The Immortal Itinerants (Peredvizhniki) Part II

In the 1870-80's historical painting for the first timeLooking at the clenched hands of this fine, young, but
seemed to reveal all answers to relevant questionsnot pretty woman, we can feel her inner strength and
addressed by the past. Popular revolts, acts ofthe emotional strain in her image. This image probably
terrorism, execution, heroic deeds, sacrifice, suffering,reminded contemporaries of young girls exiled to the
betrayal, faithfulness to ideas and treachery are themines for expressing their ideas. One critic noted the
concepts dominating the society of that time. Someresemblance of bracelets on her wrists to fetters.As
artists approached these problems via religioushas been mentioned, the most famous among the
subjects, very familiar and clear to Russian people.portraitists was Ilya Repin. He saw the souls of every
Nikolai Ghe, was one of them. His work, The Lastperson who posed for him, and he destroyed all
Supper, lacked mystery and sacred meaning.conventional rules adhered to by other portraitists. He
Like-minded people had become enemies. Judas, whowas unsurpassed as a master of any form of portrait
thought of the salvation of his people, did not grasp thefrom bedchamber to state portraits. He worked both in
great idea of Christ providing salvation for the wholepainting and drawing. The backgrounds for his portraits
of mankind. The philosophic disagreement, but not thecould be a house interior or landscapes. Using particular
betrayal of a greedy man, became the subject of thecomposition, color schemes, lines, and strokes, he
painting. (Note there are only 11 Apostles depicted inunderlined unique individual features of the model. The
the painting and that Judas looks like a winged AngelGerman poet, Rilke, said: "Repin has the nature of an
of Death.) His works, Calvary and Crucifixion, wereartist. With a glance, he inspects everyone he meets,
dedicated to humanity, at a time when spiritual strengthstudies him and assigns him to remote corners of his
and faithfulness to ideas overcome physicalsoul and doesn't let him move away until Rapin is
suffering.Ivan Kramskoi, also painted religious subjects.finished." Repin models came from all types of society
In his work, Christ in a Desert, he shows the hero atto include peasants as well as the aristocracy. He
the moment of making a choice of his life's way. Thispainted men, women, old people, children, friends and
feeling of choice was familiar to many people: whetherrelatives. The fine portraiture of Repin gives us an
to remain faithful to destiny or to yield to temptationintegral, profound, all-embracing, general presentation of
and retreat, having foreseen terrible consequences of19th Century society and lively individual images of its
remaining steadfast. All his life Kramskoi was devotedrepresentatives. Many admire the works of Repin.
to a large painting called, Christ before the people,Especially fine paintings include Fall Bouquet, Portrait of
where he interpreted the subject of sacrifice andartist's daughter, Portrait of M. Musorgsky, and the
suffering for a people that did not understand.VasiliyPortrait of Ivan Kramskoi... The list of works is endless.
Surikov's, most famous work is his trilogy painted in theIn the history of Russian art, the portraiture genre is
1880s. Each of these three paintings is devoted to aone of the oldest and most traditional genres. First
specific epic collision of paramount significance: Theintroduced at the time of Peter the Great, it was
Morning of the Execution of the Streltsi, represents thedeveloped by different generations of artists, but it
nation in history. Menshikov in Berezovo, depicts a herowas the itinerants that made a particularly notable
in history. Finally, the Boyarynya Morozova, is ancontribution to portraiture. They were also great
example of a hero and the people. Surikovinnovators in Landscape genre.Another important
approached the most dramatic points of Russianconcept of the specific national character of Russia,
history: reformation of the church in the mid 17ththe peculiarity of Russian nature, was done for the first
century, Peter the Great's reforms of the 18th century,time by Itinerants. Works by Alexei Savrasov, Ivan
etc. In Surikov's own time, the late 19th century, thereShishkin, Vasiliy Polenov, Arkhip Kuinji, and Isaak Levitan
were numerous flashbacks of those events in Russia.were wildly received by the public. These masters
The nation found itself on the threshold of majorshowed the highest importance of ordinary motifs,
changes once again. Incidentally, Surikov in his Morning,scenes, and seasons of the year Country sights were
showed for the first time how an historical inevitabilityapproached by artists much more often than urban
can divide a single nation, turning fellow countrymenmotifs, thus emphasizing peasant themes. But it was
against each other. In the painting, one of Peter'snot based purely on social problems. The whole gamut
soldiers is carefully supporting a strelets (a member ofwas captured on canvas. Green plain expanses,
Ivan the Terrible's elite corps) while leading him tofallowed fields in the rain, endless travel-worn roads,
scaffold. These two Russians are not enemies, only anarrow paths that stretched from different parts of
historical coincidence has turned one of them into athe vast land, dense forests, impassable thickets, small
hangman and the other into his victim. Could Surikovlakes like blue saucers, hidden copses, and the beauty
have foreseen that twenty years later Russia wouldof the big Russian river Volga were all acceptable
be flooded with blood once again, and brother wouldsubjects for these Russian immortals.The concept of
turn against brother in a civil war? He looked to thenature, for Russian Itinerant artists and since, has
past for answers about Russia's future.Surikov neitheralways been closely connected with a man being
passed judgment nor took sides in his paintings, and hispainted in his natural environment. Concerns about
characters were neither saints nor criminals. Each ofpeople and their thoughts and the Russian character
them was convinced he was doing the right thing, butwere very much affected by landscape. The
in the eyes of history, "right" is synonymous withnarrations about Russian nature indeed involved the
"imperative." It is the inevitable collision of historicaltelling of the life story of human beings living in nature.
