Illustrations by A.N. Benoit to the poem "The Bronze Horseman"
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In the first decades of the twentieth century, drawings by Alexander Nikolaevich Benois (1870 - 1960) for "The Bronze Horseman" were made - the best that has been created in the entire history of Pushkin's illustration.
Benoit began work on The Bronze Horseman in 1903. Over the next 20 years, he created a cycle of drawings, headpieces and endings, as well as a huge number of options and sketches. The first edition of these illustrations, which were being prepared for a pocket edition, was created in 1903 in Rome and St. Petersburg. They were printed in a different format by Diaghilev in the first issue of the magazine "World of Art" for 1904. The first cycle of illustrations consisted of 32 drawings made in ink and watercolors.
In 1905, A.N. Benois, while in Versailles, reworked six of his previous illustrations and completed the frontispiece for The Bronze Horseman. In the new drawings for The Bronze Horseman, the theme of the Horseman's pursuit of a little man becomes the main one: the black horseman over the fugitive is not so much Falcone's masterpiece as the personification of cruel force and power. And St. Petersburg is not the one that conquers with its artistic perfection and the scope of construction ideas, but a gloomy city - a cluster of gloomy houses, trading rows, fences. The anxiety and anxiety that gripped the artist during this period turns here into a real cry about the fate of man in Russia.
In 1916, 1921–1922, the cycle was revised for the third time and supplemented with new drawings.
In the drawings by A.N. Benois, the images of A.S. Pushkin's "Petersburg Story" are, as it were, colored by the reflections and experiences of a person at the beginning of the 20th century.
Therefore, it was precisely the “modernity” of Benois's illustrations that struck connoisseurs of art at the beginning of the twentieth century; it seemed to them no less essential than the artist's sense of style, understanding of the Pushkin era and the ability to skillfully stage an action, developing a number of “masterfully staged mise-en-scenes”. At that time, the artist and art critic Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar wrote to Benois about these illustrations: “They are so good that I still cannot come to my senses from the novelty of impressions. no patina. They are terribly modern - and this is important ... "
BENOIS Alexander Nikolaevich. A set of postcards with illustrations by the artist for the poem by A.S. Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman" (Edition "Soviet Artist". Moscow. 1966)
Illustration 1916
On the shore of desert waves
He stood, full of great thoughts,
And looked into the distance. Before him wide
The river rushed ...
Illustration 1903
A hundred years have passed, and a young city,
Full-night countries beauty and wonder,
From the darkness of the forest, from the swamp blat
Ascended magnificently, proudly;
Where is the Finnish angler before,
Nature's sad stepson
One off the low shores
Thrown into unknown waters
Its dilapidated seine, now there
On busy shores
The slender masses are crowding
Palaces and towers; ships
A crowd from all over the earth
They strive for rich marinas;
The Neva was dressed in granite;
Bridges hung over the waters;
Dark green gardens
The islands covered her ...
Illustration 1916
I love you, Peter's creation,
I love your strict, slender look,
The sovereign current of the Neva,
Coastal granite
The pattern of your fences is cast-iron,
Of your brooding nights
Transparent dusk, moonless shine,
When I'm in my room
I write, I read without an icon lamp,
And the sleeping masses are clear
Deserted streets, and light
Admiralty needle,
And, not letting in the darkness of the night,
To the golden skies
One dawn to change another
Hurries, giving the night half an hour.
Illustration 1903.
Over darkened Petrograd
Breathed November with an autumnal chill.
Splashing in a noisy wave
To the edges of your slender fence,
Neva rushed about like a patient
Restless in her bed.
It was already late and dark;
The rain beat angrily through the window
And the wind blew, howling sadly.
At that time from the guests home
Young Eugene came ...
Illustration 1903.
Awful day!
Neva all night
Tore to the sea against the storm
Not having overcome their violent foolishness ...
And she became unable to argue ...
In the morning over her shores
The people were crowded in heaps,
Admiring the splashes, mountains
And the foam of angry waters
Illustration 1903.
And Petropolis surfaced like Triton,
He is immersed in water up to his waist.
Siege! Attack! Evil waves
They climb into windows like thieves. Chelny
With a running start, the glass is hit by the stern.
Trays under a wet blanket
Wreckage of huts, logs, roofs,
Commodity of thrifty trade,
Remnants of pale poverty
Bridges demolished by a thunderstorm,
Coffins from a washed-out cemetery
Float through the streets!
Illustration 1916.
Then, on Petrova Square,
Where a new house has risen in the corner,
Where above the elevated porch
With a raised paw, as if alive,
There are two sentry lions,
On a marble beast riding,
Without a hat, hands clenched in a cross
Sat motionless, terribly pale
Evgeniy….
Illustration 1916.
The water is gone, and the pavement
Opened, and my Eugene
In a hurry, sinking in soul,
In hope, fear and longing
To the barely resigned river.
But, victory is full of triumph,
The waves were still boiling viciously,
As if a fire smoldered under them,
They also covered their foam,
And the Neva was breathing heavily,
Like a horse running from a battle.
Eugene looks: sees a boat;
He runs to her as if he were a find;
He calls the carrier ...
Illustration 1903.
And long with stormy waves
An experienced rower fought,
And hide deep between their ranks
Every hour with daring swimmers
The boat was ready ...
Illustration 1903.
What is this? ...
He stopped.
I went back and came back.
Looking ... walking ... still looking.
