Renewed exposition
"Decorative and applied art of Russia in the 18th - first third of the 19th century"
As part of the celebration of the 35th anniversary, the All-Russian Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art opened a renewed permanent exhibition "Decorative and Applied Art of Russia in the 18th - first third of the 19th century."
“Peter the Great challenged Russia, and she answered him with Pushkin,” A.N. Herzen most accurately defines the meaning and boundaries of the era to which the exposition of these halls is dedicated. The items presented here are living milestones that marked the formation and flourishing of Russian culture in the bosom of the European cultural tradition of the New Age. They capture the changes in the way of life and artistic landmarks, the transformation of old and the emergence of new object forms, techniques and even types of arts and crafts.
The design of the new exposition is based on the principle of demonstrating exhibits as unique art objects, which are combined into thematic, stylistic and typological blocks. This solution allows you to assess the value of each object in terms of time, style, development of a separate type of decorative and applied art, and focuses on its artistic value in itself.
The scenario of the inspection is built on the basis of the spatial solution of the exposition, not only meaningfully (in typology, subject matter, stylistics and chronology), but also visually - from Peter's time to Biedermeier.
The central themes of the new exposition are: "The Epoch of Changes: the Turn of the 17th-18th Centuries", to which the so-called "primitives of the 18th century" adjoin, transforming the realities of the new era in the forms of traditional art; "Classics of the Russian XVIII century", representing the era from Peter to Paul in high examples of court art, as well as "Russian Empire" and "In the Rooms", demonstrating two facets of Russian culture of the first third of the XIX century - the brilliant imperial style and the emergence of a culture of private life, correlated with the German Biedermeier phenomenon. At the same time, the exposition allows viewing works in the usual order - by type of art, highlighting furniture, art metal, glass, porcelain, ceramics, stone-cutting art, bone and beads.
Special attention should be paid to such unique church objects as the Reliquary Cross and Panagia, which date back to the 17th century. They were made using an expensive technique at that time - filigree enamel. Among the earliest exhibits are chests with metal fittings and decorative trim, inkpots, Ural brass dishes of the 17th - early 18th centuries. Brass mugs from the Demidov plant in the Urals are a striking example of the ceremonial representative metal tableware for table setting.
Table setting items and trays were then made using different techniques. For example, two glass, dark blue cups with the monograms "EML" and "WGS", produced by the Imperial Glass Factory, are a rare example of painted items from the late 18th - early 19th centuries. Latin monograms on cups belong to the Swedish envoy to Russia in 1793 Werner Gottlob von Schwenier - "WGS" - and his mother Ebbe Maria Lagerbring - "EML". The cups were kept for more than two centuries in Skarhult Castle, Skane (Sweden), being a family property.
In the exposition one can get acquainted with unique samples of Russian palace furniture of the 18th-19th centuries, among which the chess and card tables in the technique of marquetry are of particular interest. Among the exhibits of furniture typical for the first half of the 19th century, two slides of rare quality in the "jacob" style draw attention. Two armchairs designed by Osip Ivanovich Bove belong to the same time. Of interest are the "Minin and Pozharsky" mantel clock made by the Parisian bronzer Pierre-Philippe Thomir and, reproducing in an interior format, the famous monument of Ivan Martos, standing on Red Square.
A special place in the exposition is occupied by the tapestry "The Rescue of Fishermen", which was made in Flanders in an unknown workshop in the second half of the 17th - early 18th centuries. She entered the VMDPNI in 1999 with the collection of the Museum of Folk Art. S.T. Morozov. The plot of the tapestry is borrowed from the Bible: in the center of the composition is depicted one of the miracles - "Walking on Water". The tapestry was restored in several stages - it was partially restored by specialists from the Museum of Folk Art. S.T. Morozov, and, already in 2014, the full restoration was completed by specialists-restorers of the All-Russian Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art. Thus, the tapestry acquired a new life and will be presented at the exhibition for the first time.
