A Chinese screen in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum

Abstract

The object of the study is a Chinese screen. The subject of the study is the characteristic features of the Chinese screen based on the material of the Hermitage collection. During the consideration of the topic, such issues as the degree of study of the issues under consideration, the connection of the screen with the fields of fine and decorative arts are traced and analyzed. The analysis of seven items from the collection of the State Hermitage Museum is carried out. The analysis of rare samples of the Chinese screen allows us to identify the characteristic features of this subject, the specifics of the development of the Chinese screen in the XVIII – XIX centuries, as well as to discover its relationship with the spheres of decorative, applied and fine arts of China. The author examines in detail the artistic features of the objects, their design characteristics, the use of various materials – porcelain, wood, metal, jade, the content of calligraphic inscriptions appearing on the objects in the context of the aesthetics of the epoch and socio-cultural space. The research involves the systematization of information related to collecting, studying, and describing the screen in Russian museum practice and theory. Traditional methods of art criticism and historiographical analysis are used; a combination of formal and iconological methods allows to create a reliable idea of the works of art under consideration, identify meaningful and formal features; the historical and cultural method allows to clarify the nature of the patterns of screen development. The scientific novelty of the research primarily consists in the fact that for the first time an analysis of the Chinese screen in the collection of the State Hermitage Museum is carried out, a detailed description and a comprehensive art historical analysis of a number of previously unexplored objects are given. The systematization of Russian publications devoted to the problem of the screen is carried out, in particular, offering a description and analysis of certain screens. The study clarifies and expands existing ideas about the Chinese screen, clarifies the attribution of a number of objects in the collections of the State Hermitage Museum. It is concluded that the objects presented in the Hermitage collections are of considerable variety and give an idea of the variety of techniques and materials for creating screens in China in the XVIII – XIX centuries, allow us to see the connection between the art of creating screens with the field of decorative and applied arts and painting. The screen of this period is a work of art with high artistic value. The aesthetics of the screen is connected not only with the current trends in the development of decorative, applied and fine arts, but also with the socio-cultural context.