Flowers of unprecedented beauty are drawn! A story about Gorodets painting. Gorodets painting - history of Russian folk art crafts

On the left bank of the Volga, just above Nizhny Novgorod, lies the large village of Gorodets, founded in the 12th century. Places along the banks of the Volga were favorable for the development of trade - nearby was the Makaryevskaya fair, the largest in Russia. Therefore, various crafts began to quickly develop among the population: in Gorodets itself there were blacksmiths, gingerbread makers, and dyers. There were especially many carpenters and woodcarvers: the forest provided cheap material. The peasants of all the surrounding villages around Gorodets were also engaged in fishing: some carved spoons, others sharpened bowls and cups, and still others made tools and weaving labor for spinning and weaving. In the Trans-Volga lands, flax was born well, women spun threads and wove canvases for sale, so there was plenty of work for carvers and painters.

In a short period of time, the artists mastered the art of painting. Although the images retain their flat character, instead of chiaroscuro, transitional shades and animations begin to play an increasingly important role. The accuracy and flexibility of the line, the subtlety of the stroke, the confidence and lightness of the stroke sometimes border on virtuosity. Products small size or utilitarian purposes (salt shaker, chest for children's toys), as a rule, painted with a floral pattern, in which a rose flower, leaves, branches, and bird plumage were cut with strokes. In decorative panels, the plot unfolds either in two or three tiers, sometimes in several scenes, sometimes in a single decorative picture. People are depicted in costumes that retain the features of clothing from the last century. If the action takes place inside a building, then the interior of the premises resembles some kind of ancient architecture with fancy columns, arches, and the free space is filled floral ornaments. Everything creates the impression of idleness, elegance from the contrasts of colors and imagination.

Today traditional folk craft“Gorodets painting” develops in the historical center of its origin and existence, as the art of decorating flat surfaces. Painting, which does not require heat treatment, allows craftsmen to use a wide variety of shapes, colors, and shades. The richness of its palette is limitless, and for 60 years now the masters of the Gorodets Painting factory have been preserving and developing the traditions of this folk art craft.

Gorodets wood painting, a traditional art craft that developed in the 19th century in villages along the Uzola River in the vicinity of Gorodets Nizhny Novgorod region. The origin of painting originates from the production of Gorodets distaff bottoms, inlaid stained oak and decorated with contour carvings. Unlike the widespread spinning wheels, hewn from a single wooden monolith, Gorodets spinning wheels consisted of two parts: the bottom and the comb. The bottom was a wide board, tapering to a head with a pyramidal “hoof”, into the hole of which the stem of the comb was inserted. When they were not working on the spinning wheel, the comb was removed from the hoof, and the bottom was hung on the wall, becoming a kind of decorative panel.

In the middle of the last century, craftsmen began to revive the inlaid bottoms, first only by tinting the background, then by carving, and subsequently by introducing colorful plot drawings. The earliest similar bottom that has survived to this day was made by master Lazar Melnikov in 1859. Gradually, painting, technologically simpler, finally replaced labor-intensive inlay.

Gorodets masters transferred into painting not only the subjects previously used in inlay, but also a generalized interpretation of the images suggested by carving techniques. The painting used bright rich colors of red, yellow, green, black, mixed with liquid wood glue. Over time, the range expanded; in addition to the traditional spinning wheels, the Donets began to produce and paint urinal boxes, wooden Toys, furniture, even parts of the house, shutters, doors, gates. In 1880, about 70 people from seven neighboring villages were involved in the fishery. Among the oldest masters who became the founders of Gorodets painting, the names of the brothers Melnikov and G. Polyakov were preserved; later they were joined by painters who preserved the secrets of the craft at the beginning of the 20th century I.A. Mazin, F.S. Krasnoyarov, T. Belyaev, I.A. Chests.

Gradually, original techniques of Gorodets painting were developed, which in their multi-stage nature were close to professional painting. Initially, the background is painted, which also serves as a primer. Based on the colored background, the master makes an “underpainting”, applying the main color spots with a large brush, after which he models the shape with thinner brushes. The painting is completed by “revival” with white and black, combining the drawing into one whole. The finished plot is usually enclosed in a graphic frame or outline. In Gorodets painting there are many simple ornamental motifs of roses, buds, and grass.

