Zhostovo painting on trays
Not all types of painting in Rus' have survived to our times. For example, the tradition of painting trays appeared in the Urals, at the Demidov factories, back in the 18th century, but Zhostovo painting itself arose only a hundred years later. The founders of this type are considered to be former serfs, the Vishnyakov brothers, who opened an art workshop in the village of Zhostovo.
They sold their goods in Moscow. The brothers were engaged in painting boxes, cigarette cases, albums, teapots, but it was the painted trays that became Zhostov’s calling card. They are made as follows:
- A blank is made from steel.
- All irregularities are sanded and the surface is primed.
- Next it is coated with oil varnish. By the way, the original recipe has always been kept secret; today we only know that it was made from African palm resin.
- The next stage is to create a shading with a wide brush, the general background of the future painting. It is applied with paint diluted with linseed oil.
- The product is fired in a kiln for several hours.
- Next comes the application of the primary volume. In professional jargon - tenezhka.
- At the laying stage, the ornament is given volume and details are drawn.
- The next step is called flare, which creates the illusion of illumination.
- At the drawing and binding stage, the artist adds little things to combine the individual details of the drawing into one whole.
- At the very end, the artist designs the sides of the tray and covers the product with colorless varnish.
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History of Gorodets painting
The birthplace of Gorodets painting was the Volga region , namely the villages and villages of Khlebaikha, Kurtsevo, Koskovo, Savino, Bukino and others, located along the banks of the Volga tributary of the clean and bright river Uzola.
There, peasants from several villages painted spinning wheels and took them to sell their products at the Nizhny Novgorod fair. That’s why the painting was first called Nizhny Novgorod. More precisely, even before the appearance of this painting, spinning wheels were decorated with carvings. Over time, the carvings began to be slightly tinted to make them more elegant, and later the carvings on spinning wheels were completely replaced by painting.
Why was the painting called Gorodets?
The name “Gorodets” began to appear only in the 1930s after the appearance of the works of one of the most famous researchers of folk culture V.M. Vasilenko. In earlier editions, we talk about “Nizhny Novgorod painting” or “Kurtsev dyers”.
The new name stuck because Gorodets was the main market for Uzol painted utensils and also had wood painting workshops. But the most important thing: it is with him, his way of life, morals, images, starting from the middle of the 19th century, that the very content of the painting is connected. The famous Uzol painting grew out of the entire artistic culture of Gorodets and its environs, the history of which goes back more than eight centuries.
Gorodets has long been famous for its “dead” wood carving, since most of the craftsmen worked with wood. The forest provided cheap material that was always at hand. This carving is created with an ax and chisel.
Bright pages in the history of the folk craft that arose here are associated with the activities of Peter I in creating the Russian navy. Each ship was certainly decorated with wooden carvings, demonstrating both the military power of Russia and the artistic talent of the peoples who inhabited it. During the 18th century, shipbuilding moved closer to the conquered shores of the seas.
Talented craftsmen had to look for new uses for their accumulated experience. Some began to carve spoons, others sharpened bowls and cups, and still others made tools for spinning and weaving. The bottoms for spinning wheels, which were then decorated, gained particular popularity. The bottom of the spinning wheel is a seat that was not visible during operation. But, having finished spinning, the peasant woman hung the bottom on the wall, and it became an adornment of her modest life.
Khokhloma painting
The most famous types of wood painting in Russia have existed for many centuries, and during all this time the painting technique has remained unchanged. This is the Khokhloma painting on wooden dishes that appeared in the Nizhny Novgorod province.
Russian Khokhloma is characterized by a unique technique, thanks to which the dishes acquire a golden color. Initially, the surface is primed and coated with oil. Next, aluminum powder is rubbed in, and after painting with paints, varnish is applied to the product in several layers, periodically hardening the dishes in the oven.
| By the way, thanks to this hardening, the well-known gilded surface is obtained. |
Khokhloma painting is more typical of flowers, rowan berries or strawberries, but you can often find images of birds, animals and fish. The main colors are red, black, gold and occasionally white and green. There are two ways to apply patterns: on top and under the background.
In the first case, the design is applied with paints on top of a blank treated with powder. Background painting means drawing the outlines of a pattern, after which the main background is painted black.
Ecological justification for Gorodets painting on the board
I created my project from natural materials, thereby I did not cause any damage to nature. Wood, compared to glass, decomposes quickly ~ 10 years.
This beautiful type of applied art looks great on kitchen items, and if it is also made by hand, then this is a very low-cost option for decorating the kitchen interior.
