Many European museums, among which one of the first places is the St. Petersburg Hermitage, as well as the center of the masterpieces of Russian pictorial art - the Russian Museum stores in its collections a huge number of paintings written in the style of "academism" by recognized masters of their time. The academic direction in art is the base without which painting and sculpture would hardly have been able to develop so fruitfully. What are the main features of academism in painting? To understand this is our task.
What is academism?
In painting and sculpture, the emerging style, the main component of which is intellectual, is considered academicism or an academic trend. Undoubtedly, aesthetic principles defined by canons must be observed within the framework of this style.
The academic direction in France, represented by the works of such representatives of academism as Nicolas Poussin, Jacques Louis David, Antoine Gros, Jean Ingres, Alexander Cabanel, William Bouguereau and others, originated in the 16th century. It did not exist in the state legislator for long, and already in the 17th century. was heavily oppressed by the impressionists.
However, academism firmly enough consolidated its position in Europe, and then in Russia, and, despite the new styles, has become a solid classical base of fine art in the training of young masters of painting and sculpture.
Preconditions for the formation of academism in Europe and Russia
Changes in the life of European society that arose during the Renaissance, the main principles of art of which were humanism, anthropocentrism, as well as the ability to widely disseminate new innovative thoughts and ideas through various types of art , entailed changes in art itself, including in European painting.
- Changing attitudes towards artists: not artisans, but creators.
- Opening of the French Academy of Arts.
- The opening by art patrons of European countries of art academies to enhance the social status of artists and educate them on the principles of Renaissance painting.
- Promotion and support of young talents by patrons.
Characteristic features of the academic style in art
Academic art involved careful planning, thought out and elaboration of the details of a future work. Mythological, biblical, and historical subjects were most often taken as a substantive basis. Before painting, the artist previously performed a huge number of preparatory drawings - sketches. All characters were idealized, but at the same time, historically reliable conditions, objects, clothes, etc., corresponding to the era, were necessarily preserved.
Particular attention was paid to the use of color: the whole gamut had to correspond to what really existed in life, special care was required to use bright colors, which were not recommended for use (only as an exception). The technique and features of the painting also required strict adherence to the rules for imposing chiaroscuro, perspective images and foreshortenings. These rules were determined in the Renaissance. In addition, the surface of the canvas should not consist of strokes and roughnesses.
The Academy of the Three Noble Arts - the cradle of academic painting
This educational institution was the first institution in Russia to perform the function of the same as the French Academy at one time. The founder of the Academy of Three Noble Arts, as it was called then, was Count Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov, a man close to the throne of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna and fell into disgrace under Catherine II.
By the three most notable arts were meant painting, sculpture and architecture. This fact is reflected in the appearance of the building erected for the Academy on the Neva University Embankment by the design of J. B. Wallen-Delamot and A. Kokorinov: the patroness of arts and crafts, the goddess Athena, sits on the dome, and at her feet are three paths, just symbolizing the most notable art. The first of these, of course, was painting.
The academy taught and worked together with students the most famous masters of Europe. In addition to basic theoretical knowledge, students of the academy had the opportunity to observe the work of famous European masters and learn from them in practice.
In the process of training, young artists learned to write and draw from life, studied plastic anatomy, architectural graphics, etc. At the end of the training, all graduates performed competitive work on this topic, usually a mythological subject, in an academic manner. As a result of the competition, the most talented works were determined, their authors were awarded medals of various denominations, the highest of which gave the right to continue their education in Europe for free.
Russian academicians
It is customary to distinguish two stages in the academic direction of Western European painting: academicism of the late XVIII - early XIX centuries. and the second half of the XIX century. Among the artists of the first period, F. Bruni, A. Ivanov and K.P. Bryullov are distinguished. Among the masters of the second period are the Wanderers, in particular Konstantin Makovsky.
The main features of academicism of the late XVIII - early XIX centuries. are considered:
- elevated themes (mythological, ceremonial portrait, salon landscape);
- high role of metaphor;
- versatility and multi-figure;
- high technical skill;
- scale and pomp.
In the second half of the 19th century, in the academic art of painting, the list of these characteristics expanded due to:
- inclusion of elements of romanticism and realism;
- use of historical subjects and local traditions.
Karl Pavlovich Bryullov - master of academic painting
Particularly in the list of artists-academics stands out Karl Bryullov - the master who created the canvas that has glorified the name of the author for centuries - "The Last Day of Pompeii".
The fate of St. Petersburg Karl Pavlovich Bryullo (va) is connected with the peculiarities of upbringing and life in the family. The fact that Karl’s father and his brothers were artists and connected their lives with the Academy of Arts determined the future career of a talented young man. He graduated from the Academy with a gold medal. He became a member of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists and thanks to this he was able to continue his education in Europe - in Italy. There he lived and worked for twelve years. After fulfilling a private order of Demidov for a large-scale canvas about the death of the city of Pompeii, he was able to terminate his relationship with society and become an independent artist.
Karl Bryullov lived only 51 years. At the insistence of Nicholas I, he returned to Russia, unhappily married and divorced a few months after marriage. Originally accepted by the whole society of St. Petersburg as a genius and a national hero after a scandalous marriage, it was also rejected by the whole society, was seriously ill and was forced to leave. He died in Rome, and remained, in fact, the genius of one painting. And this is despite the fact that he created enough paintings, which to this day are of great importance for academic painting of the 19th century.