9 Answers

  1. First of all, I would like to remind you that everything that we understand as art is the result of repetition. Moreover, not only the plots are repeated, but also structures, metaphors, techniques, ideas, moves, etc.

    Repeatability is due to many factors. For example, by copying a teacher's work, a student becomes a master.

    Another factor is context. Each work is part of a large system consisting of meanings, ideas, images, types, etc. Try to get out of the familiar system of European art and plunge into the world of, for example, isolated medieval Japanese literature. You will find it uninteresting and incomprehensible. Similarly, if an author tries to create an absolutely unique story (although I do not know how he can do this), he will create an incomprehensible context, and his work will acquire the semblance of a madman's creation.

    In classical painting, the repetition of subjects is determined by iconography. The fact is that there are a limited number of stories related to a particular hero. Hercules performs his feats, and so he is Hercules. If we put it in some other plot, it will no longer be itself. The plot is an important attribute of the hero, and sometimes the artist simply has no choice.

    In our postmodern time, there are few repetitive subjects in painting, but they are present in cinema and literature. Here are some examples::

    Plagiarism or theft of ideas. Its goal is to get the same preferences as the original work.

    Homage — a sign of respect for the master, in the form of an incomplete copy of the original. The imitator thus refers the viewer/ reader to the original source, without hiding the secondary nature of his work. Example-the film ” The Shepherd's Diary “(First Reformed) Paul Schroeder.

    Quoting is the use of fragments of stories, often from different works. The usual technique of a postmodern work, which is often found, for example, in Tarantino.

    Parody — using someone else's story in a modified, usually reduced context to make fun of the original.

    Franchise — a licensed copy of the original, usually with some changes in accordance with the requirements of the time. The entire plot is repeated, as well as its individual elements, or characters are used.

    Adaptation — the use of the plot of one art form in another. For example, the plot of a book turns into a movie script.

  2. Since painting is a VISUAL art, the image itself comes first, not the plot. The main thing in painting is the originality and uniqueness of writing and the technique of applying paint. Next in importance is composition, i.e. the ability to place objects and figures on the canvas. Further – color, light, texture, chiaroscuro and combinations of tones and many other factors among which the “plot” occupies almost the last place.

    Well, for example, the plot – on a hot summer day, naked women bathe in a pond. I can't even imagine how many millions of paintings with this subject were created by artists during the entire existence of easel painting. And yet, every year, at various vernissages and biennales, canvases appear where this immortal plot is presented in all its glory.

    So “repeating the plot” is an absolutely normal practice for all painters. And to answer your question “why” do they do this? Because that's how this art form works!

  3. This phenomenon occurs not only among artists, but also among writers. This trend in literature and art declares the “continuation of traditions and direction in the classics”, where the line of “continuity of generations” holds and continues the very “direction of classicism” in the subjects chosen by the classics. The only difference between the past and present classicism is that artists and writers described historically known subjects, introducing them into their “time frames” of the new era, equating with the “cliche of the matrix” – paintings or works. In this way, artists and writers continue the THEMES, GENRES, and HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE LIFE OF IMAGES in VARIOUS PERIODS OF GREAT HISTORY.

  4. I agree with Irina Derevyanko, each master interprets the same story through his own prism and this is his vision of the world, inner experiences and emotions. The result is something original and unique.

  5. There were a lot of responses, but most of the respondents focus on the competitive aspect of “replay” or on the assumption that stories are a common place, their stock is limited by the story itself, and therefore you need to pay more attention to technology, optics, etc. To this we can add the common hypothesis of continuity, that is, of intentional reference. The artist is in the context of art and therefore often seeks to “repeat” not only for the sake of reinterpretation, but also for the sake of both a certain tribute and a game with the audience. In addition, for quite a long time, to learn how to draw, artists copied the works of their favorite authors in the hope of becoming the same professionals. As a result, we are left with several works that are very similar to each other by completely different authors. Also, in art, too, there is and there was a fashion, and before the invention of photography, art was also used for a similar purpose. That's why we can see so many portraits and sculptures that are similar in plot: everyone seemed to want a fashionable selfie and paid more for certain motifs, angles, places and clothes. And finally, for quite a long time, certain subjects carried a strict and clear meaning, so the artists repeated them again and again, wanting to convey a certain idea for which there were no other ways of expressing it yet.

