A. Kuindzhi. moonlit night on the Dnieper, 1880.
Photo: art-assorty.ru
“Moonlit Night on the Dnieper” (1880) is one of the most famous paintings Arkhip Kuindzhi. This work created a real sensation and acquired mystical fame. Many did not believe that the light of the moon could be conveyed in this way only artistic means, and looked behind the canvas, looking for a lamp there. Many stood silently for hours in front of the painting, and then left in tears. Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich bought “Moonlit Night” for his personal collection and took it with him everywhere, which had tragic consequences.
Famous artist Arkhip Kuindzhi.
Photo: pravkonkurs.ru and abmortitua.xyz
The artist worked on this painting in the summer and autumn of 1880. Even before the exhibition began, rumors spread that Kuindzhi was preparing something completely incredible. There were so many curious people that on Sundays the painter opened the doors of his studio and let everyone in. Even before the exhibition began, the painting was bought by Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich.
V. Vasnetsov. Portrait of A. I. Kuindzhi, 1869. Fragment.
Photo: artcontext.info
Kuindzhi was always very zealous about exhibiting his paintings, but this time he outdid himself. It was a personal exhibition, and only one work was shown - “Moonlit Night on the Dnieper”. The artist ordered to drape all the windows and illuminate the canvas with a beam of electric light directed at it - in daylight the moonlight did not look so impressive. Visitors entered the dark hall and, as if under hypnosis, froze in front of this magical picture.
I. Kramskoy. Portraits of A. I. Kuindzhi from 1872 to the 1870s.
Photo: artcontext.info and tanais.info
There was a queue for days in front of the hall of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists in St. Petersburg, where the exhibition took place. The public had to be allowed into the room in groups to avoid crowding. The incredible effect of the painting was legendary. The shine of the moonlight was so fantastic that the artist was suspected of using some unusual mother-of-pearl paints brought from Japan or China, and was even accused of having connections with evil spirits. And skeptical viewers tried to find reverse side canvas hidden lamps.
I. Repin. Portrait of the artist A.I. Kuindzhi, 1877. Fragment |
Photo: artscroll.ru
Of course, the whole secret lay in Kuindzhi’s extraordinary artistic skill, in the skillful construction of the composition and in such a combination of colors that created the effect of radiance and caused the illusion of flickering light. The warm reddish earth tone contrasted with the cool silver tones, thereby deepening the space. However, even professionals could not explain the magical impression that the painting made on the audience with skill alone - many left the exhibition in tears.
Famous artist Arkhip Kuindzhi, 1907.
Photo: newconcepts.club
I. Repin said that the audience froze in front of the painting “in prayerful silence”: “This is how the artist’s poetic charms acted on selected believers, and they lived in such moments best feelings souls and enjoyed the heavenly bliss of the art of painting.” The poet Ya. Polonsky was surprised: “I honestly don’t remember standing in front of any painting for so long... What is this? Picture or reality? And the poet K. Fofanov, impressed by this painting, wrote the poem “Night on the Dnieper,” which was later set to music.
The colors have darkened over time.
Photo: rubooks.org
I. Kramskoy foresaw the fate of the canvas: “Perhaps Kuindzhi combined together such colors that are in natural antagonism with each other and after a certain time will either go out, or change and decompose to the point that descendants will shrug their shoulders in bewilderment: why did they come to the delight of the good-natured spectators? So, in order to avoid such unfair treatment in the future, I would not mind drawing up, so to speak, a protocol that his “Night on the Dnieper” is all filled with real light and air, and the sky is real, bottomless, deep.”
The colors have darkened over time.
Photo: art-assorty.ru
Unfortunately, our contemporaries cannot fully appreciate the original effect of the painting, since it has survived to our times in a distorted form. And the reason for this is the special attitude towards the canvas of its owner, Grand Duke Constantine. He was so attached to this painting that he took it with him to trip around the world. Having learned about this, I. Turgenev was horrified: “There is no doubt that the painting will return completely ruined, thanks to the salty fumes of the air.” He even tried to persuade the prince to leave the painting in Paris for a while, but he was adamant.