In the corresponding thematic sections are presented lighting fixtures made of glass and crystal, interior items made of porcelain and bronze of the late 18th-19th centuries. Each exhibit is a reference example of a particular style, captures the spirit of its time and represents the possibilities of artistic and technical skill.
Such a spatial arrangement of the exposition allows the museum to organize excursions and special programs in the most efficient and interesting way. The most interesting and significant exhibits will be presented with extended annotations, as well as accompanying QR codes, thanks to which visitors will be able to receive more detailed information. The exposition is equipped with a modern system of lighting equipment. Due to the high interactivity, the new exposition promises to be more lively and interesting, as well as to promote creative dialogue with visitors, especially with children and youth audiences.
Already in the art of the 17th century, especially in the second half of it, there are tendencies that paved the way for the rapid development of secular realistic art of the 18th century. Iconic convention gives way to life-like reproduction of people, landscapes and historical events. The traditional floral ornament, interpreted rather conditionally, is replaced by the reproduction of realistically rendered flowers, fruits, leaves, garlands and shells. On works of applied art, painting on religious subjects takes on an almost secular character, sometimes emphatically decorative and theatrical. The forms of objects become lush, solemn, with a wide variety of decorations. Many ancient types of household items are disappearing, such as cups with flat shelves-handles, silver brothers. Traditional ancient buckets are transformed into purely decorative premium items that have lost their practical meaning. New types of utensils appear: cups decorated with baroque ornaments, everyday scenes and inscriptions of secular content, cups in the shape of an eagle, goblets made of horns on stands and many others. Church utensils and household items of the clergy in style now did not differ in any way from purely secular things, and sometimes even surpassed them in greater splendor and material value.
After the secularization of the lands in 1764, the Trinity-Sergius Lavra lost its possessions, but its riches by that time were so great that this reform did not affect either the scope of construction work in the monastery, or the rich decoration of church interiors, the personal chambers of the governor and the metropolitan who lived in the monastery, as well as on the wealth of its sacristy and treasury. The monastery continued to receive contributions from empresses and higher dignitaries of the court, the Moscow metropolitan and other clergy. As a rule, these were works made by the best masters of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Veliky Ustyug, Rostov-Yaroslavl and other centers of applied art. Therefore, the Lavra collection of applied art of the 18th century. represents the most diverse types of jewelry making techniques of this time.
The art of silver embossing acquired a peculiar appearance, especially from the middle of the 18th century. These are mainly large baroque curls, masterfully executed with a rather high relief, combined with the image of fruits, baskets of flowers, cupids, garlands of flowers and leaves. The embossing was often made openwork and in this case had an additional background, which gave illumination to the pattern.
A classic example of such a coinage is the massive setting of the Gospel of the Moscow work of 1754 by the contribution of Empress Elizabeth1. Silver plates with painted enamel depictions of the Trinity, the Evangelists, scenes from the life of Christ are arranged in high chased fractional grinders and squares. They are distinguished by their secular character.
Moscow master P. Vorobei made in 1768 2 a silver bowl (which was used in the monastery as a water-blessing bowl). It is decorated with an excellent chased ornament made of peculiar curled cartouches and wide leaves on a gilded background. The legs of the bowl are lion paws holding smooth balls in their claws. A salt shaker of 1787, decorated with chasing and niello from a Moscow master, was a gift from Catherine II to Metropolitan Platon.
The new center of jewelry making - St. Petersburg - is represented in the museum's collection by a chased silver hand with a nose in the form of an eagle's head, made in 1768 by the master Klaas Johann Ehlers4. The same craftsman made a chased silver dish with baroque ornament along the field and the image of a biblical scene: a whale throws Jonah ashore5. At the same time, the master depicted here the coast of St. Petersburg with the Peter and Paul Fortress and the spire of the cathedral. A hand and a dish - the contribution of Metropolitan Platon.
