By the sea. A family

In 1961, the artist traveled to Italy , where he studied Renaissance painting ^[5] . He was greatly impressed by the work of Giotto and Paolo Uccello ^[6] . Working on this picture, Zhilinsky first used a new technique for himself - tempera ^[7] . The traditions of the technique of tempera painting according to gesso on a particleboard go back to Byzantine and Old Russian art, and in part to the works of old European masters. The technique of oil painting ceased to meet Zhilinsky’s intentions. The artist himself recalled: “Somewhere in the early sixties, my friend Albert Papikyan presented me with tempera, saying:“ In my opinion, this is your material ”” ^{[8] [9]} . Dmitry Zhilinsky usually used not wooden boards, but hardboard and particle boards (more affordable analogs with rigidity). Before applying gesso on a chipboard with an uneven surface, the artist pasted fabric on it. By applying a polyvinyl acetate tempera to the painting, Zhilinsky combined it with a yolk emulsion for strength and preservation of color saturation ^[9] .

At the exhibition, where the artist first presented the painting “By the Sea. Family ”, the organizers placed it in the graphic department, saying that this is not oil painting . She was transferred to the painting department only after the personal intervention of EF Belashova , who held a high position in the Union of Artists of the USSR ^[10] .

Painting in the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery and at exhibitions

The painting technique is polyvinyl acetate tempera on hardboard and gesso, varnished ^[11] (other issues are mentioned in periodicals, monographs and articles, for example, tempera is written on a wooden board and gesso and varnished on top ^{[12] [13]} , more one option is chipboard ^[1] ). Size - 125 × 90 cm . The painting "By the sea. Family ”is in the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery ^[14] . She entered the museum in 1968, and the formation of the artist’s collection of works in the Tretyakov Gallery began with her ^[15] . Zhilinsky spoke about the acquisition of this painting by the museum (with the author's spelling preserved):

“My first little picture is“ Family. By the sea". I acquired her Tretyakov Gallery, I don’t remember exactly how much, but for good money. The Tretyakov Gallery, the Ministry of Culture , all complained then that the All-Union exhibitions , the Manege - and artists are trying to make large paintings. And they say that we need to buy - and where to put them? I say: you will announce that they paid me a million for a small one, then everyone will do small ones. But they didn’t announce it. ”

- Dmitry Zhilinsky, Alexey Kozyrev ^[10]

Currently, the picture is presented in the New Tretyakov Gallery in a permanent exhibition in room No. 36 ^{[1] [16]} . Prior to that, she had long been in the hall number 42 of the main building of the museum ^[17] .

The collection of the Tretyakov Gallery contains a sketch of a graphite pencil on paper, size 19.9 × 14 cm , called "Portrait of a son" ^{[8] [18]} . There is another sketch with a graphite pencil on paper, 57.5 × 39.8 cm in size , entitled “Naked Girl. Head. Hand. Torso ” ^[19] .

The painting and sketches for it repeatedly represented the artist's work at his personal and collective exhibitions. Among the latter: “Dmitry Zhilinsky” in the Russian Museum (personal, St. Petersburg , November 14, 2012 - February 25, 2013) ^[20] , “Creation of the World” - exhibition at the Russian Academy of Arts (personal to the 90th anniversary of the artist, Moscow, from May 24 to June 18, 2017) ^[21] , “Dmitry Zhilinsky. The Inner Circle ”at the Tretyakov Gallery (personal, Moscow, April 13 - July 5, 2018) ^[22] .

