Of all the genres of painting, the most popular is the portrait that allows you to capture a person or group of people on canvas. According to a long tradition, this type of fine art originated in the days of Ancient Greece, when a girl said goodbye to her lover who went to war and, in order to perpetuate his image forever in her memory, took a look at the shadow falling from him on the wall. Over the centuries, the art of painting has improved and it reached the peak of its mastery by the 18th century. It was at this time that portraits of famous artists began to appear, which depicted not only the appearance of the hero, but also conveyed his feelings, feelings, temperament.
Features of paintings of the Petrine era
In European art, the 18th century is rightly called the time of the dominance of the portrait genre. It is this type of painting that becomes predominant, because all the noble people wanted to get pictures with their image . In Russia, the portrait brought popularity to Peter I. The progressive reforms of the emperor contributed to the beginning of close cooperation between the state and European countries, and Russian painting began to be gradually enriched with elements of Western secular art. However, despite the influence of a foreign culture, portraits of famous artists of the 18th century living in Russia did not lose their originality and expressiveness.
Types of paintings
Initially, portraits were divided into ceremonial and chamber. The first type included paintings in which a person was depicted to his full height during the celebration (if the hero was drawn to the waist, then the picture was considered semi-parade). He was dressed in magnificent clothes and stood in a proud pose surrounded by a magnificent background. Such paintings were exhibited in the reception hall for all to see.
Chamber portraits were the opposite of the parade: here the model was portrayed in a relaxed pose, immersed in his thoughts and activities. This kind of work of art was intended to decorate the walls of small rooms, away from prying eyes.
In the 18th century, ceremonial and chamber paintings still have not lost their popularity, however, another type of painting, intimate, was added to them. Here, the artist tried not only to depict a person, but also to convey his inner world with a brush. The luxurious background was ignored. Many famous portraits of Russian artists were often painted in an intimate style.
Transformation of paintings in the 18th century
Notable figures in the art of that time were such painters as I. Nikitin, F. Rokotov, I. Argunov, A. Antropov, D. Levitsky, V. Borovikovsky, A. Matveev and others. Portraits of famous artists are saturated with high respect for the person. If in the first half of the 18th century the paintings of this genre were parsons (flat, frozen images of noble people made by icon-painting techniques), then gradually the masters begin to move away from this, introducing the breath of life, light and emotions into their works. The creative heritage of the painters of the 18th century largely determined the fate of the Russian portrait.
Creativity I. Nikitin
The artist Ivan Nikitin (born in the middle of 1680 - died around 1742) was the pride of Peter the Great. The emperor praised the creative skills of the painter, considering him a portrait painter of European level. The artist's early works were executed in a parsunic manner with its inherent gloom, flatness of the image, a fuzzy play of light and shadow. But, despite this, portraits of Nikitin, painted at the initial stage of his work, are particularly realistic and psychological, they completely lack flattery for the hero of the picture, which was abused by many ceremonial painters of that time. Gradually, Nikitin moved away from the parsons and improved his skills, preserving in him the realism of the image and a subtle understanding of the human inner world.
The artist’s brushes belong to several paintings depicting Peter I, as well as many other notable people (the wife of the emperor, his daughters Elizabeth, Anna and others). The most successful work of the artist is considered to be "Portrait of a floor hetman" (circa 1725). The picture impresses with the tragic image of the hero - the old man, on whose face there is strength, power, experience and sorrow. Until today, it is not known exactly who Ivan Nikitin wrote on his canvas. The dramatic effect of the painting, the painter intensified by skillful selection of shades of colors. This canvas, like other portraits of famous artists, reflects not just a person, but an entire era.
Rokotov - the creator of the semi-parade style
If Ivan Nikitin was a particularly striking painter of the early 18th century, then the second half of the century was famous for Fedor Rokotov (1735 - 1808). He was especially good at portraits of women. There were not so many famous artists who could convey ladies' tenderness and grace on canvas, and Rokotov was in great demand. He wrote many of his works in a semi-parade style.
The talent of the master was conquered by Catherine II, and in 1763 she specially invited him to create her coronation portrait. The painter depicted the empress in profile, successfully emphasizing her stately figure and thoroughbred face. Catherine liked the painting so much that she continued to order artists to paint her portraits, copying the style of Rokotov. The painter's brushes belong to the paintings depicting Struyskaya, Princess Yusupova, Peter III and other noble persons of that time. He focused on the faces of customers, making them soft, delicate, as if glowing from the inside. Thanks to this approach, his portraits turned out to be realistic, they conveyed the feelings of the people from whom they were painted.
V. Borovikovsky - chant of a female image
Considering the portraits of girls of famous artists of Russia, one can not help but mention Vladimir Borovikovsky (1757-1825). Fame came to him in the last decade of the 18th century. Borovikovsky created chamber portraits, emphasizing the sentimentality and tenderness of his sitters. He painted not only rich women, but also simple peasant women, conveying on the canvas all the female beauty of that era. Images of Lopukhina, Naryshkina, Arsenyeva, the peasant woman Christina, a double portrait of the maids of the family of Lvov Lizonka and Dasha are the most famous paintings of the master. Women with soft hair, a delicate blush and a luminous look look touching from the canvases. Despite the fact that all the paintings of the author are written in the same style, they are a real work of art of that time.
D. Levitsky and his paintings
Dmitry Levitsky (1735-1822) is another famous portrait painter of the 18th century. Like other artists, he masterfully portrayed in his works the beauty of the inner world of man. Levitsky became famous as a master of ceremonial style. He wrote the characters very realistically, without flattery and embellishment of the customer’s appearance. Levitsky left behind a whole gallery of portraits, capturing on them Catherine II, E. Vorontsova, A. Kokorinov, P. Demidov, Ursula Mnishek and many other famous contemporaries.
Features of preserved painting
The 18th century has left as a memory of itself paintings-portraits of famous artists, which today can be seen in the Tretyakov Gallery, Russian and Pushkin museums, private collections. The painted canvases are so realistic that they amaze art fans with the skill level of painters of past years. Portraits of women by famous artists look especially colorful, from which they breathe life, youth and the extraordinary credibility of the image.