Метаморфозы портретного жанра в русском искусстве на рубеже XVIII–XIX веков

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the research of changes in the development of portrait painting in Russian art at the turn of the 18th–19th centuries. A more common approach in the academic literature is a study of typological variants for the portrait image within the stable system, formed under the influence of classicism, or the review of a new concept in portrait painting, embodied by the artists of Romantic period. In that regard the transitional stage, related to the fundamental revision of portrait’s nature as a specific genre, lacks the close attention of researchers. The crisis of Enlightenment’s ideals at the end of the 18th century causes a rethinking of the relationship between a person and the outside world. This tendency directly influences the art of portraiture, which is now distinguished by more expressed dynamism of image. This is particularly important to the national tradition of portrait painting in the 18th century, which before showed the static approach for the representation of model and the moderation of portrait characteristic. Meanwhile, the fluidity becomes not only a method of artistic expression in a single work, but also a guiding principle for the modification of portrait painting at the system level. In other words, there is a new understanding of the fundamental categories inherent in the portrait genre: the popularity of more compact forms of portrait art, the ratio of ceremonial and chamber trends, new relationships between the master and the model, the active interaction of the individual and the surrounding nature. The interest in English culture also plays an important role in these processes. Despite the transitional nature of the era and external influences, Russian portrait painting at the turn of the 18th–19th centuries remains one of the main national features of genre — the prevalence of semi-ceremonial variants of image.