The picture depicts the Black Sea , which Zhilinsky called his homeland ^[3] . On a rocky pier , against the background of emerald water and another pier located far away, there is a beautiful woman in a scarlet bathing suit, hugging her daughter and caressing a little boy ^[23] . The semantic center of the composition “By the sea. Family ”became the image of a woman - the embodiment of the artist’s ideas about the ideal of femininity and motherhood ^[8] . In front of them, having just emerged from the water, a man, father and spouse, looks at him point-blank ^[23] . He raises the spearhead of a fish ^{[24] [25]} . The figures of children and husband complement the harmonious image of the family. Mother and daughter relate to each other with confidence. Mother raises her hand above her son’s head, which, according to Anna Dyakonitsyna, can be interpreted as a gesture of protection. The boy’s hand is directed to the fish that his father caught. The head of the family is the only one of all the characters in the canvas who looks directly at the viewer. His pose and gaze were connected by the art critic of the Tretyakov Gallery with the situation of posing itself, as the artist painted his self-portrait , looking in the mirror. Dyakonitsyna saw in his appearance detachment and reflection - features of the worldview of a person of the twentieth century, appearing through the classical form and figurative structure of the picture ^[8] .

The heroes of the picture are portrait. The picture itself is a self-portrait with his wife and children ^[8] . According to Anna Dyakonitsyna, the picture shows a harmonious family in which parents protect and support the younger generation ^[5] .

In the foreground Zhilinsky portrayed himself and his family ^[26] :

• The first wife of Zhilinsky, Nina Ivanovna Zhilinskaya (before her marriage, bore the name Kochetkova, 1926-1995) - a sculptor and graphic artist ^[27] . The first in the USSR began to create sculptural landscapes and still lifes in the Neo - Baroque style , developed the traditions of avant-garde art , and deformed the human body in its works. Her works are characterized by "dynamics, dramatic pathos , the spirit of struggle and suffering." In 1985 she suffered a stroke , lost the ability to wield her right hand and speak. Having learned how to work with her left hand, the artist worked in the technique of drawing and painting for the last ten years of her life ^[28]
• The artist’s daughter from her first marriage, Olga Dmitrievna Zhilinskaya (born 1954), aged ten years ^[29] . She graduated from the Moscow Art Institute named after V.I. Surikov in the class of K.A. Tutevol in 1977. Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Arts. The artist’s works are in museums of modern art in Moscow, Sochi , as well as in private collections in Russia, Canada , Luxembourg and other countries of the world ^[30] .
• The artist’s son from his first marriage, Vasily Dmitrievich Zhilinsky (born 1961) is depicted at the age of three years ^[29] . In 1985 he graduated from the Moscow State Art Institute named after V.I. Surikov. Works are in museums and private collections in Russia, private collections in Japan , Austria , France , Luxembourg and the USA ^[31] .

Zhilinsky endowed with portraits and characters of distant - second and third - plans. There he portrayed his artist friends:

• A man swimming in a kayak with oars in his hands is the artist Nikolai Ivanovich Tereshchenko (1924-2005) ^{[8] [26] [29]} , Honored Artist of Russia, worked in the genres of landscape, portrait, still life and thematic painting ^[32] .
• In the upper left corner, the author included in the group of vacationers the artist, a prominent representative of the so-called severe style G. M. Korzhev ^{[8] [29] [26]} .
• Next to him - L. A. Bazhbeuk-Melikyan , an artist, was familiar with Zhilinsky from his student days (1922-2005) ^{[8] [29] [26]} .
• Next to them is another colleague of Zhilinsky, Albert Stepanovich Papikyan (1926-1997) ^{[26] [8] [29]} . Honored Artist of the RSFSR , author of landscapes and still lifes ^[33] .
• Below them, P. P. Ossovsky (1925–2015) floats on a car tire in water ^[29] .

Soviet art critics and viewers about the picture

Candidate of art Olga Baldina described her first impression of the painting in her young years:

“From the first glance, the work attracted attention. It contained something not quite familiar to the paintings of those years, even strange: a certain conventionality of the image inexplicably harmoniously combined with the reality, almost tangible characters ... It was not just a resort plot, a story about the relaxation of a prosperous family at sea. There was something more in the picture: a hymn to life, love, motherhood, childhood, the apotheosis of the rare moment of unity with family and nature. Something deeply intimate and at the same time universal, almost symbolic shone through the seeming everydayness of the plot: the family as a bearer of spiritual and moral values ​​”

- Olga Baldina. Dmitry Zhilinsky - a man and an artist: on the anniversary of the master ^[4]

Decades later, already in 2012, Baldina noted the symbolic depth of the image of “mother - the guardian of the family hearth” and father — a handsome, young and courageous person who reminds the viewer of Renaissance characters, in the image of the fish she sees “the sacredness of Christian symbolism” ^[4] .

