The value of Russian crafts for revealing the features of everyday life, the artistic vision of the world, and the imaginative thinking of the Russian people is very great. The famous Gorodets painting is one of the brightest examples of the original creativity of the people.
Gorodets painting. Fishing history
In the middle of the 18th century, the first peasant artels began to appear in Russia, producing simple household utensils, dishes, and household items. The most popular items were spinning wheels and toys, which were carved from wood, decorated with carvings, and transported to a fair in the village of Gorodets in the Nizhny Novgorod province. One of the main artistic techniques for product design was wood inlay. The cut out elements were inserted into the prepared recesses, and a convex original ornament was created on the surface. Later, the elements of the ornament began to be tinted and colored, and then the complex inlay was completely replaced by painting. So, on the lower Volga, in the villages with the big Russian names Khlebaiha, Boyarskoye, Savino, Koskovo, the Gorodets trade arose, the center of which was the village, and now the city of Gorodets.
Gorodets painting, the history of which continued to develop throughout the 19th century, became widely known at the beginning of the 20th century, when venerable masters organized an artel, which in Soviet times became a factory of Gorodets painting, expanding the range of wooden products decorated with a characteristic pictorial ornament. Masters of Gorodets painting painted children's furniture, wall panels, kitchen utensils, caskets, decorative plates and much more.
Characteristic features of Gorodets painting
Gorodets painting borrowed elements of its plain plots from rural life. A specific free brush stroke, with characteristic pointed details, something similar to wooden carvings, which they once supplemented with color, clearly indicate the origins of this art.
The main attention of Gorodets artists is attracted by genre scenes from rural and urban provincial life: Sunday festivities of youth, peasants with accordions in striped trousers and chrome boots, bright elegant young ladies, like dancing horses and important horseman riders. Images are attracted by their childish naivety, festive theatricality, which is often emphasized by special techniques, for example, a curtain drawn on the sides of the picture, as if it was spread out in front of the audience. Gorodets masters love to depict floral arrangements in the form of interwoven garlands or large rosettes scattered throughout the field. The most favorite motifs in the painting are roosters, with warlike loose tails, and surprisingly graceful dancing horses in a festive harness.
Gorodets painting is characterized by bright, rich colors. Favorite colors: red, emerald green, black, blue, juicy blue and white. Hue effects are achieved by whitening the primary colors, which adds to the expression pattern. The color of the picture is based on contrast. A striking stylistic device is the white or black contour outline of individual elements.
Craftsmen draw without preliminary sketches, widely and juicyly applying strokes one after another immediately to the product, using specific, strictly fixed writing techniques. Layer after layer creates a dynamic, vibrant and unique pattern. Perhaps this is the main feature of folk art.
The history of Gorodets fishing continues. Modern craftsmen at the factory in Gorodets create amazingly beautiful creations. Many of them are laureates of the prize to them. I.E. Repin, and their products adorn museum and exhibition halls. Among the well-known Gorodets artists A.E. Konovalova, L.F. Bespalov, F.N. Kasatov, A.V. Sokolov and others