novosibirsk. Romanticism mixed with adventurism.

+MK: When did you arrive?
AT: Almost immediately after the army. I arrived and entered NETI, because it was next to the house where my sister lived. This was convenient because there was no metro in Novosibirsk at that time. I thought about entering the construction institute, where the department of architecture was, but it didn’t work out, and I went to NETI. And I didn’t lose anything, because there is something that guides a person. There are some milestones in life, they can be placed in different ways, but they somehow encourage you to move in a certain direction. After all, my other sister suggested that I stay in Moscow, but I was interested in coming here. And now I understand that if I had stayed in Moscow, I probably would have achieved more, having what I can do. But it turned out that I came here and a number of circumstances kept me here. In particular, the art design room and the powerful team that was there. From which two people have already passed away, one in Australia, the other here. There were wonderful people, for example, Leonid Vladimirovich Levitsky, an amazing artist and cartoonist. He then moved to Odessa, where he worked at the magazine “Fontan”, he was an artist from God.

+MK: How did you start hosting art meetings?
AT: I run a studio for adults at the State Cultural Center. And on the first “Night at the Museum” we hung Rembrandt’s “Night Watch”; the famous Novosibirsk artist Alexander Shurits wanted to host a program here related to one painting. And he talked about her and Rembrandt to everyone who was here.
I came to listen, and came to the conclusion that this could be talked about much more interestingly - about Rembrandt, about his painting, about its compositional structure. I listened and said nothing. And when Shuritz had already left, my studio members came and asked me to tell about this picture, about its features. And I explain to my studio students the compositional structure, color scheme, features of the picture and don’t even pay attention to what’s happening behind our backs. Then I see people standing there, listening. And then, closer to midnight, the governor came here with the Minister of Culture. And the director asked me to talk about the film. And the director had the idea that at the next “Night at the Museum” we could make a story about some artist. It was called “Taste of Italy” and we decided to talk about Botticelli.
And I talked about Botticelli. When only Rembrandt hung here, I thought that this was not enough. After all, if we are talking about Rembrandt, then we need to hang the rest of his paintings, but the hall was empty, only “The Night Watch” was hanging. And when we hung Botticelli, we made a hall dedicated to Botticelli, and I talked about Botticelli. And some people came two or three times, because every time I tell something new, all the time some new details. And then the director came up with the idea to make this a separate program, which we will offer as a separate project. And in the fall we repeated Botticelli, about 25 people came. And then we decided that since people were interested in this, we would continue. After Botticelli there was Monet, then Petrov-Vodkin. And thus this program has been going on for three years now.

+MK: Is art important to people?
AT: People generally need to feel the part of the world that is outside of them, inside the environment that they create. Because what is outside of us is extremely diverse and decorated with incredibly beautiful and harmonious forms. And the space that a person creates is laconic and emasculated. And a person latently wants to see part of the outside world inside the space that he creates. Whether he lives in a cave, or in a wigwam, in a yurt, in one form or another he arranges this dwelling and equips it with some elements that surround us. These are both animals and plants. If you pay attention, many attributes of our life contain floral ornaments, although it would seem that what does ornament have to do with serious things: state institutions, coats of arms, hall decorations. But this is an integral part even in solemn situations. Where it is possible to invest enough money and invite artists, then everything is done to make it solemn. Because an empty hall will not be solemn if it is not decorated.

