D reskin. John Ruskin Selected Thoughts of John Ruskin

Study of Leaves by John Ruskin

Preface

"John Ruskin is one of the the most wonderful people not only in England and our time, but in all countries and times. He's one of those rare people who thinks with his heart, and therefore thinks and says what he himself sees and feels and what everyone will think and say in the future.” This is what he wrote about the English art historian, philosopher, public figure John Ruskin Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy. The famous Yasnaya Polyana resident found in Ruskin’s works much that was consonant with his own views and in fact became one of his popularizers in Russia.

The personality of this English critic aroused admiration not only among the Russian count, but also among many of his contemporaries and thinkers of future generations. The lectures that Ruskin gave at Oxford attracted so many listeners that there was not enough room for everyone even in the largest university auditorium. Among his later admirers were Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde, and Mahatma Gandhi. Ruskin's activities find parallels in the articles of Vladimir Stasov and Bernard Shaw.

Ruskin is known primarily as a critic and art historian, but he was also professionally interested in geology, paid great attention to architecture, and dealt with issues of economic, political and social structure society, drew beautifully and left a large graphic heritage, primarily architectural sketches. This diversity of interests makes Ruskin similar to the figures of the Renaissance and early modern times, despite the fact that he most criticized and even rejected this period in the history of art, preferring the Middle Ages.

Ruskin inherited his love for art and nature from his father, the successful wine merchant John James Ruskin, into whose family the future great critic was born in 1819. Ruskin Sr. passed on to his son not only his hobbies, but also a pious attitude towards the Bible and a love of serious literature (Homer, Shakespeare, and Walter Scott were revered in their house). And with them - a huge fortune, which provided the young Ruskin with an excellent education at Oxford and a comfortable life. Ruskin would later write: “The father’s task is to develop the child’s mind, and the mother’s task is to cultivate his will... Moral education is to promote the development of the faculties of delight, hope, love.” He received all this in full in his home.

Ruskin began writing early - already at the age of twenty he published his first publications on architecture. It was then that he met and became interested in the work of William Turner and wrote an entire brochure in defense of the painter, who at that time was subject to considerable criticism. His admiration for Turner was so great that today Ruskin is called nothing less than the pioneer of this artist to the general public. Turner was almost seventy by then and was a corresponding member and professor of the Royal Academy. However, it was the support of the young Ruskin that allowed the artist to withstand the pressure of Victorian attitudes in painting and art.

More higher value his publications were for a group of Pre-Raphaelite artists. Ruskin actually formulated into a coherent theory the disparate views of young and courageous painters, led by William Holman Hunt, John Evert Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Critical works Ruskin and a number of his publications for The Times helped artists strengthen their positions, and the critic himself was declared a theoretician of the Pre-Raphaelites, their mentor and friend. The result of his research in the field of art was not only individual articles and lectures, but also a five-volume treatise “ Contemporary artists».

Ruskin's artistic criticism is always a criticism of taste, his publications and lectures are an attempt to improve and educate this taste. “Taste is not only a part or index of morality,” wrote Ruskin, “but it contains all morality. Tell me what you love and I will tell you what kind of person you are.” Subtle esthete Ruskin, in a direct conversation with the public, raised not only and not so much professional issues, but rather appealed to human sensitivity, everyday impartiality, and advocated for art that can make the world a better place, art created in the name of benefit, goodness, and justice. Sometimes his speeches sound too didactic and categorical, but Ruskin is a man of his - Victorian - time, brought up on strict Protestant morality and accustomed to making high demands on himself and those around him.

Later, Ruskin's interests moved from the field of art criticism to the field social knowledge. Like any great thinker, he could not ignore the injustice and imperfection of the structure of his contemporary society. Today he is often called the founder of English socialism. In his publications, Ruskin called for various reforms, including in the field of education, as well as for a change in the patriarchal role of women, which would allow her to realize herself in the public sphere instead of the unchanged position of a housewife. But most importantly, Ruskin criticized technical progress, which, according to the thinker, was ruining his beloved nature, destroying monuments of art and detrimentally influencing human souls. His ideas sometimes caused ridicule, and the Oxford professor himself often looked like an eccentric. For example, he ordered shirts only from hand-woven linen, or insisted that his books be printed on a hand press and in no case transported by rail.

