In December 2009, a retrospective exhibition of works by Natella Toidze opened in the halls of the Tretyakov Gallery. The presented works give a complete picture of creative path painter. The heir to the famous dynasty of artists, she is a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Arts and was awarded the gold medal of the Russian Academy of Arts.
Natella Toidze’s work is, first of all, a reflection of deep experiences, an understanding of the world around her, which is why the themes, plots and performance techniques are so diverse.
Her first and main teacher was her father, the famous sculptor and graphic artist Georgy Moiseevich Toidze. It was he and the creative environment in which the future artist grew up from birth - clay, pencils, sitters, books and conversations about art, numerous meetings with friends of grandfather Moisei Ivanovich (a student of I.E. Repin, one of the founders of the USSR Academy of Arts) and uncles of Irakli Toidze (famous poster artist) - had a huge influence on her, shaped inner world Natella Georgievna.
Already in her early works An extraordinary artistic talent was revealed. In the small watercolor work “Fish” (1967), Toidze declares himself to be an excellent colorist. The subjects are written a little conventionally, everything is built in color. The silverware shines, the mother-of-pearl surface of the cleaned fish absorbs reflections from the emerald glass of the bottle and the blue tablecloth. The color of the picture is similar to the color of a gray-pearl shell, which reflects the emerald blue sea and blue-turquoise sky.
Meeting of still little Natella with famous artist Martiros Saryan and his parting words “always remain yourself” seemed ordinary then, and only over time it became clear that simple phrase was best advice aspiring painter. Hidden in this simplicity is a great meaning - reflections on Russian art, the talent and fate of the artist, “genetic memory”, which is the connecting thread between generations, and the fact that the artist becomes an Artist only if he is not a hostage to all past experience, but gains freedom of choice.
This is exactly the path that Natella Toidze chose. She entered the Moscow State Academic Art School in memory of 1905 at the Faculty of Theater and Decorative Arts, deliberately refusing to choose the Faculty of Painting. Her studies allowed her to think in broader categories, discover a new understanding of the space and scale of the canvas, and realize the importance of dialogue between the viewer and the artist.
Thus, large-format works appear in Toidze’s work (“Before the Snow”, 2007), setting a scale commensurate with a person who can “enter” the picture as if into another world. The viewer ceases to be an outside observer; it is as if he is included in the imaginative world of the artist. Unnecessary details disappear from the paintings, and the main thing remains - nature, in harmony with man.
Natella’s artistic method does not consist in a special recognizable style, but in a constant search for the only correct plastic solution based on the task at hand. To implement it, the master freely uses various painting techniques.
“Cézanne’s” still lifes with a white tablecloth and perspective “inverted” towards the viewer (“Still Life in the Kitchen”, 1974), “Levitan’s” landscapes, multifaceted in content (“Slegs”, 2000) are allusions to existing cultural traditions: post-impressionism and avant-garde, Moscow and Georgian schools of painting. Based on the experience of his predecessors, Toidze creates his own system of values, independent of fashion.
In recent decades, the decorative element has intensified in her work. Thus, the heroines of the diptych “Flora and Fauna” (1999) appear before us as African maidens; exotic interpretation of images allows you to focus on the beauty of lines, clarity of silhouettes, especially spectacular against the backdrop of flowering ornamental shrubs, painted with wide, short, multidirectional strokes, including all tones - from soft pink to dark cherry. The ornamental background, numerous details, silhouette, large color planes, richness of the palette and contrast make the picture unusually impressive.
At first glance, Natella Toidze’s paintings are easy to perceive, but the longer you look at her canvases, the more meanings are revealed in them. Any object in the space of the canvas acquires a special significance.
In her work, the artist combines decorativeism and natural vision, complex spatial solutions and planar compositions. Each of her works is a deeply thought-out and solved problem, and her work as a whole is a reflection of her complex inner world.
The title of the exhibition may make you associate with a bright sculpture from various materials. And, indeed, when you come to the exhibition, you will see both color and form, but only on the canvas.
Painting by Natella Toidze "Intermission. Columbine and Harlequin"
“I started doing art with sculpture, so when I switched to painting, I intuitively began to sculpt shapes with color. If you come close to my works, you can see that they, like a mosaic, are assembled from many spots and strokes,” says the author exhibitions.
