Ludmila Ilyina, Astrakhan

Rubens, Kustodiev, Kandinsky and others in Astrakhan

"None of the Russian provincial towns on the Volga have as precious a gallery as Astrakhan," wrote "Izvestia" in 1918 to mark the opening of a picture gallery in Astrakhan.

The local people fondly called it "Dogadinka" after its founder, Pavel Dogadin. The one hundred paintings and graphic works he collected make up the core of the exhibition. Among them are sketches by Isaac Levitan, landscapes by Vassily Polenov, Ivan Shishkin, Arkhip Kuinji, Arkady Rylov, paintings by Mikhail Nesterov, Boris Kustodiev, Valentin Serov, Vassily Surikov, Konstantin Yuon, drawings by Ilya Repin, Nikolai Roerich, Victor Vasnetsov, Mikhail Vrubel, water-colours by Alex­ander and Albert Benois and Sergei Malyutin.

The exhibits came from the Museum of West-European Arts, the Tretyakov Gallery, the State Museum Fund, the Leningrad Porcelain factory and private collections. The stock grew rapidly, in1920 the Dogadin house could not room all the gallery's possessions and in 1921 the museum moved to a three-sto­rey mansion of the former head of the City Council, one of the best buildings in Astrakhan at the time. It soon received about nine thousand prints, among them etchings of Rembrandt, engravings of the Rubens school, Italian, English, Flemish and French mas­ters of the 16th-18th and the early 19^th centuries. Today the museum's fund consists of more than 13 thousand spe­cimens of Russian, Soviet and foreign art of the 16th-20th centuries.

Russian painting of the 16th-18th centuries is represented by a collection of icons, 67 of which have come as a gift from the Webly family. All the icons are of artistic value and manifest the specific features of the Moscow and Novgorod schools.

The 18th century, the age of the port­rait in Russia, shines forth in Fyodor Rokotov's "Portrait of Count Sheremetyev", Dmitry Levitsky's "Portrait of Count Alexei Orlov", Vladimir Borovikovsky's "Portrait of Empress Marie".

In the beginning of the 19th century, the Russian portrait school saw a new rise as the most valuable individual qualities of each person came into the focus of attention. This period is shown by Alexei Venetsianov's "Portrait of a Peasant Girl", Vassily Tropinin's "Lady in Green", Karl Bryullov's "Portrait of Architect Loparevsky".

The second half of the XIX century was a time when landscape-painting flourished. Modest rural scenes, flocks of migrating birds, dawns and dusks, weeping willows whose branches hung over backwaters, snow-covered en­chanting forests in winter became the most loved subjects for artists who cherished harmony between man and nature. Alexei Savrasov's "Thaw in Early Spring", the first version of his well-known canvas "The Rooks Have Returned" are the gems of the gallery. The landscape section also has works by Vassily Polenov, Arkhip Kuinji, Fyodor Vassilyev, Isaac Levitan, Ivan Shishkin.

The turn of the century is chiefly rep­resented by landscapes of the World of Art and Union of Russian Painters groups. The two revealed poetic streaks in simple and commonplace things. Most broadly displayed is Valentin Serov. His "Cloudy Day", "Lilac" and "Balcony" are captivating in the realism and fresh emotions. The Union of Russian Painters brought together Appolinary Vasnetsov, Konstantin Yuon, Igor Grabar and other ar­tists of the realistic trend, who tried to retain an unimpaired vision of the world.

Mikhail Nesterov carried on his search for the ideal throughout his cre­ative career. He brought out the best in the national character. His "View From Across the Volga" makes you feel vast spaces. His love for Russian legend found embodiment in poetic works, like the unique sketch "Bartholomew's Vi­sion".

The brilliant Konstantin Korovin achieved equal success in genre, land­scape, still-life, and scene painting. The silverish winter in "Winter Sun", the warm light and play of colour of the sea in "Gurzuf", the transparence of the morning air in "The Suburbs of Paris". a touch of the evening breeze and the sounds of passionate serenades in "Spain" — all show his unparalleled skill.

Several halls are devoted to Vassily Kandinsky, Konstantin Malevich, Marc Chagall and Rafail Falk — the Russian avant-garde masters of world renown.

The gallery possesses about twenty paintings and about a hundred graphic works by Boris Kustodiev. His name is one of Astrakhan's relics. Here he was born and lived till manhood and here he regularly returned to pick up vivid im­pressions.

"I wish you knew how I long for As­trakhan," he wrote to his sister from the Crimea on his first long stay away from home. "I would give ten Yaltas and ten Black Seas in exchange for our city. Could we have admired the joyful and unmistak­ably Russian themes like "Shrovetide*. "A Girl on the Volga", "A Merchant's Wife at Tea", "A Beauty" had the painter not spent his green years in the sunlit town on the Volga? His subtle perception of popular spirit and life was derived from the crowded markets, scenes of local merchants' life, the cheerfulness of the people who poured in thousands into the streets on holi­days.

His "Portrait of N.I.Zelenskaya" occupies a special place. He first met this supple blue-eyed woman he portrayed with a slight smile on her lips against the background of the snowy Alps when he took a course of treatment in Swit­zerland. With her own roots in Astra­khan, Zelenskaya brought up vivid memories of the town. "The Portrait of Irina Kustodieva", his daughter, was painted in 1926. Irina is young and elegant. She has a lovely line of the shoul­ders, hands with long fingers, and gold­en hair set off her fresh face. The light streams from the right on the girl's naked shoulder, while the face remains half-shadowed by a hat. Thus the artist made a complex combination of light and shade.

In the last decade of his life Kustodiev profoundly developed the subject of talented, creative personalities by painting portraits of musicians, artists, actors, and scientists. "The Portrait of Composer D.V.Morozov" ranks among the best Russian portraits. The alert and emotional composer is depicted in the act of writing music.

The gallery has several canvases de­picting the Russian province — "Easter Procession", "A Summer Holiday", "Still-Life. Pheasants". He is especially picturesque in reflecting the age-old customs and early art. In his pictures, the harmony of colour never outdoes action.

In the summer of 1925 the wheel­chair-ridden artist made his last voyage down the Volga from Rybinsk to As­trakhan where he met his old friends, and his first teacher, Pavel Vlasov. He conceived an album of drawings on Volga subjects, but illness intervened. A year before death, he wrote to his teacher: "I do not know whether I have managed to fulfill my dream and depict the joy of life, the love for Russian motifs, which always remained the sole subject of my works".

Memory of Kustodiev lives on in As­trakhan. The picture gallery was named after him and is the aesthetic centre of the city. An excursion through its halls is a trip into the unforgettable Russian past.

Ludmila Ilyina, Astrakhan

(From “Travel”, 1996)

Answer the questions:

1. When was Astrakhan art gallery opened?

2. Who was the founder of the gallery?

3. Where was the art collection housed?

4. What made up the core of the museum?

5. Where did the exhibits come from?

6. How is the art of 16-18^th centuries presented?

7. What are the main trends in the painting of 19^th century?

8. What genres present the 20^th century? What artists represent this period?

9. How is the painter Boris Kustodiev connected with our town?

10. What canvas by Kustodiev are presented in our town?

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