PALEKH PAINTING

Palekh painted lacquer boxes, popularly thought to be a traditional Russian folk art, were actually a product of the Soviet period. Palekh painting, a delicate and elegant miniature style, is done on the lids of lacquered, papier-mâché black boxes with crimson interiors. The subjects depict Russian fairy tales, legends, and folk heroes, and during the Soviet period also included scenes of rural life, industrialization, and Soviet leaders and heroes. Palekh boxes, originally created for Soviet citizens, developed a worldwide reputation after being sold at international arts and crafts fairs.

The term palekh comes from the most famous of the three villages (Kholui, Mstera, and Palekh) in which Palekh painting originated. Ivan Golikov, a Palekh icon painter, derived the inspiration for this style from lacquered boxes he saw at the Kustar Museum in 1921. Golikov and others applied egg tempera, rather than oil, to papier-mâché boxes and, employing techniques used in icon painting, created objects that resembled traditional folk art. The Artel of Early Painting, a craft collective for Palekh painters founded by Golikov and his colleagues, was established in Palekh in 1924 (artels also existed in Khuloi and Mstera). Palekh painting became an integral part of Soviet applied arts with the establishment of a four-year training program. Exhibitions dedicated to Palekh boxes were held throughout the 1930s. Academic articles on this medium, and artistic debates discussing the appropriate style and content of Palekh painting, continued from the 1930s to the 1960s. Since the 1970s, Palekh painted boxes and brooches have been viewed as the quintessential tourist souvenir from Russia.

See also: folklore

bibliography

Hilton, Alison. (1995). Russian Folk Art. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

K. Andrea Rusnock