07/01/2019
PALEKH
Palekh is a small village located in the Ivanovo region of Russia. The pre-revolutionary history of Palekh is associated with iconography. However, due to the prohibition of icon painting in Russia after 1917, Palekh masters had to look for new forms of expression of their creative potential. First Palekh miniaturists were icon painters in the past. Their first works on papier-mâché interested a prominent art critic A.V. Bakushinsky, who later contributed to the formation of the school of lacquer miniatures in Palekh. Former icon painters did not give up the usual technique of painting – tempera paints with the use of gold powder. Palekh masters moved away from the tradition of lacquer miniature of Fedoskino, for the first time using black background for painting on papier-mache. In the early years of the artel, the most popular subjects for painting were folk motifs - "troika (three horses)", "divination", "tea party", "couples", etc. Artists successfully managed to combine pictorial compositions with forms of miniature boxes, powder boxes, caskets, etc.
I. I. Golikov is considered to be one of the founders of this school of lacquer miniature – he was one of the most outstanding miniaturists of that time. His favorite works were images of horses, battles and troikas. The talented artist skillfully used the decorative possibilities of the background, material and shape of the object.
In 1924, former icon painters created the "Artel of ancient painting", which eventually turned into a talented team. In 30-ies the range of creativity of the artists unusually widened. One could often see persons of Russian songs, epics, fairy tales, everyday scenes from the life of peasants, historical stories, landscapes on paintings. In 1933 Palekh art school was opened. In the 60-70-ies many outstanding artists began to work in Palekh, and as a consequence, there was a rise of Palekh miniature craft. In those days realistic trends prevailed in the works of the school, due to the wish of many artists to paint in likehood style. However, the next generation of miniaturists sought to revive the traditions that were created by the founders of the Palekh miniature. Lyricism and folklore-style of images distinguish many works of Palekh miniatures. The works of artists of this school are characterized by smooth lines, ductile images and the use of bright colors. The representatives of this school have their own distinctive features of painting: patterned style, the use of black background, bright color palette and elongation of figures, like iconographic images.
Modern Palekh artists enrich the artistic heritage of this famous craft, tackle new artistic challenges.