Here is the place where their house stands;
Here is a willow tree. There were gates here -
Demolished them, apparently. Where is home?
And, full of gloomy care,
Everything walks, he walks around ...
Illustration 1903.
But poor, my poor Eugene ...
Alas, his troubled mind
Against terrible shocks
I could not resist. Mutinous noise
Neva and winds rang out
In his ears. Terrible thoughts
Silently full, he wandered.
... It will soon light
Became a stranger. I wandered on foot all day
I slept on the pier; fed on
In the window a piece served.
Shabby clothes on him
It was torn and smoldering. Angry children
They threw stones after him.
Illustration 1903.
He found himself under the pillars
Big house. On the porch
With a raised paw, as if alive,
The guard lions stood,
And right in the dark above
Over the fenced rock
Idol with outstretched hand
Sat on a bronze horse.
Evgeny shuddered. Cleared up
The thoughts are scary in him. He found out
And the place where the flood played
Where the waves of ravenous crowded,
Rebelling viciously around him,
And the lions, and the square, and that
Who stood motionless
In the darkness, the head of brass,
The one whose fateful will
The city was founded under the sea ...
Illustration 1903.
Around the foot of the idol
The poor madman bypassed
And brought wild gaze
On the face of the sovereign of the half-world.
His chest was embarrassed .. 
Illustration 1903
And it is empty by area
Runs and hears behind him -
As if thunder rumble -
Heavy-ringing galloping
On the shocked pavement ...
And, illuminated by the pale moon,
Stretch your hand high
The Bronze Horseman rushes behind him
On a ringing horse ...
Illustration 1903.
And all night long, poor madman
Wherever you turned your feet,
Behind him everywhere the Bronze Horseman
He rode with a heavy stomp.
Illustration 1903.
And since that time when it happened
Go that square to him
His face showed
Confusion. To your heart
He pressed hastily his hand
As if humbling him torment
I took out a worn-out cap,
I did not raise my confused eyes
And he walked to the side.
MINISTRY OF BRANCH OF RUSSIA
State educational institution of higher professional education
"RUSSIAN STATE HUMANITARIAN UNIVERSITY"
(RSUH)
FACULTY OF ART HISTORY
Higher School of Restoration
DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS OF ILLUSTRATIONS BY A. BENOIS TO THE POEM OF A. S. PUSHKIN "THE COPPER RIDER"
Coursework of a 1st year student of the evening department
Moscow 2011
1. Introduction _________________________________________________ 3
2. Chapter I. Analysis of the historical and artistic context ______ 5
3. Chapter II. Graphic sheets of the 3rd edition: description and analysis ____ 9
4. Chapter III. Features of the art of book graphics _____________ 15
5. Conclusion _______________________________________________ 19
6. List of sources and literature _____________________________ 21
Introduction
In the process of working on illustrations for the poem "The Bronze Horseman", which lasted nearly 20 years, A. Benois created three editions of illustrations - 1903, 1905, 1916. The subject of analysis in this work is the illustrations of the third edition, which were published in the 1923 book edition. The original graphic sheets were made by Benoit in ink, graphite pencil, and watercolors. Illustrations are printed in the technique of lithography.
A copy of the 1923 edition is in the RSL, also in the State Museum (GMP). The original sheets of different editions are divided into different museums: the Pushkin Museum im. Pushkin Museum, GMP, Russian Museum, and are also in private collections.
The nature of the analyzed material, book illustration, determines two directions of analysis: book edition and graphic sheets.
The purpose of the work is to investigate the relationship of artistic and technical features of illustrative material in the context of a book publication, the embodiment of poetic images of the poem by artistic, graphic means.
To achieve this goal, the following tasks are solved - to identify Benois's artistic intention, the historical and cultural aspect in the creation of illustrative material, to identify the technical features of the performance, to determine the importance of book graphics in the artist's work. The tasks of the work also include comparison of illustrations in the 1916 edition with previous editions, which allows tracing the development of the artist's creative thought.
In accordance with the set goal and objectives, the subject of analysis, the work has a three-part structure. The first part is devoted to the analysis of the artistic and historical context of the artist's work, as well as Pushkin's poem. The second part is devoted to graphic sheets in the context of the general artistic canvas of the poem. The third part examines the features of book illustration in terms of technology and book architectonics.
ChapterI... Analysis of the historical and artistic context
Studying, exploring the work of A. Benois, one should consider his artistic activity in the context of the "World of Art" association, which was one of the most significant cultural phenomena of the early XX century. Benoit, along with Somov, Bakst, Dobuzhinsky, was one of its founders. As N. Lapshina notes: “... the circle of interests of the World of Art, especially of its largest representatives, was unusually wide and varied. In addition to easel painting and graphics ... they have high achievements in the art of books ... One might even say that in theatrical scenery and book graphics, the work of the World of Art artists constituted an important stage in the history of not only Russian, but also world art. "
The beginning of the 20th century was marked by the flourishing of the art of book graphics, woodcuts and lithography. It should be noted the three-volume collected works for the 100th anniversary of Pushkin with illustrations by Benoit, Repin, Surikov, Vrubel, Serov, Levitan, Lancer, in which Benoit presented two illustrations for The Queen of Spades. The artist widely studies the history of book art and engraving, gives a course of lectures on the history of styles and ornamentation; he is reputed to be a connoisseur and a skilled connoisseur of the book.
