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Popova Raisa Nikolaevna, assistant of Department of actual cultural practices Ekaterinburg Academy of Contemporary Art, E-mail: [email protected]
ILLUSION AND REALITY IN THE ARTWORKS OF GREGORIO SCILTIAN
Abstract: The article examines the artworks of artist Gregorio Sciltian, one of the represents of magic realism. An Armenian, who was born in Russia, he migrated across several countries before he settled in Italy where his artistic gift got a wide recognition. Gregorio Sciltian was influenced by many cultures and styles, but managed to take the best from them to finally develop his own unique manner, remaining faithful to his own artistic vision and philosophy of art. Keywords: painting, XX century, magic realism, art of Italy.
The paintings of Gregorio Sciltian bring quite that are stored in this museum, for example, Still Life
with a Red Drapery (painted in 1965), Sciltian is an artist who is more known in Italy and Europe than in Russia. Moreover, Sciltian's writings, such as his autobiography My Adventures (Milan, 1963) and The Painting of Reality (Rome, 1963), have not been translated and published in Russia.
Quite a detailed biography can be found on the authoritative website which describes art and architecture of the Russian émigré [5] or on the site Russians in Italy [4]. But in any case, these publications provide the artist's biographical data only, lacking description of his artistic manner and style.
Italy has always been a country that attracted Russian artists and writers. Being a true homeland of art, Italy is still considered to be a "promised land" for creative people and the custodian for the treasures of art and historical works ofvarious types and styles. In the 18th and 19th centuries, many outstanding Russian artists lived and worked there, mainly in Rome. The Russian Imperial Academy of Arts sent artists to "improve their skills" [5]. It is this special Italian phenomenon that inspired many artworks of the Russian painters including the most famous examples of the Russian historical painting, like Karl Bryullov's The Last Day of Pompeii, Alexander Iva-nov's The Appearance of Christ before the People.
complex, sometimes really mystical impressions. It seems reasonable to place his works into the strict scope of realism, but the perfection of the artistic manner, the special emphasis on the composition and the accuracy of performance making the impression of theatricality, unique colors and choice of the themes and scenes in Sciltian's paintings - all this requires special research embracing the trends prevailing in the beginning of the 20th century, which were more in favour of abstract art, not realism. It is important to understand how such opposite trends coexist in modernism, like those that distort or completely lose the reality, and at the same time movements that glorify the reality in its absolute meaning.
During his artistic career Gregorio Sciltian gained considerable popularity in Italy, the country that adopted him after the Russian Revolution. However, unfortunately, the Russians know very little about the artist. Gregorio Sciltian is an artist who is not widely known in the Russian academia - art history and art critique. Publications in the Russian language about the painter are quite scanty, and this applies both to monographs and research articles, with the exception of several small articles and the Internet commentaries. Regardless of his personal exhibition at the Moscow Pushkin Museum in 1983 and few of his works
Section 3. Theory and History of Art
At the beginning of the 20th century, many Russian artists and writers moved to Europe (generally France and Germany) and America following the wave of the Russian emigration. Among them, Sergei Diaghilev and his entourage, Wassily Kandinsky, Alexei Yavlen-sky, Natalia Goncharova and Mikhail Larionov, Igor Stravinsky, and many others. Gregorio Sciltian also leaved Russia and went to Italy following his heart.
Gregorio Sciltian was born in Rostov-on-Don in 1900, in the family ofArmenian industrialists. At quite an early age Gregorio took a great interest in art and painting, with an initial focus on cubism. At the age of 15 he participated in the art exhibitions, and in 1917 attended the Academy of Arts in Petrograd (St. Petersburg) for several months.
Gregorio Sciltian, like many others, left Russia in 1917 due to the Russian Revolution and for some time he lived in Georgia, and then finally moved to Europe.
This period is marked by the constant instability in the painter's life. Elena Sciltian (born Bober-man) in her memoirs described huge difficulties during the constant relocations across Europe, "Elena Abramovna talks about the difficulties connected not only with material situation, but also with moral [...] Everyday's unsettledness, confusion, needs, inability to find themselves in a foreign environment, accidental jobs, and homesickness - almost every Russian emigrant passed through this" [2].
At first, Gregorio Sciltian moved to Berlin and then to Rome. From 1927 to 1932, Sciltian and his wife made an attempt to settle in Paris, but then finally returned to Italy, where he began to work successfully, actively exhibited his works, particularly in Italy, and received many awards and recognition.
For the time being, an important problem is how to preserve information about Gregorio Sciltian, realizing that the records in Russian are so few and some rare materials can be lost. Besides, the materials in Russian can not correspond to the information in the Italian language. It is especially important to examine the artworks of Gregorio Sciltian in the context of the
mutual influence of two cultures, which invariably impacted his style, as it happened with many modern artists who emigrated from Russia.
