In the second half of the 18th century, Russian applied art reached a significant rise. This was facilitated by the development of the economy, trade, science and technology and, to a large extent, close ties with architecture and the visual arts. The number of large and small factories, factories, workshops producing fabrics, glass, porcelain, and furniture grew. Landowners in their estates set up various workshops based on serf labor.
The humanistic ideas of enlightenment were peculiarly reflected in the applied art of the late 18th century. The craftsmen of this time were distinguished by attention to personal tastes and needs of a person, a search for convenience in the environment.
A new style - Russian classicism - at the turn of the 1770s-1780s was established in all types of applied art. Architects M.F. Kazakov, I.E. Starov, D. Quarenghi, C. Cameron, A.N. Voronikhin created interiors in the spirit of noble simplicity and restraint with a clear division of parts, with a constructively justified arrangement of both plastic and picturesque architectural decor.
The same principles were used to design furniture, candelabra, and chandeliers for palace premises. In the ornamentation of furniture, dishes, fabrics, built in a clear rhythm, antique motifs appeared - acanthus, meander, ionics, vividly interpreted flowers, garlands, images of cupids, sphinxes. The gilding and colors became softer and more restrained than in the middle of the 18th century.
At the end of the 18th century, enthusiasm for antiquity forced to abandon even a complex and magnificent costume. Light loose dresses with flowing folds, with a high belt in the antique manner have become fashionable (VL Borovikovsky. "Portrait of MI Lopukhina". 1797).
The synthesis of arts in Russian classicism is based on the principle of a harmonious combination of all types of arts.
Furniture. During the period of classicism, its forms are simple, balanced, clearly constructed, the rhythms are calm. The outlines still retained some softness, roundness, but vertical and horizontal lines were already prominent. Decorations (low carvings, paintings, bronze and brass onlays) emphasized the expressiveness of the designs. There was more concern for convenience. For the ceremonial rooms for various purposes, sets-headsets were designed: a living room, an office, a front bedroom, a hall. New furniture forms have emerged: tables for card games, handicrafts, light portable bobby tables (with a bob-shaped lid), and various types of dressers. Sofas have become widespread, and in office furniture there are secretaries, bureaus with a cylindrical roll-up lid.
As in previous periods, Russian furniture, compared to Western furniture, is more massive, more generalized, simpler in details. The material for it was the local wood species - linden, birch (gilded and painted in light colors), walnut, oak, poplar, ash, pear, bog oak. At the end of the 18th century, Karelian birch and imported colored wood of mahogany, amaranth, rosewood and other species began to be used. The craftsmen knew how to show their beauty, structure, color, shine, skillfully accentuated by polishing.
Russian masters have achieved great achievements in the technique of set (marquetry). Its essence is in composing ornaments and whole Paintings (usually from engravings) on the surface of wooden objects from pieces of colored wood. This kind of work is known not only among the capital's court furniture makers, but also among former serfs who worked in Moscow and the Moscow region: Nikifor Vasiliev (Fig. 78), Matvey Veretennikov and anonymous masters of Tver and Arkhangelsk, who introduced walrus bone into the set. Samples of the high art of carving the furniture of the Ostankino Palace belong to serfs Ivan Mochalin, Gavrila Nemkov and others. In St. Petersburg, furniture and carvings by masters from Okhta, who were transferred to the capital from different places under Peter I, were famous. The artistic appearance of the furniture was completed by upholstery with patterned silks, velvet, printed chintz, linen fabrics, in harmony with the decoration of the walls.
Fabrics. Of all the industries in the second half of the 18th century, the textile industry developed most successfully (Moscow, Ivanovo, Yaroslavl, Vladimir province). Its rise was determined not only by large manufactories, but also by small peasant enterprises. Masters have achieved particular perfection in new patterned linen fabrics with intricate weaves, with a play of natural silvery-white flax shades. Here the traditions of peasant weaving, a deep understanding of the material affected. Massive cheap motley and dye was also produced. The decorative qualities of colored cloth and woolen fabrics have significantly improved.
The production of silk fabrics for dresses and decorative fabrics, scarves, and ribbons developed rapidly (Fig. 80). By the end of the 18th century, they were not inferior in quality to French ones - the best in Europe. Russian weavers have learned to use a variety of threads, the most complex weaving weaves, reminiscent of embroidery. Compositional techniques, the richness of the palette in decorative fabrics achieved the transfer of space, the subtlety of the transitions of tones, the accuracy of the drawing of flowers, birds, landscapes. Such fabrics were used in the decoration of palaces, sent as gifts abroad.
In fabrics for dresses, especially in sarafan fabrics, up to the 1780s - 1790s, patterns of complex, wavy flower garlands, ribbons, beads were used. But gradually the garlands were replaced by stripes, the patterns became simpler, their rhythms were smoother, the colors were lighter and softer.
In the 1750s-1760s in St. Petersburg and later in Moscow, in the village. In Ivanovo (now the city of Ivanovo), the production of chintz (cotton fabric with a printed pattern with custard, non-fading paints and subsequent polishing) developed. In the patterns of chintz, masters, especially those from Ivanovo, in a peculiar way processed the motifs of silk fabrics. On the basis of folk heels, they combined a luscious pictorial spot and graphic cutting (drawing outlines, lattices, background dots). At first, calicoes were very expensive. By the end of the 18th century, their cheap varieties began to be produced.
Porcelain. By the end of the 18th century, Russian porcelain became one of the best in Europe. The State Porcelain Factory worked successfully in St. Petersburg. His products were distinguished by whiteness of a slightly warm tonality, shiny glaze, and high technical quality. The shapes of dishes, vases, their painting were not inferior to Western ones.
Created the most significant of the services - Arabesque for court receptions (1784, ill. 77). The tabletop decoration of this set of nine allegorical sculptures glorifies the annexation of Georgia and the Crimea, the "virtues" of Catherine II (sculptor J. D. Rachet). It is dominated by the calm postures characteristic of the classicism of the late 18th century, light gilding, and strict proportions of the forms of tableware with paintings in the form of arabesques, based on antique ornaments.
In the 1780s, a series of sculptures "The Peoples of Russia" (creative processing of engravings) was created - brightly decorative, with characteristic images - representatives of certain nationalities (Yakut, Samoyed, Tatar). Sculptural figures of street vendors, artisans depicted in motion, at work were produced. Porcelain sculpture has become a favorite decoration of noble interiors for many decades.
Of the private porcelain factories, the Franz Gardner factory (1765) (the village of Verbilki near Moscow) turns out to be the most viable. Already at the end of the 18th century, he performed services for the royal house with the original use of motifs of Russian orders in the paintings. Quite cheap Gardner's porcelain tableware, distinguished by its simplicity of forms, rich floral painting, close to folk traditions, was successful both in the capital and in the provinces (Fig. 79).
Glass. Colored glass brings true glory to Russian glass in the last third of the 18th century. MV Lomonosov, with his work on the theory of color and the technology of colored glass, opened new ways for Russian glassmaking, enriched the palette of glass, and revived Russian mosaics. He organized a factory for the production of smalt, beads and glass in the village of Ust-Ruditsa, St. Petersburg province. Masters of the State Plant in St. Petersburg Druzhinin and Kirillov were trained in making colored glass from Lomonosov. The plant is mastering the production of glass of deep and pure colors - blue, violet, pink-red, emerald green. Now it is not engraved crystal that dominates in its production, but thin colored and colorless glass. Glasses, glasses, decanters get smooth shapes, in which the body smoothly passes into the leg, creating soft, graceful contours. Paintings in gold and silver of garlands, bows, stars, monograms are calm in rhythm, emphasizing the plastic volumes of vessels.
