Ivan Ivanovich Firsov. Young painter. Essay based on the painting “Young Painter” by Firsov In the workshop of the young painter Ivan Firsov

The interesting work of I. Firsov “Young Painter” did not immediately receive recognition from the audience, because it was presented to the audience only two centuries after it was written. And all because the artist created his creative work at a time when painting was not yet known or popular.

Only the modern generation of art lovers paid close attention to Firsov’s painting. Due to its low popularity, the canvas turned out to be practically untouched and perfectly preserved.

When I first look at the painting, it seems simple and naive to me. But, this is only the first impression. Then, when I peer into the details of the canvas, I see in front of me not an ordinary artist, but a very young guy who is so diligently trying to bring out every stroke of the brush, every feature on his canvas.

Next, my attention is drawn to the model, who simply cannot sit still. She is so interested in what is happening, she is ready to jump out of her chair right now and run up to the artist. But her energy and cheerfulness are kept in check by her mother standing nearby, who shakes her finger and asks the girl to calm down a little.

On the floor, next to the young artist, there is his palette of paints. In the background of I. Firsov’s canvas “Young Painter” there is a plaster sculpture and a bust, and on the wall there is a painting depicting a noble lady. At first glance, it seems that all these items are completely incompatible with each other. But, thanks to the artist’s skill, they are skillfully combined using correctly selected colors and well-arranged composition.

The room in which the painting takes place is quite cozy and warm, conducive to true creativity. It is in such a room that “ordinary people” live full and happy lives.

Ivan Firsov’s painting “Young Painter” is one of the first works of Russian genre painting.
Archival documents show that the Russian artist Ivan Firsov, decorator of the imperial theaters, lived and worked in Paris in the mid-1760s, where he improved his skills at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture.

There, the painting “Young Painter” was believed to have been painted by Firsov. This is indicated, in particular, by the non-Russian appearance of the characters in the painting.

Upon his return to Russia in 1768, he worked as a decorator for opera performances. Information about this time is extremely scarce; about the last years of I.I.’s life. Firsov are completely absent. But his picture is wonderful.

The plot of this picture is simple. In a spacious studio, flooded with even light, a boy artist sits in front of an easel and enthusiastically paints a portrait of a girl. An adult woman, a mother or an older sister, persuades the little model to sit quietly and maintain her pose. At the artist’s feet stands an open box of paints, on the table are the usual props of a painting workshop: a marble bust, several books, a papier-mâché mannequin depicting a human figure.

The scene written by Firsov seems snatched from life. The artist skillfully conveys the relaxed naturalness of poses and movements. With the keen observation characteristic of a true realist, the calm and affectionate severity of the mother, the slyness and impatience of the little model, and the selfless passion of the young painter are depicted.
The truthful fidelity of the characters creates that feeling of poetic charm that permeates the whole picture.

In “The Young Painter” everything is festive, artistic, unusual; and the bright colors of the clothes, and the wonderful green curtain, and the paintings on the walls, and the attributes of art on the table. The overall color harmony is unusual and beautiful.

The clutter of the stage with objects and figures is also noteworthy: paintings and sculptures are crowded to the left to leave room for the girl and her mother, the easel obscures his model from the artist. There is almost no free space or interior, which contains the soul of the everyday genre...
And yet, private life at home appears for the first time in Russian painting in this picture.
The painting by I. Firsov, executed in the Chardin style, like the only swallow that does not make spring, did not mark the beginning of everyday painting in Russia - the time had not yet come..

In terms of the level of artistic skill, Firsov’s painting is one of the most perfect works of Russian painting of the 18th century. It is quite obvious that Firsov is a first-class artist with an impeccable command of the means of pictorial expression. His drawing is free and precise; the space in which the scene unfolds is constructed with impeccable skill; no deliberate scheme is felt in the composition, it is natural and at the same time rhythmic.

The coloring of the picture is endowed with special poetic expressiveness, with its pink-gray, silver tones, which so well conveys the spiritual atmosphere of Firsov’s characters.
In terms of its content, concept and visual form, “Young Painter” has no analogues in Russian art of the 18th century. The short list of Russian artists of the 18th century who worked in the field of the everyday genre includes, in addition to Firsov, the portrait painter M. Shibanov with his paintings “Peasant Lunch” and “Celebration of the Wedding Contract” and the historical painter I. Ermenev, the author of an amazingly powerful watercolor series dedicated to depiction of Russian peasants.

