20 years of work down the drain. Why has the public never appreciated the grand canvas of artist Alexander Ivanov?

Alexander Ivanov (1806–1858) is a Russian artist whose name is associated with one main painting, “The Appearance of Christ to the People.” Twenty years of intense work, a huge canvas 7.4 meters long and 5.4 meters high, a separate exhibition hall in the Tretyakov Gallery. This painting has probably been seen by all art lovers who have ever been to the Tretyakov Gallery — it is impossible to pass by it indifferently.

The Appearance of Christ to the People

There were no such monumental canvases in Russian painting, painted with such care and attention to detail. However, Ivanov painted other pictures, for example, a portrait of Gogol, and even sketches in the nude style, practically for the first time in Russian painting among Russian artists - before that, it was somehow not customary to paint such "shameful" pictures. Academician Henryk Semiradsky is rather an exception here, and he began to paint in 1865, after Ivanov's death.

However, all of Ivanov's works, in fact, were only preparation and sketches for the main work in his life - writing "The Appearance of Christ to the People". We will talk about this picture.

Forty square meters of canvas, a superbly worked out composition, realistic poses and gestures of the characters depicted on it - often in the paintings of academic artists they were pompous and theatrical. Even Ivanov himself did not escape a similar impression in his early works, as, for example, in the painting “Joseph’s Brothers Find the Cup in Benjamin’s Sack.”

"Joseph's brothers find the cup in Benjamin's sack"

But all this was in vain for Ivanov himself. Titanic work, the work of a lifetime, all this did not bring the results the artist expected. Let's figure out why.

In the painting, Ivanov depicted one of the key moments from the Bible - John the Baptist points to the people gathered at Jesus Christ coming towards them. And how to depict the reaction of completely different people to their first meeting with Jesus Christ? A very interesting and important task for any believer and a great artist, which is why Ivanov approached this work so carefully.

The Appearance of Christ to the People fragment

Some are sincerely happy and hope for the best - it is no coincidence that the Jews waited for a new mission for hundreds of years. But not all - some are very skeptical about the coming of Jesus, they lived well before him, why do we need a new Messiah?

The Appearance of Christ to the People fragment

And for the stern bearded clergymen, the coming of Christ is generally undesirable. It's all about the usual competition for the minds and souls of believers, and especially for their income. It was Christ who carried the word of God sincerely and truthfully, but the clergymen who gathered to watch him were hardly such unmercenaries.

The Appearance of Christ to the People fragment

There are quite a few people depicted in the painting, their feelings are contradictory and multifaceted, each person depicted is an individual, with their own story and clearly expressed emotions. And in this creative approach, unique for the mid-19th century, there were hidden stones. The fact is that earlier all the paintings were painted mainly in the academic style, and this is not a very bright color scheme in the painting and, most importantly, clearly defined roles for several main characters. The rest are in the background, in a crowd - the artist does not need to depict a unique emotion for each secondary character. This was easier for both artists and viewers. And the paintings, with all their meticulous drawing, usually performed a purely decorative function - they had to look beautiful and rich on the wall in the palace or in the house of a wealthy gentleman, and not be put on display for thousands of viewers in museums and raise some deep questions.

That is why they mainly painted biblical stories and scenes from myths against the background of lush Mediterranean nature. And even more so, the paintings should not show the moment here and now as in the works of the impressionists that appeared in the last third of the 19th century, in particular, Edgar Degas, Claude Monet and many other outstanding artists. The public was conservative, such a creative approach was alien to them. Too many colors and emotions, too complex a canvas to perceive. It is obvious that the artist tried very hard - but why?

However, Ivanov himself went through a huge creative path while working on this painting. Here is one of his early works - "The Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene". Can it be compared with his main masterpiece?

"The Appearance of Christ to Mary Magdalene"

And there are many mysteries in the painting "The Appearance of Christ to the People". For example, why does the smiling slave in the painting have a greenish tint on his face? Somehow it is hard to believe that Ivanov did not have enough paint or that he made a mistake in the canvas that he painted for 20 years.

The Appearance of Christ to the People fragment

There are several versions, one of them is that the slaves' faces were painted with green paint, which is very difficult to wash off, so that they would not run away. And the escaped slave has two options - either go to the nearest body of water and waste time washing off the paint, risking being caught at any moment, or go to people with a clear sign of belonging to slaves. In general, the choice is not cheerful. Although there is another version - Ivanov used paints that reacted with each other and gave such an unpleasant result. But then the question arises - why only clearly on the face?

And the questions do not end there. Why does the young man get out of the water dry? It is not clear that his skin is wet. Why are the Romans in helmets, but without weapons. Why are many barefoot, but their feet are perfectly clean? Still, this picture has many conventions from academicism, but it was supposed to be that way. If Ivanov had painted a picture that was too innovative, it might not have been sold for the amount the artist was asking - 15 thousand rubles. This is exactly how much the artist expected to receive from the Russian Emperor Alexander II.

You can see that the old man behind the young man is wearing a gray loincloth, and the red one is reflected in the water. However, there is an explanation from the Bible: "Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins be like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isaiah 1:18.

And Ivanov himself sincerely believed that his canvas would help people to purify themselves spiritually, to become better. That is why he worked on it for so long, paying incredible attention to detail. Perhaps the main problem with this painting is that despite the huge number of interesting details and fragments, they do not create a general, complete, finished impression, so characteristic of true masterpieces.

Ivanov already understood this. A masterpiece capable of spiritually enriching people did not work out. He cooled off to work, began to paint watercolors on biblical themes.

Alexander Ivanov. Watercolor sketch "The Virgin Mary, the disciples of Christ and the women who followed him look at the crucifixion"

But then he decided to go to the Middle East. He needed money for the trip and Ivanov decided to sell the canvas in Russia. The Emperor bought the painting for a little less than the artist had expected - 13 thousand rubles. But Ivanov fell ill with cholera and died. The money was given to his family. The painting remained somewhat unfinished, and its goals, which Ivanov had expected, at least in the 19th century, did not fulfill. However, no one is stopping us from sincerely admiring it now.

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