+MK: Novosibirsk is often considered a gray, dull city.
AT: That's right. It still has neither traditions nor culture. And the people who rule this city are identical to the city: they are from here, they are blood from the blood, flesh from the flesh of this city. They do not have deep continuity in upbringing, in traditions, in education. People are quite simple: if there was a Tolokonsky, then he grew up here and, as people say, he never saw anything sweeter than a carrot, and he will reproduce the same carrot wherever he is. And he will not understand the meaning of culture in the sense that it goes from generation to generation, when it is absorbed with mother’s milk. The city has no traditions. Therefore, there is a cultural layer 1 angstrom thick, because more than 100 years is nothing for a city.
Of course, those few St. Petersburg engineers who began to build the city, they made their contribution, we see these old buildings. But they left and they did not pass on their heritage to anyone. If there were several thousand of them, the city would have a completely different appearance.
Also, during the evacuation, there was a second wave of St. Petersburg engineers who left their mark. They designed the street. Stanislavsky, st. Aviamotornaya, streets that bear the stamp of the “St. Petersburg Empire style”. But they also left. And again Novosibirsk was exposed. And Perestroika and the 90s also dealt a blow to Novosibirsk. Now what was hidden has come to the surface. Because all those who got rich and everyone on whom the appearance of the city depends and who decides something are illiterate people.
And whoever has money now, the nouveau riche, doesn’t care about the city because they don’t see themselves here at all. And if they see it, they don’t know how to implement it all. Because the city is large and very stupid, which to this day remains a teenage city, not aware of itself, rude, a little impudent, capricious and pretentious about something without serious reasons. Calling yourself the capital of Siberia is only a declaration. It helped the city that scientists came to Academy Town. But Academy Town lives separately, and this wave of the 90s also hit it, because everyone who could leave did. Everything is changing, and the mess that the city has plunged into now again does not bode well for the city, because art has been suppressed.
The city is deteriorating. Despite external manifestations, for example, rapid construction, this is only profit. There is no hope that the city's culture will gain much from this. And without culture there can be nothing. Because, firstly, culture softens morals, and secondly, culture forms subtle aspects in a person’s perception that help him improve in the sciences. Science goes hand in hand with culture.
If we look at history, wherever society begins to get rich, where they understand that they need to invest money not only in filling their bellies, the development of culture begins. As they said in Rome: “Bread and circuses.” And the spectacles in Novosibirsk are extremely bad; if you imagine the entire Novosibirsk agglomeration, then everything is concentrated on a small spot in the center. And the city has a left bank and a right bank. It’s good when everything is nearby, but when it’s cold, the day is short, and the buses don’t run after 10 pm, you won’t get much access to the center. And if it weren’t for the metro, the city would be completely shut down. Let’s take the left bank, 500-600 thousand people live there. This is a separate big city, but there is no concert hall there! They are reconstructing, building - here again. The Katz Hall was built, it stands empty, the lights are always off.
Occasionally some events happen here, but on the left bank there is nothing! A residential area, people are abandoned there, only shopping centers are being built. And we say: “oh, the city has no money,” but does that mean there is money for shopping centers? We understand how this is done: people take out loans and build. City! Take a loan and build a cultural ensemble! This will come back to you a hundredfold. Not immediately, in 10-15 years, but there will be a return. People will feel self-respect when there is a powerful cultural center on the left bank. If we look at the city compositionally, then we understand that there should be centers of culture not only in the center. They should be distributed evenly, because everyone does not move into the center, and people living in residential areas see nothing but shopping centers.
I have long been involved in a project that talked about how to change the city. We, designers, artists, reasoned and came up with a powerful project. Here in the center there is a floodplain of the river, a beautiful place, absolutely empty. It is possible to build a cultural and historical park there, and I thought of it under a roof; we live in Siberia. If you made an amusement park, build it not all at once, but in blocks - with arboretums, cinemas, educational attractions, people would come there in the morning and walk and play all day. And building up step by step, we would get a huge cultural and historical agglomeration. Imagine how great that would be! This would give a return, because there would be cafes and restaurants there.
But there is no will, and therefore the authorities will be engaged in patching up holes. Whereas in any historical era, princes built huge temples, leaving behind monuments of art. And here, what will they leave behind? After all, when Pompidou left, he built the Pompidou Center, Giscard d’Estaing built the French National Library. That is, every thinking person strives to leave behind some kind of material trace. And a city of one and a half million can accumulate funds to build something. And if we had founded this cultural and historical monument and built it the way shopping centers are built, then I assure you, it would already exist today. And it would be a place of pilgrimage not only for Novosibirsk residents, but also for all the surrounding villages and towns. And now, when people go to Mega, it reminds a little of what I’m talking about. After all, why do people come there? Do you think only about shopping? No, they come to walk along the beautiful streets of the city of their dreams. You walk along its streets: it’s light, beautiful, wide passages - it all creates a feeling. And people go there for the whole day. In this I saw what I wanted to do, and it was done, albeit by a company from abroad and in the form of a shopping center. But everything could have been different. And Novosibirsk lacks all this, but people are drawn to it.

MK: There are people who are doing something, who are trying to develop culture in Novosibirsk? You organize art meetings, for example.
AT: Art meetings are such a small step. But if someone other than me did this with the same effectiveness, it would be an event. But look: such an event is happening in Novosibirsk, and no one cares about it. Nobody writes or talks about this. But people find this flickering light. He is very weak and if I stop doing this, then this will no longer happen. Because it's all built on how I do it. Because the Art Museum hosts “Lectures” and I was repeatedly told: “I went there, there are few people there, but that’s not even the point. I almost fell asleep there. They read from a piece of paper and show slides.” This form has a right to exist, we just found a fundamentally important form of human participation in this space. He is in an exhibition space where he sees paintings by artists, and he is constantly in this visual field, and he listens to me. And he is free at this moment and is not fixed on what I am talking about, but he can look at any picture. He feels like he is at an exhibition, surrounded by the works of the artist in question. And this creates a fundamentally different atmosphere. Because if they showed slides, it would be completely different. And I have the opportunity to move from picture to picture not in any particular order, but spontaneously. Suddenly a thought occurs to me and I move on to another picture. This format is very interesting because of its presence effect. Maybe people feel the presence of the artist here. What is also important here is the emotional component, which is inherent to me, from nature or national roots, or upbringing, or from the fact that I grew up in Tbilisi, and there a lot is built on emotions.
In general, a person perceives what is happening to a greater extent through feelings. This is a powerful factor influencing a person. And when I, as an artist, explain: compositional structure, I talk about color, the rhythmic structure of the picture. And the person becomes an accomplice in this process, understands how it is built, with the help of what means and methods the artist achieves such an impact. And the next time a person comes somewhere, he will look for that deeper meaning that is beyond the understanding of the average viewer.

