The history of the Russian estate and the way of life of its inhabitants. Modern estates

The estate, as the basis of the life of the nobility, economy and culture of the Russian Empire, was a vivid expression of the national genius and a place of contact between elite and folk cultures. The disappeared world of the Russian estate left a lot of literary and documentary evidence. Equivalent, from a historical point of view, although not equal in artistic qualities, photographs recreate the bygone poetic world of family nests and pictures of the private life of large noble and merchant families. Observing the disappearance of the estate culture A.N. Grech argued that after 1930 it should be perceived only with the "eyes of memory". Visualizing the memory of several pre-revolutionary generations, photographic images reveal this phenomenon of Russian life visibly and fully. The manor appears at the exhibition from several angles: from front views of large estates and amateur photographs from family albums to artistic images of ancient parks and abandoned estates.

The exposition opens with custom-made ceremonial views of estates, made by masters of the largest ateliers. The plot of the estate views, the features of printing, and sometimes the composition were determined not only by the views of the photographer himself, but also by the wishes of the customer. The photographs show architectural complexes and landscapes, the owners were taken in their favorite estates. The glorified, Ilyinsky, Porechye are depicted in a similar way. To unique examples of early manor photography of the 1860s. include stereo daguerreotypes of the studio “T. Schneider and Sons" with Maryin's interiors, photographs taken by M.N. Sherer, and created by M.B. Tulinov.

Amateur photographs, the authors of which are the owners and guests of the estates themselves, are distinguished by the immediacy of the plots and the liveliness of the composition. The subjects of the photographs are diverse: genre scenes (picnics, boating, hiking), portraits of servants and guests, private rooms, secluded corners of the park and surroundings that are dear to the heart. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, photography became an accessible form of artistic activity. Summer leisure in Russian society is traditionally associated with the estate, so images of everyday pleasurable life on the estate have become widespread. The appearance of amateur photographs is not related to the aesthetic or historical value of the estate, they were born by the harmonious atmosphere of the estate life, common family activities.

Documentary photographs reflect the emerging in the 1890-1910s. great interest in the study and preservation of the Russian estate with its artistic and historical artifacts. The estate began to be perceived as a unique synthetic phenomenon of art and a place of ancestral memory. Photographers recorded the features of the architectural ensemble and the interior complex of the estates. P.P. Pavlov, N.N. Ushakov, A.A. Ivanov-Terentiev.

At the beginning of the XX century. the myth of the Russian estate took shape in literary and artistic form, and an idea was formed of it as a symbol of the outgoing noble culture. The author's view of photographers was attracted by landscapes and details that conveyed the special passionist mood of estate life - the poetry of dying, the outgoing grandeur. The main objects of the image - the manor nature and the park - became spiritualized, emotionally colored. The artistically transformed image of the estate, as if hidden by a light haze of memories, corresponds to the techniques of pictorial photography. The idea of ​​the estate was embodied in the iconic images of photography - the young lady and the alley. Most of the works come from the fund of the Russian Photographic Society - the pearl of the photo collection of the Historical Museum. Photos by A.S. Mazurin, N.A. Petrova, N.S. Krotkova, V.N. Chasovnikova, V.N. Shokhin were shown at competitions and were selected for the future Museum of Light Painting.

The 1920s is the last significant period in the development of the estate theme. Interest in the study of the estate's heritage and the poetry of ruined nests attracted leading Soviet photo artists. Having become exclusively a phenomenon of the past, the estate acquired the possibility of new interpretations. Photo studies of outstanding domestic masters embody not the beautiful outgoing Silver Age, but the former, irretrievably lost, dead past. Most of the photographs were shown at the famous exhibition "Soviet photography for 10 years" in 1928. Later, the disappearance of the estate culture as a living and powerful tradition led to the absence of the image of the estate in Soviet photography.

A bit of history
A manor in the Russian tradition is a separate settlement, a complex of residential, utility, park and other buildings, as well as, as a rule, a manor park that make up a single whole. The term "estate" refers to the possessions of Russian nobles of the 17th - early 20th centuries, it is believed that it originated from the Russian verb "sit down".
The first mention of the estate in documents dates back to 1536. In a separate book in June 1536, the division of the patrimony of the Obolensky princes between relatives in the Bezhetsk district is recorded. From the text it turns out that there was an estate near the village of Dgino.
So the history of the Russian estate has almost six centuries. According to researchers, the estate took root on Russian soil because it invariably remained for the owner a corner of the world, mastered and equipped for himself.
A family homestead is not just a country house and the land adjacent to it, but also a spiritual territory where the most diverse events of family life are collected and captured. Everyday worries, happy holidays, family celebrations, time of work and rest - all this was imprinted and passed through the centuries, recalling the history of the family. The estate is like a small homeland of a person, where several generations of his ancestors lived.