According to Platon Pavlov, Zhilinsky not only uses the technique of ancient painting, but in some aspects he also resorts to stylization. The concentrated stillness of the facial features in the self-portrait in the picture with a rather rigid drawing and "smooth" painting technique should cause the viewer to associate with portraits of not only the Italian Renaissance, but also the so-called Northern Renaissance (for example, with the "Portrait of a Man with a Carnation " by Jan van Eyck ) At the same time, Zhilinsky makes fun of the “bathing ritual ”, of himself, of friends from the Moscow Union of Artists . Pavlov sees this as a slight irony. She and the warmth of the image of the wife and children soften the static representativeness of the picture ^[34] .

Pavlov noted that from the perspective point of view, three parts and three plans can be distinguished in the picture. The foreground - the artist and his family - has one linear perspective system. The background is characters in a kayak . It has a different system and a different vanishing point; the distant plan is your own. The second and third plans serve as the background for the first. The gap between the second and third plans is less noticeable. If you mentally continue the pictorial plane to the right and thus “complete” the image of the kayak, then its feed will be almost at the level of swimming in the background. Pavlov wrote: it should follow from this that the distance between the kayak and the place of swimming is insignificant, however, the dimensions of the kayak and those sitting in it in comparison with the sizes of the figures in the background show a considerable distance. This contradicts the angle of view from which the viewer looks at the kayak. These contradictions do not catch the eye of the viewer, but such a violation of perspective affects the perception of the picture. The viewer feels “not three parts of one space, but as if three independent, displaced in one picture of space” ^[35] .

Maria Shashkina noted that in the foreground figures, a timeless beginning is concluded. Their poses are imbued with significance. The art historian likened the figure of a boy to infants in paintings of the Renaissance. In the artist’s self-portrait, Shashkina saw the detached stillness and anatomical accuracy. Shashkin contrasted the stylization and idealization in the spirit of the old foreground masters with the emphasis on modern kayaking and boat fishing, people swimming in the background, having fun swimming. The artist depicted them as amusing, simply and freely communicating with each other. Combine different levels of meaning and mood of the visual levels balanced complex composition and a single color. It is built on solid, red (which is of particular importance, as it is characterized by extraordinary expression and the ability to combine a whole gamut of moods and human states), yellow-olive and blue-green colors, their combination was used by Renaissance masters and Russian icon painters. Colors with local spots are inscribed in the strict contour of the picture. The artist abandoned the classical perspective, the narrative character and the stage compositional and spatial construction characteristic of genre painting. Color, according to Maria Shashkina, gives the picture a deep and multi-layered content, which was invested in it by Byzantine , Old Russian masters, and subsequently by Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin ^[36] .

Soviet art critic Nina Vatolina noted that the scope of the family portrait in the picture was extended by the artist to accommodate his friendly environment, affection and sympathy. This picture, like other group portraits of Zhilinsky, is imbued with the complexity of spiritual connections, the veracity of the feelings embedded in them. They are perceived as genre, plot things, but they contain “a wide and significant subtext of the author’s thoughts, which gives a special deep meaning to everything that happens.” The two primary colors used by the artist are cinnabar bathing suit and emerald color of water. They are combined with the pearly pink color of the child’s body and golden shades of the color of the figures of adults, and this creates a joyful harmony of pure colors, juxtaposed on a principle similar to ancient Russian painting. With the joyful world around, the artist’s look is full of anxiety. In contrast to the serene peace and restrained tension of the soul, Vatolina saw "the essence of love, a shade of pain and acute vulnerability, which always accompanies our attachments to loved ones, which does not leave us, and perhaps sounds especially strong in our brightest moments." According to Vatolina, this approach gives the picture a psychological fullness. Among other advantages, the Soviet art critic noted: absolute conventionality with full respect for the natural form, harmonious integrity with great detail, mastery of performance, soulful tenderness for the female beauty and weakness of the child ^[37] .