Conclusion
I was able to get acquainted with the history of Gorodets painting and learned that this is one of the oldest paintings in Russia. I was also able to create three of my own products using the Gorodets painting technique.
During my creative project, the assigned tasks were completed and the goal was achieved.
About the types of Russian painting, and about everything in the world)
Today I was looking at tapestries with floral designs on a black background and wondered what kind of Russian painting they looked like? I suspected that it was Zhostovo. Although I suspected intuitively, because... I’ve never really delved into what types of Russian paintings are distinguished and how they differ from each other. Yes, of course, Gzhel, Khokhloma, Palekh are well-known, but still...
Having looked at the corresponding material, I received a portion of positive emotions in the morning, because any Russian painting is so cute, juicy, effective, so original that my soul involuntarily becomes pleasantly pleasant. And the paintings really differ significantly from each other. Having delved into it once, it will be difficult to confuse the types of painting with each other.
This is such a wonderful picture that demonstrates most types of Russian painting on one diagram
And despite the fact that I was initially interested in painting on a black background, which turned out to be Zhostovo, I liked all types of Russian paintings so much that I will share the moments I found on the most common and famous of them.
Mezen wood painting
Mezen painting is one of the most ancient Russian artistic crafts. Its origins are lost in the distant centuries of the initial formation of the Slavic tribes.
The objects are densely dotted with a fractional pattern - stars, crosses, dashes, made in two colors: black - soot and red - “earth paint”, ocher. The main motifs of the geometric ornament - solar disks, rhombuses, crosses - resemble similar elements of triangular-notched carving.
Among the ornaments are friezes with stylized schematic images of horses and deer, which begin and end at the boundaries of the object. Made in black and red paints, the animal figures seem to emerge from a geometric pattern. All images are very static and only through repeated repetition does a feeling of dynamics arise.
The finished product was painted on clean, unprimed wood, first with ocher using a wooden stick (vice) worn at the end, then a black outline was made with a capercaillie or black grouse feather, and a pattern was applied with a brush made of human hair.
The painted object was covered with drying oil, which protected the paint from being erased and gave the product a golden color.
I remember once, from a trip around the country, I brought my friend wall plates from Cheboksary, painted in this style - with horses and birds.
They've been hanging in her collection of wall plates for years. Now I know that it was Mezen painting.
Here's a little proof that I made it to Cheboksary)
And in Cheboksary they produce the most delicious and original chocolates in the country - the AKKOND factories. I'm a fan of them. I know these candies, because Magnit in our city has had candies from the Akkond factory in its assortment for many years, although only 2-3 types are available - usually something from - Lomtishki, Otlomiki, Choco-Piki, Tortimilka, Dobryanka, Rulada. But even 2-3 types available made a strong impression on me. And when I got to the factory’s brand store in Cheboksary, and saw how many candies and with what fillings they produced there, I really realized that “happiness exists.”
Gorodets painting is a Russian folk art craft. It has existed since the mid-19th century in the area of the city of Gorodets. Bright, laconic Gorodets painting (genre scenes, figurines of horses, roosters, floral patterns), made in a free stroke with a white and black graphic outline, decorated spinning wheels, furniture, shutters, and doors.
The Gorodets style is distinguished primarily by its content. In the paintings, the main impression is given by genre scenes. All these images are conventional in nature, very free and decorative in form, and sometimes border on caricature. This is the life of the peasantry, merchants, a magnificent parade of costumes. A significant place is occupied by floral motifs - lush “roses”, painted broadly and decoratively. Along with genre realistic motifs, idealized, decorative images of birds and animals also live in Gorodets paintings.
There are exotic lions and leopards. Especially often is the image of a hot, strong horse or rooster in a proud, warlike pose. Most often these are paired images, heraldically facing each other. Gorodets painting masters love flowers. They are scattered everywhere on the field of paintings with cheerful garlands and bouquets. Where the plot allows, craftsmen willingly use the motif of a lush curtain, picked up by a cord with tassels. The decorativeness of the motifs is emphasized by the decorativeness of color and techniques. Favorite backgrounds are bright green or intense red, deep blue, sometimes black, on which the multicolored Gorodets color splashes especially lushly.
Painting is done with a brush, without preliminary drawing, with a free and rich stroke. It is very diverse - from a broad stroke to the finest line and virtuoso stroke. The work of the master is fast and economical. Therefore, it is very generalized, simple in its techniques, and free in the movement of the brush.