The development of genre painting in the 18th century proceeded at a slow pace. She had almost no demand among customers and did not enjoy the patronage of the Academy of Arts. Among the Russian artists there were specialists in portraiture, in historical painting, there were decorators, and by the end of the century landscape painters appeared, but there was not a single master who would devote himself entirely to the everyday genre.
Firsov with his “Young Painter” occupies chronologically first place in this list. Almost no information has reached us about the fate and further work of the artist. The name of this master appeared in the history of Russian art and took an honorable place in it, in fact, quite recently.

In the 19th century, “Young Painter” was listed as the work of A. Losenko and even had his fake signature “A. Losenko 1756". True, already at the beginning of the 20th century it was quite clear to art experts that the painting had nothing in common with Losenko’s work. But its authorship remained guesswork. Various assumptions were made, tending to suggest that the author of this painting should be sought among Western European masters. The name of the famous German engraver and painter D. Khodovetsky was even named. Not all the names of Russian painters have survived to our time. Ivan Ivanovich Firsov was lucky to some extent. His authorship of the only painting that has reached us was finally confirmed only at the beginning of the twentieth century.<
In 1913, on the initiative of I. Grabar, Losenko’s signature was removed and underneath it was discovered the original, written in French, “I. Firsove."

It is also known that in 1771 Firsov executed a number of icons and decorative paintings that have not reached us. The “young painter” remains alone in the work of the remarkable Russian master. Apparently, Firsov was most gifted precisely in that area of ​​art, which could find so little application in Russian reality in the second half of the 18th century.

Ivan Firsov’s painting “Young Painter” is one of the earliest, but already perfect examples of the Russian everyday genre.
The plot of this picture is simple. In a spacious studio, flooded with even light, a boy artist sits in front of an easel and enthusiastically paints a portrait of a girl. An adult woman, a mother or an older sister, persuades the little model to sit quietly and maintain her pose. At the artist’s feet stands an open box of paints, on the table are the usual props of a painting workshop: a marble bust, several books, a papier-mâché mannequin depicting a human figure.
The scene written by Firsov seems snatched from life. The artist skillfully conveys the relaxed naturalness of poses and movements.
With the keen observation characteristic of a true realist, the calm and affectionate severity of the mother, the slyness and impatience of the little model, and the selfless passion of the young painter are depicted. The truthful fidelity of the characters creates that feeling of poetic charm that permeates the whole picture.
In terms of artistic skill, Firsov’s painting is one of the most perfect works of Russian painting of the 18th century.