The very concept of “sculpture of color” belongs to art critic Paola Volkova, who, having visited one of Toidze’s exhibitions, called her painting sculptural.
Painting by Natella Toidze "By the Fireplace"
Natella passed on her love of forms from her father, Georgy Toidze, a famous sculptor and graphic artist. The family lived in an apartment that was inseparable from the workshop. It was there that the future artist spent everything free time, modeling from clay and plasticine. According to recollections, she even had her own small machine. The girl was seen as a promising sculptor, but at the age of 10-11 Natella asked to buy her paints: “Color has always meant something to me.” great value. Since childhood, I have loved observing shades, shadows and highlights, and this happened unconsciously.”
Painting by Natella Toidze "Seedlings"
In addition, Natella was interested in large format canvases. And when she didn’t yet have an easel, her parents gave her huge sheets of paper that could be divided into several parts. But Natella used them entirely - she laid them on the floor and painted, lengthening the brush.
The artist also retained her passion for sculpture. Future plans include making a joint exhibition of color and form: “I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, but there are more technical problems with sculpture - it requires material, next time I’ll definitely try to realize this idea.”
Exhibition "Natella Toidze. Sculpture of Color" in the New Manege
Outdoor workshop
Most of Natella Toidze's paintings are landscapes and still lifes, as well as decorative and allegorical compositions. The artist paints everything related to nature in the open air. According to her, only working outdoors conveys the whole palette of feelings and emotions from what she sees.
“The main thing for me is to convey the emotional state of nature, which the viewer himself can feel together with me,” says Toidze.
It usually takes three to four days to write one piece. Natella Georgievna spends all this time outdoors - the artist never finishes her work in the studio: “If suddenly in the studio I see some inaccuracy, then I return to nature with the canvas. Because plein air has its own laws of writing: light, colors, atmosphere. And an inaccurate color stroke (strokes) can ruin the entire picturesque state of the picture, as false note can destroy musical harmony."
Painting by Natella Toidze
Working outdoors, of course, brings with it certain difficulties (especially since the size of the canvases is huge - up to two meters). The main one is related to the weather, which must be the same for several days in order for the state of nature to be maintained.
“Once,” recalls Natella Georgievna, “on the last day of work the temperature dropped sharply, and when I brought the painting home, my household immediately noticed: “The landscape has become five degrees colder.” Because cold is a change in lighting, the appearance of clouds and, of course, different colors. So you have to work very quickly - the situation around is changing every minute."
Painting by Natella Toidze "Herzen. On the Moscow River"
Paintings around us Ideas for new works, according to the artist, come to her in different ways: she notices something while walking, and comes up with something while building the next composition. But the author’s main goal is to set new goals for himself each time, to discover something unusual and convey it to the viewer: “If I paint winter, I always try to show it in different colors, because there are many conditions in any season.”
Such paintings include “March,” where Natella Georgievna wanted to depict a winter composition, but it was already calendar spring. Then she decided to introduce a decorative element into the work and hung patterned rugs against the background of snow, which became the basis of the work.
Painting by Natella Toidze "March"
And in the next picture (“The Snow Has Gone”), winter has already completely receded - clear skies and bright sun, dry soil and trees waiting for buds - all this creates a tangible feeling of spring.
“The hazel bush was so brightly illuminated by the sun that it seemed to glow itself. That’s how it went into the work,” says the landscape painter.
There are also many flower compositions at the exhibition, for example, “Golden Balls”, painted in the Kostroma village: “I saw how flowers powerfully penetrate through the cracks of the fence, and it seemed interesting to me to depict in detail what I saw.”
Painting by Natella Toidze "Golden Balls"
The exhibition also includes still lifes. For example, the paintings “Watermelon on Black” and “Watermelons on Red” are unusual in their pictorial purpose, where the author experiments with the background: “I wanted to paint pieces of watermelon on a scarlet tablecloth, but in such a way that they remain intact and do not merge with the fabric.”