Our present with you
Unfortunately, now the concept of "estate" is almost lost. We live in city apartments, being citizens in the second or third generation, and if we leave the city for a site, it can hardly be called "homestead". But more and more often modern people come to understand what the history of a kind means to them. The construction of a "family nest" is the first step towards restoring the former role of a family homestead, preserving and respecting the history of one's ancestors.

The modern suburban construction is dominated by the so-called "cottage villages", which are actively built up with houses made of stone, glass, metal and plastic. Yes, it is practical, spectacular, stylish, but, as they say, the Russian spirit does not live there and does not smell of Russia there. Not to mention the insufficient environmental friendliness of such buildings.

However, not so long ago, wooden construction in the Russian style experienced the first stage of a revival.

Fortunately, already at the end of the past century and with the advent of the new millennium, the traditions of the Russian estate began to revive among those who like to lead a country lifestyle, surrounded by nature, among peace and quiet. And the very environment in such housing is conducive to peace and tranquility.

What can be a modern manor?
The meaning of a modern estate can be formulated as a separate land ownership with a complex of residential, utility, park and other buildings, including a manor park - a single whole (family) estate that has absorbed all the triumph of progress, and at the same time, not forgetting the traditional values ​​of Russian architecture .

So, the estate is a complex system of buildings on a plot of at least 30 acres. Central house, outbuildings, guest houses, sauna, garage, gazebos, boiler room, autonomous power plant, garden, squares, pond, etc...

Of course, there are special requirements for the central residential building. Being the center of the estate and the family estate of future generations, this house should be quite expressive from the point of view of the exterior, reliable and durable from a constructive point of view.

Life in a family estate, as mentioned, involves a change of generations of its owners, but it may also be that three families will live in good harmony under one roof at once. Such a task, of course, is successfully solved by a verified design of the central building.

Naturally, on the same level with the design of the estate buildings is the issue of its operation - the availability of life support systems. The homestead must be provided with power supply, heating and sewerage systems in such a way that the owners of the house would think about them as little as possible, and the maintenance staff would take over the daily operation.

Summing up, we can say that today the "family nest" is a fairly large land plot with the master's house, a place for recreation and various outbuildings. Modern suburban villages are being built with a well-thought-out infrastructure, their residents have access to all the benefits of civilization, but one thing remains unchanged - life in harmony with nature and with oneself. Endless expanses, green or snow-covered fields, natural reservoirs, horseback riding and boating do not cease to be in demand.

The image of the noble estate

and the fate of the hero in the novel by I.A. Goncharov "Oblomov"

Technologies: problem-based learning, ICT technology, integrated learning technology

Form of conducting: lesson-dialogue

teacher's word

Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov came from a wealthy merchant family: his father was engaged in the grain trade, and his ancestors were merchants for several generations. The writer had neither hereditary nor acquired estate. He spent his childhood in Simbirsk, and most of his life is connected with St. Petersburg, where he served. However, despite the lack of personal experience of the "estate" childhood, Goncharov in the novel "Oblomov" creates a surprisingly believable, colorful and tangible image of a noble estate. His "Flemishness" manifested itself in the depiction of Oblomov's patrimony in all its strength.

The main action of the novel "Oblomov" takes place in St. Petersburg and its environs, but the image of Oblomovka, which repeatedly appears on the pages of the work, is one of the central ones. On the one hand, Oblomovka is the childhood of the protagonist, that is, what, according to Goncharov, determines the character and, possibly, the fate of a person. On the other hand, this is the ideal of Ilya Ilyich, a kind of utopia.

We get acquainted with the estate already at the beginning of the novel, through a letter from the headman, who is clearly deceiving his master. Note that the nobles quite often found themselves cut off from their possessions and entrusted the economy to the headman or manager. We can recall what we wrote about in the introductory article to the rubric: sometimes only childhood and old age were associated with a nobleman's native estate. The years of adolescence and youth fell on teaching, and maturity - on the service. At this time, people came to the family nest infrequently. It also happened, as N. A. Nekrasov describes in The Forgotten Village:

Finally one day in the middle of the road
Drogs appeared like a train of gears:
On the drogs there is a tall oak coffin,
And in the coffin is a gentleman; and behind the coffin - a new one.
The old one was buried, the new one wiped away the tears,
He got into his carriage and left for St. Petersburg.