It is quite obvious that Firsov is a first-class artist with an impeccable command of the means of pictorial expression. His drawing is free and precise; the space in which the scene unfolds is constructed with impeccable skill; no deliberate scheme is felt in the composition, it is natural and at the same time rhythmic. The coloring of the picture is endowed with special poetic expressiveness, with its pink-gray, silver tones, which so well conveys the spiritual atmosphere of Firsov’s characters.
In terms of its content, concept and visual form, “Young Painter” has no analogues in Russian art of the 18th century.
The development of genre painting in the 18th century proceeded at a slow pace. She had almost no demand among customers and did not enjoy the patronage of the Academy of Arts. Among the Russian artists there were specialists in portraiture, in historical painting, there were decorators, and by the end of the century landscape painters appeared, but there was not a single master who would devote himself entirely to the everyday genre.
This state of affairs did not arise by chance, of course. Disregard for everyday topics is characteristic of court and noble culture. It is known that Louis XIV ordered the removal of paintings by the great Dutch genre painters from the walls of the Palace of Versailles, calling them “monsters.” The successes of the everyday genre in world art of the 18th century are directly related to the development of bourgeois ideology and the rise of the social and political role of the third estate. In the Russian reality of Elizabethan and Catherine's times, there were no conditions for the flourishing of genre painting, since the leadership of the cultural life of the country remained entirely in the hands of the nobility. Everyday themes, addressed to living modernity, contradicted official artistic guidelines with their demand for the “sublime” and “heroic” in art. Even the portrait, which was so necessary in the life of the nobility and developed despite official non-recognition, was not considered “high” art. And everyday painting occupied the very last, lowest place in the hierarchy of genres developed by academic theorists.
This explains the extreme paucity of everyday paintings in Russian art of the 18th century. It is noteworthy, however, that the quantitative deficiency is fully compensated by the unusually high artistic quality of what was done by Russian masters in the field of the genre. What is the answer to this amazing phenomenon? Is it not that works on everyday themes despised by noble society were created by artists “for themselves”, with all the sincerity arising from the inner need of creativity, without regard to the tastes of the customer and the official requirements of the Academy?
The short list of Russian artists of the 18th century who worked in the field of the everyday genre includes, in addition to Firsov, the portrait painter M. Shibanov with his paintings “Peasant Lunch” and “Celebration of the Wedding Contract” and the historical painter I. Ermenev, the author of an amazingly powerful watercolor series dedicated to depiction of Russian peasants.
Firsov with his “Young Painter” occupies chronologically first place in this list. Almost no information has reached us about the fate and further work of the artist. The name of this master appeared in the history of Russian art and took an honorable place in it, in fact, quite recently.
In the 19th century, “Young Painter” was listed as the work of A. Losenko and even had his fake signature “A. Losenko 1756". True, already at the beginning of the 20th century it was quite clear to art experts that the painting had nothing in common with Losenko’s work. But its authorship remained guesswork. Various assumptions were made, tending to suggest that the author of this painting should be sought among Western European masters. The name of the famous German engraver and painter D. Khodovetsky was even named. But in 1913, on the initiative of I. Grabar, Losenko’s signature was removed and underneath it was discovered the authentic, written in French “I. Firsove."
Archival documents indicate that the Russian artist Ivan Firsov, decorator of the imperial theaters, lived and worked in Paris in the mid-1760s. It can be assumed that “The Young Painter” was written in Paris: this is indicated, in particular, by the non-Russian appearance of the characters in the picture.
Another work signed by Ivan Firsov has survived - the decorative panel “Flowers and Fruits”, dated 1754 and once adorning the Catherine Palace. But in this work, rough and student-like, it is difficult to find similarities with the virtuoso painting of the “Young Painter”. It is also known that in 1771 Firsov executed a number of icons and decorative paintings that have not reached us. The “young painter” remains alone in the work of the remarkable Russian master. Apparently, Firsov was most gifted precisely in that area of ​​art, which could find so little application in Russian reality in the second half of the 18th century.

And a little about the artist’s biography...
It is believed that Ivan Firsov was born in 1733. His father and grandfather were artists. At the age of fifteen, by imperial decree, he went, along with carpenters, carvers and gilders, to St. Petersburg to participate in decorating the city on the occasion of the marriage of the heir to the throne - the future Peter III - with the German princess - the future Catherine II. Firsov performed “golden works”, but quickly attracted the attention of artists.
In 1747, he was already in the “painting team” of the Office of Buildings and worked under the leadership of I. Ya. Vishnyakov and D. Valeriani.
In 1759, Firsov became the court painter of the heir Pyotr Fedorovich, went to Oranienbaum, painted scenery for opera productions and designed some palace interiors.
In 1762, Firsov was assigned to the department of the Directorate of Imperial Theaters, with which he would be associated until the end of his career.
His talent was noted, and on the personal instructions of Catherine II, already one of the famous Russian artists, he was sent “to foreign lands for two years for better training in painting and theater science.”
In 1765, the artist found himself in Paris, in an atmosphere of freedom, independence, and respect that struck him. Firsov stayed in Paris for only a little over two years. He often suffered “extreme need”, since money from Russia arrived in France with great delays.
The artist’s fate upon his return to Russia was difficult. The work of a theater decorator - for a meager salary, without days off or holidays, under the supervision of third-rate foreign artists - completely exhausted his health. In 1784 he fell ill with a severe mental disorder, and no information about his further fate has been preserved.

