We already remembered something about, but here is another picture and one secret.

Despite the fact that the most popular work Viktor Vasnetsov was written based on a Russian folk tale, painting "Alyonushka" cannot be called a simple illustration. The artist pursued a different goal - not so much to recreate a well-known plot, but to "revive" the fairy-tale character, to make the image close and understandable, to organically fit into the surrounding nature, to create a psychologically accurate portrait of the heroine.

This is how it was ...

Vasnetsov confessed to Roerich that Alyonushka was his favorite work. He began painting in the summer of 1881 in Akhtyrka, near Abramtsevo - the estate of Savva Mamontov, where the best artists of that time gathered. And he finished his work in the winter in Moscow, where the artist often attended musical evenings at the Tretyakovs - perhaps this is one of the reasons that the picture came out so lyrical.

An old sundress with faded flowers, disheveled hair, rough bare feet in Alyonushka give out not an abstract fairy-tale character, but a very real girl from the people. Although in facial features many guessed a resemblance to the daughter of Savva Mamontov Vera - the one who posed for Serov for "Girl with Peaches", all other details indicate that the prototype of the heroine was a peasant woman. Vasnetsov saw her in Akhtyrka, where he was at that time.

This version is confirmed by the words of the artist himself: “The picture seemed to have lived in my head for a long time, but in reality I saw it when I met one simple-haired girl. There was so much melancholy, loneliness and purely Russian sadness in her eyes ... a kind of special Russian spirit exuded from her. "

Initially, Vasnetsov called the painting "Fool Alyonushka", but there is nothing offensive or ironic about the artist's attitude to his heroine. The fact is that the word "fool" in those days was called holy fools or orphans. Let us recall the fairy tale - after the death of their parents, Alyonushka and her brother Ivanushka are left alone, and desperate to find a naughty brother, Alyonushka feels like a complete orphan, lonely and abandoned. Some critics insisted that this is not a fabulous image, but the embodiment of the orphan lot of poor peasant women, which could be found in every village.

The artist creates the general mood with the help of precise landscape details: a quiet autumn wilting of nature, a dark pool at Alyonushka's feet, muted tones, a gray sky in clouds, fallen leaves on the shore and in the water seem to emphasize the melancholy and hopelessness on the heroine's face. Moreover, the landscape cannot be called conventional or abstract - it is the recognizable nature of central Russia.

It was one of the first paintings in the history of Russian painting, where the inner experiences of a person were transmitted through a subtly reproduced state of nature. Considering that the picture was created based on a fairy tale, this is quite justified - psychological parallelism is inherent in many works of oral folk art.

"The legends of deep antiquity" came to life thanks to the brush of Viktor Vasnetsov. Bogatyrs and princesses went beyond the bounds of books and illustrations. The artist grew up in the wilderness of the Ural forests on Russian fairy tales that sounded to the crackle of a torch. And already being in St. Petersburg, he did not forget his childhood memories and transferred those magical stories to the canvas. We consider fabulous canvases with Natalia Letnikova.

Alyonushka

Barefoot simple-haired girl on the bank of a forest river. With inexpressible sadness, he looks into a deep pool. The sad picture was inspired by the tale of sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka, and he drew an orphan from a peasant girl from the Akhtyrka estate, adding, as he himself admitted, the features of Verusha Mamontova, the daughter of a famous Moscow patron of arts. Nature echoes the girl's sorrow, intertwining with the poetry of folk tales.

Ivan Tsarevich riding the Gray Wolf

Gloomy dark forest. And a gray wolf, quite expected for such a thicket. Only instead of an evil grin, the predator has human eyes, and on it there are two riders. Alert Ivanushka carefully holds Elena the Beautiful, resigned to fate. We recognize not only the plot of the Russian fairy tale, but also the image of the girl. The artist endowed the fairytale heroine with real features - the niece of Savva Mamontov, Natalia.

V.M. Vasnetsov. Alyonushka. 1881 g.

V.M. Vasnetsov. Ivan Tsarevich on the gray wolf. 1889 g.