A nobleman could not live on his estate for various reasons. There are two main ones: public service and love for urban (secular, cultural) life. However, none of these reasons for Oblomov exists. In the first part, we see the hero's attitude to metropolitan life, and it is obvious that he does not like it, it seems to be full of meaningless fuss. He defines each of his guests with a summary word - "unfortunate". At the same time, Oblomov is not connected with the service. In addition, it is obvious that the economy requires his intervention.

- Why, then, Oblomov does not go to the village. What's stopping him?

It is also important here how any journey seems to the hero of the doomsday (even moving to another apartment in the city), and the fact that he first needs to make a plan (he tells Stolz about this). We are familiar with this plan in the eighth chapter of the first part.

Let's reread the passage. Let's answer the questions:

- What is the plan?

- What is its main part?

- Why does the “fundamental articles” of the management of the Oblomov estate run through the mind only in passing?

- What in this regard causes Goncharov's obvious smile and ours, the reader's?

- How useful and fruitful are Oblomov's projects?

- What other character of Russian literature does Oblomov remind you of here?

- Features of what literary movement can be seen in the description of a summer evening at the estate?

- What is the charm and what is the disadvantage of such an ideal?

CONCLUSIONS (summary of students' judgments)

Oblomov's plans show his Manilov dreaminess, inability and unwillingness to delve into the management of the economy, an idealized, some kind of sentimental bucolic idea of ​​local life. His estate, with steam rising from the fields and peasants returning from the fields, seems operatic and decorative. Life on the estate is in no way connected with the thought of labor, but is conceived as a state of pleasant idleness (“idle” even the household is drawn).

Let's turn now to sleep Oblomov (part 1, chapter 9) and let's take a mental walk through that real Oblomovka, which our hero knew (after all, this, in fact, is not a dream, but a story about his childhood).

- What does Oblomovka appear in this dream?

- What characteristic features, details do you remember?

What is the tone of the story?

- What unites all the inhabitants of Oblomovka - both nobles and peasants?

- With what intonation does Goncharov draw Oblomovka and its inhabitants?

Consider at least a small piece of text in more detail in terms of style. Questions (possible in groups):

- How does the style of this text differ from the narrative style of the writer throughout the novel as a whole?

- For what purpose are such expressions as “roaring lions”, “Egyptian plagues” used, what do they set the reader up to?

- How is expectation destroyed by the appearance of the expressions “cackling chickens”, “chewing cows”, etc.?

- Why is the whole fragment based on negation?

- What is the style of this landscape?

- What unites him with the dreams of Oblomov from the eighth chapter?

You can show students one or two pictures of a sentimental plan, which are idyllic in nature (slides 1-2). Let's pay attention to how people and nature are connected in the paintings, how nobles and peasants are depicted.

So, the description of Oblomovka is again an idyllic picture, reminiscent of a sentimental pastoral, but presented by the author in an ironic manner. The hero, however, perceives it without any irony, so sentimental and ironic fragments are constantly mixed.

In the center of the dream is the image of little Ilyusha Oblomov. In essence, we have yet another manor "childhood" in Russian literature. The familiar moment of the awakening of the child is striking: “Ilya Ilyich woke up in the morning in his small bed. He is only seven years old. It's easy and fun for him."

Discussion of lead task issues

- What is the similarity between the childhoods of Nikita, Nikolenka Irtenev and Ilyusha Oblomov? How do they differ?

This is where illustrative material will help us. Let's compare the illustrations of different authors: E. Bem, Yu. Gershkovich, I. Konovalov, V. Taburin, T. Shishmareva, N. Shcheglov, P. Estoppe.

Questions for slides:

Slide #3. What mood does the illustration evoke? Imagine that you are driving into Oblomovka. What emotions do you have?

Slide #4. Why is the house near the ravine “honored” with a separate illustration? What additional meaning does the illustration acquire due to the figure of a child?