With the development of the craft, the subjects of painting, apparently borrowed from popular prints, were also significantly enriched. In addition to traditional horses, tea parties, festivities, scenes from city life, and characters appeared folk tales, battle scenes inspired by the Russian-Turkish War.

The Gorodets fishery existed for about fifty years. Its heyday was in the 1890s, when Donets production reached 4 thousand per year, but by the beginning of the 20th century the fishery had fallen into decline. After World War I, painting production ceased completely, and even the most famous painters were forced to look for other income.

The revival of Gorodets painting is associated with the name of the artist I.I. Oveshkov, who came to the Gorky region in 1935 from Zagorsk (Sergiev Posad). Through his efforts, a public workshop was opened in the village of Koskovo, uniting old painters. Oveshkov not only took over the leadership of the workshop, but also organized professional education artists. With his direct participation, the expansion of the range of painted products began: boxes, wall cabinets for dishes, high chairs, and folding screens. In 1937, Gorodets masters participated in the exhibition “ Folk art", held at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, where modern products were demonstrated next to the Donets of the 19th century.

In 1951, the Stakhanovets carpentry and furniture artel was opened in the village of Kurtsevo, headed by the hereditary Gorodets painter A.E. Konovalov. The artel began manufacturing furniture with motifs of traditional painting on cabinets, bedside tables, stools, and tables; the range was constantly expanding. In 1960, the artel was transformed into the Gorodets Painting factory.

Currently, the factory produces painted rocking toys, children's furniture, decorative panels, dishes, turning utensils. Although it has changed functional purpose Gorodets products, their painting preserves traditional motifs and images, long-legged horses, riders, magical birds, flowers. Among the most common subjects of painting are festivities, tea parties, the famous Gorodets horse with its rider, folk holidays.

Gorodets wood painting has been known since the second half of the 19th century V. Initially it was used to decorate the bottom of spinning wheels, and later it began to be used to decorate household utensils. The main motifs of the painting were images of people, horses, birds, and flowers. Painting is carried out in several stages using glue paints on the board, also primed with glue paint. The first stage is underpainting, during which the main plot of the composition is outlined and the main color spots are outlined. The second stage - the places for the images of people's faces and hands are written in white. The third stage is shading, when more dark color Strokes are applied to the flowers, the stamens are highlighted, and the veins of the leaves are registered. The last stage - shading - is carried out in black or white, as a result of which the composition is finally formed. The dried product is covered with drying oil.

The village of Gorodets was founded in the 16th century. The peasants of all the surrounding villages were engaged in fishing: women spun threads and made canvases. IN Nizhny Novgorod region They spun not from a spinning wheel, but from a comb. Instead of a spinning wheel blade, a comb was inserted into the bottom, and a tow was put on its teeth. The surface of the bottom gave the artist the opportunity to unfold entire paintings. The bottom, on which the spinner sat, was made of a wide board, smoothly tapering to a head-stand with a hole into which the comb was inserted. Having finished the work, the spinner took out the comb and hung the bottom on the wall of the hut, which also served to decorate the interior.

Initially, local craftsmen decorated the bottoms of the spinning wheels with carvings, and from the second half of the 19th century. they began to be decorated with paintings. Local legends say that the replacement of the chisel with a brush occurred in 1870, when Nikolai Ivanovich Ogurechnikov arrived in the village of Koskovo from Gorodets, who worked on updating painting in churches. He passed on to local craftsmen the secrets of the technology of writing with paints prepared with liquid glue, showed how to paint horses and birds with a squirrel brush, and painted the first examples of floral ornamental motifs - roses and “kupavka” - which became characteristic of Gorodets products.

As a rule, the bottom was painted not one at a time, but in batches.