The so-called milky white glass (mugs, decanters, church objects) is also produced, resembling more expensive porcelain in appearance and character of the paintings.
By the end of the 18th century, the private glass factories of Bakhmetyev in the Penza province, the Maltsevs in the Vladimir and Oryol provinces, and many others developed and achieved great success. Their colorless and colored glass and crystal are widely distributed throughout Russia.
Artistic metal processing. The flowering of jewelry art in Russia begins in the middle of the 18th century and continues throughout the entire century. It has art materials of extraordinary beauty: diamonds, emeralds, sapphires and other precious and semi-precious stones, painted enamels, non-ferrous metals (gold, silver, platinum, alloys). The art of cutting stones reaches a high degree of perfection. To enhance the play of the stone, jewelers find a variety of artistic and technical techniques for mounting, movable fixing of parts. Artists-jewelers create multi-colored jewelry, whimsical in shape: earrings, rings, snuff boxes, buckles for shoes, buttons for luxurious suits for both men and women.
In the last third of the 18th century, the forms of jewelry acquire a balance, the color range of precious stones becomes stricter.
During this period, silversmiths achieved great success. In accordance with new tastes, the shapes of silver sets are simple and clear. They are decorated with flutes, antique ornaments. On silver glasses, snuffboxes, the masters of Veliky Ustyug reproduce images of antique scenes and victories of Russian troops from engravings.
An outstanding phenomenon in the applied art of the 18th century is the steel art products of Tula masters: furniture, boxes, candlesticks, buttons, buckles, snuff boxes. They build the decorative effect of their works on the contrast of smooth light steel and ornaments in the form of faceted pieces, sparkling like diamonds. Craftsmen use bluing (heat treatment in a furnace at different temperatures) of metal, which gives various shades - green, blue, lilac, from thick to bleached. Folk art traditions are reflected in the love of bright colors, in a deep understanding of the material.
Colored stone. In the second half of the 18th century, deposits of marble, cherry-pink eagle in the Urals, multi-colored jasper, variegated breccia, Altai porphyry, and blue Baikal lapis lazuli were discovered. In addition to the Peterhof (1722-1723) and Yekaterinburg (early 1730s), in the very heart of Altai, the Loktev factory began to work in 1787 (since 1802 it was replaced by the Kolyvanskaya). There are wide opportunities for the use of colored stone in the decoration and decoration of monumental and decorative works of palace interiors.
The ability to reveal the aesthetic qualities of the material has always distinguished Russian craftsmen, but it was especially vividly expressed in the art of stone cutting. Working on the projects of architects, stone cutters artistically reveal the fabulous beauty of the stone, its natural pattern, extraordinary shades of color, shine, enhancing them with excellent polishing. Gilded bronze in the form of handles, which only complements and emphasizes the shape. Projects for stone-cutting products, obelisks, vases, based on antique forms, were created by Quarenghi, Voronikhin.
The flourishing of Russian applied art of the 18th century was associated with the work of architects Kazakov, Starov, Quarenghi, Cameron, Voronikhin and a number of trained folk artists. But its true glory was created for the most part by the remaining unknown serfs - furniture makers, carvers, weavers, stone cutters, jewelers, glassmakers, ceramists.
Development of arts and crafts contributed to the improvement of the technique of handicraft and manufactory production, the emergence of the art industry (production of tapestries, art glass, faience, stone cutting, production of silk and cloth), manufacture of fashionable items, luxury goods, the discovery and development of deposits of copper, tin, silver, colored stone, high quality clays.
The role of the Academy of Sciences in the "prosperity of free arts and manufactories", reflecting new natural science and technical interests in arts and crafts, is significant. In the first half of the 18th century, new forms of education and training of masters appeared in artistic manufactories; there are craft organizations of artisans in Russia, which does not negate the wide distribution of foreign craftsmen in various fields of arts and crafts.
In decorative and applied art (interior items, furniture, decor), fashion is actively dictating the style. As a result, new types of objects appear, aesthetic ideas in the decorative and applied arts are updated. In the decorative and applied arts of the middle of the 18th century, there is a tendency for the synthesis of arts, where architecture, sculpture, painting, and applied crafts are merged into a decorative ensemble.
As a result, the art of interior decoration becomes a special kind of artistic activity in the work of architects of the 18th century. This type of artistic activity determines the emergence of new types of premises (offices, ceremonies, bedrooms, living rooms, "picture rooms") and their content (Summer Palace, A.D. Menshikov's Palace, Peterhof Grand Palace, Monplaisir).
All this contributes to the development of furniture business, new types and forms of furniture, materials and methods of decorating it appear. The influence of English and Dutch furniture is very strong here. Under the influence of Europe, even the Baroque and Rococo style in furniture is taking shape in Russia.
Classicism furniture has a characteristic character and shape. To a large extent, antique motifs can be traced in the forms and decoration of the furniture. In the middle of the 18th century, architects were involved in the development of new types of furniture, furniture art appeared in Russia and designer furniture (Brenna, Lvov, Cameron, Voronikhin). In the second half of the 18th century, the first furniture workshops appeared (workshop of G. Gambs and I. Ott). For this period, the style of "jacob" is characteristic of furniture art. By the second half of the 18th century, materials in furniture art were changing: mahogany, gilded wood, poplar, Karelian birch appeared here; more and more fabric and embroidery are used in furniture making.
Ceramics and faience occupy a special place in arts and crafts. This is primarily due to the expansion of imports of earthenware products from England and Holland. However, soon the first private manufactory of A. Grebenshchikov appeared in Moscow, producing Russian fine faience. Later, the style of ceremonial palace dishes with matt engraving was formed and the fashion for crystal as an interior item spreads. This entails the opening of Maltsov's first private glass and crystal factory in Mozhaisk district.
In the 18th century, due to the growing popularity of arts and crafts, room decor, the consumption of glass increased, which was used to create a variety of mirrors and lighting fixtures.
Sculpture and painting of the second half of the 18th century
An important role in the development of painting in the 18th century was played by creation Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky. Despite the fact that the artist was not officially listed as a student of the Academy, he undoubtedly followed the advice of its teachers and, above all, Levitsky. The young artist's natural talent and iron tenacity soon led to Borovikovsky becoming one of the first masters of the late 18th century. He created a series of excellent portraits of his contemporaries, including G. Derzhavin, V. Arsenyeva, M. Lopukhina, O. Filippova and many others. Constant interest in the emotional experiences of a person, emphasized lyricism and contemplation, covered with a haze of sentimentality, so characteristic of the era, are characteristic of most of Borovikovsky's works. The artist never followed the path of the external, superficial characterization of the image, constantly striving to convey the subtlest emotional movements of the portrayed persons.
A chamber portrait prevails in his work. Borovikovsky seeks to assert the intrinsic value and moral purity of a person (portrait of "Lizynka and Dashinka", portrait of E.N. Arsenyeva, etc.). At the turn of the 18th-19th centuries, Borovikovsky is attracted by strong, energetic personalities, he focuses on the civic spirit, nobility, and dignity of those portrayed. The appearance of his models is made more restrained, the landscape background is replaced by the image of the interior (portraits of A.A. Dolgorukov, M.I.Dolgoruka, etc.).
