Art... It can revive a person’s soul from its ashes, make him experience simply incredible emotions and feelings. Art is a means by which authors try to convey their thoughts to people, to accustom them to beauty.
The author talks about the need for art in our lives, he focuses on the fact that “beauty must be learned and appreciated, just as one must learn to feel high music.” Yuri Bondarev cites as an example Mozart’s work “Requiem”, which has an unimaginable impact on listeners, “people openly shed tears in the episode where the life of the great composer was cut short.” Thus, the author shows that art can touch the subtle strings of a person’s soul and make him experience extraordinary feelings.
Bondarev claims that art can greatly influence a person, because it is the most beautiful thing in his life. Art can change a person, his inner world. This is something you definitely need to learn. Indeed, one cannot but agree with the author. I believe that art can make us feel joy and sadness, sadness and excitement, happiness and many other emotions.
Thus, in the work of I.A. Goncharov “Oblomov” the main character’s attitude to music is vividly described. Oblomov, visiting Olga Ilyinskaya, heard her play the piano for the first time. The author shows us how music can influence a person’s inner world and his emotions. Listening to the magnificent performance, the hero could hardly hold back his tears; he felt strength and vigor, a desire to live and act.
However, the attitude of the protagonist of I. S. Turgenev’s work “Fathers and Sons” towards art is very negative. Bazarov does not perceive it as an integral part of a person’s life, he does not see its benefits and advantages. This was the limitation of his views. But a person’s life without art, without a “sense of beauty” is very boring and monotonous, which, unfortunately, the hero never recognized.
In conclusion, I would like to conclude that art is the most important part in the life of each of us. You just need to let it into your heart and soul, and it can conquer the whole world.
Option 2
Any type of art for a person is the highest reward for the efforts that he made to take part in it - either by being the creator of a masterpiece, or simply admiring its results from the outside.
Musical compositions, mysterious paintings, and elegant sculptures arose thanks to human knowledge, a natural gift, or the desire to achieve such perfection.
In the process of creating any masterpiece of art, a person uses his talent, showing his full potential. Art develops and does not allow you to remain in one place, in a state of inaction. Due to this, people improve. Those who to any extent relate to this area are creative people who are in constant search. Immersing themselves in this world, they actively develop spiritually.
Thus, through the manifestation of imagination, determination, fantasy, and patience, art helps in affirming one’s life position, influences a person’s worldview, helps to find oneself, and form one’s own way of thinking.
If we are talking about music, then after listening to classical works, a person’s emotional, mental and even physical state improves. Depending on the rhythm and content of the melodies and songs, you can either get a charge of incredible vivacity or calm down.
Under the influence of art, a person’s inner world is transformed. Any of its types - graphics, theater, painting, etc. contains so much deep meaning and passion, which are expressed through unique means of expression, that they make you think about yourself, the meaning of life, and allow you to look at the world in a new way.
Any work of art helps to distinguish between good and evil, good and bad. Literary works have enormous power that can act on a person, transporting him to another world. By becoming the hero of the events depicted in books, people learn new information, on the basis of which they become better, correct mistakes after meeting his characters, sympathize and rejoice with them. Literature can radically change a person's worldview.
Under the influence of painting, the formation of a person’s spiritual world occurs. Participation in this type of activity promotes self-expression and enhances impressions. In sculptures, people embody their aesthetic desires, and for outside observers they are educational.
Thus, art cultivates only the best character traits in a person, increases intelligence, identifying and developing those qualities that were previously invisible.
Several interesting essays
- The image and characteristics of Simeon in the story by Yama Kuprin, essay
Simeon is a minor character in Kuprin’s work “The Pit”. Simeon, without a doubt, is a negative character, because he is characterized by cruelty, hypocrisy and cynicism.