Bogatyrs

Viktor Vasnetsov. Bogatyrs. 1898

Vasnetsov devoted 20 years of his life to one of the most famous paintings in Russian painting. "Bogatyrs" became the most ambitious painting of the artist. The size of the canvas is almost 3 by 4.5 meters. Bogatyrs are a collective image. Ilya, for example, is the peasant Ivan Petrov, and the blacksmith from Abramtsevo, and the cabman from the Crimean bridge. The painting is based on the author's childhood feelings. “So it came before my eyes: hills, open space, heroes. A wonderful dream of childhood ”.

Song of joy and sorrow

Viktor Vasnetsov. Sirin and Alkonost. A song of joy and sorrow. 1896

Alkonost and Sirin. Two half-birds with ghostly promises of a cloudless paradise in the future and with regrets about the lost paradise. Vasnetsov embellished asexual birds, giving the mythical creatures beautiful female faces and rich crowns. The chanting of the Sirin is so sad that the leaves of the age-old tree have turned black, the delight of the Alkonost can make you forget about everything ... if you linger on the picture.

Magic carpet

Viktor Vasnetsov. Magic carpet. 1880

Painting for the Railway Office. Not a train or even a postal troika. Magic carpet. This is how Viktor Vasnetsov responded to Savva Mamontov's request to paint a picture for a new project of the industrialist. The fabulous flying machine, a symbol of victory over space, puzzled the board members and inspired the artist himself. Mamontov acquired the painting, and Vasnetsov discovered a new world for himself. In which there is no place for the ordinary.

Three princesses of the underworld

Viktor Vasnetsov. Three princesses of the underworld. 1884

Gold, copper and coal. Three riches that are hidden in the bowels of the earth. Three fairy princesses are the embodiment of earthly blessings. Proud and haughty gold, curious copper and timid coal. The princesses are the mistresses of mountain mines, accustomed to commanding people. There are two pictures with such a plot at once. On one of them in the corner - as supplicants, the figures of two men, obsequiously peering into beautiful cold faces.

Koschei the Deathless

Viktor Vasnetsov. Koschei the Deathless. 1917-1926

Rich mansions with chocolate, red and gold hues. The luxury of brocade and rare types of wood is a worthy setting for overwhelming treasure chests, and the main treasure that Koschei does not get into his hands is a young beauty. The girl is interested in the sword, which, however, cannot be defeated by Koshchei. Victor Vasnetsov painted the image of the main fabulous villain for nine years. Chronologically, the painting was the last for the artist.

The history of the creation of the painting by Alyonushka by the Russian artist Viktor Vasnetsov is no less interesting than the history of the creation of other works of this brilliant author, as well as the real facts of the biography of the master himself. This lyrical image of a girl over the water was inspired by the old Russian fairy tale about sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka. However, the painting also had a real prototype.

The history of the creation of the painting Alyonushka Viktor Vasnetsov

One day in the Akhtyrka estate, the artist Vasnetsov noticed a girl, whose defenseless poetic image so struck the master's imagination that he decided to paint her in his long-conceived picture. There was so much melancholy, abandonment, so much Russian sadness in her eyes, so much Russian spirit emanated from her image that the painter decided that this was the Alyonushka who had long lived in his head.

This wonderful picture of Alyonushka, written in the style of Russian realistic painting, has a lyrical fairy-tale relationship with the amazing world of epics, with that Russian spirit, the grain of which is dropped into every Russian soul, and which every person who was born on this ancient and beautiful land intuitively feels. For all the beauty of the famous painting, Alyonushka is a great master. It is this desperate attempt to reach out to the hearts of the Russian people that is the most valuable thing in the canvas of V.M. Vasnetsov Alyonushka.

Description of the painting by Alyonushka by the great artist Vasnetsov

The original of the famous painting by Alyonushka Viktor Vasnetsov is now kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery. Still a very young girl, almost a child, she looks at us with big sad eyes, in which there is so much loneliness and melancholy, such anxious thought that it is difficult to look away from this pale face. She, tired of looking for her missing brother Ivanushka, sits in a lonely position on a stone above a dark forest pond, her head bowed to her knees. Behind her, a coniferous forest rises like a wall, an impenetrable thicket like an archaic image of Russia - wild, incomprehensible, powerful and free. In his painting, the Russian painter V.M. Vasnetsov showed Alyonushka what, in reality, were simple Russian girls with difficult and sometimes tragic fates - she was wearing an old dark sundress, she was barefoot, and sadness froze in her eyes.

