F s roarings d g levitsky were. Female portrait of the late 18th century (Rokotov, Levitsky, Borovikovsky)

In the 60s. XVIII century. classicismfirmly established in the fine arts of Russia. Antique subjects are widely used in all genres of painting.

The leading genre of Russian visual arts second half of the XVIII century was history painting... According to the ideas of that time, only the historical genre was able to capture the heroic images of the past, the great events of world and Russian history. Often, artists of this genre also turned to biblical and mythological subjects.

The most significant historical paintings were created in the second half of the 18th century. graduate of the Academy of Arts Anton Pavlovich Losenko (1737-1779). A peasant son, born in the Ukrainian town of Glukhov, thanks to his singing talent, in 1744 began to sing in the court choir in St. Petersburg. At the same time, he showed an ability to draw, which allowed him in 1753 to enroll in the training of the artist I.P. Argunov. In 1758 Losenko was admitted to the Academy of Arts. After graduation in 1760, he improved his painting in Rome and Paris. In 1772-1773. Losenko was the director of the Academy of Arts. Pedagogical activity his was very fruitful: major artists of historical painting graduated from his school. Along with works on antique subjects ("Hector's Farewell to Andromache") Losenko created the first Russian historical painting on a national theme - "Vladimir and Rogneda". Within the framework of the conventionally academic system of images, the artist makes an attempt to convey a complex ethical conflict, vivid human feelings.

Among the outstanding masters of the historical genre were Ivan Akimovich Akimov (1754-1814)(“The Grand Duke Izyaslav Mstislavovich was almost hacked to death by the soldiers who did not recognize him in battle, opens to them”, “The Grand Duke Svyatoslav, kissing his mother and his children upon returning from the Danube to Kiev,” etc.) and Grigory Ivanovich Ugryumov (1764-1823) ("The solemn entry into Pskov of Alexander Nevsky after the victory he won over the German knights", "The capture of Kazan", "The election of Mikhail Fedorovich to the kingdom", etc.).

Famous historical painters of the late 18th century. there were also P.I.Sokolov (1753-1791) and M.I.Puchinov (1716-1797).

In the second half of the 18th century. significant advances have been made in portrait genre... At the same time, the portrait skill of the painters was distinguished by a wide range. They created both ceremonial ceremonial and chamber and intimate portraits. In the middle of the 18th century, foreign masters worked in Russia: P. Rotary, G. Kh. Grost, A. Roslin, I.-B. Lampi, P.G. Gonzag and others. At the same time, Russian artists achieved fame: I. Ya.Vishnyakov, 1699-1761... (Portraits of Sarah Fermor, ruler of Anna Leopoldovna); A.P. Antropov, 1716 - 1795... (Portraits of Peter III, lady of state A.M. Izmailova); serf artist I.P. Argunov, 1729-1802. (Portraits of B.P.Sheremetev, P. Zhemchugova).

Outstanding masters of portrait were Fyodor Stepanovich Rokotov (1735-1808), Dmitry Grigorievich Levitsky (1735-1822) and Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky (1757-1825). They created a gallery of various expressive images of contemporaries - people of different rank, meaning, lifestyle, age. These painters, being court painters, created portraits of Peter III, Catherine II, her nobles and favorites, famous statesmen of the era.

Talented portrait painters were close to the circles of the enlightened Russian intelligentsia, in particular, to N. I. Novikov and N. A. Lvov. It is not surprising that they created not only pompous ceremonial custom-made portraits of nobles, but also chamber portraits of educated and talented figures of Russian culture: N.I. Novikov, N.A.Lvov, G.R. Derzhavin, V.I. Their portraits reflect self-esteem, simplicity and cordiality of human relations.

The harmony of talent and female beauty, which attracted artists, manifested itself in the female portraits they created, which are distinguished by a subtle penetration into the inner appearance of a person, beauty of color, decorativeness. (Portraits of A.P. Struyskaya, V.E. Novosiltseva Rokotov; portraits of M.I.Lopukhina, the Gagarin sisters of Borovikovsky; portraits of Levitsky, pupils of the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens).

