Pushkin's self-portrait is a public treasure

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Perhaps (a flattering hope!), The future ignoramus will point

To my illustrious portrait

And he says: that was a poet! A. S. Pushkin

The poem "The Prisoner of the Caucasus" (first edition) is accompanied by a portrait of a boy in a light shirt, propping up his swarthy cheek with his hand. So for the first time the secular public, and then the whole of Russia, saw Alexander Pushkin. At that time, he was no more than 14 years old, and the author of the portrait was 23 years old. Subsequently, a great many portraits of the world-famous Russian poet A. S. Pushkin. But the sketchy pen sketches made by the poet himself are of considerable value for generations.

Legacy

Among these sketches there is a self-portrait of Pushkin. In order to make sure that the external appearance of the poet corresponds with his own hand-written image, we study his iconography, the memoirs of his contemporaries. We are interested to know how the poet of all times and peoples actually looked. Here he is, 21 years old, three days after his birthday (May 26, 1820) arrives in the Azov region.

Youth, courage, an overflow of feelings and new thoughts that fall in lines. A few years later - in 1829 - Pushkin's self-portrait of the period of his love for Natalia Goncharova appears when he asks for her hand. He does not receive consent, but there was no refusal either. However, such passionate love could not remain without reciprocity, and later the poet receives a positive response. In the meantime - a trip to the Caucasus (without the consent of the government) during the local hostilities. Sketches and notes for the future Journey to Arzrum are born right on the way. Lines of poems "Caucasus", "Collapse", "Night darkness lies on the hills of Georgia …" flow from the pen. Pushkin's self-portrait is an integral part of these works. The graphic image of the poet himself on horseback came to the descendants. The self-portrait of 1829, of course, reflects the impressions received in the Caucasus, because the poet entered Arzrum along with Russian troops. According to another version of the researchers of Pushkin's legacy, the poet on horseback escapes from the government. There are also suggestions that Pushkin's proud posture on a horse is a reflection of his inner state associated with the answer of Natalia Goncharova. In this posture from Don Quixote, all the nobility and fidelity to the beautiful lady, with which every line of the verse of the same period "I loved you" is permeated. Somewhat later, Goncharova agreed to become his wife.

The poet's self-portrait as an element of his works

Priceless drafts and sketches of the poet are a collection of poetic lines and graphics. Drawings are an integral part of the creative process,kind of creative respite. At the moments of creating graphics, he reflected and evaluated, waited for a burst of thought and inspiration, and the muse visited him. The poet does not seek to publish his drawings, they are created for a single viewer - their author. Pushkin's self-portrait with a pen is distinguished by the feature that reveals the characteristic features of the poet, a romantic and ardent long-haired dandy and at the same time a bold and even impudent freethinker (a sketch depicting Pushkin and Lermontov on the banks of the Neva).

In his portraits there is not a shadow of selfishness or narcissism, rather, they are full of subtle self-irony, sarcasm. A slight grin on plump lips, caricature-like technique, sharp, clear lines are proof of this. The poet draws himself and loved ones, the heroes of his writings and mystical characters on the handwritten margins. Pushkin's self-portrait depicting the Demon tempting the poet is riddled with sarcasm and mockery. The artist Pushkin is faithful to the original, faithful to his attitude. Interest in one's appearance does not hint at egocentrism. Such self-observation is a way of self-knowledge. And here he jokingly sees himself with a laurel wreath on his head: a balding old man with a wrinkled face in the manner of the great Dante and the words: “Great Father P.” In this vision, there is dignity and satisfaction, pride and sadness in connection with the completion of work on a work, the price of which he understood and knew. The precise and vigilant artist Pushkin, whose self-portrait is known to all of us, painted himself with all his characteristic features, not hiding his flattened nose, sideburns and lush lips. So he is remembered by everyone who at least onceheard his name.