The art of painting on wood can be attributed to the native Russian heritage. This is one of the most ancient branches of handicraft, widespread throughout Russia, especially in its northern latitudes. Russian wood painting is mentioned in epics.
In the ancient huts, the painting was located on absolutely all household items (utensils, utensils, toys and jewelry), it decorated the hut itself (platbands, porch). There could be no special communication between villages located at a great distance from each other, and, accordingly, imitation in the painting was also avoided. Therefore, this type of folk art was divided into peculiar schools that received their name at the place of origin. They differed not only in names, but also in the style of writing, the qualitative composition of colors, ornaments and characteristic details, which immediately, accurately, recognized the address of the manufacture of the product.
So,
Khokhloma painting on wood, or “Khokhloma”, arose, like many others, in the Nizhny Novgorod region, in the village of the same name. This style of painting on wood is very famous, it is mentioned in many folklore works, and not only. It differs by the obligatory golden background, on which the ornament is applied with black and red (less often green) colors. Caskets, boxes, small household products were mainly exposed to such painting.
Often there are samples of
Gorodets painting on wood, which arose in the above region, naturally, in the city of Gorodets. Its characteristic feature is the white stroke of the pattern, which makes the pattern convex. The main figure against the general background is depicted with local paint, which also makes it striking.
Less common is Polkhov-Maidanskaya (mainly whistles and toys) and burning painting, or Sergiev Posadskaya. Most often, the latter was used when painting boxes with the obligatory image on the cover of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
Palekh, although it emerged as a school under Soviet rule, can also be attributed to traditional wood painting. He absorbed a wealth of knowledge and skills of ancient masters.
Of particular note is the Mezen painting on wood, the oldest of all, which arose at the dawn of time, during the formation of Slavic tribes. No one knows exactly what was her forerunner - the ancient crafts of the Komi Republic or ancient Greek art. The symbolism of the Mezen painting has a clear interpretation, it is inherent in such a well-known sign as the swastika, which personifies the living sun. There are also such symbols: "swan", "bird", "duck", wavy and sloping lines symbolizing water and rain. Thanks to these signs, the meaning contained in ancient panels can be deciphered.
This painting appeared in the village of Palashchelye (hence its second name - “Palashchelskaya”) of the Arkhangelsk Territory, on the Mezen River, which flows into the Mezen Bay of the White Sea. From ancient times, everything was painted in these parts, but the spinning wheel was the main subject of artistic processing of local masters. The Mezen spinning wheel was not made from three traditional parts, but was cut entirely from specially found trees, the rhizome of which could serve as its basis. All this was done in order to make the ornament more capacious and able to tell the descendants of some covenant or story.