Borovikovsky is also a recognized master of miniature portraiture. The collection of the Russian Museum contains works belonging to his brush - portraits of A.A. Menelas, V.V. Kapnist, N.I. Lvova and others. The artist often used tinplate as the basis for his miniatures.
Russian portrait painting of the 18th century reaches its true peak in creativity D.G. Levitsky . Already in one of his early works - a portrait of the architect A. Kokorinov - Levitsky showed outstanding abilities of a painter. The portrait of the great French materialist philosopher D. Diderot, painted by Levitsky in St. Petersburg in 1773, and the series of portraits of the students of the Smolny Institute, created by the artist, are distinguished by high artistic merit. The images of these girls are marked with sincerity and warmth, the originality of each of them is masterfully conveyed.
Portraits of the subsequent years - of Lvova, the artist's father, the Bakunins, Anna Davia and many other masterpieces of Levitsky - are a vivid evidence of his brilliant talent.
Levitsky created an extensive gallery of portraits of his contemporaries, capturing widely and fully, like no other, living images of people of the era. Levitsky's art completes the history of the development of Russian portrait painting in the 18th century. However, it should be noted that some of the historically determined limitations of his work: like other remarkable artists of his time, Levitsky could not reflect the social contradictions of reality. The people depicted by the artist, in accordance with the prevailing aesthetic ideas, always pose somewhat, they seem to try to show themselves to the viewer in the "most pleasant" light. However, in a number of his works, the artist achieves amazing simplicity and vitality.
Levitsky's legacy is enormous and still evokes in the audience a sense of direct aesthetic pleasure. The professional excellence of his works and their realistic orientation put the artist in one of the most honorable places in the entire history of Russian art.
Among the most famous works of D.G. Levitsky are the following: "Portrait of E.A. Vorontsova", "Portrait of the architect A.F.Kokorinov", "Portrait of N.A.Lvov", "Portrait of M.A.Dyakova", "Portrait Ursula Mnishek "," Portrait of Agasha's Daughter in Russian Costume ", etc.
In the field of portrait painting, Russian artists of the second half of the 18th century also had a new word. The sharpness of the psychological characteristics, which marked many portraits of this time, is striking - the brush of the best Russian masters tends more and more to the truthful transfer of the image of a person. It is significant that at this time already portraits were created not only of the nobility and the "powerful of this world", but also of a number of progressive public figures. In these portraits, there are absolutely no elements of splendor and external gloss; artists pay their attention to conveying the inner content of a person, to revealing the strength of his mind, the nobility of his thoughts and aspirations.
The development of Russian portraiture found its expression in f. Rokotov's work.
Fyodor Stepanovich Rokotov - one of the best Russian portrait painters. Having received an art education under the leadership of L.-J. Le-Lorrain and Count Pietro Rotary, worked in the manner of this latter, but he delved into nature more than he did and was diligent in performance. In 1762 he was accepted as an adjunct in the newly established SPb. Academy of Arts for the painting “Venus” presented to her and for the portrait of Emperor Peter III.
Subtle pictorial skill distinguishes the portraits of this artist. The intimate spirituality of the image, especially in portraits of women, Rokotov brings to great expressiveness and strength. The highly technical perfection of the artist's works - in the nature of the drawing and pictorial skill, one can only compare with him Levitsky. The portraits created by Rokotov are distinguished by the sophistication of the drawing and the grace of color.
The most famous works of Rokotov include: "Portrait of an Unknown Woman in a Pink Dress", "Portrait of A.I. Vorontsov", "Portrait of G.G. Orlov in Armor", "Coronation Portrait of Catherine II", "Portrait of A.P. Struyskaya" , "Portrait of the poet V. I. Maikov", "Portrait of Surovtseva", etc.
In the second half of the 18th century. in Russian painting began to develop everyday genre... However, genre painting was viewed by the leadership of the Academy of Arts and the privileged strata of society as something base, unworthy of the artist's brush. Despite this, after the peasant war under the leadership of E. Pugachev, both in literature, theater and music, and in painting of the 1770-1780s. began to show interest in the peasantry, his way of life, way of life. Often these were sentimental images of idyllic shepherds and shepherdesses that had nothing to do with real peasant life. However, there were exceptions.
One of the first in Russian painting to develop the peasant theme was the serf prince G.A. Potemkin Mikhail Shibanov ... He painted the pictures "Peasant Dinner", "The Celebration of the Wedding Conspiracy", etc. In Shibanov's paintings there is no denunciation of serfdom, but in the above canvases there is no idealization of peasant life. The artist is distinguished by his knowledge and understanding of the life and character of the Russian peasant.
The peasant theme was reflected in the work of the artist I. M. Tankov (1739 - 1799), the author of the painting "Holiday in the Country" and I. A. Ermenev (1746 - after 1792), who painted watercolors "Peasant Dinner", "Beggar Singers" and etc.). For the first time in the history of Russian art, the artist conveyed the dark sides of folk life, the squalor of poverty.
In the second half of the 18th century. the real flourishing of Russian sculpture begins. It developed slowly, but Russian enlightenment thought and Russian classicism were the greatest stimuli for the development of the art of great civic ideas, large-scale problems, which led to an interest in sculpture during this period. Shubin, Gordeev, Kozlovsky, Shchedrin, Prokofiev, Martos - each by himself was the brightest individual, left his mark on art... But all of them were united by common creative principles, which they learned from Professor Nicolas Gillet, who from 1758 to 1777 headed the class of sculpture at the Academy, the general ideas of civic consciousness and patriotism, and the high ideals of antiquity.
The search for the generalized beautiful does not exclude the full depth of comprehension of human character, the desire to convey its versatility. This striving is perceptible in the monumental decorative plastics and easel sculpture of the second half of the century, but especially in the portrait genre.
His highest achievements are primarily associated with creativity. Fedot Ivanovich Shubin (1740-1805), a compatriot of Lomonosov, who arrived in St. Petersburg as an artist who had grasped the intricacies of bone carving. Shubin's first work at home is a bust of A.M. Golitsyn already testifies to the full maturity of the master. All the versatility of the model's characteristics is revealed during its circular examination, although there is undoubtedly the main point of view of the sculpture.
Shubin worked not only as a portrait painter, but also as a decorator. He executed 58 oval marble historical portraits for the Chesme Palace (located in the Armory), sculptures for the Marble Palace and for Peterhof, a statue of Catherine II - the legislator (1789-1790). There is no doubt that Shubin is the largest phenomenon in the Russian artistic culture of the 18th century. French sculptor Etienne-Maurice Falconet worked together with Russian masters in Russia, who expressed his understanding of Peter's personality and its historical role in the fate of Russia in the monument to Peter I on Senate Square in St. Petersburg.
Fyodor Fyodorovich Shchedrin (1751-1825). He went through the same stages of training at the Academy and retirement in Italy and France as Shubin. The Marsyas, performed by him in 1776, is full of turbulent movement and a tragic attitude. Like all sculptors of the era of classicism, Shchedrin is fascinated by antique images ("Sleeping Endymion"; "Venus"), while showing a particularly poetic penetration into their world.
