A few of the most famous Russian Christian artists:
19th C: Repin Ivanov Polenov Kramskoy Nesterov Semiradsky
Contemporary: Ryzhenko Glazunov Morgun Afonina
Our top 10 favorites: A purely subjective list of paintings and artists we love.
To see all of the over 100 paintings in this series, click here.
About this series: As we learned about Russia's traditional faith, Russian Orthodox Christianity, we discovered an enormous, mostly forgotten treasure of striking Christian paintings, mostly unknown in the West, starting from approximately the early 1800s, and continuing to this day.
So far we have cataloged over 150 images, and are discovering more all the time. We will gradually be getting them all online. If you know of a painter or sculptor which we can add to the series, please let us know in the form below. You can see the entire list of what we already have online here.
From Wikipedia:
The painting "The Choice of Faith" was completed in 2005. The size of the picture - 82,6" x 59"
Link to high resolution image.
Ryzhenko always said that he became Christian 'very late' ( he was 23!), but when he did, he embraced it with characteristic fire:
Everyone person, but especially the Russian, in the depths and mystery on one's heart, gravitates to the light - to Christ.
To me, faith in Christ came very late, but, once I believed, I wanted to run after him, hoping sometime to come near to that light.
But it to speak of people, those who have left and those who are still alive, who are the carriers of the faith and spirit of the Russian Empire… is necessary for me - I must.
In the third century, St. George, in all the splendor and power of his power, the kamid, that is, the commander close to the emperor, makes his moral choice. He is surrounded by an excited crowd - old warriors, young, truth-seeking young people, the emperor himself and his entourage.
A friend betrays and sends his boss to execution. The emperor, who entrusted the most important deeds to George, is now the executioner. Only the Empress rushes after the sufferer. Standing in front of the cross, the Great Holy Martyr, a recent pagan, feels that his soul made a choice.
Here it is the Truth - the Cross of Christ leaves no one indifferent. So it was in the III century. So it is now. Sooner or later everyone should make their choice.
Details:
Paul Ryzhenko (1970-2014) was a peculiar artist, especially for our times. He was staunchly realist—he believed that realism was the only ‘real’ art and scoffed at modernism as the result of a morally deteriorating world—yet he was also an unabashed Christian and a deep idealist.
About the Great Russian Christian Art series:
Russia has a wonderfully rich heritage of Christian and Bible-themed painting which reached its zenith in the second half of the 19th century, as part of the realist school. Many of the canvases are enormous, filling an entire wall of a large public hall. Some of them took decades to complete. They are a striking and beautiful testimony to how deeply ingrained Christianity is in Russian history, culture, philosophy, thought, indeed, in her very soul. They are a delight to behold.
As Russia emerges as a leader in the return to traditionalism, this style of painting is again in vogue, and there are also several contemporary Christian painters creating extraordinary canvases. Indeed, Moscow has an excellent art academy dedicated to this style, a topic we covered in the profile of Ilya Glazunov, a leading, recently deceased painter in this genre. See: A Conservative Russian Lion With Real Mass Influence – The Painter Ilya Glazunov
Many of these paintings and artists are hardly known in the West, dismissed by the secular, atheist, globalist modern 'art' vogue. We are delighted to bring you this series, which consists of several dozens of works. You can see all of the works in this series by clicking here.
We think you’ll enjoy them as much as we do.
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