- The image of the people in the fairy tale Wild Landowner by Saltykov-Shchedrin
Depicting the people in the fairy tale The Wild Landowner, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, without hiding
- Characteristics and image of Lensky in Pushkin’s novel Evgeny Onegin
Vladimir Lensky is a young nobleman who appears in the novel as Onegin’s innocent and young comrade. Young, a little under 18, he was one of the most eligible bachelors in the province
- Essay based on the work of Mozart and Salieri by Pushkin
How far can envy lead a person? Alexander Pushkin reflects on this problem in the tragedy “Mozart and Salieri”.
- Essay on the proverb It is useless to carry firewood into the forest, grade 7
If we analyze the proverb according to its semantic components, its essence will become clear. The first word used in the proverb is “useless.” We can immediately see that we are talking about some kind of action
- Music can help a person feel beauty and relive moments of the past.
- The power of art can change a person's life
- The paintings of a truly talented artist reflect not only the appearance, but also the soul of a person.
- In difficult situations, music inspires a person and gives him vitality.
- Music can convey thoughts to people that cannot be expressed in words.
- Unfortunately, art can push a person to spiritual degradation
Arguments
L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace". Nikolai Rostov, who lost a huge amount of money for his family at cards, is in a dejected, depressed state. He doesn’t know what to do, how to confess everything to his parents. Already at home he hears the beautiful singing of Natasha Rostova. The emotions evoked by the music and singing of the sister overwhelm the hero’s soul. Nikolai Rostov realizes that there is nothing more important in life than all this. The power of art helps him overcome his fear and confess everything to his father.
L.N. Tolstoy "Albert". In the work we learn the story of a poor violinist with outstanding talent. Once at the ball, the young man begins to play. With his music he touches the hearts of people so much that he immediately ceases to seem poor and ugly to them. It’s as if listeners are reliving the best moments of their lives, returning to what was lost irretrievably. Music influences Delesov so much that tears begin to flow down the man’s cheeks: thanks to music, he is transported to his youth, remembering his first kiss.
K.G. Paustovsky "The Old Cook". Before his death, the blind old cook asks his daughter Maria to go outside and call any person to confess to the dying man. Maria does this: she sees a stranger on the street and conveys her father’s request. The old cook confesses to the young man that he has committed only one sin in his life: he stole a golden saucer from Countess Thun's service to help his sick wife Martha. The dying man's desire was simple: to see his wife again as she was in her youth. The stranger begins to play the harpsichord. The power of music has such a strong influence on the old man that he sees moments from the past as if in reality. The young man who gave him these minutes turns out to be Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a great musician.
K.G. Paustovsky “Basket with fir cones.” In the forests of Bergen, the great composer Edvard Grieg meets Dagny Pedersen, the daughter of a local forester. Communication with the girl prompts the composer to write music for Dagny. Knowing that a child cannot appreciate all the charm of classical works, Edvard Grieg promises to make a gift for Dagny in ten years, when she turns eighteen. The composer is true to his word: ten years later, Dagny Pedersen unexpectedly hears a piece of music dedicated to her. The music evokes a storm of emotions: she sees her forest, hears the sound of the sea, the shepherd's horn, the whistling of birds. Dagny cries tears of gratitude. Edvard Grieg discovered for her the beautiful things that a person should really live with.
N.V. Gogol "Portrait". The young artist Chartkov, quite by accident, purchases a mysterious portrait with his last money. The main feature of this portrait is the incredibly expressive eyes that seem alive. The unusual picture haunts everyone who sees it: everyone thinks that eyes are watching him. Later it turns out that the portrait was painted by a very talented artist at the request of a moneylender, whose life story is striking in its mystery. He made every effort to convey these eyes, but then he realized that these were the eyes of the devil himself.
O. Wilde “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” The portrait of the handsome young Dorian Gray painted by Basil Hallward is the artist's best work. The young man himself is delighted with his beauty. Lord Henry Wotton tells him that it won't last forever because all people age. In his feelings, the young man wishes that this very portrait would grow old instead of him. Later it becomes clear that the wish comes true: any act committed by Dorian Gray is reflected in his portrait, and he himself remains the same. The young man begins to commit inhumane, immoral acts, and this does not affect him in any way. Dorian Gray does not change at all: by the age of forty he looks the same as in his youth. We see that a magnificent picture, instead of a beneficial influence, destroys the personality.