Kuindzhi’s painting also inspires modern photographers.
Photo: flickr.com
Unfortunately, the writer turned out to be right: the salt-saturated sea air and high humidity had a detrimental effect on the composition of the paints, and they began to darken. Therefore, now “Moonlit Night on the Dnieper” looks completely different. Although the moonlight still has a magical effect on viewers today, the landscape philosophy of the famous artist arouses constant interest.
When I first saw this picture, I stood rooted to the spot at the entrance to the hall of the Russian Museum. I couldn't take my eyes off small painting on the wall, as if glowing and therefore alluring. People crowded around her and heatedly discussed the effect.
It seems like nothing special. The plot is like a plot. Night, river, moon, lunar path. But that same effect of the internal light source simply drove me crazy. I couldn’t forget it for a long time, and a year ago, while in St. Petersburg, I looked for it for a long time in the Russian Museum. And I found it in my native Moscow in the Tretyakov Gallery.
Reproduction or photographs will not give such an effect. You need to watch her live.
Yes, of course, we studied the work of this artist.
He lived in the era of traveling exhibitions, even took part in one of the exhibitions, but from a certain point on he kept himself somewhat aloof. Having left the Partnership, but without spoiling relations with it, Kuindzhi organized in 1880 for the first time in Russia an exhibition of one artist, and, moreover, not yet a cycle of works, but only one painting. It was a bold, perhaps even daring, innovation. The much acclaimed “Moonlit Night on the Dnieper” was exhibited. Rumors circulated around the city even before the exhibition. At first, the painting could be seen in Kuindzhi’s studio, where he allowed the public on Sundays for two hours. Then the painting was exhibited at the Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, and all of enlightened St. Petersburg besieged its premises for days on end. It is difficult to imagine a greater triumph for the artist. Not only critics wrote about this picture, but also the scientist D.I. Mendeleev, poet Ya.P. Polonsky. “What a storm of delight Kuindzhi raised! Kramskoy. The canvas was purchased directly from the workshop by Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich.
His student was Nicholas Roerich. Not surprising, right? The same style of local fills with color, the same internal mysticism of a seemingly simple plot.
In Markhi we studied another painting of his as one that most accurately conveys his style. This is "Birch Grove". And to this day, when I find myself among the birches on a bright sunny day, I see that picture in front of me. Tree trunks, a sunlit green lawn, a thin stream. Nothing special. But that’s where the magic lies when ordinary things Unusual phenomena begin to appear.
Let's go back ten years before the appearance of the painting with the mystical moon.
Kuindzhi was born in Mariupol into the family of a poor Greek shoemaker. Twice in the early 1860s he tried to enter the Petersburg Academy Arts, and he was not accepted Only in 1868 he became a free listener
The influence of the great Aivazovsky marked Kuindzhi’s first works, many of which have not survived. Studying at the Academy of Arts, meeting I.N. Kramskoy and I.E. Repin laid the foundation for realistic perception. But in 1876, he dramatically changed his style, presenting the painting “Ukrainian Night,” in which he managed to convey the sensory perception of a southern summer night.
Numerous accusations of simplifying the canvas, clumsy colors - that’s what he faced. Like any creative personality, following her own path.but the listener. The influence of the great Aivazovsky marked Kuindzhi’s first works, many of which have not survived. Studying at the Academy of Arts, meeting I.N. Kramskoy and I.E. Repin laid the foundation for realistic perception. But in 1876, he dramatically changed his style, presenting the painting “Ukrainian Night,” in which he managed to convey the sensory perception of a southern summer night.
In the field of life's tasks, Kuindzhi left important bequests to Russian artists. As an example throughout his life, Kuindzhi called for protecting oneself from all captivity, called to serve, as he himself served all his life, to free art, called to defend the freedom of creativity.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. After the rain.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. Sea. Crimea.