+MK: Are you returning to Tbilisi?
AT: At first I came back, and then I stopped. I lost touch with the city. Some nerve was gone.

+EB: And when there were events in connection with the collapse of the USSR, did you take any position?
AT: I think that, firstly, the people were provoked. And secondly, they played on something that has always been characteristic of Georgians. They have always been characterized by a certain swagger, arrogance and arrogance. Especially among the intelligentsia. This is a feeling of superiority over the Russians. I was not surprised by what happened there. Russia cherished such a child; in the Soviet Union there was Georgian culture, songs, films. They were treated kindly, but they transformed this into their own exclusivity, into contempt for Russians, as uncultured, as slaves. And Russians are a generous people. Even then, while living there, I encountered manifestations of such an arrogant, dismissive attitude: we are exceptional, we have an ancient history. Although Russia saved them from destruction and assimilation.
And at first I came to Tbilisi, and then I stopped feeling this atmosphere. Some connection has been severed. Although I always felt warm there, I remembered walking through the streets of my childhood. I lived in the city center, Mount Mtatsminda, a very old area - very beautiful. And then, when I arrived, I felt emptiness and I was cut off. I remember how I was flying from Kerch to Novosibirsk and had a landing in Sochi, and I thought: Tbilisi is nearby, I can go. And you know what? I realized that nothing pulled me there, although my mother lived there and that’s it. And I boarded a plane and flew to Novosibirsk. And since then I have not been to Tbilisi. Although it would be interesting to go there. And I think that Georgia lost a lot by leaving Russia’s friendly wing. Because no one needs them with their culture in the West, because the West, as he believes, has moved so far away from them in intellectual and civilizational terms that America does not need some 3-4 million Georgia. They have not yet received a punch on the nose, because Russia loved them, appreciated them, and understood them. Russia replicated their culture. She presented Georgian culture to the world

+MK: Is there any special culture in Siberia? Siberian mentality?
AT: I think there is a callousness. There is toughness of character. It’s difficult for me to talk about perseverance of character, because I did not live here during the testing period. And when I came here, I was struck by the harshness, rudeness, and harshness. I didn't feel any warmth. I don't find much difference in people living in large, urban cities. Only in speech there are differences, as the Siberians say.

+MK: Do Novosibirsk artists have a special style?
AT: None. There is no school here. There are no traditions here. It will take 200-300 years before they appear. Tomsk, Barnaul, even Biysk - you feel the spirit there. And coming to Novosibirsk you see this laxity, this huge scale, a faster pace. And if you take Tomsk, Barnaul, then they have a different original culture, and you can feel it. And Novosibirsk is a teenager. And teenagers are an unformed character, harsh behavior, impetuosity, inflated ambition, opposing themselves to everyone else, powerful energy. This is Novosibirsk.

+EB: What is “vulgarity” in your understanding? How would you describe yourself?
AT: I find vulgarity in secondary things. We are secondary to everything that surrounds us. We are secondary in relation to Moscow, in relation to St. Petersburg, to Europe, to America, to the Anglo-Saxons. The whole city is covered with pretentious signs and names, and this speaks of nothing other than vulgarity. And you don’t even realize how it went when they say: “Wow!”, “Oops!”
But the question is different: we do not recognize ourselves as a community that has traditions and a culture much deeper than America itself. And all this comes from those in power, from the nouveau riche, and when a three-story building is called “Manhattan” it’s just ridiculous. People just don’t understand how pathetic it is, not because Manhattan is something forbidden, but because you don’t even understand where Manhattan is and where you are. And this is a pathetic desire to become like. But have you been to Manhattan? Have you seen what power this is, what money this is? They don’t even notice you, and you built something wretched and call it “Manhatta.” Everything else is the same: “Versailles”, “Sun City”. This is vulgarity. And behind all this comes the vulgarity of everyday life. Vulgarity is a lack of culture, a lack of understanding of traditions, a lack of a sense of one’s roots. This is also in the manner of behavior. This is also because you don’t even try to learn to be something different from your own models. We will be saved only if we delve deeper into the study of our culture, our traditions and polish them and raise them to a new level.

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Tairov Alexander Ivanovich Born in Tbilisi on July 3, 1947, graduated from school, served in the army as a regimental artist. After the army he came to Novosibirsk. He studied at the Novosibirsk Electrotechnical Institute and at the same time worked there in the office of artistic design. Defended a specialized diploma in design. Twice he studied at the faculty of advanced training at the Moscow Higher Art and Art Pedagogical University (formerly Stroganovsky), where he studied drawing, painting... He studied poster graphics. I have been to the creative dachas of the Union of Poster Artists several times. In 1984-1985, he took an active part in the creation of a series of posters for the International Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow as part of a team of authors, and was awarded the title of laureate of the festival. Member of the Union of Artists since 1985. Chief artist of the Novosibirsk State Technical University. Participant of regional, republican and international exhibitions. Currently engaged in design, graphics, painting, photography.