A.T. Tvardovsky "Vasily Terkin". Music can warm a person's soul even in difficult times of war. Vasily Terkin, the hero of the work, plays the slain commander on the accordion. Music makes people feel warmer, they follow the music like they walk into fire, and start dancing. This allows them to forget about adversity, difficulties, and misfortunes at least for some time. The comrades of the killed commander give the accordion to Terkin so that he can continue to amuse his infantry.
V. Korolenko “The Blind Musician.” For the hero of the work, musician Petrus, music became the true meaning of life. Blind from birth, he was very sensitive to sounds. When Petrus was a child, he was attracted by the melody of the pipe. The boy began to be drawn to music and later became a pianist. He soon became famous, and much was said about his talent.
A.P. Chekhov "Rothschild's Violin". People tried to avoid Yakov Matveevich, a gloomy and rude man. But the accidentally found melody touched his soul: Yakov Matveevich for the first time felt ashamed for offending people. The hero finally realized that without anger and hatred, the world around him would be simply beautiful.
Every person realizes that medicine and education have a powerful impact on us. We are directly dependent on these areas of life. But few would admit that art has an equally important influence. Nevertheless, it is so. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of art in our lives.
What is art?
There are many definitions in various dictionaries. Somewhere they write that art is an image (or the process of creating it) that expresses the artist’s view of the world. Sometimes a person cannot express in words what he can draw.
In another interpretation, this is the process of creativity, creating something. Realization of the need to make the world a little more beautiful.
Art is also a way of understanding the world. For example, for a child who, by drawing or singing songs, remembers new words.
On the other hand, it is a social process of human interaction with society and with himself. This concept is so ambiguous that it is impossible to say in which part of our life it is present and in which it is not. Let's consider the arguments: the influence of art on a person is noticeable in the spiritual sphere of our lives. After all, it is under its influence that what we call morality and education is formed.
Types of art and its influence on human life
What's the first thing that comes to mind? Painting? Music? Ballet? All this is art, like photography, circus, decorative arts, sculpture, architecture, pop and theater. The list can still be expanded. With each decade, genres develop and new ones are added, as humanity does not stand still.
Here is one of the arguments: the influence of art on a person’s life is expressed in the love of fairy tales. One of the most influential forms is literature. Reading surrounds us since childhood. When we are very little, mother reads fairy tales to us. Girls and boys are taught the rules of behavior and type of thinking using the example of fairy-tale heroines and heroes. In fairy tales we learn what is good and what is bad. At the end of such works there is a moral that teaches us what to do.
At school and university, we read obligatory works of classical authors, which contain more complex thoughts. Here the characters make us think and ask ourselves questions. Each direction in art pursues its own goals, they are very diverse.
Functions of art: additional arguments
The influence of art on a person is vast, it has various functions and purposes. One of the main goals is educational.The same moral at the end of the fairy tale. The aesthetic function is obvious: works of art are beautiful and develop taste. Close to this is the hedonic function - to bring pleasure. Some literary works often have a predictive function, remember the Strugatsky brothers and their science fiction novels. Another very important function is compensatory. From the word “compensation”, when artistic reality replaces the main one for us. Here we are often talking about mental trauma or life difficulties. When we turn on our favorite music to forget ourselves, or go to the cinema to escape from unpleasant thoughts.
Or another argument - the influence of art on a person through music. Hearing a song that is symbolic for oneself, someone may decide to take an important action. If we move away from the academic meaning, the influence of art on a person’s life is very great. It gives inspiration. When a man saw a beautiful painting at an exhibition, he came home and started painting.
Let's consider another argument: the influence of art on a person can be seen in how hand-made goods are actively developing. People are not only imbued with a sense of beauty, but are also ready to create masterpieces with their own hands. Various areas of body art and tattoos - the desire to create a work of art on your skin.