Brought this amazing picture Arkhip Ivanovich pafter a trip to Ukraine and exhibited one painting at a personal exhibition. People entered a darkened room where only the painting was illuminated. The moon was shining over the river! The audience could not understand where
Arkhip Kuindzhi. Dnieper in the morning.
The calmness of the azure waters of the painting “Lake Ladoga” was conveyed to the viewer, leaving an indelible impression.
The painting “The Forgotten Village,” despite the nagging feeling of seeing the hopeless Russian reality, still left a feeling of hope and faith that all this is temporary and will soon change for the better.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. Rainbow.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. Night.
Registration number 0222764 issued for the work:
Arkhip Kuindzhi. Portrait by I.E. Repina.
Arkhip Kuindzhi was born in Mariupol into a poor Greek familyshoemaker Having a passion for drawing, he went to Feodosia and triedbecame a student of Ivan Aivazovsky, but only rubbed paints with him for two months.Having changed several professions, Arkhip Kuindzhi came to St. Petersburg and after three unsuccessful attempts he was accepted into the Imperial Academy of Arts as a volunteer. But he was not a diligent student at the academy and often skipped classes. Having painted several interesting paintings, he was noticed by the Itinerant artistsIvan Repin and Ivan Kramskoy were invited to join the partnership of traveling exhibitions. Arkhip Kuindzhi left the academy. A paradox of fate: at first they did not want to admit him to the academy, but many years later the academy invited Arkhip Kuindzhi to join the ranks of its teachers.Arkhip Kuindzhi had a good time with the Itinerants for almost 10 years, his paintings were sold at very high prices, but then he had a conflict with Mikhail Klodt and he left the artel.Arkhip Kuindzhi was not a man of the best manners. He looked somewhat fierce. He was squat, his head was like that of Olympian Zeus with an aquiline nose. He came, sat down and unceremoniously, without asking, took other people’s cigarettes, for he never had his own, although by that time he was a professor at the Academy of Arts.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. After the rain.
His paintings sold well, and he was not a poor man. Visited Arkhip Ivanovichbusiness acumen. One day he bought a house for twenty thousand rubles, brought it into exemplary condition and resold it on the spot for sixty thousand rubles.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. Ukrainian night.
But he and his wife spend an insignificant amount of fifty kopecks a day on food. Part of the money is spent in scanty amounts on paints, brushes and a workshop. But this was not stinginess. Arkhip Kuindzhi spent all his huge money on talented students, sending them to study abroad. He paid for sick people to travel to medical resorts. He helped free of charge anyone who was in trouble. Arkhip Ivanovich was a holy man, with a bright soul and a noble heart.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. Sea. Crimea.
Having saved one hundred thousand rubles, Arkhip Ivanovich contributes them to the Academy so that the interest on this money can be used as a bonus for the most talented students.After one of his trips to the island of Valaam, Kuindzhi painted a wonderful pictureabout the magnificent nature of the north. The painting was purchased by Tretyakov for his gallery.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. On the island of Valaam.
The world around us is perceived and created by Kuindzhi as a grandiose creation of nature,giving, upon contemplation, sublime, colorful associations of the pleasures of perfectionand harmony. The pinnacle of Kuindzhi's creativity was amazing picture: “Moonlit night on the Dnieper.”
Arkhip Kuindzhi. Moonlit night on the Dnieper.
After a trip to Ukraine, Arkhip Ivanovich brought back an amazing painting - “Moonlit Night on the Dnieper”. It was a personal exhibition of one painting. People entered a darkened room where only the painting was illuminated. The moon was shining over the river! The audience could not understand wherethe moon on the canvas may have a glow. Some people looked behind the painting in the hope of seeing a backlight there. There was a huge line of people waiting to see the glowing moon.in the picture. Even the artists were amazed by the painting. No one could understand how Kuindzhi painted the moon and its reflection in the water. It seemed to everyone that it was a small but real moon, glowing with its light, hanging over the canvas.
His other Ukrainian painting, “The Dnieper in the Morning,” pacified the audience at the next exhibition of the Itinerants with its space, breadth, and immense hazy distances.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. Dnieper in the morning.