The idea of illustrating the Bronze Horseman poem came to Benoit in 1903. Then he made 32 drawings, but disagreements with the publishers did not allow the planned enterprise to come true. A feature of Benois's creative concept was constructional illustration, strict adherence to the Pushkin text. This is how Benoit describes the solution to his idea: “I conceived these illustrations in the form of compositions accompanying each page of the text. The format I have established is tiny, pocket-sized, like the almanacs of the Pushkin era. "
The illustrations for the poem can be viewed in the context of Benois's general artistic activity to “rehabilitate” the artistic and cultural status of St. Petersburg. For many, St. Petersburg by that time seemed to be the focus of the spirit of the bureaucracy and bureaucracy; modern buildings violated the integrity of the architectural ensemble. In this vein, Benois's artistic publications appear, including "Picturesque Petersburg", a series of St. Petersburg watercolors. Benois defines his attitude to the events taking place in the life of the city as "historical sentimentalism" caused by the contrasts of the old, "classic", and new, industrial systems of life, the onset of alien architectural elements (factory buildings, factory buildings), the destruction of historical monuments. Therefore, the appeal to the "Petersburg Tale" has a solid foundation for the artist. “Until now, it is customary to look at Petersburg as something sluggish and pale, devoid of its own life. Only in the very last years did they begin to somehow understand that St. Petersburg possesses a completely original and unique beauty. ... St. Petersburg is something, indeed, precious for the entire Russian culture. " In this we discover the commonality of the idea of Pushkin and Benois - to create a hymn to the creation of Peter. The city is present in the poem not only as a decoration, a space of events, but reveals its own character, dominates the fate of a person. Peter is the genius of this city, and the Falconet's monument is its personification.
Researchers point to the deep rootedness of the art of the World of Art artists in the history of St. Petersburg. “Their art was born in St. Petersburg. ... they made me see the graphic quality of the city with their art ”.
Benoit is a wonderful, subtle historical painter. Here you can recall his work "Parade under Paul I." The city in Benois's illustrations for The Bronze Horseman is presented in all the richness of its architecture and everyday features. The illustrations represent, in fact, a historical reconstruction, embody the spirit of the Alexander era. Benoit's work is rooted in the Pushkin era, poetry, because it was she who served as the key to recreate the world so dear to the artist's heart.
Undoubtedly, in the context of this study, Benois's appeal to the topic of catastrophe and elements is curious. The beginning of the 20th century is filled with forebodings of upheavals. Russia was on the eve of great changes. How much more philosophical and tragic content is filling the poem, illustrations in the perspective of future events. In such a prophetic vein, many viewed the drawing that illustrated the scene of the chase and flight of Eugene, which became the frontispiece of the 1923 edition. Let us also note the flood that happened in St. Petersburg in the autumn of 1903. It did not have such tragic consequences as in 1824, "... the water in the Neva and in the canals overflowed the banks, and the streets ... turned into rivers for several hours", however, it provided the artist with the most valuable living material for his work.
Another aspect of Pushkin's poem seemed to Benois to be essential in the perception of the relationship between the hero (Eugene) and the city, the creation of Peter. This is the unreality, the fantastic nature of Petersburg, which lies in the very essence of the city, without which it is difficult to assess the depth of the hero's tragedy. Benoit himself emphasizes his enthusiasm for this very characteristic feature: "... it was this poem that captivated me, touched and excited me with its mixture of the real and the fantastic ...". Apparently, this is the characteristic “palette” of the city, where white nights create a feeling of illusion, illusion of the surrounding space, where the swampy soil gives rise to crazy visions.
The second edition of the illustrations was done by Benoit in 1905. The series consisted of six illustrations, including the famous frontispiece. The artist writes: “... I wanted the book to be“ pocket ”, in the format of almanacs of the Pushkin era, but I had to subordinate the drawings to the format of our magazine [World of Art, No. 1, 1904]. This is the reason why I decided in our other publishing house to release the same series of compositions already in a much larger format ”. In the original, the size of the frontispiece is 42x31.5 cm, while the illustrations of the first edition were 21.3x21.1 cm.
The basis of the illustrative material for the art edition of the 1923 poem "The Bronze Horseman" is the third edition of Benois's drawings, made by him in 1916. He repeated six large sheets of the second edition almost unchanged; the sheets of the first were drawn again with some corrections. Transferring the originals to the Russian Museum in 1918, the author made dedicatory and memorial inscriptions on almost each of them. These initiations are a kind of autobiographical subtext, an important link in the understanding of illustrative material, bringing a personal aspect to their perception.
ChapterII... Graphic sheets of the 3rd edition: description and analysis
Drawings are made with ink, pen, graphite pencil with various tinted watercolor linings - gray, greenish, yellowish, applied with a brush. They create an atmosphere, convey the character of the city, its airspace, the inner state of the protagonist. The color scheme of the drawings is rather monotonous, stingy, thereby denoting more vividly the inner experiences of Eugene, the drama of events. Techniques of watercolors, pastels, gouaches were favorite in the work of the artists of the "World of Art", they served the embodiment of such important sensations for artists as "the ephemerality of being, the fragility of dreams, the poetry of experiences."