Alexander Yakovlevich Tairov is a Russian Soviet director, founder and director of the Chamber Theater. Performances “Famira the Kifared” (1916), “Salome” (1917), “Phaedra” (1922), “Love under the Elms” (1926), “Optimistic Tragedy” (1933), “Madame Bovary” (1940), “ The Seagull" (1944), "Guilty Without Guilt" (1944), etc.

Alexander Yakovlevich Tairov was born on July 6 (June 24), 1885 in the city of Romny, Poltava province, into the family of a teacher. His first theatrical impressions were associated with the performances of the Adelname brothers, tragedians who traveled around the Russian provinces. Tairov began playing in amateur performances.

After graduating from high school, Alexander entered the Faculty of Law of Kyiv University. During these years, he directly encountered the provincial theater, playing on stage and watching the performance of good provincial actors. In the 1906-1907 season, Tairov performed at the Komissarzhevskaya Theater. Here, in Meyerhold's performances, he became acquainted with the skill of auteur directing, but rejected once and for all the aesthetics of conventional theater. Then - the Mobile Theater of the Moscow Art Theater member P.P. Gaideburova, St. Petersburg New Drama Theater. Already at the Mobile Theater Tairov acts as a director. However, the unshakable routine of the New Theater, added to previous theatrical disappointments, served as a catalyst for Tairov’s decision to break with the theater.

In 1913, he graduated from the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University and joined the Moscow Bar. It seems to Tairov that he has become disillusioned with the theater. But when K.A. appears Mardzhanov with his fantastic idea of ​​the Free Theater, which was supposed to combine tragedy and operetta, drama and farce, opera and pantomime - Tairov accepts the offer to enter this theater as a director.

It was the pantomime “Pierrette’s Veil” by Schnitzler and the Chinese fairy tale “The Yellow Jacket” staged by Tairov that brought fame to the Free Theater and turned out to be unexpected, interesting discoveries. In these performances, Tairov proclaimed the “theatricalization of theater” and put forward the principle of “emotional gesture” instead of a pictorial or everyday authentic gesture.

The premiere of "Pierrette's Veils" took place on November 4, 1913. Tairov, of course, guessed the mood of the time, the plot, and the young twenty-four-year-old actress with the sonorous name Alisa Koonen. Arrogant fatalism, impulse and break, the excitement of unabandoned hopes... All this was in his first performance on the stage of the Free Theater. And on December 25, 1914, Tairov opened a new theater in Moscow - the Chamber Theater, which became a symbol of new art for the younger generation of 1910-1920.

Of course, circumstances favored Tairov. He will not forget to list them: devoted like-minded actors, loyal friends, excellent premises - an 18th-century mansion on Tverskoy Boulevard, money obtained almost miraculously. But this would not have been enough if not for Tairov’s faith, if not for his courage, if, finally, not for his love for Alisa Koonen, who embodied a very special type on stage (perhaps Koonen is the only tragic actress of the Soviet theater). The chamber theater was erected in the name of this love. The director and actress got married in 1914. The theater took everything from them, leaving no room for children or particularly friendly affections.

1914 The First World War is going on. And Tairov is rehearsing the drama of the ancient Indian classic Kalidasa “Sakuntala”. What prompted him to choose this particular play Probably his love for the East, the wonderful translation by K. Balmont, a winning role for Koonen, the steppe and Bukhara paintings of Pavel Kuznetsov, which Tairov liked at the World of Art exhibition with its exquisite simplicity of lines and colors.

Pessimism prevailed in the mood of that time. Tairov affirmed on stage the possibility of another, beautiful world, in which beauty, wisdom, and the fullness of spiritual life reign. At first, Tairov was forced to show more than a dozen premieres per season. But one trend emerged immediately: it cleared and freed up the space of the stage. He strove to create a three-dimensional stage space as the only one corresponding to the actor’s three-dimensional body. The director was assisted in this by the artist Alexandra Ekster. She designed the decorations in the style of cubism. This idea, in particular, was embodied in the play “Famira-Kifared”. Pyramids, cubes, inclined platforms along which the actors moved created a certain associative image of ancient Greece. Famira was played by the oriental handsome Nikolai Tsereteli, “spotted” by Tairov in the midst of the Moscow Art Theater crowd.

After “Famira,” Tairov turned to Oscar Wilde’s “Salome.” When designing the performance, Exter, in addition to fabrics, used thin metal frames, hoops, and even plywood.

An impressive description of how Alisa Koonen played Salome was left by Leonid Grossman: “But with an almost sacramental gesture, Salome raises her hands to her eyes in reverence before the deity presented to her. “I am in love with your body,” the princess says prayerfully, as if blinded by the appearance of God. And then, in confusion and horror, her hands begin to wriggle like snakes, ready to entangle and squeeze the intended victim in their coils to death."

