Russian Folk Art Styles Made Modern

Los Angeles based artist Sasha Vinogradova created these 6 beautiful posters to introduce people to different styles of Russian folk painting.

The posters include a painted skull centerpiece, making them more striking and eerily beautiful. The skulls put a new twist on the folk art and are reminscnet of sugar skulls. As Sasha puts it  "I think on skulls it looks fun and new. Also it slightly remind me Día de Muertos"

Check out the 6 posters, which are both aesthetically pleasing as well as educational. We copied the fine print from each poster to make it easier to read (sorry if we made any mistakes, the type is pretty small):

 

Khokhloma  painting is the name of a Russain wood painting handicraft and national onament. Known for its vivid flower patterns, red and gold colors over a black background, and the effect it has when applied to wooden tableware or furniture, making it look heavier and metal-like.

Gzhel is a style of ceramics which takes its name from the village of Gzhel and surrounding area, where it had been produced since 1802. The earliest pieces were created of earthenware. The pottery was painted solid white with distinctive blue designs.

Zhostovo painting is an old Russian folk handicraft of painting on metal trays. It appeared in the early 19th century mainly. painting is done in a few consecutive energetic and firm strokes with a soft brush and oil paints, richly diluted with linseed oil. The most widely used motif of the Zhostovo painting is a bunch of mixed garden and wild flowers, which is simple and laconic in its essence.

Mezen painting was named according to location, where this kind of art was conceived. Mezen painting is the most ancient among the Russian artistic handcraft industries. The restrained colour, where the black outline emphasizes the strained sounding of the brownish-red colour. Ornaments have stingy and relative graphic form.

North-Dvina: This painting was conceived in the area of the North Dvina River. It includes a lot fo symbols. A composition of these elements create a unique painting. frequently used symbols and motifs like the tree of light, bird Sirin, lion, griffin, bear, mermaid. Colors - white background and red, green, and yellow elements with black strokes.

Gorodets painting sprung from carved Gorodets distaffs that were manufactured in villages nearby Gorodets town in the Nizhmi Novgorod Region. Gorodets artists traditionally paint genre scenes, images of birds and animals (roosters, horse, lions, leopards, etc.) and flower patterns.