The Pushkin Museum is renowned for its brilliant collection of Impressionists, a unique collection of sculpture casts, masterpieces by the Old Masters — painters from Italy, Flanders, the Netherlands and France of the 15th–18th centuries — and the art of Europe and America of the 19th–20th centuries, known worldwide.
We owe this heritage to two pre-revolutionary collectors — industrialist Ivan Morozov and merchant Sergei Shchukin. It was they who spent hundreds of thousands of francs a year buying what would become masterpieces.
Today I will tell you about seven of my favorite paintings in the Pushkin Museum.
"A Gust of Wind", Camille Corot, mid-1860s – early 1870s.
The painting 'A Gust of Wind' is uncharacteristic for Corot because of its storminess, yet perhaps it is also his most expressive. The artist was famous for tranquil, peaceful landscapes, which biographers often compared to his serene life. Corot even avoided painting winter scenes, preferring in the cold months to work in the studio on summer landscapes based on sketches.
On the canvas 'A Gust of Wind' — with its gloomy sky, heavy racing clouds, tree branches blown in one direction by gusts of wind, dark torn and fluttering treetops, an ominous orange-yellow sky glow and a glimpse of sunset — everything is imbued with a sense of anxiety.
In the best traditions of Romanticism, the small figure of a person pushing through the wind is helpless before the enormous power of the unleashed elements. It seems as if the storm is about to sweep everything away, to either knock down the solitary woman walking or carry her off. The force of the weather is clearly visible in the bowed tree branches and the fluttering dress of the woman on the road. The whole painting is permeated with an atmosphere of unease and distress; it is very lively and expressive — the viewer almost feels the gusts of pre-storm air, becoming a witness not so much to a painting made of brushstrokes as to the confrontation between man and untamed nature.
"A Gust of Wind" is one of Corot's most expressive works. It was so famous and beloved that it was often copied. There is a legend in the artist's biography. Once a wealthy admirer entered Corot's studio with a purchased 'A Gust of Wind'.
"- But this isn't Corot!" the master exclaimed.
"- How is it not Corot?! It can't be! I order you to find and arrest the man who sold me this forgery immediately!"
"- Arrest him?!" the painter worried. "Wait! He probably has a family, small children. Now you will have a legitimate, authentic Corot!"
With these words, the artist snatched the fake from the guest's hands and put his own signature in the corner.
"Madonna before the Communion Chalice", Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1841.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780–1867) was a French painter and draftsman, widely recognized as the leading figure of European academicism in the 19th century. He received both artistic and musical training.
He believed that "preserving true doctrines, not innovation" — that was what really mattered. Ingres was a true admirer of Raphael and considered him his teacher. Moreover, he insisted that after Raphael art went astray and that all subsequent artistic achievements should be crossed out and one should return to the Renaissance.
'Madonna before the Communion Chalice' was painted in 1841 on commission from the Russian heir to the throne — the future Emperor Alexander II. The heir requested that Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker and Alexander Nevsky be depicted to the left and right of the Madonna, as they were venerated in Russia.
The composition of the painting resembles Raphael's late works. The similarity to his 'Madonna of the Candlesticks' can be seen in the symmetrical composition, in the features of the Madonna's face, and especially in the direct quotation — a pair of candlesticks. You can also find self-quotation — the Madonna's pose almost repeats the pose from 'The Coronation of Louis XIII', which Ingres painted in 1824.
The Madonna is the compositional and semantic center of the work. The light that illuminates her face comes from outside rather than from the actual burning candles; her hands are folded in a prayerful gesture, her face inscrutable and devoid of emotion, and in her overall pose and expression there is a certain solemnity and representativeness. The Madonna's gaze is directed at the center of the table, where the chalice with the prosphora is placed. Symbolically, the arrangement of objects on the table mirrors the placement of figures before it: the Madonna corresponds to the round chalice with the prosphora, and the candles in the candlesticks correspond to Saint Nicholas and Alexander Nevsky.
For a long time in Russia 'Madonna before the Communion Chalice' was not accepted: numerous critics complained that the painting was essentially Catholic and had nothing to do with Orthodoxy. But times changed, and now Ingres's canvas is rightly valued as a fine example of orthodox academicism and the highest professional skill.