Art around us
Has anyone ever thought, when decorating their apartment and thinking through the design, that at the moment you can notice the influence of art on you? Making furniture or accessories is part of arts and crafts. Selection of colors, harmonious shapes and ergonomics of space - this is exactly what designers study. Or another example: when you were choosing a dress in a store, you gave preference to the one that was correctly cut and thought out by the fashion designer. At the same time, fashion houses are not modest, trying to influence your choice with bright advertising videos.Video is also part of art. That is, while watching advertising, we are also under its influence. This is also an argument; the influence of true art on a person nevertheless reveals itself in higher spheres. Let's consider them too.
The influence of art on humans: arguments from literature
Literature influences us infinitely. Let us remember how in Leo Tolstoy’s brilliant work “War and Peace” Natasha Rostova sang for her brother and healed him of despair.
Another elegant example of how painting can save a life was described by O. Henry in the story “The Last Leaf.” The sick girl decided that she would die when the last ivy leaf fell outside her window. She did not wait for her last day, since the leaf was drawn for her on the wall by an artist.
Another example of the influence of art on a person (arguments from literature are very revealing) is the main character of Ray Bradbury’s work “Smile,” who saves the painting with Mona Lisa, believing in its great significance. Bradbury wrote a lot about the power of creativity, he argued that only by reading books can a person become educated.
The image of a child with a book in his hands haunts many artists, in particular there are several wonderful paintings with the same title “Boy with a Book.”
The Right Influence
Like any influence, art can also be negative and positive. Some modern works are depressing and do not convey much aestheticism. Not all films teach good things. We need to be especially careful about content that influences our children. The correct selection of things around us, music, movies and even clothes will provide us with a good mood and instill the right taste.
Every person realizes that medicine and education have a powerful impact on us. We are directly dependent on these areas of life. But few would admit that art has an equally important influence. Nevertheless, it is so. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of art in our lives.
What is art?
There are many definitions in various dictionaries. Somewhere they write that art is an image (or the process of creating it) that expresses the artist’s view of the world. Sometimes a person cannot express in words what he can draw.
In another interpretation, this is the process of creativity, creating something. Realization of the need to make the world a little more beautiful.
Art is also a way of understanding the world. For example, for a child who, by drawing or singing songs, remembers new words.
On the other hand, it is a social process of human interaction with society and with himself. This concept is so ambiguous that it is impossible to say in which part of our life it is present and in which it is not. Let's consider the arguments: the influence of art on a person is noticeable in the spiritual sphere of our lives. After all, it is under its influence that what we call morality and education is formed.
Types of art and its influence on human life
What's the first thing that comes to mind? Painting? Music? Ballet? All this is art, like photography, circus, decorative arts, sculpture, architecture, pop and theater. The list can still be expanded. With each decade, genres develop and new ones are added, as humanity does not stand still.
Here is one of the arguments: the influence of art on a person’s life is expressed in the love of fairy tales. One of the most influential forms is literature. Reading surrounds us since childhood. When we are very little, mother reads fairy tales to us. Girls and boys are taught the rules of behavior and type of thinking using the example of fairy-tale heroines and heroes. In fairy tales we learn what is good and what is bad. At the end of such works there is a moral that teaches us what to do.
At school and university, we read obligatory works of classical authors, which contain more complex thoughts. Here the characters make us think and ask ourselves questions. Each direction in art pursues its own goals, they are very diverse.
Functions of art: additional arguments
The influence of art on a person is vast, it has various functions and purposes. One of the main goals is educational. The same moral at the end of the fairy tale. The aesthetic function is obvious: works of art are beautiful and develop taste. Close to this is the hedonic function - to bring pleasure. Some literary works often have a predictive function, remember the Strugatsky brothers and their science fiction novels. Another very important function is compensatory. From the word “compensation”, when artistic reality replaces the main one for us. Here we are often talking about mental trauma or life difficulties. When we turn on our favorite music to forget ourselves, or go to the cinema to escape from unpleasant thoughts.
