06/28/2012 | Folk crafts: Gorodets painting

Gorodets painting

Gorodets painting originates from carved Gorodets spinning wheels, which had their own peculiarity: a comb and a bottom. To decorate the Donets, Gorodets craftsmen used a peculiar technique - inlay: the figures were cut out of wood of a different breed and inserted into a recess corresponding in shape. Inserts made of dark bog oak stand out in relief against the light surface of the bottom. Thus, having only two shades of wood and a simple tool, craftsmen turned the surface of the bottom board into a real picture.

Later, masters began to use tint for visual richness, bright combination yellow color With dark oak, the addition of blue, green, red colors made the bottom even more elegant and colorful. L. V. Melnikov was a well-known master of inlaid donets with tint.

Gorodets motifs - scenes of city life

The need to increase the production of spinning bottoms prompted the masters to simplify the technique decorative design. From the second half of XIX centuries, the complex and laborious technique of inlay began to be replaced by simple carving with tint, and since the 1870s, the picturesque manner of decoration has prevailed on the Gorodetsky Donets.

Peculiarities

• The peculiarity of the painting is pure, bright colors, a clear outline, and white strokes that create volume. The main colors are black, red, blue, green, brown, white. The main "hero" of the Gorodets painting is the "horse-fire" with a curved and emphasized elongated neck. Compositions of Gorodets painting are divided into three types:
• flower painting- bouquets, garlands, flower stripes, etc., compositions are always symmetrical in arrangement of flowers;
• floral painting with the inclusion of the motif "horse" and "bird";
• plot painting - scenes in nature and in the interior - scenes of urban life, walks of ladies with gentlemen, riding on tarantasses, gatherings, scenes of tea drinking; an obligatory part of the plot painting is the inclusion of fantastic colors.

In Nizhny Novgorod paintings, two types can be distinguished - Pavlovsk and Gorodets paintings, which were used to decorate chests, arcs, sledges, children's furniture, spinning wheels and many small household items. The Gorodets style is distinguished primarily by its content. In the murals, genre scenes give the main impression. All these images are conditional in character, 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 widely and decoratively. According to A. V. Bakushinsky, the master became a true painter. V. S. Voronov, who wrote that “the Nizhny Novgorod style presents us with the purest version of genuine pictorial art that has overcome the limits of graphic captivity and is based solely on the elements of painting…” decorative images of birds and animals.

There are exotic lions and leopards. Especially often the image of a hot, strong horse or rooster in a proud, warlike pose. Most often these are paired images, heraldically facing each other. Gorodetsky master of painting loves flowers. They are scattered everywhere on the field of paintings with cheerful garlands and bouquets. Where the plot allows, the master willingly uses the motif of a magnificent curtain, picked up by a cord with tassels. The decorativeness of motifs is emphasized by the decorativeness of color and techniques. Favorite backgrounds are bright green or intense red, deep blue, sometimes black, against which the multicolored Gorodetsky color splashes especially juicy. In the characterization of the plot, whitened tones give rich shades of color transitions. The painting is done with a brush, without a preliminary drawing, with a free and juicy stroke. It is very diverse - from a wide stroke to the thinnest line and a virtuoso stroke. The work of the master is fast and economical. Therefore, it is very generalized, simple in technique, free in the movement of the brush. Gorodets flower paintings, multicolored and expressive works by masters A. E. Konovalov and D. I. Kryukov are characteristic.

In 1969, an experimental and creative laboratory was created at the factory, in which Faina Nikiforovna Kasatova began to work, in 1970 A. V. Sokolova and L. F. Bespalova, N. A. Stolesnikova came there. Beautiful craftswomen L. A. Kubatkina, T. N. Rukina, P. F. Sorina, G. N. Timofeeva, N. N. Noskova appeared. It is with the work of the experimental laboratory that searches in the field of new plot compositions are connected.

