Kramskoy painting "The Mermaids" or a mystical dream

In the bouquet of paintings by Russian artists, a special place is taken by a fantastic painting. This is due to our culture with many fairy tales and polytheistic beliefs. One of the artists, who clearly perceived the connection between the fictional and the real, was Ivan Nikolayevich Kramskoy. In his canvases there is no explicit division into fantasy and reality, these two factors smoothly intertwine and give the viewer a whole story. The principle of some nebula or even the "dullness" of the surface, a careful selection of images and soft colors give the same fabulous character typical of Ivan Nikolayevich's paintings. For example, we can accurately say that "Mermaids" is a picture of Kramskoy, its description coincides with the characteristics of other paintings by this author: mysticism adjoins with calm nature. By the way, if we talk about realism, then we can see quite familiar landscapes, huts and houses with clearly traced details.

Kramskoy: from the clerk to the painters

The artist was born in May 1837 in the Voronezh province. His father was a clerk, so he wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. So it happened. After graduation, Ivan worked as a clerk at the Duma in his city. But in 1853, his attention shifted to other activities, he began to process photographic images, this taught him Tulinov, who was a fellow countryman of Kramskoy.

Thus the painter's path began as an artist. Already in 1857 he entered the Art Academy in St. Petersburg. The successes of the young man were so obvious that for one of the paintings Ivan Nikolayevich received a gold medal.

Among the works of the draftsman there were portraits of famous people with the help of which he filled his hand in this genre, but his most famous painting is "Christ in the desert". It became the peak of the development of Kramskoy in religious painting.

An inconceivable number of paintings and photographs left the heirs in memory of a remarkable artist who died of heart problems at the age of fifty.

Mysticism paintings "Mermaids"

Perhaps, one of the most ardent lovers of mysticism in Russian painting is Kramskoy. The painting "The Mermaids" gathered around her so many rash opinions about her bad reputation, which, unfortunately, everything is not listed. The history of the work is connected, oddly enough, with Gogol and his story "The May Night or the Drowned Woman." If you believe the popular rumor, drowning girls after death became mermaids, calling travelers to their networks. It was them that the draftsman wanted to portray in the picture.

Why Gogol? As you know, Nikolai Vasilyevich also was not averse to writing about something mysterious, to recall even "Viya" or "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka", and Kramskoy re-read these works several times. Probably, this attraction to Gogol was the starting point in the field of fantastic painting. The artist wanted to convey the atmosphere of the May night in Ukraine in small details, hence the effect of copresence. As Kramskoy himself said, the picture of "Mermaid" does not fully meet his requirements, because he wanted to portray the light of the moon so much, but he could not "catch" it. Although we see how the cold light of the night luminary glides over the images of mysterious mermaids. But this is only part of what the author himself intended.

It was believed that the mystical subjects were dangerous, and if you write them off the works of Gogol, then you can go crazy. Kramskoy even joked about this: "It's good that with this story I did not completely break my neck, and if I did not catch the moons, then something fantastic happened."

Indeed, in galleries and exhibitions she could never find a place. Pictures next to the "Mermaids" fell, and from the room could be heard a barely audible singing and chilled with coolness. But after the canvas was moved to the far corner, far from the sun, the supernatural ceased, probably the mermaids were too hot in the sunlight.

Painting as a plausible fantastic dream

But no matter what Kramskoy himself said, the painting "The Mermaids" was a success, for it made a strong impression on many, though not always positive. This is due to what the artist wanted to portray on the canvas. And the faces of drowned women, and nature itself, seem to cast unpleasant dreary thoughts.

The expression of girls' faces betrays sadness in life, dreams of the past, and despair. The whole picture is a symbol of deep sadness. Immediately striking unusual images of mermaid girls. They do not have tails, apparently they move very well on their own two on the ground, only the viewer has an impression of zero gravity, since the white attires of the undines make them look like ghosts.

Even if he was not completely satisfied with the work of Kramskoy, the painting "The Mermaids" was appreciated by professionals: many art critics equated this work with a magical dream, so everything is realistically depicted on it.

Evaluation of Pushkin

The sun of Russian poetry spoke positively about the canvas of Ivan Nikolayevich. What astonished Pushkin in Kramskoy's painting "The Mermaid"? Yes, all the same as all connoisseurs of good creativity. He felt the atmosphere that the author was trying to convey, he admired the mood tones, because Alexander Sergeyevich saw here both playfulness, dreaminess, and sadness. In the images of girls, he caught the present, which, alas, sometimes you will not meet with living people. It is this kind of psychology, which is not typical of portraitists, conquered Pushkin.

This work turned the world of artists, it had a huge impact on the subsequent work of the same author, as well as the work of his followers. As Kramskoy wanted, the painting "The Mermaids" caught its moonlight, thanks to the competent use of the subjects of folklore and the culture of the Russian people on the canvas. Many schoolchildren consider the reproduction of the work as an illustration to Gogol's "May Nights", and then write impressions of what they saw. However, the composition of the painting "Mermaid" Kramskoy Ivan Nikolaevich requires not only the ability to correctly express their thoughts, but also to understand the feelings not only of the characters, but also of the artist.