A merchant portrait is a type of portrait primitive, [1] . The term "merchant portrait" was introduced in the 1920s. M. Priselkov (head of the historical and domestic department of the Russian Museum) to designate any portrait of a representative of this layer of society.
One of the largest researchers in the merchant portrait is A.V. Lebedev, who considered him one of the varieties of provincial art. He described it only by its geography, but also by its stylistic features. Under the leadership of S.V. Yamschikov and I. Fedorova, work was undertaken to publish and catalog a collection of portraits of merchants from the collection of museums in the Yaroslavl region, in Rybinsk, Uglich, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Rostov Yaroslavsky.
Content
The origins of the genre
The merchant portrait was born "in the active interaction of professional and primitive art" [2] . The need that arose in society for the representation of the merchants as the main economic and social force led to the search for new artistic solutions. Since many merchants were Old Believers, the artistic language of Old Believer religious painting could not fail to serve as the main one for the development of the merchant portrait. Church art had a great influence on the perception of the portrait phenomenon itself, as a means of perpetuating a person who has done charitable deeds (charity, donations for the construction of churches, and helping the destitute). The merchant portrait, which grew out of the Parsuna , was characterized by the internal concentration of the model and its detachment from the mortal world, moralizing and the proclamation of piety as the main value.
However, one should not forget that the Yaroslavl merchants were rich, and this aspect could not be reflected in the portraits. This is especially noticeable on the example of female images. Examples of them were female costumed and noble manor portraits, gravitating to the splendor of the costume (acquiring a symbolic significance in the merchant's portrait), the display of a socially active hero with a developed public consciousness.
Merchant and noble portraits developing in parallel with each other in their provincial ploy gravitated towards popular art. From folklore and folk motifs grew their artistic language and imagery. Bright, local colors, a wealth of characters that are easy to read for contemporaries, simplified compositions have passed on to the merchant's portrait. Thus, at the end of the eighteenth and first quarter of the nineteenth in the merger of popular art and subspecies of primitive painting, the formation of a merchant portrait as a genre took place. In its evolution, three stages are distinguished:
- Formation - the end of the XVIII - the first quarter of the XIX century, when in the active interaction of professional and primitive art a genre-forming image of a merchant portrait is formed.
- The heyday of the genre was the 1825-1850s, when the merchant portrait acquires the features of a canonically stable form and is especially prevalent in many regions of Russia.
- Extinction - the 1860s, when a merchant's portrait leaves the sphere of primitiveness and dissolves in professional art.
In the 1870s, merchant portraits, apparently, are no longer being created.
Yaroslavl School
One of the largest schools of merchant portrait was Yaroslavl. In Yaroslavl, famous masters worked, laying the canons of the genre, and a group of unknown artists who left a large number of portraits.
Historical Context
In the XVII century, Yaroslavl lay at the intersection of the most important trade routes from Moscow to Western Europe and claimed the status of one of the most important cities for trade in Russia. The sixth part of the sovereign's living room hundreds [3] were Yaroslavl merchants. The successful activity of the merchants, the increase in turnover, the increase in the number of shopping arcades attracted foreign entrepreneurs to Yaroslavl, who opened warehouses in the city.
In 1721, by decree of Peter I, merchants received the right to buy peasants and ascribe them to factories. Soon, in Yaroslavl was founded the Big Yaroslavl manufactory (merchants of Shabby ). An active transition to factory production and an increase in trade turnover began.
The heyday of the region was caused by the formation in 1777 of the Yaroslavl province. The role of Yaroslavl as an administrative, cultural and economic center has increased. There was a need to change the appearance of the city and reflect its well-being and prosperity, including through painting.
Main characteristics of the genre
Based on the Yaroslavl portraits, it is easy to trace the main features of the merchant portrait, since the works of local masters ( N.D. Mylnikova (1797-1842), I.V. Tarkhanova (1780-1848) are representative of the techniques used. In general, regional schools are similar in manner of writing a merchant portrait and go back to a single beginning.