Items of ritual purpose also acquired a secular decorative character, and their solemnity was emphasized by their unprecedentedly large size. Typical of the 18th century. a set of liturgical vessels (chalice, discos, star and two plates) from the contribution of 1789 by A.V. Sheremetyev 6. The high sacrament bowl here has a large chased bell-shaped pallet, an openwork silver casing on the body of the bowl and the grate with painted enamel. The large-diameter discos and plates specially made for this chalice are decorated with engravings that convey traditional iconographic themes.
The art of filigree takes on a completely different character. Instead of a flat curl with branches, curling on a flat surface of metal on ancient works, a filigree drawing of the 18th century. it is complicated by additionally superimposed adornments, sometimes combined with enamel and precious stones. In some cases, the filigree is made openwork and superimposed on an additional background. Sometimes the thing was made of filament threads.
The tabernacle of 1789 of the contribution of Metropolitan Platon is an outstanding work of the filigree work. Here there is openwork filigree, and filigree combined with enamel, and filigree superimposed on a smooth silver background. The tabernacle looks like a secular box, as evidenced by its completely non-church form, elegant decoration and flowers planted in the corners of thin metal parts with enamel.
The setting of the book "Official of the Bishop's Service", as well as the contribution of Metropolitan Platon in 1789, can serve as an example of skillful relief filigree.
Received great development in the XVIII century. Solvychegodsk and Veliky Ustyug enamels with their one-color (blue or white) background, on which human figures, flowers and other images are superimposed in the form of separate metal plates, sometimes additionally colored with enamels. The museum possesses a large collection of household items of Solvychegodsk and Ustyug work.
In the XVIII century. For the interior of the Lavra churches, monumental silver structures were also made according to drawings by famous artists from Moscow and St. Petersburg. For the altar of the Trinity Cathedral, by order of Metropolitan Platon, a large silver seven-candlestick was made in the form of a laurel tree9, and he also decorated the trumpets of the Trinity Cathedral iconostasis with silver. The Moscow master David Prif made a silver canopy over the shrine of St. Sergius of Radonezh (commissioned by Emperor Anna Ivanovna10) according to the drawing of Caravacca. Thus, the applied art of the 18th century. presented in the collection of the museum by the most characteristic works.
The works of artistic craft in the collection of the museum make it possible to trace its development from the early monuments of Grand Duke Moscow to the end of the 18th century. Over this long period, technical skill changed and improved, old forms of objects disappeared and new forms appeared, the nature of decoration changed, which always depended on aesthetic views determined by the socio-economic and political conditions of its time, the development of the domestic and foreign markets, the scale and method of production.
On the works of the XIV-XV centuries. the picture of the gradual revival of artistic crafts after the Tatar-Mongol ruin of the Russian land in the 13th century is revealed. Masters of Moscow and other art centers of Ancient Rus master various artistic techniques and improve the technique of mastery.
In the XVI century. Moscow is finally gaining a leading place in the cultural life of the country. The applied arts of this period are distinguished by a variety of forms and artistic decorations, as well as great technical skill. The sophisticated art of enamel, which has assumed mainly an ornamental character, is being improved; the art of black gold, embossing and engraving achieves greater skill.
Works of silver for household and church purposes follow the traditions of folk art and are associated with the living conditions of the people, their rituals and everyday life.
The brilliance and decorativeness of 17th century items, the complication of the ornamentation, the appearance of painted enamels, the use of a large number of precious stones, pearls and colored glasses give a more secular character to applied art.
In the XVIII century. new forms of objects, a realistic character of ornament and painting on enamel were adopted. In the collection of the Zagorsk Museum, this period is represented by the best workshops in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Their works make it possible to judge the new changes taking place in the applied arts.
The high artistic skill of the works of applied art, presented over more than five centuries, puts the collection of the Zagorsk Museum at a prominent place in the history of Russian artistic culture
Reflection of the critical nature of the Peter the Great's era in the decorative and applied arts. Western European artistic influences (Holland, England, France, Italy). The processes of the formation of the estate system and the consolidation of secular culture and their impact on the development of arts and crafts. Multi-layered arts and crafts, uneven development of its individual spheres. Preservation and development of traditional trends (provincial and folk culture, church art).