Ruskin sought to revive manual labor and handicrafts, believing that machine production depersonalized both labor and man himself. His main ideas are set out in the work "The Political Economy of Art", written on the basis of lectures that Ruskin gave in Manchester in 1857, as well as in the book "To the last, as to the first." He also published a special popular publication, the main audience of which were English workers and artisans. “No one can teach anything worth knowing except by the work of his hands,” wrote Ruskin. He even founded the Guild of St. George, a community whose main goal was a return to the land and manual labor. Like any utopian formation, the Guild did not last long, but influenced further emergence similar communities. At the same time, Ruskin’s paradoxical utopianism consisted in the fact that he did not write actual literary utopias, remaining in the field of criticism of art, architecture, and social order. IN in a certain sense Ruskin acted as an ideological radical of his time; many of his works were called courageous by his contemporaries, without a hint of coquetry.

In total for your long life(he lived eighty-one years) John Ruskin wrote several dozen works and hundreds of lectures - about thirty volumes in total. However, in Russia only a few are known most of his heritage. The first translations appeared at the end of Ruskin's life (he died in 1900). The works “Education. Book. Woman" (with a preface by Tolstoy), "Olive Wreath", "To the last as to the first", " Eagle Nest", the first volume of the treatise "Modern Artists".

At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries in Russia, some of Ruskin’s works were republished, others were translated for the first time. However, this is still only favorite pages of his works, primarily those works that are related to art (largely thanks to the increased last years interest in the activities of Pre-Raphaelite artists). A century later, the Lectures on Art given by Ruskin to Oxford students were republished. These lectures will not give today's reader a clear idea of artistic life England, they have neither a system nor a structured scientific base. However, in them the critic teaches his listeners to gain knowledge and skills through their own labor, teaches them to deeply perceive art, because for Professor Ruskin, experiencing a work is much more important than correctly describing it.

Poet and literary critic. John Ruskin is a many-sided man. His works influenced further development art history second half of the 19th century centuries.

John Ruskin was born on February 8, 1819 in London. John grew up and was raised within the framework of evangelical piety. John's father loved and often traveled with his family to many countries (France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland). Ruskin studied drawing; his teachers were English artists K. Fielding and J. D. Harding. John Ruskin mostly depicted architectural objects and greatly admired Gothic architecture, which he also painted.

In 1836, John Ruskin entered Christ Church College at the University of Oxford. Studied geology with W. Buckland. When John turned 21, his father provided him with a generous allowance. So the two of them could collect paintings painted by J. Turner (1775-1851). John Ruskin was awarded the Newdigate Prize for writing best poem on English language(1839), but in the spring of the following year his studies at the university had to be interrupted due to illness: doctors recognized the symptoms of tuberculosis.

Ruskin still wrote a lot, adding to the essay in which he defended Turner, written by him at the age of seventeen. The result was a five-volume collection - “Modern Artists” (the first volume was printed in 1843).

Closely studying the foundations of Gothic architecture, in 1849 John Ruskin published his essay “The Seven Lamps of Architecture”. More than one generation has resorted to his ideas of “architectural honesty” and the emergence of ornamentation from ordinary natural forms.

Over time, John Ruskin began to look at Venetian architecture. Together with his wife, he even went to Venice, where he collected material for the book. In “The Stones of Venice” I intended to reveal more of the ideas presented in “The Seven Lamps”. The book was published in the midst of a peculiar battle of styles and became an integral part in the program of supporters of the Gothic revival (headed by W. Morris).

In 1869, John Ruskin was given the title of first honorary professor of art at Oxford University. The writer worked a lot at Oxford and was able to prepare an amazing collection of works of art for students. In 1878 he was overcome by severe mental illness, however, he was able to write the last and most interesting book— autobiography “The Past” (1885-1889). The writer died in Bruntwood on January 20, 1900.

Formations in the landscape of the countries visited.

Among his works, the most famous are “Lectures of Art”, “ Fiction: beautiful and ugly" (eng. Fiction: Fair and Foul), "English art" (eng. The Art of England), "Modern Painters" (eng. Modern Painters, -), as well as "The Nature of the Gothic" (eng. The Nature of Gothic,), a famous chapter from The Stones of Venice, later published by William Morris as a separate book. In total, Ruskin wrote fifty books, seven hundred articles and lectures.

