Patterns and ornaments on Khokhloma dishes. Khokhloma painting: how a beginner can understand the intricacies

Fairy tale

How did this amazing Khokhloma art begin? Old people tell different things. They say that one and a half thousand years ago a cheerful little man, a craftsman, settled in the forest beyond the Volga. He built a hut, built a table, built a bench, and cut out wooden dishes. I cooked wheat porridge for myself and didn’t forget to sprinkle some millet for the birds. One day the Heat bird flew to his doorstep. He treated her. The Firebird touched the cup of porridge with its golden wing, and the cup became golden. This, they say, is where gold utensils came from in Rus'. This is, of course, a fairy tale.

Legend.

A long time ago there lived a master of icons who painted icons very elegantly, but the soul of the artist was in nature, living life. The master settled in the remote Kerzhen forests and began to engage in crafting: making bowls, kitchen utensils, decorating them with types of nature - flowers, branches, leaves, grass, berries, fish, birds. The fame of the master quickly spread across the earth, and he began to have followers of his craft. Such is the legend.

From the history of Khokhloma painting.

Near Nizhny Novgorod, among the Trans-Volga villages, lies the large ancient village of Khokhloma, located on the banks of the Volga. Residents of the village have long been engaged in various crafts, including the manufacture of wooden utensils and household utensils. Merchants from all over Rus', and even foreigners, came to the Volga fairs. Therefore, Volga residents made things for sale. Their wooden dishes, painted in red, black and gold colors, decorated with stems, flowers and berries, were in great demand. Golden Khokhloma was distributed throughout Russia. It also reached Central Asia, Turkey, India and Europe, earning worldwide fame.

Khokhloma drawing.

Since ancient times, Khokhloma drawings have attracted attention with their colorfulness and brightness. The peculiarity of Khokhloma’s drawing is that he is always depicted on a black background. Despite this, the Khokhloma design looks festive thanks to the red and gold patterns that are applied over a black background. The traditions of Khokhloma drawing came to us in folk art with decorations of ancient Russian handwritten books and icons. Khokhloma artisans painted their products with only three colors. On any item decorated with the Khokhloma pattern, you can see red berries scattered on a black background. The bright spots of the berries seem so juicy and stand out so clearly against the black that they look like real juicy fruits of sour lingonberries, rowan berries or cranberries. The berries are decorated with golden stems and petals. This choice is not accidental. Previously, red was considered a festive color and could not be seen often in everyday life. And the golden painting was an expensive decoration.

There are no genre scenes in the painting of Khokhloma dishes. Artists paint floral patterns: leaves, curved twigs, strawberries, raspberries, mountain ash, flower hearts. The patterns either stretch upward, then run in a circle, or twist. This variety of ornaments reveals the imagination of artists. But the most favorite motif remains the “grass” ornament, curved, a bush or a single blade of grass. “Grass” is usually written in red or black; it is an obligatory element of Khokhloma painting. The most intricate patterns are called “curls.” The grass here turns into curly curls, similar to the feathers of a firebird. “Kudrins” are always written in gold. Flowering bushes and fruits in Rus' were considered a wish for goodness and prosperity, which is why there are so many of them in Khokhloma painting. Artists do not draw clear contours in their patterns in advance, and this requires great skill, precision of hand and eye.

Production process

The production process of various products painted with Khokhloma (spoons, cups, trays, samovars, furniture and other utensils) has not changed since its inception, but thanks to modern materials and some modified production principles, Khokhloma products have become more durable and durable. The process is as follows. First, the product itself is turned, which turns out to be white. After this, the craftsmen prime the product, that is, cover it with a clay solution, after which the craftsmen tin it with tin, silver or aluminum. Then the product becomes ready for painting, that is shiny and smooth. Next, the painted products are cured by oven drying. The last step is varnishing or drying at high temperature, it depends on the varnish. The resulting finished crafts are resistant to both heat and cold. They are graceful, beautiful, light as a spring breeze and bright as a summer ray of sunshine.

At fairs, things painted in red, black and gold and decorated with drawings of berries, leaves and flowers were in great demand among Russians and foreigners.

The mega brand attracts not only the beauty of the ornament. It is valued for its durable varnish coating, thanks to which they are used in everyday life. You can serve okroshka to the table in a Khokhloma dish, pour hot tea into a cup - and nothing will be done to the wooden product: the varnish will not crack, the paint will not fade.

Khokhloma painting- This is a bright, original phenomenon of Russian folk arts and crafts. This traditional artistic craft arose in the 17th century in the Nizhny Novgorod province and received its name from the large trading village of Khokhloma, where all wooden products were brought for auction.