An essay (including a miniature) is assessed with two marks: the first mark is given for the ability, within the framework of a well-thought-out composition, to reveal the topic and express the main idea (to realize one’s idea), as well as for the ability to correctly and appropriately use appropriate language means for this purpose; the second – for compliance with language norms.

The assessment scheme can be as follows: L – F – R, where L – logical errors, F – factual, R – speech errors and shortcomings; І – ν – Г, where І – number of spelling errors, ν – number of punctuation errors, Г – grammatical errors. When checking, the teacher also pays attention to violations of consistency in the presentation of content, to the compliance of all parts of the essay with the topic and task of expressing the main idea, and to the completeness of the topic. When analyzing the speech format of the work, we take into account the diversity and expressiveness of the language means used and the grammatical structure of speech, as well as the stylistic unity of the essay.

Subject. Preparation for an essay based on the painting “Young Painter” by Ivan Ivanovich Firsov.

Lesson objectives: 1) develop the ability to describe a work of art;

2) develop the ability to use in writing various constructions of phrases that differ in their meaning;

3) achieve awareness of the role of phrases in artistic speech.

I . Preparing for an essay(examination of the picture, drawing up a plan).

The painting “Young Painter” by I. I. Firsov is one of the mysterious monuments of Russian genre painting. This is one of the earliest and at the same time the most perfect examples of the everyday genre.

Little is known about the artist: Ivan Firsov studied painting in Moscow at his own expense and was mainly engaged in theatrical scenery and decorating palace interiors in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Already one of the most famous Russian artists, he went to Paris to study at the Academy of Arts. The painting “Young Painter” is believed to have been painted by Firsov during his stay in Paris.

Let's ask fifth-graders to remember which works of painting they have already become acquainted with in Russian lessons, and try to name the genres of these works. Fifth-graders can name landscapes by A. A. Rylov (“Field Rowan”), V. D. Polenov (“Autumn in Abramtsevo”), portraits by M. A. Vrubel (“The Swan Princess”), V. L. Borovikovsky (“ Portrait of E. N. Arsenyeva"), etc.

Let us draw the students' attention to the fact that now in front of them is a picture that belongs to a genre with which the students are still unfamiliar - to the everyday genre. Let's decipher this concept for fifth graders. Everyday genre is a genre of fine art dedicated to reflecting events and scenes from everyday life. Let's invite the children to consider and describe the everyday sketch of I. I. Firsov.

First of all, we will ask the fifth-graders to outline the plot of the artistic canvas and try to achieve a clear definition of it. The answer might be something like this.

I. I. Firsov portrayed a young artist who creates a portrait of a little girl. The little model is playful and restless, she cannot sit in one place for a long time, and her mother presses her hand to her so that the girl calms down.

After this, we develop the ability to describe in more detail the location of figures in artistic space, as well as the facial expression of each of the characters in the picture.

The artist sits freely behind a high easel and moves his brush across the canvas, painting out the details. In his left hand he holds a palette and brushes, a box of paints is on the floor. His gaze is focused on the canvas, strands of hair have come out of his hair, but the young man does not notice this. The young artist is overwhelmed with inspiration; he creates selflessly and enthusiastically.

The model is still small, so she herself sits on a chair, and her legs stand on a bench. It’s difficult for her to sit without moving for so long, she obediently folded her arms, but a sly smile plays on her face. The girl pressed her head against her mother, who hugs the baby and persuades her to sit quietly. The artist managed to skillfully convey the calm and gentle severity of a young woman, patiently explaining to her daughter the need to maintain the desired pose.

The painter's studio is flooded with even light, which pours from the window located to the left of the artist. The artist set up the easel so that the light fell directly on the canvas, and he turned slightly towards the window and threw back his head so that the play of light and shadow did not interfere with the creation of the portrait.

In the background of the painting are the usual attributes of an art workshop: a marble bust, a mannequin, several books, and two paintings on the wall.

In the painting “Young Painter,” the artist simultaneously managed to convey the charm of ordinary, everyday life and the poetic charm of the process of free creativity.

