Lacquer miniature artists often gladly depicted the theme of romantic dates, whether in Fedoskino, Palekh, Mstyora or Kholuy. In the 1880s, Lukutin and Vishnyakov masters painted ‘dates’ and set them against the backdrop of peasant life. In the 1920s-30s, former icon painters of Palekh depicted romantic scenes on boxes: some miniatures were improvisations based on the composition of the icon ‘Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos’, where righteous Joachim and Anna give each other a holy kiss.
In the middle of the century, miniatures inspired by lyrics of romantic songs became extremely popular, and by the end of the 20th century — scenes of weddings and wedding celebrations. Presently, all these themes are found in lacquer miniature, however, modern artists rely not only on the tradition of their craft, but also — on the entire history of world artistic culture.
The miniature ‘Flowers’ by Fedoskino master Pavel Anokhin is an image of trembling love, which the viewer can associate with Art Nouveau works and Pre-Raphaelites paintings. Art Nouveau was distinguished by symbolism and play of associations, whereas the Pre-Raphaelites created idealized female images with serene and calm, mysterious beauty.
In the miniature displayed in the collection the author captured a moment of infinite tenderness of young lovers. At the same time, the heroes of the miniature exist as if outside of time and space: they look like a figment of imagination of the artist who was inspired by fairy tales, myths or legends.
Pavel Anokhin’s works are always reminiscent of dreams or memories. The heroes of his miniatures look almost disembodied; they are partly mystical creatures. Yet, they always have trembling and fragile human emotions. All these features are clearly visible in the miniature “Flowers”.
The allegorical character of the work is manifested not only in the expressive drawing, but also in the soft pastel color scheme. The air environment here is similar to that in a watercolor painting: the author created the work with subtle nuances of light tones (nuance, unlike contrast, means colors very close to each other; if placed side by side, they look like a light play of color). All these features point to the highest skill of the artist.
In the middle of the century, miniatures inspired by lyrics of romantic songs became extremely popular, and by the end of the 20th century — scenes of weddings and wedding celebrations. Presently, all these themes are found in lacquer miniature, however, modern artists rely not only on the tradition of their craft, but also — on the entire history of world artistic culture.
The miniature ‘Flowers’ by Fedoskino master Pavel Anokhin is an image of trembling love, which the viewer can associate with Art Nouveau works and Pre-Raphaelites paintings. Art Nouveau was distinguished by symbolism and play of associations, whereas the Pre-Raphaelites created idealized female images with serene and calm, mysterious beauty.
In the miniature displayed in the collection the author captured a moment of infinite tenderness of young lovers. At the same time, the heroes of the miniature exist as if outside of time and space: they look like a figment of imagination of the artist who was inspired by fairy tales, myths or legends.
Pavel Anokhin’s works are always reminiscent of dreams or memories. The heroes of his miniatures look almost disembodied; they are partly mystical creatures. Yet, they always have trembling and fragile human emotions. All these features are clearly visible in the miniature “Flowers”.
The allegorical character of the work is manifested not only in the expressive drawing, but also in the soft pastel color scheme. The air environment here is similar to that in a watercolor painting: the author created the work with subtle nuances of light tones (nuance, unlike contrast, means colors very close to each other; if placed side by side, they look like a light play of color). All these features point to the highest skill of the artist.