The history of Russia at the end of the 17th - first quarter of the 18th century is inseparable from the name of one of the largest political figures in Russia - Peter I. Significant innovations at this time invade not only the field of culture and art, but also industry - metallurgy, shipbuilding, etc. At the beginning of the 18th century, the first mechanisms and machine tools for metal processing appeared. Much in this area has been done by Russian mechanics Nartov, Surnin, Sobakin, and others.
At the same time, the foundations of the state system of general and special education are being laid. In 1725, the Academy of Sciences was founded, at which a department of artistic crafts was opened.
A. Nartov.Lathe. Peter's era. XVIII century.
In the 18th century, new principles of architecture and urban planning were formed. This period was marked by an increase in the shaping of products of the characteristic features of the Western European Baroque (Holland, England).
As a result of the undertakings of Peter I, products of traditional Russian forms quickly disappear from the royal and aristocratic palace life, still remaining in the dwellings of the masses of the rural and urban population, as well as in church use. It was in the first quarter of the 18th century that the significant difference in stylistic development was outlined, which remained for a long time characteristic of professional creativity and folk art crafts. In the latter, the age-old traditions of Russian, Ukrainian, Estonian, etc. applied arts are directly and organically developed.
The norms of noble life require a demonstration of wealth, sophistication and brilliance in the life of a sovereign person. The forms of the old way of life, including Peter's (still business-like, strict), were finally supplanted by the middle of the 18th century. The dominant position in Russian art is occupied by the so-called Rococo style, which logically completed the tendencies of the late Baroque. The ceremonial interiors of this time, for example, some rooms of the Peterhof and Tsarskoye Selo palaces, are almost entirely decorated with elaborate carvings.
The general features of rocaille ornamentation (curvature of lines, abundant and asymmetrical arrangement of stylized or close-to-nature flowers, leaves, shells, eyes, etc.) are fully reproduced in Russian architecture and furniture of that time, ceramics, clothes, carriages, ceremonial weapons, etc. e. But the development of Russian applied art nevertheless followed a completely independent path. Despite the unconditional similarity of the forms of our own products with Western European ones, it is easy to notice the differences between them. So, but in comparison with French, Russian furniture products have much freer forms and softer in outlines and drawing. Craftsmen still retained the skills of folk carving, larger and more generalized than in the West. No less characteristic is the polychromy of Russian products and the combination of gilding with painting, which is rarely found in France, and is accepted everywhere in Russia.
Since the 60s of the 18th century, the transition to classicism began in Russian architecture with its laconic and strict forms, turned to antiquity and marked by great restraint and grace. The same process takes place in the applied arts.
In the planning, equipment and decor of city mansions and palaces (architects Kokorinov, Bazhenov, Quarenghi, Starov, etc.), there is a clear symmetry, proportional to clarity. The walls of the premises (between the windows or opposite them) are hidden by mirrors and panels made of silk damask, decorative cotton fabrics, and cloth.
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Sofa - rococo style. Russia (fragment). Mid-18th century
Armchair of classicism style. Russia. Second half of the 18th century
The floors are made of various types of wood, and sometimes covered with canvas or cloth; the ceilings are painted (for example, the grisaille technique that imitates relief molding). Spruce plank "under wax" floors are used instead of inlaid parquet. Walls and ceilings are often upholstered with fabric or wallpaper. If in the ceremonial rooms impressive marble fireplaces are arranged, then in the intimate chambers more traditional stoves are erected on pedestals or legs, lined with tiles. The difference in the lamps is just as noticeable: in the halls there are jewelry made and expensive chandeliers, candelabra, sconces, in the chambers there are much more modest candlesticks and lamps. There is even more contrast in the forms of ceremonial and household furniture. All this speaks not so much about the desire of the owners of palaces and mansions to save money, but about their consideration of the subject environment as an important factor in a psychologically appropriate atmosphere.
Most of the furniture and a number of other products at the end of the 18th and the first half of the 19th century were not constantly needed; if unnecessary, they were either removed or transferred to inactively used parts of the premises. The seating furniture was necessarily covered. In this regard, transformable furniture with a work surface has received great development - tea and card tables, a folding dining table, a table for needlework, a system of tables of different heights that fit under each other, etc. All this significantly increased the comfort of life, a fine differentiation of its functional support and the variety of the appearance of the premises in various everyday situations. At the same time, a number of household processes that took place outside the building during the warm season - on the terrace and in the park - stood out. As a result, new types of products are spreading - garden furniture, umbrella awnings, park lamps, etc. In the 18th century, serf workshops were organized at individual estates, producing rather large batches of furniture, porcelain, carpets and other products.
At the end of the 18th century, the separation of the actual design of products (furniture, lamps, clocks, tapestries, and other utensils and decoration items) as a special area of \u200b\u200bcreative activity from their handicraft was already noticeably reflected in the equipment of large palaces. Most of the designers are architects and professional artists. In the production of products for the mass market, machines and mechanical methods of processing materials are used, making the engineer a leading figure in production. This leads to the distortion and loss of the high aesthetic qualities inherent in consumer goods, to the separation of industry from art. This tendency was natural in the conditions of the capitalist development of society and one of the main trends for the entire 19th century.
In the course of the intensive development of capitalist relations in Russia in the 19th century, the capacity of industrial production increased. By the middle of the 19th century, there was already an acute need for artistically professional personnel of product designers and craftsmen. For their preparation, specialized educational institutions were opened in Moscow (Count Stroganov) and Petersburg (Baron Stieglitz). Their very name - "technical drawing schools" - speaks of the emergence of a new type of artist. Since 1860, the special craft education of performers has been developing. Many books are published on the processing technology of various materials: wood, bronze, iron, gold, etc. Trade catalogs are published, replacing the previously published magazine "Economic Store". From the middle of the 19th century, the sciences related to issues of occupational health and the use of household items have been formed. However, throughout the entire 19th century, all mass manufactured products in the artistic sense remain completely subordinate to the undividedly dominant concept of beauty as a decorative and ornamental design of products. The consequence of this was the introduction of classic style elements into the form of most of the products: complex profile finishes, fluted columns, rosettes, garlands, ornaments based on antique motives, etc. In some cases, these elements were introduced into the forms of even industrial equipment - machine tools.
In the stylistic development of applied art and household goods in the 19th century, three main periods are conventionally distinguished chronologically: the continuation of the tendencies of classicism in the mainstream of the so-called Empire style (first quarter of a century); late classicism (circa 1830-1860) and eclecticism (after the 1860s).
The first quarter of the 19th century was marked by a general rise in ideology and building scope in Russian architecture, which caused a significant revival in applied art.
Empire style armchair. First quarter of the 19th century.
The victory in the war of 1812 to a certain extent accelerates and completes the process of the formation of Russian national culture, which is acquiring pan-European significance. The activity of the most famous architects - Voronikhin, Quarenghi, Kazakov, closely associated with the classicism of the previous period, falls only on the first decade of the century. They are being replaced by a galaxy of such remarkable masters as Rossi, Stasov, Grigoriev, Bove, who brought new ideas and a different stylistic spirit to Russian art.