The young artist depicted creating a portrait and the woman and girl are truly simple. The poses of the characters in the picture are relaxed, their facial expressions are natural and consistent with the moment in which they are captured. At the same time, the main theme of the painting can be considered the creative process, and the creator of the canvas “Young Painter” managed to convey the poetic atmosphere that reigns in the studio of the artist, the main character of the painting.

The gray-pink color scheme corresponds to the general character of the picture. I. E. Grabar wrote about the artist’s skill: “Firsov writes freely and softly... Pink, lingonberry-red, white and pale yellow colors, prevailing in the first part of the canvas, are softly combined with the greenish tint of the boy’s camisole on the left. This shade finds its echo in the deeper green tone of the curtain in the background.
Such a modest, carefully thought out, colorful range contributes to the restrained poetry of the picture and the atmosphere of moral purity diffused in it.”

II . Making a plan.

It will be useful to draw up a plan together. It might be something like this.

I. The painting “Young Painter” by I. I. Firsov is one of the best examples of the everyday genre.

II. Description of the painting.

1. The plot of the picture.

2. Characters of the painting.

3. Image of an art workshop.

4. Color scheme.

III. Artist's skill.

III . Vocabulary work.

1. Determination of lexical meanings of unfamiliar words.

Interior- the interior space of a room.

Dummy- a wooden doll with movable arms and legs, which artists use as a model to depict human poses.

Easel- a stand on which the canvas is placed on a stretcher, or a board for the artist to work on.

Palette- a thin board with a hole for putting on the thumb of the left hand, which serves artists for mixing paints.

Color range- selection of colors for the painting.

2. Lexical data analysis in exercise. 336 phrases.

We read the phrases and determine the possibility of using them in the essay.

3. Recording of phrases used during the oral description of the picture to characterize its characters and the interior of the depicted art workshop.

A monument to Russian genre painting, a playful and restless model, a box of paints, a concentrated look, captured by inspiration, selflessly and enthusiastically creates, a sly smile, skillfully conveyed, calm and affectionate severity, patiently explain, flooded with even light, pouring from the window, turn to the window , throw back your head, play of light and shadow, attributes of an art workshop, marble bust, mannequin, the charm of ordinary, everyday life, poetic charm, the process of free creativity, relaxed poses, poetic atmosphere, gray-pink colors.

4. In a strong class, you can offer students a presentation or free dictation on a statement by I. E. Grabar and a discussion of this statement.

D. z.: essay based on the painting “Young Painter” by I. I. Firsov (exercise 336).

Not all the names of Russian painters, especially those from the beginning of the formation of Russian fine art, have survived to our time. Ivan Ivanovich Firsov, an artist of the mid-18th century, was to some extent lucky. His authorship of the only painting that has reached us was finally confirmed only at the beginning of the twentieth century.

I. Firsov’s ability to draw was hereditary - his grandfather and father painted, worked as woodcarvers and were goldsmiths. Having skills in artistic craft, Ivan Firsov Jr. was sent from Moscow to St. Petersburg to carry out work to decorate the city and imperial palaces. His talent was noted, and on the personal instructions of Catherine II, he left for Paris in 1765, where he improved his skills at the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. Apparently, the artist most in tune with I. Firsov turned out to be Chardin, the leading master of genre scenes in France in the 18th century. The painting by I. Firsov, executed in the Chardin style, in no way detracts from the artist’s skill. Everything in her is extremely balanced and everything, even objects, as they say, is in use.

Ivan Firsov’s painting “Young Painter” is one of the earliest, but already perfect examples of the Russian everyday genre.
The plot of this picture is simple. In a spacious studio, flooded with even light, a boy artist sits in front of an easel and enthusiastically paints a portrait of a girl. An adult woman, a mother or an older sister, persuades the little model to sit quietly and maintain her pose. At the artist’s feet stands an open box of paints, on the table are the usual props of a painting workshop: a marble bust, several books, a papier-mâché mannequin depicting a human figure.

The scene written by Firsov seems snatched from life. The artist skillfully conveys the relaxed naturalness of poses and movements.
With the keen observation characteristic of a true realist, the calm and affectionate severity of the mother, the slyness and impatience of the little model, and the selfless passion of the young painter are depicted. The truthful fidelity of the characters creates that feeling of poetic charm that permeates the whole picture.