Initially, Khokhloma dishes were made at monasteries and intended for the royal court. Subsequently, when cheap metal and earthenware dishes competing with Khokhloma appeared on the markets, the unusual coloring of Semyonov’s products ensured their popularity and sales.

So in the 19th century. Khokhloma dishes could be found in every corner of Russia, as well as in Persia, India, Central Asia, the USA and Australia. After the World Exhibition of 1889 In Paris, the export of Khokhloma products has increased sharply

In 1916 The School of Artistic Woodworking was opened in Semenov, the first graduates of which, headed by G.P. The Matveevs organized a small artel (1931), which later grew into a large production association of the Order of the Badge of Honor, Khokhloma Painting.

Since the mid-1960s. and to this day, the Khokhloma Painting enterprise is the largest manufacturer of artistic wood products with Khokhloma painting. Thanks to the talented team, the traditions of ancient masters are preserved and enhanced. And the city of Semenov is rightfully considered the capital of Golden Khokhloma.

Folk craft developed constantly. Already at the end of the 19th century, Khokhloma was presented at every domestic and foreign fair. And after the unprecedented success at the International Exhibition in Paris, the export of Khokhloma has increased sharply to various countries. Trading firms from Germany, England, France and India bought especially a lot. Even one of the German entrepreneurs took up the production of wooden spoons, which he passed off as Khokhloma. Since the beginning of the 20th century, folk crafts have experienced a crisis caused by the World and Civil Wars. Because of this, many craftsmen lost orders and closed their workshops. In Soviet times, Khokhloma received a second wind, and a new generation of masters appeared. And now Khokhloma is “returning” to us in Russia and the world.

Khokhloma- this is the name of a large trading village in the Volga region, where craftsmen from the surrounding villages have long brought their products for sale and from where they were distributed not only throughout Russia, but also beyond its borders. Later, the products themselves, sent from the village of Khokhloma, began to be called “Khokhloma”. The birthplace of the art of Khokhloma is a group of villages located deep in the once impenetrable forests of the Volga region, along the banks of the Uzola River, which flows into the Volga near the ancient Gorodets. The picturesque nature of this region had a great influence on the development of the artistic tastes of local craftsmen. Indeed, every work of the Khokhloma masters is imbued with a subtle sense of nature.

There are a great many versions of the origin of this folk craft. It is customary to single out the two most probable. According to the first version, the art of painting dishes was instilled in local residents by Old Believers who fled to Nizhny Novgorod from persecution due to their faith. According to the second version, painting dishes with gilded paint was known in the Nizhny Novgorod territory even before the appearance of the Old Believers. For this, tin powder and homemade wooden utensils were used.

The high cost of raw materials for the production of gilded paint held back the development of this folk craft for a long time. Tin had to be transported from afar, which only merchants could do. Most often, craftsmen received orders for painted gilded dishes from large monasteries and cathedrals. The customers even included the famous monastery of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where craftsmen from the villages of Khokhloma and Skorobogatovo worked on making and painting bowls and ladles.

The original technology of gilding wooden products, developed over centuries, which came from icon painting, has been preserved practically unchanged to the present day. It includes five main operations. Before becoming “golden”, a wooden product can be similar to “clay” and “silver”.

The process of making Khokhloma is complex and interesting. The wood was chopped, sawn, hewn, a hole was hollowed out and finished with a knife and polished to the end. The result was wooden bases and thimbles. The dishes were also turned on a machine driven by the power of water or a horse. Today machines are electric. The dried product must be prepared for painting. First I coat it with linseed oil, then with a special primer that contains clay. The product is dried in an oven, polished, coated with drying oil so that a sticky film appears, to which crushed metal powder - poluda - easily adheres. The half is rubbed, and the object becomes like silver.

And only now the dyer gets to work. When the product is painted, it is coated with several layers of varnish and hardened in an oven at high temperature. Under a film of hardened varnish, everything that was silver in the painting becomes gold. So Khokhloma first becomes wooden, “clay”, “silver” and, finally, “gold”. The masters borrowed this secret of gilding from icon painters.

After tinning, the dishes become mirror-shiny and absolutely ready for applying patterns with oil paints. According to ancient instructions, painting is done exclusively with brushes made from squirrel tails, and paints are used of natural origin. Red and black colors are used in Khokhloma painting. Such paints are obtained from cinnabar and soot. To add vibrancy and volume to the products, it is sometimes allowed to add additional colors to the main ones. As a rule, this color is delicate green, brown or slightly yellow.