The next picture shows the Chumatsky highway along which Arkhip got to Feodosia. Along the sodden road, watered by rain, convoys of Chumaks moved to the melancholy howl of dogs.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. Chumatsky tract.
The calmness and tranquility of the painting “Lake Ladoga” was conveyed to the viewer, leaving an indelible impression.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. Lake Ladoga.
In the film “Autumn Thrush” Arkhip Kuindzhi managed to show realistic picture The main Russian problem is roads. Covering the entire vastness of Russia with good roads is almost impossible. Movement is especially difficult in rainy weather, when carts often get stuck in impassable mud up to their hubs, when pedestrians pull their feet out of the muddy mud with a champing sound, when such a road has already taken all their strength and it seems that this road has no end, and only forces them to move along it. cruel necessity.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. Autumn thaw.
The approaching twilight in the painting “Steppe in the Evening” shaded the just sultry steppelandscape, a few houses and the calm, tranquil surface of the river, quietly carrying its waters. A little more and the darkness of the night will give coolness and sleep to this secluded, godforsaken land.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. Steppe in the evening.
Arkhip Kuindzhi with a friend, working atCaucasus, witnessed the rarestmountain phenomenon – Brocken ghosts,
which delighted them. Rainbowthe artists' image appeared on the cloud.The low sun cast light from behind
artists on a foggy cloud, clearlyhighlighting two lonely figures on itartists, as if favorably encouraging
and inspiring them to create a masterpiece. And a masterpiecetook place! There was only one pity: thisthe mystical miracle of nature melted earlier,than they managed to transfer it to the canvas.
Brocken ghosts. (modern reconstruction).
The painting “Elbrus in the Evening” delighted viewers, fascinated by the grandeur and beauty of the Caucasus.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. Elbrus in the evening.
The painting “The Forgotten Village,” despite the nagging feeling of seeing the hopeless Russian reality, still left a feeling of hope and faith that all this is temporary and will soon change for the better.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. Forgotten village.
Arkhip Kuindzhi's paintings were most often sold out even before the exhibition. Collectors paid top dollar for some paintings. A millionaire from Kyiv bought “Birch Grove” for 7thousand rubles, while portraits of Ivan Kramskoy cost 800 - 900 hundred rubles, and the works of other artists cost even less.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. Birch Grove.
The noble heart of Arkhip Ivanovich could not stand rudeness and injustice. When the Academy refused Isaac Brodsky a trip abroad, as a Jew, Arkhip Ivanovich slammed his fist on the table and left the meeting in protest. At his own expense, he sent Brodsky to Italy, and with him 16 of his best students.
Kuindzhi painted many beautiful paintings, but he was primarily a poet of the night landscape.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. Daryal Gorge.
Arkhip Ivanovich was friends with Dmitry Mendeleev. The great chemist loved painting, artists, and once presented his device for measuring the sensitivity of the eye to the subtle nuances of color shades.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. Evening in Little Russia.
Arkhip Kuindzhi broke all test records to perfect accuracy.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. Rainbow.
Arkhip Ivanovich loved not only people, but also birds. This was the artist’s weakness, which was mocked by careless caricaturists. Exactly at noon, by the sound of an artillery gunPeter and Paul Fortress, Arkhip Ivanovich went out onto the roof of his house and fed the birds from his hands. Thousands of birds flocked from all over the area in advance, they covered their breadwinner from head to toe. It was impressive: a gray-haired man, beaming with happiness, shared with the chirping and croaking feathered brethren his daily bread, which he got through hard, backbreaking labor. Arkhip Ivanovich fed the birds, he took some of them in his hands, and they were not afraid of him at all, loving their benefactor and trusting him. From one hand this noble man Both huge crows and small birds pecked the food, and no one offended anyone. Quite a lot of white bread, cereals and meat for crows were spent every day on feeding the birds. Isn't this an example of God's attitude towards each other? He picked up sick and frozen crows, jackdaws and sparrows, dragged them into the house, warmed them up and, having cured them, released them into the wild. One day she flew into Kuindzhi's workshopa urticaria butterfly with a torn wing, so Arkhip Ivanovich taped up the butterfly’s wing and released it into the wild.
