The return of Crimea to Russia in 2014 caused a storm of discontent in the reactionary circles of the major imperialist powers and their satellites. Even Western art critics responded to the Crimean theme that suddenly became urgent again - about the war of France, England and Turkey with Russia in 1854-56.
The first issue (Vol. 15, issue 1, 2016) of the Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide, a Journal of Nineteenth-Century Visual Culture, featured an article by the young English art historian Julia Thoma about the history of the project of creating a picturesque panorama dedicated to the "victories" of France in the Crimean War, in one of the halls of the Versailles Historical Gallery.
In the period from 1855 to 1861, eighteen French painters received 44 government orders for works that were to be captured on the canvases of the French heroes of the Crimean War. The paintings were supposed to be exhibited at the Salon as soon as they were ready, and later to gather together and place the best in one of the halls of the Versailles Gallery. This is how the theme of the book "THE CRIMEAN WAR IN THE MIRRORS OF FRENCH ART" was born. I have been working on it since spring 2015 …..
The idea of creating a Crimean panorama in the Versailles Historical Gallery has been in the air since the first days of the beginning of the Crimean War. It was urgently required to portray the Crimean military expedition as a victorious war and remove all questions posed to the government by the progressive community. There were many questions:
Was it worth it to bear huge costs and fight in regions located thousands of kilometers from France?
Was it worth it to bear huge losses in manpower, because soldiers and officers died not only in battles and battles, but also from disease, cold, and poor nutrition?
Can the foreign policy of the newly-made Emperor Napoleon III be called adequate?
Wouldn't Napoleon "little" end up as ingloriously as Napoleon "big" somewhere on an island in exile?! …
The first pictures about the victories of the French army in the Crimea were exhibited at the Paris Salon in May 1855. And at the end of that year, hostilities in the Crimea ceased. Diplomatic negotiations began. A truce between the belligerent powers was concluded in February 1856 in Paris.
And now a few words about the creation of a historical gallery in Versailles and then about the battle genre in French art …
Versailles "King Pear" Louis Philippe
The historical art gallery was created in Versailles, a famous palace surrounded by a magnificent park with fountains. Versailles, as conceived by Louis Philippe (1773-1850), "the citizen king," as he called himself, the "king of the bankers," as the opposition called him, the "pear king," as he was painted, fattened to disgrace in old age, cartoonists, was supposed to glorify the exploits of kings, the emperor Napoleon, bloody butcher generals and warriors of the valiant French army.
The propaganda of patriotism, the unity of the Legitimists, Bonapartists, the whole nation, chauvinism was carried out against the backdrop of the outbreak of the industrial revolution. It accelerated the processes of enrichment of bankers, speculators, traders, industrialists and corrupt officials. The motto of all 18 years of his reign is "Get rich!"
Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, was dragged into power by bourgeois-monarchist circles during the July Revolution of 1830. The people rose in revolt, hoping to improve their financial situation. The government threw government troops against the rebels, and the "butchers" strangled the revolution in three days. At the same time, 12 thousand Parisians were killed on the barricades, more than 1200 people fled the country. The newly-made monarch made his way into power with blood, and he will end his reign with the bloody revolution of 1848. He will flee to England, where in three years he will die and there will be buried in a foreign land. And he is not alone …
Louis Philippe was a supporter of the policy of maneuvering between the parties of the Legitimists (supporters of the Bourbons) and the Liberals. He looked everywhere for the "golden mean" in politics and culture. The theory of eclecticism of the French philosopher Victor Cousin (1782-1867) was considered fashionable in those days. In politics, this is "freedom, equality and fraternity" only for the bourgeoisie, aristocracy, nobility and Catholic cardinals. In art, this is the coexistence of the outdated classicism of academicians with the romanticism of innovators. Government circles defended the Academy of Fine Arts and its aesthetic principles.
The "King of Bankers" used art as a means of promoting the political and economic ideals of the ruling elite and glorifying his dynasty. Propaganda and agitation are reliable weapons of any bourgeois reactionary regime. These were the regimes of Louis Philippe, as well as his predecessor Charles X, and such will be the Bonapartist regime of absolute power of Napoleon III.
Having come to power, Louis Philippe conceived the idea of creating a Historical Art Gallery in the Palace of Versailles (Museum of the History of France, as it was called under Louis Philippe) and in it to show how the people and their rulers jointly created and are creating the history of their fatherland, starting from the Merovingian times and ending with modernity. For the museum, dozens of huge paintings on historical themes and sculptures of famous historical figures were written on government orders. It was the finest hour of the development of historical and battle painting in French art …
The battle hall was considered the central one. It has 33 huge paintings on the walls. Each depicts one of the victorious battles of the French troops. The latter, by Horace Vernet, depicts the Duke of Orleans (Louis Philippe) returning to Paris on July 31, 1830, surrounded by the Parisians who greeted him. Other rooms housed paintings on other themes: the crusaders, the revolutionary wars of 1792, the Napoleonic wars, the colonial wars in Africa.