Slide #5. Compare illustrations by T. Shishmareva and V. Taburin. What do they have in common? (Pay attention to the composition). What does Ilyusha's pose express in both pictures? By what means does each of the authors convey the atmosphere of Oblomovka and the state of Ilyusha? Are these illustrations similar or different in concept?

SUMMARY OF ANSWERS

At first glance, the illustrations are surprisingly similar. The pose of the hero, the location of his figure, the tree and rickety buildings on the right side of the picture, the ascending diagonal that is clearly visible in the composition, the contrast between the general stupor of the world and the living figure of a child, which is also located diagonally, but oppositely directed, almost coincide. However, upon careful reading of the pictures, we will notice that in the illustration of Shishmareva we have a curious child who is trying to lean out of the gates of the sleepy kingdom while his guards are sleeping, but he seems to have stuck his feet to the border that he cannot cross; he himself remains there, in the yard, only the head crosses the goal line. Taburin's boy is freer, his figure is more dynamic. He reaches out to flowering herbs, wanting to see and comprehend the secrets of the world that surrounds him.

Slide #6. Compare the illustrations by Yu. Gershkovich and I. Konovalov. What moment of the text does each picture illustrate? How are these illustrations similar and how do they differ (pay attention to the composition, the poses of the characters, the setting, the details)? How do the authors show the presence or absence of contact between Ilyusha and the nanny at this moment? What is each illustration about? What thought does the proximity of these two illustrations lead us to?

The first illustration depicts the moment when Ilyusha looks on a summer morning at a passing cart and the shadow it casts and is surprised at the world, thinks about everything he sees. In this episode, Ilyusha is tormented by the desire to run out of the yard, to run up the mountain. Mentally, he left the Oblomov circle. The artist managed to convey this in the very pose of the boy, in his appeal to the long term.

On the second - one of the winter evenings, when the nanny tells stories and fairy tales to Ilyusha. Here, on the contrary, the relationship between the child and the nanny is emphasized: the characters are in a closely enclosed space, Ilyusha eagerly absorbs stories, after which “he always has the disposition to lie on the stove, walk around in a ready-made, unearned dress and eat at the expense of a good sorceress.”

These illustrations clarify the peculiar duality of Oblomov's childhood and the hero's soul.

Slide number 7. Compare illustrations by E. Bem and N. Shcheglov. What do these images have in common? What principle underlies their construction?

The illustrations show the same moment: when the nanny falls asleep and Ilyusha seizes the moment and sets off to explore the world around him on his own. Both images, which differ in technique and style, are based on the contrast between the static figure of the nanny and the dynamic figure of the child. But if with Bem everything turns out to be, like a frame, closed by the boundaries of the dovecote, then with Shcheglov, the child opens up a spacious world with the height of the skies and running clouds, towards which he joyfully stretches out his hands. The contrast between Oblomovka and the big world is emphasized in this illustration by light and shadow: the nanny is sitting in the shade of the house, while Ilyusha ran out into the sun-drenched space.

Slide #8. What is the unusual illustration of the French artist? What impression does she make on you? What idea is expressed by the composition of the picture? What mood do the figures of people create?

In this picture, all the characters froze in some kind of sleepy static. The figures of adults tightly surround the child. At the same time, the impression is born not so much of love and care as of constraint and even threat.

Summing up the conversation about illustrations, let's say that there is a lot of love in the life of little Ilyusha: everyone adores and pampers him. But this atmosphere of love, which we emphasized as something purely positive, speaking of the childhood of Nikolenka or Nikita, here becomes cloying and somehow distorted: he barely had time to wipe off the traces of uninvited kisses. After that, feeding him with buns, crackers, cream began. Then his mother, after caressing him more, let him go for a walk in the garden, around the yard, on the meadow, with strict confirmation to the nanny not to leave the child alone, not to allow him to horses, to dogs, to the goat, do not go far from home, and most importantly, do not let him into the ravine, as the most terrible place in the neighborhood, which had a bad reputation.

So, we see that in childhood Ilya Ilyich was a lively and receptive child, but unlike Nikolenka or Nikita, he grows up under constant care, he is actually not allowed to do anything himself. In addition, in his life there is no that cultural atmosphere that we saw in Tolstoy (music, reading). From this point of view, it is interesting to compare the description of the winter evening in Nikita's Childhood and in Oblomov's Dream.

Goncharov believed that the impressions of early childhood are decisive in a person's life.: “Not a single trifle, not a single feature escapes the inquisitive attention of a child; the picture of domestic life indelibly cuts into the soul; the soft mind is imbued with living examples and unconsciously draws a program of his life from the life around him.

