In the bouquet of paintings of Russian artists a special placetakes a fantastic painting. This is due to our culture with many fairy tales and polytheistic beliefs. One of the artists, who clearly perceived the connection between the fictional and the real, was Ivan Nikolayevich Kramskoy. In his canvases there is no explicit division into fantasy and reality, two of these factors smoothly intertwine and give the viewer a whole story. The principle of some nebula or even "dullness" of the surface, a careful selection of images and soft colors give the same fabulous character that is typical of Ivan Nikolayevich's paintings. For example, we can accurately say that "Mermaids" is a picture of Kramskoy, its description coincides with the characterization of other paintings by this author: mysticism adjoins with calm nature. By the way, if we talk about realism, then we can see quite familiar landscapes, huts and houses with clearly traced details.
The artist was born in May 1837 in Voronezhprovince. His father was a clerk, so he wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. And it happened. After graduation, Ivan worked as clerk at the Duma in his city. But in 1853, his attention shifted to other activities, he began to process photographic images, this taught him Tulinov, who was a fellow countryman of Kramskoy.
Thus the painter's path began as an artist. Already in 1857 he entered the Art Academy in St. Petersburg. The young man's successes were so obvious that Ivan Nikolaevich got a gold medal for one of the paintings.
Among the works of the draftsman there were portraits of famouspeople, with which he filled his hand in this genre, but his most famous painting is "Christ in the desert." It became the peak of Kramskoy's development in religious painting.
An inconceivable number of paintings and photographs left to the heirs in memory of a remarkable artist who died of heart problems at the age of fifty.
Perhaps, one of the most ardent lovers of mysticism inRussian painting is Kramskoy. The painting "The Mermaids" gathered around her so many reckless opinions about her bad reputation, which, unfortunately, everything is not listed. The history of the work is connected, oddly enough, with Gogol and his story "The May Night or the Drowned Woman". If you believe the popular rumor, drowning girls after death became mermaids, calling travelers to their networks. That they wanted to portray the draftsman in the picture.
Why Gogol? As you know, Nikolai Vasilievich also was not averse to writing about something mysterious, to recall even "Viya" or "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka", and Kramskoy re-read these works several times. Probably, this attraction to Gogol was the starting point in the field of fantastic painting. The artist wanted to convey the atmosphere of the May night in Ukraine in small details, hence the effect of copresence. As Kramskoy himself said, the picture of "Mermaid" does not fully meet his requirements, because he wanted to portray the light of the moon so much, but he could not "catch" it. Although we see how the cold light of the night luminary glides over the images of mysterious mermaids. But this is only part of what the author himself intended.
It was believed that mystical subjects were dangerous, andif you write them off from the works of Gogol, then you can go crazy. Kramskoy even joked about this: "It's good that with this story I did not completely break my neck, and if I did not catch the moon, then something fantastic happened."
And indeed, in galleries and exhibitions shecould never find a place. Pictures next to the "Mermaids" fell, and from the room could be heard a little audible singing and chilled with coolness. But after the canvas was moved to the far corner, far from the sun, the supernatural ceased, probably the mermaids were too hot in the sunlight.
But no matter what Kramskoy himself said, the picture"Mermaids" was a success, because it made a strong impression on many, though not always positive. This is due to what the artist wanted to portray on the canvas. And the faces of drowned women, and the very nature of it, seem to cast unpleasant dreary thoughts.
The expression of girls' faces betrays sadness in life,dreams of the past, and despair. The whole picture is a symbol of deep sadness. Immediately striking unusual images of mermaid girls. They do not have tails, apparently they move very well on their own two on the ground, only the viewer has the impression of zero gravity, since the white attires of the undines make them look like ghosts.
Let him and was not quite satisfied with the productKramskoy, the painting "Mermaids" was appreciated by professionals: many art critics equated this work to a magical dream, so everything is realistically depicted on it.
The sun of Russian poetry is extremely positivespoke of the canvas of Ivan Nikolaevich. What astonished Pushkin in Kramskoy's painting "The Mermaid"? Yes, everything is the same as all connoisseurs of good creativity. He felt the atmosphere that the author was trying to convey, he admired the mood shades, because Alexander Sergeevich saw here both playfulness, and dreaminess, and sadness. In the images of girls he caught the present, which, alas, sometimes you will not meet with living people. It is this kind of psychology, which is not typical of portraitists, conquered Pushkin.
This work has turned the world of artists, ithad a huge impact on the subsequent work of the same author, as well as on the work of his followers. As Kramskoy wanted, the painting "The Mermaids" caught its moonlight, thanks to the competent use of the subjects of folklore and the culture of the Russian people on the canvas. Many schoolchildren consider the reproduction of the work as an illustration to Gogol's "May Nights", and then write impressions of what they saw. However, the composition of the painting "Mermaid" Kramskoy Ivan Nikolaevich requires not only the ability to correctly express their thoughts, but also to understand the feelings of not only the characters, but also the artist himself.
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