Improvement of the technique of handicraft and manufactory production. The origin of the art industry (production of tapestries, art glass, faience, stone cutting, silk and cloth production). Manufacturing of fashionable items, luxury goods. 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", reflection of new natural science and technical interests in arts and crafts. New forms of education and training of masters at art manufactories. Closing of the Armory workshops. Pensionership and its role in the development of certain types of arts and crafts. The emergence of craft organizations of artisans in Russia. The work of foreign masters in various fields of arts and crafts.
Artistic style in arts and crafts. Fashion, its impact on changing tastes, changing the subject environment. The emergence of new types of objects, the renewal of aesthetic ideas in decorative and applied arts. Art Synthesis Trends. The role of architecture, monumental art, graphics and illustrated publications in the development of arts and crafts. Decorative tendencies of baroque culture in the design of festivals, complexes of triumphal gates, gardening art.
The art of interior decoration as a special type of artistic activity in the work of architects of the first quarter of the 18th century. The first interior works and the main style trends (baroque, rococo, classicism). New types of premises (offices, ceremonial bedrooms, living rooms, "turners", "picture rooms") and their content (Summer Palace, A.D. Menshikov's palace, Peterhof Grand Palace, Monplaisir). Works by French masters. "Chinoiserie" in the interiors of the Petrine era.
Ensemble solution of the subject environment. The emergence of design activities in the field of material culture and arts and crafts.
Development of the furniture business. New types and forms of furniture, materials and methods of decoration. Influence of English and Dutch furniture. Baroque and rococo furniture.
Wood carving, its role in the interior. Carved reliefs. The iconostasis of the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Ship carving and carriage.
Silver business. Preserving the traditions of the 17th century. Creation of workshops for goldsmiths and silversmiths. Jewelry Art. Portrait miniature on enamel. Order badges and "favored" persons. The first masters of miniature painting were Grigory Musikisky and Andrey Ovsov.
Pottery and faience of the Petrine era. Dutch tiles in the interior. Expansion of imports of faience products from England and Holland. The first private manufactory of A. Grebenshchikov in Moscow, the appearance of domestic fine faience.
Increased consumption of glass, founding glass factories in Yamburg and Zhabino near St. Petersburg. Mirrors and lighting fixtures. Formation of the style of ceremonial palace dishes with matte engraving. Maltsov's first private glass and crystal factory in Mozhaisky district.
Stone carving and gemstone cutting. Foundation of the first cutting factories in Peterhof and Yekaterinburg. Bone carving. Basic carving techniques, stylistic techniques. Traditions Kholmogory. The emergence of lathes, changes in the shape of products. Petrovskaya Turner and A. Nartov. Influence of engraving and picture book on bone carving. Founding of the Tula Arms Factory, the development of the art of artistic processing of steel in decorative items.
Suit typology. Change of a medieval dress for a European-style costume. The establishment by Peter of the rules for wearing and types of noble dress. Introduction of statutory clothing and uniforms for the army and navy, for officials. The appearance of new manufactories due to changes in the costume. Replacement of Eastern fabrics with Western European ones. Samples of a men's suit from the wardrobe of Peter I.
Founding of the St. Petersburg Tapestry Manufactory. Training of Russian masters.
Decorative and applied art of the era of Anna Ioannovna. Artistic silver. Foundation of a state-owned glass factory on the Fontanka in St. Petersburg. Tapestry manufactory activity. Trellis style and use in the interior. L.Karavak and his projects in the field of decorative arts.
Revival in artistic culture during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna. The predominance of French influences. Baroque and Rococo in Russian Art. Rococo in interior design, costume, jewelry art, gardening art. Synthesis of architecture and arts and crafts in baroque and rococo interiors. Works by V.V. Rastrelli and A. Rinaldi in the field of interior design. Decorative materials and interior decoration techniques. Baroque and rococo furniture types. Fabrics in the interior. Lighting. An ensemble in various types of arts and crafts of the middle and second half of the century.