Ruskin - art theorist

Ruskin did a lot to strengthen the position of the Pre-Raphaelites, for example, in the article “Pre-Raphaelitism”, and also greatly influenced the anti-bourgeois pathos of the movement. In addition, he “discovered” for his contemporaries William Turner, painter and graphic artist, master landscape painting. In his book Modern Artists, Ruskin defends Turner from the attacks of critics and calls him “a great artist, whose talent I was able to appreciate during my lifetime.”

Ruskin also proclaimed the principle of “fidelity to Nature”: “Is it not because we love our creations more than His, that we value colored glass rather than bright clouds... And, making fonts and erecting columns in honor of Him... we imagine that We will be forgiven for our shameful neglect of the hills and streams with which He has endowed our abode - the earth." As an ideal, he put forward medieval art, such masters of the Early Renaissance as Perugino, Fra Angelico, Giovanni Bellini.

The rejection of mechanization and standardization was reflected in Ruskin's theory of architecture, an emphasis on the significance of the medieval Gothic style. Ruskin praised the Gothic style for its attachment to nature and natural forms, as well as for the desire to make the worker happy, which he, like the Gothic Revivalists led by William Morris, saw in the Gothic aesthetic. The nineteenth century tries to reproduce some Gothic forms (pointed arches, etc.), which is not enough to express true Gothic feeling, faith and organicism. The Gothic style embodies the same moral values that Ruskin sees in art - the values of strength, firmness and inspiration.

Classical architecture as opposed to gothic architecture expresses moral vacuity, regressive standardization. Ruskin associates classical values with modern development, in particular with the demoralizing effects of the Industrial Revolution, reflected in such architectural phenomena as the Crystal Palace. Many of Ruskin’s works are devoted to architectural issues, but he most expressively reflected his ideas in the essay “The Nature of Gothic” from the second volume of “The Stones of Venice” ( The Stones of Venice) 1853, published at the height of the “Battle of Styles” raging in London. Besides the apology gothic style, he criticized the division of labor and the unregulated market advocated by the English school of political economics.

Views on society

While teaching drawing at the Workers' College in London, John Ruskin came under the influence of Thomas Carlyle. At this time, he began to be more interested in the ideas of transforming society as a whole, and not just in the theory of art. In the book “To the Last as to the First” (Unto This Last, 1860), which marked the formalization of Ruskin’s political and economic views, he criticizes capitalism from the standpoint of Christian socialism, demanding reforms in education, universal employment and social assistance disabled and elderly people. In 1908, this work of Ruskin was translated into Gujarati by the Indian politician Mohandas Gandhi called Sarvodaya.

In 1869 he was elected the first honorary professor of art at Oxford University, for whose students he collected a collection of works of art in originals and reproductions. Ruskin also gained great popularity among artisans and the working class - especially in light of the founding of the monthly publication Fors Clavigera (Letters to the Workers and Toilers of Great Britain) published from 1871 to 1886. Together with William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites, he sought to reveal to the workers of industrial areas the beauty of craft production and overcome the dehumanizing effects of mechanized labor with the help of art-industrial workshops, where only creative manual labor would be used. Ruskin himself headed the first such workshop, called the Guild of St. George.

Personal crisis

In 1848 Ruskin married Effie Gray. The marriage was unsuccessful, the couple separated and received a divorce in 1854, and in 1855 Effie married an artist

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Books

English with John Ruskin. King of the Golden River / John Ruskin. The King of the Golden River, John Ruskin. Popular fairy tale John Ruskin is adapted in this edition (without simplifying the original text) according to the method of Ilya Frank. The uniqueness of the method lies in the fact that memorizing words and expressions...

I've been wanting to tell you for a long time interesting story oh...about a love triangle...Well, about a very strange triangle)

D. E. Milles. Portrait of Effie Gray

There was such a famous figure victorian era John Ruskin (eng. John Ruskin; 1819 - 1900) - English writer, artist, art theorist, literary critic and poet, who had a great influence on the development of art criticism and aesthetics in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries.

Ethymia (Effie) Gray was born on May 7, 1828 in Perth in the house that her father bought from his father John Ruskin. The seven of them maintained a good relationship, so Ruskin could watch Effie grow up and blossom. There was a 9 year difference between them.
There was also mutual sympathy. For Effie John Ruskin wrote fantasy novel"King of the Golden River" The connection between them was encouraged by Effia’s father, and the girl seemed suitable to Ruskin’s parents future wife for son.