There is also an unpleasant fact: the artist was either forgotten or refused his payment. Through intermediaries he nevertheless obtained his fee, but it was delivered in a disrespectful manner. Legend has it that in revenge for this insult the master repeated this subject many times — between 1852 and 1866 'Madonna with Saints' (Metropolitan Museum) and 'Madonna with Angels' (now in Bonn) would appear.
There are only two Ingres paintings in Russian museum collections — the portrait of Count Guriyev in the Hermitage and the Moscow 'Madonna before the Communion Chalice'.
"Winter Landscape with a Bird Trap", Pieter Brueghel the Younger, 1620s
Brueghel the Younger's 'Winter Landscape with a Bird Trap' is a copy of the work of his father, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, likely the most famous work by the elder Brueghel, whose paintings are not held in Russian museum collections.
'Winter Landscape …' was very popular; 127 copies of it are known from the 16th and later centuries, 45 of them autograph copies.
The canvas depicts the expanses of a real place — the village of Sint-Pieters-Aalst near Dybbena. The figures on the painting are joyfully skating on the ice-covered river. The painting as a whole draws the viewer into melancholic reflection: we look at the unfolding scene from above, which gives the work a more universal meaning, prompting thoughts about the universe, like God's view from heaven over the earth. In the frosty haze one can make out the towers of the town hall and cathedral. Examining details — the numerous figures of people, trees with carefully rendered branches, houses and the snow-covered gentle riverbank — our gaze stops at the bird trap.
In the general mood of the work, alongside its tranquility, there is a note of moralizing: the bird trap and the people skating on the ice are presented as an allegory that everything in human life is precarious, and the one who skates on frozen rivers may slip or fall into an ice hole that none of them notice, just as snares are ready to catch unwary birds. The implicit threat hanging over people and birds makes them equal before the inexorability of fate.
This warning can also be understood in a more allegorical sense: however beautiful and full of merriment the world may seem, it is merely a trap for birds, thin ice on which anyone can misstep and fall into sin.
"Portrait of the Actress Jeanne Samary", Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1877.
The French painter met Jeanne and asked her to pose for a portrait. She was intelligent, ambitious, and receptive to new trends in painting; besides, she had not yet become a famous actress and could use a bit more publicity. Especially when the artist was none other than Auguste Renoir. Samary gladly agreed, knowing he would convey her natural charm, or, as Renoir himself said about Jeanne, the "light that comes from within," something no staged photograph could capture.
Over three years the master executed not one but twelve portraits of the actress, nine of which were painted in oil. All the works were completely different, as were the purposes behind them — from quick studies to the finished painting 'Portrait of the Actress Jeanne Samary'.
Calm black intelligent eyes looking at the viewer with friendliness and confidence, a sweet smile, soft facial features, a beautiful light-colored dress — the whole image as the essence of charm, sensuality and femininity. Renoir spoke of Jeanne with enthusiasm: "She is a wonderful conversationalist; it is very pleasant to listen to her natural, unpretentious and unaffected female voice."
The artist enhanced the girl's beauty — in real life she was not as striking, but perhaps the master wanted to convey Jeanne's charm and inner beauty. She had a certain charm, was playful and sweet, and her sincere smile was very winning. Once a young man from a wealthy family fell in love with her. The aristocrats refused to accept a member of a frivolous profession into their family, and none of his family attended their wedding.
Renoir presented the painting to the public at the Impressionist exhibition in 1873. The canvas provoked mixed reactions from viewers. Some said, "her hands are like fish scales," while others exclaimed in admiration, "This portrait can be eaten with a spoon!"
In the end Jeanne Samary did become the famous actress she dreamed of, and she achieved that herself. But the fame that has lasted more than 150 years was brought to her by Renoir's portrait.
Although the painting was only a study for the formal portrait of Jeanne Samary, which is kept in the Hermitage, most art historians consider this work by the master one of his major masterpieces.
"Red Vineyards at Arles", Vincent van Gogh, 1888.
Van Gogh painted this canvas in the provincial town of Arles. He came here to get away from Paris, to recover his health and to seek bright colors. In Arles he would paint about 200 canvases in a single year, including some of his brightest and best-known works such as 'Sunflowers', 'The Night Café' and 'Red Vineyards'.