First, the master primed the bottom board, divided into several tiers, with adhesive paints. Each tier had its own color. After priming, the artist very carefully cleaned the bottom of the surface, removing any wood fibers that had risen during priming, covered the base with a thin layer of transparent liquid glue, and then thoroughly dried the bottom.

The painting was carried out using the same paints prepared with glue, and they were composed simultaneously with the preparation of colored primer, which made it possible to create a harmonious color palette . The first stage of painting - underpainting , during which the main plot of the composition was outlined and the main color spots emerged. Next, the master used whitewash to mark out the places where people’s faces and hands were to be depicted. The next stage was shading , when strokes of a darker color were applied to the flowers, the stamens stood out, and the veins of the leaves were outlined. Finally, black or white was done refreshment. She contributed to the revitalization of the painting and combined all the motifs into a coherent composition. The product, dried after painting, was covered with drying oil.

Subsequently, the subjects and type of paintings, previously used only for spinning wheels, began to be used to decorate various household items and even furniture.

The birthplace of Gorodets painting was the Volga region, namely the villages of Khlebaikha, Kurtsevo, Koskovo, Savino, Bukino and others, located along the banks of the Volga tributary of the clean and bright river Uzola. There, peasants from several villages painted spinning wheels and took them to sell their products at the Nizhny Novgorod fair. That’s why the painting was first called Nizhny Novgorod. More precisely, even before the appearance of this painting, spinning wheels were decorated with carvings. Over time, the carvings began to be slightly tinted to make them more elegant, and later the carvings on spinning wheels were completely replaced by painting.

Uzola River

Why was the painting called Grodec painting?

The name “Gorodetskaya” appeared only in the 1930s after the appearance of the works of one of the most famous researchers of folk culture, V.M. Vasilenko. In earlier editions, we talk about “Nizhny Novgorod painting” or “Kurtsev dyers”. The new name stuck because Gorodets was the main market for Uzol painted utensils and also had wood painting workshops. But the most important thing: the very content of the painting is connected with him, his way of life, narva, and images, starting from the mid-19th century. The famous Uzol painting grew out of the entire artistic culture of Gorodets and its environs, the history of which goes back more than eight centuries.

View of Gorodets from the Volga. Mid-19th century

Gorodets has long been famous for its “dead” wood carving, as there were most craftsmen who worked with wood. The forest provided cheap material that was always at hand. This carving is created with an ax and chisel.

The bright pages of the history of the folk craft that arose here are associated with the activities of Peter I in creating the Russian navy. Each ship was certainly decorated with wooden carvings, demonstrating both the military power of Russia and the artistic talent of the peoples who inhabited it. During the 18th century, shipbuilding moved closer to the conquered shores of the seas. Talented craftsmen had to look for new uses for their accumulated experience. Some began to carve spoons, others sharpened bowls and cups, and still others made tools for spinning and weaving. The bottoms for spinning wheels, which were then decorated, gained particular popularity. The bottom of the spinning wheel is a seat that was not visible during operation. But, having finished spinning, the peasant woman hung the bottom on the wall, and it became an adornment of her modest life.

Bottom of the spinning wheel

Where can you see a spinning wheel now? Only in the museum. The spinning wheel consists of a comb, a bottom and a spindle. The bottom is a wide board on which the spinner sat. The bottom of the spinning wheels was painted. After work, the spindles were put into a box, and the bottom was hung on the wall, like a picture.

Samples of spinning wheels collected in museums show how the technique of decorating the bottom changed from the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century. Carving was replaced by inlay from pieces of bog oak, followed by painting, which can be done easier and faster.

The heyday of Gorodets painting is associated with the arrival in 1870 of the icon painter Ogurechnikov from Gorodets to the village of Kurtsevo, who was invited to renovate the painting of the local church. It was he who helped local masters master painting techniques that had long been used in painting icons: methods of applying layers of paint, “living up” with whitewash - everything that gives the painting completeness and expressiveness. Masters had long been using tint on inlaid objects, so they were ready to adopt the painting technique. At the end of the 19th century, cheap factory-made chintz appeared, which replaced hand-made fabrics. The bottoms, combs, and spindles so necessary for the manual production of fabrics became unnecessary in factories. Made with love and talent best samples spinning wheels took their rightful place in museums and became an example for future generations.