In the middle of the 18th century, a new genre for Russian fine art appeared - landscape painting... A landscape class was created at the Academy of Arts, from which the most talented masters of this genre came out. Among the landscape painters are M. I. Makhaev (1718-1770), who made general sketches of streets or individual buildings of St. Petersburg, F. M. Matveev (1758-1836), S. F. Shchedrin (1745-1804).

A prominent Russian landscape painter was Fyodor Yakovlevich Alekseev (1753-1824)... The son of a watchman of the Academy of Sciences, from 1764 to 1773 he was brought up at the Academy of Arts. After graduating with honors, he was sent abroad to Venice. Upon his return in 1779. Petersburg, the artist was appointed as a decorator at the imperial theater directorate. Academician Alekseev was known as the author of the "views" of Petersburg, Moscow and cities in southern Russia.

In the second half of the 18th century. in Russian painting the genre of everyday life began to develop. 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.

Mikhail Shibanov was one of the first in Russian painting to develop the peasant theme of the serf prince G.A. Potemkin. 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.

35. Russian art of the 18th century. painting (Lomonosov, Nikitin, Matveev, Vishnyakov, Antropov, Argunov, Rokotov, Levitsky, Borovikovsky, Losenko).

Russian painters of the 18th century gradually mastered linear perspective, which makes it possible to convey the depth of space and plane, and chiaroscuro, which helps to create a three-dimensional image. Artists studied anatomy in order to more accurately reproduce the human body, and the technique of oil painting.

From the beginning of the 18th century, the main place in easel painting with oil on canvas began to be occupied by a portrait: chamber, ceremonial, chest, in full height, paired. It was preceded by the 17th century Parsuns. Interest in a person is very characteristic of Russian art. In the first half and middle of the 18th century, such famous portrait painters as I. Nikitin, A. Matveev, I. Ya. Vishnyakov, A.P. Antropov and I.P. Argunov.

An exceptional contribution to Russian culture in the mid-18th century made Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov (1711-1765)... He contributed to the development of the visual arts, turning to a forgotten area at that time - mosaics. Lomonosov himself developed the technique of making smalt - colored glassy masses of bright shades, since it was kept in strict secrecy by Western European masters. He created over 40 mosaics, including the portraits of Peter I, Elizabeth Petrovna and the grandiose mosaic painting "The Battle of Poltava".

In the second half of the 18th century, the activity of the Academy of Arts, which opened in 1757 in St. Petersburg, became decisive for the development of Russian art. Here they were engaged in the systematic training of professional artists, primarily based on the Greek classics. They copied artistic images, plots, laws of mise-en-scène construction, poses, types of persons, adopted ideas, interpretation of nudity, accessories and symbols.

One of the first Russian artists of the modern era was a "personal master" (ie, a portraitist) Ivan Nikitich Nikitin (c. 1680 - not earlier than 1742).We know four portraits signed by him: Peter's niece Praskovya Ioannovna (1714), Count Sergei Strogonov (1726) and two ceremonial portraits of Peter I and Catherine (1717) recently found in Italy.

In the 20s of the 18th century, after returning from Italy, Nikitin wrote "Portrait of the Floor Hetman" and "Portrait of SG Strogonov". It is believed that the artist's manner could be very different. Easily and naturally, he sculpts the shape, freely and confidently creates the illusion of space.

The painting "Peter 1 on his deathbed" is permeated with the artist's deep, personal grief and is majestically solemn. It is painted with virtuoso light strokes through which the red-brown ground shines through. Under the master's brush, the painting sounds like a requiem.

Nikitin, in the portraits of his contemporaries, showed representatives of different Petrine times, accurately conveyed their characters, thereby creating an image of this turbulent era.

Painter Andrey Matveevich (or Merkurievich) Matveev (1701 / 1702-1739) enriched domestic art with the achievements of the European school of painting. Several of his paintings have come down to us: "Allegory of Painting" - the first russian work easel character on an allegorical plot, portraits of Peter 1, princess A.P. Golitsyna, "Self-Portrait with Wife", etc.