The choice of the first works fell on the themes and compositions of feasts with tea drinking at the samovar. All searches were based initially on diligent adherence to the methods of the old masters. At the same time, there was a search for the type of products in the paintings of which it is advisable to place plots. This work was carried out with the help of the Institute of Art Industry. Under the guidance of the artists of the laboratory, the quality of the work of Gorodets craftswomen is gradually improving, 60 of which begin to work in the author's group. They paint bread boxes, decorative wall plates, shelves with sets of supplies or cutting boards, cake boards, supplies, chests, etc.

Gorodets craftsmen also preserve the traditions of blind Gorodets carving, which in modern conditions has found its application in heraldry products, carved icons and unique author's works. Many carvers Nizhny Novgorod region studied with outstanding modern masters Mikhail Antonovich Loginov and Andrey Yakovlevich Kolov.

In 1985, six artists of Gorodets became laureates of the State Prize of the RSFSR. I. E. Repina. In 1997, A. V. Sokolova, F. N. Kasatova, L. F. Bespalova, L. A. Kubatkina, T. M. Rukina were awarded the title of Honored Artist of Russia.

Since 1995, a creative icon painting workshop has been operating, where the technology of icon painting of the XIV-XV centuries has been revived in compliance with all church canons.

At the CJSC factory "Gorodets painting" excursions are held with a visit to the art workshop, the museum of the creative laboratory and the icon-painting workshop, as well as master classes in Gorodets painting.

Gorodets painting is a folk art craft. Bright textured drawings are made with a free stroke with a graphic stroke. A wide variety of household items and decorative paraphernalia were decorated with Russian motifs.

The history of the fishery

The birthplace of Gorodets painting is the Volga region. Residents of the villages of Khlebaikha, Kurtsevo, Savino, Bukino and some other villages decorated the spinning wheels with carvings, and then tinted the ornament in order to sell the products at the Nizhny Novgorod fair later. Over time, colorful patterns completely replaced carved decor, and bright drawings began to be called Nizhny Novgorod painting.

The term "Gorodets pattern" appeared only in the 1930s, when the work of one of the most dedicated researchers of Russian folk crafts, V.M. Vasilenko. Gorodets is the main market for painted utensils. The masters took this fact into account, and the patterns displayed the way of life, customs, images associated with the town. Over time, the painting became the artistic personification of the culture and color of Gorodets and its environs.

Local craftsmen skillfully managed in wood carving. Forest expanses allowed craftsmen to use cheap and available material to create your masterpieces. The heyday of the craft is associated with the activities of Peter the Great, who demanded that his warships be decorated with carvings and paintings. Over time, the ships were relocated closer to the new conquered lands, and craftsmen began to look for other directions to apply the accumulated experience.

The heyday of the Gorodets craft began in 1870, when the icon painter Ogurechnikov arrived in one of the villages. His goal was to renew the paintings of the local church. It was he who helped local craftsmen to master new skills: “animation” with squirrels, the use of several paint balls at once, and other techniques.

Colors of Gorodets painting

Egg paints were originally used for painting. They were replaced by oily, tempera and gouache compositions. The coloring composition was applied to the canvas in large spots, without preliminarily forming clear contours.

Initially, craftsmen worked on primed surfaces. Later, after the Second World War, raw wood was chosen as the basis. This allowed the drawings to be made lighter, giving them transparency.

1. Zamalevki. For patterns in the form of berries and flowers, the following colors are used: ocher, pink (a mixture of red and white tones), pure red, burgundy (red and black), blue (blue and white), blue. For the design of the sheets use clean green color. Small leaves and curls were sometimes decorated with brown paint.
2. Tenevka. The main colors of the shade are black, brown and blue. Due to the use of a deep black tone, against which the key elements of the ornament were drawn, it was possible to obtain a bright and rather contrasting pattern. If used for shade brown tone, the painting turned out to be lighter and more delicate.
3. Livery. For razzhivka used white color. The yellow tint was used less frequently. It was needed only if the leaves were given volumetric accents.

