Если у вас возникли сложности с курсовой, контрольной, дипломной, рефератом, отчетом по практике, научно-исследовательской и любой другой работой - мы готовы помочь.
Предоплата всего
Подписываем
The Renaissance
The Renaissance or the revival of learning was the period then european culture was at it's high. It lasted from the 14'th century till 17'th century, and was coursed by complex economic situation and social conditions. The feudal system was been shuttled by the bourgeoisie, thich was getting stronger and stronger. It was more profitable to unite under a single rouler. Absolute monacy came into being. This lead to the forming of nations and the true sense of the world. New social and economic conditions called for the new ideology, because the catholic dogmas didn't correspond to the new trend of life. For this reason in many european countries the protestant religion spread up and national churches were established.
Instead of the blindness demanded by the catholic then appeared a new outlook which was called humanism. The time demanded positive rational knowledge and this demand was fully met: in astronomy by Copernicus, in philosophy by Tomas More, in geography by Columbus, Vaska de Gama and others. Leonardo de Vinci created a new theory of art: "It was the greatest progressive revolution that mankind have so far experienced, a time, which called for "Giants" and produced Giants in power and thought, passion and character in universality and language."
An example of a typical men of the Renaissance period was: the famous Englishmen sir Walter Raleigh, he was a soldier, sailor, explorer, pirate, coloniser, historian, phylosopher and a poet. He was much interested in science and literature. He wrote works of geography and lead expedition to South America. He was an outstanding poet. His poems are full of profound wisdom, written with great elegance of style. He organised of "academy". Christother Marlowe the greatest dramatist (before Shakespear). But one of the greatest men of this period was sir Thomas More.
The Tretyakov Gallery
Moscow is replete with art galleries and museums. Yet there is one gallery that remains a symbol of Russian art. It is the world-famous Tretyakov Gallery. The founder of the gallery was the entrepreneur Pavel Tretyakov (1832-1898), who was from the merchant class. Beginning in 1856, Tretyakov had a hobby of collecting works by the Russian artists of his time. He was a famous patron of the arts who helped to support the "peredvizhniki" (a movement consisting of realistic painters in the second half of the 19th century). Toward this goal, he intended to purchase a collection from a St. Petersburg collector, Fyodor Pryanishnikov, and, having added his own collection, created a museum. The government bought Pryanishnikov's gallery in 1867, but Tretyakov gradually acquired an excellent collection, exceeding all other collections in Russia in its volume and quality.
7
In 1892, Pavel Tretyakov donated his entire collection to Moscow. His brother Sergey Tretyakov (1834—1892) was also a collector, but only of Western European paintings.
The brothers' collections were at core of the Moscow Municipal Art Gallery, which opened on August 15, 1893. At first, it contained 1,287 paintings and 518 pieces of graphic art by Russian artists, as well as 75 paintings by Western European artists.
Later, the Western European paintings in the Tretyakov Gallery were transferred to the Hermitage and the A. S. Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, and the Tretyakov Gallery began to specialize exclusively in Russian art.
After 1918, the Tretyakov collection grew many times with the inclusion of the collection of Ilya Ostroukhov (1858— 1929), an artist, paintings of the Russian school from the Moscow Rumyantsev Museum, and many private collections.
Presently, the gallery is being improved by carefully planned purchases. Already more than 55 thousand works are kept there. There is the rich collection of ancient Russian icon painting of the 12th—17th centuries including Andrei. Rublyov's famous "Trinity", as well as significant works of painting and sculpture of the 18th — 19th centuries — paintings by Dmitriy Levitskiy, Fyodor Rokotov, Karl Bryullov,. Orest Kiprenskiy, Alexander Ivanov (including his well-known canvas "The Appearance of Christ Before the People"), Ivan Kramskoy, and sculptures by Fedot Shubin.
The gallery has an excellent selection of the best works by the
"peredvizhniki": Ilya Repin (including "Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan"),
Victor Vasnetsov, Ivan Shishkin, Vasiliy Surikov ("The Morning of the Strelets Execution"), Vasiliy Vereshchagin and others.
The blossoming of many areas of Russian art at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries is also well represented.
Suffice it to name such artists of the period as Mikhail Vrubel, I к Levitan, Nicholas Rerikh, Alexander Benua, Mikhail Nesterov, Konstantin Korovin, Mstislav Dobuzhinskiy, Konstantin Somov, Valentin Serov, Boris Kustodiev and Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin. After the relatively short period of the 1910's-1920's,new movements in art — futurism, cubism, etc. — were quickly developed.