I don’t remember that I purchased anything from Gorodets painting, but I did in Gorodets, for which I can provide relevant evidence)
Zhostovo painting is a folk craft of artistic painting of metal trays that exists in the village of Zhostovo, Mytishchi district, Moscow region.
The history of Zhostovo and Zhostovo craft dates back to the beginning of the 19th century, when in a number of Moscow region villages and hamlets of the former Troitskaya volost (now Mytishchi district of the Moscow region) - Zhostovo, Ostashkovo, Khlebnikov, Troitsky and others - workshops arose for the production of painted lacquered items from papier-mâché .
The appearance of the Zhostovo painted tray is associated with the surname of the Vishnyakov brothers. The Vishnyakovs’ price list stated: “The Vishnyakov brothers’ establishment of lacquered metal trays, breadcrumbs, pallets, papier-mâché boxes, cigarette cases, teapots, albums, etc.... has existed since 1825.”
In 1830, the production of trays in the surrounding villages increased. The first metal trays appeared, decorated with decorative floral paintings. Iron trays gradually replaced snuff boxes and other “paper” crafts from the workshops of the Trinity volost. The advantageous location near the capital provided the fishery with a constant market and made it possible to do without the intermediary of buyers. All materials necessary for production were purchased in Moscow. The main motif of Zhostovo painting is a flower bouquet.
In the original art of Zhostovo masters, a realistic sense of the living form of flowers and fruits is combined with decorative generality, akin to Russian folk brush painting on chests, birch bark boxes, spinning wheels, etc.
Painting is usually done on a black background (sometimes on red, blue, green, silver) and the master works on several trays at once. The main motif of the painting is a simple floral bouquet in which large garden and small wildflowers alternate.
According to their purpose, trays are divided into two groups: for household purposes (for samovars, for serving food) and as decoration. Trays are shaped like round, octagonal, combined, rectangular, oval, etc.
Well, the Zhostovo tray was or is probably in every post-Soviet family. And we have had it since perestroika times, when there was no money and enterprises supplied each other with products through barter. And at the enterprise where my mother worked, they somehow brought Zhostovo trays, which were given out instead of wages.
And it is with Zhostovo painting that I associate tapestries, with woven flowers and patterns on a black background. Although, of course, among them there are simply patterns and flowers that have nothing to do with Zhostovo painting, but it is still beautiful.
Tapestries with woven flowers on a fern background are presented in the second tapestry store
Project "Painting on wood"
Municipal budgetary educational institution
Dobryansk secondary school No. 2
3 "D" class 2020
Class teacher: Orlova N.V.
Project "Painting on wood"
Relevance of the problem: There is a growing trend of fading of the moral, aesthetic and cultural potential of folk artistic crafts. The need of the state and society for the preservation of folk artistic crafts.
Folk arts and crafts are an integral part of national culture. They embody the centuries-old experience of aesthetic perception of the world, looking to the future, and preserve deep artistic traditions that reflect the originality of the cultures of multinational Russia.
Folk arts and crafts are both a branch of the artistic industry and a field of folk art. The combination of traditions, stylistic features and creative improvisation, collective principles and the views of an individual, hand-made products and high professionalism are characteristic features of the creative work of craftsmen and craftsmen.
Folk arts and crafts in the modern cultural space are, first of all, artists and folk craftsmen who pass on the successive culture to the younger generation.
What we are exploring: Folk arts and crafts: Khokhloma, Mezen, Polkhov - Maidan, Gzhel, Gorodets paintings and the history of their occurrence.
Subject of research: painting technology.
Object of study: painting of boards, toys, nesting dolls.
Hypothesis: Stimulating interest in folk art, and acquiring skills and abilities in this area, is possible only with close acquaintance and immersion in historical roots through independent creativity.
Project goal: Analysis of the state and development trends of folk art crafts.
Project objectives:
— to cultivate a sense of patriotism through the artistic heritage of Russia;
- learn to see the beauty of the world around you;
— instill a love for folk traditions;
Project name: “Wood painting”
Project stages:
1.Acquaintance with traditional painting techniques and their history.
2. Description of the practical implementation of the artistic painting “Three girls under the window...”.
3.Report.
Main part.
Stage 1.
Artistic painting as a type of decorative and applied art continues the traditions of folk art. This is not just a certain visual series, its essence is much greater, because it seems to float outside of time, uniting the work of dozens of generations of masters. It is organically connected with the Motherland - at the place of its origin in the community of peasants (cattle breeders, farmers, hunters).
