The Russian School of Painting
manship, Bruni is far superior to the uneven and often insipid Bryullov; but, in his turn, Bruni is second to Bryullov in temperament. Herein lies the cause of the unpopularity of Bruni; his art completely satisfied the official demands and delighted the experts, but it was not given to it to impress the crowd,—a quality possessed by the works of Bryullov in an eminent degree.[1]
Bryullov's prestige was so great, that the number of his pupils was simply tremendous, yet there were no genuine artists among them. Tyranov (1808–1859), known by a charming, intimate picture, made the lovers of Bryullov's conventional manner very hopeful by his "Girl with a Tabourine," a worthy pendant to Moller's "Kiss." Kapkov (1816–1854) comes near to Bryullov in his portraits, but he remained a half-developed, lifeless artist. Petrovsky,—Rayev, a good
- ↑ The "Nazaritic" movement influenced also the art of von-Moller, who has been already treated, and of G. von Reutern (1794–1865). The latter was more of an amateur and produced a very limited number of paintings. His best works are sketches,—of extreme delicacy and executed in the spirit of the Dutch primitives,—and also portraits, characteristic and pedantically accurate. His painting, "Abraham's Sacrifice," in the Museum of Alexander III, is very popular among admirers of scrupulous accuracy in painting, but it is of small artistic interest. It must be admitted, however, that the angel on this picture would be a credit to any one of Dominichino's canvases.—It will be proper to mention here that the Nazaritic movement was first made known in Russia by two Germans, who settled in Petrograd in the twenties. These were the two bosom-friends, Hippius and Ignatius, both of them—tender, naïve romanticists without talent. (Author's note.)
88