What are adults doing, what does little Ilyusha absorb?

“Oblomov himself, the old man, is also not without work. He sits at the window all morning and strictly observes everything that is happening in the yard, ”Goncharov writes about Ilya Ilyich’s father.

- What are these classes, how does the author talk about them, how does he relate to them?

- What is the activity of Oblomov's mother?

- Around what does the life of all the inhabitants of the estate revolve?

The activities of Ilya Ivanovich are absolutely meaningless: he looks out the window all day and distracts all the workers with unnecessary questions. His wife is focused on what is the main thing for the Oblomovites, around which their world revolves - on food.

“Perhaps Ilyusha has long noticed and understood what they say and do in his presence: like his father, in plush trousers, in a brown woolen fleece jacket, all day and day he knows that he walks from corner to corner with his hands folded back, sniffing tobacco and blowing his nose, and mother goes from coffee to tea, from tea to dinner; that a parent will never even think of believing how many kopecks are beveled or squeezed, and to recover for an omission, but if you don’t give him a handkerchief soon, he will scream about riots and turn the whole house upside down, ”concludes Goncharov.

Such is the world of the estate in the childhood memories of Ilya Ilyich - the image of his "golden age", the ideal (idealized) past.

ABOUTBlom's utopia placed by the author in the second part of the novel, in the episode of the dispute with Stolz (Chapter 4). Oblomov draws imaginary pictures of his future life to his friend.

Let us reread this text carefully with a parallel making a table.

	Fragment from sleep / childhood (idealized past)	Dream Breaker (ideal future)
Characteristic features and details of life
The main occupations of the heroes, turning points in the course of life
atmosphere, mood

Then we ask in the table to mark the points similarities and differences.

- Does Oblomov's ideal look like what surrounded him in childhood? How?

- What is the difference that Oblomov so ardently defends?

- What a great offer“The house was already lit up with lights; in the kitchen knock on five knives; a pan of mushrooms, meatballs, berries... there is music... Casta diva... Casta diva! » - how does it characterize the Oblomov idyll?

One of the reasons that keeps Oblomov from going to the village, in his own words, is that he wants to come there not alone, but with his wife. Note that Oblomovka is the edge family idyll. However, having become Olga's fiancé and realizing that he had nowhere to take his young wife, Oblomov would not arrange things on the estate.

- What's stopping him?

- Why can’t Oblomov make this path from his current state to the realization of his dream - the path that he always mentally “jumps over” (“Well, I would come to a new, calmly arranged house ...”, he begins to state his dreams to Stolz , without dwelling on the thought of how the house will become “quietly arranged”)?

- Why, instead of the family estate, at the end of the novel do we see Oblomov on the Vyborg side, in a kind of "surrogate" Oblomovka?

D/Z Tenth-graders will have to answer these questions during the subsequent study of the novel.

APPLICATION

“Ilya Ilyich began to develop a plan for the estate. He quickly ran through his mind several serious, fundamental articles on dues, on plowing, came up with a new measure, stricter, against the laziness and vagrancy of the peasants, and proceeded to organize his own life in the countryside.

He was occupied with the construction of a village house; he stopped with pleasure for several minutes at the location of the rooms, determined the length and width of the dining room, the billiard room, and thought about where his study would be facing with windows; even remembered the furniture and carpets.

After that, he arranged the wing of the house, having realized the number of guests that he intended to receive, set aside a place for stables, sheds, human and various other services.

Finally he turned to the garden: he decided to leave all the old linden and oak trees as they were, and destroy the apple and pear trees and plant acacias in their place; I thought about the park, but, having made a rough estimate of the costs in my mind, I found that it was expensive, and, postponing it until another time, I moved on to flower beds and greenhouses.

Here a seductive thought about future fruits flashed through him so vividly that he was suddenly transported several years ahead to the village, when the estate was arranged according to his plan and when he lives there without a break.

He imagined how he was sitting on a summer evening on the terrace, at a tea table, under a canopy of trees impenetrable to the sun, with a long pipe and lazily sucking in smoke, thoughtfully enjoying the view that opened from behind the trees, the coolness, the silence; and in the distance the fields turn yellow, the sun sets behind the familiar birch forest and blushes the pond, smooth as a mirror; steam rises from the fields; it becomes cool, dusk sets in; the peasants go home in droves.