Art historians' views on artistic painting. Artistic painting is applied to products made from easily obtained traditional natural “democratic” materials: natural fabrics, wood, clay, leather, stone, bone. Until the 17th century, its sprouts existed within individual subsistence peasant farms. Skills were passed on by masters along the family line, from generation to generation. Specific artistic techniques were honed to allow for optimal presentation of products. The most expressive and meaningful methods of applying the ornament were chosen. Painting in architecture decorated the ceiling, walls, vaults, beams and pillars, and in everyday life - dishes and objects of labor.
In the period from the 17th to the 18th centuries, artistic painting in Russia was already being transformed into a craft that created goods for the market. It is not individual masters who are beginning to engage in it, but individual localities and villages.
Currently, artistic painting enterprises are actively developing types of painting in order to meet demand both in the Russian market and abroad. Painted products, while maintaining their everyday function, are increasingly acquiring features of aesthetic and artistic value. For their production, modern machines and special equipment are used for roughing and preparatory work. The main creative work, like several centuries ago, is done manually by master artists.
Painting as art.
It is impossible not to note that national painting changes the very image of the product. It becomes more expressive at the level of color scheme, rhythm of lines and proportionality. Industrial “de-souled” goods become warm and alive through the efforts of artists. The latter is achieved by applying ornaments and elements of fine art (graphics and painting). Various types of painting create a special positive emotional background, in tune with the locality of the fishing industry. Formally speaking, artistic painting is performed by applying paints to a specific surface with a brush. An important point should be noted: unlike painting, which models an integral space, painting is always fragmentary. Design specialists often talk about the phenomenon of Russian painting: it universally harmonizes with almost any style: minimalism, modern, country. The techniques created by ancient masters were honed by many generations of craftsmen in certain areas, creating a special stylistic expressiveness. Fortunately, in Russia of the 21st century, various types of painting have been preserved and are developing: Gzhel, Khokhloma, Boretskaya, Gorodets, Mezenskaya, Onega, Permogorskaya, Pizhemskaya, Polkhovsko-Paidanskaya, Puchuzhskaya, Rakulskaya.
Khokhloma painting.
Even under Ivan the Terrible, Khokhloma was known as a forest area called “Khokhloma Ukhozheya” (Ukhozheya is a place cleared of forest for arable land). Since ancient times, wooden utensils have been in great use among Russians: ladles and brackets in the shape of a swimming bird, round bowls, dinner bowls, spoons of various shapes and sizes were found in archaeological excavations dating back to the 10th-13th centuries. There are examples that date back several thousand years.
On the basis of this heritage, a new art was formed, connected in its future fate with the design of everyday objects. Already in the 18th century, the craft spread widely among the peasant population and became known far beyond the borders of the country. Traditions were invariably passed down from generation to generation and jealously guarded against the alien influences of modern times. The masters loved primordial folk motifs, close to the widest strata of the peasant population. “From generation to generation they wrote what they adopted from their father and grandfather, what was close and understandable. But such a small iconography of the images preserved by the craftsmen did not limit their creative possibilities. They wrote in a new way every time, as if they were singing a song.” The elegantly painted wooden dishes were not inferior in beauty to the royal ones. But it is inconvenient to use unpainted wooden utensils, as the wood absorbs liquid, quickly becomes dirty, and cracks from hot food. We noticed that oiled vessel walls are easier to clean and the dishes last longer. It was then that the idea probably arose to coat the dishes with drying oil - boiled linseed oil. Drying oil covered the surface of the object with an impenetrable film. This composition, used by icon painters to protect paintings from moisture, was known to Russian artists for a long time.
Painted dishes using gold were also not durable, and besides, the poor peasant could not afford to buy it. So the peasants began to think about how to make the dishes so that they were no worse than the boyars’, and the peasants could use them. Folk craftsmen solved this problem thanks to icon painters from the Old Believer environment, who mastered the ancient technique of “gilding” items. It is no coincidence that the basis of the painting was a golden background. It is known that in ancient times the Slavs, and then in Rus', used silver, and later gold, as a symbol of light. This was the case in works of folk art, book miniatures, and icon painting. Art historians suggest that it is from the technique of painting icons that the wondrous wonder - “golden Khokhloma” - originates. But then, to reduce the cost, craftsmen began to use silver powder instead of gold. More than one generation of craftsmen took part in the creation of “Khokhloma gold”. Each of them contributed to the improvement of this unique art. There are almost no genre scenes in Khokhloma's paintings; The artists directed all their art to the depiction of plant forms, or the so-called herbal ornament, associated with the painting traditions of Ancient Rus'. Flexible, wavy stems with leaves, berries and flowers run around the walls of the vessel, decorate its inner surface, giving the object a uniquely elegant appearance. On some things the flower stems stretch upward, on others they curl or run in a circle.
