Painting Khokhloma - Russian art, which appeared in the 17th century

It is impossible to say exactly when the painting of Khokhloma appeared, but it is supposed that it happened in the 17th century. During the church reforms, when the Old Believers were persecuted, they found shelter in forests and small villages. Large cities have become closed to them forever. But they had to feed themselves somehow, and then they decided to try to transfer the technique of icon painting and decoration to wood products. Around the same time, a world-famous matryoshka doll appeared, which was later called "Khokhloma".

It is believed that the Old Believers could save ancient handwritten books, icons and various patterned fabrics. The painting of Khokhloma was based on them. Initially, handmade craftsmen became only directly icon painters, then other Old Believers began to join them, as well as participants in the Solovets revolt. Over time, this technique has become so widespread that whole villages have begun to deal with it. And one village could make blanks, the other - to cut a tree, the third - to paint. For the most part, the work involved men, women only helped, performing various auxiliary tasks. It should be noted that children from an early age took an active part in the painting. They, of course, did not trust the execution of difficult operations, but they could well cope with the primer or oliflenie.

In general, the painting of Khokhloma became popular not because all the works were done manually. At that time in Russia there were not so many rich people to sell products for a high price. The thing is that similar at first glance, the elements of the dishes always looked different. The golden bowls were laid out on the banks of the Volga, then they were transported from there throughout the country. Moreover, and far beyond Russia was popular Russian Khokhloma. Elements of painting on golden cups, spoons or decor items could not leave anyone indifferent.

A distinctive feature of Khokhloma is that it does not have any templates or examples. All the strokes that were performed by the master, he came up with actually on the go. But there were certain rules for the design of the background. As for the technique of the original production, the tree was first primed. This was necessary in order to block small holes and do not skip the liquid. Then putty was made, which was intended to cover knots, small dents and other errors that remained after the turner's work. After that, oliflenie was carried out, without it the coating with aluminum powder (necessary to give a certain golden hue) became difficult. And only then the masters proceeded to the painting itself. Bizarre patterns tipped to the most complex surfaces with brushes. Thus, Russian Khokhloma - painting, a photo of which can not reflect the beauty that you can see in reality. In many museums preserved dishes, the creation of which dates back to the 18th century. As a rule, in the patterns one can see the love of nature, which was conveyed by every peasant in his product.

Painting Khokhloma has not lost its significance to this day. Of course, modern art has become more diverse, there is such a wide range of forms and decor elements that you simply marvel at the complexity of all art compositions. All souvenirs carry with themselves warmth, because each of them is done manually. No machine can transmit as much positive energy as human hands do.