An idle domestic sits at the gate; cheerful voices, laughter, a balalaika are heard there, girls play burners; all around him his little ones frolic, climb on his knees, hang on his neck; behind the samovar sits ... the queen of everything around, his deity ... a woman! wife! Meanwhile, in the dining room, decorated with elegant simplicity, the friendly lights shone brightly, a large round table was set; Zakhar, promoted to majordomo, with completely gray whiskers, sets the table, arranges crystal with a pleasant clang and lays out silver, constantly dropping first glass, then fork on the floor; sit down for a hearty supper; here sits his childhood friend, his unfailing friend, Stolz, and others, all familiar faces; then they go to sleep...

Oblomov's face suddenly flushed with a blush of happiness ... "

“The Lord of that side did not punish either Egyptian or simple ulcers. None of the inhabitants has seen and does not remember any terrible heavenly signs, no balls of fire, no sudden darkness; there are no poisonous reptiles; locusts do not fly there; there are no roaring lions, no roaring tigers, not even bears and wolves, because there are no forests. Only munching cows, bleating sheep and clucking chickens roam the fields and the village.

God knows if a poet or a dreamer would be content with the nature of a peaceful corner. These gentlemen, as you know, love to stare at the moon and listen to the clicking of nightingales. They love the coquette moon, which would dress up in pale-yellow clouds and mysteriously see through the branches of trees or pour sheaves of silver rays into the eyes of its fans.

And in this region, no one knew what kind of moon this was - everyone called it a month.

She somehow good-naturedly, with all her eyes looked at the villages and the field, and was very much like a cleaned copper basin.

“The whole corner of fifteen or twenty versts around presented a series of picturesque sketches, cheerful, smiling landscapes. The sandy and gently sloping banks of a bright river, a small bush creeping up from the hill to the water, a twisted ravine with a stream at the bottom, and a birch grove - everything seemed to be deliberately tidied up one to one and masterfully drawn.

A heart tormented by worries or completely unfamiliar with them asks to hide in this corner forgotten by everyone and live in happiness unknown to anyone.

Publications in the Literature section

Estates and cottages in the works of Russian classics

A country house or estate located near the city is a real Russian phenomenon. We often find descriptions of such estates in Russian classical literature: many important events take place precisely in country scenery, in shady alleys and gardens.

Lev Tolstoy

One of the famous summer residents was Leo Tolstoy. His life revolved around the family estate of Yasnaya Polyana, where he raised his children, taught peasant children, and worked on manuscripts. The Russian estate became for Tolstoy not just a home where happy childhood years pass, but also a place where character is tempered. His views on the arrangement of estate life and the way of life in general formed the basis of the worldview of the young landowner Konstantin Levin, one of the heroes of the novel Anna Karenina.

“The house was large, old, and although Levin lived alone, he heated and occupied the whole house. He knew that it was stupid, he knew that it was not even good and contrary to his current new plans, but this house was a whole world for Levin. This was the world in which his father and mother lived and died. They lived that life, which for Levin seemed the ideal of all perfection, and which he dreamed of resuming with his wife, with his family.

Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

For Levin, the estate is not only a fertile ground for nostalgia, but also a means of earning money, an opportunity to provide oneself and one's family with a decent existence. Only a well-groomed and strong economy could survive in the new Russia. In Tolstoy's estate there was no place for the pampered Onegins - they fled to the cities. The real owner remained in the village, who is alien to laziness: Levin also ate oysters, although white bread with cheese was more pleasant to him..

Ivan Turgenev

The inhabitants of Ivan Turgenev's provincial noble nests are enlightened and educated people who are aware of cultural and social events. Although the widowed landowner Nikolai Kirsanov lived without a break on the estate, he adhered to advanced ideas: he subscribed to magazines and books, was fond of poetry and music. And he gave his son an excellent education. The Kirsanov brothers made a fashionable mansion out of the old parental home: they brought furniture and sculptures there, laid out gardens and parks around, dug out ponds and canals, erected garden pavilions and gazebos.

