You get a two-fer today. Compare and contrast
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| A painting by Thomas Kinkade (American) |
_-_Volga_Boatmen_(1870-1873).jpg) |
| Hauling a Barge on the Volga by Ilia Efimovich Repin (Russian) |
Rivers are highly symbolic in most cultures.
Rivers can be symbols of rebirth, as exemplified by the many before/after miracles in the Bible associated with the Jordan River. One example.
Rivers, which start with vigor and end up salty when they flow into the sea can be a simile for life.
Rivers can be a symbol of endless toil. (the second picture)
They can be symbols of wealth and industry. (Nile, Rhine River, grist mills)
They can be symbols of connection with the outside world.
They can be symbols of death, as exemplified by the River Styx or images with a bridge across it. (the first picture)
Many thanks to Tireless Lucas and unnameable reader who suggested these artists.
My wife, bless her heart, is a Kincade fan. I like his earlier street scenes. His one titled "Carmel" is my favorite. That said, his later efforts are dreck. The Russian artist is presenting life as reality, Kincade presents life as an morphine dream. I'll take reality.
ReplyDeleteIs that a critique of their styles or the art itself? One is realism, the other not. Does that diminish the quality of either one? I'm not a fan of Van Gogh, but I see the magic in it. while perhaps not revolutionary, I think Kincaid is an excellent artist in his own style. You INSTANTLY know one of his works on site. You could say he is the standard of that morphine-dream style. That's an accomplishment.
DeleteQuite the contrast. One is a silly fantasy poorly done as Kincade laughed his way to the bank and the other is a gut punch to the senses. I am pretty sure which one will endure.
ReplyDeleteLucas
I wondered why humans were used instead of draft horses or other animals such as were used on the canals here in the states and found this answer:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.gw2ru.com/history/56219-barge-haulers-russians-drag-ships
The winter climate of interior Russia is so severe that most draft animals - horses, mules, and oxen - die unless they are secured in heated barns, which did not exist in most of the Russian interior. Only panje horses are well adapted to the Russian climate, but they are ill suited to traction operations due to their small size and low weight.
DeleteThe Volga and Don are life of southern European Russia
ReplyDeleteThat second picture is haunting.
ReplyDeleteThanks as always ERJ.
Burlaki had it pretty good by the standards of interior Russia in the precommunist era. They were never serfs and the work paid in silver, unusual in that time and locale.
DeleteBurlaki also leave us the most widely known Russian melody, the "Song of the Volga Boatmen".
And my knowledge of trivia grows! Thanks 10 x 25 mm!
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