Basic colors by numbers

The main colors that are traditionally used for Gorodets ornaments:

1. Ocher(#CC7722);
2. Pink(#FFC0CB);
3. Red(#FF0000);
4. Blue(#00BFFF);
5. Blue(#964B00);
6. White(#FFFFFF);
7. Green(#00FF00);
8. Black(#000000);
9. Yellow(#FFFF00).

Elements and motifs of Gorodets painting

There are three basic types compositions. This is a “pure” flower painting, a composition with the inclusion of a “horse” motif and a complex plot painting.

Floral ornament is the easiest to perform. There are several elements of the ornament:

1. "Bouquet" is a symmetrical image. These are small compositions consisting of 1 - 3 flowers. Decorate boxes, caskets, cups, salt shakers, cups, bowls;
2. "Garland" - a kind of "bouquet" when one large flower is located in the center, and a composition is built around it with more small flowers;
3. "Rhombus" - a variation of the "garland". Several large flowers form the center, and the leaves and buds decrease at the top of the diamond. The ornament often adorns large chests, large cutting boards, cabinet doors and bread boxes;
4. "Flower stripe" is a complex composition consisting of the upper and lower tiers. The ornament can be formed from a strip of flowers of the same size or from floral elements that are different in color, shape and type;
5. "Wreath" - a variation of the "flower strip", but only of a closed type. Usually decorates the surfaces of dishes, trays, caskets, wine barrels.

Motives "horse" and "bird"

There are symmetrical and asymmetric compositions. Birds and horses are most often placed in the center flowering tree or framed by a wreath. There are products-sets, on each of which there are several motives at once. For example, a chicken and a cockerel or two horses of different colors.

Similar patterns look more effective on black and red canvases. Basic color: ocher, gold, orange, yellow. The paired image of birds represents family harmony and well-being. Horses symbolize success and prosperity.

Story painting

Plot drawings are placed on large items: chests, dishes, countertops. Masters traditionally depicted scenes of tea parties and celebrations, weddings against the backdrop of a rich table, tables with cups, flowers and samovars. The faces of the people turned towards the audience, which often gave unnecessarily complex compositions a certain implausibility.

The favorite theme of the drawings is the exteriors of houses with carved shutters, bright platbands, chimneys. The picture was complemented by wells, wicker fences with flowers or jugs and sitting roosters. In addition, the canvas could be "enriched" with images of other animals - dogs, cats, chickens with chickens.

Technique for performing Gorodets painting

The painting is done directly on a wooden base, which is initially primed with yellow, red and black colors. Each primary color is “whitened”, thus, exactly doubling the number of colors in the palette.

On the surface, the main lines of the painting are outlined with thin lines with a pencil. Special attention give the "nodes" of the picture, that is, the largest and important elements. Medium and small parts act as binders of large patterns and can be performed during improvisation.

In knots of painting wide brush form the base of the flower. Usually, this spot is irregularly round or oval in shape. A darker color is applied over the light spots. All painting consists of simple elements: brackets, arcs, spirals, strokes, drops and the underpainting itself.

The final stage is the application of contrasting (black or white) strokes and dots over the finished drawing. This stage is carried out with the help of the thinnest brush. As soon as the canvas dries, the painting is “fixed” with a thick layer of varnish.

The Russian land has always been rich in talents. The Nizhny Novgorod region was no exception. It was there that arose folk craft- Gorodets painting. The history of the craft begins in the middle of the 19th century. At first, this type of art craft was used to decorate the bottoms of spinning wheels. Spinning wheels were different in Gorodets unusual shape. They consisted of two elements - a comb (the spinning wheel itself) and a bottom (a bench on which the craftswoman sat). When spinning, the parts were assembled together, and at the end of the work, the bottoms served wall decoration in the House. The combination of these qualities: usefulness in the economy and ease of use determined the popularity and demand for such goods at Nizhny Novgorod fairs. Gorodets spinning wheels began to disperse throughout the country.