At the final stage, after all the patterns have been applied, the dishes are coated in several layers with a special varnish. Each layer has an individual drying time. Next, the dishes are exposed to temperature (hardened in an oven) at certain temperatures. As a result of all these manipulations, the world famous tableware appears - the “golden” Khokhloma.

KHOKHLOMA ORNAMENTS

In Khokhloma, painting is distinguished between horse painting and “under the background”. Horse painting is characterized by black and red flowers on a golden background. In “background” painting, as a rule, golden designs on a colored background predominate. The main difference between these two types of painting is the technique of their application.

Briefly, their difference can be defined as follows: “top letter” is a pattern applied with paint on the golden surface of the background. In “background writing,” the master, on the contrary, covers the gold background with red or black, leaving the silhouette forms of the motifs in gold. On the basis of these two systems, a truly inexhaustible wealth of Khokhloma patterns developed.

TYPES OF KHOKHLOMA PATTERNS

The following types can be distinguished from Khokhloma patterns and ornaments. Grass looks like a pattern of small and large blades of grass or twigs. Gingerbread is most often found inside bowls or dishes, and is a geometric figure in the form of a rhombus or square, decorated with berries, flowers, and grass. Kudrina is a pattern of flowers and leaves that look like golden curls on a black or red background. Leaf – images of oval berries and leaves, usually located around the stem. The types of ornaments listed above are complex, but in some cases craftsmen use simplified ornaments. One of these ornaments is a speck, applied with a stamp, which is made from specially folded pieces of fabric or plates of a puffball mushroom. All Khokhloma products are painted by hand, and the painting is not repeated anywhere.

Masters of the traditional Khokhloma hearth live and work surrounded by nature. Their ornaments poetically glorify the elements of a free meadow, the beauty of wildflowers and ripe berries of the Russian forest. The painting is dominated by the picturesque principle - freedom of strokes, richness of the color spot. In the city of Semenov, Gorky Region, there is a younger center of Khokhloma - the production and creative association “Khokhloma Painting”, the main personnel of which were trained in a special art school organized in 1918 and currently operating, the first teachers of which were hereditary masters of Khokhloma.

In popular ideas, the color system of Khokhloma painting was directly related to the color of the sky and celestial phenomena; its glow and blush. The color red in folk symbolism was understood not only in the meaning of beautiful, beautiful. It was also a symbol of fire; it is no coincidence that people called it “hot”. In colloquial language, the Month, the Sun and its rays were called red. The patterns of Khokhloma painting are not only washed by a stream of light, but by their nature they themselves are luminous. And like a wonderful vision, they appear in a wondrous golden radiance.

Khokhloma is only a small part of the rich cultural heritage of the Russian people

The importance of artistic creativity in the culture of any nation is difficult to overestimate. This is exactly what, over the centuries, has absorbed traditions and ethnic features, making the nation unique, recognizable and spiritually rich. In Rus', the secrets of technical and technological mastery were passed down from generation to generation. Over time, art improved, and folk crafts were born, which in the modern world, without exaggeration, have been elevated to the rank of art. Khokhloma is considered one of the most accomplished artistic folk crafts, the intricate weaves of which are known and loved far beyond the borders of Russia.

Origins of the fishery

The famous Khokhloma painting not only looks fabulous, but the birth of such art is surrounded by legends and entwined with magic.

Khokhloma is a colorful and very detailed painting

It is known that Khokhloma is a Russian folk craft, the origins of which originate in the area of the glorious and majestic Veliky Novgorod. There is a legend in connection with the appearance of the famous painting. Long ago, on the banks of a picturesque river, in the Nizhny Novgorod district, there lived a craftsman with “golden hands”. He skillfully carved spoons out of wood, and then painted them magically, so much so that everyone thought they were made of pure gold! The fame of the folk craftsman quickly spread throughout the area, and then reached the king himself. The ruler was angry why such a talented master was suddenly not in his service at court. Then the king sent servants into the deep forests to deliver the artist to the court. The master's minions were looking for him, but he seemed to have disappeared into the ground. And the following happened: the craftsman magically found out that the king’s servants were following him, and disappeared from sight, so much so that he was never seen again. But before leaving, he taught his skill to good people, so that in every hut the bowls and spoons would sparkle with gold.

The Russian people decorated dishes, cutlery and much more with Khokhloma

In fact, there is a scientific fact that wood painting and a special technology were brought to the Volga region by schismatics who fled to escape cruel tsarist oppression. Among the fugitive schismatics there were many skilled craftsmen, icon painters, and artists. They taught the local population such extraordinary painting. Beautifully painted dishes were sold in a large trading village called Khokhloma. When the merchant was asked where he brought such a marvel from, he readily answered: “From Khokhloma!” Since then, it has become customary to call the unusually beautiful painting, in the Russian folk style, Khokhloma.