A feature of the illustrations is the coexistence of different graphic styles - color lithographs are interspersed with graphic headpieces that accentuate the final episodes of each of the parts. This gave rise to criticism of the artist, which was reproached for the lack of integrity, the hesitation of the artistic idea. However, this approach was based on Benois's desire to match "the generous variety of stylistic streams of Pushkin's Petersburg epic." Graphic screensavers are symbolic, reflecting the romantic, fantastic nature of the poem. Filling the pages with mythological images, such as Triton and Naiad (frequent characters in park sculpture), emphasizes the animate nature of the city, the elements that are conveyed in Pushkin's text by various poetic images: “The Neva rushed about like a sick person in her bed,” “waves creep like animals through the windows "," The Neva breathed like a horse running from a battle. " The plot of the conflict at the end of the first part of the poem is solved by Benoit precisely with the help of a graphic splash, which emphasizes the fantastic nature of the confrontation.
Let us dwell on the key episodes of the poetic and illustrative material. The edition opens with a frontispiece depicting a chase scene. Taking the basis of the poem, it seems to outline the leitmotif, the motive of opposition, madness, phantasmagoria. The contrast between the greatness of the monument and the insignificance of Eugene is most significantly expressed in it - it seems to creep along the ground, rather representing its own shadow, the shadow of the Shadow of the giant. The shining reflection of the moon on the forehead of the monument enhances the impression of the fantastic nature of what is happening.
The illustrations accompanying the introduction to the poem are dedicated to the glorification of the city in its arts and are directly related to the motives of the art of the Pushkin era.
In contrast to the 1903 edition, in which Peter occupies the central part of the drawing, facing the viewer "en face", in the 1916 drawing, Peter stands at a distance and is turned to the viewer sideways, almost with his back. Here we see a correspondence to Pushkin's "He stood", the replacement of the name with a pronoun. This imparts to Peter the character of sublime, unattainable greatness. In the illustration, Benoit solves this problem as follows. Peter's pose, in contrast to his entourage, literally blown off their feet, is balanced and calm. The waves seem to be peacefully spreading at his feet. We understand that this is not an ordinary person. The greatness in the text is revealed by his aspirations, in the drawing it is the breadth of the horizon, Peter's aspiration into the distance. Peter's gaze is directed not only into the distance, but also beyond the border of the illustration, which reflects only the intentions he knows. It is curious that Benoit “clears” the horizon from Pushkin’s images of the “poor boat”, “the huts were blackened”. This reflected the idea of Benoit and the peculiarities of Pushkin's poetics - we see perfectly, we feel the images outside the drawing; gusts of wind, uplifting clothes, make it possible to clearly distinguish the rustling forest behind the viewer. The rainy, hostile character of the area is emphasized by expressive black lines and strokes.
“A hundred years have passed ...” we read in the Pushkin text, and the next illustration is a panorama of the city, ascending, according to N. Lapshina, to the landscape works of the remarkable painter of the Alexander era, F. Alekseev. On the right is the corner bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress, in the distance the Stock Exchange building, rostral columns, on the left in the distance is the Admiralty. The space is organized by a perspective expanding in all directions. In the distance, in the background, we see a floating, floating, fantastic city, ready to disappear into a ghostly white night if it were not balanced by a corner bastion. In a boat sailing along the river, emerging from the previous stanza, we see a rower and two riders - a man and a woman. People almost completely disappeared into the surrounding landscape, the elements of granite and water.
This drawing is dedicated to “Akita’s wife and friend”, and, perhaps, in the riders, the author represents himself and his girlfriend, thus transferring the graphic story two centuries later. Combining time layers, introducing his own element of the author-lyrical hero, Benoit weaves personal feelings, his life into the fabric of the narrative. The poem takes on the character of historical continuity, and the events taking place take on a supra-historical character.
The next interior illustration, located on one spread in contrast to the panorama, takes us to the intimate abode of the artistic world of St. Petersburg. The poet, illuminated by the light of the white night, reads poetry to his friends in the dimness of the room. Poetry and graphics reign here. In this close circle, incorruptible lines are born. The bright contrast between light and shadow of the composition emphasizes the mystery of what is happening.
In the introduction, we discovered the titanic aspirations of Peter, at the beginning of the first part we recognize the modest, human dreams of Eugene, who are going to "crash" on the granite of the monument. The room depicted in the illustration, in which Yevgeny is sitting, refers the reader to another Petersburg, Petersburg of Dostoevsky's "poor people", Gogol's "Overcoat", thereby emphasizing the historical continuity, the significance of the theme of the little man, raised by Pushkin in the poem.
The illustrations of the first part of the poem represent various scenes of flooding, the triumph of elements, mythical natural forces. In the image of the elements, Benoit uses diagonal, broken lines, torn strokes. They destroy the integrity of the composition, the stability of the urban landscape. We can say that the graphic harmonious rhythms of St. Petersburg are destroyed by the ragged diagonals of waves and heavenly outlines.
Let us turn to the illustration with Eugene on a lion (“on a marble beast, astride, without a hat, clenching his hands with a cross”), which is the outset of a dramatic conflict. Here we observe a departure from the figurative structure of the poem. "The idol on a bronze horse" rises above the Neva "in an unshakable height." However, the historical, topographic location of the lion on which Eugene was sitting did not allow Benois to realize the conflict in one illustration, the silhouette of the monument is only barely outlined by a spot in the distance. Therefore, the occurrence of a conflict is carried over to the next page in the form of a graphic splash, informing the mythical character of the upcoming events. We see Peter on a pedestal, on which a mythical lion, as if woven from the elements, steps. Such a decision, however, still somewhat diminishes the drama of the episode.
