Павел Корин және «Кетіп бара жатқан Русь» суретінің тарихы

Russian painter

Pavel Dmitriyevich Korin (Павел Дмитриевич Корин; 8 July 1892 [O. S. 25 June 1892] 22 November 1967) was a Russian painter and art restorer. He is famous for his preparational work for the unimplemented painting Farewell to Rus.

The biography of Korin shows an accomplished Soviet painter and a prominent art figure, but the job he had considered the main work of his life was left unfinished. During his student years Korin was impressed by the life of Alexander Ivanov, who spent most of his adult life in creating a single painting The Appearance of Christ before the People (1835–1857). Pavel decided that he should live by Ivanov's example and devote his whole life to a single large painting. He began by preparing a very accurate, life sized copy of Ivanov's masterpiece (1920–1925). The initial name for this painting was Bless the Lord, oh my soul (Благослови, душе моя, Господа). In 1925 Korin witnessed the funeral service of Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow in the Cathedral of the Dormition of Moscow Kremlin. All people of importance in the Russian Orthodox Church, usually suppressed by the Soviets, were present. After the event Pavel decided that his magnum opus would be named Requiem, or Requiem for Russia, and would depict the funeral service of Patriarch Tikhon and show the Russia that was lost after the October Revolution. Korin feverishly painted people present at the burial service for Tikhon, often the last survivors of families of Russian nobility, or dissident priests, soon to be destroyed. Rumors about the dangerous painting soon became a matter of NKVD interest. In 1931 Maxim Gorky advised Korin that the name Requiem for Russia was too strong to be accepted and recommended a change to Русь Уходящая literally Rus that is going away, but usually translated as Farewell to Rus. Gorky believed that the painting showing the last parade of the Orthodox Church, depicting the tragedy and at the same time the misery of those people who would disappear into irrelevancy, would be accepted and even well received by the Government. Korin agreed to the new name of the painting. For forty years Korin worked on the painting. He produced dozens of large (more than life size), detailed paintings that he preferred to call etudes for the Farewell to Rus masterpiece; he worked on composition. He ordered a huge canvas, designed a special stretcher for it, and spent years coating the canvas with multiple layers of the special underlays. Korin was combining the ancient methods of the icon paintings with the science of art restorations and claimed the painting prepared by his methods should survive hundreds, possibly thousands of years without the need for restoration. In his lifetime, he had not put a single brushstroke on the canvas forty two years of preparational work was not enough for Pavel Korin. Though some might consider it an extreme case of procrastination, the huge canvas became a popular art exhibit in the Korin Museum. Many consider it as an art masterpiece in its own right, similar to the Black Square of Kazimir Malevich.

Komsomolskaya Koltsevaya station opened in 1952. Alexey Shchusev was the main architect. He invited Korin to work at the station design. Korin decided to decorate it with monumental panels. There are eight of them. Each one is framed by stucco molding. And the yellow ceiling is also decorated with mosaic inserts and stucco molding. There are images of Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Kuzma Minin, Dmitry Pozharsky, Alexander Suvorov, Mikhail Kutuzov, Vladimir Lenin, the capture of the Reichstag and the Triumph of victory. They are arranged in chronological order. Pavel Dmitrievich was attentive to all the details of the work of the mosaicists and especially carefully monitored a set of portrait images. These examples were there to inspire the Soviet people, as well as glorify the deeds of other Russian heroes. Joseph Stalin mentioned all these historical figures and events in his speech before the parade on 7 November 1941. “The war you are waging is a war of liberation,” Stalin exclaimed, “a just war. Let the manly images of our great ancestors—Alexander Nevsky, Dimitry Donskoy, Kuzma Minin, Dimitry Pozharsky, Alexander Suvorov and Mikhail Kutuzov—inspire you in this war! May the victorious banner of the great Lenin be your North star!”. This quote was carved into a marble tablet at the entrance to the hall. However, now the Stalin quote is gone. It has been replaced by historical information about the station. Also, despite the fact, that Stalin’s quote was the main theme of the whole station design there is no portrait of him. Moreover, for a long time, none of the stations had portraits of him thanks to de Stalinization, which came after Krushchev’s speech at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. All of Stalin’s portraits were painted over or destroyed. Two of the eight mosaics were completely replaced – mosaic Lenin speaks to the Red Army heading for the front was installed instead of the Guards Banner Presentations, the Triumph of the Victory mosaic appeared instead of the Victory Parade, and the medallion was replaced with the capture of the Reichstag mosaic.