Austerity and monumentality are characteristic features of the architecture and forms of various household items in the Empire style. In the latter, decorative motifs noticeably change, more precisely, their typology expands due to the use of decorative symbols of Ancient Egypt and Rome - griffins, sphinxes, fascias, military attributes ("trophies") entwined with a garland of wreaths, etc. Compared with examples of early classicism in general the number of decor, its "visual weight" in the compositional solution of products increases. Monumentalization, sometimes, as it were, a coarsening of forms, occurs due to the greater generalization and geometrization of classical ornamental motifs - okant, wreaths, lyre, armor, etc., which are increasingly moving away from their real prototypes. Painting (scenes, landscapes, bouquets) painting of objects almost completely disappears. The ornament tends to stain, contour, applicativity. Most of the products, especially furniture, become large, massive, but varied in overall configuration and silhouette. The heaviness of the Empire style in pieces of furniture almost disappeared already in the 1830s.
From the middle of the XIX century, new searches began in the field of architecture, applied and industrial creativity.
A pan-European artistic movement was born, which was named "Biedermeier", after the name of the bourgeois of one of the characters of the German writer L. Eichrodt (the work was published in the 1870s) with his ideal of comfort and intimacy.
Factory made iron. Russia. Second half of the X1X century.
In the second half of the 19th century, there is a further displacement of manual labor from the production of utilitarian household products. For centuries, the evolving methods and techniques of their artistic solution, the principles of shaping come into conflict with new economic trends in mass production and profitability of the production of things on the market. The reaction to a changing situation is twofold. Some masters - most of them - make compromises. Considering the inviolable traditional view of all household items as an object of decorative and applied art, they begin to adapt the ornamental motives of classicism to the capabilities of the machine and serial technologies. "Effective" types of decoration and finishing of products appear. As early as the 1830s in England, Henry Coole put forward an outwardly reformist slogan to decorate factory products with elements "from the world of fine art forms." Many industrialists willingly take up the slogan, striving to make the most of the consumer's attachment to externally decorated, ornamental enriched forms of household furnishings.
Other theorists and practitioners of applied arts (D. Ruskin, W. Morris), on the contrary, suggest organizing a boycott of industry. Their credo is the purity of the traditions of medieval craft.
In the countries of Western Europe and in Russia, for the first time, artisanal artels and craftsmen, in whose work deep folk traditions have been preserved, are attracting the attention of theorists and professional artists. In Russia, the Nizhny Novgorod fairs of the 1870s-1890s demonstrate the viability of these traditions in the new conditions. Many professional artists - V. Vasnetsov, M. Vrubel, E. Polenova, K. Korovin, N. Roerich and others - are enthusiastic about the folk origins of decorative art. In various regions and provinces of Russia, in cities such as Pskov, Voronezh, Tambov, Moscow, Kamenets-Podolsk, etc., craft enterprises appear, the basis of which is manual labor. Particularly important for the revival of creative, dying out crafts was the work of the workshops in Abramtsov near Moscow, in Talashkino near Smolensk, the enterprise of P. Vaulin near St. Petersburg, the ceramic artel "Murava" in Moscow.
Samovar. XIX century.
Russia. Second half
Industrial pump. XIX century.
However, the products of all these workshops constituted such an insignificant part of the total consumption that they could not have any noticeable effect on mass production, although they proved the legitimacy of the existence, along with mass machine production, of decorative art, which preserves folk traditions. Later this was confirmed by the invasion of machine technology in such areas of decorative and applied arts as jewelry (bijouterie), carpet weaving, tailoring, which led to a sharp decline in their artistic quality.
In the forms of the bulk of the products manufactured in the second half of the 19th century, practically nothing new is being developed. However, the novelty of the most general situation already at this time contributes to the addition of internal prerequisites for innovative searches - the awareness of style searches as an important creative need, as a manifestation of the artist's artistic individuality. If until now style trends (Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Classicism, etc.) were born and spread, as a rule, as a result of general, almost "global", spontaneously crystallized tendencies of the aesthetic development of the world, then from the middle of the 19th century, style originality is regarded as a direct creative achievement of an individual artist, architect. In this regard, interest in the heritage of art of all times and peoples is sharply activated. This rich heritage becomes a source of imitation, direct borrowing or fancy creative reworking.
Modern style table with armchair. End of the 19th century
As a result, the bulk of the products is an unusually variegated picture, in which there are now clear, now subtle reminiscences of antiquity, the Romanesque era, the Gothic, the Italian or French Renaissance, the art of Byzantium and Ancient Russia, the Baroque, etc., often eclectically mixing in design of one product, interior, building. Therefore, this period in the history of architecture and applied art was called eclectic. Nonetheless, products (lamps, metal buckets, troughs, dishes, stools, etc.) are relatively cheap, but made without any artistic purpose, often in ugly shapes and of poor quality, into the people's life.
The search for a new style is carried out taking into account the real need in the conditions of machine production, a fundamentally new approach to the shaping of products, on the one hand, and the preservation of the decorative traditions of the past, on the other. The bourgeoisie, which by the end of the 19th century had taken strong positions in the Russian economy, strove for its own artistic ideology in architecture and design - the cult of the rational, relative freedom from the archaisms of the noble culture, encouraging in art everything that could argue with the styles of the past. Such at the end of the 19th century was the modern style - "new art" in Belgium, Great Britain and the USA, "Jugendstil" in Germany, "Secession style" in Austria, "free style" in Italy. Its name - "modern" (from the French. Moderne) meant "new, modern" - from lat. modo - "just recently." In its pure form, fading away and mixing with other stylistic trends, it lasted for a relatively short time, until about 1920, that is, about 20-25 years, like almost all stylistic trends of the 17th-20th centuries.
Modernism is diverse in different countries and in the work of individual artists, which complicates the understanding of the tasks they were solving. However, the almost complete eradication of all previously used decorative and ornamental motives and techniques and their radical renewal became characteristic. Traditional cornices, rosettes, capitals, flutes, "oncoming waves" belts, etc. are replaced by stylized local plants (lilies, iris, carnations, etc.), female heads with long curly hair, etc. Often there is no decoration at all , and the artistic effect is achieved due to the expressiveness of the silhouette, articulations of the form, lines, as a rule, thinly traced, as if freely flowing, pulsating. In the forms of Art Nouveau products, one can almost always feel some whimsical will of the artist, the tension of a tightly stretched string, exaggeration of proportions. In extreme manifestations, all this is sharply exacerbated, elevated to a principle. Sometimes there is a disregard for the constructive logic of form, an almost fake enthusiasm for the spectacular side of the task, especially in the solution of interiors, which are often spectacularly theatrical.
With all the weaknesses - pretentiousness, sometimes loudness of forms, a new approach has emerged to the solution of the building, interior, environment with the consistency of a functional, constructive and technological solution.
Modern style candlestick. The beginning of the twentieth century.
Set of dishes. End of the 19th century
Dressing table from the Art Nouveau period. Early XX century
Modern in the vast majority of its samples did not abandon the decoration of products, but only replaced the old decorative motifs and techniques with new ones. Already at the beginning of the 20th century, at the time of the triumphs of the new style, again, at first timidly, then the fashion for the old styles came back widely, which had a well-known connection with the preparations that had begun for the celebration of the centenary of the Patriotic War of 1812. The exhibition "Contemporary Art", held in St. Petersburg in 1903, clearly showed the birth of "classicizing Art Nouveau".