Arkhip Kuindzhi had a special love for nature. He was afraid to trample the grass, avoided accidentally crushing a beetle, a caterpillar, or even a barely noticeable ant. It was touching to see how the elderlyThe man, groaning, cleared the source and carefully transplanted a bunch of grass to another place.Arkhip Ivanovich was also kind to people, giving away money to everyone in need. And he loved to do his good deeds in such a way that the recipient did not know where the help came from. The generosity of his soul knew no bounds. Acquired through backbreaking labor and personal hardshipsArkhip Ivanovich bequeathed his million-dollar fortune to the independent Society of Artists, which he created in recent years life.
Arkhip Kuindzhi. Night.
But having reached the pinnacle of his fame, Kuindzhi suddenly stopped exhibiting, saying that he could no longer create anything significant. And he didn’t show anything to anyone for twenty years, although, as he said, he was working and looking for new approaches in painting, not wanting to repeat himself. And one day, friends, having gotten the great master drunk, persuaded him to show his work of the last twenty years. And in vain they gave me a drink - it was a complete disappointment. The author of Moonlit Night on the Dnieper really had nothing more to show. The impression was as if he had been crucified naked on a cross. And this was also the great merit of Arkhip Kuindzhi: if there are no worthy new paintings, then you must have the courage and not exhibit. Not everyone is capable of such a feat...
Information about Arkhip Kuindzhi’s childhood is very fragmentary and incomplete. Even the date of his birth is not known reliably. A few documents have survived, on the basis of which researchers of Kuindzhi’s biography call his birthday January 15, 1841. This event took place in a suburb of Mariupol called Karasu.
Talent and Poverty (1841-1854)
It is believed that the artist’s ancestors were Greeks who lived in Crimea in close proximity to the Tatars. There was a gradual interpenetration of cultures, the language barrier was erased, and mixed marriages arose. Therefore, it is quite possible that there is Tatar blood in Kuindzhi’s family, although the artist himself always said that he considered himself Russian.
The surname “Kuindzhi” (in the original transcription Kuyumdzhi) in the Tatar language means the name of the craft: “goldsmith”. It is known that the artist’s grandfather was indeed a jeweler. Sibling Arkhipa translated his surname into Russian and became Zolotarev.
The birth of a talented child in a poor family does not promise him any privileges. Kuindzhi's father, Ivan Khristoforovich, was a shoemaker and could not provide his children with prosperity. When Arkhip was three years old, his father suddenly died. The mother lived very short after this. The little orphans were left in the care of Father Kuindzhi’s brother and sister, who took turns taking care of them as best they could.
Thanks to the support of his relatives, the boy learned to read and write, studying with a familiar Greek teacher, and later briefly attended the local city school. He did not like studying there and found it very difficult. It was during this period that his drawing abilities first clearly manifested themselves. Getting carried away, the kid drew not only on random scraps of paper, but also on furniture or a fence. This activity brought him genuine joy.
Poverty forced him to work as a shepherd, as an assistant to a grain merchant, or as a brick counter during the construction of a church. But drawing was still his main passion. This continued until 1855, when one of the adults, noticing the boy’s talent, advised him to go and study drawing with Aivazovsky in Feodosia. Arkhip Kuindzhi made this long journey on foot, since he had nothing to pay for the journey.
New turn (1855-1859)
Crimean landscapes captured the imagination of an impressionable teenager. Aivazovsky was absent at that time, so his copyist, Adolf Fessler, out of the kindness of his heart, took part in the fate of young Arkhip. He taught him his first real drawing lessons. For poor and shy Arkhip, this meant that he had hope of becoming an artist.
He stayed in Feodosia for several months. Aivazovsky’s daughter in her memoirs described him as a short, very curly-haired boy in a straw hat, very quiet and shy.