In 1917, the Chamber Theater was expelled from the mansion on Tverskoy Boulevard, as there was no money to pay the rent. The new premises - the actors' exchange at the Nikitsky Gate - were not suitable for showing performances. Truly titanic efforts were spent to raise the temperature on stage and in the hall from four degrees to at least six...

To open the 191920 season on the stage returned by the People's Commissariat for Education, Tairov chose the old melodrama by E. Scribe "Adrienne Lecouvreur". This performance will become one of the most sold-out performances in the capital and will remain in the repertoire of the Chamber Theater until its closure. After the 750th performance, French writer Jean-Richard Bloch will say that Tairov and Koonen raised Scribe's melodrama to the level of tragedy.

On May 4, 1920, another premiere took place at the Chamber Theater - a capriccio performance based on E.A. Hoffmann "Princess Brambilla". “Live laughter and living joy - this is the task of the performance,” explained the director. A wastefully generous interweaving of reality and fantasy, eccentricity and grotesque, circus and acrobatic acts - this was the kingdom of “Princess Brambilla” created by Tairov and artist G. Yakulov.

In 1922, Tairov, together with Yakulov, staged another cheerful performance - “Giroflé-Giroflya” based on Lecoq’s operetta. The corps de ballet was present here, as expected in the show, and, of course, the “stars” Koonen, who played both heroines, as prescribed by the libretto, and Tsereteli, who played the role of one of the suitors. Tairov affirmed in the play the most important aesthetic principles of his theater; here a culture of movement, a culture of words were developed, and, of course, the basis of everything was emotional inner fullness.

Tairov believed that the first stage of his quest at the Chamber Theater ended with the production of Racine’s Phèdre (1922). Many scenes from this performance have gone down in the history of world theater. The first exit of Koonen-Phaedra became a legend, as if breaking under the weight of her disastrous passion, she walked very slowly, and the purple cloak trailed behind her like a huge fiery trail.

The premieres of 1922 - “Phaedra” and “Girofle-Girofle” brought the Chamber Theater to unprecedented heights. They are proud of it, they take foreigners to it, they send it on tours abroad. The celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Chamber Theater is held at the Bolshoi Theater.

Tours in 1923 and 1925 in France and Germany were remembered by many. Doxology and abuse in the press; bribed clackers who failed to disrupt “Phaedra”, and a responsible reception given by the emigrant elite in honor of the actors of the Chamber Theater; delights of Cocteau, Picasso, Léger... At the International Exhibition in Paris in 1925, the Chamber Theater won the Grand Prize. Tairov returned from the trip as a winner. “What kind of Bolsheviks they are,” exclaimed the famous French critic Alfred Deblin, “they are 200 percent bourgeois, artists producing luxury goods.”

Tairov was looking for ways to revive the classical tragedy, trying to make it close to the modern audience. He rejected the false-classical manner of performing tragedy, which had taken root on both the French and Russian stages. As Alisa Koonen recalled, Tairov wanted to present the kings and queens from Racine’s play as ordinary people “Don’t Play Tsars!” - he repeated at rehearsals to Tsereteli and Eggert, who played Hippolytus and Theseus. However, these ordinary people were possessed by disastrous passions and were involved in a cruel struggle. Koonen-Fedra embodied Tairov's plan most fully. The tragic concentration of passion, which cannot be quenched, constituted the main content of this image.

In Tairov's plans, the task of creating a modern tragedy still comes first. Along this path, the director returned several times to Ostrovsky’s “The Thunderstorm.” He is less and less captivated by external beauty and more and more strives to comprehend the tragic foundations of existence.

In the mid-1920s, Tairov found “his” author, the American playwright O’Neill, who believed that only tragedy can express the processes of modern life. On November 11, 1926, the premiere of the play “Love under the Elms” took place, which was destined to go down in the history of world theater.

The simple plot of O’Neill’s drama from the life of American farmers of the 19th century had for Tairov the ambiguity of a myth: “I believe that in this play O’Neill rose to great heights, resurrecting the best traditions of ancient tragedy in modern literature.” The play showed the story of the tragic love of a stepmother (A. Koonen) for her stepson (N. Tsereteli) and their fierce rivalry over the farm. A maximum of everyday persuasiveness, a maximum of authenticity of passions - and a minimum of everyday details.

In the play “The Negro,” based on O’Neill’s play (1929), the love story of Ella and the Negro Jim appeared on stage. Koonen-Ella, who lives the entire life of her heroine in the play, from a childish girl to a suffering mad woman, rose to tragic heights in her performance. O’Neill’s own reaction to the performances “The Negro” and “Love Under the Elms” is noteworthy: “How great was my admiration and gratitude when I saw your performances... They completely conveyed the inner meaning of my work. The theater of creative fantasy has always been my ideal. The Chamber Theater made this dream come true.”

Meanwhile, modernity persistently demanded that the theater create a performance “in tune with the revolution” and show a modern positive hero. Tairov reworked and adapted either S. Semenov’s novel “Natalya Tarpova” (1929), or N. Nikitin’s script “Firing Line” (1931), or M. Kulish’s romantic tragedy “Pathetic Sonata” (1931), or L. Pervomaisky’s play “ Unknown Soldiers" (1932). But the production of these very imperfect plays was largely forced.