Enlivened by several white stripes, the fabulously beautiful flower lit up with a bright flame, and this made the gold on the rim and neck of the vessel sparkle even brighter. The artist who created this work apparently reproduced here that magical red flower, which, according to folk legends, brought happiness, but it could only be seen once a year - on the night of Midsummer. In accordance with the new painting technique, the ornament also changed: the place of lush flowers with whitewash was taken by the modest and graceful Khokhloma grass. Branches with berries and flowers were placed with amazing freedom on the surface of the object, following its shape; thin wavy stems either covered it with smooth curves or stretched upward. The black and red color scheme of painting with gold gave the products of Khokhloma masters restraint and severity, distinguishing them from the bright products of Gorodets artists.
Decorating products of various shapes, Khokhloma artists proved themselves to be skilled decorators. When painting, for example, a cup or dish, the master clearly highlighted the bottom, placing a rosette in it, and from its center, like the rays of the sun, he drew lines to the edges of the object. On the walls of the cup he applied a pattern - a sedge - of oblique black and red strokes. They resembled stalks of grass, as if bent over by a gust of wind.
Gzhel painting.
Gzhel is the oldest pottery district, which arose 50 versts from Moscow. This region is unusually rich in pottery clays. Therefore, almost the entire population of almost three dozen surrounding villages and hamlets had long been engaged in the manufacture of pottery, especially since there was no shortage of firewood - there were dense forests all around. It is no coincidence that in the very word “Gzhel” one can hear echoes of the verb “to burn”. Pottery crafts arose and developed only where there was clay. The Gzhel craft arose in the Gzhel-Kudinovsky geological deposit of clays, suitable for both brick and the production of earthenware and porcelain, for pottery and majolica products. It covered about 30 villages of Bronnitsky and Bogorodsky districts, now Ramensky and Noginsky districts of the Moscow region. High-quality Gzhel clays were the basis for the widespread development of ceramic production, which appeared on the Gzhel land in the 4th century BC. e. For the first time, the area of Gzhel was mentioned among others in the spiritual charter of Ivan Kalita, then in all the spiritual charters of the great princes, and Ivan the Terrible, that is, the property of the court. Gzhel acts as the center of ceramic production in Russia, a supplier of the Tsarev's Court, rich in high-quality raw materials - clays and professional craftsmen.
Gzhel masters were in constant search for new technologies, forms, and decoration. Until the 14th century, Gzhel produced almost all pottery. In the 17th century, peasants of Gzhel villages and villages began to produce watering utensils and toys. In Gzhel they also made bricks, scalded and stewed clay dishes with a light-colored shard, and at the end of the same 17th century they mastered the production of “morovlen” (that is, covered with a greenish or brown glaze) dishes that did not allow water to pass through. Gzhel clays were also known in Moscow. In 1663, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich issued a decree: “... in the Gzhel volost, for apothecary and alchemical vessels, find clay that is good for apothecary vessels.” In 1710, the Gzhel volost was assigned to the Pharmacy Order “for the business of alchemical utensils.”
In Gzhel itself there were many craftsmen who studied for some time at the Grebenshchikov factory in Moscow. Having extensive experience in pottery, having acquired the necessary skills from a master, Gzhel artisans, having quickly mastered the production of majolica, began to produce similar products in their workshops. They created elegant dishes: kvasniks - decorative jugs with a ring-shaped body, a high domed lid, a long curved spout, often on four rounded legs; kumgans - similar vessels, but without a through hole in the body; jugs, washstands, joker mugs (“if you get drunk, don’t get drunk”), dishes, plates, etc., decorated with ornamental and subject paintings in green, yellow, blue and violet-brown colors on a white background. Usually in the center of the image there was a crane bird, the main image was supplemented by conventional trees, bushes, from time to time and architectural structures. In the 1770s, along with handicraft workshops, of which there were countless, there were also pottery factories in Gzhel, there were about 25 of them.