Contemporary Russian art historians about the painting

Doctor of Art Vitaly Manin claimed that the painting “By the sea. Family ”shows the artist’s indifference“ to social struggles, but it very faithfully conveys the vitality, the desire of a person to find the fullness of life on vacation, at home or in sports ” ^[38] . According to Vitaly Manin, the novelty of the color structure of the picture allows us to attribute it to the “harsh style”, but the theme and its interpretation diverged from the “harsh” life depicted by representatives of this trend in Soviet painting. The man in the picture has the face of an ancient hero. Body color conducts gradation from the masculinity of the father through the femininity of the mother to the defenselessness of the child. This difference is supplemented by the line: Nina Zhilinskaya is presented in a “feminine relaxed pose”, which is opposed to the decisive figure of the author ^[39] .

Due to the fact that the painting is local, the drawing and the line on the canvas, which can be seen in the contrast of the contours of figures and objects, acquire leading importance. The space, according to Vitaly Manin, was arranged conditionally by the artist in the picture, but it is felt in the juxtaposition of figures: large ones in the foreground and smaller ones in the far ones.Shapes that are close to the viewer, but equal in size to the far ones, close them, which also emphasizes the presence of depth of space. The “overlapping” of some styles on others resembles an application . The sea, according to the art historian, does not participate in the transmission of perspectives, but is a background. In this case, the color of the water, regardless of the distance in relation to the viewer, is unchanged. Because of this, a feeling of space is created that does not unfold in the distance, but from the bottom up. The volume of figures of characters is indicated, but not registered by the artist ^[39] .

Кандидат искусствоведения Виктория Лебедева в книгах о творчестве художника отмечает, что зрителя не оставляет чувство символичности изображённого на полотне. Всё присутствующее на картине застыло в « муляжной неподвижности». Персонажи только «обозначают» движение. Между ними отсутствует контакт. Нет контакта у персонажей и со зрителями. Главный герой полотна строг, сосредоточен, его взгляд погружен в самого себя ^{[24] [25]} .

Полотно представляется не лирической бытовой зарисовкой из жизни счастливой советской семьи, а ритуальным действом, где персонажи кажутся актёрами на театральной сцене, играющими свою роль. Особое значение придаёт Виктория Лебедева появлению на фоне тёмной воды сверкающей серебром рыбы — символа Иисуса Христа и «единения людей». В построении картины Лебедева также отмечает условность и знаковость, «вздыбленность» перспективы, замкнутое пространство фона. Фигуры персонажей на первом плане написаны снизу, это создаёт иллюзию, что они подняты на котурны . Они «предстоят», то есть являют себя зрителю как «совершенный символ человеческих отношений». При этом сине-зелёный без нюансов фон моря, на котором отсутствует движение, лишний раз подчёркивает статичность фигур героев картины. Колорит последней построен на контрастных заливках цветом, к примеру, красное пятно купальника на сине-зелёном фоне моря. Оно и другие пятна красного цвета в разных участках картины придают ей оттенок тревоги. Цвет тел персонажей различен: смуглый загар — у отца, нежная белизна — у мальчика ^{[24] [25]} .

Картина «У моря. Семья» основана на контрастах и внутренних противоречиях. Первоначальная идиллия распадается при внимательном изучении полотна, «дав место раздумьям о многих проблемах жизни». По мнению Виктории Лебедевой, заурядный эпизод превращён Жилинским в эпически значимое явление ^{[24] [25]} .