Wood carving and Khokhloma painting are still quite popular Russian crafts in some areas

Features of the fishery

Any folk craft is an integral part of decorative and applied arts. The main feature of Khokhloma painting is its unique golden tint. An interesting fact is that in fact there is not a drop of real gold in the painting.

Khokhloma gold looks very rich

A scattering of colors, wonderful ornaments, the deep meaning of each drawing and symbolism - all this distinguishes the art of painting in the folk style. Each craft has its own characteristics, which make the art of drawing recognizable all over the world, Khokhloma is no exception.

Khokhloma painting is quite diverse

The characteristic features are as follows:

a certain color scheme of the design using only a few rich shades;
Popular combination of red and gold
high artistic design;
Khokhloma is characterized by the presence of many small details
exclusively handmade;
The work is delicate and painstaking
lack of strict geometry, smoothness of shapes and lines;
Exquisite Khokhloma patterns
great figurative expressiveness of the painting;
Khokhloma painting has clear accents and bright patterns
special technologies of drawing;
Classic painting is usually done on wood.
Most often these are wooden utensils

This unique effect is achieved using special technologies, the basics of which have remained unchanged for several centuries.

Hand-painted Khokhloma

Creation technology

It so happened historically that Rus' at all times was famous for its folk craftsmen, whose fame went far beyond its borders. The thing is that our ancestors knew how to not only create, but also preserve all traditions, passing them on to their descendants. That is why each craft is not only about incredible aesthetics, but also about the strict technology of the process of creating a folk masterpiece. It's all about special secrets and rules that masters follow today:

Khokhloma consists of many traditional artistic techniques and techniques, knowing the secrets and features of which you can perform it yourself. Wooden dishes decorated with paintings in the Khokhloma style are not only beautiful, but also practical and environmentally friendly.

Khokhloma painting allows you to create such masterpieces

This painting is a classic of folk craft. Those who know a lot about art call the fishery “golden autumn”. And indeed, the palette, shine, incredibly soulful and understandable design for everyone - all this is permeated with the warmth and freshness of a clear autumn day.

What is the secret of such unique art? The thing is that when applying a picture, a certain color scheme is used. This is due to the fact that the source of Khokhloma painting was icon painting, so many colors in such different crafts still overlap with each other. Traditional colors are represented by gold, shades of red, and black. Sometimes the pattern is complemented by yellow, green, brown or white. To make the design textured, clear and bright, oil-based paints are traditionally used for painting. Drawing is a creative process that requires not only an appropriate state of mind, but also certain knowledge.

Types of painting

Russian folk craft reached its heyday in the 18th century. This period was truly fertile for the creative development of the people. Khokhloma at this time had already taken shape, a classification of types of Khokhloma fishery appeared.

Antique products with Khokhloma can be found in numerous museums

The main types of Khokhloma writing are top and background. Each has its own technology and features. The top type of writing was done on a tinned surface, the strokes when applying paints are soft, plastic, and as a result of creative work an openwork Khokhloma is created. The horse type of painting is divided into several types of ornament:

Beautiful Khokhloma under the berry

Gingerbread ornament. The traditional style of artistic writing is characterized by weaving patterns into geometric shapes. It can be a circle, square or rhombus, in the middle of which there is a stylized drawing in the form of the sun. This type of horse painting is simpler in technical execution than grass or berry painting. Its main uniqueness is that it resembles the original sun with rays, which is always in motion.

In addition to the top script, Khokhloma painting can be used as a background painting. From the name it becomes clear that before applying the drawing, a background must be applied. As a rule, it is red or black, but the design on it remains gold. This type of writing is divided into two types: Kudrin’s painting or “under the background”.

Background Khokhloma looks great on dishes

The technique “under the background” is difficult to perform and requires a certain level of skill, but such products have the highest value. A feature of Kudrin's background painting is a stylized image of flowers, curls or fruits. The main role in the ornament is played by the contour line.

Luxurious background painting with Khokhloma

All types of Khokhloma writing are unusually artistic, the ornament resembles an incredibly beautiful carpet or linen. In fact, you can do this kind of painting with your own hands, without having artistic superpowers. Experts say that the main task is to “train your hand,” that is, to practice performing all kinds of strokes, to grasp the pressure of the brush and the nuances of the technique.