The most famous painting by Matveyev "Self-portrait with his wife" is the first poetic image of a conjugal union in Russian easel painting. Sincerity and simplicity, trustfulness and openness, extraordinary chastity are its main features. Matveyev's painting is transparent, rich in glazes, with the finest transitions from the image to the background, indistinct light and shade gradations, as if dissolving contours in this work reaches perfection and testifies to the flourishing of the artist's creative powers.

Nikitin and Matveev were able to reveal in their portraits the uniqueness of human individuality and each did it in his own way: Nikitin - more courageously and sharply, Matveyev - softer and more poetic. Matveev created an art school that influenced all national art of that time and prepared the appearance of such painters as I. Ya Vishnyakov and A.P. Antropov, whose work falls mainly in the middle of the 18th century.

Ivan Yakovlevich Vishnyakov (1699-1761) possessed not only pictorial, but also organizational talent. He actually supervised all the painting work related to construction in St. Petersburg and in the country residences of the nobles. He painted huge plafonds, wall panoramas, portraits, painted banners and decorations.

The appeal to individuals is one of the features of the portrait painting of Vishnyakov and of artists of the middle of the century in general.

Vishnyakov was the first to sensitively grasp the features of the rococo emerging in Russia and gave it a national identity. Vishnyakov's work most of all resembles Watteau, since both of them are characterized by light irony. Vishnyakov brilliantly conveys the decorative luxury of the ceremonial costumes of his era, but he somewhat ironically emphasizes their bulkiness, which fetters movement. Instead of the light range inherent in Rococo works, the artist uses bright and sonorous colors, closer to ancient Russian art. He lacks fragmentation of forms, sharp angles, asymmetry, mobility, the illusion of space.

Like the old Russian masters, Vishnyakov paid the main attention to the face, in which the spiritual world of a person is expressed, and the body wrote in a flat and schematic manner. Vishnyakov's portraits are imbued with high spirituality, warmth, and soulfulness.

The best works of Vishnyakov are ceremonial portraits of Fermor's children, of which The Portrait of S.E. Fermor is especially significant. Sarah Fermor seems to embody the ephemeral 18th century best expressed in the sounds of the minuet. Under Vishnyakov's brush, she becomes a dream come true.

One of Vishnyakov's last works is a portrait of Prince Fyodor Nikolayevich Golitsyn "in his ninth year of his age." In this portrait lives one face, painted with love, with a deep penetration into child psychology. Vishnyakov, more than ever, demonstrates his gravitation towards the traditions of Russian painting.

Alexey Petrovich Antropov (1716-1795) wrote mainly chamber chest or waist images. Character traits his painting: the stiffness of the pose, the volumetric modeling of the head, the closeness of the whole figure to the foreground, a dull neutral background, careful rendering of details. The artist first of all emphasized the estate origin of the model. All the portraits show the dignity, stoutness, the strengthening of the solemn statics of the pose. The coloristic solution is based on the contrast of large spots. The shape is also molded using the contrasts of light and shadow.

The best portraits of Antropov: ladies of state A.M. Izmailova, lady of state Countess M.A. Rumyantseva, A.V. Buturlina, the field chieftain of the Don army F.I.Krasnoshchekov. The artist remarkably succeeded in the faces of the elderly, in which he showed traces of the life he had lived, Antropov was able to capture the most significant features in the model, therefore his portraits have convincing vitality. The portraits of church figures (F.Y.Dubyansky and others) are made in a solemn manner. In the portraits of the royal persons, Antropov was associated with a certain scheme, but, despite this, they testify to the ability not only to arrange a figure in height among accessories, but also to give an accurate description of the model (Peter 3, Catherine 2).

The ceremonial portraits of Antropov are always decorative and fit perfectly into the baroque interior of the 18th century.

Ivan Petrovich Argunov (1729-1802) was closest to Antropov both in time and in creative views. The serf painter of Count P.B. Sheremetyev, he wrote many times to his owners: Peter Borisovich, Varvara Alekseev and their children.

In the portraits of the husband and wife of K.A. and H.M. Khripunovykh Argunov showed people not very noble, but undoubtedly worthy. Emphasizing the intellectual principle in a woman's portrait is quite unusual for this genre in the 18th century.

Argunov's self-portrait dating back to the end of the 1750s is distinguished by the spontaneity and perfection of painting.

