“Bathing the Red Horse” is a famous painting by the artist Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin . It was written in 1912 , became a landmark for the artist and brought him world fame.
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| Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin | ||
| Bathing a red horse . 1912 | ||
| Oil on canvas. 160 × 186 cm | ||
| State Tretyakov Gallery , Moscow | ||
Picture
Creation History
In 1912, Petrov-Vodkin lived in the south of Russia , in Khvalynsk. There is an opinion that the picture was painted in the village of Gusevka [1] . It was then that he made the first sketches for the picture. And also the first, not preserved version of the canvas, known from black and white photography, was written. The picture was a work more likely to be domestic than symbolic, as happened with the second option, it depicted just a few boys with horses. This first option was destroyed by the author, probably shortly after his return to Petersburg . Horse Petrov-Vodkin wrote from a real stallion named Boy who lived on the estate.
To create the image of a teenager riding a horse, the artist used the traits of his student, a very handsome young man, artist Sergey Kalmykov : “For the attention of future compilers of my monograph. On the red horse, our dear Kuzma Sergeevich portrayed me. ... In the image of a languid youth on this banner I am depicted in person ” [2] . Since 1910, Sergey Kalmykov studied with K.S. Petrov-Vodkin. In 1911, he painted a painting depicting red horses bathing in water; it is possible that it was this student work that inspired Petrov-Vodkin to create his own work on the same topic.
The horse bathing theme itself was always very popular in Russian painting.
Description of the canvas
A large, almost square canvas depicts a lake of cold blue hues, which serves as the backdrop for the work - the horse and the rider. The figure of the red stallion occupies the entire foreground of the picture almost completely. It is given so large that its ears and legs below the knees are cut off by the frame of the picture. The saturated scarlet color of the animal seems even brighter compared to the cool color of the landscape and the light body of the boy.
From the front foot of the horse entering the water, waves of green shade scatter in comparison with the rest of the lake surface. The whole canvas is a wonderful illustration of the perspective so beloved by Petrov-Vodkin: the lake is round, which is emphasized by a fragment of the coast in the upper right corner, the optical perception is slightly distorted.
In total, the picture depicts three horses and three boys - one in the foreground riding a red horse, the other two behind. One leads a white horse, the other, visible from the back, riding on an orange, leaves deep into the picture. These three groups form a dynamic curve, emphasized by the same curve of the front leg of the red horse, the same curve of the leg of the boy rider and the pattern of the waves.
Icon Painting Effect
There is an assumption that the horse was originally written bay, and that the master changed color when he got acquainted with the coloristic gamut of Novgorod icons, which he greatly appreciated.
The collection and clearing of icons in 1912 experienced their heyday.
The picture from the very beginning caused numerous disputes, in which it was invariably mentioned that such horses do not exist. However, the artist claimed that he adopted this color from the ancient Russian icon painters: for example, on the icon “Miracle of the Archangel Michael” the horse is depicted completely red. Like the icons, in this picture there is no mixing of colors, the colors are contrasting and seem to collide in the confrontation.
Vanguard Influence
KS Petrov-Vodkin managed to achieve in this picture a synthesis of “past and present, showing the way to the future. Paolo Ucello and Novgorod icon painting, that is, classical European and classical Russian lines, merged into an indissoluble whole, underwent Matisse arrangement and turned into an unusually expressive statement, where the past is not anathema, but at the same time the notes of prophecy are distinguishable .. this is a work in which the breath of Russian open spaces rhymes with the blue Tuscany, where a truly Russian image is painless ochetaetsya with classical ideal where there is expression of avant-garde and traditionalism depth. The guardians of the style call it eclectic, but it can be called and a new unity <...> The work of Petrov-Vodkin ceased to be a picture and turned into a symbol, into insight, into a manifesto. To some extent, its impact is no less powerful than the impact of the "Black Square" by Kazimir Malevich, and if <..> something can be opposed to pointlessness, then only Petrov-Vodkin. [3] |
See Vanguard (art) , Russian avant-garde .
Perception of Contemporaries
The picture and its plot were subjected to numerous interpretations. There is an opinion that the red horse acts as the fate of Russia, led by a brave youth. According to another version, the Red Horse is Russia itself, identified with the Blokovskaya “steppe mare”. In this case, one cannot fail to note the visionary gift of the artist who symbolically predicted the “red” fate of Russia of the 20th century with his painting.
The fate of the canvas
The fate of the picture was extraordinary.
The canvas was first shown at the exhibition "World of Art" in 1912 and was a stunning success.
In 1914, she was at the Baltic Exhibition in the city of Malmo ( Sweden ). For participation in this exhibition K. Petrov-Vodkin, the Swedish king was awarded a medal and diploma.
The outbreak of the First World War , revolution and civil war led to the fact that the picture for a long time remained in Sweden.
After the end of World War II and after stubborn and grueling negotiations, finally, in 1950, Petrov-Vodkin’s works, including this canvas, were returned to their homeland, to the artist’s family. M.F. Petrova-Vodkin, the artist’s widow, donated the painting to the collection of the famous collector K.K. Basevich, and in 1961 she donated it to the Tretyakov Gallery .
At one time, they proposed to buy a painting for 500 rubles (according to him) [4] to the famous scientist V. V. Novozhilov . What prevented him from buying was not limited funds, but the lack of space to accommodate the painting.
Notes
- ↑ The centenary of the famous painting by a Russian artist will be celebrated in her homeland in the Volgograd outback (Inaccessible link) . Volga Caspian (11/16/2011). Date of treatment November 17, 2011. Archived November 27, 2011.
- ↑ Secret genius on the red horse of the avant-garde, Olga Vlasenko, Expert Kazakhstan, July 10, 2006
- ↑ Ippolitov A.I. http://thelib.ru/books/ippolitov_arkadiy/esse_1994_2008-read-16.html
- ↑ A.P. Filin Essays on mechanical scientists M .: Publishing House "Strategy", 2007 ISBN 5-9234-0074-X