Aivazovsky himself, upon returning to Feodosia, failed to recognize Kuindzhi’s talent and did not begin to study with him. True, he entrusted him with mixing paints and painting his fence. Disappointed and depressed by this turn of events, the young man returns home.
Luck on the third try (1860-1868)
IN hometown Kuindzhi works for several months as a retoucher for a photographer, and later goes in search of work, first to Odessa, and from there to Taganrog. This city greeted him more welcomingly. Arkhip is hired into the photo studio of S.S. Isakovich, again as a retoucher. And he continues to draw.
Having finally realized that he would not be able to realize his dream in such conditions, Kuindzhi gave up everything and moved to St. Petersburg, where he tried to enter the Academy of Arts. However, fate gave him a new grimace - failure in the exams. The second attempt was also unsuccessful.
But talent and love for painting required an outlet and pushed me to overcome obstacles. Kuindzhi persistently painted and in 1868 exhibited his first painting entitled “Tatar hut in the Crimea.” This work gives him access to the Academy of Arts, where he is enrolled as a volunteer student.
During this fertile period, Kuindzhi creates incredibly poignant paintings “Autumn thaw”, “Forgotten village” and “Chumatsky tract in Mariupol”.
They are painted in an innovative manner. Carefully selected shades very accurately convey the gloom and dullness of the bleak landscapes. The unusual colors and special play of shadows greatly impressed the public, but received mixed reviews among artists.
"Northern" period (1869-1873)
Kuindzhi was very attracted to working on landscapes. He developed his own special technique for applying paints, which made it possible to create such unusual visual illusions that his friends called him a hoaxer behind his back.
Inspired by views northern nature, the artist in a short period created such masterpieces as “Lake Ladoga”, “Snow”, “On the Island of Valaam”, “St. Isaac’s Cathedral by Moonlight”.
Again a turn and a meteoric rise (1874-1881)
In 1874, the life of Arkhip Kuindzhi received new content: the artist married Vera Leontyevna Ketcherdzhi. He was in love with her since teenage years. Previously, this marriage was impossible due to Kuindzhi’s extreme poverty and the rich origin of the bride.
Now the sale of paintings has made the artist a wealthy person. He was able to visit England, France, Austria, Switzerland and other countries to get acquainted with various schools of painting.
A new, more joyful period of life has arrived. And the artist’s paintings acquired a different tone. “Birch Grove”, “Dnieper in the Morning”, “Moonlit Night on the Dnieper”, “Ukrainian Night” written at that time made an incredible impression on the public.
The bright, almost decorative play of colors made the paintings simply glow. Some even tried to look behind the canvas to make sure there was no artificial moonlight. Kuindzhi's contemporary, poet Ya. Polonsky, looking at the paintings, wondered in bewilderment: is this a painting or a window frame, behind which a landscape of incomprehensible beauty opens?
Silence of a Genius (1882-1910)
After such a resounding success, Kuindzhi’s friends reasonably expected new paintings and subjects. But the artist has his own logic - he stopped exhibitions for 20 years. At this time, he continued to write, study literature, tutor students, and build a dacha in Crimea.
Despite his active and touchy character, Arkhip Kuindzhi was reputed to be very kind person. He constantly and free of charge supported his students with money and established prizes for the best young artists. His kindness also extended to animals and birds.
From the written memoirs of the artist’s contemporaries it is known that every day around noon he went out into the yard to feed the birds. Already accustomed to such a ritual, sparrows, crows, doves and other winged brethren flocked to him. The birds were not afraid of him at all, they sat on his hands, which only made the owner happy.
In 1901, Kuindzhi broke his “silence” by presenting new masterpieces to the discerning public: “Evening in Ukraine”, the theological plot “Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane” and new option"Birch Grove" They still excite and fascinate the viewer, captivating the eye for a long time.
He did not exhibit again and many of his paintings became known only after his death. Died genius artist July 11, 1910. The cause of death was a diseased heart.
