This tradition of Russian ancient art came
from Byzantine Empire which had borrowed it from the artists
of antiquity. The great Russian painter, V. A. Favorsky said
that ancient Russian painting '...is a direct continuation of
great Greek art and at the same time it has deep Russian national
roots'. The connection of certain early type of the matryoshkas
of Sergiev Posad with the traditions of the local icon painting
school is confirmed both stylistically and virtually. Along
with the icons, matryoshkas were painted as well in the icon
painting school of Sergiev Posad. Such
matryoshkas as 'Yermak', 'Stepan Razin' were painted in R.
S. Busigin's workshop. Icon painter D. N. Pichugin painted
'Baltic Type' matryoshkas. The sons of a painter A. I. Sorokin
of Trinity - St. Sergius Monastery painted matryoshkas as
well. The Ivanov brothers who had the most famous matry-oshka
workshop used to make icon frames. Many hereditary families
of toy painters of Sergiev Posad were connected in one way
or another with the local icon painting school.
Great Russian thinker of the early 20th century
Vassily Vassilievich Rozanov noted: '...folk element is full
of seriousness, full of sense. The people have lived through
and are still living through the deepest calamities of the
soul; they are very observant; they think hard'. All this
explains the appearance of a new kind of folk art - painted
matryoshka.
Initially matryoshkas were quite diverse: they
portrayed not only female characters but also male ones. There
were some ethnographic matryoshkas: Samoyed (Eskimos), Gipsy
Woman, Armenian Man, Turk, Chinese, Lithuanians, Tartar Family,
Ukrainian and so on.
The matryoshkas portraying certain estates
and characterising certain types of activities formed a separate
group: numerous boyars, scribes, warriors, policemen, tailors,
cooks, waiters, soldiers, artists, Persian Shahs. Some matryoshkas
portrayed different characters from books especially from
the books of Gogol and Pushkin. However, gradually female
characters became the main type of matryoshkas. The traditions
of making special matryoshka proportions (1:2, i.e. the ratio
between a matryoshka's width to its height) were worked out.
Initially such proportions were typical for female and male
characters.
The first painters of Sergiev Posad who made
matryoshkas continued icon painting traditions: they paid
their special attention to thes matryoshka's face. The matryoshka
painters , were divided into two groups: the painters who
paid their special attention to matryoshka's face and the
painters who paid their special attention to matryoshka's
clothes. Actually it has existed since the time of Russian
ancient icon painting traditions. The clothes were painted
by women and faces were painted by men at the final stage
of the matryoshka decoration. The faces of the early matryoshkas
of Sergiev Posad were oval and strict. The heads of many matryoshkas
were greatly enlarged that's why the face dominated the body.
These matryoshkas look primitive because of this disproportion
but at the same time they are very expressive. The manner
of painting is bit coarse.
Early painted matryoshkas attract us by sincerity
and naivety of perception of the world. They say that the
famous film director S. A. Gerasimov once asked his students
what a woman was. Having heard different answers he said:
'A woman is a mother'.
The art of Russian painted matryoshka develops
exactly the same idea about female image. As the time went
on female image of the matryoshkas of earlier period transformed
from an ls individual type to the typical image which was
called later the image of Sergiev Posad. In 1910 'Artisan-Artist'
artel was set up in Sergiev Posad. In 1913 training workshops
which produced matryoshkas became a part of this artel. In
1920s the matryoshka makers artel was renamed 'The Workers'
and Peasants' Red Army Artel'. In 1928 it became toy factory
¹1 which exists till the present time.
The history of Russian painted matryoshkas
has three periods. The first one starts with the birth of
the Russian matryoshka and lasts until the beginning of 1930s.
This period may be described as the time of free work of artisans.
The second period which started in the mid 1930s and lasted
till late 1980s, was marked as the factory manufacture of
matryoshkas when the craftsmen worked together at the state
enterprises.
Finally, the third period began at the beginning
of 1990s when the free market of matryoshka manufacture and
sale triumphed. It was the time of so-called author's matryoshka.
The artistic destiny of the first period matryoshka
was quite lamentable. As early as on November 15, 1923 in
Moscow the Committee of the Arts and Crafts Museum drawn a
writing off act of the exhibits which according to the committee
members, did not correspond with the high artistic level,
they were not ideologically consistent and were not relics
of the past. The matryoshkas were the main part of these exhibits:
peasant women, tailors, policemen, scribes, beggars, bakers,
mermaids, wood goblins, grenadiers, Chinese, Persians, Jews
and so on. Gradually, all this diversity of matryoshkas was
reduced to a certain female image. During the Soviet period
the matryoshkas of Zagorsk had academic simplicity and ornamental
linear stylisation.
During the third period the matryoshkas of
Sergiev Posad came back to their roots. They have possibly
lost their original graphic refinement, a characteristic of
the works of Chief Artist of Zagorsk factory - S. L. Nechaev,
but they have gained special graphic ingenuousness which can
be found in the works of E. Latisheva and L. Ovchinnikova,
masters of the Traditional Culture Centre of Sergiev Posad.
The Centre, set up in 1990, was given a task to come back
to the roots of artistic handicrafts industry of Sergiev Posad,
its artistic and technological traditions and organisational
principles.
Sergievskaya Igrushka ('Sergiev Toy') factory,
set up in 1995, which works according to the principle of
handicraft artels of 1900-1930s became the production base
of the Centre. 'Sergievskaya Igrushka' revives the main kinds
of the old handicraft toys of Sergiev Posad: papier-mache
toys, traditional splinter toys, turning and joiner's wares,
made by painting over poker work, and of course, painted matryoshkas.
Along with traditional types of matryoshkas,
special attention is paid to author's matryoshkas. The works
of E. Latisheva and L. Ovchinnikova are the most interesting.
The main subject for these painters is the image of Russian
woman-mother. Their female images are extremely strong and
expressive. These matryoshkas have something in common with
the spontaneity and primitiveness of natural origins.
'Souvenir' was set up on the basis of artistic
industrial workshops. Since 1940s the painters and craftsmen
of these workshops have developed samples for factory production
of matryoshkas. Now the painters of 'Souvenir' continue the
best traditions of making the matryoshkas of Sergiev Posad
and develop the new themes and methods of matryoshka painting.
One of the strongest points of 'Souvenir' matryoshka is its
refined graphic elaboration.
In 1918 the Museum of Russian and Foreign Toys
was opened in Sergiev Posad. The first Russian matryoshka
made by S. V. Maliutin is a part of the Museum's collection.
Soon afterwards the Toys Research Institute was organised
there as well. The remarkable samples of toys were created
in this institute including a 42-piece matryoshka. A 60-piece
matryoshka is considered to be the biggest one among the matryoshkas
of Sergiev Posad. It was turned by Mokeev in 1967. The matryoshka
of Sergiev Posad has its own peculiarities: its top part flows
smoothly into the thicker lower part; it is painted with gouache
and has a varnish surface. In spite of, or perhaps because
of the popularity of the matryoshkas of Sergiev Posad, matryoshka
making centres started to spring up in Russia. Usually, these
were old Russian centres of folk arts and crafts and mainly
turning skills. Possibly, the craftsmen could see a new doll,
matryoshka, at fairs. The biggest fair was held at Nizhny
Novgorod. Matryoshka making centres appeared in the area of
Nizhny Novgorod.
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