The meeting of the Chamber Theater with Vsevolod Vishnevsky was notable for the fact that the playwright and the creative team were very close in art. Both the writer and the theater sought to find monumental, epic, romantic forms of stage creativity. Vishnevsky's "Optimistic Tragedy" is an emotional story about how an anarchic detachment of sailors, under the influence of a female commissar (A. Koonen), becomes a united revolutionary regiment. “The entire emotional, plastic and rhythmic line of the production,” said Tairov, “must be built on a kind of curve leading from negation to affirmation, from death to life, from chaos to harmony, from anarchy to conscious discipline.” The culmination of the upward spiral was the death of the Commissioner, illuminated by the victory of her idea. “Heaven, Earth, Man” - a short motto for the performance, invented by its artist V. Ryndin, accurately formulates Tairov’s plan. The performance spoke about the victory of the human spirit, glorified man and believed in him.

In the premiere of the next season - "Egyptian Nights" - Tairov planned to combine in one performance "Caesar and Cleopatra" by Bernard Shaw, "Egyptian Nights" by Pushkin, and "Antony and Cleopatra" by Shakespeare. The risky experiment relied mainly on the courage and acting ambition of Koonen, who had long been attracted by the image of the great Egyptian woman. However, after this performance, the Chamber Theater began to be called formalistic in the press and in discussions, which was how Tairov’s philosophical generalizations were perceived, who spoke about the connection between the fate of a person and the fate of the era.

Following the tragedy “Egyptian Nights,” the theater staged A. Borodin’s comic opera “Bogatyrs” (1936) with a new text by Demyan Bedny. The spectacle turned out to be bright, colorful, slightly stylized to resemble Palekh miniatures. Accusations of distorting the historical past of the Russian people soon followed. The performance was filmed.

Criticism fell on the Chamber Theater and its director from all sides. It was argued that in the practice of the theater there was a whole “system of disguised attacks against our party, the Soviet system and the October Revolution.” Work on Prokofiev's opera Eugene Onegin had to be stopped. In August 1937, by a strong-willed decision, the Tairov Chamber Theater and the Okhlopkov Realistic Theater were merged. This went on for two years. Chaos reigned in the artificially united troupe.

In 1940, another great performance by Tairov appeared, where the tragic talent of Alice Koonen again sounded powerfully - “Madame Bovary” according to Flaubert. The director did not stage Flaubert in the traditional sense - he revealed the drama of this novel, peering into the very depths of the human soul.

The war found the theater on tour in Leningrad. Hasty departure to Moscow. At the beginning of September, the premiere of the play “The Battalion Goes to the West” by G. Mdivani took place.

The chamber theater gave more than 500 performances only in the evacuation of Balkhash and Barnaul. Among the premieres of this period are “Front” by A. Korneychuk, “Sky of Moscow” by G. Mdivani, “Until the Heart Stops” by K. Paustovsky, “The Sea Spreads Wide” and “At the Walls of Leningrad” by Vs. Vishnevsky.

In 1944, The Seagull was staged at the Chamber Theater. The main principle of the production was Chekhov’s words “No need for theatricality. It’s all just necessary, very simple.” Explaining the choice of the play, Tairov said that “The Seagull” sounds “like a play created now, showing how a person conquers everything and goes into life, because Nina Zarechnaya will be a great actress. “The Seagull is a play of great faith in a person, in his star, in his future, in his possibilities.”

The director took only fragments of Chekhov's text. The actors played without makeup - they read the text according to their roles, occasionally changing the mise-en-scène on a practically empty stage. The speech of “The Seagull” sounded like music, merging with Tchaikovsky’s melodies.

Another performance by Tairov in 1944, “Guilty Without Guilt,” with the help of the artist V. Ryndin, returned A.N. Ostrovsky brings to life the colorfulness, sweetness and sadness of the ancient theater. “There was something of the loneliness of Baudelaire’s albatross in this Koonen Kruchinina, in her detached gaze, directed into the distance, over the heads of the people around her, in her movements, involuntarily fast and sharp, disproportionate to the rhythms and tempos in which the crowd of other characters moved.” , - B. Alpers will write on the days of the premiere.

The last years of the Chamber Theater were very dramatic. The so-called “struggle against sycophancy to the West” has unfolded in the country. Soviet drama of the 1940s did not offer much choice for Tairov. To this we must add the difficulties experienced within the collective itself by poor training camps, the closure of the acting school at the theater, a dilapidated building that required repairs...

Of course, Tairov fought. He argued, defended, went to the authorities, admitted his mistakes. I also hoped to save the theater. He faced a fruitless search for new authors and plays. And an empty hall awaited him. And chaos behind the scenes. And commissions examining the state of affairs in the theater. And on May 19, 1949, by resolution of the Committee on Arts, Tairov was dismissed from the Chamber Theater.

