Portraits depicting ancient Russian women. Tatyana before and after Pushkin: portraits of three centuries
Petr Fedorovich Sokolov (1791-1848)
The vast expanses of Russia, the diversity of nature and the diversity of the peoples that inhabited it, gave rise to special, diverse types of female beauty. Russia absorbed everything, and southern Turkish blood, and western German, and northern Polish ... What beauties you will not meet in its open spaces ...
"Portrait of an unknown woman in a red beret"
Sokolov is the founder of the genre of Russian watercolor portrait from nature, which supplanted in the 1820-40s. portrait miniature. His watercolor portraits are windows into the past, through which secular beauties who have long since left the world look into the 21st century. The beauty of soft colors, the charm inherent in the images, make us, even now, after more than a hundred and fifty years, highly appreciate his art.
"Portrait of a girl in a red dress"
Pyotr Fedorovich graduated from the Academy of Arts in 1809 in the class of historical painting. For "Andromache's Lament over the body of Hector" he received a second (small) gold medal. At first he was in poverty, but pretty soon he began to give painting lessons and began to study watercolor, which was a great success because of the speed of execution, the ability to write without tiring posing. Having your own collection of watercolors before 1917 was considered a sign of good taste and wealth. But, creating beautiful portraits, the artist actually killed himself with the thought that he was not writing large plot canvases that should have immortalized him...
"Portrait of I.G. Poletika" Second half of the 1820s
Idalia Grigorievna Poletika (1807–1890), illegitimate daughter of Count G.A. Stroganov. At the age of 19, she married the cavalry guard A.M. Poletika and over the years became quite a prominent lady of St. Petersburg society. She personified the type of a charming woman not so much with her pretty face as with the turn of a brilliant mind, cheerfulness and liveliness of character, which brought her constant, undoubted success everywhere. She played a tragic role in the pre-duel story of A.S. Pushkin, was his worst enemy.
"Portrait of A.S. Glinka-Mavrina"
Alexandra Semyonovna Glinka-Mavrina (1825-1885) - wife of Boris Grigoryevich Glinka, St. Andrew's Knight, adjutant general, nephew of V.K. Kuchelbecker. In 1830, Glinka served as an intermediary between Pushkin and Kuchelbecker in an attempt to publish works. Pushkin was acquainted with his wife.
"Portrait of P.N. Ryumina" 1847
Praskovya Nikolaevna Ryumina (1821-1897). The portrait was commissioned for the wedding. V.A. Sollogub wrote that the groom “obliges himself to the most ridiculous extravagance ... Indispensable gifts are coming. A portrait painted by Sokolov, a delicate bracelet, a Turkish shawl…”
"Portrait of S.A. Urusova" 1827
Princess Sofya Alexandrovna Urusova (1804–1889) “... The daughters of Prince Urusov were rightly considered an adornment of the Moscow society of that time,” wrote the French historian Marc Runier. In the spring of 1827, Pushkin often visited the Urusovs’ house, on whom “the beauty and courtesy of the young housewives acted excitingly, and he was very cheerful, sharp, talkative”
"Portrait of Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna" 1821
Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna (1798–1860) was the wife of Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich, the future Emperor Nicholas I, from 1817. She became the idol of a whole generation, many poets of the Pushkin era dedicated their poems to her.
This portrait is one of the undoubted masterpieces. The airy mother-of-pearl-pearl outfit of the august person, masterfully drawn out, contrasts with the cold look of her eyes, creating a very ambiguous image.
"Portrait of E.K. Vorontsova" about 1823
This portrait is one of Sokolov's masterpieces. The famous St. Petersburg beauty was painted by many artists, but no one portrayed her as charming and feminine. The artist uses the surface of white paper in the image, creating an airy background with a light watercolor fill. The portrait of Vorontsova delights with the perfection of the filigree finish, the sophistication of subtle color combinations.