It is not difficult to imagine how many painters and sculptors were involved, how many orders each of them received, how much money the government spent on paying royalties, how many new battle painters the Academy received in such a short period of time.
The emperor's favorite, the painter Horace Vernet, one of the greatest battle painters of his time, was in charge of all the works on the creation of the gallery. He successfully coped with the task.
In 1837, Louis Philippe inaugurated the Historical Picture Gallery at Versailles, to the delight of the Legitimists. This was a huge contribution of France to the history of European art in the 19th century. Later, in the halls of Versailles, panoramas dedicated to one particular war began to open. On the walls of one room were hung pictures of the battles won by the bloody French generals-butchers in Morocco, the other - in Algeria. Later, a hall dedicated to the Crimean War was to open at Versailles.
To attract the Bonapartists to his side, Louis Philippe ordered the restoration of the monuments that were erected under Napoleon. He responded to the call of the bankers to return the remains of the emperor to Paris from Saint Helena, where he was in exile and where he was buried. In 1840, the remains were taken to France. In a special sarcophagus, he was solemnly reburied in the House of Invalids. A long campaign to create the cult of Napoleon began, and continues to this day. For this purpose, new monuments were erected, dozens of new paintings, literary and musical works were written. Hundreds of historical studies have been published, more than three dozen films have been shot.
The July monarchy relied on the Catholic clergy and contributed to a revival of Catholic influence, especially in the wealthy middle class. It ordered paintings on religious themes to artists, invited the best of them to paint new churches. Bible themes have become popular again.
Paris Salons
In the middle of the 19th century, academic salon art continued to dominate French painting. The government, aristocratic circles, the big bourgeoisie and the Catholic clergy tried to preserve it by joint friendly attempts.
Salons in France were called exhibitions of works of fine art, held since 1737 in a spacious hall of the Louvre, called the "Salon Carre". In 1818, the Luxembourg Palace was also turned into an art gallery. In the 19th century, exhibitions began to be held in other palaces, and by tradition they were all called "Salons".
The jury, who played the role of the official censor, selected the paintings for the Salon. Once every two years, he had to look through hundreds, if not thousands of paintings and hundreds of sculptures, and select the best of them for exhibition and sale. The jury, with the consent of the government, could include only 42 members of the French Academy of Fine Arts. The salons were held every two years, later - annually. Academics enjoyed indisputable prestige in art. Their paintings were accepted into the Salon without discussion.
Of these hundreds of paintings, only a few of the best, in the opinion of the jury, this kind of jury trial, attracted everyone's attention, because they fit into the aesthetic niche in which government officials, academics and obsequious artists felt comfortable. These works were bought either by the emperor and his entourage for himself, or by the government for museums. Then came the paintings, which were bought up by the largest collectors. The rest of the "good" passed into the hands of the public poorer, or returned to the authors, and they were looking for buyers on their own.
The salon resembled a kind of art "exchange". The nouveau riches, and not just aristocrats, invested their capital in financially “reliable” “art treasures”. Some of the artists adjusted to their bourgeois tastes. This gave the bourgeoisie the opportunity to exert pressure on both government officials and the Academy of Fine Arts.
Government officials and members of the Academy of Fine Arts promoted the government's plans and actions. In that era, as in any other, art played a very important ideological role, the same as the media and propaganda play today. Officials distributed orders between painters and sculptures, architects and musicians.
The salons were visited not only by connoisseurs of classics and romantic art, but also by laymen from a tribe of rapidly growing rich nouveau riche. Government officials, representatives of the middle class came to the Salons not so much to admire the skill of painters and sculptors, not only to read their artistic and political messages to society, but to acquire those paintings that could be admired in their home, proud in front of friends, and which, if necessary, could be very profitable to resell.
Painters, sculptors, architects were trained by the School of Fine Arts, which worked under the auspices of the Academy of Fine Arts. Famous artists often opened private schools. The Academy remained faithful to classicism, which replaced the pretty capricious rococo. Academics recognized romanticism, renewed by the artists of the revolutionary decade, led by the outstanding painter Jacques Louis David.
Battle genre
In French art, the battle genre was considered one of the directions of historical painting. The goal of battle-painters is to glorify the heroes of military expeditions, primarily emperors, commanders, generals.
The battle genre began to develop at an accelerated pace after the victory of the bourgeois revolution of 1789 under Napoleon. If the painters of the academic school in the 18th century paid more attention to the beauty of military uniforms, military etiquette, methods of using weapons, breeds of horses, then in the middle of the 19th century, battle painters, moving away from classicism and joining the romantic image of battles, achieved, as bourgeois art historians believe, new creative success.
They revealed the possibilities of realistic battle art and thereby contributed to its development. They painted scenes of battles and the life of troops, painted portraits of generals, officers and soldiers of the fighting armies. They sang patriotism, heroism, showed new military equipment and weapons. Contributed to the development of bourgeois national chauvinism. They tried to evoke a feeling of pride in the military might of the national armies, for the scientific and technical successes in the bourgeois development of their countries.
