Memory of Paola Volkova

The remarkable Russian art critic Paola Dmitrievna Volkova (1927-13) was, as they say, a “oral” person. She strongly preferred to tell, not to write. And she knew how to tell: it was no accident that the students of VGIK, and then the highest scenario courses-these heroes of the eternal “holiday of disobedience”-reverently recall how they listened to her lectures: she gave twenty years there ...

Fortunately, the camera retained the inherent wealth of the intonations of modern public Russian speech inherent in Paole. And although Volkova left us a dozen copyright volumes, as well as books collected and edited by her, to feel Paola Volkov as a unique person only by seeing and hearing her herself.

We now have this opportunity thanks to the cycle of her lectures “Bridge over the Abyss” read for the “Culture” channel [1]. In addition, some of her lectures on the history of art, read for students of Open University of Skolkovo (OTUS) are available on the Internet [2].

Paola Volkova had (at least!) Two main affairs of her life: these are the work of Andrei Tarkovsky and the comprehension of the history of world fine art.

In 1989, Volkova created the Foundation of Andrei Tarkovsky and led him for many years; She studied the Tarkovsky family and wrote books about Andrei Tarkovsky and his films, about his father - the beautiful Russian poet Arsenia Tarkovsky. The house of Andrei Tarkovsky in Yuryevts, a stove on his grave in Saint-Geneveva de Bois is also Paola.

The “Bridge over the Abyss” cycle was recorded in the last years of Paola Volkova’s life. She is the ninth dozen, and all 12 films of this cycle are her monologue.

... So, we listen to a very decisive, rather miniature, middle -aged woman. She has a modest makeup, reddish, sparse hair; She clearly does not hide her age, but does not give up the habit of being carefully and with the taste of dressed. Large jewelry - bracelets, exotic rings and brooches, dresses and blouses of elegant tones and deliberate cut.

We are shown paintings, statues, cathedrals, streets of Florence and other cities, and although the storyteller addresses us from the studio, we “enter” the picture or sculpture into the space of the picture and look at all this with her eyes.

When the author (whether in the text or in the lecture) has its goal the story of an object, at first glance, well -known, then his task is many times complicated: after all, in such a situation it is advisable to avoid slipping to the scheme that is familiar to the audience . And the “Culture” TV channel is educational, and therefore - addressed to everyone at once, and what is there to be “familiar”? ..

The unlimited capabilities of color television are especially tempting if your topic is a work of art. The abundance of opportunities must be “tamped” so much in order to meet in one lecture for 25 minutes. Of course, Paola Volkova is a wonderful art critic and an experienced teacher, but 25 minutes alone with the camera is a special task. And a special risk.

In an interview, Paola Volkova said that when in the 70s she was abroad and was able to see Vermeur, Velaskuza, Michelangelo, Rembrandt not on reproductions, but in the real space of museums, she had such a shock that she was falling out with a high temperature. And now, listening to, as she tells, for example, about the “Medici Tomb”, I feel how the wolf shock is transformed into a certain energy that simply rivets to the screen.

With regard to fine art, I cannot attribute myself to the “naive viewer”-I saw something, read a lot and thought a lot about what I saw. Nevertheless, in each of the lectures of Volkova, I find for myself not just something new, but in general I begin to look differently at the seemingly familiar paintings and statues.

Here is Botticelli's “Spring” - a picture, which, according to Volkova, is extremely “unlucky”, because she is constantly replicated and fragmented - calendars, cards. Bags, T -shirts ... How to make your eyes truly fresh, uncomplicated?

Volkova draws our attention to the fact that this seemingly static, completely deprived of narrative picture should be considered from right to left - then it will turn out in time, like a musical phrase. Indeed, having taken a closer look, we see how the trees are gradually covered with foliage and bloom, and the picture, as it were, draws the viewer into their space, fascinates with its inaudible music.

In the lectures of Volkova, we are not offered separate interpretations, characteristic of her as an expert; Rather, we are revealed to the process described by David Samoilov in the poem "Word":

I love ordinary words as unknown countries. They are understandable only at first, then their knowledge is foggy. They are wiped like glass, and this is our craft.

Here is the "Night Cafe in Arle" Van Gogh. Actually, we will be told about two paintings - one depicts the interior of this cafe (Volkova chose the watercolor version of the picture), and the other - his terrace. And there and there - half -empty, lonely - and scary. Elests the soul of a non -cereal yellow light, pouring a terrace with empty tables; It is not known what the night sky promises with large stars. Van Gogh wrote to Brother Theo: “In I tried to depict a “night cafe” where a person destroys himself, goes crazy or becomes a criminal. I wanted to express the pernicious passion driving people with red and green. ”

But Van Gogh has different red and green colors, a different starry sky - and Volkova will show us this too. The main thing is that she manages to convey the maximum tension, which is always radiated by Van Gogh's canvases - whether it be the starry sky, a branch of apple tree, sunflowers, irises.

Paola Dmitrievna Volkova was a completely extraordinary person. In the television cycle of lectures, she risked once again - and the winnings of Paola Volkova worthy of her human scale.

1. The author’s program of Paola Volkova on the “Culture” http://tvkultura.ru/brand/show/brand_id/32766.
2. See also video recording of the program of P. Volkova on “Culture” on page http://nemankurt.livejournal.com/ 3304.html
3. Video of the lectures of P. Volkova at Open University Skolkovo www.youtube.com/playlist?list=plcb7a596836c8bd