Artistic gymnastics painting by Dmitry Zhilinsky Gymnasts of the USSR Russian Museum Larisa Latynina Boris Shakhlin Olympics-1964 in Tokyo – May 3, 2022
Champions are included not only in the history of international sports, but also in the arts. One of the most famous works dedicated to athletes was written in 1965. It depicts not football players or hockey players at all, but the USSR gymnastic team, which showed everyone their class at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The painter of the second half of the 20th century undertook to portray athletes Dmitry Zhilinsky. He began to paint the picture “Gymnasts of the USSR” in the 64th, when the team was preparing for the Olympics, and ended a year later. Right now the work is in the Russian Museum of St. Petersburg.
Zhilinsky discovered the creation of a new technique based on a mixture of European, Byzantine and Old Russian art. For the English time before writing “Gymnasts of the USSR” a friend gave him a tempera. Tempera is a special paint consisting of a pigment and a binder: egg yolk or a synthetic emulsion. This was used by icon painters and artists many centuries ago before the advent of oil paints.
Zhilinsky began to paint in tempera on gesso (a base of chalk mixed with glue) in order to succeed in a painting of pure colors. “Gymnasts became the USSR” is one of the first works in this technique. At first, the picture was not considered a painting. The canvas on a sports theme was singled out in the department of his graphics, and only later moved to the painting section.
“And, therefore, I decided to write the purchase of“ Gymnasts ”. I came to where they train before leaving abroad, and then our gymnasts were engaged in the first places, they are everywhere, in the soil, athletic, everything, in the hall, the carpet is spread out, the girls are training there. And I saw a group, such a beautiful group.
At first I wanted to paint a portrait of one – he was the champion of Moscow – Kerdemelidi, a Greek by birth. So beautiful, developed, and I developed. But then I thought: what am I going to write one Kerdemelidi? They are all handsome. And I made this group, they are mostly covered in sports dress uniforms, there is a carpet at the back – there the girls are somersaulting, and I pursued these gymnasts in all competitions, drawing, drawing, drawing, drawing, – Zhilinsky recalled in an interview with the Oral History Foundation
The artist claimed that the painting was not commissioned to him. True, Dmitry did not hide the fact that when creating he took into account the love of the Soviet authorities for glorification, therefore, the initials of the country appear in the title of the works. The red carpet is also interpreted as the color of power in the USSR. And the color scheme of the picture (white, black and red) winds up the style of the 60s and the traditions of Russian icon painting. In general, everyone decides for himself what the details mean to him.
The most important thing is heroic paintings. The portrait depicts Soviet gymnasts. Despite the fact that there are many features, each individual, focused only on himself. This ultimately helps the tasks at hand.
In the center in the background you can see (from left to right):
- two-time Olympic champion, five-time world champion Tamara Manina;
- two-time Olympic champion, three-time world champion Sofia Muratova;
- three-time Olympic and two-time world champion Polina Astakhova.
On the right side of the figure on a half-seated nine-time Olympic champion, multiple world and European champion Larisa Latynina.
The men gathered around themselves coaches Sergey Litvinov (in red suit) and Valentin Muratov (in a blue suit), also no less titled:
- Sergei Diomidov – Olympic silver and bronze medalist, world champion;
- Victor Lissitzky – five-time Olympic silver medalist;
- Boris Shakhlin – seven-time Olympic champion, multiple world and European champion;
- Yuri Tsapenko – Silver and bronze medalist of the Olympic Games;
- Valery Kerdemelidi – winner of the Olympic Games, World and European Championships;
- Yuri Titov – Champion and multiple medalist of the Olympic Games, World and European Championships.
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