Since Sciltian became famous in Italy, his works are stored in many prominent museums of the country: the Uffizi Gallery, the Modern Art Gallery in Rome, Milan and Bergamo, Roberto Longhi and Ugo Ojetti. Also, various art collectors paid attention to his paintings.
Sciltian is notable for the combination of cultures and styles. In his painting one can feel the influence of the classical school of the Russian realism, the canons of which were set by the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. But this is far from the pure Russian academism. We also see the connection with Italian realists and metaphysical painting. Again this is not a metaphysical painting in its pure form.
In her memoirs the artist's widow Elena Sciltian (born Boberman) told how important for Sciltian were his connections with Russia and the Russian culture, "My husband was very fascinated by the Russian painting. Not only he loved the works of such brilliant masters like Levitsky, Ivanov, and Bryullov, but he also passionately popularized their art abroad. He led the persistent struggle against inertia, defending his views on realistic art" [2]. For example, Sciltian worked on the publication of Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina and made 117 illustrations. Elena explained that Gregorio took up this with "great enthusiasm" [2].
However, Gregorio Sciltian's works are influenced not only by the Russian academic school of realism, but, above all, by Italian art, which he absolutely belonged to. In many of his paintings, the influence ofMichelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio can be traced [1]. Sciltian is close to Caravaggio and his compositional solutions (for example, the painting Bacco in Osteria, 1936), as well as the theatrical drama, colour and particular grotesque of the artistic language.
It is rather difficult to speak about the stylistic features of Gregorio Sciltian's art, since the Russian
sources are scarce. However, it's possible to define several important points.
First of all, it's necessary to note that on the background of the all-embracing movement of modernism in the beginning of the twentieth century and the emergence of the abstract art, Sciltian, nevertheless, adhered to the realistic tradition. His artworks demonstrate the connection of magic realism, metaphysical art, and the influence of surrealism.
His friendship with Giorgio de Chirico provides evidence of this. Some conceptual ideas of de Chirico can be found in Sciltian's works. Their art is close enough. Once de Chirico characterized the works of Sciltian, 'In the house of the artist Nino Bertoletti [Sciltian] meets Giorgio De Chirico, with whom he makes friends immediately. De Chirico wrote about him, 'Gregorio Sciltian is plastic par excellence. He is plastic when he paints, he is plastic when he talks, he is plastic when he gesticulates; De Chirico always defined him as "an eastern puppet master" and "a creator of the painted performance" (G. De Chirico, "Lo Stile nella casa e nell'arredamento", 1941, n. 4.) [4].
Another important observation on Sciltian's style was made by the artist Fillipo De Pisis, 'In 1924, at his exhibition in the National Theatre in Rome, [Scil-tian] met Filippo De Pisis and said the following words, 'Your painting, that in a certain sense can be called "Caravaggesca", could not be interpreted more authoritative and brilliantly' (F. De Pisis, "Bollettino della Galleria del Milione", 1-15 aprile 1941, n. 72.) [4].
This evaluation is a tribute to both the peculiarities of Sciltian's style, and his connectedness with the circle of the Italian artists of the time called "Pittori Moderni della Realta".
Describing the artistic style of Sciltian, it is worth mentioning that a number of sources refer Sciltian 's works to the art of magic realism. For example, we find such definition in one of the articles in The Russian Thought of the 1950's dedicated to Sciltian's 50th birthday [3].
The term "magic realism" appeared in 1925 thanks to Franz Roh, who first used it in his book Nach Expressionismus: Magischer Realismus (After Expressionism: Magic Realism). Magic realism, with the exception of visual arts, is widely applied to literary criticism and describes a style that represents the reality which aspires to the Absolute, engulfed in barely credible oddities. It is a subtle game on the brink of the real and magical, truth and fiction. Gregorio Sciltian was much interested in illusion. He worked a lot on the particular still life paintings - un trompe-l'œil. That theme was greatly developed in his artworks and formed his personal art manner. Based on two fundamental categories - "illusion" and "realism" - Sciltian united these two contrasting concepts to realize his vision of art.
In addition, the composition of Gregorio Sciltian is especially worth mentioning. He aimed at perfect composition, skillfully constructed it, with every single object in his still lifes. Elena Sciltian told, "In his studio, where after the death of her husband everything is still as it was during his life, you can recall a kind of theatre. Curtains, drapes, a board with absolutely unexpected objects - these are some ropes, buttons, and keys. That is all he used in his work. In the studio you will hardly notice any dirty brushes" [2]. Every detail takes its place and plays its role in "the theatre" of Gregorio Sciltian, and every piece makes the composition of the painting absolutely ideal.
References:
1. Mario Ursino, L'effetto metafisico: - 1918-1968 Gangemi Editore, - Roma, - 2010.
2. Scheglova N. Save for posterity, "Soviet Russia" - Moscow, - 1988.
3. Seeler V. Sciltian (on the 50th anniversary of birth) // article Russian thought. - 1950. - 15 Sept.
4. URL: http://www.russinitalia.it
5. URL: http://www.artrz.ru/