Or another argument - the influence of art on a person through music. Hearing a song that is symbolic for oneself, someone may decide to take an important action. If we move away from the academic meaning, the influence of art on a person’s life is very great. It gives inspiration. When a man saw a beautiful painting at an exhibition, he came home and started painting.
Let's consider another argument: the influence of art on a person can be seen in how hand-made goods are actively developing. People are not only imbued with a sense of beauty, but are also ready to create masterpieces with their own hands. Various areas of body art and tattoos - the desire to create a work of art on your skin.
Art around us
Has anyone ever thought, when decorating their apartment and thinking through the design, that at the moment you can notice the influence of art on you? Making furniture or accessories is part of arts and crafts. Selection of colors, harmonious shapes and ergonomics of space - this is exactly what designers study. Or another example: when you were choosing a dress in a store, you gave preference to the one that was correctly cut and thought out by the fashion designer. At the same time, fashion houses are not modest, trying to influence your choice with bright advertising videos. Video is also part of art. That is, while watching advertising, we are also under its influence. This is also an argument; the influence of true art on a person nevertheless reveals itself in higher spheres. Let's consider them too.
The influence of art on humans: arguments from literature
Literature influences us infinitely. Let us remember how in Leo Tolstoy’s brilliant work “War and Peace” Natasha Rostova sang for her brother and healed him of despair.
Another elegant example of how painting can save a life was described by O. Henry in the story “The Last Leaf.” The sick girl decided that she would die when the last ivy leaf fell outside her window. She did not wait for her last day, since the leaf was drawn for her on the wall by an artist.
Another example of the influence of art on a person (arguments from literature are very revealing) is the main character of Ray Bradbury’s work “Smile,” who saves the painting with Mona Lisa, believing in its great significance. Bradbury wrote a lot about the power of creativity, he argued that only by reading books can a person become educated.
The image of a child with a book in his hands haunts many artists, in particular there are several wonderful paintings with the same title “Boy with a Book.”
The Right Influence
Like any influence, art can also be negative and positive. Some modern works are depressing and do not convey much aestheticism. Not all films teach good things. We need to be especially careful about content that influences our children. The correct selection of things around us, music, movies and even clothes will provide us with a good mood and instill the right taste.
According to A.P. Chekhov. During Holy Week, the Laptevs were at the art school at an art exhibition... The problem of perception of art
Source
(1) During Holy Week, the Laptevs were at the art school at an art exhibition.
(2) Laptev knew the names of all famous artists and did not miss a single exhibition. (3) Sometimes in the summer at the dacha he himself painted landscapes with paints, and it seemed to him that he had wonderful taste and that if he had studied, he would probably have turned out to be a good artist. (4) At home he had paintings of ever larger sizes, but bad ones; the good ones are hanged badly. (3) It happened to him more than once to pay dearly for things that later turned out to be crude fakes. (6) And it is remarkable that, timid in general in life, he was extremely bold and self-confident at art exhibitions. (7) Why?
(8) Yulia Sergeevna looked at the paintings, like her husband, through her fist or through binoculars and was surprised that the people in the paintings looked like they were alive, and the trees looked like real ones; but she didn’t understand, it seemed to her that there were many identical paintings at the exhibition and that the whole purpose of art was precisely so that in the paintings, when you look at them with your fist, people and objects stand out as if they were real.
(9) “This is Shishkin’s forest,” her husband explained to her. (10) - He always writes the same thing... (11) But pay attention: such purple snow never happens... (12) And this boy’s left arm is shorter than his right.
(13) When everyone was tired and Laptev went to find Kostya to go home, Yulia stopped in front of a small landscape and looked at him indifferently. (14) In the foreground is a river, behind it is a log bridge, on the other side is a path disappearing into the dark grass, a field, then on the right is a piece of forest, near it there is a fire: they must be guarding it at night. (15) And in the distance the evening dawn is burning out.