Anxious thoughts about her brother do not leave her, she worries that she did not keep track, she lost her only dear person. And even nature is sad with her. In the drawing of Alyonushka, a landscape is beautifully painted, where the heroine is closely connected with nature. Not a single fragment of the painting Alyonushka by the Russian artist Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov distracts the viewer from the main thing, but at the same time, every detail of the picture leads to leisurely reflections. Here, in this canvas, with the help of pictorial means, the famous master managed to visually express that elusive and dear thing that is called the soul of the Russian people.

History of the masterpiece: "Alyonushka" Artist Viktor Vasnetsov. | Why "Alyonushka" was originally called a "fool"

Viktor Vasnetsov - Alyonushka. 1881. Oil on canvas. 173 × 121 cm
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
The plot was based on the fairy tale "About Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka". Alyonushka, tired of the fruitless search for her brother, sits in a lonely position on a large stone by a gloomy pond, bowing her head to her knees. Anxious thoughts about her brother Ivanushka do not leave her. Alyonushka is grieving - she could not keep track of her brother - and with her the nature around ...

The artist began work on the painting in 1880. First, he painted landscape sketches on the banks of the Vori River in Abramtsevo, by the pond in Akhtyrka. Preserved 3 sketches of that time.

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Pond in Akhtyrka 1880

Alyonushkin Pond (Pond in Akhtyrka), 1880

Sedge, 1880
In Vasnetsov's painting Alyonushka, a landscape is very beautifully painted in which Alyonushka is closely interconnected with nature, which is also saddened, like our heroine Alyonushka.
In the picture, not a single fragment distracts the viewer from the main thing, at the same time, every detail of the picture is material for thoughtful reflection.

Viktor Vasnetsov. Sketches for the painting "Alyonushka", 1881
Initially, Vasnetsov called the painting "Fool Alyonushka", but there is nothing offensive or ironic about the artist's attitude to his heroine. The fact is that the word "fool" in those days was called the holy fools or orphans. Let us recall the fairy tale - after the death of their parents, Alyonushka and her brother Ivanushka are left alone, and desperate to find a naughty brother, Alyonushka feels like an orphan, lonely and abandoned.

Some critics insisted that this is not a fabulous image, but the embodiment of the orphan lot of poor peasant women, which could be found in every village. An old sundress with faded flowers, disheveled hair, rough bare feet in Alyonushka give out not an abstract fairy-tale character, but a very real girl from the people.

The work was completed in the winter of 1881 in Moscow, after which Vasnetsov sent it to the Traveling Exhibition. Critic I.E. Grabar called the painting one of the best paintings of the Russian school.
Vasnetsov himself spoke about his picture as follows:

“Alyonushka” seemed to have lived in my head for a long time, but in reality I saw her in Akhtyrka when I met one simple-haired girl who struck my imagination. There was so much melancholy, loneliness and purely Russian sadness in her eyes ... Some special Russian spirit breathed from her.

Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov
(1848-1926)
Russian artist-painter and architect, master of historical and folklore painting.
Born May 15, 1848 in the Russian village of Lopyal in the Urzhum district of the Vyatka province, in the family of the Orthodox priest Mikhail Vasilyevich Vasnetsov, who belonged to the ancient Vyatka family of the Vasnetsovs.
At first he was going to follow in his father's footsteps. But in the last year of the theological seminary he left his studies and went to St. Petersburg to enter the Academy of Arts.

At first, Vasnetsov wrote on everyday subjects. Subsequently, he developed the so-called "Vasnetsov style" - an epic and historical basis with a strong patriotic and religious bias.

Vasnetsov performed in all kinds: he was a historical painter, and a religious, and a portrait painter, and a genre painter, and a decorator, and a graphic artist. In addition, he was an architect - according to his designs, the church in Abramtsevo, the facade of the Tretyakov gallery, the Tsvetkovskaya gallery and his own house with a workshop in Troitsky Lane were built.

Viktor Vasnetsov died in Moscow on July 23, 1926, at the age of 79. The artist was buried at the Lazarevskoye cemetery, after the destruction of which the ashes were transferred to the Vvedenskoye cemetery.