Искусствовед Кирилл Светляков отсчитывает от этой картины начало целого направления в позднесоветском искусстве — ретроспективизма. Особенности живописной манеры картины «У моря. Семья» он считает обусловленными техникой её создания: темпера требует линейности рисунка композиции и необходимости «писать большими плоскостями». В гарпуне , который держит на картине сам художник, искусствовед видит одновременно оружие охотника, дирижёрскую палочку и «символ мужской власти». Изображение жены и детей Светляков соотносит с изображением граций на картине Сандро Боттичелли «Весна» . По его мнению, Дмитрий Жилинский сознательно вызывал в памяти зрителей образы с картины Боттичелли, рассчитывая, что «образованные зрители будут «увлечены игрой аллюзий ». Светляков считает, что это характерно для соцреализма , который противопоставлял гуманизм эпохи Ренессанса западному модернизму и массовой культуре . Он утверждает, что картина «У моря. Семья» — уникальный образец компромисса между массовой (отдых на Чёрном море) и элитарной (отсылки к Ренессансу) культурой. В этой картине он также видит ассоциации с произведениями американского поп-арта , распространявшегося в это время на Западе ^[1] .

Анна Дьяконицына находила общие черты в картинах Жилинского «У моря. Семья» и «Гимнасты СССР» (1964—1965, Государственный Русский музей ). Пространство обоих полотен лишено глубины. Планы наложены друг на друга подобно аппликации. В рисунке отмечаются влияние академизма и отсутствие «форсированной» передачи объёма, которая характерна для ранних полотен художника. Особую роль в этих двух картинах приобретают силуэт фигур и локальный цвет, в который окрашены значительные фрагменты композиции. Противопоставляются друг другу алый и сине-зелёный, белый и коричневый, красный и чёрный цвета, это выделяет различные планы картины. Цвет приобретает вещественность красок в иконописи ^{[8] [40]} .

В этих картинах художник отошёл от пленэризма , этюдности , передачи световоздушной пространственной среды, окружающей предметы, характерных для московской школы живописи . Внимательное отношение ко всем явлениям мироздания, как к большим, так и к малым, в этих картинах, по мнению Дьяконицыной, сближает Жилинского с мироощущением мастеров эпохи Ренессанса , особенно — с мироощущением живописцев Северного Возрождения, а в какой-то степени — Средневековья . При этом эти две картины Жилинского являются не фотографически точным воспроизведением натуры, а её воссозданием по законам искусства. Несмотря на интерес к деталям, Жилинского интересует не сиюминутность, а вечность, в которой соединяются прошлое и настоящее, а события дня соотносятся с «вечными» темами ^{[8] [26]} .

Дьяконицына считала, что в основе картины «У моря. Семья» лежат впечатления художника от летнего отдыха. Композиция включает массу конкретных подробностей, увиденных художником на черноморском пляже: позы, движения, ракурсы, детали купания. Художник при этом не только следует устоявшимся канонам бытового жанра , но и даёт символическое толкование изображённой сцены ^{[26] [8]} .

Картина и увлечение художника подводной охотой

Всесоюзная комиссия по спортивной подводной стрельбе провела в начале 1990-х годов исследование по каталогам музеев СССР и обнаружила, что картина Дмитрия Жилинского «У моря. Семья», изображающая подводного охотника, — единственная на подобную тему, находящаяся в государственных коллекциях ^[41] . Жилинский сам в начале 1960-х годов увлекался подводной охотой, которая тогда только зарождалась. Первоначально подводные ружья отсутствовали в продаже, поэтому их делали для себя сами охотники. Ко времени написания картины у Жилинского уже было собственное настоящее, приобретённое в магазине ружьё с гарпуном и резиной. Он говорил в интервью : «Рыба была непуганая, её можно было добывать шилом в буквальном смысле… случалось, не поверите, ныряешь, как в садок. Я жил в Сочи , и хотя специально не охотился, всякий раз, купаясь, нырял за рыбой». Его друг профессор Меркулов, разделявший увлечение художника, без ружья, в маске и ластах, а иногда и без них, по словам художника, при хорошей погоде мог добыть к завтраку за утро десяток кефалей , каждая по 300—400 грамм ^[7] .

В руке Жилинского изображён гарпун, на острие которого наколота кефаль. Изображены и другие детали хобби художника: маска лежит перед ним, справа — трубка к ней, дочка держит чёрные ласты ^[41] . Несмотря на своё увлечение, сам художник в интервью заявлял, что к сюжету картины подходил не как охотник, а как художник ^[7] .

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