The illustrations of the second part are dedicated to the personal tragedy of Eugene, his madness and opposition to Peter, the genius of St. Petersburg.
The scenes of Eugene's approach to the monument, the chases have a cinematic character. Observing the monument from different angles, we, as it were, feel its materiality. Expressed in a series of sequentially unfolding scenes of walking around the monument, Eugene's escape, the illustrative canvas conveys dynamism, the tension of the chase. The rider galloping after Eugene is not a sculpture that has come to life, but a captured monument to Falcone. Depicting the galloping monument in the form of a silhouette, Benoit emphasizes its phantasmagoric, ghostly character. The silhouette design also denotes the conventionality of the background, transfers the characters from the depth of the scenery to the plane of the sheet.
The monument, towering at the level of a three-story building in the last scene, suppresses with its grandeur, seems to be the apotheosis of hallucinations. Eugene, with his back to the building, no longer sees, does not feel the idol behind him, he is everywhere. From the night streets of St. Petersburg we are transported into the inner world of Eugene, as if we look into his eyes and see a nightmare vision there.
Painting scenes of the night chase, Eugene's madness, Benoit uses contrasts, creating a sense of tension. The sky, filled with alternating, broken stripes of ink and whitewash, conveys thunderclaps, the desolation of the streets increases the tension of what is happening, the whitewash used by the author creates a ghostly illumination; the full moon arises as the apotheosis of insanity.
In contrast to the last picture of madness, the following illustration has a realistic, everyday character. Eugene wanders among passers-by, he is completely destroyed by his madness, and his tragedy seems to be lost in the general varied rhythm of the city. The monument sits firmly and unshakably on a pedestal, as Peter once stood confidently on the shore of desert waves. We see the moment of movement when Eugene and the rider intersect on one straight line of perspective, representing the complete opposite in their direction.
Let us additionally designate a number of artistic features of the illustrations. They are equally, consistently placed on each page, providing a strict narrative character of the illustrative material. In different places we see framing techniques. In the illustration "On the Shore of Desert Waves" Peter looks into the distance, filled with "great thoughts", in the next frame we see, as it were, the way of his thoughts, a city that has arisen; The Emperor, looking towards the Stock Exchange, and then the rostral column, with huge waves crashing down on it; Eugene, astride a lion, reflects on Parasha, and in the next illustration we see a house on an island flooded by waves. Also, the illustrative material is rich in plastic connections, repetitions. Watching Eugene destroyed by madness in the last scene against the background of the monument, we see the same monument, unwaveringly towering among the waves of the flood.
If we follow the apt remark of Wipper that for evaluating the work of an illustrator "it is always the criterion that ultimately decides whether [the artist] has captured the spirit of the work", then Benoit's work appears to be the pinnacle of book illustration mastery. He achieved remarkable reliability in conveying the spirit of the Alexander, Pushkin era, the depth of psychological confrontation, the tragic nature of the contradiction between the greatness of Peter's work and the sad fate of the "little man." It can be argued that the depth of penetration into the text, its interpretation depends on the amount of artistic talent that Benoit fully possessed. This determined the intrinsic value of his illustrations, which represent both an example of the remarkable unity of graphics and poetics, and an independent, self-valuable graphic cycle.
ChapterIII... Features of the art of book graphics
Speaking of a book as a single subject, one should speak of its architectonics, that is, the correspondence of various parts to a common structure, a holistic impression. This is the form of the book, the features of the type and illustrative material in the organization of the white sheet space. Thus, text and illustration (printed graphics) appear to be related phenomena, and their stylistic unity comes to the fore. Vipper identifies the following consonant features: “... the desire for consonance with white paper, the language of black and white contrasts, decorative functions, a certain freedom in relation to spatial and temporal unity. These properties help book graphics to get closer to literature and poetry. "
Stylistic unity is most fully realized when using the same technique for preparing cliches. This technique was woodcut. Clear, precise, laconic lines drawn with a chisel, the conventionality of the background corresponded to the font set. Here we can mention the block book, where the text and illustration were printed from the same board. Over time, other techniques developed - incisor engraving, lithography. They bring to the illustration the plasticity of images, the depth of perspective, giving the illustration the character of its own weight, separation from the book page.
Book illustrations for the poem are made in the technique of lithography. Let us turn to the author's commentary: "The prints obtained from the printing house, reproducing my drawings (made in the style of polytypes of the 30s), I immediately painted in" neutral "tones, which were then to be printed in a lithographic way." Lithography is characterized by the most complete transfer of the peculiarities of the original technique, wide pictorial possibilities. Technical features of lithographic technique - soft touch, smooth transitions, depth of contrasts. “Night and fog are closer to lithography than daylight. Her language is built on transitions and reticence. "
What else could be more suitable for conveying the spirit of St. Petersburg, "the most deliberate and abstract city", its ghostly, ephemerality? The stylistic features of lithography served to reveal the romantic image of the poem. Probably, in addition to purely handicraft peculiarities, it was the real-fantastic, romantic character of the Petersburg Tale, the city itself, which Benoit was so infatuated with, that determined the artist's choice in favor of lithography. The use of a pen, a graphite pencil allowed the artist to convey the classicism of the city, expressed in a laconic stroke, in precise lines.