  6. It's just that it's been repeated many times before. There are only different versions of what was once written, drawn, or made into movies. And there is nothing surprising here. I remembered an anecdote when two students from the muz are talking. conservatories. One person can't come up with new music, and the other person advises him to write a piece by his teacher, just the opposite. The first one answers with regret that if you write it down like this, then the waltz “Amur Waves” turns out.

  7. There are already classic subjects for artists, mainly biblical and mythological subjects that were formed during the Renaissance. Naturally, artists who have achieved mastery of painting want to show how they see this story, which was previously written by Rembrandt, da Vinci and so on. Therefore, this is a normal practice. Another point is that such stories are familiar to the mass audience, so they even attract more attention. Knowing these subjects on the example of other artists, people evaluate the skill of the next artist in comparison, whether he did it better or worse, what innovations he used, what unexpected moments, how his handwriting differs from the works of other masters.

  8. First of all, there are not so many of them – these plots. There are many more artists. Secondly, in the picture, the plot itself is not so important. The main thing is to read it. Originality, skill and talent are determined by it.

  9. It's not just artists who repeat their stories. But also sculptors, writers, and choreographers. The point is not in the plot itself, but in how it is revealed – how original and original it is.

    I won't go far. The story of Prince Igor was described in the ancient work “The Word about the campaign of Igor, Igor, son of Svyatoslav, grandson of Oleg”. This is nothing more than a description of the events of the campaign against the Polovtsians of Novgorod-Seversky Prince Igor in 1185, which ended very unsuccessfully for the prince and his retinue.

    Now let's see how many works this story and this ancient work have produced.

    Borodin's opera “Prince Igor”, Tishchenko's ballet “Yaroslavna”, cantata” The Word “(1985) by K. Volkov, Fourth Symphony” The Word about Igor's Regiment “(1985) by Yanchenko, oratorio” The Word about Igor's Regiment ” (2018) by A. Tchaikovsky.

    This story can still be seen in the album of the Vedan Kolod ethnic group called “The Word about Igor's Regiment”. The band “Return” recorded the song “Night of the Werewolf”, which uses the original “Crying Yaroslavna”. The soloist of “Casta” Vladi in 2012 released the song ” The Word about Igor's regiment (1187-2012)”. Leonid Fedorov in the album” Motylki “recorded several songs based on” The Word about Igor's Regiment”.

    V. M. Vasnetsov, N. K. Roerich, I. Ya. Bilibin, Sergo Kobuladze, Vladimir Favorsky, V. A. Serov, D. S. Bisti, V. M. Nazaruk, A. A. Kotukhina (and not only them) wrote pictures on the plot of”The Word”.

    A film adaptation of Borodin's opera Prince Igor (1969) was made in the USSR. Created the animated film ” The Legend of Igor's Campaign “(1972).

    Translations of the Word, including literary ones, were made by many scientists, including Dmitry Likhachev. Here is a link to a parallel corpus of translations of this work. You can't count them! Zaboltsky's stunning poetic translation can be considered an independent work.

    I think that the number of paintings, musical works, literary and cinematic versions of this work will only grow. Because these are significant events, an interesting story, and each generation will want to have its own say. It is ok. Moreover, often the events of the past (historical subjects) resonate with the events of the present. Then the new work gets a modern sound, and the old plot begins to play with new colors. Especially often such techniques were used by writers and poets when it was necessary to speak Aesopian language in order to avoid censorship notes. Take the parallel plots of Aesop and our fabulist Krylov. By the way, the plots of Aesop were used not only by Krylov, but also by many European writers and poets. Because of this, neither the original source (Aesop's fables) nor Krylov's works lost their originality and beauty.

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