Master class “Painting under Khokhloma”

Not just dishes

Today, Khokhloma is used not only in the production of souvenirs or tableware. Khokhloma patterns are a new trend in the modern world of high fashion. They are part of the a la russe style, popular all over the world, which has already conquered many. The first person to use Khokhloma patterns in clothing was Denis Simachev. Blouses, skirts, tops, trousers - all this was generously decorated with Khokhloma, which became a real revolution in the fashion world. In addition to incredibly original evening dresses, a unique collection of sportswear was presented, which was also decorated with folk Khokhloma motifs.

Since then, such an ornament has decorated more than one collection, only gaining momentum in popularity with each season. Authentic prints in modern fashion help in creating a unique and original look. But there is an important tip from stylists: if you are wearing a bright top decorated with colorful gold patterns, you should complement the look with plain trousers or a skirt to achieve harmony and balance.

Today, the Khokhloma ornament is perceived by us as something familiar, light and incredibly picturesque. Luxurious painting can not only decorate our home or fashionable image. Looking at the filigree patterns, pleasant memories come to mind; the eye is pleased with the riot of colors, richness and ornateness of the ornament. Impeccable Khokhloma, like no other craft, is able to convey to us the warmth of the master’s hands and a piece of his soul.

In colloquial language, the Month, the Sun and its rays were called red. The patterns of Khokhloma painting are not only washed by a stream of light, but by their nature they themselves are luminous. And like a wonderful vision, they appear in a wondrous golden radiance. The master left a lot of space for the golden background, which, in combination with cinnabar, had a great colorful effect. The features of the Khokhloma ornament were formed thanks to the shapes of turned wooden utensils. When painting a cup or saucer, the artist clearly highlighted their bottom, placing a rosette in the center with lines diverging from the center like the rays of the sun.

On large objects, dishes and bowls, a square or rhombus with softly rounded corners was drawn around the socket. Using cylindrical shaped salt shakers or salt shakers, craftsmen created drawings of shoots rising from the ground. The lower the height of the product, the more intense the movement of the wave of the ornament running around it. The higher the product, the steeper the wave of the spreading branch. The entire surface of the object was harmoniously filled with ornaments. Festive dishes were decorated more intricately and magnificently. The Khokhloma fishery reached its peak in the 18th century. At this time, two types of writing develop: top and background. Horse painting was done with plastic strokes on the tinned surface of the dishes, creating a magnificent openwork pattern. A classic example of “mountain” writing is “grass.” “Background” painting was characterized by the use of a black or red background, while the design itself remained golden. But such a color scheme did not immediately appear in Khokhloma painting. It has undergone enormous changes, becoming more laconic and solemn over the years. The whitewash, which created the impression of a three-dimensional form, disappeared, and the range of colors was limited. If earlier craftsmen used white, blue, light blue, pink, green and brown paints, then gradually red, black and gold became the main colors of the ornament. This limitation was caused not only by the fact that these paints did not burn out in the oven during hardening, but also by the fact that artists preferred a combination of these colors, primarily due to their special decorative qualities. As mentioned above, in Khokhloma painting there were two types of writing: “background” and “mountain”. In “high” writing, the master applies a design with black or red paint to a gold or silver background of the product. Here we can distinguish three types of ornament: “grass” painting, “leaf” or “berry” painting, “gingerbread” or “saffron milk cap” painting. “Grass painting” is reminiscent of familiar and familiar grasses to everyone from childhood: sedge, white grass, meadow grass. This is perhaps the most ancient type of painting. It is painted with curls, various strokes, small berries or spikelets on a silver background. “Herbal” drawing has always been popular among Khokhloma painting masters. With great love they painted this design with a brush, sometimes collecting it in dense bushes, sometimes scattering them over the surface of the product. The techniques for painting floral patterns are so varied that amazing motifs emerge from the master’s brush. They are twisted into peculiar elements, the combination of which creates many combinations. From individual blades of grass, artists paint their favorite motif of a rooster or hen, which sits on a tree and pecks berries from it.