N.N. Noskova. Icon Mother of God "Everlasting color". 2005 The traditions of the old masters of icon painting are still alive today. There is an icon painting workshop at the Gorodets Painting factory. The well-known icon painting plot was written using Gorodets ornament.

Later they began to paint not only spinning wheels, but also all kinds of objects from peasant life - baskets, salt shakers, wooden toys, boxes for storing yarn and many other products. The colors of Gorodets painting were always bright and rich, all products were always decorated with lush bouquets of flowers reminiscent of roses and daisies. As the craft developed (by the end of the nineteenth century, residents of a dozen villages were involved in it), the painting was also supplemented with new subjects. Characters from folk tales, scenes from city life, all kinds of “tea parties” and festivities appeared.”

Gorodets painting in our time

By the beginning of the 20th century, the fishery slowly fell into decline, and soon ceased to exist altogether. Gorodets painting began to recover only in the 30s, when a painters’ workshop opened. Later, already in the 50s, an artel was formed. Nowadays, the legacy of the old masters and their best traditions is sought to be revived by artists working at the Gorodets Painting factory in Gorodets, which was established in 1960. Fortunately, the ancient Volga region painting is now in the capable hands of talented contemporary artists. Five of them are Repin Prize laureates. This is the highest award for artists in our country. The names of these artists: Bespalova L.F., Kubatkina L.A., Kasatova F.N., Rukina T.M., Sokolova A.V. There was a time when Gorodets painting almost died, but there were kind and talented people who revived it. They are our national pride. Nowadays, masters work in an art workshop in Gorodets and teach their students.

Bibliography

Gorodets painting is a Russian folk art craft. It has existed since the mid-19th century in the area of ​​the city of Gorodets.
Bright, laconic Gorodets painting (genre scenes, figurines of horses, roosters, floral patterns), made in a free stroke with a white and black graphic outline, decorated spinning wheels, furniture, shutters, and doors.
In 1936, an artel was founded (since 1960, the Gorodets Painting Factory), producing souvenirs; masters - D. I. Kryukov, A. E. Konovalov, I. A. Mazin.

Peculiarities

In Nizhny Novgorod paintings, two types can be distinguished - Pavlovsk and Gorodets paintings, which were used to decorate chests, arches, sleighs, children's furniture, bottoms for spinning wheels and many small household items.
The Gorodets style is distinguished primarily by its content. In the paintings, the main impression is given by genre scenes. All these images are conventional in nature, very free and decorative in form, and sometimes border on caricature. This is the life of the peasantry, merchants, a magnificent parade of costumes.

A significant place is occupied by floral motifs - lush “roses”, painted broadly and decoratively. According to A.V. Bakushinsky, the master became a true painter.
V. S. Voronov also speaks about this, writing that “the Nizhny Novgorod manner presents us with the purest version of genuine pictorial art, which has overcome the framework of graphic captivity and is based exclusively on the elements of painting...”

Along with genre realistic motifs, idealized, decorative images of birds and animals also live in Gorodets paintings. There are exotic lions and leopards. Especially often is the image of a hot, strong horse or rooster in a proud, warlike pose. Most often these are paired images, heraldically facing each other.

Gorodets motifs - scenes of city life

Panel. "My beloved Gorodets." Kolesnikova

Panel "Merchant Street" Kolesnikova

Panel "Walk Sloboda" by Kolesnikov

Panel "Hospitable Town" by Kolesnikov

The Gorodets master of painting loves flowers. They are scattered everywhere on the field of paintings with cheerful garlands and bouquets. Where the plot allows, the master willingly uses the motif of a lush curtain, picked up by a cord with tassels. The decorativeness of the motifs is emphasized by the decorativeness of color and techniques.