“Moonlit Night on the Dnieper” (1880) is one of the most famous paintings by Arkhip Kuindzhi. This work created a real sensation and acquired mystical fame. Many did not believe that the light of the moon could be conveyed in this way only through artistic means, and they looked behind the canvas, looking for a lamp there. Many stood silently for hours in front of the painting, and then left in tears. Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich bought “Moonlit Night” for his personal collection and took it with him everywhere, which had tragic consequences.
Which? This is what we are about to find out...
In the summer and autumn of 1880, during the break with the Wanderers, A.I. Kuindzhi worked on new picture. By Russian capital Rumors spread about the enchanting beauty of “Moonlit Night on the Dnieper.” For two hours on Sundays, the artist opened the doors of his studio to everyone, and the St. Petersburg public began to besiege it long before the completion of the work. This painting gained truly legendary fame. I.S. Turgenev and Ya. Polonsky, I. Kramskoy and P. Chistyakov, D.I. Mendelev came to the workshop of A.I. Kuindzhi, and the famous publisher and collector K.T. Soldatenkov had an eye on the painting. Directly from the workshop, even before the exhibition, “Moonlit Night on the Dnieper” was bought by Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich for huge money. And then the painting was exhibited in St. Petersburg. This was the first exhibition of one painting in Russia.
The house in St. Petersburg, in which Kuindzhi’s apartment is located, is often called the “House of Artists”, since here in different times Many Russian painters lived there: A. Beggrov, E. Volkov, M. Klodt, I. Kramskoy, the Chernetsov brothers.
The work was exhibited in a separate hall of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists on Bolshaya Morskaya. The hall was not illuminated, only a bright electric beam fell on the picture. This deepened the image even more, and the moonlight became simply dazzling. And decades later, witnesses of this triumph continued to recall the shock experienced by the audience who “got” the picture. It was the “worthy ones” - on exhibition days, Bolshaya Morskaya was densely packed with carriages, and a long line lined up at the doors to the building and people waited for hours to see this extraordinary work. To avoid crowding, the public was allowed into the hall in groups.
Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich
Roerich also found Maxim’s servant alive, who received rubles (!) from those who tried to get to the painting out of turn. The artist’s performance with a personal exhibition, and even consisting of only one small painting, was an unusual event. Moreover, this picture did not interpret some unusual historical plot, but a landscape of a very modest size. But A.I. Kuindzhi knew how to win. The success exceeded all expectations and turned into a real sensation.
A.I. Kuindzhi was always very attentive to the display of his paintings, placing them so that they were well lit, so that they were not disturbed by neighboring paintings. This time “Moonlit Night on the Dnieper” hung on the wall alone. Knowing that the effect moonlight will fully manifest itself when artificial lighting, the artist ordered to drape the windows in the hall and illuminate the picture with a beam of electric light focused on it. Visitors entered the dimly lit hall and, spellbound, stood before the cold glow of moonlight. A wide space stretching into the distance opened up before the audience; The plain, crossed by a greenish ribbon of a quiet river, almost merges at the horizon with a dark sky covered with rows of light clouds. In the heights they parted slightly, and the moon looked through the resulting window, illuminating the Dnieper, the huts and the web of paths on the near bank.
And everything in nature fell silent, enchanted by the wonderful radiance of the sky and the Dnieper waters. The sparkling silver-greenish disk of the moon flooded the earth immersed in the peace of night with its mysterious phosphorescent light. It was so strong that some of the spectators tried to look behind the picture to find a lantern or lamp. But there was no lamp, and the moon continued to emit its bewitching, mysterious light. The waters of the Dnieper reflect this light like a smooth mirror, and the walls of Ukrainian huts turn white from the velvety blue of the night. This majestic spectacle still immerses viewers in thoughts about eternity and the enduring beauty of the world. So, before A.I. Kuindzhi, only the great N.V. Gogol sang about nature. The number of sincere admirers of A.I. Kuindzhi’s talent grew, rare person could remain indifferent in front of this picture, which seemed like witchcraft.