Argunov did not have the merciless objectivity that was characteristic of Antropov, but he wiped out V. A. Sheremetyeva (1760s) in an image very close to that of Anthropov. Her luxurious outfit does not hide the waywardness and arrogance of this proudly seated lady.

Following Vishnyakov, Argunov warmly painted children's and youthful models. Argunov's portraits, especially ceremonial, are always dated, as in Antropov's. However, Antropov painted in the Baroque style, while Argunov gravitated towards the lightness and grace of Rococo, enriching it with national features and developing a purely national concept of the portrait.

One of the best and most poetic works of Argunov is the portrait of "An Unknown Peasant Woman in a Russian Costume" (1784). The artist conveyed not only the external, but also the internal beauty of a simple Russian woman. She looks dignified, looks with great dignity. Her festive outfit is also masterfully written.

Fedr Stepanovich Rokotov (1735 / 36-1808) was a renowned master of portraiture. The only non-portrait work of the artist is "The Cabinet of II Shuvalov" (c. 1757) - the first depiction of a Russian interior.

The portrait of Ivan Orlov is Rokotov's first attempt to give a subtle description of the "movement of the soul" - a natural development of the interest of Russian artists in the psychologization of the image, starting with Nikitin's "Napolny Hetman". The setting of the figure, which occupied almost the entire space of the picture, the absence of airiness, a neutral background indicates a connection with the art of the middle of the century.

For Rokotov, the late 1760s and especially the 1770s are usually characterized by a chest image. He develops a certain type of chamber (and its variety - intimate) portrait and a peculiar manner of writing, an individual choice of artistic means. By pictorial means, Rokotov conveys various character traits and states of mind: the mockery of the skeptic V.I. Maikov, lazy smile and pensiveness of "Unknown in a cocked hat", sadness, insecurity of the inner world on the beautiful face of A.P. Struyskoy, some uncertainty of the smile "Unknown in a pink dress." Spirituality and fragility of images, understatement of feelings, changeable moods - all these are the features of a chamber portrait.

Color is one of Rokotov's most important means in characterizing the model. To achieve color consistency, the artist uses a warm-toned soil. The image is built in a certain tonal key on the harmonious fusion of close color shades, light, transparent strokes, the finest glaze. The dynamism of the brush movement gives the impression of a shimmering layer of paint, intensifying with a transparent haze, a kind of rokotov "sfumato" that creates an airy environment around the model's head. Rokotov, as it were, snatches his face out of the darkness, leaving everything else in the shade or partial shade. As a result, it corresponds to the moral ideals of the master himself and his era.

In the portrait of Alexandra Petrovna Struyskaya, the complexity of mental life and the grace of the model are conveyed by subtle combinations of ash-pink, pearl and lemon-yellow tones. The oval of the face is echoed by the oval of the neckline and the lines of folds of clothing (just like Ingres in the portrait of Mademoiselle Riviere, only more than 30 years earlier).

At the turn of the 1770s-1780s, changes took place in the Rokotov style. The openness and directness of the faces of the portrayed is replaced by an expression of impenetrability and restraint, a consciousness of the property of spiritual exclusivity. Models are distinguished by proud posture and static posture. Struyskaya and "Unknown in a Pink Dress" with quivering and chilly spiritual worlds are replaced by the image of a more determined woman.

Since the 1780s, one can speak of the "rokotovsky female type": a proudly set head, an elongated section of slightly squinted eyes, a scattered half-smile. The figures are mostly inscribed in an oval. These features are already observed in the portraits of E. N. Orlova and Countess E. V. Santi. The face is still set against a dark background. , its contours are melting, it is as if snatched from the darkness.

The decorative side of painting is of particular importance, while the artist mainly uses local colors, smoothes the texture, bringing the skill to perfection.

Rokotov's great service to Russian art lies in the fact that he created a portrait based on the play of feelings and instant moods, a special spirituality of images, a painting refined in color.

Dmitry Grigorievich Levitsky (1735-1822) - a great master of ceremonial and chamber portraits - was an artist who was unusually sensitive to the features of his models.