(1b) Julia imagined how she herself was walking along the bridge, then along the path, further and further, and all around was quiet, sleepy twitchers were screaming, a fire was blinking in the distance. (17) And for some reason it suddenly began to seem to her that she had seen these very clouds that stretched across the red part of the sky, and the forest, and the field many times a long time ago, she felt lonely, and she wanted to go and walk along the path ; and where the evening dawn was, rested the reflection of something unearthly, eternal.
(18) - How well it is written! - she said, surprised that the picture suddenly became clear to her. (19) - Look, Alyosha! (20)Do you notice how quiet it is here?
(21) She tried to explain why she liked this landscape so much, but neither her husband nor Kostya understood her. (22) She kept looking at the landscape with a sad smile, and the fact that others did not find anything special in it worried her. (23) Then she again began to walk through the halls and examine the paintings, she wanted to understand them, and it no longer seemed to her that there were many identical paintings at the exhibition. (24) When she, returning home, for the first time in all time drew attention to the large picture hanging in the hall above the piano, she felt enmity towards her and said:
(25) - I would love to have such pictures!
(26) And after that, golden cornices, Venetian mirrors with flowers and paintings like the one that hung above the piano, as well as the discussions of her husband and Kostya about art aroused in her a feeling of boredom, annoyance and sometimes even hatred.
(According to A.P. Chekhov)
Text information
Composition
Have you noticed that it happens that one picture leaves you indifferent, and in front of another you freeze in reverent silence, some melody sounds without hurting your feelings at all, while another makes you sad or happy. Why is this happening? How does a person perceive art? Why do some people immerse themselves in the world created by the artist, while others remain deaf to the world of beauty? An excerpt from A.P. Chekhov’s story “Three Years” made me think about the problem of perceiving art.
A.P. Chekhov talks about how the Laptev family visits an art exhibition. The head knows the names of all famous artists, does not miss a single exhibition, and sometimes paints landscapes himself. His wife at the beginning of the passage “looked at the paintings like her husband,” it seemed to her that the purpose of art was to “make people and objects stand out as if they were real.” The husband notices only negative things in the paintings: either “such purple snow never happens,” or the boy’s left arm is shorter than his right. And only once did Yulia Sergeevna discover the true essence of art. In front of her was an ordinary landscape with a river, a log bridge, a path, a forest and a fire, but suddenly she saw that “where the evening dawn lay, a reflection of something unearthly, eternal.” For a minute, the true purpose of art was revealed to her: to awaken special feelings, thoughts, and experiences in us.
A.P. Chekhov is one of those writers who does not give us ready-made solutions, he forces us to look for them. So, reflecting on the passage, I understood, it seems to me, his position on the problem of the purpose of art, its perception. Art can tell a sensitive person a lot, makes him think about the most mysterious and intimate, awakens the best feelings in him.
I agree with this interpretation of the impact of art on a person. Unfortunately, I have not yet had the opportunity to visit large museums or classical music concerts, so I will allow myself to refer to the opinion of writers, because there are many works in which the authors try to unravel the mystery of human perception of art.
One of the chapters of D. S. Likhachev’s book “Letters about the Good and the Beautiful” is titled “Understanding Art.” In it, the author talks about the great role of art in human life, that art is “amazing magic.” In his opinion, art plays a great role in the life of all humanity. Likhachev argues that we must learn to understand art. Awarded with the gift of understanding art, a person becomes morally better, and therefore happier, because rewarded through art with the gift of a good understanding of the world, the people around him, the past and the distant, a person is easier to make friends with other people, with other cultures, with other nationalities, he life is easier.
A. I. Kuprin writes in “The Garnet Bracelet” about how art can influence the human soul. Princess Vera Sheina, returning after saying goodbye to Zheltkov, who committed suicide, so as not to disturb the one he loved so much, asks her pianist friend to play something for her, having no doubt that she will hear Beethoven’s
a piece that Zheltkov bequeathed to her to listen to. She listens to music and feels that her soul is rejoicing. She thought that a great love had passed her by, which is repeated only once in a thousand years, words were composed in her mind, and they coincided in her thoughts with music. “Hallowed be thy name,” the music seemed to say to her. The amazing melody seemed to obey her grief, but it also consoled her, just as Zheltkov would console her.