Such an artistic movement as socialist realism also produced a number of talented and original artists. This trend is represented by works of Alexander Deineka, Arkadiy Plastov, Yuri Pimenov, Dmitriy Nalbandyan, and others.
8
The main building of the gallery includes the renovated Tretyakov home and several buildings that were attached to it at various times. The main facade of the building was erected in 1902 according to plans by the artist Victor Vasnetsov.
In 1994, the Tretyakov Gallery opened after 10 years of restoration. This was not just a facelift to the building; the interior and technical equipment were brought up to the highest standards of quality, which is as it should be, since it contains so many treasures of Russian art.
Portrait Painting
The topic presented to you today is entitled “Portrait Painting”. In my speech I am to dwell upon the following points:
- Firstly, I am to give the definition of portrait painting;
- Secondly, I would like to name kinds of portraits;
- Thirdly, I would like to speak about one of the most outstanding portraitists of Russia - Valentin Serov;
- Then, I am to give some information about British artist William Hogarth;
- After that, I would like to speak about an American portraitist Mary Cassat;
- Finally, I am to draw a conclusion expressing my opinion.
By way of introduction, I would like to say that there are a lot of different genres of paintings, all of which reflect different aspects of our life as well the inner world of the painter in the manner specific only to him. Thus, some impress our imagination with charming beauty of nature, others amaze us with realistic scenes of our daily life; some find inspiration in the beauty of human body, others in the wildness and stillness of the sea.
Portrait painting obviously stands out in this list. Portrait painting is a genre where the visual appearance of the subject, most often a person, is depicted. There are several kinds of portraits: if an artist portrays himself the result is called a self-portrait: portraits can also be full-body, half-length or head and shoulders, family or group, ceremonial or intimate. However no matter what kind of portrait an artist paints, it should always convey something more than just appearance, it should contain some specific features, some tiny details that make a person portrayed unique and inimitable. The expression of the eyes, a barely noticeable shade of emotion - everything should be reflected by the painter. Such mastery can be observed in the works of the three outstanding painters from Russia, America and Great Britain.
I would like to start with a great Russian painter Valentin Serov. He is known for his particular concentrating on spontaneity of perception of human and nature. In the development of light and colour, the complex harmony of reflections and the sense of atmospheric saturation Serov manifested features of early Russian
9
impressionism. His most famous portraits are “The Girl with Peaches” and “The Girl Covered by the Sun” perfectly illustrating his unique manner.
As for William Hogarth, the celebrated British artist, he depicted mostly his friends or men of similar background and each time his portraits were full with freshness and realism. So with his method he was inimitable in such works as “Captain Coram” and “The Graham Children”.
Another outstanding portraitist is Mary Cassat, a well-known American artist who embraced the technique of the impressionists while developing a highly individual style. Portrayals of mothers and children became her theme, for example “The Mirror” with its oblique views and simple forms.
In conclusion, I would like to say that portrait painting is a unique genre, allowing not only to appreciate the appearance of the motionless person portrayed, but to feel his mood and try to trace some features and traits of his character with the help of every detail painted by the artist.
Museums and art galleries of London
London is very rich in museums and art galleries.
If you are fond of painting you'll go to the Tate Gallery. A rich sugar manufacturer Henry Tate founded it in 1897. There are about 300 oils and 19000 watercolours and drawings. There are many works by the English painter William Turner there. Most of his paintings are connected with the sea theme. There are a lot of paintings by the 16-th century English artists and paintings by foreign artists of the 19-20-th centuries. There are some paintings by impressionists there. You can see works by modern painters: Pablo Picasso among them. There are many interesting sculptures there. Henry Moor's can be seen there. He was a famous British sculptor. The National Gallery is one of the most important picture galleries in the world. The Tate Gallery is the most necessary compliment to the National Gallery as it contains contemporary works particularly by English and French masters.
10
The British Museum is the largest and richest of its kind in the world. It comprises the national museum of archaeology and ethnography and the national library. The present building was built in 1852. By law a copy of every book, periodical and newspaper, published in Britain must be presented in the British museum. It contains books and manuscripts: Greek, Roman, British and Oriental antiques. It has a department of Ethnography. This collection is so vast that only a very small percentage of it is on show to the public. There's also a department of prints and drawings. There're departments devoted to maps, coins, medals and philately. Those who come to the British museum can see a fascinating array of clocks and watches.