J. E. Milles. Portrait of Effie Gray

John Ruskin courted Euthymia Gray for two years. The matter ended with a wedding. She was nineteen, he was twenty-nine. On the marriage bed, John carefully pulled the dress off the shoulders of his beautiful wife and discovered, to his horror and shock, pubic hair.
John was outraged, deciding that his beloved’s body “was not created for the enjoyment of passion.” He hugged his wife, turned on the other side and fell asleep. Effie felt rejected.
Behind the first wedding night A six-year period of chastity followed, during which John skillfully invented more and more new reasons for his refusal to fulfill his marital duty. For example, he said that he hated children and did not want the additional burden of a pregnant or nursing Effie. The shock of Effie's body was Ruskin's first evidence that he was completely unsuited for carnal relationships. His strange childhood, deprived of toys and communication with peers, prevented him from preparing for reality adult life. The Ruskins developed a certain style of behavior that outwardly suited both of them, although Effie never gave up the dream of having children (after her marriage, Effie’s mother became pregnant with her thirteenth child). Ruskin's wife soon gained a reputation as a charming, intelligent and witty guest. She took care to maintain her chastity, not giving rise to accusations of adultery.
She admired her husband: “I could never love anyone else in this world except John.” But Ruskin finally began to openly admit that their marriage was a mistake. He stated that he would never fulfill his marital duty, that “it would be sinful to enter into such a relationship, and if children appear, the responsibility is too great, because I am completely unsuited to raise them.”

At that time, John Ruskin, who had already become a man capable of dictating artistic taste to the public, took the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood under his protection. He was especially fond of John Everett Millais, whom he considered the most gifted of them. He introduced Millais to his wife, and he persuaded her to pose for the picture. "Order for Release".

The painting depicts the wife of a Scottish soldier arrested after the Jacobite uprising of 1745. She holds the child in her arms and hands the guard the order to release her husband as he clings to her.
Apparently, Milles began to fall in love with Effie already while working on the picture. And then Ruskin invited young artist to accompany their family on a trip to Scotland.
Then Milles wrote famous portrait Ruskin, who begins to understand that feelings have arisen between his wife and his ward.

The triangle could have remained a triangle, but.....
In 1854, Effie finally made up her mind and told her friend Lady Eastlake, the wife of Sir Charles Eastlake, President of the Royal Academy, about her situation. “Tell your parents,” she advised, “there are articles in the law that will help in your situation.” The Grays and their daughter hired lawyers and invited two doctors to examine Effie. Both declared that she was a virgin (one was literally dumbfounded by this).
London society was up in arms against John, since marriage without sex was considered as unheard of as sex before marriage.
The court eventually annulled the marriage on the grounds that "John Ruskin was incapable of performing his marital duties due to incurable impotence."

J. E. Milles. Self-portrait
A year later, Effie married the artist John Everett Millais. The poor thing had to go through an unusual wedding night for the second time, as Milles burst into tears and admitted that, like John, he knew nothing about women and sex. Effie consoled and encouraged him. And two months later she was pregnant with the first of her eight children.

Milles subsequently became the highest paid artist in history English art. In 1885 he received the title of baron, and a month before his death he became president of the Royal Academy.

J. E. Milles. Portrait of Effie Gray Millais

Sophie Gray 1857
This painting shows younger sister Effie-Sophia, who was 12 years old at the time of painting..

Millais died in 1896 and was buried in St Paul's Cathedral. A great honor for the artist who once shocked audiences with his early works.
Effie briefly outlived her husband and died in 1897. She was buried in the churchyard in Kinwall.
By the way, it was this cemetery that Milles once depicted in his painting "Rest Valley"

After his divorce from Effie, Ruskin returned to his parents. He remained chaste, but fell in love with little girls “at the first glimmer of their dawn,” losing interest in them as soon as they entered puberty.

However, with the nymphet Rosa Latush everything turned out differently. John set out to marry her, despite the several decades difference.

Rose's mother became concerned, turned to Effie, and she revealed to her all the intimate details of her life with John - or rather, the complete absence of them. Rose's parents refused Ruskin.
Three years later, Rosa died of unknown causes. The story of this love is mentioned more than once in Nabokov’s “Lolita”; the film “The Passion of John Ruskin” was made about it.
In the 1870s, Ruskin's attacks of mental illness became more frequent due to this; in 1885 he retired to his estate, which he did not leave until his death.
John died a virgin.