The Nutcracker - An Everlasting Star - A Christmas Favorite Inspiring The Arts

THE NUTCRACKER - AN EVERLASTING STAR

By Anastasia Elena Baranoff | Egg Tempera Movement

On thrilling silver screens and radio airwaves, in bustling cafés and shops, the iridescent Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the prestissimo Trepak, sound the arrival of the holiday season.

A dear tradition, these magical melodies accompany us through the years, as does a curious, vivid character.

This finely crafted German star of Christmas festivities was fated to become a prominent cultural figure.

Indeed, the Nussknacker / Nutcracker sparked a centuries-long surge of artistic creativity in its various forms.

 The Nutcracker – Christmas Eve Is Here At Last By Elena Vladimir Baranoff | Close-Up | Copyright © Elena Vladimir Baranoff | 2005           

In late autumn of 1816, all-embracing Renaissance man E.T.A. Hoffmann authored the whimsical Nussknacker und Mausekönig / Nutcracker and Mouse King.

Celebrating his friend Julius Hitzig’s children, Marie and Fritz, on the pages of the novella, Hoffmann set the visionary journey of the iconic toy in motion. That same year, just before Christmas, the story was published in Berlin.

By 1844, renowned Alexandre Dumas père added his own finesse to Hoffmann’s story. Thus, Paris was the first to be introduced to Dumas’ entertaining interpretation, Histoire D’Un Casse-Noisette / The Story of a Nutcracker.  

The two tales traveled far and wide, reaching fascinated readers in distant lands.

Each narrative, philosophical and romantic, blurred the divide between reality and fantasy, spinning into a dazzling dream world of boundless imagination.

 The Nutcracker – Christmas Eve Is Here At Last By Elena Vladimir Baranoff | Close-Up | Copyright © Elena Vladimir Baranoff | 2005           

History turned its pages and the 1890’s saw the story of the coveted Nutcracker take on a new shape.

Russia’s Imperial Theaters commissioned esteemed composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky and choreographer Marius Petipa to concoct a ballet in two acts for the merry season.

Tchaikovsky began sketching out his Nutcracker in 1891, continuing to compose the sweeping music score during a grand voyage stretching across the continent and mighty Atlantic, bound for New York, to lead the official opening of Carnegie Hall. 

Sparking the genius of fellow creators, the works of Hoffmann and Dumas came together on a grand stage.

The new ballet opened at Saint Petersburg’s Imperial Mariinsky Theater in December of 1892, and ever since, the theatrical marvel has delighted many around the world. 

 The Nutcracker – Christmas Eve Is Here At Last By Elena Vladimir Baranoff | Close-Up | Copyright © Elena Vladimir Baranoff | 2005           

London audiences were the first to see the full production in January 1934, performed by the Vic-Wells Ballet. 

America enjoyed its premiere on Christmas Eve in 1944, when San Francisco Ballet treated the public to a staging of The Nutcracker.

Artistry continued, as the legendary story and music rushed off the page and out of the theater, exciting motion pictures and fine art.

San Francisco, the golden city by the bay, became the birthplace of a new creation.

Award-winning master fine artist and founder of Egg Tempera Movement, Elena Vladimir Baranoff dreamt up her original artwork The Nutcracker - Christmas Eve Is Here At Last. 

 The Nutcracker – Christmas Eve Is Here At Last By Elena Vladimir Baranoff | Copyright © Elena Vladimir Baranoff | 2005       

Fine brushstrokes exquisitely shape the melodic composition, with its lyrical figures and fluid movement. A shimmering color palette expresses the enthralling essence of the story. The painting’s exuberant atmosphere ardently evokes pure wonder.

Reflecting on her approach, Elena states “The extraordinary story of The Nutcracker and my 2005 fine art painting Christmas Eve Is Here At Last, inspired by Hoffmann's novella and Tchaikovsky's music, became a turning point in my creative life and initiated a collection of paintings meant to reach and delight all those who love and value art.

Immersed in the splendid world of the fairy tale, passing it through labyrinths of imagination and the soul, transforming into a magician, I used a single fine brush, as if a magnificent wand, to weave lines, characters and colors into a wonderful composition.

Creating this work of art was purely effortless and joyful.”

An endless gamut of sensations, conveyed by written word, dance, music and the art of painting, excite and amaze. 

In his Deutsche Mythologie / German Mythology, the illustrious folklorist Jacob Grimm noted the meaning and power of the Nutcracker. A lasting symbol of good luck, this fantastical figurine has proven to be positively influential. 

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Elena Vladimir Baranoff, Anastasia Elena Baranoff and Egg Tempera Movement present fine art storytelling, where the visual language of painting blends with artistic imagination, transporting to a realm of inspirational fantasy.

Egg Tempera Movement is delighted to offer splendid fine art prints of The Nutcracker - Christmas Eve Is Here At Last, published on luxurious canvas and velvety paper.

To learn more about The Nutcracker - Christmas Eve Is Here At Last fine art print, visit https://www.eggtemperamovement.com/category/fairy-tale-fine-art-print-collection  

 

 

The Nutcracker – Christmas Eve Is Here At Last | Fine Art Print |eggtemperamovement.com