Silver business. Approval of the baroque style. Monumental and decorative works. Large ceremonial sets. Changing the shape of objects, new types of dishes for new products. Jewelry Art. Activities of the court masters. Rococo style in jewelry. Types of women's jewelry. Colored stone in jewelry.
A suit, its image, type of cut, materials, accessories, character of decoration. Influence of French fashion. Baroque and rococo in women's and men's suits.
The invention of domestic porcelain. Foundation of a porcelain manufactory in St. Petersburg. DI Vinogradov's activities and the "Vinogradov" period of the development of Russian porcelain. The first palace services, vases, small plastic. Creation of a state-owned faience factory in St. Petersburg.
Etched glass from the Elizabethan era. The activities of the St. Petersburg state glass factory and the plant on the river. Nazier. Baroque and Rococo in artistic glass. Glass in the decoration of palace interiors V.V. Rastrelli. Private factories of the Nemchinovs and Maltsovs. MV Lomonosov's experiments in the field of colored glass, the beginning of its production at the Ust-Ruditskaya factory.
Bone carving. Rococo style, the work of the carver Osip Dudin.
Decorative and applied art of the second half of the 18th century
Classicism in arts and crafts 1760–1790 Combination of Rococo style with antique motives. The role of architects in the decorative and applied arts of the era of classicism. Training of masters of decorative and applied arts at the Academy of Arts.
Early classicism interior. Materials and forms, color, sculptural decoration, reduction in cost of decorative finishing. Interior work by C. Cameron. A circle of decorative techniques, new materials, the image of the premises and the ensemble. Interiors of V. Brenna.
Classicism furniture, character, shape, influence. Antique prototypes. New types of furniture. Participation of architects in the development of furniture art in Russia (Brenna, Lvov, Cameron, Voronikhin). D. Roentgen's furniture in Russia. Workshop of G. Gambs and I. Ott. Jacob style in Russian furniture. Change of materials in furniture art (mahogany, gilded wood, poplar, Karelian birch). Fabric and embroidery in furniture.
Spol's workshop in Moscow. Carved decor in the interiors of M. Kazakov. Carved furniture of the Ostankino Palace. The flourishing of the set technique in Russian furniture of the second half of the century, methods of execution and materials. Furniture production at Okhta in St. Petersburg. Papier-mâché as a material for furniture and decorative arts.
Russian and French artistic bronze. The main types of products and decorative techniques. Bronze and glass in lighting fixtures. Bronze in the decoration of stone and porcelain vases and furniture. Foundry House activities. Foreign bronze masters in St. Petersburg (P. Azhi, I. Tsekh and others).
Suit. Changing the types and silhouette of clothing in the 1770s-1780s. The introduction of a uniform noble dress. Ceremonial court dress, use of stylized national forms. "Greek style" of the 1790s in costume and hair. A radical change in the design of the suit. Fashion for shawls, scarves, capes, mantilla, shawls.
Jewelry Art. The activities of I. Pozier, Dubulon, J. Ador, I. G. Scarf, I.V. Buch, the Duval brothers. Great imperial crown. Court diamond workshop. Artistic silver. Influence of French silver in the Louis XVI style. The art of black on silver. The growing role of northern jewelry centers - Vologda, Veliky Ustyug. Factory of niello and enamel products of the Popov brothers in Veliky Ustyug. Enamel with silver overlays.
Porcelain, manufacturing and decoration techniques. Imperial Porcelain Factory. Early classicism in the form and decoration of products. Influence of European porcelain and faience. The activities of J.-D. Rachette. IPZ contacts with the Academy of Arts. Decorative vases and palace services in the interior of the classicism era. Large ceremonial sets, their composition, character of decoration. The search for expedient forms of objects and techniques for decorating products. Porcelain plastic (series of figures "Peoples of Russia", "Traders and peddlers"). Genre drawing and engraving in porcelain sculpture and painting on porcelain. Biscuit products. "Pavlovsky" porcelain of the late 1790s.