"Portrait of Yu.P. Sokolova" Around 1827
Yulia Pavlovna Sokolova (1804–1877), wife of P.F. Sokolov since 1820. “Live, flirtatious, almost a child, she never got bored with him. She loved secular life, and her husband, who was in love with her to the point of adoration, apparently completely shared her tastes, ”recalled their granddaughter A.A. Isakova. This, one of the most soulful portraits, was created "in one session, in one morning"
"Portrait of A.O. Smirnova - Rosseti"
Alexandra Osipovna Smirnova (1809–1882), a friend of Pushkin, Gogol, Zhukovsky, Vyazemsky, Aksakov… Almost all the poets of the Pushkin era dedicated poems to her. Gogol was the first to read to her the chapters of the 2nd volume of Dead Souls. She left the most interesting memories of the secular, literary and spiritual life of the XIX century.
"Portrait of E.M. Khitrovo"
Elizaveta Mikhailovna Khitrovo (1783–1839), daughter of M.I. Golenishchev-Kutuzov. European-educated, Elizaveta Mikhailovna was at the same time a sincere patriot, a devoted guardian of her father's glory, an ardent admirer of Russian literature and an enthusiastic admirer of Pushkin's genius. The artist managed to convey in the portrait the great spiritual generosity, kindness and nobility of the nature of this outstanding woman. The portrait was painted a year before the death of Elizabeth Mikhailovna.
"Portrait of M.T. Pashkova with her daughter Alexandra"
"Portrait of an unknown woman in a blue cape with an ermine" 1843
"Portrait of a Woman" 1847
"Portrait of Countess A.P. Mordvinova"
"Portrait of Countess Shuvalova"
"Portrait of Chertkova E.G."
Chertkova Elena Grigorievna (1800-1832), nee Countess Stroganova. Paternal sister of I.G. Poletiki.
"Portrait of a Woman" 1830
Portrait of Alexandra Grigoryevna Muravyova (1804-1832)
"Portrait of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna"
"Princess Golitsyna Alexandra Alexandrovna" 1840s
"Portrait of S.F. Tolstoy"
Sarra Feodorovna (1821-1838) - daughter of Count Fyodor Ivanovich Tolstoy. The girl was known for her extraordinary talent as a poetess.
"Portrait of Countess Sologub N.L."
Sologub Nadezhda Lvovna (1815-1903) countess, maid of honor.
"Portrait of Countess O. A. Orlova" 1829
Countess Olga Alexandrovna Orlova (1807–1880) In 1826 she married Count A.F. Orlov. In 1847 she was granted the status of ladies
Museums section publications
Tatyana before and after Pushkin: portraits of three centuries
It is read that the name Tatyana became popular after the publication of the novel "Eugene Onegin". However, even before that, this name was not uncommon among the nobility. We recall the portraits of Tatyana from the 18th to the 20th century together with Sofia Bagdasarova.
A. Antropov. Portrait of Princess Tatyana Alekseevna Trubetskoy. 1761. Tretyakov Gallery
A. Peng. Portrait of Princess Tatyana Borisovna Kurakina. 1st floor XVIII century, GE
Unknown artist. Portrait of Anastasia Naryshkina with her daughters Tatyana and Alexandra. Early 1710s, State Tretyakov Gallery
Girls from the Romanov family were christened Tatyana back in the 17th century: for example, that was the name of the sister of the first Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich and his youngest daughter. Then this name disappeared from the royal dynasty, and the next Tatyana appeared in the imperial family in the 1890s. However, in the noble families of the 17th and 18th centuries, the name remained popular. One of the most famous Tatyana is Tatyana Shuvalova. Her son, Empress Elizabeth's favorite Ivan Shuvalov, chose his mother's name day to sign a decree on the founding of Moscow University. So Tatyana's day became Student's Day. The portrait of Tatyana Shuvalova has not been preserved.