Favorite backgrounds are bright green or intense red, deep blue, sometimes black, on which the multicolored Gorodets color splashes especially lushly.
In characterizing the plot, whitened tones give rich shades of color transitions. Painting is done with a brush, without preliminary drawing, with a free and rich stroke.
It is very diverse - from a broad stroke to the finest line and virtuoso stroke. The work of the master is fast and economical. Therefore, it is very generalized, simple in its techniques, and free in the movement of the brush. Characteristic of Gorodets are flower paintings, multicolored and expressive works by masters A. E. Konovalov and D. I. Kryukov.

History of Gorodets painting

The painting, which is now called Gorodets, was born in the Volga region, in villages located on the banks of the clean and bright Uzory River. In the villages of Koskovo, Kurtsevo, Khlebaikha, Repino, Savino, Boyarskoye, etc.
In the 18th century a center for the production of spinning bottoms and toys emerges. The peasants took their products to sell at a fair in the village of Gorodets. Therefore, the painting done on these products was called Gorodetskaya.

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language V.I. Dalia explains that the word “bottom” means “a plank on which our spinner sits, sticking a comb into it.” Having finished the work, she took out the comb and hung the bottom on the wall, and it decorated the hut. Therefore, folk craftsmen paid special attention to decorating the boards with carvings and paintings.

The spinning wheel was a faithful companion throughout the peasant woman’s life. It often served as a gift: the groom gave it to the bride, the father to the daughter, the husband to the wife. Therefore, the bottom was chosen to be elegant and colorful, to the joy and surprise of everyone. The spinning wheel was passed down from generation to generation, it was taken care of and stored.

To decorate the boards, the craftsmen used a unique technique - inlay, which is very rarely found in folk art. The figures were cut out of a different type of wood and inserted into recesses corresponding to the shape. These inserts, made of dark bog oak, stood out in relief against the light surface of the bottom. Having wood of two shades and using the simplest tools, folk craftsmen turned the bottom into a work of art.
A famous master of inlaid bottoms with tinting was L.V. Melnikov.

Later, the craftsmen also began to use bottom tint. Bright combination yellow background with dark oak, adding blue, green, red colors made it elegant and colorful.

From the second half of the 19th century. the complex and labor-intensive technique of inlay was replaced by bracket carving with tinting, and then the pictorial manner of decoration began to predominate.

The subjects of ancient Gorodets painting were images of birds, flowers, horse riders, young ladies and gentlemen, and scenes from folk life.

Nowadays, the traditions of the old masters are being sought to be revived and enriched by folk craftsmen working at the Gorodets Painting factory of art products in the city of Gorodets. Among them there are laureates of the award named after. I.E. Repina. This is L.F. Bespalova, F.N. Kasatova, A.E. Konovalov, L.A. Kubatkina, T.M. Rukina, A.V. Sokolova.

Marina Belova..Bochata.Tree, Gorodets painting.

Marina Belova.Postavets.Bochata.Wood, Gorodets painting.

Tray M.M. Belova. Wood, Gorodets painting. 2005.

Set of cards. Visual aids for elementary school.

The history of the origin of Gorodets painting

The village of Gorodets was founded in the 16th century. The peasants of all the surrounding villages were engaged in fishing: women spun threads and made canvases. In the Nizhny Novgorod region they spun not from a spinning wheel, but from a comb. Instead of a spinning wheel blade, a comb was inserted into the bottom, and a tow was put on its teeth. The surface of the bottom gave the artist the opportunity to unfold entire paintings.

And here is what the Great Soviet Encyclopedia says about this:

“Gorodets painting is a folk art craft that developed from the mid-19th century in the area of ​​the city of Gorodets (now in the Gorky region) and replaced the local production (existed from the 18th century) of spinning wheels with inlay and carvings.

Laconic, contrasting in color, Gorodets tempera painting served to decorate homes (shutters, doors, gates) and household items (the bottom of spinning wheels, furniture, toys, etc.). Surrounded by floral patterns, figures of horses, roosters, fantastic animals and birds, scenes of walks and tea parties were done with a wide, free stroke with a graphic outline of the images with white and black lines, which emphasized the clear rhythm of the composition.