The results of modernity are complex. This is the purification of applied art from eclecticism, and from the "anti-machineism" of advocates of handicrafts, and from failed attempts to restore the styles of the past. These are the first symptoms of the emergence of architecture and applied art on the path of functionalism and constructivism, on the path of modern design. At the same time, soon discovering a tendency to nationalize the style, Art Nouveau caused a new wave of purely decorative searches. Many painters turn to applied art and interior design (S. Malyutin, V. Vasnetsov, A. Benois, S. Golovin, etc.), gravitating towards the colorfulness of the Russian fairy tale, to the "gingerbread", etc. In the perspective of the subsequent historical process , the solution of urgent problems of mass industrial production, such experiments could not have serious ideological and artistic value, although they gave impetus to the development of another branch of applied art - artistic crafts and especially theatrical and decorative art.
Modernity, as it were, cleared and prepared the way for the establishment of new aesthetic and creative principles in the art of creating everyday things, accelerated the emergence of a new artistic profession - artistic design (design).
The formalization of functionalism and constructivism into special directions in the architecture and artistic design of Western countries occurred in the late 1910s in connection with the stabilization of life and the success of the economy after the First World War. But the fundamental foundations of the new modern architecture were determined in the pre-war period in the work of such architects as T. Garnier and O. Perret (France), H. Berlaga (Holland), A. Loos (Austria), P. Behrens (Germany), F. Wright (USA), I. Shekhtel, I. Rerberg (Russia) and others. Each of them in his own way overcame the influence of modernity and fought.
In 1918, under the department of fine arts of the People's Commissariat for Education, special departments for architecture and art industry were formed. Serious attention is paid to the training of specialists. In 1920, VI Lenin signed a decree on the creation of the Higher State Artistic and Technical Workshops (VKHUTEMAS). Graduates created new samples of fabrics, furniture, dishes, etc.
Studying in workshops (in 1927 transformed into VKHUTEIN All-Union Artistic and Technical Institute), was conducted in the faculties: architecture, ceramic, textile, etc. At the faculty of wood and metal processing under the leadership of A. Rodchenko, D. . Lissitzky, V. Tatlin and other masters were looking for new forms and designs of various objects. All the activities of VKHUTEMAS were aimed at developing students' skills of an integrated approach to the design of the subject environment of everyday life and production.
In the 1920s, a "production art" trend took shape, developing the principles of functionalism and constructivism, striving to affirm the aesthetic ideal of rationally organized material production in the minds of artists. Any previous forms of art were declared bourgeois "production workers", unacceptable for the proletariat. Hence, they denied not only "practically useless" fine art, but also all purely decorative art, for example jewelry. In the 1920s, technical and economic conditions for the implementation of their ideas were not yet ripe in our country.
VKHUTEMAS and the "production workers" of the 1920s were ideologically and aesthetically closely associated with the Bauhaus and in a number of important moments represented with it, in essence, a single trend in artistic design of that time. Within the framework of this new movement, the aesthetics of modern design were formed, overcoming contradictions in the applied art of the previous period. The practical artistic activity of the founders of design was also the development of an arsenal of artistic and expressive means of the art of creating things. In their works (furniture, lamps, dishes, fabrics, etc.), the closest attention was paid to such properties of materials and forms as texture, color, plastic expressiveness, rhythmic structure, silhouette, etc., which acquired a decisive importance in composition. products without conflicting with the requirements of constructive logic and manufacturability of form. Another area that successfully developed in our country in the 1920s is engineering design. In 1925, the famous radio tower was erected in Moscow according to the project of the outstanding engineer V. Shukhov, whose openwork silhouette became a symbol of Soviet radio for a long time. A year earlier, J. Gakkel created the first Soviet diesel locomotive on the basis of the latest achievements in technology, the form of which even today looks quite modern. In the 1920s, the need for scientific research of the laws of human activity in an artificially created object environment was realized. The Central Institute of Labor is being organized, within its walls, research is being conducted on the scientific organization of labor and the culture of production. The attention of scientists and designers is attracted by issues of biomechanics, organoleptic properties, etc. Among the notable works of those years is the project of a tram driver's workplace (N. Bernstein).
J. Gakkel.Locomotive. Early 1930s
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Wedding chest. Italy. 17th century |
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The sculptural group "Winter". From the series "The Four Seasons". Germany. Meissen |
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Service items. France. Sevres. 1780-1784. Soft porcelain, painting. Freezer |
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Hall of French art of the 18th-19th centuries |
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Cabinet. Augsburg. 17th century. Wood, carving, white metal, gilding, 196x135x61 |
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Bureau cylinder. Russia. End of the 18th century. |
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Vase. Russia. First quarter of the 19th century. Glass, painted in gold. Height 35.5 |
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Freezer. Russia. Imperial Porcelain Factory. First quarter of the 19th century. Porcelain, painting. Height 40 |
Collections of decorative and applied art are also associated with the name of A.P. Bogolyubov, who donated 40 pieces of old porcelain, mostly Saxon, at the opening of the museum. There were 92 items of various utensils and furniture. In 1897, after the death of Bogolyubov, according to his will, another group of things was received, including furniture, glass, bronze, silverware.
Bogolyubov's collections, in particular porcelain, were significantly replenished in the first post-revolutionary years from the State Museum Fund, where all nationalized works of art flocked. In 1970, the museum received samples of Russian and Western European porcelain (over 300 items) bequeathed to O. A. Gordeeva, a famous Saratov ophthalmologist.
The history of this delicate and refined art goes back centuries. Porcelain originated at the turn of the 7th-8th centuries in China. In Europe, they learned about him in the XIII century. The famous Venetian traveler Marco Polo brought several porcelain vessels from the East. Europe was seized by the "porcelain fever", everyone wanted to have products from this shiny white material, painted with bright, unfading colors. There is information that when things made of porcelain broke, they continued to keep them anyway; shards were often set in precious metals and worn as jewelry. In porcelain, not only beauty was appreciated, but also unprecedented properties. The glazed surface of the porcelain was not exposed to chemical attack and was impervious. There were legends about porcelain. The secret of its production could not be solved until the beginning of the 18th century. But along the way, many new materials were discovered, similar in appearance to the products of Chinese masters. This is how milky glass appeared in Venice, Spanish-Moorish ceramics, faience in England and Holland.
The first in Europe to receive porcelain was I. F. Betger, who found deposits of white clay (kaolin) near Meissen in Saxony. The secret of porcelain production, which had been fought in Europe for centuries, was discovered. Soon the porcelain of the Meissen manufactory became known throughout Europe. And now the products of this plant are popular with art lovers.
In the collection of our museum, Meissen porcelain is presented very well and fully. This includes items bequeathed by Bogolyubov and porcelain items from the collection of O. A. Gordeeva, as well as other exhibits.
The most interesting is Meissen porcelain of the 18th century. This era is considered a classic period in the development of European porcelain. At this time, the master seeks to emphasize the whiteness and subtlety of porcelain, submits the material taking into account its natural properties.
Meissen - the first European porcelain production - is especially famous for small plastic. In the images of ladies, gentlemen, allegorical compositions and pastorals, one of the qualities of the Rococo style manifested itself with particular force - the illusion of a continuous smooth flow of the line. The names of Johann Joachim Kendler and Peter Reinicke are associated with the formation of Meissen plastics. Their works combined elements of sculpture and decorative and applied art proper. The whimsicality of the contours and the beauty of the color - this is what characterizes the sculptures made according to their models.