The oldest Russian portrait with Tatyana, apparently, was the Naryshkin family portrait of the 1710s. It depicts the daughter of the first commandant of St. Petersburg, Moscow Governor Kirill Naryshkin with her mother and sister. An unknown artist did not work out the faces very subtly, but carefully wrote out the patterns on the fabric and the fashionable lace fontange (headdress) of the mother.
To paint a portrait of the daughter of Prince Boris Kurakin - and the niece of Empress Evdokia Lopukhina - they invited the court painter of the Prussian King Antoine Pen. The director of the Berlin Academy of Arts, in the tradition of classicism, worked out the chiaroscuro, folds of clothes, and even conveyed the subtlest overflows of expensive fabric on the shoulders of Princess Tatyana Kurakina.
Princess Tatyana Trubetskaya, the sister of the poet Fyodor Kozlovsky, looks striking in a 1761 portrait: the artist Alexei Antropov depicted her in an outfit adorned with red and green bows and flowers. The princess with full make-up: in those years it was fashionable not only to powder, but also to apply blush, draw eyebrows.
D. Levitsky. Portrait of Tatyana Petrovna Raznatovskaya. 1781. State Art Museum of Belarus
N. Argunov. Portrait of the ballerina Tatyana Vasilievna Shlykova-Granatova. 1789. Kuskovo
E. Vigée-Lebrun. Portrait of Tatyana Vasilievna Engelhardt. 1797. Fuji Museum, Tokyo
Twenty years later, Dmitry Levitsky wrote Tatyana Raznatovskaya. A young woman with a proud posture looks noble and elegant. Her light blue dress and white silk cape contrast with the dark deep background in the pictorial tradition of those years.
One of the richest women in Russia, the niece of Prince Potemkin, Tatyana Engelhardt, married one of the Yusupovs and brought a gigantic fortune and the hereditary name Tatyana to their family. In the portrait by the visiting French portrait painter Vigée-Lebrun, Tatiana Engelhardt weaves a wreath of roses and is already dressed in a new fashion - in a high-waisted dress.
Researchers believe that among the peasants the name Tatiana in the XVIII-XIX centuries was three times more popular than among the nobles. Sheremetev's serf painter Nikolai Argunov portrayed a peasant woman, Tatyana Shlykova, an actress in a serf theater, in an elegant stage costume. Later, the count picked up "precious" surnames for his beautiful actresses. Shlykova became Granatova, and her "colleagues" - Zhemchugova and Turquoise.
A. Bryullov. Portrait of Tatyana Borisovna Potemkina. 1830s VMP
V. Tropinin. Portrait of Tatyana Sergeevna Karpakova. 1818. Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan
K. Reichel. Portrait of Tatyana Vasilievna Golitsyna. 1816, RM
Among the immortalized on the canvases of Tatyana there are other actresses. In 1818, Vasily Tropinin portrayed the young dancer Karpakova. Her parents played in the Imperial Theaters, and she herself was fond of ballet since childhood. Tatyana Karpakova has been dancing on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater since the age of 12, her contemporaries admired her expressive facial expressions, ease of dance and impeccable technique.
In the same year, a portrait of Princess Tatyana Golitsyna was created. The daughter-in-law of Natalya Golitsyna, the prototype of Pushkin's Queen of Spades, is depicted wearing a black beret. In the first third of the 19th century, these headdresses were traditionally worn by married ladies. True, more often women of fashion preferred bright colors - raspberry, green, scarlet.
“The width of the beret extends up to twelve inches; the upper part of them is one, the lower part is another color. The materials from which such berets are made are also different: satin and velvet. These berets are put on the head so crookedly that one edge almost touches the shoulder.
Excerpt from a 19th century fashion magazine
An 1830s watercolor by Alexander Bryullov depicts Tatyana Potemkina. On it, the model is dressed in an outfit that covers not only the shoulders, but also the neck, ears and hair of the princess: Potemkina was very religious. Becoming the spiritual daughter of St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov), she took care of the spread of Orthodoxy, built churches, gave a lot of money to charity and, of course, did not allow herself to wear a neckline.