Initially, spinning wheels were made using inlay elements, and the Gorodets painting served only as an addition to the created masterpiece, as a finishing touch. The inlay was a combination of two tree species, different in color. Carvings were made in the main board, where various figures made of bog oak were inserted. Later, craftsmen began to decorate such inserts with paints, applying fabulous, beautiful flowers. So they replaced the labor-intensive work with carving and became the basis for the development of a separate craft - Gorodets painting. She began to decorate not only spinning wheels, but also chairs, caskets, salt shakers, sledges, rocker arms and many other household items. The style and manner of drawing in this painting was finally established at the end of the 19th century and remains unchanged to this day.

Fishing technology

The method of applying paint is much simpler than in the products of Khokhloma masters. The drawing is applied directly to the tree itself, without any preliminary priming of the base. Gorodets painting allows you to use yellow, red or black colors as a background if you wish. Previously, masters painted with egg-based paints. In our time, they began to use oil, which allows you to expand the palette of colors and add color to the depicted scene or picture. Dry-based paints made from natural and artificial pigments are popular, they are called temperas.

To draw the outline of the drawing, the student can use a simple pencil to clearly draw the flowers and patterns that are so characteristic of this artistic craft - Gorodets painting. The elements of the picture are so diverse and ornate that it is difficult for an inexperienced person to cope with drawing details, but the masters believe that the whole picture should be painted only with a brush. She also designate the outline of the picture in black and white.

Motives of art craft

Gorodets painting won the hearts of Russian people with its uncomplicated plots of drawings, their immediacy and lack of restrictions in the flight of thought. This painting is characterized by solemnity, fabulousness, pomp of forms, floral motifs, bouquets and garlands of them. Scenes from the life of ordinary peasants and the merchant class. Tea drinking at the table, outdoor recreation, a conversation between a couple in love, pigeons cooing to each other. In the drawings one can see idealized figures of overseas animals and birds. All these playful, unsophisticated motifs made the products of Nizhny Novgorod artisans sweet, touching and favorite things for the Russian soul.

The significance of folk crafts in Russia for revealing the features of life, the artistic vision of the world, the Russian people is very great. The famous Gorodets painting is one of the brightest examples of the original creativity of the people.

Gorodets painting. The history of the fishery

V mid-eighteenth century in Russia, the first peasant artels begin to emerge, producing simple dishes and household items. The most popular products were donets for spinning wheels and toys, which were carved from wood, decorated with carvings and taken to the fair in the village of Gorodets. One of the main decorations for products was wood inlay. The cut out elements were inserted into the prepared recesses, and thus a convex original ornament was created on the surface. Later, the elements of the ornament began to be tinted and colored, and then the complex inlay was completely replaced by painting. So, on the lower Volga, in the villages with capacious Russian names Khlebaikha, Boyarskoye, Savino, Koskovo, the Gorodets craft arose, the center of which was the village, and now the city of Gorodets.

Gorodets painting, whose history continued to develop throughout the 19th century, became widely known at the beginning of the 20th century, when venerable masters organized an artel, in Soviet times which became a factory of Gorodets painting, expanding the range of wooden products decorated with a characteristic picturesque ornament. Masters of Gorodets painting painted children's furniture with paints, kitchen utensils, jewelry boxes, and more.

Characteristic features of Gorodets painting

Gorodets painting borrowed elements of its uncomplicated subjects from rural life. The specific free stroke of the brush, with characteristic pointed details, somewhat similar to the wood carvings that they once complemented with color, clearly testify to the origins of this art.

The main attention of Gorodets artists is attracted by genre scenes from rural and urban provincial life: Sunday festivities of youth, peasants with accordions in striped trousers and chrome boots, brightly dressed young ladies, like dancing horses and important horsemen akimbo. Images attract with their childish naivety, festive theatricality, which is often emphasized special tricks, for example, a curtain painted on the sides of the picture, as if parted in front of the audience. Gorodets masters love to portray flower arrangements in the form of intertwined garlands or large rosettes scattered throughout the field. The most favorite motifs in painting are roosters with belligerently flowing tails, and surprisingly graceful dancing horses in festive harness.