Common features of a merchant portrait will be:
- blackout dull background
- lack of interior and interest in it
- emphasis on personal (face, hands)
- bright, local colors (often exaggerated in a female portrait)
- chest or waist trimming model
- head rotation selection: full face or 3/4
Man Portrait
A male portrait will be characterized by the image of a beard (as a social sign of merchants), lack of interest in transferring clothes (most often a dark Armenian, a murderer). It will be important for the artist to convey the social and social status of the character through medals, jewelry, additional attributes (for example, a book with instruction). The emphasis will be on the transfer of character and image: a family man, a loving father and husband, a successful entrepreneur, leading a righteous life.
Portrait of a Woman
A female portrait is written according to the formulated scheme, minor changes are allowed.
| - Do you, what, is revered by beauty so that a woman looks like a bump? “A bump!” The narrator repeated, smiling and not offended. “Why do you think so?” In our Russian present concept about female constitution our type is respected .... We certainly do not respect long swallows, but love that a woman does not stand on long legs, but on strong ones, so that she does not get confused, but rolls and keeps up everywhere like a ball ... it is required that a woman be more generous and sinuousNikolay Leskov |
The heroines ’decorations and outfits will be similar: several bead threads, a shawl, a blue or green dress, a bandage covering her head, and a scarf in her hands, as a symbol of emotionality and softness. The ideal of femininity of that time would be soft, rounded shapes, and stature. Through the suit and simplification of the image, the ideal of the merchant's wife will be broadcast: generous, well-mannered, respectable, respecting the patriarchal way of life of the family.
Portrait of a Child
Through the images of children, the ideas of reverence for parents and ancestors, the continuity of generations and the instruction of youth are transmitted.
Notes
- ↑ Lebedev A.V. Poetics of a provincial portrait // Baroque in Russia. M., 1994
- ↑ Alexandrova Olga Viktorovna. Merchant portrait as a genre of Russian painting: author. dis. ... cand. Art History: 17.00.04 SPb., 2006, p. 7
- ↑ Hundred drawing room - an association of Russian merchants, which appeared in the XVI century. The government enlisted trading people from the posad and peasants in the Living Room hundred
Literature
- Alexandrova Olga Viktorovna. Merchant portrait as a genre of Russian painting: dis. ... cand. Art Criticism: 17.00.04 SPb., 2006 188 p.
- Velitchenko N.S., Larionov V.N. Charitable activities of the Yaroslavl merchants in the post-reform period // The past, merging with the real ... (Tikhomirov readings). - Yaroslavl, 1993
- Velitchenko N.S. Economic development of the Upper Volga cities in the first half of the XIX century. Tutorial. - Yaroslavl, 1989
- Krestyaninova E.I., Nikitina G.A. Citizens of Rostov. The history of the Rostov merchants of the XVII - early XX centuries: genealogy and the fate of the Rostov merchant families. Memoirs, diaries, letters. - Rostov the Great: Rostov Kremlin, 2009.
- Makhaev G.I. Merchants / entry. Art. V. Grechukhina. - Myshkin: ed. The mouse. Nar Museum, 2007.
- Musautova E.A. Yaroslavl merchant portrait in the historical and cultural context of the era (gender aspect) // Bulletin of TSU. 2008. No. 10.
- Ostrovsky G.S. From the history of the Russian urban primitive of the second half of the XVIII - XIX centuries. / G. S. Ostrovsky // Primitive and its place in the artistic culture of the Modern and Contemporary times / ed. ed. V.N. Prokopyev. - M .: Nauka, 1983. - S. 78–104.
- Postnova N.V. To the history of the guild merchants of the Fish settlement of the 18th century // Pages of the past (VI Tikhomirov local history readings). - Yaroslavl, 1997;
- Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurs of Russia. From the Origins to the Beginning of the 20th Century. - M., 1997; Sukhova N.V. Trading activity of the Yaroslavl merchants in the first half of the XIX century // Way to science. Collection of scientific works of graduate students and students of the Faculty of History. Vol. 2. - Yaroslavl, 1995
- Yaroslavl portraits of the XVIII - XIX centuries: Album / Comp. I. Fedorova, S. Yamschikov. M., 1986
- Yaroslavl. Essays on the history of the city (XI century - October 1917). - Yaroslavl, 1954;
Links
- Bogoslovsky V.V., Merchants of the Yaroslavl Territory https://yarwiki.ru/article/1139/kupechestvo-yaroslavskogo-kraya
- Yaroslavl Art Museum http://yarartmuseum.ru/