Of all the genres of painting the most popularA portrait is considered that allows one to capture a person or a group of people on a canvas. According to a long tradition, this kind of fine art originated in the days of Ancient Greece, when the girl said goodbye to the beloved leaving the war and, in order to forever perpetuate his image in his memory, cast a shadow that fell on his wall. Over the centuries, the art of painting has been perfected and the peaks of its mastery it reached by the 18th century. It was at this time began to appear portraits of famous artists, which depicted not only the appearance of the hero, but also conveyed his feelings, emotions, temperament.
In the European fine arts of the 18th centuryright is called the time of domination of the portrait genre. It is this kind of painting that becomes predominant, because all the notable people wanted to get pictures with their image. In Russia, the portrait was brought to the attention of Peter I. The progressive reforms of the emperor facilitated the beginning of close cooperation between the state and European countries, and Russian painting gradually became enriched with elements of Western secular art. However, despite the influence of another culture, portraits of well-known artists of the 18th century living in Russia have not lost their identity and expressiveness.
Initially, the portraits were divided into ceremonial andchamber. The first type included paintings on which a person was portrayed at full height during the celebration (if the hero was drawn to the waist, then the picture was considered semi-parade). He was dressed in lush clothes and stood in a proud pose, surrounded by a sumptuous background. Such paintings were exhibited in the reception hall for public viewing.
Chamber portraits were the oppositeceremonial: here the model was depicted in a relaxed position, immersed in his thoughts and activities. This kind of work of art was intended to decorate the walls of small rooms, away from other people's eyes.
In the 18th century, ceremonial and chamber paintings stilllost their popularity, but they added another type of painting - intimate. Here the artist tried not only to depict a person, but also to convey with his brush his inner world. The luxurious background was ignored. Many famous portraits of Russian artists were often written in an intimate style.
Notable figures in the art of that time weresuch artists as I. Nikitin, F. Rokotov, I. Argunov, A. Antropov, D. Levitsky, V. Borovikovsky, A. Matveev and others. Portraits of famous artists are saturated with high respect for the person's personality. If in the first half of the 18th century the pictures of this genre were parsons (flat, frozen images of noble people, made by icon-painting techniques), then gradually the masters begin to move away from this by introducing into their works the breath of life, light and emotions. The creative heritage of the painters of the 18th century largely determined the fate of the Russian portrait.
Artist Ivan Nikitin (born in the middle of 1680died about 1742) was the pride of Peter the Great. The Emperor highly appreciated the creative abilities of the painter, considering him a portraitist of the European level. The artist's early works are done in a parsun manner with the inherent gloominess, flatness of the image, fuzzy play of light and shadow. But, despite this, Nikitin's portraits, written at the initial stage of his work, are very realistic and psychological, they completely lack flattery to the hero of the painting, which was abused by many ceremonial painters of that time. Gradually, Nikitin moved away from the parsun and perfected his skills, preserving in him the realism of the image and a subtle understanding of the inner world of man.
Brushes painter owns several canvases withthe image of Peter I, as well as many other noble persons (the wife of the emperor, his daughters Elizabeth, Anna and others). The artist's most successful work is "The Portrait of the Outdoor Hetman" (circa 1725). The picture impresses with the tragedy of the image of the hero - the old man, on whose face there is strength, power, experience and sorrow. Until now, it is not known exactly who wrote on his canvas Ivan Nikitin. The dramatic effect of the painting painter intensified by skilful selection of shades of colors. This canvas, like other portraits of famous artists, reflects not just a person, but a whole era.
If Ivan Nikitin was a particularly bright painterbeginning of the 18th century, then the second half of the century became famous for Feodor Rokotov (1735 - 1808). Especially good at it turned out portraits of women. Famous artists who could pass on the canvas of ladies tenderness and grace, was not so much, and Rokotov was in great demand. He wrote many of his works in semi-parade style.
Talent master conquered Catherine II, and she in 1763Mr .. specially invited him to create his coronation portrait. Painter portrayed the Empress in profile, successfully highlighting her stately figure and pedigree face. The picture so pleased Catherine that she continued to order artists draw her portraits, copying the style of Rokotov. Brushes of the painter own paintings with the image of Struiskaya, Princess Yusupova, Peter III and other noble persons of that time. He focused on the customers' faces, making them soft, gentle, like glowing from the inside. Thanks to this approach, his portraits were realistic, they conveyed the feelings of people from whom they were written.
Considering the portraits of famous girlsartists of Russia, it is impossible not to mention Vladimir Borovikovsky (1757-1825). Fame came to him in the last decade of the 18th century. Borovikovsky created chamber portraits, emphasizing the sentimentality and tenderness of his models. He drew not only rich women, but also simple peasant women, transferring on the canvas all the female beauty of that era. Images Lopukhina, Naryshkina, Arsenyeva, the peasant woman Christina, a double portrait of the maidens of the Lion's family Lizonki and Dashenka - the most famous paintings of the master. From the paintings, women with soft hair, a gentle blush and glowing eyes watch with a touch. Despite the fact that all the paintings of the author are written in the same style, they are a real work of art of the time.
Dmitry Levitsky (1735-1822) - another onefamous portraitist of the 18th century. Like other artists, he masterfully portrayed in his works the beauty of the inner world of man. Levitsky became famous as a master of ceremonial style. He wrote heroes very realistically, without flattery and embellishment of the client's appearance. Levitsky left behind him a whole gallery of portraits, capturing to them Catherine II, E. Vorontsov, A. Kokorinov, P. Demidov, Ursula Mnishek and many other famous contemporaries.
The 18th century left a memory of itselfpaintings, portraits of famous artists, which today can be seen in the Tretyakov Gallery, Russian and Pushkin Museums, private collections. The painted paintings are so realistic that they amaze the admirers of art with the level of skill of the painters of the past. Especially colorful are portraits of women of famous artists, from whom they breathe life, youth and extraordinary plausibility of the image.