Book illustrations are a kind of accompanying graphics. This determines the direction of the artist's work - the interpretation of poetic images by graphic means, rhythms. For Benoit, the pictorial and poetic balance of the composition is especially important. Note that the Pushkin word has visual clarity, figurative richness of poetic, sound series. Literal adherence to the text could cause discord in the composition, weaken poetic experiences. So, we can talk about the validity of various misunderstandings, or the introduction of innovations on the part of the artist.
Conceived for the format of a pocket almanac, the first edition of the illustrations reflected on their character - it is laconicism, simplicity. The absence of a frame, framing transfers characters directly to the plane of the page. In rough sketches, Benoit resorts to some ornamentation in the design of illustrations, but later refuses in favor of simplicity, naturalness, corresponding to the spirit of Pushkin's poetry.
The 1916 drawings are framed with a black line, which gives the character of weight, some picturesqueness of the illustrations. This affects some separation of illustrations from the text, which can be observed in comparison with graphic screensavers, in some places appearing among illustrations. They have a great connection with text, font. For Benois theatrical artist, there may have been an element of theatricality, conventions - the frame seems to separate the stage from the viewer.
Benois was characterized by the recognition of its own significance of illustration, the responsibility of artistic interpretation. The main purpose of the illustration is "to sharpen the persuasiveness of those images that were generated by reading ... to remain in close harmony with the main content of the book ...". Illustrations should serve as "decoration ... in the sense of genuine revitalization of the text, in the sense of understanding it ...". We see here an indication of two accompanying functions of book illustration - ornamental and figurative. In a similar way, Vipper argues in his work: "... a book illustration should be both an image and an ornamental sign at the same time." Thus, united by the unity of the sheet and the fabric of history, the text and drawing represent two planes of narration, coexisting in a subtle unity.
The dignity of Benois's graphic works was widely recognized, they were highly appreciated by Grabar, Repin, Kustodiev, and were enthusiastically received at the exhibition of the Union of Russian Artists in 1904. The 1905 frontispiece was also recognized as a significant event and made a huge impression. In the work of Benois, there was a rapprochement of Russian poetry with a Russian fiction book.
The "material" features of the publication, such as the quality of paper, printing, made it possible to speak of the book as "one of the largest printing achievements of the revolutionary time" remarks to the publication. The "failure" of the 1923 book was also recognized by the most serious critics: the book evoked a feeling of disharmony, disharmony, and accident. " But there were also other opinions. A. Ospovat writes: "The emptiness of impositions and fields, which arose due to the difference in the width of the text and illustrations ... reads like a knightly gesture of graphics towards poetry." The whiteness of the book sheet in this case personifies the container of the author's voice, representing the sound ornament of the poetic work.
Conclusion
Illustrations for Pushkin's "The Bronze Horseman" are one of the heights in the work of the artist Alexander Benois. He managed to embody in his work the spirit of the Pushkin era, the beauty of the arts that fill the space of St. Petersburg, and at the same time convey one of the most important motives of the Pushkin story - the tragedy of a little man in the light of the greatness of the historical plan.
An important moment in the birth of Benois's artistic design is its commonality with Pushkin's design - the creation of a hymn to the creation of Peter. Investigating the origins of the idea, it was important for us to turn to the work of the World of Art association, one of the directions of which was the “rehabilitation” of the artistic heritage of Russian culture of the 19th century.
Following the graphic narrative, we discovered a number of peculiarities - cinematic framing techniques, plastic repetitions, the use of contrasts and contrasts, reflecting the dynamics, rhythm of the poem, the tension of emotions, the drama of events. A feature of the illustrative material is also the coexistence of two graphic styles - color lithographs and graphic screensavers, reflecting the diversity of the style flows of Pushkin's text, the coexistence of the real and mystical layers of the poem.
To understand the unity of illustration and text, the commonality of their tasks is essential - mastering the space of a white sheet. Having examined the artist's approach to book illustration, we identified two components of the function: figurative and ornamental. It is the close unity of these functions that is the key to the coexistence of illustration and text.
Having identified the features of the lithographic technique, such as a soft touch, smooth transitions, the depth of contrasts, we came to an understanding of their correspondence to the romantic, fantastic spirit of Pushkin's poem.
Having studied the development of the artist's creative concept in various editions, we have identified their features. Thus, the first edition most closely corresponds to the woodcut technique, reveals closeness to the text, typesetting. Illustrations of the latest edition have a more picturesque, weighty character, representing a self-valuable graphic cycle. This approach reflected Benois's idea of the proper meaning of illustration, a responsible interpretation of poetic images.
List of sources and literature
Sources of
1. Benois A. My memories. In 5 books. Book. 1-3. - M .: Nauka, 1990 .-- 712 p.
2. Benois A. My memories. In 5 books. Book. 4, 5. - M .: Nauka, 1990 .-- 744 p.
3. Pushkin the horseman: Petersburg story / ill. A. Benois. - St. Petersburg: Committee for the popularization of art publications, 1923. - 78 p.