Paintings by Natella Toidze “Watermelon on black” and “Watermelons on red”
The artist applies this unique solution to the seemingly familiar image of Flora and Fauna. If the goddess Flora is usually depicted as a blue-eyed, blond girl with a basket of flowers, and Fauna as a reserved young lady surrounded by animals, then Natella Georgievna sees them first as black women immersed in the night heat of a certain tropical world (“Flora and Fauna/diptych”), and then completely northern beauties in the cool of the forest (“Northern Flora and Fauna/diptych”).
Natella Toidze's work "Northern Flora and Fauna/diptych"
Georgian motives
“When my father was alive, he loved to show me Georgia, we traveled a lot and planned the whole route in advance.”
Painting by Natella Toidze "Kutaisi. Iron Bridge"
The Georgian series is very different from the other paintings. According to the author, it is not only a matter of mixed media- the works are written in pastel and watercolor, but also in other sensations: “Every time I work, I paint what I feel, therefore unusual color scheme is connected precisely with the warm and bright atmosphere of Georgia.”
More than half of the series is in Svaneti, where the artist worked for about a week. In her paintings, Toidze, in addition to the famous towers, showed the traditional hay harvest, sunset in Ushguli, as well as mountain ranges, against which one can see the colorful roofs of rural houses.
Paintings by Natella Toidze "Svaneti"
Natella Georgievna also feels Tbilisi in her own way: “If you remember the old part of Tiflis, the city seems pearlescent, like a shell, its shades are so subtle.”
The landscape painter’s love for Georgia is expressed not only in her paintings; she often visits Tbilisi, where, by the way, her grandfather’s house-museum is located, famous painter and Repin’s favorite student, Mose Toidze: “I would love to bring this exhibition to Georgia. If they invite me, I will definitely come.”
Paintings by Natella Toidze from the Georgian series
Natella Toidze's works are kept in the collections of large Russian museums: Tretyakov Gallery, Russian Museum and Moscow Museum contemporary art In addition, the artist’s paintings periodically participate in international shows - Paris, Lisbon, New York, Beijing.
The exhibition of the famous Moscow artist, member of the Russian Academy of Arts Natella Toidze “Sculpture of Color” opened at the Voronezh Museum. Kramskoy on Friday, March 6. Natella Toidze is one of the most famous and sought-after Russian artists today. In the last few years, her major retrospective exhibitions have been successfully held at the Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, and large galleries in different cities of the world. Natella Toidze's works are in museums and private collections in Russia, as well as in private collections in France, Switzerland, Portugal, Germany, Finland, and the USA.
The current exhibition includes both early works Natella Toidze, created back in the 1970s, and written more recently. In total, the exhibition included about six dozen paintings - mostly large-scale. These are works from the author's collection, Russian Academy art and private collections. The exhibition includes all genres in which the artist works - landscape, still life, allegorical paintings. Vernissage gathered huge amount spectators, the opening was attended by the governor's wife Tatyana Gordeeva, Voronezh cultural figures, businessmen, and city officials.
The definition of “Sculpture of color” belongs to the famous art critic Paola Volkova,” said museum director Vladimir Dobromirov about the title of the exhibition, “and at first glance it seems paradoxical, but in fact, if we perceive the form of sculpture through color, then why not create painting this sculptural form through color?
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Photo - Sofia Uspenskaya
Natella Toidze comes from a family associated with art for several generations. This artistic dynasty included the artist’s grandfather, Mose Toidze, a painter, student of Ilya Repin, one of the founders of the USSR Academy of Arts, father, Georgy Toidze, a famous sculptor and graphic artist, and uncle, poster artist Irakli Toidze, author of the famous poster “The Motherland is Calling” . Among the first women professional painters in Russia was the artist’s grandmother, Alexandra Soutina, who graduated from the class of Orthodox icon painting Imperial Academy arts in St. Petersburg.
This is a story, and the fact that it has a continuation, the fact that Natella Georgievna carries the banner of art of this amazing family so high and beautifully, is inspiring,” said art critic Bronislav Tabachnikov, opening the exhibition. He called the exhibition itself “a celebration of painting.”