The fishery died out at the beginning of the 20th century. IN Soviet time revived In 1938, the “21st Anniversary of October Revolution” artel was created in Gorodets (since 1960 - the “Gorodets Painting” factory), producing painted toys and souvenirs.

Presenters modern masters- D.I. Kryukov, A.E. Konovalov, I.A. Mazin.”

Gorodets wood painting is a traditional artistic craft that developed in the mid-19th century in villages along the Uzole River in the vicinity of Gorodets, Nizhny Novgorod region.

The origin of painting originates from the production of Gorodets spinning wheels, inlaid with bog oak and decorated with contour carvings. Unlike the widespread spinning wheels, hewn from a single wooden monolith, Gorodets spinning wheels consisted of two parts: the bottom and the comb. The bottom was a wide board, tapering to a head with a pyramidal “toe”, into the hole of which the stem of the comb was inserted. When they were not working on the spinning wheel, the comb was removed from the comb, and the bottom was hung on the wall, becoming a kind of decorative panel.

In the middle of the last century, craftsmen began to revive the inlaid bottoms, first only by tinting the background, then by carving, and subsequently by introducing colorful plot drawings. The earliest similar bottom that has survived to this day was made by master Lazar Melnikov in 1859. Gradually, painting, technologically simpler, finally replaced labor-intensive inlay.

Gorodets masters transferred into painting not only the subjects previously used in inlay, but also a generalized interpretation of the images suggested by carving techniques. The painting used bright rich colors of red, yellow, green, black, mixed with liquid wood glue. Over time, the range expanded; In addition to traditional spinning wheels, the Donets began to make and paint brush boxes, wooden toys, furniture, even parts of the house, shutters, doors, and gates. In 1880, about 70 people from seven neighboring villages were involved in the fishery. Among the oldest masters who became the founders of Gorodets painting, the names of the brothers Melnikov and G. Polyakov were preserved; later they were joined by painters who preserved the secrets of the craft at the beginning of the 20th century I. A. Mazin, F. Krasnoyarov, T. Belyaev, I. A. Chests.

Gorodets painting is a unique Russian phenomenon national culture. This folk art combines the features artistic originality folk painting, the roots of which go back centuries.

The history of the unique plot painting goes back more than a century and a half. In their compositions, peasant artists discovered a unique figurative world.

Gorodets painting is one of the most famous artistic crafts in Russia, the brightest phenomenon so-called “naive” art. No wonder one of the French art critics said that such things should be in the Louvre.

Among the most common subjects of painting are festivities, tea parties, the famous Gorodets horse and rider, and folk holidays. The painting is saturated with the richness of the colors of the Russian summer with its meadow herbs, illuminated by the bright midday sun, as if flooding the lush garlands of flowers and fancy birds with dazzling light.

Throughout the history of the craft, folk artists have created an original painting system, found unique images and developed a rich arsenal of techniques for painting the details of the plot and ornamental elements.

The basis of Gorodets carving is a floral ornament with the inclusion of various inscriptions and dates, as well as images of lions and fairy-tale creatures (beregins, pharaohs). Artists also use bracketed, tinted carvings and stained oak inlays. At the enterprise, skillful carvings decorate boxes, small panels, icon frames, gingerbread boards (for printing gingerbread cookies), and small sculptures. Master carvers work on carved icons, using artistic techniques derived from art ancient Rus'. The products of the carvers are distinguished by their virtuosity of execution and are marked by the nobility of their artistic manner.

In a short period of time, the artists perfectly mastered the art of painting. Although the images retain a mostly flat character, instead of chiaroscuro, transitional shades and animations begin to play an increasingly important role. The accuracy and flexibility of the line, the subtlety of the stroke, the confidence and lightness of the stroke sometimes border on virtuosity. Products of small size or utilitarian purposes (salt shaker, chest for children's toys), as a rule, are painted with floral patterns, in which a rose flower, leaves, branches, and bird plumage are cut with white strokes. In decorative panels, the plot most often unfolds either in two or three tiers, sometimes in several scenes, or in a single decorative picture. People are depicted in costumes that retain the features of clothing from the last century. If the action takes place inside a building, then the interior of the premises resembles some kind of ancient architecture with fancy columns, arches, and the free space is filled with floral ornaments. Everything creates the impression of idleness, elegance from the contrasts of colors and imagination.