From the end of the 18th century until the 1820s. in Gzhel there was a transition from majolica to semi-faience. The painting of the products also changed accordingly - from the multi-colors characteristic of majolica to single-color underglaze painting with cobalt. At this time, there were about 50 factories in Gzhel that produced semi-faience products. 1840s - the flourishing of semi-faience and Gzhel folk ceramics. The painting is dominated by floral patterns. The main forms: kumgans, kvass pots, less often - mugs, candlesticks, washstands. Semi-faience products from this period are now presented in the leading museums of the country - the Historical, Russian, Hermitage, as well as in the Yegoryevsk Local History Museum. In one of the statistical descriptions of the Moscow province in 1811, Gzhel dishes are certified as “the best of all dishes of this kind made in Russia.” Gzhel products were distributed not only throughout Russia, from Arkhangelsk to Astrakhan and in Siberia, they were exported to Central Asia and the countries of the Middle East. Taking into account local tastes, Gzhel craftsmen formed a stable assortment of so-called “Asian” porcelain: teapots, bowls of different sizes and specific shapes, with characteristic floral painting in medallions on a colored background. This dishware was also widely used in Russian taverns. In the middle of the 19th century, earthenware already dominated the Gzhel crafts. More than thirty factories specialized in it. Soon families and entire dynasties of manufacturers, artists, and craftsmen appeared. The manufacturers Dunashovs, Kudinovs, Markovs, Kuznetsovs will determine the unique creative appearance of Gzhel in its heyday. Five large factories
M.S. Kuznetsov produced products worth two million rubles a year.
The development of capitalism in Russia led to an industrial crisis. Folk art quickly degenerated and at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries came to complete oblivion. Folk craft disappeared almost completely. It is revived only in the post-war years. Alexander Borisovich Saltykov was at the origins of this revival. A study organized by Saltykov of the capabilities of the then existing artel “Art Ceramics” showed that the artists did not adhere to the traditions of Gzhel painting and did not even have a clue about brush painting techniques. Saltykov, together with a group of Moscow artists and Gzhel painters, developed a real “ABC of brushstrokes” - a technique of artistic painting. The brushstroke forms a dense surface of blue color, contrasting with the white background. The background becomes a second color and is as active as the painting itself. The “brushstroke with shadows” painting reveals a striking Gzhel originality. “Stroke” has a wide tonal range: from deep and dark tones to very light and light ones. Overall it consists of different shades of blue. The “ABC of strokes” is complemented by a thin line of drawing, which plays a major role in Gzhel painting. Fortunately for the revival of Gzhel was the collaboration of Saltykov with the artist Natalya Ivanovna Bessarabova, who had experience as a painter, theater set designer and costume designer. The features of underglaze painting technology are combined with color changes during firing. Soot-black cobalt turns bright blue after firing, and the artist applying it to the product must foresee the result. Only then can he achieve the finest gradations of blue. It took Bessarabova a whole decade of hard work for the “secrets” of the mastery of the old Gzhel artists to cease to be a secret for the painters. Gzhel was confidently recreated from oblivion. The Gzhel association was created, which became the ceramic center of Russia. In 1992, the Gzhel association was the only NHP enterprise in the Gzhel region.
The end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries became a period of deep crisis. It seemed that Gzhel art had perished forever. The post-war period is associated with the beginning of the revival of the craft and the search for its own figurative language. This required years of painstaking and tireless work, training of new masters. As a result, this led to success. Today the Gzhel Association is a modern enterprise, which includes 6 production facilities with a staff of 1,500 highly qualified workers. Gzhel is vases, figurines, toys, interior items: fireplaces, chandeliers and other porcelain items. Gzhel products are in steady demand in the Russian and international markets. Gzhel is a composition of folk art and art. In the production of porcelain, Gzhel follows the old Russian traditions in folk art. Gzhel craftsmen paint each product only by hand.
Gzhel employs highly qualified and gifted artists, sculptors and masters of technology. In Gzhel there is a round cycle of education. Training starts from kindergarten, high school and ends with the Gzhel Art College and postgraduate courses in Moscow. Gzhel has its own style - blue and blue patterns and flowers, decorations on a white background. The painting is done with cobalt, which during the technological process acquires the blue color characteristic of Gzhel.
Gorodets painting.
The birthplace of Gorodets painting was the Volga region, namely the villages of Khlebaikha, Kurtsevo, Koskovo, Savino, Bukino and others, located along the banks of the Volga tributary of the clean and bright river Uzola. There, peasants from several villages painted spinning wheels and took them to sell their products at the Nizhny Novgorod fair. That’s why the painting was first called Nizhny Novgorod. More precisely, even before the appearance of this painting, spinning wheels were decorated with carvings. Over time, the carvings began to be slightly tinted to make them more elegant, and later the carvings on spinning wheels were completely replaced by painting.
Why was the painting called Gorodets?