The portrait of "PA Demidov" shows a rich man looking after flowers. In composition, this is a ceremonial classical portrait, but Demidov points with a majestic gesture to a pot of flowers. His whole appearance does not correspond to the tradition of a representative portrait, and most importantly, his facial expression does not correspond to it: he has neither secular arrogance, nor class pride. Levitsky showed Demidov against the background of the Orphanage he founded in Moscow. In this portrait, the artist showed an amazing sense of form, the ability to build space. The painting is juicy, material, dense, the color is close to local - these are large color spots of greenish-brown tones. In Demidov's portrait, Levitsky expanded the possibilities of a ceremonial portrait.

Between 1772 and 1776, Levitsky painted portraits of pupils of the Smolny Institute for noble maidens - Smolyanka. (At the institute, the girls studied music, languages, dancing, singing, and secular manners. These were mainly children of the middle and small landed nobility.)

The painter tried to depict his models in the most characteristic poses, roles and images for them. As a result, a single artistic ensemble was formed, united by one bright sense of the joy of being and a common decorative system. Some models are placed against a neutral background, others - against the background of a theatrical backdrop, a conditional theatrical landscape depicting a park nature. Portraits of Smolyanka are colorful canvases, the decorativeness of which is made up of a certain plastic and linear rhythm, compositional and coloristic solutions.

Levitsky achieved his greatest fame in the 1780s. It was during this decade that he painted portraits of almost the entire St. Petersburg high society. In his intimate portraits, the attitude towards the model is noticeable. The characteristic of individuality becomes more generalized, typical features are emphasized in it. Levitsky Remains a great psychologist and a brilliant painter, but does not show his attitude to the model. The monotony of artistic means of expression appears: the same type of smiles, too bright a blush on the cheeks, one technique for the arrangement of folds. Therefore, the cheerful lady E.A. Bakunin (1782) and in German prim and dry Dorothea Schmidt (early 1780s).

Levitsky worked a lot on the portraits of the empress. The most famous is her image in the image of the legislator: "Catherine II in the temple of the goddess of justice" (1783). The allegorical language of the portrait is a tribute to classicism. Catherine points to the altar where poppies are smoked, a symbol of sleep and rest. This means that, sacrificing her own peace, she gives herself up on the altar of serving the fatherland in the name of the welfare of her subjects. Above the empress is a statue of justice, at her feet is an eagle, a symbol of wisdom and divine power, in the opening of the columns is a ship as a symbol of the sea power. Intensity of color with a predominance of local tones, sculptural forms, emphasized plasticity, clear division into plans - all these are features of mature classicism.

At the same time, Levitsky, as an artist, very sensitive to the needs of his era, in his recent works reflected the tendencies of the nascent Empire portrait and pre-romantic trends.

Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky (1757-1825) - an outstanding portrait painter of the late 18th - early 19th centuries. Gradually, he developed his own compositional canon of female portraits: a half-length (rarely generated) cut of a figure leaning on a tree, curbstone, etc., in the hand of the portrayed flower or fruit, she was always depicted against the background of nature. The figure is placed as if at the junction of light (sky) and dark (piles of trees). Sometimes not only the production, but even the dress and decorations were repeated from portrait to portrait, as in the images of E.N. Arsenyeva and Skobeeva. Both wear white dresses, pearl bracelets, an apple in hand, but the designs are completely different. Both portraits are distinguished by their pictorial qualities: clear plasticity of form, perfectly developed air environment.

In the 1790s, in accordance with the ideas of sentimentalism, popular at the turn of the century, Borovikov was carried away by the state of mind of a person, his subtle feelings.

Borovikovsky, unlike the masters of the first half and middle of the century, always painted on white grounds, which made it possible to achieve a special sonority of color.

Sentimental moods manifested themselves in the image of the monarch. The portrait of Catherine 2 on a walk in the Tsar's park (two versions: against the background of the Chesme column and against the background of the Rumyantsev obelisk) was not painted by the order of the empress. It is also known that she did not approve of Borovikovsky's work. The artist created an image unusual for that time. Catherine is shown in a dressing gown (dressing gown) and a cap with her favorite Italian greyhound at her feet. She appears before the viewer as a simple Kazan landowner, whom she loved to appear in last years life. Recall that this is exactly how Pushkin remembered her in " Captain's daughter". The image of Borovikovsky does not in any way resemble Catherine II, the legislator. Thus, artistic tastes have changed over the decade - from the classicistic lofty ideal to an almost genre interpretation of the sentimental image of a rural woman.