On May 29, “Adrienne Lecouvreur” was performed for the last time. Alisa Koonen played with inspiration and selflessness. “Theater, my heart will no longer beat with the excitement of success. Oh, how I loved the theater... Art! And there will be nothing left of me, nothing but memories...” Adrienne’s last words became the farewell of the creators of the Chamber Theater to the audience.

After the curtain closed - applause, cries of gratitude, tears. The curtain came up countless times, but the audience still did not leave. Finally, by order of Tairov, the iron curtain was lowered. It was all over.

The Arts Committee transferred Koonen and Tairov (as another director) to the Vakhtangov Theater. They did not stay there long, they were not offered work and were not promised in the future. Soon Tairov and Koonen received a paper where, on behalf of the government, they were thanked for their many years of work and offered to go on “an honorable rest, an old-age pension” (Tairov was then about 65 years old, Koonen - 59). This was the last blow that Alexander Yakovlevich had to endure.

On August 9, 1950, the Chamber Theater was renamed the Moscow Drama Theater named after A.S. Pushkin and thereby virtually liquidated.

In September, Alexander Yakovlevich’s health noticeably deteriorated. Tairov died on September 25, 1950 in the Solovyov hospital...

An amazing thing: Alexander Ivanovich Tairov is an open, easy-going, artistic person in communication, with a wonderful sense of humor and clearly expressed self-irony, who does not teach anyone anything, influences his interlocutors in a special way.

And this is some kind of rare gift, and not only noticed by me: after meeting him, the everyday bustle around for some, albeit short period of time, seems to acquire brighter colors and even harmonize. Maybe because a well-known artist, designer in Novosibirsk, and for the last three years the host of extremely popular art meetings at the City Arts Center, has been captured by one deep dream-idea for many years. And she, despite the diversity of his affairs and interests, also builds and structures his life to a large extent.

The whole world in monitor format
- Alexander Ivanovich, you are called the main artist and designer of NSTU, and before NETI: for many years you have been heading the office of artistic design - an educational structure that exists, among other things, for the design and creation of a modern interior environment at the university itself. Considering that the number of university graduates over the years has amounted to tens of thousands, then you can rightly consider yourself the one who instilled in them good taste...

I am not inclined to either overestimate or underestimate what we do. But I think this small daily form of aesthetic influence somehow influences the perception of students... Unfortunately, if you look more broadly, beauty today for many people is concentrated only in the picture broadcast on a TV, computer monitor or smartphone. Then, I fear, technological progress will add stereo images, quad sound, some kind of special helmet, and human existence will finally move into the world of illusions.

I already spoke about this at art meetings: reality is now as unreal as the virtual world. And the pictures that are presented, in addition to ersatz beauty and glamor, are also atrocities, massacres - a modern person watches them, sitting in a cozy chair with a cup of tea or a can of beer. This is why there is an aberration of consciousness, some kind of substitution, like in computer games, when you can reboot and everything will be fine. On the other hand, there is a feeling of fatigue. And the most profound people strive to reject all this from themselves and return to the roots, so that, for example, they can feel the taste of a product grown by themselves, well water, and so on.

- Is this a trend?

I think yes. Indeed, today all the power of industry and technological discoveries is largely aimed at satisfying the emptiest needs of the population of developed countries. Well, for example, gigantic resources are spent just so that some young dunce, for his own pleasure, drives a luxury car around the city at great speed... Unfortunately, the population of poor countries is also infected with the virus of consumerism, and this, as in “The Tale of fisherman and fish,” with no end in sight. No one wants to think that if humanity wants to continue to exist, it must look for some other meanings and rules for its existence.

- For example?

For myself, I developed the so-called triad of correspondence: measure, appropriateness, timeliness. Everyone knows for themselves that everything started to go wrong in his life when he overstepped the limit in something, or did something inappropriate in a certain situation, or did it at the wrong time. I would consider myself happy if I reached the level of harmony of this triad.

At the source of dreams
- If we talk about your educational activities, about the same art meetings where you talk about the work of great artists, what is their purpose in this context?

This is a long conversation. But it is he who fundamentally explains what I have been doing all my life, striving for Novosibirsk to become a real cultural capital. It’s not that I imagine myself as a person capable of doing this, but every movement, every effort in this direction is important to me.

- What, isn’t it the capital?

Well, firstly, compared to other cities, it is very young. Secondly, it was formed, so to speak, in spurts, under the influence of certain passionate moments: this is the construction of a bridge by St. Petersburg track engineers; the second impulse of development was when it became the administrative center of a huge region; then - the war, the evacuation of the largest factories and cultural institutions here; in the 50s - the creation of Academy Town...

There was no consistent accumulation of the cultural layer; there were throws that were not molecularly connected to each other. And when this accumulation finally began to occur - Novosibirsk turned into a city of engineers, scientists, people of art, intellectuals who continued to shape and improve its appearance, the 90s broke out. Which was, in my opinion, a disaster. A wave of people far from culture came here and suddenly became rich. Everything began to be dictated by money. In those cities where there were centuries-old traditions, they could not have such a fatal influence as on a young, fragile city. It has enormous energy, and the events as a result of which it was formed do not allow it to calm down in any way. He is not aware of himself and does not fully understand...

