MUSEUM OF PEOPLE'S FRIENDSHIP

SET WITH GZHEL PAINTING

It's hard to believe: really
Just two colors? Wonders!..
This is how the artists from Gzhel
Heaven is being put on the snow!
L. Kulikova.

Gzhel painting is an ancient, traditionally Russian art, the origins of which originated in the Russian outback more than 670 years ago.

"A gentle blue miracle - a fabulous Gzhel" - that is how people in Russia affectionately called the beloved, wonderfully decorated ceramics made of snow-white clay.

Gzhel is the name of a picturesque region 60 kilometers from Moscow. It is the cradle and the main center of Russian ceramics. Archaeological research on the territory of Gzhel confirms the existence of pottery here since the beginning of the XIV century.

History

The village of Gzhel has long been famous for its clay . Until the middle of XVIII century Gzhel made pottery, usual for that time, made bricks , pottery pipes, tiles . In addition to tableware, they made toys in the form of birds and animals and decorative figurines on themes from Russian life. Shiny white horses, riders, birds, dolls, miniature dishes were painted with lilac, yellow, blue and brown colors in a peculiar folk style. The paints were applied with a brush. The motives for this painting were decorative flowers, leaves, herbs.

After 1802 , when light gray clay was found near the village of Minino , the production of semi-faience arose in Gzhel, from which a lot of ferments , jugs and kumgans were made .

The end of the 18th century was the heyday of the Gzhel majolica. In the 19th century, Gzhel craftsmen invented a new material and a new technology: they produced semi-faience, then faience and porcelain. Of particular interest were items painted in one color - blue underglaze paint applied with a brush, with graphic details. Numerous small factories and large enterprises were engaged in the production of porcelain and faience.

The end of the 19th - the beginning of the 20th centuries became a period of deep crisis. It seemed that Gzhel art had perished forever. The post-war period is associated with the beginning of the revival of the craft and the search for their own figurative language. This required years of painstaking and tireless work, training of new masters. As a result, it led to success. In 1972, the Gzhel Association was created on the basis of six small industries located in several villages. Creative teams have developed new designs. Completely new product shapes were created. Painting has become richer and fulfills the artistic requirements of the present day. Today the Gzhel Association is a modern enterprise, which includes 6 production facilities with a staff of 1,500 highly qualified workers.

Technology

Experienced master modellers grind plaster models of future products on special machines. The machine is a potter's wheel with two posts and a wooden rail for the rest of the hands. With the help of cutter clubs, the surface of the gypsum blank is processed, from which a working mold is made for casting products. Porcelain products are made by casting in plaster molds. The slurry (liquid porcelain mass) is poured into molds by the caster. Porous gypsum absorbs moisture, the slip gradually hardens and takes shape. Products that have passed preliminary (waste) firing are painted by the painter with cobalt oxide. Traditional painting is hand-made floral and geometric ornaments applied with brush strokes. And now the final stage is the final firing of the finished product, which the masters call watered firing.

Features of the

The contemporary art of Gzhel is complex and diverse. This ceramics is the most striking, poetic and memorable among Russian crafts. Traditional porcelain products with cobalt (blue and light blue) patterns are popular in Russia and all over the world. It would seem that one-color painting should make the product monotonous, but everything turned out quite the opposite - thanks to the characteristic blue color with its various shades, porcelain looks unique and original. Gzhel drawings are scenes from the folk life of the past - sleigh rides, Shrovetide, genre scenes, fairy-tale characters, floral ornaments. The patterns are unique, because the master paints each cup or tray by hand, in a single copy.

White porcelain plays the role of a contrasting background. And the main task of the artist is to distribute the rest of the colors in such a way that the pattern turns out to be harmonious and balanced. The ornament creates a general composition with a "weighted" center.