The late 1790s - early 1800s were the heyday of Borovikovsky's work. He, like Levitsky, portrays the entire Petersburg nobility, even the tsars. In the portraits of politicians, military men, Fathers of the Church, Borovikovsky is able to combine the truthful characterization of the model with the convention of composition. Like Levitsky, he is truly becoming a "historiographer of the era", seeking to portray its types to a greater extent than vivid individuals. The best of them are those that reflect the civic ideal, the atmosphere of high rise of the first two decades of the 19th century.

At the beginning of the new century, the result of his previous work comes out from under Borovikovsky's brush and opens up new paths: this is a double portrait of the sisters of A.G. and V.G. Gagarins (1802), written against the background of nature, but already in a certain everyday situation - with notes and a guitar.

Anton Pavlovich Losenko (1737-1773) it was destined, thanks to talent and high professionalism, to become the first Russian historical painter 18th century. Public recognition came to him starting with the painting "Vladimir and Rogneda" (1770). For all the declamation and pathos, there is a lot of sincere feeling in Losenko's picture. He also strives for maximum reliability of details, studied the little that was known about the ancient Russian costume. The dress of one of the maids, the pearl sewing of her headband, Vladimir's boots and shirt, the attire of the soldiers - all testify to the attention to the elements of the costume of the pre-Petrine era. At the same time, Vladimir's fantastic headdress, which connects a scalloped crown with a hat trimmed with fur and with ostrich feathers, rather resembles a theatrical props.

The color of the painting consists of combinations of warm reds and golds with black and white-gray colors. Large local spots, a well-defined center of the composition culminating in a counter gesture of the protagonists' hands, statuary plastic of figures speak of victory classic features over baroque.

The increased decorativeness of the painting "The Death of Adonis" (1764) also corresponds to the baroque principles.

Drawing and chiaroscuro became the main expressive means of classicistic works. Color paints the form, it is not accidentally called local. The volume is molded not so much by color as by light and shade.

On the example of Losenko's last work "Farewell to Hector and Andromache" (1773), which the artist did not manage to finish, one can trace how the classicist principles were introduced into Russian painting. Here everything already corresponds to the program of classicism: walking - patriotic service to the motherland, readiness for heroism and sacrifice; "frieze" composition of a multi-figured mise-en-scène with a well-defined center located at the intersection of the picture's diagonals; coloring of local color spots.

The depth of the ideological content of the works and the skill of execution made Losenko a significant figure in Russian culture in the 18th century.

Package contents: 20 slides, teaching aid

The slide set tells about the work of the first Russian portrait painters F.S. Rokotova, D.G. Levitsky and V.L. Borovikovsky. Portraits of A.P. Struyskaya, Khrushcheva and Khovanskaya, P.A. Demidova, M.I. Lopukhina, Catherine II on a walk in Tsarskoye Selo Park and others are objective and accurate psychological characteristics, express advanced views on the individual, its human and social value.

