Diorama, Exhibition Hall
Right before exiting the estate towards the Oka River, to the left of the Oka Avenue, stands the building of the restored boat shed—the Polenov Admiralty—a shed for wintering boats, built in the half-timbered style in 1895. Half-timbered structures are characteristic of medieval Western Europe. These are constructions placed on a stone foundation, consisting of vertical and horizontal wooden beams, with the spaces between them filled with stone masonry on a clay mortar. The facade is adorned with a real ship’s wheel, and there are real anchors around. The Oka River played a significant role in estate life.
“This was the boat shed, which Polenov called the ‘Admiralty.’ During the summer months, Polenov did little painting, spending most of his time in the forest—cleaning, clearing, and healing—and on the river, where he worked extensively on the dam, which he hoped would hold back the sand and restore the beach that existed when they first settled in the area. He called the dam the ‘eighth wonder of the world.’ He also taught the children to swim independently, row, and handle sails from almost the age of five. Each child had their own flat-bottomed boat until they were seven, after which they had keel boats. There was one large four-oared boat, used for sailing: Polenov was the captain, and the children were the crew. The captain was quite strict, and the crew feared him. The large boat was named ‘Yailatan’—Natalia’s name spelled backward, after Polenov’s wife. Polenov made an entire fleet for the children: there were small steamboats named after the steamers on the Oka, and barges used for transporting stones along the shore for building inlets, piers, and dams.
In the lower part of this shed, small boats were stored for the winter, while ‘Yailatan’ and the large flat-bottomed boat ‘Podbor’ were hoisted onto the rafters. The walls held oars, boathooks, sails, cups, and wooden bowls with glass rings, carabiners, cleats, and blocks for sailing. Under the window was a shelf with various slots for carpentry tools. A long red box stored fishing rods and swimming equipment (life rings, a cork belt, etc.). In summer, this box was taken to the shore and placed near the changing room, where it housed oars, boathooks, and rudders during bad weather, and boats left outside were used as a play area for the younger children,” from a park tour by O.V. Polenova, the artist’s daughter, 1970.
“The Admiralty survived the Great Patriotic War, witnessing the front line that passed through here, trembling from nearby explosions of German shells and mines, and long bore the shrapnel in its wooden beams. In the post-war years, it was dismantled by order of the neighboring rest home administration, for reasons that remained unclear. The decision to restore the Admiralty was made by the museum’s scientific and artistic council, with a project to give it the characteristic appearance of Polenov architecture (stone masonry with half-timbered constructions). The old boat shed was inseparable from the entire Oka world—a world of boats, oarlocks, fishing rods, and weirs—of concepts that first entered consciousness, such as shrouds, bowsprit, spars, and sheet knots, all alluring and calling to new depths and open expanses, open to all compass winds…” N.N. Gramolina. “Polenovo.”
Since its restoration, the Admiralty has functioned as an exhibition hall for contemporary artists, showcasing the remarkable work of Polenov—the diorama.
Diorama
The diorama, the last major work of Vasily Dmitrievich, represents a round-the-world journey in pictures. What is a sheet of Polenov’s diorama? Two panes of glass with a sheet of watercolor paper between them. The drawing is done on both sides of the paper, using transparent paints—watercolors. There are also appliques and cutouts. The diorama sheets are displayed with backlighting.
V.D. Polenov completed work on the diorama in 1921. The first showing was in Tarusa, at the “Peschany” dacha of Vera Vasilievna Vulff. Polenov then presented the diorama in Strakhovo, at the school he built for peasant children in 1911. He believed that the most important audience awaited him there: the peasant kids. Vasily Dmitrievich claimed that after the first diorama show, he received his greatest reward in life: the joy of the first viewers.