A.I. Kuindzhi depicts the celestial sphere as majestic and eternal, striking viewers with the power of the Universe, its immensity and solemnity. Numerous attributes of the landscape - huts creeping along the slope, bushy trees, gnarled stems of tartar - are absorbed in darkness, their color is dissolved in a brown tone. The bright silver light of the moon is shaded by depth blue. With his phosphorescence, he transforms the traditional motif with the moon into one so rare, meaningful, attractive and mysterious that it transforms into poetically excited delight. There were even suggestions about some unusual colors and even strange artistic techniques, which the artist allegedly used. Rumors of a secret artistic method A.I. Kuindzhi, the secret of his colors was talked about even during the artist’s lifetime, some tried to catch him in tricks, even in connection with evil spirits. Perhaps this happened because A.I. Kuindzhi focused his efforts on the illusory transmission of the real the effect of lighting, in search of a composition of the picture that would allow the most convincing expression of the feeling of broad spatiality.
Famous artist Arkhip Kuindzhi, 1907
And he coped with these tasks brilliantly. In addition, the artist defeated everyone in distinguishing the slightest changes in color and light relationships (for example, even during experiments with a special device that were carried out by D.I. Mendeleev and others). Some have argued for the use of phosphorus-based chemicals. However, this is not entirely true. The unusual color structure of the canvas plays a decisive role in creating an impression. Applying in a painting additional colors, reinforcing each other, the artist achieves the incredible effect of the illusion of lunar color. True, it is known that experiments did take place. Kuindzhi intensively used bitumen paints, but did not use phosphorus. Unfortunately, due to the careless mixing of chemically incompatible paints, the canvas became very dark.
When creating this canvas, A.I. Kuindzhi used a complex painting technique. For example, he contrasted the warm reddish tone of the earth with cold silvery shades and thereby deepened the space, and small dark strokes in the illuminated areas created a feeling of vibrating light. All newspapers and magazines responded to the exhibition with enthusiastic articles, and reproductions of “Moonlit Night on the Dnieper” were sold in thousands of copies throughout Russia. The poet Ya. Polonsky, a friend of A.I. Kuindzhi, wrote then: “I don’t remember positively that people stagnate for so long in front of any picture... What is this? Picture or reality? In a gold frame or open window Have we seen this month, these clouds, this dark distance, these “quivering lights of sad villages” and these shimmers of light, this silvery reflection of the month in the streams of the Dnieper, skirting the distance, this poetic, quiet, majestic night? The poet K. Fofanov wrote the poem “Night on the Dnieper,” which was later set to music.
I. Kramskoy foresaw the fate of the canvas: “Perhaps Kuindzhi combined together such colors that are in natural antagonism with each other and after a certain time will either go out, or change and decompose to the point that descendants will shrug their shoulders in bewilderment: why did they come to the delight of the good-natured spectators? So, in order to avoid such unfair treatment in the future, I would not mind drawing up, so to speak, a protocol that his “Night on the Dnieper” is all filled with real light and air, and the sky is real, bottomless, deep.”
Unfortunately, our contemporaries cannot fully appreciate the original effect of the painting, since it has survived to our times in a distorted form. And the reason for this is the special attitude towards the canvas of its owner, Grand Duke Constantine.
Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, who bought the painting, did not want to part with the canvas, even when going on a trip around the world. I.S. Turgenev, who was in Paris at that time (in January 1881), was horrified by this thought, about which he indignantly wrote to the writer D.V. Grigorovich: “There is no doubt that the painting... will return completely ruined , thanks to the salty vapors of the air, etc.” He even visited the Grand Duke in Paris while his frigate was in the port of Cherbourg, and persuaded him to send the painting to short time to Paris.
I.S. Turgenev hoped that he would be able to persuade him to leave the painting at the exhibition in the Zedelmeyer Gallery, but he failed to persuade the prince. The humid, salt-saturated sea air, of course, negatively affected the composition of the colors, and the landscape began to darken. But the lunar ripples on the river and the radiance of the moon itself are conveyed by the genius A.I. Kuindzhi with such power that, looking at the picture even now, viewers immediately fall under the power of the eternal and Divine.