V. Vasnetsov. Portrait of Tatyana Anatolyevna Mamontova (1884, State Tretyakov Gallery)
I. Repin. Portrait of Tatyana Lvovna Tolstaya (1893, Yasnaya Polyana)
F. Winterhalter. Portrait of Tatyana Alexandrovna Yusupova (1858, GE)
In 1825–1837 Alexander Pushkin's Eugene Onegin was published in parts. Tatyana Larina became the "first Tatyana" of Russian literature - before that, writers preferred other names. After the release of the novel, the name became much more popular - many named their daughters after the romantic and virtuous heroine of Pushkin.
But not so many portraits of Tatyana of these years have been preserved. Among them is a canvas on which the fashionable portrait painter Franz Xaver Winterhalter portrayed Tatyana Yusupova. The heroine of the portrait inherited it from her grandmother Tatyana Engelhardt, and Yusupova also named one of her daughters.
Portraits of the daughters of Leo Tolstoy and Anatoly Mamontov were created in the 1880s and 1890s by B. Kustodiev. Portrait of Tatyana Nikolaevna Chizhova. 1924. Ivanovo Regional Art Museum
M. Vrubel. Portrait of Tatyana Spiridonovna Lyubatovich as Carmen. 1890s GTG
By the beginning of the 20th century, in Moscow and the Moscow province, the name Tatiana became the fifth most popular after Maria, Anna, Catherine and Alexandra.
The portrait of one of the Tatyanas also belongs to the brush of Mikhail Vrubel. Opera singer Tatyana Lubatovich is depicted as Carmen, a very popular image among artists and heroines of their paintings in the early 20th century.
In 1908, the Saratov artist Alexander Savinov painted the canvas "Harpist". His heroine was the wife of the famous philosopher Semyon Frank, Tatyana Frank (nee Bartseva). Savinov created an ornamental portrait with a textured tone and muted colors in the traditions of the new style that is gaining momentum - modernism.
In this artistic circle of Tatyana, the “Portrait of the Artist Tatyana Chizhova” is noteworthy, painted by Boris Kustodiev in 1924. The title of the picture is an inaccuracy. After the death of Kustodiev, the portrait was transferred to the Russian Museum, and the abbreviation in the signature “architect.” deciphered as "artist". In fact, Tatyana Chizhova was an archaeologist. In the portrait, she is depicted in her favorite dress and with her grandmother's ring on her finger.
Konstantin Makovsky is a famous Russian artist who painted many paintings of boyar Rus' of the 17th century. The furnishings of the boyar choirs, the clothes of the heroes of the paintings, and the boyars and hawthorns themselves are reproduced so reliably that individual chapters of the history of Rus' can be studied from the artist’s paintings.
The accuracy in writing individual details and motifs of patterns woven by the hands of Russian embroiderers, or clear ornaments on carved goblets and bowls, surprises and delights viewers of the past and present.
Luxurious clothes embroidered with pearls, amazingly beautiful headdresses of that time, beautiful hawthorns adorned with precious necklaces, boyars in brocade caftans - everything is felt with what love for Russian national beauty and culture, for the rich heritage of our ancestors, these pictures were painted . You can stand near each of them for a long time - admire the Russian patterns and feel pride in yourself and at the same time sadness, sadness that much has been lost, has not been preserved and is not preserved today. Therefore, such paintings, in which unique evidence of the culture of the Russian land remained, are especially valuable for us.
Biography of the artist Konstantin Makovsky
Konstantin Yegorovich Makovsky (1839 - 1915) was born into a family where there was an atmosphere of art worship. Many famous figures of culture and art visited their house. The artist's father, Yegor Ivanovich Makovsky, was one of the largest collectors in Moscow in the second quarter of the 19th century. His hobbies were works of fine art, mostly old engravings.