Bourgeois battle painting began to develop at an accelerated pace from the moment of the appearance of a new romantic hero - Napoleon the Great. With the light hand of the greatest artist Jacques Louis David (1748-1825), many painters literally rushed to paint this hero. David portrayed a glorious general at the head of an army crossing the Alps. Carl Verne (1758-1836), who was popular in those years, painted the Corsican and his wife. Theodore Zhariko (1791-1824) wrote The Wounded Cuirassier and The Russian Archer. Antoine-Jean Gros (1771-1835) captured episodes of Napoleon Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt on canvases.
The battle genre in European bourgeois art developed successfully while France was waging bloody wars with its neighbors and in the colonies, while the Corsican Napoleon, who declared himself emperor of France, brought Europe to its knees. After all, out of 12 wars he managed to win six, and he shamefully lost the other six. The painters took an active part in the propaganda of those bloody aggressive local and colonial wars waged by Napoleon and the rulers of France, Charles X, Louis Philippe and Napoleon III, who succeeded him.
The battle genre is an integral part of the bourgeois state system of propaganda and agitation. It is intended to poeticize the bloody wars waged on the orders of the authorities and bankers. The glorification of the reactionary policy of the rulers and the bloody "exploits" of the generals in the unjust imperialist wars was encouraged in every possible way and generously paid.
In battle painting, the realistic method is widely used. It includes the obligatory study of historical material, the nature of the characters, crowds and gatherings of soldiers' masses. The battalist is obliged to visit the area in which the battle took place, which he depicts. It is worth remembering that for the first time in the history of war and fine arts photography began to be widely used in Crimea. Artists got the opportunity to use photographic materials while working on their works.
The complexity of the work of a battle-painter lies in the exact knowledge and ability to depict in all details, up to the color of buttons and stripes, uniforms, guns, poses and movements of soldiers when shooting and in bayonet combat. He studies military regulations and understands military affairs no worse than any officer.
Like a writer, a painter chooses a theme for his future work. He is looking for the main character around whom the action will be built. He needs a bright personality. Action must develop vigorously and victoriously. He determines the decisive moment of the battle and draws his hero as the winner.
Such a hero in France since the end of the 18th century was Napoleon Bonaparte, the brightest personality of the 19th century. The battalists wrote it throughout the century. As for Napoleon, Napoleon III, neither in intelligence nor in military leadership skills, equaled his uncle. But cruelty, inhumanity, vanity and dictatorial habits are characteristic of both Napoleons.
It is worth remembering the names of two painters of the 19th century who refused to participate in the propaganda campaigns of the authorities and truthfully depicted the criminal wars of their era. The first is the Spanish painter Francisco Goya (1746-1828). He painted the Disasters of War series and depicted the atrocities committed by the French occupation in Spain.
The second is the Russian artist V. V. Vereshchagin (1842-1904). He spent many years traveling and took part in several military campaigns. He showed how the British civilizers mercilessly shot the sepoys who had revolted in 1857 against British colonialism in India with cannons. He dedicated one of his paintings "The Apotheosis of War" to "all the great conquerors, past, present and future."
Vereshchagin depicted war from a universal, philosophical point of view: in a valley scorched by war and the sun, there is a pyramid erected from human skulls. This is what any war, any campaign of the next ruler, "butcher" leaves behind. He wrote that any "war is 10 percent of victory and 90 percent of terrible injuries, cold, hunger, cruel despair and death."
Victor Hugo specified the names of these conquerors, known in the middle of the 19th century: Nimrod, Sennacherib, Cyrus, Ramses, Xerxes, Cambyses, Attila, Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, Alexander, Caesar, Bonaparte. And if we add to this list of conquerors generals-butchers and cannibals of the 20th century? …
Vereshchagin exhibited his paintings in a number of European countries. Tens of thousands of people of different nationalities came to watch them. And only the military was sometimes forbidden to visit his anti-war exhibitions. It happened that even Russian emperors condemned some of his paintings.
When the Russian artist tried to exhibit his paintings about the war of 1812 at the Paris Salon of 1900, the jury refused to accept them. I really didn’t want to show Napoleon to the Parisian public in the unattractive form in which the outstanding Russian battle painter had portrayed him! Now, if he had not painted a picture that Napoleon turned the Orthodox churches of the Kremlin into stables, if he had not painted how many hundreds of poods of gold and silver icon frames were stolen and melted into ingots by the French "heroes" - then another matter!
After the wars lost by Napoleon III, the battle genre in French art entered a period of extinction. In the bourgeois art of the West in the twentieth century, battle painting has not been revived to this day. Film producers took up the glorification of imperialist wars.
And only Soviet artists adopted the best traditions of this genre from Goya and Vereshchagin, from the most talented battle-painters in France. Their art stirred up feelings of love for their socialist homeland, contributed to the development of popular patriotism and pride in the military might of the Russian people. Soviet battle painting continues to form a high spiritual civic potential, as an organic part of Russian spiritual culture at the present time. But this is another problem beyond the scope of this article.