4. Pushkin's horseman. - L .: Nauka, 1978 .-- 288 p.
Literature
5. Alpatov on the general history of art. - M .: Soviet artist, 1979 .-- 288 p.
6. Alexandre Benois reflects ... / edition prepared by,. - M .: Soviet artist, 1968 .-- 752 p.
7. Whipper in the historical study of art. - M .: V. Shevchuk Publishing House, 2008 .-- 368 p.
8. Gerchuk graphics and art books: a tutorial. - M .: Aspect Press, 2000 .-- 320 p.
9. Gusarov's art. - L .: Artist of the RSFSR, 1972 .-- 100 p.
10. Zilberstein Finds: The Age of Pushkin. - Moscow: Fine Arts, 1993 .-- 296 p.
11. Lapshin's art: essays on history and creative practice. - M .: Art, 1977 .-- 344 p.
Lapshin's Art: Essays on History and Creative Practice. M., 1977.S. 7.
Benois A. My memoirs. In 5 books. Book. 4, 5.M., 1990.S. 392.
Gusarov's art. L., 1972.S. 22.
Benois A. Decree. op. P. 394.
Alexander Benois reflects ... M., 1968. S. 713.
Alexander Benois reflects ... M., 1968. S. 713-714.
Gusarov. op. P. 28.
Ospovat. op. P. 248.
Vipper in the historical study of art. M., 2008.S. 91.
Gerchuk graphics and art books: a tutorial. M., 2000.S. 5.
Whipper. op. S. 87-88.
Benois A. Decree. op. P. 393.
Whipper. op. P. 72.
Alexander Benois reflects ... M., 1968. S. 322.
In the same place. S. 322-323.
Whipper. op. P. 84.
Ospovat. op. P. 228.
Ospovat. op. P. 233.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BENOIS Alexander Nikolaevich. A set of postcards with illustrations by the artist for the poem by A.S. Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman" (Edition "Soviet Artist". Moscow. 1966)
Illustration 1916
On the shore of desert waves
He stood, full of great thoughts,
And looked into the distance. Before him wide
The river rushed ...
Illustration 1903
A hundred years have passed, and a young city,
Full-night countries beauty and wonder,
From the darkness of the forest, from the swamp blat
Ascended magnificently, proudly;
Where is the Finnish angler before,
Nature's sad stepson
One off the low shores
Thrown into unknown waters
Its dilapidated seine, now there
On busy shores
The slender masses are crowding
Palaces and towers; ships
A crowd from all over the earth
They strive for rich marinas;
The Neva was dressed in granite;
Bridges hung over the waters;
Dark green gardens
The islands covered her ...
Illustration 1916
I love you, Peter's creation,
I love your strict, slender look,
The sovereign current of the Neva,
Coastal granite
The pattern of your fences is cast-iron,
Of your brooding nights
Transparent dusk, moonless shine,
When I'm in my room
I write, I read without an icon lamp,
And the sleeping masses are clear
Deserted streets, and light
Admiralty needle,
And, not letting in the darkness of the night,
To the golden skies
One dawn to change another
Hurries, giving the night half an hour.
Illustration 1903.
Over darkened Petrograd
Breathed November with an autumnal chill.
Splashing in a noisy wave
To the edges of your slender fence,
Neva rushed about like a patient
Restless in her bed.
It was already late and dark;
The rain beat angrily through the window
And the wind blew, howling sadly.
At that time from the guests home
Young Eugene came ...
Illustration 1903.
Awful day!
Neva all night
Tore to the sea against the storm
Not having overcome their violent foolishness ...
And she became unable to argue ...
In the morning over her shores
The people were crowded in heaps,
Admiring the splashes, mountains
And the foam of angry waters
Illustration 1903.
And Petropolis surfaced like Triton,
He is immersed in water up to his waist.
Siege! Attack! Evil waves
They climb into windows like thieves. Chelny
With a running start, the glass is hit by the stern.
Trays under a wet blanket
Wreckage of huts, logs, roofs,
Commodity of thrifty trade,
Remnants of pale poverty
Bridges demolished by a thunderstorm,
Coffins from a washed-out cemetery
Float through the streets!
Illustration 1916.
Then, on Petrova Square,
Where a new house has risen in the corner,
Where above the elevated porch
With a raised paw, as if alive,
There are two sentry lions,
On a marble beast riding,
Without a hat, hands clenched in a cross
Sat motionless, terribly pale
Evgeniy….
Illustration 1916.
The water is gone, and the pavement
Opened, and my Eugene
In a hurry, sinking in soul,
In hope, fear and longing
To the barely resigned river.
But, victory is full of triumph,
The waves were still boiling viciously,
As if a fire smoldered under them,
They also covered their foam,
And the Neva was breathing heavily,
Like a horse running from a battle.
Eugene looks: sees a boat;
He runs to her as if he were a find;
He calls the carrier ...
Illustration 1903.
And long with stormy waves
An experienced rower fought,
And hide deep between their ranks
Every hour with daring swimmers
The boat was ready ...
Illustration 1903.
What is this? ...
He stopped.
I went back and came back.
Looking ... walking ... still looking.
Here is the place where their house stands;
Here is a willow tree. There were gates here -
Demolished them, apparently. Where is home?
And, full of gloomy care,
Everything walks, he walks around ...
Illustration 1903.
But poor, my poor Eugene ...
Alas, his troubled mind
Against terrible shocks
I could not resist. Mutinous noise
Neva and winds rang out
In his ears. Terrible thoughts
Silently full, he wandered.
... It will soon light
Became a stranger. I wandered on foot all day
I slept on the pier; fed on
In the window a piece served.
Shabby clothes on him
It was torn and smoldering. Angry children
They threw stones after him.
Illustration 1903.