“And Pavel Petrovich returned to his elegant office, pasted over the walls with beautiful wild-colored wallpaper, with weapons hanging on a motley Persian carpet, with walnut furniture upholstered in dark green tripe, with a renaissance library (from French “in the style of the Renaissance”. [I] - Ed.[I]) from old black oak, with bronze figurines on a magnificent desk, with a fireplace ... "

Ivan Turgenev, "Fathers and Sons"

In the days of Turgenev's youth, the manor was considered a place where a nobleman could hide from high society, rest his soul and body. However, the writer felt anxiety - as if soon the estate, as a bulwark of reliability and peace, would disappear. Even then, descriptions of decaying estates appeared in his works - this is how he imagined the future of the landlord culture in Russia.

“Lavretsky went out into the garden, and the first thing that caught his eye was the very bench on which he had once spent several happy moments with Lisa, not to be repeated; she turned black, twisted; but he recognized her, and that feeling seized his soul, which has no equal in both sweetness and sorrow - a feeling of living sadness about the disappeared youth, about the happiness that he once possessed.

Ivan Turgenev, "Nest of Nobles"

Anton Chekhov

The dilapidated dachas from the works of Turgenev, overgrown with weeds, burdock, gooseberries and raspberries, in which traces of human presence will finally fall silent very soon, were reflected in the work of Anton Chekhov. A deserted or devastated manor as a place of events appears in almost every one of his stories.

Chekhov himself was not a "chick of a noble nest", in 1892 he moved with his family to a neglected and uncomfortable estate in Melikhovo. For example, in the story “A House with a Mezzanine”, only a house with a mezzanine and dark park alleys remain of the former landowner’s wealth, but the life of the owners adapts to the new era: one of the daughters left her parents forever, and the second now “lives on her own money”, than very proud.

“He said little about the Volchaninovs. Lida, according to him, still lived in Shelkovka and taught children at school; little by little, she managed to gather around her a circle of people she liked, who made up a strong party and in the last Zemstvo elections "rolled" Balagin, who until that time had held the entire county in his hands. About Zhenya, Belokurov only said that she did not live at home and was unknown where.

Anton Chekhov, "House with a Mezzanine"

In the play The Cherry Orchard, Anton Chekhov portrayed the Russian aristocracy as doomed and degenerate. In place of the nobles, bogged down in debt, unable to think pragmatically, a new person comes - a merchant, enterprising and modern. In the play, it was Yermolai Lopakhin, who suggested to the owner of the estate, Lyubov Ranevskaya, “to divide the cherry orchard and the land along the river into summer cottages and then rent them out for summer cottages.” Ranevskaya decisively rejected Lopakhin's proposal, although it would bring huge profits and help pay off debts. Chekhov shows readers: a new time has come, in which economics and pure calculation reign. And aristocrats with a fine mental organization live out their lives and will soon disappear.

“Settings for the first act. There are no curtains on the windows, no paintings, there is a little furniture left, which is folded into one corner, as if for sale. Feels empty. Near the exit door and at the back of the stage, suitcases, road knots, etc. are stacked.

Anton Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard

Ivan Bunin

Ivan Bunin - a representative of an impoverished noble family, the "last classic" of Russian literature - more than once turned to the theme of a noble estate in his work. Events unfolded in the dacha in the novel "Arseniev's Life", and in the collection of short stories "Dark Alleys", and in the story "Mitya's Love", and, of course, in the story "At the Dacha".

Bunin's estate is not just a place of action, but a full-fledged hero of the work with his own character and constantly changing mood. In the first works of Bunin, country houses are inextricably linked with the cultural traditions of the nobility, established life and their own customs. The dachas are always quiet, green, full and crowded. Such is the estate in the stories "Tanka", "On the farm", "Antonov apples", "Village", "Sukhodil".

“From the yard, the clucking of chickens was heard loudly and cheerfully. The house was still quiet on a bright summer morning. The living room connected to the dining arch, and adjoining the dining room was another small room, all filled with palm trees and oleanders in tubs and brightly lit by amber sunlight. The canary was busy there in a swaying cage, and one could hear how sometimes the grains of the seed fell, clearly fell on the floor.

Ivan Bunin, "In the country"

In 1917, the writer witnessed the mass destruction of the dear and close world of noble nests. In 1920, Ivan Bunin left Russia forever - he emigrated to France. In Paris, Bunin wrote the cycle of stories "Dark Alleys", the story "Mitya's Love" and the novel "Arseniev's Life".

“The estate was small, the house was old and unpretentious, the economy was simple, not requiring a large household, - life began to be quiet for Mitya.”

Ivan Bunin, Mitina's Love

In all the works one feels the bitterness of loss - the father's home, homeland and life harmony. Although his emigrant noble nests are doomed to death, they keep memories of the world of childhood and youth, the world of ancient noble life.

