What is Russian Impressionism?
Who are its main representatives?
Categories
- Art (356)
- Other (3,632)
- Philosophy (2,814)
- Psychology (4,018)
- Society (1,010)
Recent Questions
- Why did everyone start to hate the Russians if the U.S. did the same thing in Afghanistan, Iraq?
- What needs to be corrected in the management of Russia first?
- Why did Blaise Pascal become a religious man at the end of his life?
- How do I know if a guy likes you?
- When they say "one generation", how many do they mean?
Indeed, there was impressionism in Russia. We are not isolated, but connected to the whole world. We are influenced by interesting ideas, methods, innovations, and fashion… And as soon as a new revolutionary movement “Impressionism” appeared in France, it immediately won its fans in our country. However, when we study their work, we can conclude that we have never borrowed anything thoughtlessly, mechanically, or directly. We were rethinking. Therefore, the artists in question do not seem to resemble, say, Manet or Renoir at first glance, but nevertheless art historians have every reason to call them Impressionists. By and large, all peredvizhniki turned their eyes to modernity and drew inspiration for creativity from it; they all took paints and went to the plein-air, began to interpret composition more freely and looked for new ways to write with color and light. But the essence of Russian impressionism !in my opinion! Valentin Serov expressed it best in his words: “Let it be beautifully written, but we are not interested in what is written.” These are, for example, his “Girl with Peaches” or “Girl in the sun”.
But it is necessary to start answering with the personality of Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi (1842-1910). There is no direct imitation or literal application of the impressionistic method in his work, as happened with Konstantin Korovin or Igor Grabar. His attitude to the impressionist idea was not so straightforward and simple. Roughly speaking, looking at his works, you will not find there the characteristic separate brushstrokes painted in spectral colors, which from a distance should cause the effect of optical mixing. But like the French masters, Arkhip Ivanovich began to display nature, revealing subjective impressions of it in his work.To his students, A. I. Kuindzhi said: “try to draw everything that you remember during the flash of a thunderstorm – this will be impressionism.” He seems to be an ideological impressionist, although, of course, no one in the literature calls him that, but they note that impressionism strongly influenced his work.
A. I. Kuindzhi. Sunset effect.
The next person is Valentin Serov (1865-1911), who appears as an impressionist for some authors, but not for others. But we understand that he also tried to convey the impression of momentary delight. In the already named paintings “Girl with peaches” and “Girl illuminated by the sun”, the viewer sees a space filled with plein-air air, light and color. Sees bold brushstrokes of colored reflexes. He sees the desire to convey life in its variability and movement.
Further, depending on the author-art critic, the names of Russian artists differ several times, but the most common ones are Konstantin Alekseyevich Korovin (1861-1939), Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar (1871-1960), and Pyotr Petrovich Konchalovsky (1876-1956). In these artists, we already see a separate brushstroke (some wider, some smaller), the originality of points of view, although they do not defiantly cut the figure with a frame, the decomposition of color into components. Especially such divisionism can be seen in I. E. Grabar's painting “March Snow”.
I. E. Grabar. March snow.
Summing up, we can say that the idea has remained unchanged, the same pursuit of transmitting a momentary impression, but on the basis of native material, as if made on the “native breath”.
K. A. Korovin. In the boat.