interest entailing the death of one of the parties thatOne of the first among itinerant landscape artists was
the artist rendered with disturbing vividness. Relying onAlexei Savrasov. His painting, Rooks Are Back Again,
his creative imagination, the artist craftily conjured upwas exhibited for the first time at the exhibition of 1871
pictures of the past, encouraging the viewer to ponderand it amazed viewers. For the first time they saw a
traumatic historical collisions that had once shaken theplain native landscape far removed from the flourishing
nation, compelling every person then living to make hisItalian beauty typical of classical and romantic artists. A
choice. His task was to make his charactersfeeling of nature awakening after winter, as a tree
convincing and historically credible, to make the viewerwith its bared branches is depicted standing in the
believe in the image before his eyes. In later years,distance, soft light coming from the blue sky, a bustle
Surikov abandoned his preoccupation with dramaticof the first birds, all combined to evoke a feeling of
turning points in history in favor of glorifying Russia'ssomething dear to one's heart.. a familiar scene dating
heroic past. In spite of this he remained true to himself:back to childhood. This sentimental landscape gained
the Russian people were still the main character of hishigh significance in this genre.Each painter approached
works, and courage and daring were the artist'ssimilar motifs in his own artistic manner. Ivan Shishkin in
principal subject-matter. In his paintings, Surikov alwayshis works glorified the heroic spirit of the Russian land.
focused on fine portraiture. His female images areHe liked to emphasize the might and grandeur of
particularly elaborate and masterful. He appreciatedRussian nature. Depicting mostly fields and forests, he
and knew how to depict the beauty of a Russianwas given an artistic name of "singer of fields and
woman; he understood her contradictory personality,forests.'' His selfless love of nature made him not only
her tenderness, kindness, compassion, cordiality, quietan artist, but a botanist as well. He refused to be
resignation, and readiness to sacrifice herself, and heinaccurate depicting tree or blade. Numerous studies
recognized that sometimes, her courage, strong will,and sketches that survived till today offer testimony
devil-may-care attitude, and her strong convictionsconcerning his great care in studying nature.Although
bordered on fanaticism.During that epoch - the heydayShishkin was often criticized for his naturalism and his
of portrait genre in Russian art - many artists tendedunreasonable standards in his representation of nature,
to emphasize their characters' personalities in theirthe careful work at the details of his paintings can't be
historical and genre painting. Itinerants made acalled "naturalism." Naturalism in painting means blind
particularly notable contribution to portraiture. For theimitation of a natural view without a well thought-out
first time in Russian art, portraiture stopped beingcomposition and without the correlation of common
merely the art of painting family members and stoppeddetails and a particular selection of the items painted.
serving exclusively the sentimental needs and vanity ofAt first sight, Shishkin's landscapes look so trustworthy
individuals and families. As a result of the itinerants, thethat one can get the wrong impression of the artist's
very word portrait acquires new understanding. Thework. The artist desires the viewer to believe in the
reason for the above we find in the definition ofreality of such an existing view.In this connection, his
reconsidered art that achieved vivid social status.painting, The Rye, is very typical. The artist selected
Portraits became very regulated such as the portraitsthe typical natural motives of a central Russian
of contemporary heroes, public figures, commonlandscape: the field of rye, the road, and mighty oaks.