The State Museum and Exhibition Center ROSPHOTO together with the State Historical Museum present the exhibition “The Image of a Russian Manor in Photography”, demonstrating a collection of manor photography of the 1860s-1920s from the collection of the Historical Museum. The exhibition allows trace the evolution of the estate theme in photography and identify the main directions of estate plots in Russian photography.

The estate, as the basis of the life of the nobility, economy and culture of the Russian Empire, was a vivid expression of the national genius and a place of contact between elite and folk cultures. Equivalent from a historical point of view, although not equal in artistic qualities, photographic images of the Russian estate create a diverse picture of the bygone estate culture, the poetic world of family nests and the private life of large noble and merchant families. The manor appears at the exhibition from several angles: from the front views of large estates and amateur photographs from family albums to artistic images of ancient parks and abandoned estates.

The exposition opens with custom-made views of estates made by masters of the largest photographic studios. The photographs, often large in size and specially designed, show winning views of the architectural complex and landscape, as well as portraits of the owners in their favorite estates. The plot of the estate views, the features of printing, and sometimes the composition were determined not only by the views of the photographer himself, but also by the wishes of the customer. Many famous estates (Ostafyevo, Arkhangelskoye, Ilyinskoye), which served as central residences for their owners, are depicted in this way. The exhibition exhibits unique examples of early estate photography of the 1860s - photographs of the Nikolskoye-Obolyaninovo estate, made by M.N. Sherer, and Nikolskoye-Prozorovskoye by M.B. Tulinov.

The second section is dedicated to amateur photography. The authors of these pictures are the owners and guests of the estates themselves. Photos distinguishes the immediacy of the plots and the liveliness of the composition. At the turn of the century, photography became an accessible form of artistic activity. Summer leisure in Russian society has traditionally been associated with the estate, so images of everyday pleasurable life on the estate have become widespread in amateur photography. The appearance of amateur photographs is not related to the aesthetic or historical value of the estate, they are born from the harmonious atmosphere of the estate life, common family activities. The subjects of the photographs are varied: genre scenes (picnics on the grass, boating, hiking), portraits of servants and guests, private rooms of the upper floor, sweet nooks and crannies of the park and its environs.

The photographs of the next section reflect the interest that arose at the beginning of the 20th century in the study and preservation of the Russian estate with its artistic and historical artifacts.

The estate is beginning to be perceived as a unique synthetic phenomenon of art and a place of ancestral memory. Photographers strive to capture the features of the architectural ensemble and the interior complex of estates. A number of masters turn to photography of architecture and genre for the purpose of photographic documentation of monuments: P. P. Pavlov, N. N. Ushakov, A. A. Ivanov-Terentyev.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the myth of the Russian estate took shape in literary and artistic form, and an idea was formed of it as a symbol of the outgoing noble culture. The author's view of the photographers was attracted by the details and landscapes, which conveyed the special passionistic mood of the estate life - the poetry of dying, the outgoing greatness. The main objects of the image - the manor nature and the park - became spiritualized, emotionally colored. The idea of ​​the estate was embodied in the iconic images of art photography: a young lady and a park alley. In some works, the artistically transformed image of the estate, as if covered with a light haze of memories, corresponds to the techniques of pictorial photography. The works of this section come from the fund of the Russian Photographic Society - the pearl of the photo collection of the Historical Museum. Photos of N. S. Krotkov, V. N. Chasovnikov, V. N. Shokhin were shown at photographic competitions and were selected by the Society to create a museum. The estate theme was also reflected in the works of the famous masters A. S. Mazurin and N. A. Petrov .

The last significant period in the development of the estate theme in artistic lighting was the 1920s. The great interest in the study of the estate heritage and the poetry of ruined nests attracted leading Soviet photo artists. At that time, having become exclusively a phenomenon of the past, the estate acquired the possibility of new interpretations. The exhibition presents photo studies of the outstanding domestic master A. D. Grinberg, who sought to create a new image of the estate. The works of the photographer embody not the beautiful “outgoing” Silver Age, but the “former”, irretrievably lost, dead past. Most of these estate photographs were shown at the famous 1928 exhibition "Soviet Photography in 10 Years". Subsequently, the disappearance of the estate culture as a living and powerful tradition led to the absence of its image in Soviet photography.