He found himself under the pillars
Big house. On the porch
With a raised paw, as if alive,
The guard lions stood,
And right in the dark above
Over the fenced rock
Idol with outstretched hand
Sat on a bronze horse.
Evgeny shuddered. Cleared up
The thoughts are scary in him. He found out
And the place where the flood played
Where the waves of ravenous crowded,
Rebelling viciously around him,
And the lions, and the square, and that
Who stood motionless
In the darkness, the head of brass,
The one whose fateful will
The city was founded under the sea ...
Illustration 1903.
Around the foot of the idol
The poor madman bypassed
And brought wild gaze
On the face of the sovereign of the half-world.
His chest was embarrassed ..
Illustration 1903
And it is empty by area
Runs and hears behind him -
As if thunder rumble -
Heavy-ringing galloping
On the shocked pavement ...
And, illuminated by the pale moon,
Stretch your hand high
The Bronze Horseman rushes behind him
On a ringing horse ...
Illustration 1903.
And all night long, poor madman
Wherever you turned your feet,
Behind him everywhere the Bronze Horseman
He rode with a heavy stomp.
Illustration 1903.
And since that time when it happened
Go that square to him
His face showed
Confusion. To your heart
He pressed hastily his hand
As if humbling him torment
I took out a worn-out cap,
I did not raise my confused eyes
And he walked to the side.
In the first decades of the twentieth century, drawings by Alexander Nikolaevich Benois (1870 - 1960) for "The Bronze Horseman" were made - the best that has been created in the entire history of Pushkin's illustration. In the drawings of A.N. Benois, the images of A.S. Pushkin's "Petersburg story" are, as it were, colored by the reflections and experiences of a person at the beginning of the 20th century. Therefore, it was the "modernity" of Benois's illustrations that caught the eye of connoisseurs of art at the beginning of the 20th century, it seemed to them no less essential than the artist's sense of style, understanding of the Pushkin era and the ability to skillfully stage the action, having developed a number of "masterfully staged mise-en-scenes."
The Bronze Horseman (read by I. Smoktunovsky)
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Slide captions:
A.S. Pushkin "M edny rider"
The history of the creation of the poem The poem is based on the real story of the flood that occurred in November 1824 in St. Petersburg. During the flood, Pushkin was in exile in Mikhailovsky, so in the poem he described the events according to the testimony of eyewitnesses. The story of the "revived monument" could have been taken by Pushkin from the story of how, in 1812, Emperor Alexander I wanted to remove the monument to Peter from St. Petersburg. But the emperor was stopped by reporting the dream of a major. In his dream, the major saw the "Bronze Horseman" galloping through the streets of Petersburg and, having approached the emperor, said to him: "Young man! What have you brought my Russia to! But while I am there, my city has nothing to fear." According to another version, Pushkin could borrow the idea of a revived monument from Don Juan.
Illustrations by A. N. Benois for the poem "The Bronze Horseman" Eugene at the place where his beloved lived Eugene talks with the Bronze Horseman
Alexander Nikolaevich Benois Alexander Nikolaevich Benois (April 21, 1870, St. Petersburg - February 9, 1960, Paris) - Russian artist, art historian, art critic, founder and chief ideologist of the World of Art association.
Born April 21, 1870 in St. Petersburg, in the family of the architect Nikolai Leontievich Benois and his wife Camilla, daughter of the architect A.K. Kavos. For some time he studied at the Academy of Arts, also studied the visual arts independently and under the guidance of his older brother Albert. In 1894 he graduated from the law faculty of St. Petersburg University. In 1894, he began his career as a theoretician and art historian, writing a chapter on Russian artists for the German collection History of 19th Century Painting. In 1896-1898 and 1905-1907 he worked in France. He became one of the organizers and ideologists of the art association "World of Art", founded the magazine of the same name. In 1916-1918, the artist created illustrations for the poem by Alexander Pushkin "The Bronze Horseman". In 1918, Benoit became the head of the Hermitage Picture Gallery and published its new catalog. He continued to work as a book and theater artist and director, in particular, he worked on staging and designing performances at the Petrograd Bolshoi Drama Theater. In 1925 he took part in the International Exhibition of Contemporary Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris. In 1926 A. N. Benois left the USSR. He lived in Paris, where he worked on sketches of theatrical scenery and costumes. He took part in S. Diaghilev's ballet enterprise “Ballets Russes” as an artist and director of performances. Died on February 9, 1960 in Paris. In recent years, he has worked on memoirs.
Illustrations by M. S. Rodionov for the poem "The Bronze Horseman" Death of Eugene Peter I on the banks of the Neva
Mikhail Semyonovich Rodionov Mikhail Semyonovich Rodionov (1885, Uryupinsky District of the Volgograd Region - 1956, Moscow) - Russian artist and art teacher.
He studied in Moscow, initially at the studios of F. Rerberg and I. Mashkov, then at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture at the department of painting (1908-1910) and after a break at the sculpture department (1915-1918). In the 1920s. was a member of the art association "Makovets". In the pre-war period he actively worked in the field of book illustration, especially for the works of L. N. Tolstoy; The best of these works is the Great Encyclopedia "Terra" names lithographs for the story "Kholstomer" (1934, for the publishing house "Academia"). Among the later works, a series of lithographic portraits of cultural figures stands out. He was married to Elizaveta Vladimirovna Giatsintova (1888-1965), daughter of art critic Vladimir Giatsintov and sister of actress Sophia Giatsintova.