Fête during Shrovetide on Admiralty Square in St. Petersburg
Fête during Shrovetide on Admiralty Square in St. Petersburg by Konstantin Makovsky, 1869, State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg, Russia). Credit: picture.art-catalog.ru / Wikimedia Commons (public domain) / CC-PD-Mark
Artist: Konstantin Makovsky
Year of creation: 1869
Owned by: State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg, Russia)
A master of genre painting, Konstantin Makovsky brilliantly captured the atmosphere of vibrant festivities, including bazaars and living paintings, which were extremely popular in the 18th century, and the feeling of togetherness that the holiday brings; on the canvas, you can see people of all ages and classes – from big to small and from peasants to nobles. For his monumental work – above two meters in height and three in width – Makovsky was highly praised by the Imperial Academy of Arts, the country’s cradle of art education, which operated in St. Petersburg across three centuries.
Portrait of Feodor Chaliapin
Portrait of Fyodor Chaliapin by Boris Kustodiev, 1922, State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg, Russia). Credit: Google Cultural Institute / Wikimedia Commons (public domain) / PD-Art
Artist: Boris Kustodiev
Year of creation: 1922
Owned by: Feodor Chaliapin House Museum and State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg, Russia)
Boris Kustodiev concluded his Maslenitsa series with its swan song, the portrait of Feodor Chaliapin, which he painted despite his physical struggles. It frames the celebrated opera singer against a wintery, snowy landscape. The artist placed Mr. Chaliapin and his pet dog in the heart of the scene and filled the backdrop with traditional festivities: a bustling fair, carnival performances, horse-drawn sleighing, sledding, and more. The original piece was gifted to the Feodor Chaliapin House Museum by his daughters, whereas the author's version is currently displayed at the Russian Museum.
Maslenitsa
Maslenitsa by Pyotr Gruzinsky, 1889, State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg, Russia). Credit: State Russian Museum / Wikimedia Commons (public domain) / CC-PD-Mark
Artist: Pyotr Gruzinsky
Year of creation: 1889
Owned by: State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg, Russia)
While Pyotr Gruzinsky is chiefly known as a master of military art – most notably for his depictions of the Caucasian War – he was also a skilled landscape and genre painter. Though lesser-recognized, his Maslenitsa nevertheless stands on par with those of Kustodiev’s, for example; however, it features a completely different, more muted palette of colors and focuses on a specific episode of the celebration – horse-drawn sleigh rides and races, which everyone comes to watch.
What a Maslenitsa!
What a Maslenitsa! by Leonid Solomatkin, 1878, private collection. Credit: gallerix.ru / Wikimedia Commons (public domain) / CC-PD-Mark
Artist: Leonid Solomatkin
Year of creation: 1878
Owned by: private collection
Solomatkin’s Maslenitsa is yet another piece of art that showcases traditional small-town celebrations. In his painting, you can see people as they fill a town street to enjoy the holiday and winter essentials: being outside, eating and drinking, sleighing, and sledding; it’s not for nothing that the focal point of the painting is the town’s tall, steep ice slide, which is so popular with the joyful crowd.
Maslenitsa in St. Petersburg
Maslenitsa in St. Petersburg by Alexandre Benois, 1917, State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg, Russia). Credit: artsait.ru / Wikimedia Commons (public domain) / PD-RusEmpire
Artist: Alexandre Benois
Year of creation: 1917
Owned by: State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg, Russia)
Alexandre Benois was a true jack of all trades: he was a museum worker, a writer, a historian and an art critic, and, most importantly, a painter. Among his works are not only local landscapes but also illustrations for literature works, as well as play and costume designs. One of such, Maslenitsa in St. Petersburg, features his vision for the Petrushka ballet – a lively merrymaking on a snowy local square with fairground booths, crowds of people, and open-air theater performances.
Discover more about Maslenitsa with our dedicated tag and dive deeper into the world of Russian holidays via another themed tag. For more on local art and traditions, see our other stories within this series.