And Konstantin Yegorovich, having inherited his father's passion, collected all the masterpieces of Russian ancient craftsmanship, but it was "beautiful antiquity." He skillfully added something to living rooms and workshops, and then used it in his paintings, and something he simply put in his old large ebony closet, so that later he could admire and admire the beauty and skill of Russian masters.
On the cornice of the fireplace stood old household utensils: silver ladles, cups, washstands, fans - items of boyar times. Ancient boyar brocade costumes, colorful sundresses, handrails studded with pearls, kokoshniks embroidered with pearl lace - all this can be seen in the artist's paintings. And besides the things lovingly collected by Konstantin Yegorovich, people who gathered around him also took part in his paintings. Sometimes they acted out scenes from boyar life, which were then transferred to the canvas. And this undoubtedly aroused the keen interest of the audience, because through the paintings of Makovsky they were attached to the knowledge of the history of Rus' and the culture of their ancestors.
The artist's daughter in her memoirs told how "... luxurious" living pictures "from the boyars' life were staged ...". There were sometimes up to 150 people invited to these evenings, among whom were representatives of ancient families, descendants of those depicted by the artist. They "... deftly and beautifully dressed in brocade and velvet clothes ..." in order to reproduce in them the scene conceived by the artist. This is how the paintings appeared - "The Wedding Feast", "The Choice of the Bride" and many other paintings.
Paintings by Konstantin Makovsky
On the canvases of K.E. Makovsky in bright luxurious costumes from his own collection created images of beautiful women, the artist's contemporaries. You look at the picture and feel as if the Russian pattern shines, the sarafan of the Russian beauty embroidered with silk and silver gleams. And if you pay attention, we will see that in each picture the hawthorn girls wear completely different headdresses. Indeed, the artist's collection of kokoshniks and headdresses was the richest and most valuable acquisition.
Collecting objects of Russian antiquity K.E. Makovsky continued to study all his life. Collecting masterpieces of Russian masters, the artist became familiar with the history of Russia and, admiring them, was inspired by new ideas. Now, his canvases evoke in us not only admiration for the richest heritage of our ancestors, but also a desire to learn more and more about our homeland.
About how K.E. Makovsky used his collection in his work, the writer E.I. Fortunato, who was lucky enough to be his model.
KE Makovsky was not only an artist. Communicating with prominent historians, he himself became a great specialist in the field of Russian antiquity. K.E. Makovsky sought to preserve the artistic heritage of Russia. Therefore, it is no coincidence that in 1915 he became a member of the Society for the Revival of Artistic Rus', whose main task was to preserve, study and promote Russian antiquity.
It is bitter and sad that the collection, which has been collected for half a century, which has occupied such an important place in the life of the artist, which has become a reflection of an entire era in Russian culture, will be put up for auction just six months after his death. In September 1915, K.E. Makovsky was hit by a street cab on one of the streets of Petrograd. Having received a severe head injury, the artist died two days later. Sudden death ruined all plans...
More than 1,000 items were listed at the auction, some of them went to the capital's museums: the Russian Museum, the Hermitage, the Museum of the School of Technical Drawing of Baron Stieglitz, and Moscow museums. Many items were bought up by representatives of Moscow antique firms. Authentic costumes, silver goblets, ladles, glasses passed into the hands of prominent Moscow collectors.
But not everyone admired the paintings of K. Makovsky and his manner of working.
At the beginning of his creative career, K. Makovsky shared the views of the Wanderers, he painted peasant children (“Children running from a thunderstorm”, “Date”), but already in the 1880s the artist irrevocably moved away from them and began to arrange personal exhibitions.
In 1883 he painted The Boyar Wedding Feast in the 17th Century, followed by The Choice of a Bride by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1886), The Death of Ivan the Terrible (1888), Dressing the Bride to the Crown (1890), Kissing rite" (1895,). The paintings were successful both in Russia and at international exhibitions. For some of them, at the World Exhibition of 1889 in Paris, K. Makovsky was awarded a gold medal.
