I wanted to copy a post, but something went wrong. My computer or platform could not copy the post. I did not attempt to revive the computer.
However, I found a winter scene painted by Aleksey Savrasov. Aleksey Savrasov was Isaac Levitan‘ teacher. Savrasov created the lyrical landscape and Levitan, the mood landscape. The terms are interchangeable.
Both joined the Peredvizhniki group, but Levitan did so later than Savrasov.
I lost my voice on 11 December. I phoned my doctor, whispering. He asked that I visit him at the clinic. When I phoned, whispering, he diagnosed sinusitis. He was busy. The pharmacy sent a nose cleaning kit. It was and remains bronchitis. The pharmacy will send medication this afternoon.
The video is a short piece, but very moving. I am very fond of liturgical music.
My best wishes to all of you. May this be your finest Christmas or holidays ever.
—ooo—
“Our Father” from “Sacred Treasures III:”
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Performed by St. Petersburg Chamber Choir
Directed by Nikolai Korniev
Recorded in St. Catherine’s Lutheran Church, St. Petersburg, Russia
Alexei Savrasov (24 May 1830 – 8 October 1897) was Isaac Levitan‘s (1860 – 1900) mentor. He created the “lyrical landscape.” I have already featured Savrasov, but deleted the post inadvertently. A new post is under construction.
We are still listening to Russian music and looking at the works of Russia’s artists. The piece of music I have inserted below is a lovely interpretation of one of Shostakovich‘s (25 September 1906 – 9 August 1975) Twenty-four Preludes and Fugueson the chromatic scale. Chromatic scales contain twelve semitones (C – C# – D – D# – E – F – F# – G – G# – A – A# – B). J. S. Bach wrote 48 preludes and fugues on each scale, The Well-Tempered Clavier. These exemplify equal temperament, an invention of Vincenzo Galilei, Galileo’s father.
Nikolai Timkov often depicted winter. However, the painting above is a fine but very personal portrayal of winter. As we will see, it is reminiscent of the “lyrical landscapes” of nineteenth-century Russia. Moreover, it can be associated with impressionism, a French art movement that flourished during the last two decades of the nineteenth century.
Yet, the creator of this winter landscape, Nikolai Timkov, is a twentieth-century artist, born at settlement of Nakhichevanskaya Dacha, close to Rostov-on-Don, in the Russian Empire. He studied art at the Repin Institute of Arts and graduated in 1939. Four years later, he became a member of the Leningrad Union of Artists (St Petersburg), beginning in 1943. Although Tomkin has explored other areas of painting, such as genre art, the portrayal of people engaged in everyday activity, he is known mainly for his lyrical landscapes.
Russian Lyrical Landscapes
Alexei Savrasov (24 May 1830 – 8 October 1897) is the creator of this mellow style that also characterizes the art of Isaac Levitan‘s (30 August 1860 – 4 August 1900) mood landscape. So how is the above painting, by Timkov, a lyrical landscape? Well, Timkov has colored winter in a lyrical or poetical manner. For him winter is essentially blue. In this regard, “Russian Winter. Hoarfrost” resembles the paintings associated with impressionism, an art movement developed in France in the final decades of the nineteenth century.
Impressionism
Impressionism was a French art movement, but it had considerable influence outside France. Its masters are Monet, Renoir, Degas, Pissaro, Manet, Sisler, Berthe Morisot, Marie Bracquemont, American-born Mary Cassat, etc. Starting with Cézanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh, who are labelled post-impressionists, paintings present distortions, but were otherwise precise.
Impression, soleil levant (Impression, Sunrise), by Claude Monet, 1872, oil on canvas, Musée Marmottan
However, the goal of earlier impressionists was to convey the essence of the object or subject they depicted: landscapes, still lifes, persons, etc. Such a goal can lead to a more personal depiction of objects or subjects, but during the early years of the movement, works produced by impressionists were characterized by a degree of imprecision. They were impressions and “suggestions” of objects or subjects.
The Colour Blue
But let us return to Timkov. Timkov provides us with mostly realistic paintings, i.e. the various components of his paintings are not impressions. Yet, in one painting, Russian Winter. Hoarfrost, he has transformed a winter landscape into a study in blue, where details are a relatively secondary element. For instance, there are very few details to his trees. Timkov uses little black or indigo lines that “suggest” branches and give depth to the landscape. Moreover, to the right of the painting, we see roofs and houses. They are almost imperceptible unless one looks closely, but they “suggest” the presence of a village and, because they are small, they too give depth, or perspective, to the painting.
As for the river, in the foreground, Timkov has used a very dark blue to carve it out of the canvas. This dark blue lends the painting a very firm and mostly horizontal base, except to the right, where the river bends in the direction of the village. There is texture to the river and to every component of the painting. The river, its shore or banks, the foliage of the tree, all combine a dark and paler shade of the same blue. This confers not only texture to the painting, but also dimensionality, particularly the trees. The same is true of the banks and the sky.
Yet, this painting is mainly monochromatic: shades of blue,and it cannot be considered a truly realistic portrayal of winter. It is not foggy or blurry, but it is nevertheless an impression of winter and subjective. In this one painting, Timkov’s winter is essentially blue, which gives Russian Winter. Hoarfrost a certain intimacy.This is not winter; this is Timkov’s Russian winter.
If the painting were realistic, a little blue would help shape the snow. But fir trees, the evergreens, would be green, and deciduous trees would not have foliage, which they do in Timkov’s painting, blue foliage.
As a result, the painting is both representational: a landscape, and fanciful and poetical, or an impression of winter seen as essentially blue and, therefore, a subjective impression.
composer: Dmitri Shostakovich (25 September 1906 – 9 August 1975)
piece: Valse N° 2
Featured Artist: Isaac Levitan (30 August 1860 – 4 August 1900)
The United States: Defense
Today, I am sending the news earlier, so my list arrives in other parts of the world closer to the morning. All I will say is that Mitt Romney, who will probably oppose President Obama, is reassuring Israel. Israel and the US must have their arsenal, but…
I hope sincerely that President Obama will be re-elected. He is a man of peace. I left a brief message on Twitter which reads that we have entered “a new age of diplomacy.” The amount of money Israel and the US spend on defense is extremely high. In the US, lowering these expenses may be useful. There has to be money for defense, but the people need jobs and their social programs.
By the way, in Quebec, the demonstrations, called manifestations in French, are continuing. Protest has spread outside Quebec. The group has given itself a name: La Classe.
Isaac Levitan: Spirituality
Levitan is a very important Lithuanian–Russian artist, more important than I first thought. Additionally, spirituality was an important part of his life and it is a characteristic of his work.
The video I am including features, to a certain extent, that aspect of his life. It combines the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff (1 April 1873 – 28 March 1943) and some of the abundant number of paintings executed by Levitan. In the video the word “lyrical” landscapes is used. That seems fine. “Mood” landscapes could be considered a form of “lyrical” landscapes.
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