Two allegorical figures from the "Four Seasons" series - "Winter" and "Spring", made according to the models of Johann Joachim Kendler, reveal the characteristic features of the Rococo style in porcelain. The seasons are represented in the images of the ancient gods sitting on the clouds. Winter is personified by Saturn and Hebe, spring by Mars and Flora. The sculptural groups are adorned with fine stucco, brightly painted flowers for which the Meissen factory was famous in the 18th century.
The small collection of products of the Berlin plant is distinguished by high artistic qualities. These are mainly table setting items and interior decoration. The most delicate purple, which was the glory of this production, is painted based on A. Watteau's "carriage cup". The bodies of teapots, coffee pots, and decorative vases are decorated with popular pastorals and floral designs in the 18th century.
A group of items from the Vienna Factory is presented in the 18th - early 19th centuries, when the features of a new style - Empire style - were taking shape in European porcelain. Taking care of the increased decorativeness, the Viennese masters gave their own version of the painting. In the mirror of the plates, in the rich gold frame of the ornament, most often copies from the paintings of the Renaissance masters were placed.
Each country went its own way to porcelain, developing both a special technology and a special character of ornamentation, sometimes within the same style. Throughout Europe, French dishes with colored backgrounds were famous: turquoise, pink, blue, painted in medallions framed with gilded ornaments. Such porcelain was made at the Sevres Manufactory, the main porcelain production in France.
This is how the blue ice cream maker, tray and spice tray, which were part of the service that belonged to Prince Yusupov, are painted. This service has been produced for more than one year and was decorated by the largest porcelain painters. The ice cream maker was painted by Vincent the Younger, the author of the painting on the famous cameo service ordered by Catherine II Sevres and now kept in the Hermitage. The Yusupov service was made of "soft porcelain". And the specific properties of this material could not be more consistent with the Rococo style with its usual soft contours and wavy lines. The peculiarities of the Sevres mass also determined the nature of the painting: no ceramic material gives such sonorous deep tones with many shades.
In Russia, porcelain was first obtained in the middle of the 18th century by D.I. Vinogradov at the Imperial Porcelain Factory (IPP) in St. Petersburg. In the museum collection, Russian porcelain is represented by products of numerous private enterprises. The museum can be proud of the magnificent samples of the IPE, the factories of Gardner, Popov, Kornilov, Gulin, Safronov, which have their own unique charm.
The achievements of Russian masters in the classicism style of the early 19th century, or Empire style, are well known. Russian porcelain within this style, as well as other branches of applied art, provides excellent examples.
Empire style was inspired by antiquity. The decor is dominated by laurel wreaths, lions, griffins, military attributes, etc. The forms reveal the solidity of the masses, their static character. According to the laws of this style, a tabletop vase in the form of two classical figures supporting an oval-shaped bowl was made by the IPZ craftsmen. The figures, made of biscuit (unglazed porcelain), are in contrast to the white color of the blue tone and gilding of the base. The love of the Empire style for the brightness and contrast of color affects. Another vase is also a sculptural group: Venus puts a quiver with arrows on Cupid. Such vases were made for large ceremonial or anniversary services and were installed in the center of the festive table.
The features of the same style are distinct in an ice cream maker on three paws of a dark color, under the old bronze. Its color was beautifully combined with the brilliance of the gilding.
The products of private factories are more distinctive. You can talk about priest's porcelain, Gardner's or Safron's. These factories are represented by objects not unique, in contrast to the IPE, but by the so-called ordinary dishes associated with the life of a particular class. It is easy to guess the social belonging of the so-called "tavern" brightly elegant teapots, decorated with unpretentious flower painting, created at the Popov factory in the 1830-1850s.
The source from which the craftsmen drew the shapes of the dishes and the motives of the painting is traditional Russian folk art. This path will be the most fruitful in the time of the approaching interstyle, it will largely save Russian private factories in this difficult time from the loss of ceramics ", inevitable in the era of eclecticism. green cups, made by the masters of the priest's factory, the main thing has not been lost: the balance of the form and functional purpose of the object.
The collection of Soviet porcelain is relatively small. It is represented by propaganda porcelain, which in the 1920s was one of the means of revolutionary propaganda.
A dish and cups painted according to drawings by S. Chekhonin and N. Altman, sculptures by N. Danko, plates by A. Schekatikhina-Pototskaya with revolutionary slogans and emblems of the young Soviet state - this first porcelain of the Land of the Soviets spoke the language of its time. It was exhibited in special showcases in Moscow on Kuznetsky Most and in Petrograd on Nevsky. "This porcelain was news from a wonderful future, for which the Soviet country fought in terrible battles with hunger, devastation, and intervention," wrote E.Ya.Danko, an artist and historiographer of the Lomonosov factory (formerly the Imperial Porcelain Factory), in her memoirs.
Glassware stored in the A.N. Radishchev Museum came in the same way as porcelain: in 1897, according to A.P. Bogolyubov's will, through the State Museum Fund, from private collections.
A small but interesting collection of Russian glass of the late 18th - early 19th centuries was bequeathed to the museum of E.P. Razumova in 1973.
Russian glass factories, state and private, appeared at the beginning of the 18th century in Moscow and St. Petersburg, near Smolensk and Kaluga. The demand for glass items is growing. The number of factories is also growing. The famous Maltsev plant appears on the Gus River near Vladimir, the Bakhmetyev plant near Penza in the village of Nikolskoye.
The earliest pieces of glass from the 18th century in our collection are those of private factories. First of all, this is a green glass damask with an unpretentious floral ornament and the inscription: "Make this vessel in the Gavril factory in 726...." This is an early example of Russian ordinary dishes, which were made in large quantities, they were not spared or taken care of. Instead of the lost and broken, they bought a new one. Therefore, few such dishes have survived. Shtof is also interesting because it is signed. It contains the date and place of manufacture. It is known that in 1724 the plant of Gavrilov and Loginov was founded in the Moscow district. There is no further information about this production. Our damask gives an idea of \u200b\u200bthe nature of the products of a little-known company.
Glass in Russia was practically not marked. Only starting from the 20s of the XIX century (from the era of Nicholas I) the Imperial Glass Factory began to put stamps on its products. The presence of a stamp, of course, is not the only way to determine the place and time of manufacture of a particular item. The remarkable monuments of glass making are the tall, conical cups of the 18th century, often with lids, ornamented with carved coats of arms of royalty or monograms. The benzels were framed by plant shoots and curls called "rocailles". Along the top of the goblets, at the edge, there is a pattern of engraved and polished "pits" with arches. Racks of legs were made in the form of balusters with "apples", which were strung on the rack, sometimes up to five pieces. The engraving in these items was shallow and sweeping. These qualities distinguish Russian cups from cups from Bohemia and Germany, which are kept in the museum.
Obviously, in private factories, numerous colored glasses, decanters, and bottles are made. Colored glass was very popular in Russia. Unlike Western Europe, here they made dishes of solid colored glass, which appeared in large numbers in the middle of the 18th century. This is due to the successful experiments of M. Lomonosov.
At the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries, tall faceted decanters with corks of various shapes appeared, glasses raised on thin legs, graceful glasses with sparkling edges, ornamental dishes, which were used to decorate festive tables and suppliers. Faceted dishes are made of colorless glass with the addition of lead, which gives a special shine. It is called crystal and is cut by the so-called "diamond edge". This technique is still used in glass making.
