White - innocence, purity, candor Purple - greatness, power, honor Carmine - true piety, health Bright red - wit, slyness Pink - youth, love, Tenderness Brown - Dark Brown humility - Deep Grief Grey - Hope, location of Indigo - Bliss Fialkovaya - Friendship, Remembrance, Consistency Gold - Magnificence, Glitter, Wealth Orange - Suspicion Pale Yellow - Infidelity Black - Sorrow
The red colour in Russian art April 28 in the building of the Benoit Russian Museum opened the exhibition "Red colour in Russian art". The exhibition occupies more than 20 halls, including works of Russian artists from the XIV century to the present day. The idea behind it became a new step in the exhibition activity.
Interestingly, the red (in the European sense) corresponds to the ancient element "fire", choleric temperament, and in the categories of time - the modernity (yellow indicates the future).
Psychology, actively studying colour from emotional and psychophysical influence on a person, has established that red (or rather red-orange) activates vegetative functions of a human organism when as dark-blue causes a reverse reaction, it is necessary to consider that such "language" is international.
The red colour is associated, first of all, with vital energy (blood), with human passions, with fire; various shades of red turn it into tragically sacrificial, then desperately festive, then burning-sensual, then mysteriously mystical.
In Russian culture, red, of course, occupies a special place. The word "red" itself goes far beyond the simple designation of colour. In the records of his stay in Russia, an 18th-century European Count Segur, speaking of local customs, said: "They even have the word red denotes beauty. Indeed, Russian folklore is rich in epithets such as "red sunshine", "red girl"... This colour is connected with the holiday - the bride's wedding dress was red, and the smart clothes had at least some detail of red colour. The objects of Russian folk art presented at the exhibition show how this colour was valued. Home utensils: spinning wheels, rides, chests, even the baby's cradle were painted with red or red-orange patterns. Colour acted as a natural and initial, something deep, peculiar to the soul of the people. (Of course, maybe such a love for red was also determined by climatic conditions: modern science advises in countries with cold and long winters to paint houses in warm colours, in red and orange - the colours are not just warm, but burning - warm).
The art of the XVIII century, with its gravitation to the Western European understanding of painting, shows how gradually, peculiar to the Russian soul, the addiction to red is muted and obscured by academic training. And, if in the first half of the XVIII century in the works of Russian artists, this color is still torn out, as if by chance, from somewhere out of the subconscious, sometimes completely out of the general coloristic range of the work (it seems that the painter for greater beauty added red and did not notice, By the XIX century this colour loses its natural spontaneity, its appearance becomes conditioned by the thought over rationalized scheme, it turns to a decorative stain - an element of the colouristic decision, appropriate in the given plot and the given composition.
At the beginning of XX century red again captures the minds of Russian artists. In the works of F.A. Malyavin, this colour sounds desperately chiming, conveying the fiery nature of the Russian character. Works of K.S. Petrov-Vodkin, K. Malevich, P. Filonov represent different ways of his colouristic qualities. In the works of artists of the beginning of the century, he becomes an effective tool of the experimenter's palette, there is a new understanding, understanding, based on tradition, and the multi-dimensional symbolism, and on the possibilities of the colour itself.
Another feeling arises when you get into the halls where the art of the Soviet period is presented. Here red is extremely ideologized. Nostalgic are such additions to this part of the exhibition as red flags, banners with slogans and, like an apotheosis, reconstruction of the famous "red corner" - an indispensable attribute of the production facilities. "Post-Soviet" painting completes the exhibition.
In some works, a new emphasis on the use of red colour appears - it is erotized. As opposed to the revolutionary party formalities, colour is overflowing with naked hypertrophied sensuality. The exhibition makes us think about a lot - it is passed through the magic crystal of red - the history of our country, revealed in art.
The authors of the exposition showed an extraordinary creative approach in revealing a given theme. Wonderfully complement the painting of household items, reconstruction of the "red corner" in the interior of the Russian hut - another manifestation of love for red.