In terms of the level of artistic skill, Firsov’s painting is one of the most perfect works of Russian painting of the 18th century. It is quite obvious that Firsov is a first-class artist with an impeccable command of the means of pictorial expression. His drawing is free and precise; the space in which the scene unfolds is constructed with impeccable skill; no deliberate scheme is felt in the composition, it is natural and at the same time rhythmic. The coloring of the picture is endowed with special poetic expressiveness, with its pink-gray, silver tones, which so well conveys the spiritual atmosphere of Firsov’s characters.

In terms of its content, concept and visual form, “Young Painter” has no analogues in Russian art of the 18th century.
The development of genre painting in the 18th century proceeded at a slow pace. She had almost no demand among customers and did not enjoy the patronage of the Academy of Arts. Among the Russian artists there were specialists in portraiture, in historical painting, there were decorators, and by the end of the century landscape painters appeared, but there was not a single master who would devote himself entirely to the everyday genre.

This state of affairs did not arise by chance, of course. Disregard for everyday topics is characteristic of court and noble culture. It is known that Louis XIV ordered the removal of paintings by the great Dutch genre painters from the walls of the Palace of Versailles, calling them “monsters.” The successes of the everyday genre in world art of the 18th century are directly related to the development of bourgeois ideology and the rise of the social and political role of the third estate. In the Russian reality of Elizabethan and Catherine's times, there were no conditions for the flourishing of genre painting, since the leadership of the cultural life of the country remained entirely in the hands of the nobility. Everyday themes, addressed to living modernity, contradicted official artistic guidelines with their demand for the “sublime” and “heroic” in art.

Even the portrait, which was so necessary in the life of the nobility and developed despite official non-recognition, was not considered “high” art. And everyday painting occupied the very last, lowest place in the hierarchy of genres developed by academic theorists.
This explains the extreme paucity of everyday paintings in Russian art of the 18th century. It is noteworthy, however, that the quantitative deficiency is fully compensated by the unusually high artistic quality of what was done by Russian masters in the field of the genre. What is the answer to this amazing phenomenon? Is it not that works on everyday themes despised by noble society were created by artists “for themselves”, with all the sincerity arising from the inner need of creativity, without regard to the tastes of the customer and the official requirements of the Academy?

The short list of Russian artists of the 18th century who worked in the field of the everyday genre includes, in addition to Firsov, the portrait painter M. Shibanov with his paintings “Peasant Lunch” and “Celebration of the Wedding Contract” and the historical painter I. Ermenev, the author of an amazingly powerful watercolor series dedicated to depiction of Russian peasants.
Firsov with his “Young Painter” occupies chronologically first place in this list. Almost no information has reached us about the fate and further work of the artist. The name of this master appeared in the history of Russian art and took an honorable place in it, in fact, quite recently.

In the 19th century, “Young Painter” was listed as the work of A. Losenko and even had his fake signature “A. Losenko 1756". True, already at the beginning of the 20th century it was quite clear to art experts that the painting had nothing in common with Losenko’s work. But its authorship remained guesswork. Various assumptions were made, tending to suggest that the author of this painting should be sought among Western European masters. The name of the famous German engraver and painter D. Khodovetsky was even named. But in 1913, on the initiative of I. Grabar, Losenko’s signature was removed and underneath it was discovered - the original, written in French “I. Firsove."
Archival documents indicate that the Russian artist Ivan Firsov, decorator of the imperial theaters, lived and worked in Paris in the mid-1760s. It can be assumed that “The Young Painter” was written in Paris: this is indicated, in particular, by the non-Russian appearance of the characters in the picture.

Another work signed by Ivan Firsov has survived - the decorative panel “Flowers and Fruits”, dated 1754 and once adorning the Catherine Palace. But in this work, rough and student-like, it is difficult to find similarities with the virtuoso painting of the “Young Painter”. It is also known that in 1771 Firsov executed a number of icons and decorative paintings that have not reached us. The “young painter” remains alone in the work of the remarkable Russian master. Apparently, Firsov was most gifted precisely in that area of ​​art, which could find so little application in Russian reality in the second half of the 18th century.