When I look at the paintings, I am struck by several qualities: this is the highest culture of the canvas, secondly, it is a celebration of color - in Natella Toidze’s canvases it feels like it’s alive, you want to immerse yourself in it - and, finally, this is an amazing dramaturgy.
Natella Toidze, who came to Voronezh for the opening of the exhibition, noted that indeed, the desire to capture the “drama of nature” is one of her main creative tasks.
All the works were done in the open air - this is very important for me, because I am trying to convey this dramatic state of nature,” said Natella Toidze. - Many of my works are called: “Before the snow”, “After the rain”, this transition from one state to another. Therefore, always, regardless of the weather, unless it is below -7 outside, I work outdoors. I have a special huge easel, made to order, it’s not always convenient with it, but it’s very interesting to me, because it’s impossible to paint nature from the studio.
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An exhibition of works by the famous Moscow painter, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Arts Natella Toidze opens in Moscow on Wednesday. The artist’s paintings can be seen until October 31 at exhibition halls Russian Academy of Arts at the address: Prechistenka, building 21.
The exhibition includes both the artist’s early works and recently created paintings. Landscapes of Georgia, painted in a pasty “temperamental” manner, close to the painting of “Jack of Diamonds” (the cycle “Svaneti”, “Grandmother’s Yard”, “Narikala”), and complex in composition, exquisite still lifes adjacent to landscapes that are more restrained in color scheme middle zone Russia ("Slegs", "Moscow courtyard", polyptych "Northern mallows", "Thaw").
A characteristic feature of Toidze’s work is the indispensable presence of a dramatic element in her paintings, which is obvious even with the highly decorative, pronounced ornamentation of the canvases (“Winter in the Bullfinches,” “Wild Grapes,” “At the Beginning of Summer”), the press release of the exhibition notes.
The artist’s creative method is always to work from life, where she creates landscapes, still lifes, and portraits. IN last decade Toidze prefers large-format canvases and paints them at any time of the year not in the studio, but exclusively in the open air, despite the technical difficulties of executing such works. In such paintings, the author’s special ability to emphasize the poetry of everyday life is clearly noticeable, pictorially generalize it and show the world from an unusual point of view: stems, leaves, tree trunks are taken large, life-size, sometimes turning into a pattern complex in coloristic design (“Thickets”, “ August", "Before the Snow").
Emphasized, even somewhat exaggerated decorativeism, evoking associations with European art era of symbolism, is characteristic of another layer of Toidze’s works - metaphorical compositions ("Flora and Fauna", diptych "Intermission", "Hunting").
"For Natella Toidze, there are no self-restraints in choosing a subject: the world is diverse, and in this diversity the artist sees an aesthetic principle. She is equally interested in the nature of the Caucasus and the Russian North, views of Moscow courtyards and the landscape of village fields. Everything she writes is filled with a keenly individual feeling that contains a lot: starting from the innate ancestral memory of past generations right up to the severity of realities modern world", writes art critic Vladimir Prokhorov.
“The art of this master should puzzle the snob connoisseur of modern art, because it comes from the heart, and not from a cold concept. It does not fit into any stereotypical system and lives according to the laws of pure picturesqueness. The figurative structure of these works is immersed in a vibrating colorful element. the subtlest coloring of the works is mysteriously woven into the spicy colors of the sunny South, and the shades of inescapable sadness of the expanses of Central Russia, and completely unearthly reflections of some other beautiful world, where the picturesque fabric of Natella’s paintings attracts the viewer,” notes Prokhorov.
Natella Toidze was born and raised in Moscow in a family associated with art for several generations. The artist’s grandfather, Mose Toidze, a painter, student of I.E. Repin, one of the founders of the USSR Academy of Arts, and her father, Georgy Toidze, a famous sculptor and graphic artist, belonged to this artistic dynasty.
Natella Toidze graduated from the Faculty of Theater and Decorative Arts of the Academic Art school"In memory of 1905". In her professional development, the traditions of the Moscow painting school became fundamental. At the same time, the artist calls her father her first and main teacher: from childhood, Georgiy Toidze sets serious creative tasks for his daughter, including sculptural ones. By selecting easel painting, she successfully works in the genres of landscape and still life, paints portraits and allegorical compositions.