Yes, great is the power of real art, the power of its impact. It can influence a person’s soul, ennobles it, elevates thoughts.
More arguments.
A short story by V. P. Astafiev, “A Far and Near Fairy Tale,” tells how music is born and what impact it can have on a person. As a little boy, the narrator heard a violin. The violinist played Oginsky’s composition, and this music shocked the young listener. The violinist told him how the melody was born. The composer Oginsky wrote it, saying goodbye to his homeland, managed to convey his sadness in sounds, and now it awakens the best feelings in people. The composer himself is no longer there, the violinist, who gave the listener wonderful moments of comprehending beauty, died, the boy grew up... One day at the front he heard the sounds of an organ. The same music sounded, the same Oginsky polonaise, but in childhood it evoked tears, shock, and now the melody sounded like an ancient battle cry, calling somewhere, forcing someone to do something, so that the fires of war would go out, so that people would not huddle close to the burning ruins , so that they go into their home, under the roof, to their relatives and loved ones, so that the sky, our eternal sky, does not throw up explosions and burn with hellish fire.
K. G. Paustovsky tells in the story “Basket with Fir Cones” about the composer Grieg and his chance meeting with the little girl Dagny. The sweet little girl surprised Grieg with her spontaneity. “I will give you one thing,” the composer promises the girl, “but it will be in ten years.” Ten years passed, Dagny grew up and one day at a symphonic music concert she heard her name. The great composer kept his word: he dedicated a musical play to the girl, which became famous. After the concert, Dagny, shocked by the music, exclaims: “Listen, life, I love you.” And here are the last words of the story: “...her life will not be in vain.”
6. Gogol “Portrait”. The artist Chartkov in his youth had quite a talent, but he wanted to get everything from life at once. One day he comes across a portrait of an old man with surprisingly lively and scary eyes. He has a dream in which he finds 1000 ducats. The next day this dream comes true. But the money did not bring happiness to the artist: he bought a name for himself by bribing the publisher, began to paint portraits of the powerful, but he had nothing left of the spark of talent. Another artist, his friend, gave everything to art, he is constantly learning. He lives in Italy for a long time, spending hours standing by the paintings of great artists, trying to comprehend the secret of creativity. The painting of this artist, seen by Chartkov at the exhibition, is beautiful, it shocked Chartkov. He tries to paint real pictures, but his talent is wasted. Now he buys up masterpieces of painting and, in a fit of madness, destroys them. And only death stops this destructive madness.
According to I. Bunin. Based on the story Book. Lying on the threshing floor in the sweeper, I read for a long time... About the purpose of art
(1) Lying on the threshing floor in a sieve, I read for a long time - and suddenly I was outraged. (2) I’ve been reading again since early morning, again with a book in my hands! (3) And so day after day, since childhood! (4) He lived half his life in some kind of non-existent world, among people who never existed, made up, worried about their destinies, their joys and sorrows, as if he were his own, until the grave connecting himself with Abraham and Isaac, with the Pelasgians and Etruscans, with Socrates and Julius Caesar, Hamlet and Dante, Gretchen and Chatsky, Sobakevich and Ophelia, Pechorin and Natasha Rostova! (5) And how can I now sort out among the real and fictitious companions of my earthly existence? (6) How to separate them, how to determine the extent of their influence on me?
(7) I read, lived with other people’s inventions, but the field, the estate, the village, men, horses, flies, bumblebees, birds, clouds - everything lived its own, real life. (8) And so I suddenly felt this and woke up from my book obsession, threw the book into the straw and with surprise and joy, with some new eyes, I look around, I acutely see, hear, smell, - most importantly, I feel something unusually simple and at the same time unusually complex, that deep, wonderful, inexpressible thing that exists in life and in myself and which is never properly written about in books.