Van Gogh saw the vineyard during a walk with Paul Gauguin on November 4, 1888. This is how he wrote about it to his brother Theo:
"Oh, why weren't you with us on Sunday! We saw a completely red vineyard — red as red wine. From a distance it seemed yellow, above it — a green sky, around — the purple earth after the rain, here and there — yellow flashes of sunset."
Later he wrote:
"I have also finished the canvas with the vineyard, completely red and yellow with small blue and purple figures, and a yellow sun."
Van Gogh's paintings are often of a study-like character; he painted them quite quickly, sometimes even working with his fingers, loading paint straight from the tubes. And of course the artist had no idea of 'following the technique' and covering every part of the canvas with paint — he simply depicted what he wanted, and if there were empty, unpainted areas left on the canvas, it did not bother him much.
The 'Red Vineyards at Arles' is also known for being sold for a considerable sum — 350–400 francs. Before this, Van Gogh had managed to sell only about 20 works, and those for smaller amounts. It is believed that this painting marked the beginning of his brighter period, and if not for the tragic shot to his chest in 1889, Van Gogh might have become wealthy and recognized during his lifetime.
"Ah, Are You Jealous?", Paul Gauguin, 1892.
Gauguin never fully accepted Europe's prudishness. Half Peruvian on his mother's side, he lived amid the exotic nature of South America until age seven. So when in 1890 he fled Paris for Tahiti, it was not entirely surprising.
And Gauguin did not regret it — it was there that he created his best works.
For the artist the move was a kind of flight to an untouched primal paradise of exotic islands. His diary 'Noa Noa' ('Fragrant Land') is permeated with admiration for this earthly paradise. Gauguin studied the new world, its nature, history, traditions and culture with reverence.
In 'Ah, Are You Jealous?' the artist depicts an observed scene filled with a sense of languor and calm. Two Tahitian girls have a leisurely conversation in relaxed poses. Both are nude and are completely unashamed. In their world there is nothing shameful or strange about nudity.
We understand the subject of their conversation from the phrase Gauguin wrote at the bottom of the painting, 'Ah, are you jealous?' For a viewer the scene would be incomprehensible without knowing Tahitian customs. They were proponents of free love. Even a married woman could spend the night with another man and it fit within social norms, while jealousy was considered strange. Hence one girl's surprise at the unusual feelings of the other. Yes, she spent the night with her friend's lover. So what, is she jealous?
Gauguin attached great importance to this canvas. In a letter to his friend Daniel de Monfreid he noted: "Recently I painted from memory a nude: two women on the shore. I think it is the best of what I have done."
Gauguin always spoke of Tahiti with particular warmth: "I was captivated by this land and its people, simple, unspoiled by civilization. To create something new, one must turn to our origins, to humanity's childhood. The Eve I choose is almost animal, therefore she remains chaste even when naked. All the Venuses shown in the Salon look indecent, disgustingly lascivious…" Gauguin admired Tahitian women for their seriousness and simplicity, their grandeur and spontaneity, unusual beauty and natural charm.
"The Blue Dancers", Edgar Degas, 1897.
Despite the title, art historians still argue whether four dancers are depicted on the canvas or a single dancer shown in different poses. Found photographs in his archives of the same girl in different moments of movement support the latter version.
Surprisingly, the artist never painted prima ballerinas or celebrated dancers. The faces of the heroines in his works meant little even to his contemporaries. "Ballerinas have always been for me merely a pretext to depict marvelous fabrics and to capture movement," Degas admitted when he was again called a devotee of dancers. The artist observed ballet life backstage for hours, memorizing every step and their emotions, and his phenomenal visual memory allowed him to capture with astonishing precision the nuances that create a sense of the instantaneous and accidental. His knowledge is accurately reflected in 'The Blue Dancers'.
Pastel was Degas's favored medium in his late period. The freshness of tones, the vibration of the stroke and the velvety texture attracted the master. He achieved the luminous blue color in an unusual way. To give the colors a special 'sound' Degas invented treating the works with steam — the pastel softened and could be blended. The artist also dissolved pastel in hot water and applied it to canvas like oil paint to give it even more brilliance.
'The Blue Dancers' was drawn in Degas's late creative period, when his eyesight was rapidly deteriorating. This may explain the largeness of the figures in the painting. Six years later he would stop painting canvases and switch to sculpture, to feel with his hands the wax models of his beloved dancers in complex poses.
