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Russian Folk Painting Styles

 

 

 

BOROK

From Borok, a small village located on the Dvina, this painting-style derives from traditional Novgorodian icon painting (Novgorod exiles settled in the Dvina region during the 15^th century).  Like icon paintings, Borok distaffs required extensive surface preparation (several layers of ground required), including several ground layers.

 

Borok painters divide their surface composition into three-parts: the uppermost section displays symmetrical ornamentation (distaffs often depict window-like panes here); the center section depicts a symbolic motif (such as bird, flowering tree); and the bottom section displays a genre setting (such as horse-pulled sleigh, wedding, or other special occasion for which it was made). 

 

In general, Borok paintings feature red, gold, and green coloring, black outlines, and gold accents. Their artwork depicts both figurative and ornamental motifs (though symbolic spring/fertility motifs may serve as featured components in larger genre scenes).

 

 

MEZEN

(north of Arkhangel;sk Province)

For centuries, handicraft painters from the Mezen River region, located between North Dvina and Pechora rivers, employed an archaic red-black color combination to depict hunting scenes on their distaffs. These 2-dimensional drawings, composed from earth and soot, commonly display galloping horses or deer in horizontal rows (as in a parallel frieze).  Alternately, some distaffs depict birds rather than horses, an interchangeable symbol in Slavic mythology.  In the 19^th century, Mezen distaffs began to employ steamboats and flower baskets as motifs.  Indeed, genre scenes became more popular in general.

 

Unlike most Russian folk art, Mezen paintings lack bright colors (though tints are used occasionally to suggest volume).  Rather, animal motifs were painted using a brown/orange red against a gold background. For outlining, oil-infused black soot was used.  Such motifs were done in quick freehand, resulting in fine line outlines and feeling of motion.  Appropriately enough, Mezen Painting employs laconic stylized forms.

 

In the background, straight and wavy lines and other ornamentation belie ancient pagan symbols once meant to represent naturalistic elements (esp. water and sun symbols). 

 

 

GORODETS

On the Volga River, painters from the village of Gorodets produced distaffs with designs borrowed from icon frames developed in the Vladimir and Suzdal region during the 17^th century (likely brought by Old Believers fleeing persecution).  However, in the early 19^th century, Gododets painters became better known for employing inkruststsiia (incrustation) in their work.  Similar to inlay work, the techniques required scraping a recession in the wood for thin, water-treated cutouts to be placed.  These darkened cutouts, from trees found in flooded areas, provide strong contrast to the light surface.  The protracted effort necessary to employ such a technique eventually gave way to painting sharper, bolder silhouettes as a substitute.

 

Though Gorodets distaffs employ 2-part compositions, the genre scene on the upper section has increasingly extended upon the surface area since the early 20^th century.  Indeed, several genre scenes depicting 19^th century Russian life may be found in this section (though one picture seems to be preferred).  Accordingly, symmetric, heraldic motifs on the lower section (see picture) have had to downsize or become incorporated into the border.  Likewise, the composition gradually became less ordered and more accommodating toward placement. Ultimately, prescribed and expressive approaches were combined.

 

As with most Russian folk art painting, symbolic motifs (such as Tree of Life, horse/bird images) were heavily incorporated into the composition.  As with Mezen paintings, even contemporary genre scenes (tea scene, carriage rides) employed hidden symbolic motifs. Likewise, the steamboat became a prominent modern motif in the late 19^th century.

 

Likewise, Gorodets painters incorporated freehand along with more schematic style.  Gorodets painters used a pale yellow for the background, dark green used for characters (often heavily outlined in black), with red and blue used to a lesser extent.  Both tints and shading is employed to create volume and develop some realism. 

 

 

Bibliography

Hilton, Alison. Russian Folk Art. Indiana University Press. 1996

Pronin, Alexander. Russian Folk Arts. Barnes. 1975