(9) While I was reading, changes were secretly taking place in nature. (10) It was sunny and festive; now everything is dark and quiet. (11) Little by little, clouds and clouds gathered in the sky, in some places, especially to the south, still bright and beautiful, but to the west, behind the village, behind its vines, rainy, bluish, boring. (12) Warm, soft smell of distant field rain. (13) One oriole is singing in the garden.
(14) A man is returning from the graveyard along the dry purple road that runs between the threshing floor and the garden. (15) On his shoulder is a white iron shovel with blue black soil stuck to it. (16) The face is younger, clear. (17) The hat is pushed off the sweaty forehead.
(18) - I planted a jasmine bush on my girl! - he says cheerfully. - Good health. (19) Do you read everything, make up all the books?
(20) He is happy. (21) What? (22) Only because he lives in the world, that is, he does something most incomprehensible in the world.
(23) An oriole is singing in the garden. (24) Everything else became quiet, silent, you couldn’t even hear the roosters. (25) She sings alone, slowly making playful trills. (26) Why, for whom? (27) Is the garden, the estate for oneself, for the life that has lived for a hundred years? (28) Or maybe this estate lives for her flute singing?
(29) “I planted a jasmine bush on my girl.” (30) Does the girl know about this? (31) The man thinks he knows, and maybe he’s right. (32) By evening the man will forget about this bush - for whom will it bloom? (33) But it will bloom, and it will seem that it is not for nothing, but for someone and for something.
(34) “You read everything, you invent all the books.” (35) Why invent? (36) Why heroines and heroes? (37) Why a novel, a story, with a beginning and an ending? (38) The eternal fear of seeming not bookish enough, not similar enough to those who are famous! (39) And eternal torment is to remain silent forever, not to speak precisely about what is truly yours and the only real thing, which requires the most legitimate expression, that is, trace, embodiment and preservation, at least in words!
Composition
What an amazing story by A.P. Chekhov! As always with this writer, you don’t immediately understand what he wanted to say with his work, what questions he invites you to think about.
Summer day. The lyrical hero reads a book, which he suddenly throws away indignantly: “I lived half my life in some non-existent world, among people who never existed, made up, worried about their destinies, their joys and sorrows, as if it were my own...” It seems to him that he has woken up from the book obsession and looks with new eyes at “the deep, wonderful, inexpressible things that exist in life.” There is wonderful nature all around, an ever-changing landscape. A new face appears: a man with a clear, rejuvenated face. “I planted a jasmine bush on my girl,” he says. We understand that he planted this bush on his daughter’s grave. So why be happy? We are perplexed along with the hero. And then an understanding comes: the girl will not know about this bush, but it will bloom “not without reason, but for someone and for something.” And again a return to previous thoughts: why write novels and stories? And this is where the insight comes: the problem that worries both Chekhov’s hero and the writer himself is the problem of the purpose of art. Why does a person need to express himself in books, in poetry, in music, in a painting? This is how I would formulate the question arising from the thoughts of the lyrical hero.
And the answer to it is in the last sentence of the text: “And eternal torment is to remain silent forever, not to speak about what is truly yours and the only real thing, which requires the most legitimate expression, that is, trace, embodiment and preservation, at least in a word! » The author’s position, if expressed in other words, is this: the purpose of creativity, the purpose of art is to tell people what worries you, to express the feelings that you experience, to leave a “trace of embodiment” on earth.
The question of the purpose of art worried many writers. Let's remember
A. S. Pushkin. In the poem “Prophet”, “God’s voice” appealed to the poet:
“Rise up, prophet, and see and listen,
Be fulfilled by my will,
And, bypassing the seas and lands,
Burn the hearts of people with the verb.”
“To burn the hearts of people with a verb” means to awaken in them a thirst for a better life, for struggle. And in the poem “I erected a monument to myself not made by hands...”, written shortly before his death, the poet asserts the greatness of a poetic monument in comparison with other ways to perpetuate merit.
A person to whom God has given the talent to say something of his own to people cannot remain silent. His soul demands to leave a mark on the earth, to embody and preserve his “I” in words, in sound, in paintings, in sculpture...