Painting. Russian artists. Orest Kiprensky and Vassily Tropinin

Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 had far-reaching consequences. It marked the revival of national consciousness and the beginning of a widespread cult of Russian separateness from Europe, thus precipitating the long controversy between "Westerners" and "Slavophiles" that ran through so much of Russian 19th-century
literature and thought. At the same time, Russia shared in the Romanticism - cultivated by France and Germany - that swept throughout Europe during the Napoleonic Wars. This is reflected in the paintings by Orest Kiprensky and Vassily Tropinin.
The ideals of Romanticism are brilliantly expressed by Orest Kiprensky (1782-1836). His images of Russian women are poetic.

Kiprensky's series of pencil portraits of the heroes the War of 1812 phoe him a talented graphic artist.
The portrait of Darya Khvostova created by Kiprensky in 1814 delights with its particular charm. The figure looks warmly at the observer, who cannot but notice a shade of enigmatic sorrow and fatigue on her face. The feelings of the sitter are rendered with great aptitude and skill. Khvostova's portrait epitomises the exceptional character of the Russian woman and resembles the images of the Decembrists' wives.

In 1827 Kiprensky obtained a commission from Anton Delvig to paint a portrait of Alexander Pushkin. The poet liked this portrait so much that, when in 1831 Delvig's deceased, Pushkin bought the portrait from his friend's widow and put it in his drawing room. Pushkin's image captured by Kiprensky is very poetic. This portrait is one of the best of all the works devoted to Pushkin.
 

Vassily Tropinin (1776-1857), a great genre portrait-painter was a serf of Count I. Morkov.

Tropinin was so talented, that the count permitted him to attend the Academy of Arts. The studies had been completed as the count called Tropinin back. Tropinin got freedom only at the age of forty seven.
On coming to Moscow, Tropinin became very popular among the Muscovites. He met and befriended the leading Russian painters and writers of his day. Such outstanding personalities as Nikolay Karamzin and Karl Bryullov sat for him. In 1827 Tropinin painted Pushkin's portrait.
Tropinin created a specific genre portrait. In The Lacemaker, Gold Embroiderer, Boy with a Pipe the figures are depicted with the tools of their trade. The Guitar Player brought fame to Tropinin. The artist returned to this subject several times during his lifetime.

Literature: Book "Russian art" A.P. Minyar-Belorucheva