(As it turned out, Alexander Ivanovich has something to compare with; he even notes that he is somewhat “bruised” by the image of the city of his own childhood. And Sasha Tairov grew up in the center of Tbilisi, in an intelligent family, where there is a good home library and, in Okudzhava’s words, “to walks in loneliness "instilled in him contemplation, dreaminess, and home-grown, as he says, philosophy. Which is a property of the bearers of the culture of a beautiful city with a history of one and a half thousand years. Since he moved here at the age of 18, he has been dreaming of being the same handsome man with rooted cultural traditions see Novosibirsk).

- That is, the art meetings at the State Cultural Center on Sverdlov are part of some kind of your own cultural plan?

What are you saying, I never imagined myself in this role! Everything happened completely spontaneously. Several years ago, the City Arts Center was created in Novosibirsk (by the way, I designed part of its interiors and a rather non-standard entrance - with a canopy and lanterns), and through the efforts of the director and the entire team, fortunately, an atmosphere was created here that distinguishes it from other exhibition spaces , and also some informal and interesting events are constantly happening. The prototype of art meetings arose two years ago on the Night of Museums, when, at the request of my studio students (I run a studio here - I teach drawing and painting), I told them about Rembrandt’s painting “The Night Watch”, a huge reproduction of which was exhibited in one of the halls completely for the another project. They listened with interest, and other visitors joined in. But I didn't pay any attention to it.

Some time later, that same evening, my friends asked me to tell about the same picture. Again a crowd gathered around, I was applauded, and several people admitted that they were listening to my story for the second time. This was amazing, and the director of the State Cultural Center, Natalya Vladimirovna Sergeeva, and I decided to hang a reproduction of Botticelli’s painting “The Birth of Venus” at the next Night of Museums, and as a result, the trick, as they say, was repeated.

...And ladies in love
- Now there are almost twenty names of artists on the meeting poster, they take place every first Saturday of the month, and, in general, it is better to book places in advance.

I still can’t get used to it - the hall is always full. I don’t seem to be doing anything special - well, I tell and talk, but it turns out that people see this not as a lecture, but as a one-man show.

- I was at a meeting dedicated to Klimt’s work, I can confirm: there is some kind of magic in your story, from the first introductory phrases you unexpectedly plunge deeply into the era, into the circumstances of the artist’s life and unwittingly draw your listeners into this “pool”...

I confess that for me, one amazing effect manifests itself at art meetings. Some interesting thoughts and images are born directly there. So, an absolute improvisation, when I talked about Petrov-Vodkin, was the idea that the red horse depicted in his famous painting is Russia, beautiful, powerful, full of unbridled strength, and the rider is her soul, naked, young, quivering, enchanted... In a word, I do not necessarily have the task of introducing viewers to the biography of the master; I strive to immerse them in the atmosphere of his life - torment, quest, moments of happiness. And they actively empathize with my story, admitting that they leave these meetings emotionally stunned, detached from everyday life...

- Oh, Alexander Ivanovich, I can’t help but ask you a tricky question: maybe it’s about your personal charm? And are there any ladies in love with you among these fainting women?

Well, first of all, there are men in the audience. Secondly, I don’t bother with such guesses. Well, tall height, texture: maybe for the female part of the audience this is important, it evokes some kind of friendly feelings, but I’m not at the age when this can intoxicate, stun or stupid... In the future, I generally want to invite people to our art - a club of various interesting people and act as a moderator. The idea of ​​pre-revolutionary artistic salons, where writers, artists, and musicians gathered at the same time for a relatively young city that was acquiring its own cultural traditions, seems to me to be very appropriate.

BLITZ
- What do you not have enough time for? What else would you do if there were more hours in the day?
- Reading philosophical literature and good fiction. If I had time, I would certainly learn new crafts and skills.

- Despite all the time pressure, what is your hobby?
- I go to the gym regularly and do a certain set of exercises at home. This is part of the philosophy of life - all life is work. And the body is the house in which the soul lives. If you don’t take care of your home, your soul may end up being severely damaged under its rubble.

- What is your most vivid impression of recent times?
- As a contemplator, I have not felt vivid impressions for a long time and enjoy things that at first glance are not bright - the rustling of leaves, the shades of the sky, the interweaving of branches... Because in art the strongest impressions arise not from contrasts, but from nuances.

HELP
Alexander Tairov, graphic artist, designer, poster artist, member of the Union of Artists of the USSR, since 1985 - Russia. The works are in the Novosibirsk State Art Museum.

STROKE TO THE PORTRAIT
For many years, Alexander Tairov was the main artist of city holidays and came up with its main symbol - not some exotic animal, but Gorodovich, an independent intellectual boy who was quite liked by the townspeople. Things were moving towards making Tairov the main artist of the city, but at a meeting with the chief architect, he was far from enthusiastic about the appearance of the metropolis, which greatly outraged his colleague, and the appointment did not take place.