The charm of the diorama, created in the 1920s, remains undiminished and continues to captivate numerous museum visitors. The diorama has been preserved in its original form. Of course, the kerosene lamp and candles used by the artist have been replaced with electric bulbs. Polenov’s text explaining the pictures has been somewhat shortened: the pace of museum life and the large number of visitors do not allow for a leisurely “round-the-world journey” with detailed commentary. Vasily Dmitrievich, in writing the descriptions, intended to create something like a lecture-show on geography, history, and ethics, complemented by music.
From the memoirs of Ekaterina Vasilievna Polenova-Sakharova:
“Father secluded himself in the studio and began working on the portable theater-diorama. Diorama, in Greek ‘transparent picture,’ was invented in the 1840s by Daguerre, the inventor of photography. Father had several pictures brought from abroad—views of Italy and Paris with fireworks and night effects. They inspired him to create travel pictures for his children. Each picture was accompanied by a story, which he would intersperse with playing a hand organ, the ‘Celestina,’ during intermissions. He decided to enlarge and expand these small pictures. The work was enormous. It was the hungry year of 1920, and the scorching summer heat destroyed all the crops. It was cold. Father never took off his thick fur coat, wrapping himself in a hat and mittens. To sustain his waning strength, he baked apples in his stove and worked on the pictures from morning till night. In the evening, he would come to us, tired but content and full of creative enthusiasm. He was driven by the idea of giving people the magical ability to see many countries and experience natural phenomena in effects that painting alone could not convey. ‘Imagine how the peasants live—half a year of cold and darkness, nothing but the tavern. One could die of boredom. And suddenly, a round-the-world journey!’
From a letter by V.D. Polenov:
‘Diorama means a transparent picture, invented by the French artist Daguerre. The pictures change depending on the direction of the light—front or back. This allows for a great variety of landscapes, marines, mountains, and streets. <…> It’s like magic. The pictures are very diverse. My diorama consists of a journey around the world, starting with the Oka River: a steamboat sails, and we seem to be on it. First during the day, then in the evening. <…> Then there are pictures: the Moscow Kremlin, a gallery, Eydkunen, a train travels through Germany, ancient German castles, Wolfram and Tannhäuser; Bavaria, inns, stagecoaches. Schiller and Goethe—walking. Then Italy, Venice—daytime, the Doge’s Palace, nighttime, a masquerade and gondolas. Rome, Naples. Vesuvius eruption. Switzerland, mountains, St. Bernard, Simplon. France, Paris, the Seine, Notre-Dame Cathedral, fireworks. We return to Russia in the south: Ukraine, Crimea (Yalta), the Black Sea, a fantastic lighthouse. Then our journey: the Bosphorus, Egypt in six pictures, Palestine, East Asia, India with elephants; China with lanterns and illumination. North America—the Cordillera mountains. South America—virgin forest, the Amazon, wild horse catching…. We return to Russia: a provincial town, fire; St. Petersburg, the Academy of Arts, Anichkov Bridge. The beginning of winter here. It ends with a Christmas tree, children dancing…’
Lately, many people want to set up such a diorama at home. For an artist, it is quite simple. The mechanics are straightforward: a box with the front and back walls removed, the lid lifts and lowers for day and night lighting.”
The diorama, the last major work of Vasily Dmitrievich, represents a round-the-world journey in pictures. What is a sheet of Polenov’s diorama? Two panes of glass with a sheet of watercolor paper between them. The drawing is done on both sides of the paper, using transparent paints—watercolors. There are also appliques and cutouts. The diorama sheets are displayed with backlighting.
V.D. Polenov completed work on the diorama in 1921. The first showing was in Tarusa, at the “Peschany” dacha of Vera Vasilievna Vulff. Polenov then presented the diorama in Strakhovo, at the school he built for peasant children in 1911. He believed that the most important audience awaited him there: the peasant kids. Vasily Dmitrievich claimed that after the first diorama show, he received his greatest reward in life: the joy of the first viewers.
The charm of the diorama, created in the 1920s, remains undiminished and continues to captivate numerous museum visitors