The name “Gorodets” began to appear only in the 1930s after the appearance of the works of one of the most famous researchers of folk culture V.M. Vasilenko. In earlier editions, we talk about “Nizhny Novgorod painting” or “Kurtsev dyers”. The new name stuck because Gorodets was the main market for Uzol painted utensils and also had wood painting workshops. But the most important thing: it is with him, his way of life, morals, images, starting from the middle of the 19th century, that the very content of the painting is connected. The famous Uzol painting grew out of the entire artistic culture of Gorodets and its environs, the history of which goes back more than eight centuries.
Gorodets has long been famous for its “dead” wood carving, since most of the craftsmen worked with wood. The forest provided cheap material that was always at hand. This carving is created with an ax and chisel.
Bright pages in the history of the folk craft that arose here are associated with the activities of Peter I in creating the Russian navy. Each ship was certainly decorated with wooden carvings, demonstrating both the military power of Russia and the artistic talent of the peoples who inhabited it. During the 18th century, shipbuilding moved closer to the conquered shores of the seas. Talented craftsmen had to look for new uses for their accumulated experience. Some began to carve spoons, others sharpened bowls and cups, and still others made tools for spinning and weaving. The bottoms for spinning wheels, which were then decorated, gained particular popularity. The bottom of the spinning wheel is a seat that was not visible during operation. But, having finished spinning, the peasant woman hung the bottom on the wall, and it became an adornment of her modest life.
Bottom of the spinning wheel
Where can you see a spinning wheel now? Only in the museum. The spinning wheel consists of a comb, a bottom and a spindle. The bottom is a wide board on which the spinner sat. The bottom of the spinning wheels was painted. After work, the spindles were put into a box, and the bottom was hung on the wall, like a picture.
Samples of spinning wheels collected in museums show how the technique of decorating the bottom changed from the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century. Carving was replaced by inlay from pieces of bog oak, followed by painting, which can be done easier and faster.
The heyday of Gorodets painting is associated with the arrival in 1870 of the icon painter Ogurechnikov from Gorodets to the village of Kurtsevo, who was invited to renovate the painting of the local church. It was he who helped local masters master painting techniques that have long been used in painting icons: methods of applying layers of paint, “living up” with whitewash - everything that gives the painting completeness and expressiveness. Masters had long been using tint on inlaid objects, so they were ready to adopt the painting technique. At the end of the 19th century, cheap factory-made chintz appeared, which replaced hand-made fabrics. The bottoms, combs, and spindles so necessary for the manual production of fabrics became unnecessary in factories. The best examples of spinning wheels, made with love and talent, took their rightful place in museums and became an example for future generations.
Later they began to paint not only spinning wheels, but also all kinds of objects from peasant life - baskets, salt shakers, wooden toys, boxes for storing yarn and many other products. The colors of Gorodets painting were always bright and rich, all products were always decorated with lush bouquets of flowers reminiscent of roses and daisies. As the craft developed (by the end of the nineteenth century, residents of a dozen villages were involved in it), the painting was also supplemented with new subjects. Characters from folk tales, scenes from city life, all kinds of “tea parties” and festivities appeared.”
Gorodets painting in our time
By the beginning of the 20th century, the fishery slowly fell into decline, and soon ceased to exist altogether. Gorodets painting began to recover only in the 30s, when a painters’ workshop opened. Later, already in the 50s, an artel was formed. Nowadays, the legacy of the old masters and their best traditions is sought to be revived by artists working at the Gorodets Painting factory in Gorodets, which was established in 1960. Fortunately, the ancient Volga region painting is now in the capable hands of talented contemporary artists. Five of them are Repin Prize laureates. This is the highest award for artists in our country. The names of these artists: Bespalova L.F., Kubatkina L.A., Kasatova F.N., Rukina T.M., Sokolova A.V. There was a time when Gorodets painting almost died, but there were kind and talented people who revived it. They are our national pride. Nowadays, masters work in an art workshop in Gorodets and teach their students.
Polkhov – Maidan painting.
In recent decades, there has been a tendency towards the revival and development of centuries-old folk crafts. One of the most interesting crafts of Russian masters is Polkhov-Maidan painting. The pictures on dishes and household items, the coloring of toys-crawlers are bright, eye-catching. This is what they say about them: “It doesn’t break, it doesn’t break, but whoever buys it is surprised.” Indeed, these amazing crafts of folk craftsmen seem to glow from within, create a festive atmosphere and lift your spirits. They are increasingly chosen for an original gift or purchased as a souvenir. The history of the emergence of the craft dates back to the end of the 18th or the mid-19th century (these data vary) in the small village of Polkhovsky Maidan, located on the banks of a river in the Nizhny Novgorod region, the amazing art of turning dishes and figurines from soft linden and aspen wood (fortunately, their a lot grew in the surrounding areas). They were sold at fairs and served as an additional means of income for peasants. Much later, in the 20s of the 20th century, someone decided to decorate the crafts: first with a burnt design, then with bright painting. On long winter evenings, the whole family got together and whiled away the time by making unique objects: men processed wood, and women and children “revived” the toys that appeared with the help of paints. Lush bouquets of flowers bloomed on the dishes under the brush of each craftsman.