A letter in which, in addition to grass, masters include leaves, berries and flowers, is called “under a leaf” or “under a berry.” These paintings differ from “grass” in larger strokes, forming the shape of oval leaves, round berries, left with a poke of the brush. Folk craftsmen take their motifs by stylizing plant forms. Therefore, it is not surprising that on the products of Khokhloma craftsmen we see flowers, daisies, bells, leaves of grapes, strawberries, currants, gooseberries, and cranberries. The basis of the leaf painting is made up of pointed or rounded leaves, connected in groups of three or five, and berries arranged in groups near a flexible stem. When painting large surfaces, larger motifs are used - cherries, strawberries, gooseberries, grapes. This painting has great decorative potential. Compared to “grass” it is more colorful. For example, if in “grass” painting they use mainly black and red colors, then in “leaf” or “berry” painting, masters paint leaves in green, as well as in combination with brown and yellow. These paintings are enriched with grass patterns, which are painted in such compositions with green, red, and brown paints. Another unique type of painting belongs to the riding letter - “gingerbread” or “saffron milk cap”. This is a geometric figure, most often inscribed in a square or rhombus, and in the middle of the rectangle there is a “big camelina” - the sun. Gingerbread paintings are simpler and more conventional than herbal ones; when you look closely at them, it seems that the Sun, with its rays curled in a circle, is in constant motion. In “background” writing, there are two types of ornament: - painting “under the background” and painting “kudrinu”. Painting “under the background,” as already noted, begins with drawing a line of a stem with leaves and flowers, and sometimes with images of birds or fish. Then the background is painted on with paint, most often black. The details of large motifs are drawn on a golden background. On top of the painted background, with the tip of the brush, “herbal notes” are made - rhythmic strokes along the main stem; berries and small flowers are “sticked” with a poke of the brush. “Gold” shines through in this type of writing only in the silhouettes of leaves, in large forms of flowers, in the silhouettes of fairy-tale birds that Khokhloma masters love to paint. Painting “under the background” is a much more labor-intensive process and not every master can cope with such work. Products with such painting were usually intended for gifts, and, as a rule, were made to order and were valued higher. A type of “background” painting is “kudrina”. It is distinguished by a stylized image of leaves, flowers, and curls. The space not occupied by them is painted over, and the golden branches look impressive against a bright red or black background. “Kudrina” got its name from the golden curly curls, the lines of which form bizarre patterned shapes of leaves, flowers and fruits. The Kudrin painting resembles a carpet.

Its peculiarity is that the main role is played not by the brush stroke, but by the contour line. A flat spot of gold and a subtle touch of detail. The background in this type of painting is also painted red or black. No other colors are used in this type of writing. From the emergence of Khokhloma painting to the present day, its various types have undergone enormous changes, although the stylistic basis has remained the same. It is no coincidence that the art of Khokhloma arose on Russian soil near the beautiful Volga. It reflected the richness of nature of this free region. The breadth of the expanses of our land and the generosity of the soul of the Russian people suggested to him the bright colors and free rhythms of the patterns. Here craftsmen are able to paint such a joyful and poetic ornament that the light and warmth of the sun's rays, the rustle of spring herbs and flowers begin to sound on the simplest wooden household things. The villages, with which the history of Khokhloma painting has been associated since time immemorial, are located along the banks of the winding Uzola River, which flows into the Volga. Water meadows and green fields stretch along its banks, separated by deep ravines, mountainous slopes and picturesque forests. For the sensitive souls of artists, the awakening of spring, the special smell of moisture-soaked earth, the opportunity to observe the blue flowering of flax, the gold of autumn and the silvery whiteness of the winter forest have always been significant events. It was here, in the silence of the village, that they learned to penetrate into the world of nature, the ability to admire the lightness and grace of the simplest field herbs and the juiciness of forest fruits. By reproducing these motifs in ornament, they created poetic narratives about the greatness and beauty of the Russian land.

Khokhloma - an ancient Russian folk craft that arose in the 17th century in the Volga region (the village of Semino, Nizhny Novgorod province). This is perhaps the most famous type of Russian folk painting. It is a decorative painting on wooden utensils and furniture, done in red and black (less often green) tones and gold on a golden background. What is surprising is that when painting is done, it is not gold, but silver tin powder that is applied to the wood. Then the product is coated with a special compound and processed three or four times in an oven. Then this delightful honey-golden color appears, thanks to which light wooden utensils seem massive. Traditional Khokhloma ornament - juicy red strawberries and rowan berries, flowering branches. Birds, fish and all sorts of little animals are less common.
Initially, the word Khokhloma meant the name of one of the trading villages. Craftsmen from surrounding villages brought their products here. This was the time of the revival of Russia, which came after liberation from the devastating Tatar-Mongol yoke, a time of renewal of temples and churches. Folk crafts became a new source of livelihood. The new craft united the centuries-old traditions of local residents and refugees, especially Old Believers.
Folk craft developed constantly. Already at the end of the 19th century, Khokhloma was presented at every domestic and foreign fair. And after the unprecedented success at the International Exhibition in Paris, the export of Khokhloma has increased sharply to various countries. Trading firms from Germany, England, France and India bought especially a lot. Even one of the German entrepreneurs took up the production of wooden spoons, which he passed off as Khokhloma. Since the beginning of the 20th century, folk crafts have experienced a crisis caused byWorld and civil wars. Because of this, many craftsmen lost orders and closed their workshops. In Soviet times, Khokhloma received a second wind, and a new generation of masters appeared. And now Khokhloma is “returning” to us in Russia and the world.