people, peasants, and workers. Art changed much.Next he thought about the composition, trying to get
Now it served more for exhibition purposes rather thanthe right correlation between the sky and the earth, the
purely as private commissions.The name of Pavelfore and background, as well as the right light
Tretyakov, is closely connected with establishment ofcombination. All these details create mighty images
this new art destination. He was a Moscow merchantthat affect the feelings of the viewer. In this painting
who had decided to set up a gallery of the nationalthe artist truly glorifies the true beauty and grandeur of
modern art. He started buying itinerants' work, not onlyRussian nature.One must give credit to the Itinerants
at the exhibitions, but also unfinished works while theyfor the creation of the genre of "plein air" painting. Two
were in an artist's studio. Tretyakov attended artists'of the best were Polenov and Levitan. Polenov's
workshops and often paid money to an artist in orderartistic manner was much different from that of
for him to complete the work. Moreover, heShishkin. In his paintings Moscow Courtyard and
commissioned different artists to make portraits ofGrandmother's Garden, he acts as a delicate lyric,
writers, musicians, actors, and other artists in order toentertaining storyteller. For the first time in these
leave a cultural heritage for the generations to come.paintings he demonstrated the principles of so-called
His life and the life of his family were very modest as"plain-air painting." However, the greatest "plein air"
most of his money was spent for paintings. Being solandscape painter in Russian art was Levitan.
interested in portraiture, he got other artists interestedConsidering the power and might of his talent and his
in this genre. Among the artists working in portraitcontribution to the landscape genre he can be
genre there are several outstanding masters whosecompared with Repin. His huge creative legacy gives
names are worthy of mention.Vasiliy Perov was thean idea about the broad scope of his interests in the
first who featured mostly in psychological portrait thelandscape field. Some of his works are full of delicate
complicated inner world of the person and his soul. Hislyrics while others have epic and broad
portraits of Feodor Dostoevskiy and of Alexeigeneralizations.Issak Levitan had a very profound
Ostrovskiy are considered to be his best and mostunderstanding of nature. Nature in his opinion holds onto
famous portraits. The portrait of Dostoevskiy, a greatits inner content. He said, "Can anything be more tragic
Russian writer who tried to penetrate the darkestthan to feel the endless beauty of surroundings, the
parts of a human soul, is of special value. Kramskoiconcealed secrets of nature, to see the Lord in
used this painting to reflect his own understanding ofeverything and have no possibility to express such
duty and honor of Russian intelligence. He strove todeep emotions?" These words reveal the modesty of
reveal the versatile personality of the writer.Ivanthe artist who has created real masterpieces but was
Kramskoi, being a very talented portraitist, was anot satisfied with himself and who worried about his
prominent public figure and art was not the onlyinability to achieve perfection. Levitan confirmed once
domain of his activity. Kramskoi was the head of theagain that Russian landscape art demands to be
Society of Traveling Art Exhibitions from the time itconsidered as an object of the highest ideals of art.
was established. His particular understanding of art asMany of his paintings contain a reflection on people's
a way of educating people dictated his individual choicedestiny and the meaning of their life. His paintings are
of the model and interpretation of his portrait image. Hefull of literary associations and philosophical ideas such
chose those whom he considered to be an idealas Over Eternal Peace, and Eternal Chime. In an
subject and who shared his views on the exclusiveentirely different manner he created landscapes in
educational mission of art. His views coincided withnatural beauty, illustrating the waking up of nature
general trends and objectives in art - a search of theMarch and the fading of nature in Golden Autumn.
identifiable person. The resulting form of the aboveLevitan painted typical Russian landscapes, reproducing
social significance of a model was of particulardifferent states of nature correlating with human
importance for Kramskoi. A fine example of thisemotions.The pictorial freedom of Levitan's creative
approach is the portrait of L.Tolstoy. The asceticmanner made him different from other landscape
simplicity of the writer's image and feeling of serious,painters of his time. His last painting, Russia, was not
dramatic thought that dominated Tolstoy wasfinished. He dreamed of creating the common artistic
reflected in Kramskoi's opinion on the writer'simage of his homeland in this painting. Levitan fell
destiny.After the death of Kramskoi, Nikolaideeply in love with the Motherland as did all of the
Yaroshenko, who was called "the conscience of theItinerants. They dreamed and believed that their art
Itinerants" for his integrity and adherence to principles,would give people happiness and hope and recognition
headed the itinerants' society. Yaroshenko created hisof the need to develop a high moral ideal in Russia.
own portrait type, and his representation of a specificThe Itinerants held sway over Russian art until the first
model became the basis for his generalized image often years of the 20th Century. For me they will always
the representation of the different layers of society.be the best that Russian art has to offer. They painted
Girl Student, is typical of Yaroshenko. His Portrait ofin many styles, but they depicted life as they believed it
Pelageya Strepetova, a Russian tragical actress, is awas. They did this at great risk to themselves, and it is
very good example of his work. She specialized in thehoped that finally Russia stands on the golden
roles of the poor and humiliated, exhausted by lifethreshold of freedom that they envisioned for her so
women, and these roles left their mark on this portrait.many years ago.Michael E.