Amazing with its variety and color, splashing on the black or colored surface of the trays, the Zhostovo painting forms bright floral patterns decorated with the finest details. Refined roses and scarlet poppies, simple daisies and touching cornflowers, pompous peonies and radiant asters are combined with unknown, but no less beautiful colors. Birds and butterflies, various berries and fruits look like alive on such simple and ordinary objects as trays. How many do not look, you will not find a single identical tray - each of them is unique! Where did such art come to us from, how do such wonderful things do where you can take Zhostovo painting lessons? This article will tell about this and about the features of metal painting, characteristic for masters from Zhostov, near Moscow.
The history of varnish painting
The very first, according to historical and archaeological data, the art of varnish painting was mastered by the Chinese. A few millennia ago, during the Shan Yin era, the inhabitants of China decorated varnished drawings of household utensils and household items, weapons and ritual vessels.
Following China, the art of painting with varnish conquered the countries of Indochina, Persia and India, Japan and Korea. In each of the regions, the technique of varnish painting developed independently, based on the traditions of folk crafts, but also borrowing the experience of masters from other countries.
How did lacquer painting get to Russia?
European merchants in the XVI – XVII centuries, who traded with the countries of Southeast Asia, brought beautiful samples of painted varnished products to their homeland. Inspired by the beauty and originality of oriental objects of various shapes and purposes, decorated with lacquered images, the masters of many European countries begin to make and decorate various things in the "Chinese" style.
A serious development of the production of objects decorated with varnish painting in such European countries as Holland, England, Germany and France, occurred only in the XVIII century.
The Ural industrialist Nikita Akinfievich Demidov traveled extensively throughout Europe, where he became interested in the idea of ​​varnish painting. In 1778, in the Urals, in Nizhny Tagil, the craft of the Ural flower painting for metal began to emerge.
The emergence of Zhostovo lacquer painting for metal
Metal chests and trays made in the Urals and decorated with lacquer painting, jugs and buckets, as well as other everyday items were sold not only at the local Irbit and Krestovsky fairs, but also at the All-Russian Makaryevsky Fair in Nizhny Novgorod.
Perhaps it was the products of the Ural craftsmen seen here that inspired the Vishnyakov brothers to lacquer painting metal trays. Since 1825, the Vishnyakov family business has developed mainly as a varnish painting of various papier-mâché products - snuffboxes, cigarette cases, albums, crackers and caskets.
Since 1830, most of the workshops located in the villages and villages of Troitsky volost, such as Troitsky, Khlebnikovo and Zhostovo, stopped making items from papier-mâché, and switched to the production and painting of metal trays.
The proximity to the capital allowed the industry to do without intermediaries and have a constant market, as well as purchase the necessary materials at affordable prices.
History of fishing
Starting from the 30s of the XIX century, metal trays began to be made and varnished in almost all the surrounding villages. At this time, Zhostovo painting was experiencing the peak of its popularity. In the post-revolutionary years, the demand for Zhostovo masters' products fell sharply, which led to the unification of disparate artists into small professional artels.
In 1928, all the small artels from Troitsky, Novosiltsev, Zhostov and other surrounding villages merged into a specialized Metallopodnos artel with a managing center in Zhostovo.
The most difficult time for Zhostovo painting, as for most other folk crafts, was the 40-50s of the last century. It was at this time that the release of trays was significantly reduced, but the production of children’s goods unusual for the craft increased several times. Zhostovo paintings for children are small wooden and metal trays, buckets and shovels, decorated with individual elements.
Modern history
Khrushchev's "thaw" has made positive changes in the life of fishing. In 1960, the Metallopodnos artel was reorganized and got its current name - Zhostovo decorative painting factory. Attention from the government, the active joint work of masters and scientists, participation in various both domestic and foreign exhibitions allowed the fishery to overcome the long-term crisis.
Today, the factory is actively working, the authors' works of artists working at it decorate the expositions of many museums around the world, as well as the houses of prominent figures of culture, science and politics.
Features of becoming
As already mentioned, Zhostovo painting developed under the influence of the Ural flower painting on metal. But the Zhostovo masters, who initially crafted and decorated various items from papier-mâché, managed to transfer all their technological finds to metal trays. For their primer, they used their own compositions, as well as special kopalovye varnishes.
The nearby center of the Lukutin lacquer miniature also had a no less influence on the development of the fishery. The Rostov enamel and floral motifs of Ivanovo chintz, as well as porcelain paintings, performed at Moscow factories, influenced the further stylistic formation of Zhostovo painting.
What are trays made of and how?
Modern Zhostovo trays are produced in two ways: stamping and forging.
Billets for trays of standard shapes and sizes are made from ordinary sheet iron on special mechanical presses. Then, on the electric press, through the use of special molds and a combined stamp, the edges are rolled up - the bortovka. And so that the sides of the tray become rigid, they are rolled.