The graphic series of the manual includes the following slides

Click on the picture to enlarge

1. F. Rokotov. Portrait of Prince Grigory Volkonsky. 1780
2. F. Rokotov. Portrait of Varvara Surovtseva. 1780
3. F. Rokotov. Portrait of an unknown woman in a pink dress. 1770th
4. F. Rokotov. Portrait of Countess Elizabeth Santi. 1785
5. F. Rokotov. Portrait of Alexandra Petrovna Struyskaya. 1772
6. F. Rokotov. Portrait of a naked girl. 1780th
7. D. Levitsky. Portrait of Khrushcheva and Khovanskaya. 1773
8. D. Levitsky. Portrait of Ekaterina Molchanova. 1776
9. D. Levitsky. Alexander Kokorinov, director and first rector of the Academy of Arts. 1769
10. D. Levitsky. Portrait of Princess Praskovya Repnina. 1781
11. D. Levitsky. Portrait of the adjutant of the Empress Alexander Lansky. 1782
12. D. Levitsky. Portrait of Prokofy Akinfievich Demidov. 1773
13. D. Levitsky. Portrait of Maria Alekseevna Dyakova. 1778
14. V. Borovikovsky. Portrait of the sisters of the princesses A.G. and V.G. Gagarins. 1802
15.V. Borovikovsky. Portrait of Ekaterina Arsenyeva. 1790
16.V. Borovikovsky. Portrait of Skobeeva. 1790
17.V. Borovikovsky. Portrait of Major General Fyodor Borovsky. 1799
18.V. Borovikovsky. Countess Anna Bezborodko with her daughters Lyuba and Cleopatra 1803
19.V. Borovikovsky. Portrait of Maria Ivanovna Lopukhina
20. V. Borovikovsky. Catherine II for a walk in Tsarskoye Selo park. 1794

The 18th century in the portrait genre is also a whole gallery of nuances of a woman's soul, with its impulses and depth of life.

A characteristic feature of the "rokotov female type" is a proudly set head, an elongated section of slightly narrowed eyes, an absent-minded half-smile - "a combination of refined contentment and sadness, which almost defies description." These features are already observed in the portrait of E. N. Orlova, nee Zinovieva, who is still ambivalent (dual) in its concept: Orlova in a white satin dress with an ermine mantle, with a ribbon of St. Catherine and the portrait of the Empress covered with diamonds on the chest is presented in a representative (representative), "estate form", but "estate" coexists with the intimacy of mood, like the arrogance of the whole appearance; self-confidence - with thoughtfulness and sadness in his eyes. Rokotov is characterized by a movement from the trepidation and fragility of the spiritual world (for example, the portraits of "Struyskaya" and "Unknown in a pink dress") to the creation of the image of a woman capable of independent judgment about the world - a portrait of V.N.Surovtseva, whose attractive power lies in spirituality and subtle sincerity of the image. Rokotov, as it were, shows that there is another beauty, besides external, he creates in this portrait an idea of female beauty first of all, as spiritual beauty. Light sadness and even some mental fatigue do not exclude great inner restraint, high dignity and depth of feeling.

Levitsky creates a series of portraits of pupils of the Smolny Institute for noble maidens - "Smolyanka" - a single artistic ensemble (seven portraits: portraits of Rzhevskaya and Davydova, Nelidova, Khovanskaya and Khrushcheva, Borsheva, Molchanova, Alymova). The general idea is the theme of victorious youth, sparkling fun, special cheerfulness of the world view; they have a single decorative concept. "Smolyanka" are ceremonial portraits. But Levitsky was also interested in another approach to the model: he strove to reveal the hidden life, deeply closed from the superficial glance. And most often he did it with models, mentally, and most importantly, spiritually close to him.

Borovikovsky developed something like a compositional canon of female (and these are always female) portraits: a half-length (rarely generated) cut of a figure leaning on a tree, curbstone, etc., holding a flower or fruit in his hand. The background is always natural. The figure is placed as if at the junction of light (sky) and dark (clumps of trees) (for example, a portrait of Lopukhina). Sometimes not only the staging of the figure, but even the dress and decorations are repeated from portrait to portrait, as in the images of E. N. Arsenyeva (1796) and Skobeeva (second half of the 1790s). A white dress, a pearl bracelet, an apple in hand - everything is repeated, not to mention the general high pictorial qualities: clear plasticity of form, exquisite pictoriality, perfectly developed airy atmosphere - and the images are completely different.

Three remarkable artists of the second half of the 18th century - Rokotov, Levitsky and Borovikovsky - developed one system of typology of the portrait genre and went from Rococo and Baroque to classicism, and Borovikovsky continued from sentimentalism to romanticism, but all of them were guided by one dream of an ideal, which each of them interpreted in his own way, in the strength of their attitude and the degree of talent.

Thus, the 18th century, on the one hand, was the basis for the formation of national culture, on the other, it contributed to a clear polarity of two types of culture - noble and folk (which preserved the traditions of pagan and Christian Russia).