The legend of "Khokhloma"

More recently, in the villages of the Gorky region one could hear the legend about how “Khokhloma” came to the Volga land and where it got its fiery colors.

They say that in ancient times there lived in Moscow a master icon painter. The king highly valued his skill and generously rewarded him for his work. The master loved his craft, but most of all he loved his free life, and therefore one day he secretly left the royal court and moved to the deep Kerzhen forests.

He built himself a hut and began to do the same thing. He dreamed of an art that would become familiar to everyone, like a simple Russian song, and so that the beauty of his native land would be reflected in it. This is how the first Khokhloma cups appeared, decorated with lush flowers and thin branches.

The fame of the great master spread throughout the land. People came from everywhere to admire his skill. Many people built huts here and settled nearby.

Finally, the master’s fame reached the formidable sovereign, and he ordered a detachment of archers to find the fugitive and bring him. But popular rumor flew faster than the archers’ feet. The master learned about his misfortune, gathered his fellow villagers and revealed to them the secrets of his craft. And in the morning, when the royal envoys entered the village, everyone saw the miracle artist’s hut burning with a bright flame. The hut burned down, and no matter how they looked for the master himself, he was nowhere to be found. Only its colors remained on the ground, which seemed to have absorbed both the heat of the flame and the blackness of the ashes.

The master disappeared, but his skill did not disappear, and Khokhloma colors still burn with a bright flame, reminding everyone of the happiness of freedom, and of the heat of love for people, and of the thirst for beauty. Apparently, the master’s brush was not a simple one - a brush made of sun rays.

Such is the legend. Like any legend, there is a lot of fiction in it, but its truth is that great skill and great art are preserved only when they are passed from hand to hand, from teacher to student.

Making "Golden Khokhloma"

Russia is a country of forests. Here, huts and rich mansions were cut from wood. The hotly burning logs in the stove and the torch inserted into the light warmed and illuminated the hut. Sleighs, sledges, firewood, a cart - simple transport, canoes, boats, plows, boats and other river vessels - everything was made of wood.

The most ancient letters - birch bark letters written on pieces of birch bark, and the most common peasant shoes in the past - bast shoes woven from the inner part of linden bark - bast, wooden furniture, dishes, household utensils, children's toys - everything tells us about the great role of forests in life of a Russian person.

The Volga region, rich in forests, was especially famous for its woodworking craftsmen. Since ancient times, light and durable dishes have been made here from aspen and linden.

The wood was chopped and hewn with axes, sawed into small logs - baklushi, the in-depth parts of objects were hollowed out with an adze, and the rest was finished with a knife. A spoon made with hand tools often has an irregular shape; on its surface you can see humps, dents, and a faceted handle. All these are traces of the carver’s work, each of his spoons is unique, not one of them exactly repeats the other.

The dishes were also turned on a lathe. The machine was manual, water-powered or driven by a horse. Dishes made on a lathe have a flat and smooth surface and a geometrically correct shape. Each spoon turned by a turner is exactly the same shape as the other.

Simple bowls, cups, and supplies can be turned by any trained turner. More complex forms - ladles - ducks, ladles - roosters are not carved by every master, but by an artist - a craftsman, a person who feels the laws of constructing a well-ordered, beautiful form.

Turned products with a delicate, slightly pinkish surface of processed wood are called"linen"

Despite the fact that Khokhloma objects are made of wood, it is never visible, and the golden surface or patterns on the colored background of the products have a soft metallic sheen.

Gold - a noble, beautiful material - is rarely found in nature. In very ancient times, gold was used to create jewelry and utensils. In Russia, it was served at rich royal meals and boyar feasts. In addition, painted dishes, most often red, were painted with gold leaf or melted gold.

Leaf is the name for very thin leaves of this metal, which are carefully glued to pre-marked places, and mint is fine gold powder diluted with a special solution. It was applied like paint with a brush. These techniques were known to icon painters and miniaturists - masters who decorated handwritten books with drawings and ornaments. Objects and icons gilded in this way were cheaper than those made entirely of gold.

Master icon painters invented another method of “cheap” gilding: they covered silver leaves with drying oil - boiled linseed oil - and silver glued to the surface of the icon. The yellow film of dried linseed oil on silver was very similar to gold. Peasant craftsmen began to coat tin, rather than silver, with drying oil - a silvery, quite common metal. This is how golden Khokhloma dishes appeared on the peasant table.