Zhostovo painting artists can work not only with standard forms of trays. There are 26 standard forms to choose from, from which the most appropriate design is selected. Then, if it is unique, the forge (blacksmith) who makes the forged tray is taken up. To do this, a bracket is cut out of several metal sheets with hand scissors, which subsequently, under the influence of a hammer, is pulled out and knocked out. When rolling, a special wire is put into the edges of the tray, which ensures its strength, and then the edge itself is leveled with a hammer.
How do trays prepare for painting?
After the trays have taken shape and have been rolled, they are primed on both sides with a putty consisting of chalk, divorced in varnish. As soon as the primed tray is dried in a special cabinet, the master primer polishes its surface with sandpaper and then applies another layer of putty. Previously, the tray was covered in two layers with black soil, consisting of kaolin clay, kerosene, Dutch soot and vegetable oil. Each layer was necessarily dried and polished. Today, the traditional primer method is not used; instead, the brown factory primer applied from the spray gun is used. After drying, the primed tray is plastered and dried. Then the putty tray is manually ground with a pumice.
Only after that, turpentine-based black paint is applied to the tray, and after the next drying it is covered in 2-3 layers with black oil varnish. The dried and peeled tray is handed over to the artist for painting.
How do colored backgrounds on trays?
The Zhostovo decorative painting factory, in addition to trays with a traditional black background, produces products that have red, blue, green and blue backgrounds. To create them, a thin layer of light varnish is applied to the surface of the tray. Until it is dry, sprinkle it with bronze or aluminum powder. After the metallized background dries, it is painted with glaze paints of the desired color, due to which an intense and saturated, but at the same time flickering, as if translucent, background is obtained.
Painting on a color background requires a change in both coloristic features and technical techniques. So, glare is only slightly indicated, and the shadows are slightly drawn.
Artistic painting of Zhostovo trays
Zhostovo masters paint with special squirrel brushes and oil paints, diluted with turpentine and linseed oil. Each artist simultaneously works on several works. To remove the ornament, white paint with varnish (gulfarba), sprinkled with aluminum powder, or the so-called created gold — gold powder diluted in turpentine or transparent varnish, is used.
Zhostovo painting is carried out in two stages: hiding and dressing. At the filling stage, the artist paints with a wide brush the main silhouette of the composition on the working surface of the tray. For its implementation, diluted (bleached) paints are used. Then, the tray with putty is dried for 12 hours in ovens.
After that, the master proceeds to straighten and draws light places, imposes color shadows and prescribes glare that give volume to the composition. Stamens of flowers and veins of leaflets appear in thin lines. Large elements of Zhostovo painting, such as large flowers, are associated with smaller stems, blades of grass and other parts of the composition. The most recent ornament is applied to the sides.
The finished work is polished three times with colorless varnish and dried in ovens, after which the surface is manually polished to a mirror shine.
The main motives for painting
Most often, Zhostovo artists perform simple floral arrangements in the form of bouquets, in which large garden and smaller wildflowers alternate rhythmically. As a rule, the basis of the composition consists of several large flowers, such as a rose, aster, peony, dahlia or tulip, surrounded by a scattering of small flowers and buds and interconnected by thin stems, twigs and leaves. In addition to large garden flowers, some artists bring to the forefront modest violets, lilies of the valley, bindweed or pansies.
Bouquets of both garden and wildflowers can be supplemented with images of fruits, berries, birds and butterflies. Sometimes painters depict on trays only still lifes of fruits or clusters of berries, such as mountain ash.
In addition to flower compositions, a Zhostovo painting is also created, a photo of which you can see below. As a rule, she depicts scenes from the lives of ordinary people, landscapes, landscapes, as well as horse triples. By and large, Zhostovo painting (pictures are presented in the article) is really a real art.
Expressive means of Zhostovo applied art
Initially, compositions for trays were borrowed from paintings, but each artist had their own interpretation. Today, masters realize compositions that have already become classic, but also seek to find new ones.
It should be noted that in each Zhostovo painting, compositions are inscribed on a plane and connected with the shape of the tray; the conditional depth and volume of the drawn objects are perfectly conveyed in them. An important expressive means of Zhostovo art is the rhythmic and color balance of the picture.
Is it possible to learn?
You can find out what Zhostovo painting is and how to draw in this technique in Zhostovo itself. The factory, whose products are famous all over the world, provides guided tours of the museum of trays and workshops on lacquer drawing. In almost every city there is a travel agency offering tours to the factory, where you can see how Zhostovo painting is done. A master class on it is also provided by the program. A trip to an excursion to Zhostovo can be organized independently, after contacting the museum and specifying the hours of its operation.