“Plovets” (another name is “The Cathedral of Christ the Savior” ) is a picture of Valery Balabanov, a national artist of Russia. Work on the painting began in 1976 , completed in 1986 [1] . Its plot was a prophecy about the resurrection of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on the site of the pool "Moscow" , which was built in place of the cathedral, which was destroyed on December 5, 1931 . On April 4, 1997 [1], the painting was donated by the author to the museum of the reconstructed Temple of Christ the Savior [2] .
Valery Balabanov | ||
Swimmer 1976-1986 | ||
Canvas, oil. 170 × 90 cm | ||
Museum of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior , Cathedral of Christ the Savior |
Content
Creation History
The picture was started by Valery Balabanov in 1976 . The author himself describes his work [2] :
By the Providence of God in 1976, I began to paint a picture of the second Coming of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior ... Years passed and the Bethlehem star of spiritual revival shone in Russia - the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the Temple of the Savior of the Fatherland in 1812.
In a later interview, the author said the following [3] :
... [I] paint prayer paintings that come true. These are not my words - as Patriarch Alexy II said when he saw the picture “Swimmer”, which anticipated the revival of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
The painting was written about 10 years and was completed in 1986 [1] . Immediately after it was completed in February 1986 [4], it was presented by the artist at the Monuments of the Fatherland exhibition dedicated to the 800th anniversary of the “Lay of Igor” exhibition in the Moscow Central House of Artists at Kuznetsky Most [1] . Even then, it aroused interest - began to reproduce in newspapers and magazines [1] . According to the author, he noted the role of the painting in the growth of attention to the issue of the reconstruction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. In any case, in the late 1980s. for the resurrection of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, a “powerful social movement” was formed [5] . The author of the picture "Swimmer" is called the main picture of his work, which formed his creative soul [6] .
The picture "Swimmer" was for some time the left part of the triptych "Heritage" , which was first shown in 1988 at the exhibition "The Millennium of Russian Culture" [4] [7] . The central part of this triptych was the painting “The Flight of the Trinity” (1988), and the right-hand side was the painting “Project” (1986).
In 1997, the new destination for the picture "Swimmer" was forced the author to divide the triptych. On April 4, 1997, the painting "Swimmer" with the blessing of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II was transferred by its author, Valery Balabanov, to the museum of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior , where it is now. The name of the artist, among others, is perpetuated on the marble wall of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior for merits in his revival [8] .
The painting “Swimmer” became a symbol of the international exhibition “Man, Space, Time. XX Century ”, held in Berlin at the end of 2000 [9] .
Composition
The author of the picture in 1999 presented her composition in the following way [1] :
What is in the picture? The “Moscow” swimming pool , in the mirror of the swimming pool, reflects the Cathedral of Christ the Savior , and along the water paths, as it were, from non-existence, from the legend, George the Victorious moves out with a wave of his hand. He is a swimmer. In one poem there is such a line: “Where did it go, where did it float, why did the swimmer come? ..” From the past - to the present, to transfer the baton of memory. At that time there was no talk about the restoration of the temple ...
Literary critic Lev Anninsky , analyzing the picture “Swimmer” in 1997 , notes that y Balabanova, the profane and sacred world, are looking at each other through glass, mirror, water. As an Orthodox artist, the author began in the 1970s with a canvas on which the Cathedral of Christ the Savior is immersed in the waters of the “Moscow” basin , it is here that “the oval of life shudders from the forces squeezed in it”, these forces are divorced and “combined”. The platform for jumping on Anninsky is read by the contour of an invisible monster, and the “boundaries of water paths” - “like ropes, which pulled the Temple into the abyss”. But this “profane reality is not cursed and not ridiculed, as it would have been supposed in the“ satirical sotsart ””, it is only “correlated with the departed but intact Temple” [10] .