Gorodets painting is characterized by bright rich colors. Favorite colors: red, emerald green, black, blue, juicy blue and white. Shading effects are achieved by whitening the primary colors, which adds expression to the pattern. The coloring of the picture is based on contrast. Bright is the white or black contour stroke of individual elements.

Masters of folk crafts draw without preliminary sketches, broadly and juicy applying strokes one after another immediately to the product, using certain, strictly fixed writing techniques. Layer after layer, a dynamic, bright, unique pattern is created. Perhaps this is the main feature of folk art.

The history of Gorodets craft continues. Modern masters at the factory in Gorodets, creations of amazing beauty are created. Many of them are award winners. I.E. Repin, and their products adorn museum and exhibition halls. Among the famous Gorodets artists can be called A.E. Konovalova, L.F. Bespalov, F.N. Kasatov, A.V. Sokolov and others.

Gorodets painting on wood is a famous folk craft of the Nizhny Novgorod region.

It was developed in the second half of the 19th century in the Volga villages near Gorodets.

The inhabitants of the surrounding villages were known as skilled craftsmen, among whom were blacksmiths, weavers, dyers, carvers, carpenters and joiners.

There were many forests in the Trans-Volga region, and it gave a lot cheap material from which everything was made: from children's toys to pieces of furniture.

Gorodets spinning wheels were especially famous, which in in large numbers were sold at the Nizhny Novgorod fair and dispersed throughout Russia. They were bought with pleasure thanks to funny painted pictures on the bottom of the spinning wheel.

After finishing work with such donets, the hostesses decorated the walls instead of paintings.

Soon, such painting began to decorate not only spinning wheels, but also many household items: chairs, baskets, boxes, salt shakers and toys.

Gorodets painting is peculiar in its manner, so it is quite difficult to confuse it. None Gorodets product does not do without lush garlands, bouquets of flowers, reminiscent of roses and daisies.

The plots of Gorodets products had a peculiar and unique plot. Masters depicted walks of gentlemen with ladies, riders on horseback, scenes of tea drinking in rich interiors, decorated with columns, high windows, lush curtains, wall clock.
But there were also scenes from simple life: hunters in the forest, spinners at work, building a house.

The fun in the town is shown with restraint, but many different feelings are guessed behind the external impassivity of the characters. And they are transmitted with one movement of the brush over the white painting of faces.

One drop can show how a man sideways watching his chosen one.

Four wheels are also depicted on carriages, or two are possible, trying minimum means achieve expressiveness.

Among the abundance of wooden products produced by Trans-Volga craftsmen, the most famous were the Gorodets spinning wheels, which were sold at fairs and then dispersed throughout Russia. It was from them that the famous Gorodets painting became widespread.

Usually spinning wheels were hewn out of a solid wooden mass, while Gorodets ones consisted of two parts: a comb and a bottom. Donets was wide board, which tapered at one end and had a hole into which the leg of the comb was inserted. The bottom was painted, and at a time when the spinning wheel was not being worked on, it was hung on the wall like a picture. Prior to this, the bottom was decorated with inlay, but painting, due to its simplicity and less laboriousness, replaced it.

Previously, Gorodets painting was done with egg paints, which lay on the product in large color spots, without a preliminary outline.

The drawing was applied with free strokes with a graphic stroke of black or white color. Blue, red, white and black colors prevailed.

Today, masters use oil paint, which expanded color scheme.

But the motives and technology of Gorodets painting remained the same.

Modern artists, as before, paint all kinds of wooden crafts: caskets, caskets, decorative panels, cabinets, shelves, bread bins, salt shakers, toys and furniture.

The period of 1870-1900, associated with the general rapid development of the fishing activity of the inhabitants of the forest Trans-Volga region, is marked by the final addition of the style of Gorodets painting.

Gorodets masters also preserve the traditions of blind Gorodets carving, which in modern conditions has found its application in heraldry products, carved icons and unique author's works.