The first craftsmen carved all products by hand. Later, when lathes appeared, the process was greatly simplified, but this in no way affected the quality of the product. Over time, Polkhov-Maidan painting became increasingly widespread and famous in different parts of Russia. Making crafts The process of making souvenirs includes several stages. Figures carved from wood are well polished. Then the surface is impregnated 2-3 times with a solution of potato starch - this is a kind of primer. The processed workpiece is dried well, after which they begin to prepare for painting.
First, the outline of the desired design is drawn with ink. Different pen sizes (use numbers 11-13) allow you to make lines of different widths.
The next stage is artistic painting on wood with paints, often aniline. When selecting them, preference is given to rich red, green, blue, and yellow shades. Moreover, when one tone of paint is applied over an existing one (this is a painting tradition), the drawing acquires a special brightness and iridescence. The final touches are to coat the product with colorless varnish in several layers (glazing technique), which makes the surface of the product shiny. It is the brightness and brilliance that seems to radiate from within that distinguishes the Polkhov-Maidan painting.
Elements of drawing Art critic N.V. Taranovskaya, speaking about the features of the craft, notes the special decorativeness, uniqueness and splendor of the drawings created by the masters. What is so unusual about the Polkhov-Maidan painting? The pictures that appear on the products are distinguished by the variety of large and bright (usually red in color) flowers that have already bloomed or are still in the bud stage. At the same time, several types of drawing are distinguished: flowers with guidance - the black outline is clearly visible, flowers without guidance, mottled - paints are applied with light strokes. Typical are the images of fruits (especially apples) and berries, animals and birds. There is also an urban or rural landscape, the characteristic feature of which is the red dawn. How to recognize the Maidan tararushka The Polkhov-Maidan painting is usually well recognizable, since there are a number of features characteristic only of it. The coloring is dominated by a combination of the following colors: yellow and dark blue or cold red and green. The most common flower is the rose in different variations, as well as poppy, rose hips, and dahlia. The priority background for depicting floral patterns is yellow. The drawing, as a rule, has a clearly defined black outline. Polkhov-Maidan Matryoshka doll
A special place among crafts is occupied by the traditional Russian souvenir, in the design of which certain traditions have also developed. The Polkhov-Maidan folk doll is in many ways different from the familiar matryoshka doll from other regions of Russia. Instead of a sundress, she is wearing an oval apron, decorated with a green branch with large bright flowers. On the head is not a scarf tied under the chin, but rather an original cape that softly falls over the shoulders, from under which curled curls usually emerge. This is a characteristic detail of the dress of local women. In addition to the peculiarities of coloring, these nesting dolls have a more elongated shape compared to others. They are more like cheerful Russian girls. Artistic craft today.
In modern conditions, an alternative to handicraft production has become a production and artistic association, opened on the basis of a toy factory in the regional center of Voznesenskoye, called “Polkhov-Maidan Painting”. Here, toys and household items are turned not by hand, but on lathes and in much larger volumes. Basically, these are national souvenirs that are very popular among buyers and guests of the country, including unusual toys-crackers (matryoshka dolls, threes and single horses, whistles), Easter eggs, mushrooms, dishes (salt shakers, sugar bowls, plates, spoons), boxes , boxes. But hand painting remains traditional: Polkhov-Maidan painting does not allow the use of machines in this matter. The designs are designed and drawn by professional artists who have undergone special training. Naturally, such products are more unified and monotonous than the works of artisans, but they are also quite in demand among connoisseurs of folk art. The residents of the area are especially proud of the Matryoshka Museum. The exhibits here range from single figurines symbolizing Russian rural girls to multi-person nesting dolls, the largest of which includes a row starting with a match-head toy and ending with a meter-long doll. In the villages of the Voznesensky district of the Nizhny Novgorod region: Polkhovsky Maidan, Voznesenskoye, Krutets - there are still family cooperatives engaged in the production of local landmarks. Children are taught this from early childhood, and half