F. Gardner's factory in Verbilki. Order sets.
Art glass. G. Potemkin's plant in Ozerki. Colored glass and crystal. Glass in the interiors of Charles Cameron. The Imperial Glass Factory in the 1790s. Connection between the products of the imperial porcelain and glass factories. Bakhmetev's plant in the Penza province. The flourishing of glass painting in the 1780s and 90s. Gothic motives in art glass.
Tapestry manufactory activity. The connection of tapestries with the general trend in Russian painting (historical theme, allegory, portrait in a tapestry). The transition from rococo to classicism. Tapestries in interior decoration.
Stone carving. The role of Ch. Cameron in the development of the culture of colored stone and its use in the interior. New methods of using stone, "Russian mosaic". Activities of the Peterhof Lapidary Factory. Discovery of new deposits of colored stone in the Urals and Altai. Yekaterinburg factory and Kolyvan factory. The invention of stone processing machines. Vases based on drawings by A. Voronikhin and D. Quarenghi.
The flourishing of Tula steel (furniture and decorative items). Noble and merchant factories. Factory of lacquer miniatures P.I. Korobov. The emergence of handicrafts at art manufactories. The development of artistic crafts in the second half of the 18th century: Khokhloma painting, lace weaving, patterned weaving, carpet weaving, artistic metal, etc.
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, items 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 premises 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 asymmetric 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. .. But the development of Russian applied art still 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 more free forms and softer in outlines, 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.
A clear symmetry, proportional to clarity, appears in the planning, equipment and decor of city mansions and palaces (architects Kokorinov, Bazhenov, Quarenghi, Starov, etc.). 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 the same 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, in the equipment of large palaces, 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 affected. 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 technology of processing 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, 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 on only 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, 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. Painterly (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 direction 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 - the majority 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 enrichment forms of household items.
Other theorists and practitioners of applied arts (D. Ruskin, W. Morris), on the contrary, propose to organize 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. The work of workshops in Abramtsov near Moscow, in Talashkino near Smolensk, the enterprise of P. Vaulin near St. Petersburg, and the ceramic artel "Murava" in Moscow were of particular importance for the revival of creative, dying out crafts.
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 items that preserve 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 manufactured products of 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 stylistic 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 is subjected to bizarre creative processing.
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 aggravated, 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 a 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, such as 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 the 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
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. The landowners in their estates organized 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 arts. Architects M.F. Kazakov, I.E. Starov, D. Quarenghi, C. Cameron, A.N. Voronikhin created interiors in the spirit of noble simplicity and restraint with a clear division of parts, with a constructively justified arrangement of both plastic and pictorial 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, the fascination with antiquity forced them 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 ceremonial rooms for various purposes, headsets were designed: a living room, an office, a front bedroom, a hall. New furniture forms emerged: tables for card games, handicrafts, light portable bobby tables (with a bean-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 the composition of pieces of colored wood ornaments and whole Paintings (usually from engravings) on the surface of wooden objects. 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 nameless craftsmen from Tver and Arkhangelsk, who introduced walrus bone into the set. Samples of the high art of carving furniture of the Ostankino Palace belong to serfs Ivan Mochalin, Gavrila Nemkov and others. In St. Petersburg, furniture and carvings by craftsmen 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 calico, 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, have 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 color scale was 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.
The most significant of the services was created - 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 classicism of the end of the 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 shape, rich floral painting, close to folk traditions, was a success 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, 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 turns into a leg, creating soft, graceful contours. Gold and silver paintings 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 Orel provinces, and many others were developing and achieving great success. Their colorless and colored glass and crystal are widely distributed throughout Russia.
Artistic metal processing. The flourishing of jewelry art in Russia begins in the middle of the 18th century and continues throughout the entire century. It disposes of 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 methods of 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 juxtaposition 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, purple, from thick to lightened. 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, multicolored 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 Loktevskaya 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, unusual 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.