The prices for his paintings were always high. P.M. Tretyakov sometimes could not get them. But foreign collectors willingly bought canvases of the "boyar" cycle, so most of the artist's works left Russia.
Thanks to this success, K.E. Makovsky became one of the richest people. Throughout his life, he was surrounded by luxury, which no Russian artist dreamed of. Makovsky fulfilled any order on any topic with the same brilliance. It was the latter that caused many misunderstanding, and even condemnation. Some, apparently, envied the success, others believed that the people with their daily lives should be present in the paintings. But such paintings were sold out not so willingly, and many believed that Makovsky wrote on those topics that were in demand, that is, for the sake of his own enrichment.
However, he always lived as he wanted and wrote what he wanted. His vision of beauty simply coincided with the requirements and demands of those people who were willing to pay a lot of money for his paintings. His easy success was the main reason for the negative attitude towards him and his work of the Wanderers. He was accused of using art and his talent for material gain.
K.E. Makovsky began his artistic journey together with the Wanderers, exhibiting paintings on the theme of the life of the people. However, over time, his interests changed, and from the 1880s he became a successful salon portrait painter. The fact that this happened for the sake of material wealth cannot be believed. After all, this is evidenced by his numerous collections and multifaceted talent. But it cannot be denied that Makovsky did not seek recognition abroad. In addition, Europeans were interested in Russian history, so his work was quickly sold.
In his personal life, Makovsky was also happy. His pleasant appearance, sociability, always open and smiling look of clear eyes made Konstantin Yegorovich always a welcome guest. He was married three times. His first wife, Lenochka Burkova, an actress at the Alexandrinsky Theatre, lived with him for a short life. A charming and gentle girl brought a lot of joy and warmth into his life. But illness carried her away from earthly life early.
Carefree and greedy for the joys of life, Konstantin Yegorovich quickly consoled himself when he saw a girl of extraordinary beauty at the ball - Yulenka Letkova. The girl was only sixteen years old, and the charming painter was thirty-six. The wedding took place soon after. Having lived twenty years of a happy family life, Konstantin Yegorovich painted many paintings, most of which contain a cute image of his young wife. For many years, Yulia Pavlovna Makovskaya was his muse and model for portraits.
In 1889, Konstantin Makovsky went to the World Exhibition in Paris, where he exhibited several of his paintings. There he became interested in the young Maria Alekseevna Matavtina (1869-1919). In 1891, an illegitimate son Konstantin was born. I had to confess everything to my wife. Yulia Pavlovna did not forgive betrayal. A few years later, a divorce was filed. And Konstantin Yegorovich continued a happy family life with his third wife, whom he also used as a model. He also often depicted his children from both his second and third marriages on his canvases.
Russian painting is rightly distinguished from world art. The fact is that until the seventeenth century, domestic painting was associated exclusively with a religious theme. The situation changed with the coming to power of the tsar-reformer - Peter the Great. Thanks to his reforms, Russian masters began to engage in secular painting, and icon painting separated as a separate direction. The seventeenth century is the time of such artists as Simon Ushakov and Iosif Vladimirov. Then, in the Russian art world, the portrait was born and quickly became popular. In the eighteenth century, the first artists appeared who switched from portraiture to landscape painting. The pronounced sympathy of the masters for winter panoramas is noticeable. The eighteenth century was also remembered for the birth of everyday painting. In the nineteenth century, three trends gained popularity in Russia: romanticism, realism and classicism. As before, Russian artists continued to turn to the portrait genre. It was then that world-famous portraits and self-portraits of O. Kiprensky and V. Tropinin appeared. In the second half of the nineteenth century, artists more and more often depict the simple Russian people in their oppressed state. Realism becomes the central trend of painting of this period. It was then that the Wanderers appeared, depicting only real, real life. Well, the twentieth century is, of course, the avant-garde. The artists of that time significantly influenced both their followers in Russia and around the world. Their paintings became the forerunners of abstractionism. Russian painting is a huge wonderful world of talented artists who glorified Russia with their creations