The second half of the 19th century was a time of heightened interest in arts and crafts, especially in its history. Collecting antiques is becoming widespread. It is not by chance that an increased interest in antique furniture was also determined at the same time. Collectors collect carved gilded furniture of the 18th century, typesetting dressers, cabinets, Italian and German wedding chests, massive oak and walnut wardrobes in Germany of the 17th century. Similar items were in the collection of Bogolyubov.
Passion for antique furniture gives rise to fakes that flooded antique shops. One after another in Paris, Venice, St. Petersburg, workshops are being created that make furniture for the antique, sometimes indistinguishable from the genuine - the wood is so smoothly polished, the proportions of its structural parts are so faithfully observed.
The earliest furniture in the museum collection dates back to the 16th-17th centuries. These are furniture from Germany, France, Italy, Holland, assembled by A.P. Bogolyubov. Of course, our collection of furniture of that time does not give grounds to talk about the prevailing interior, but it allows us to represent the national characteristics of pieces of furniture art from different countries in a fairly broad chronological framework.
Furniture is short-lived, wood is used as the material for its manufacture, which is easily exposed to a variety of influences. A lot of her died both from natural disasters or as a result of wars, and for reasons associated with the influence of fashion. Furniture belongs to consumer goods. This means that over time it wears out and has to be replaced with a new one. Few furniture has survived from the dwellings of the common people. Nevertheless, the main stages in the history of furniture art in some European countries can be traced to the objects of our collection.
In 16th century Italy, a solid wood chair with a carved back was made, a wedding chest, a Venetian workmanship, an altar. For the manufacture of this furniture, brown walnut was used, a material characteristic of Italy, which allows the master to achieve a great artistic effect. The motives of the carving were drawn from the heritage of ancient art. In a wedding chest, obviously of Florentine work, the rare unity of form and ornament, which distinguished the Italian furniture makers of the 16th - early 17th centuries, is surprising.
Furniture of this era in its constructive logic is similar to architectural structures. The altar is designed in the form of a portal with columns intertwined with grapevine, with a podium in a niche for the figure of the Mother of God - these architectural elements are extremely characteristic of furniture of the 16th-17th centuries. This is especially true in cabinet furniture made in the south of Germany. The closet turns into a kind of two-story building, each tier of which is divided by a cornice. The tiers are decorated with columns or pilasters. The doors of the cabinets resemble portals or windows, crowned with platbands or pediments. All these architectural details are reinforced with glue and are, in fact, a decoration that hides the structure of a cabinet made up of two chests. This impression is reinforced by the folding chest handles on its side facades. This is how the wardrobe, decorated with a burl, is designed (a growth on a tree, a wood defect that gives a rich, beautiful texture). Wardrobes were necessarily supplied with shelves, and clothes were kept folded in them. They could also serve to store various utensils.
The shape of a folding chair, the so-called curule chair, can also be considered traditional for Germany in the 16th-17th centuries. For the ancients, it was a symbol of power. Only sitting on such an armchair was it possible to administer judgment and reprisals. Such a chair was usually worn for consuls, top military leaders, and dictators. Smoothly curved legs-uprights, made of several narrow slats, are crossed and connected with crossbeams for strength, and a removable board inserted into the upper part of the chair as a spacer constitutes the back.
Since the 16th century, a peculiar form of the chair appeared in Germany, which became widespread in the furniture art of this country in the 17th century - the so-called peasant chair. Our museum also has a whole series of similar items with different versions of the same ornament. The prototype of such a chair was at first just a stump of a tree, stripped of branches and reinforced for stability on three legs. And for comfortable urban dwellings, chairs with four legs were made - examples of high skill. Only a board serving as a back is decorated with them. It can be not only walnut, but oak and pine. It depends on where the item was made. In carving, as a rule, motives of grotesque ornament are used, which often turns into a fabulous pattern by the master's imagination.
The 17th century brings a lot of new things to the art of furniture. This is primarily due to social transformations in Europe, which led to a change in the position of the third estate. Having come to power, it cultivates modesty, simplicity, and holiness of the family hearth. Dutch furniture is in great demand and is exported to all countries. At the other extreme is France, in whose art a magnificent, solemn style triumphs.
There is only one piece in our collection of furniture, which is typical of the palace ceremonial furnishings of the 17th century. This is the so-called cabinet - a cabinet with many drawers, compartments, and a pull-out board. It was made by the craftsmen of the city of Augsburg, decorated on the facade with metal plates depicting animals, twisted gilded posts. The board is made of fine wood.
Such offices appeared in the 16th century. Their homeland is Spain. The first offices were boxes on the underframe. In the 17th century, these were already large wardrobes, which became part of the decoration of the room, which was called the study. In closets, medals, letters, jewelry were kept.
Most of the collection of Russian furniture, which includes works of the 18th-19th centuries, was made either in small private workshops or by furniture makers of noble estates. The craftsmen introduced into their works a variety of artistic tastes, all the knowledge and skills they had accumulated, methods of wood processing, decoration and decor. They were reflected primarily in the forms of household furniture of that time, which were greatly influenced by folk art. This manifested itself not only in the forms and decor, but in the choice and processing of wood. Karelian birch and poplar became the favorite material already at the end of the 18th century. They are used only in Russia.
Each country in the art of furniture was either the ancestor of a certain style, such as Italy in the Renaissance, or the birthplace of a famous master furniture maker, such as T. Chippendale in England or J. Jacob in France.
Russian furniture is represented mainly by the furnishings of the noble interior of the first third of the 19th century. It was one of the most brilliant eras in the history of decorative and applied art in Russia, and furniture in particular. In the art of the first decades of the 19th century, the Empire style dominates, which originated in France and became the property of all of Europe. Russia, in which he became the spokesman for lofty and progressive ideas, gives its own special, original version of this style. The decorativeness characteristic of the Empire style, the striving for monumentality and generalization of forms determined in furniture the very choice of material and the nature of its interaction with form and decor. The main materials of Russian furniture makers will be mahogany and Karelian birch, which they love for the beautiful texture of wood.
The furniture stored in our museum is mainly made by the hands of serf craftsmen and represents that version of the Empire style, which was widely included in the life of the Russian nobility. It is simpler than palace furniture. This furniture came to the museum after the Great October Socialist Revolution from the surrounding estates, town houses and has not only artistic but also historical value.
The seating furniture is especially varied. Two paired armchairs with openwork carved backs, decorated with gilded lyres, are an example of Russian household furniture of the first quarter of the 19th century. There are forms that are almost devoid of ornaments, veneered with golden Karelian birch with black eyes.
At this time, another room appeared in the interior of the noble estate, the so-called sofa room, and its indispensable accessory was the sofa. Usually these are soft, rectangular sofas, the tops of the backs and elbows are veneered with Karelian birch or mahogany, which became widespread in those years. In the interior, the sofa was combined with armchairs and a front table. Such variations are found in our exposition and testify to the already established interior in the Empire era. This furniture differs from the front one: there is less gilding, instead of bronze, wood gilded on levkas is used, one of the traditional methods of wood processing, so beloved by Russian craftsmen, is preserved - carving.
The collecting activity of the museum continues. In recent years, the collections of decorative and applied art have been replenished with interesting exhibits, the best of which have found their place in the exposition.