Today, the traditional folk art craft "Gorodets painting" is developing in the historical center of its origin and existence, as the art of decorating flat surfaces. Painting, which does not require heat treatment, allows craftsmen to use a wide variety of shapes, colors, and shades. The richness of its palette is limitless, and for 60 years now the masters of the Gorodets Painting factory have been preserving and developing the traditions of this folk art craft.

In the first half of the 19th century, wood carving was still popular, although very labor-intensive. They came to painting gradually, tinting the carved product in the necessary places with dark paint, which seemed to replace the bog oak inlay.

Immediately before painting, the workpiece went through a difficult preparatory stage, which consisted of priming it with chalk and coating it with glue. And only after this preliminary work the master began painting. The method of painting the product was interesting - laying out the primary colors followed by linear development. The painting was complemented by “revival” - fine cutting of ornamental forms with whitewash. In the works of Gorodets masters, “revivals” were always applied to monochromatic silhouettes, which gave them some volume. Ornaments were solved in two or three steps. The master will apply the main color with one stroke, next to it will put another, shading or contrasting, and on top free movement will cause a “revive”. And flowers will bloom on thin stems, fairytale roses and delicate flowers will begin to smell. The master of the work will come one more time, and flexible leaves will fall everywhere, complementing the bright city flowers.

The design of human figures on urban products was very interesting. All faces were painted in the same way: first, a white circle was drawn, on which, with quick movements of the brush, thin arcs were drawn - eyebrows, lines - eyes, arcs - lips.

At the beginning of the craft, products were painted with egg paints, then with glue paints. Oil paint began to be used later, only at the beginning of the 20th century.

Gradually, original techniques of Gorodets painting were developed, which in their multi-stage nature were close to professional painting. Initially, the background is painted, which also serves as a primer. Based on the colored background, the master makes an “underpainting”, applying the main color spots with a large brush, after which he models the shape with thinner brushes. The painting is completed by “living up” with white and black, combining the drawing into one whole. The finished plot is usually enclosed in a graphic frame or outline. In Gorodets painting there are many simple ornamental motifs of roses, buds, and grass.

With the development of the craft, the subjects of painting, apparently borrowed from popular prints, were also significantly enriched. In addition to traditional horses, tea parties, festivities, scenes from city life, characters from folk tales, and battle scenes inspired by the Russian-Turkish War appeared.

The Gorodets fishery existed for about fifty years. Its heyday was in the 1890s, when Donets production reached 4 thousand per year, but by the beginning of the 20th century the fishery had fallen into decline. After World War I, painting production ceased completely, and even the most famous painters were forced to look for other income.

The revival of Gorodets painting is associated with the name of the artist I. I. Oveshkov, who came to the Gorky region in 1935 from Zagorsk. Through his efforts, a public workshop was opened in the village of Koskovo, uniting old painters. Oveshkov not only took over the leadership of the workshop, but also organized professional training for artists. With his direct participation, the expansion of the range of painted products began: boxes, wall cabinets for dishes, high chairs, and folding screens. In 1937, Gorodets masters participated in the exhibition “Folk Art”, held at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, where modern products were demonstrated next to the Don people of the 19th century.

In 1951, the Stakhanovets carpentry and furniture artel was opened in the village of Kurtsevo, headed by the hereditary Gorodets painter A.E. Konovalov. The artel began manufacturing furniture with motifs of traditional painting on cabinets, bedside tables, stools, and tables; the range was constantly expanding. In 1960, the artel was transformed into the Gorodets Painting factory.

Currently, the factory produces painted rocking toys, children's furniture, decorative panels, dishes, and turning utensils. Although the functional purpose of the Gorodets products has changed, traditional motifs and images, long-legged horses, riders, magical birds, and flower-cups have been preserved in their painting.

children's creativity Gorodets painting