Golden, red and black - you can find this combination of colors on many objects of ancient Russian applied art and works of folk craftsmen. For Khokhloma, these colors are especially important: red gives warmth and softness to artificial gold, and black enhances its radiance. In addition, the round surfaces of objects do not have sharp contours and diffuse light.

Fishing technology

So, we now know the secret of Khokhloma gold. But it turns out that before becoming gold, “Khokhloma” can be made of silver and clay.

The first of these mugs is called “linen.” First it is dried, and then polished - all small roughness is removed with a special sandpaper or on a machine, and then from the kingdom of golden shavings it goes to the dyer. The dried and polished product must be prepared for painting. First, it is coated with linseed oil, and then with a special composition - vapor or soil . Modern masters call the application of primer - vapes primer . Vapa is reddish-brown in color because it contains clay. A mug coated with wax looks like a clay mug - under the dense layer of soil the wood is not visible at all.

The primed product was dried in an oven, then sanded, and its surface became smooth and glossy. After this, the mug was coated several times with drying oil, so that the soil was saturated and a sticky varnish film appeared on its surface. This film sticks easily noon - powdered metal. In the old days, tin was used as half-milk, but now it is aluminum, a silvery, light and cheap material.

Rubbing the half is called tinning . The tinned mug looks like a silver one: it covers the wood in an even layer, and it seems that the mug is cast from metal - it shines with a matte silver shine.

And only now can the brush of a master dyer touch it. The artists work deftly and diligently. Their usual tools are thin brushes, which they often make themselves from squirrel tails,"frogs" (a piece of sheep's wool wrapped around a stick, or a mushroom - a raincoat) and small jars of paints.

So, the silver tinned paint is painted. The painter has finished his work and has already applied the last stroke of paint. Well, what about gold? When will a product shimmering with a cold metallic shine sparkle with a joyful golden color? This last sacrament is known to the lachila and the stove maker. Previously, the painted product was covered with several layers of varnish - drying oil, and then hardened in an oven at a fairly high temperature. And now hand-varnished objects are hardened in an electric furnace at a temperature of 160 - 180 degrees.

Modern varnishers coat the product with synthetic yellow varnish from spray guns. Under a film of hardened varnish, everything that was silver in the painting becomes gold.

Khokhloma patterns

A familiar three-legged shaggy leaf, a touching flower star, a curved twig and, of course, she is a small drop of forest sweetness - a strawberry.

Khokhloma artists love to paint strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, black and red currants, and mountain ash on the surfaces of their products. They call the berries affectionately, and even the same master will never paint them the same way: he will slightly change the outline of the leaf, bend the branches differently, scatter flowers and berries - and now the same motif will speak to us in a new way.

This variety of ornamental motifs reveals the richness of the artist’s creative imagination, his skill, and his powers of observation.

Khokhloma images are decorative - in the most general form they convey the beauty of living life. These are ornaments - decorations of objects. And therefore, artists create the impression of constant fluidity and changeability of life by changing their ornamental motif.

A pattern of flowers, herbs and berries is called vegetable ornament. But there are several types of this ornament in Khokhloma painting. The most beloved and oldest of them is"grass ornament", or just "weed" . These are elongated, slightly curved blades of grass, written in groups of three, five or more - in a bush. “Grass” vaguely resembles sedge, a resident of water meadows, coastal lakes and rivers. One of the types of this ornament is called"sedge" . But still, it very vaguely resembles this living grass, or, as the artists say, the shape of real grass in this ornament is generalized - the artist preserved only its most general and main features.

Weed is usually written in red and black. Its main wide and long leaves are juicy because the brush takes a lot of paint and it lies tightly on the surface of the object. The tips of the leaves are painted thinly; they curl, as if bending from the wind. Thin and frequent strokes - blades of grass on the sides of the main bush and beads - berries on long stems make this painting especially lively and elegant.

“Grass” is an independent type of painting, but it is an obligatory part of any Khokhloma floral ornament. Very often, among the bushes and twigs of black, red, green or yellow grass, the artist places berries, flowers, birds and fish. Such an ornament is also called “grass”, or the name of a berry or flower.

Like a fiery wheel, the most beautiful “gingerbread” ornament rolls along the bottom of the bowls.

Khokhloma paintings decorate objects - bowls, ladles, vases, rounded bodies, which seem to tell the artist where to bend a twig, where to scatter berries. We say: painting is subordinated to the shape of the object.

For a long time in Rus', images of flowering bushes and fruits were considered a wish for goodness, prosperity and happiness. This wonderful tradition is preserved today by Khokhloma artists, decorating ordinary objects with elegant paintings. And with them beauty and joy come to our home, which are generously given to us by craftsmen.