In the canvas, called Annie's “powerful”, the critic complains about the interfering “wood-bitten Yegoria” in the foreground, “the figure of which is not without wit: the javelin thrower throwing his hand is treated like a swimmer”. But "this wit is more literary than plastic", the picture is imbued with "that innocent humor with which the intellectuals of the Sakharov call were sitting in the kitchens and taking the soul in anecdotes." “Now,” the critic writes, “when they sit on the presidiums, the picture can be reversed” (Patriarch Alexy II , according to Anninsky, also indicated that the picture now, after the rebuilding of the Temple, can be shown “Temple Up”). The “swimmer” of Balabanov, previously due to be considered a hoax , is now perceived as a mystery [10] .
Dutch art historian, professor at Utrecht University Wim Denschlagen (WF Denslagen) and German historian, professor at Heidelberg University Nils Gutshov (Niels Gutschow) noted nostalgia for the destroyed Christ the Savior Cathedral as the theme of Balabanov’s famous work “The Swimmer” (“The Swimmer”). When the artist made the first sketches, the restoration of the Temple still seemed impossible. In the largest pool in the USSR, several generations of Moscow students studied swimming. In winter, when the cold continental climate gave a negative temperature for weeks, the basin was shrouded in thick fog. Against the background of planning for urban development, the pool is called by critics of the irony of history: its “predecessor” (cathedral) could not have imagined that this would be the most important building in Moscow [11] .
Links
- A Prayer for Russia. Valery Balabanov. Swimmer. 1976 .
- Troshina Olga. The Christian Message from Moscow (English) (inaccessible link) . Radio "Voice of Russia" (2005, May 2). - Valery Balabanov. The appeal date is March 28, 2012. Archived May 15, 2012. .
- Balabanov V.N. Prayer about Russia // Tomorrow: newspaper. - 2002, August 8th. - Vol. 8 (72) . Archived November 4, 2011.
- Marshkova Tatiana. On the way to the temple . - 2004, April 8th. - Vol. No. 64 (1436) .
- Balabanov Valery. My theater of life // Smena . - 1989, July. - Vol. 1493 .
- Davydova Nina. "This is Moscow" Broadcast transmission. Radio "Racurs" (1997). - Conversation of Nina Davydova with the national artist of Russia Valery Balabanov about the picture “The Swimmer” (22-38 minutes of air). The appeal date is April 1, 2012. Archived May 15, 2012.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gorbachev Nikolay . With faith and hope. Interview with Valery Balabanov. , pravda.ru (1999, October 18). The appeal date is March 28, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 V. Balabanov. Prayer for Russia // Tomorrow: Newspaper. - 2002, August 8th. - Vol. 8 (72) . Archived November 4, 2011.
- ↑ Stefanov Sergey. Valery Balabanov: “I write pictures-prayers that come true” (Rus.) // Trud-7: newspaper. - 2005, June 30th. - Vol. 118 .
- ↑ 1 2 Balabanov Valery. My theater of life // Smena . - 1989, July. - Vol. 1493 .
- ↑ Troshina Olga. The Christian Message from Moscow (English) (inaccessible link) . Radio "Voice of Russia" (2005, May 2). - Valery Balabanov. The appeal date is March 28, 2012. Archived May 15, 2012.
- ↑ Nina Davydova. "This is Moscow" Broadcast transmission. Radio "Racurs" (1997). - Conversation of Nina Davydova with the People’s Artist of Russia Valery Balabanov about the picture “The Swimmer”. The appeal date is April 1, 2012. Archived May 15, 2012.
- ↑ Millennium of Russian Artistic Culture: Catalog. - M., 1988.
- ↑ Marshkova Tatiana. On the way to the temple // Parliamentary newspaper . - 2004, April 8th. - Vol. No. 64 (1436) .
- ↑ Pischulin Vladimir. Valery Babalanov: “Russian art is a compassionate name” (Rus) // Warrior of Russia. - 2004, February 16th. - Vol. 002 . - ISSN 0134-8140 .
- ↑ 1 2 Anninsky Lev Alexandrovich. Explosive mixture // Motherland : Russian historical illustrated magazine. - 1997. - Vol. 6 - pp . 13-18 . - ISSN 0235-7089 .
- ↑ Denslagen WF, Gutschow Niels. Architectural imitations: reproductions and pastiches in East and West. - Maatsricht: Shaker Publishing, 2005. - P. 190-191. - 446 p.