C Happy New Year!

[Самвел]

Happy New Year.

[spigo]

I wish all lovers of the beautiful sound health, wonderful experience and outstanding events in 2010 and subsequent years!

[Veronic]

Dear forum users!
Congratulations to all a Happy New Year !!!!!

More smiles, a lot of health, a great number of useful purchases and sales in the New Year!

[Сима]

Dear forumlyane! All Happy New Year. I agree with you less than a year and I was with you well. Thank you! Happiness, luck, good health!

[iside]

Ladies and Gentlemen!

Happy you!

Administration would like even more the popularity of this resource!
Artists want more inspiration and ulachnyh sales!
Owners of galleries, collectors and art dealers successful purchases and sales, as well as new discoveries!

[lusyvoronova]

Happy New Year! Good luck, good health, all the best!

[gans]

Christmas and New Year holidays today is simply impossible to imagine without the elegant beauty, a Christmas tree. True, it comes into our homes in a very humble guise, her still no shiny balls, no silvery rain, no flashing lights garland ... All of this appears in the tree a bit later when we will see her dress up. Meanwhile, she quietly stands with us in the hallway and waiting for his hour of triumph. From its green paws floats through the rooms smell of the forest, winter, holiday ... And every year, thanks to this tradition - titivate forest guests, we are again and again have the opportunity to at least briefly feel like children. It's impossible to be an adult at a time when hanging on the barbed twig fragile glass ball, which affects so funny your serious face. Today we dresses up Christmas tree for our children, just as our parents once decked them for us. And it seems as though this custom existed eternally. However, it has its own history, which I would like to tell more in detail.


The tradition of decorating fir for the holiday was born in Germany. According to legend, the first Christmas trees were decorated in this land in VIII century. It is said that once, in those days, St. Boniface preached druids, talking about the holiday of Christmas. Druids lived in the forests and worshiped trees, considering their deities. To convince them of the fallacy of this belief, Boniface cut down one of the oak trees were considered sacred. When cut down the oak fell, he knocked on his way all the other trees, and did not touch a small Christmas tree. Holy surprised at this miracle, and exclaimed: "Let it be a tree a tree of Christ!". Of course, this is only a legend, but serious researchers unanimously agree that the festive fir was first introduced it in Germany, and in particular its region - Alsace.

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The written evidence that at Christmas in Alsace put small Christmas tree decorated with apples and wafers, but even without the candles, dated to the XVI century.

And if in other Germanic lands have long been known tradition - hang Christmas trees or other trees to the ceiling (sometimes crown up, and sometimes - down), in Alsace, from time immemorial it was the only spruce, and it is not suspended - namely set. There are a number of written communications that in the sixteenth century under the Christmas craft guilds and guild organization established in the cities of Alsace "Weyenacht-Meyen". Apparently, the Christmas tree did not become another center of family holiday, but it was the urban and social custom. At the end of festivities for children and the poor were allowed to shake the tree fruit and sweets. Somewhat later, there are messages and the appearance of firs in German homes.

The fact that the 1770-m-year Christmas tree already existed in the modern form we showed Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. As released in 1774 novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther", he writes: "It resulted in the order of toys that are prepared for the feast to his younger brothers and sisters. He talked about how to be happy with kids, and remembered those times when suddenly the door wide open and the spectacle of well-dressed Christmas tree with wax candles, candy apples, and put him in a speechless rapture.

First, a Christmas tree decorated with fruit, waffles, sweets. But if you lived through lean year and apples to take it nowhere, then on a Christmas tree appeared toy fruit created by skillful hands of craftsmen.

Gradually, these decorations became more refined: Wizard gilded fir cones, empty egg shells covered with thin layer of beaten brass. There were little paper flowers, and skilled crafts of wool. Sheets of brass turned into a Christmas fairies. Tin wire rolled, twisted coils, folded or flatten, creating bizarre patterns of tinsel. Silver foil spurted on graceful stars and flowers.

In 1848 in the town of Lauscha in Thuringia were made and the first Christmas tree balls. They are made of transparent or colored glass, coated inside with a layer of lead, and the outside was adorned with sequins. Fashion has changed, you had to invent new products and Christmas decorations promises to be lucrative. When in 1867 Lausche opened gasworks, artisans, using easily adjusted gas burner with a flame of very high temperature, were able to blow large thin-walled balloons. Soon unhealthy lead lining was replaced by a layer of silver nitrate - that is how familiar this all елочный ball.

Fantasy glassblowers knew no bounds: they do birds, Santa Clauses and bunches of grapes in ceramic forms as well as all sorts of things - anyone that comes into my head: jugs, amphorae and brittle pipes, in which even could play the pipe. Women and children painted ware masters gold and silver dust.

For decades, Lauscha retained its position as a leading global manufacturer of Christmas tree ornaments. In the 20-ies of the twentieth century to the fishery joined Bohemian town of Jablonec and Japanese, then - Poland and the United States.

Decorations Christmas trees varied depending on fashion. Bright, full of toys, Christmas tree, so popular until 1900, at the turn of the century was considered a sign of bad taste, and it replaced the austere, stylish Christmas tree in silver and white. Later, the trend is back bedizen tree is simple: straw stars and figures from paper and cardboard.

Initially such figurines carved at home, and subsequently appeared, and industrial production. Factories in Dresden and Leipzig specialized in shallow embossing gilt and silver cardboard for figures, which seemed made of metal sheets. A special variety of famous toys from Dresden, painted by hand workers, homeworkers. What did not made of ordinary paper these amazing masters! There were all sorts of musical instruments, and technical subjects - spinning wheels, carriages, drawn by horses, wheeled steamboats, airships - and, of course, animals. Frogs, storks, pheasants, bears and elephants - all the diversity of Dresden artists were sent to branches of the festive Christmas trees throughout Europe.

Ironically, in the twentieth century, New Year's fir tree penetrated in Muslim countries. For example, in 1960 it was decorated in Tehran, and Morocco. Custom titivate tree existed before the Second World War and in Turkey, but was banned by Kemal Ataturk in 1936 to preserve the forest. However, in many countries where there is no oil, they have successfully replaced with trees of other species.

Sometimes Christmas trees make mysterious journey, the meaning of which lies already in the modern history of Europe. For example, in England has become a tradition every year at Christmas to install a huge fir in Trafalgar Square. Spruce it brought ... from Norway, as a gift to London from the city of Oslo. This tradition started during the Second World War, when London sheltered in exile of King of Norway and his government. And at Christmas as a gift to King countrymen brought Spruce smuggling from the Nazis occupied his native Norway.

In Russia the custom of decorating the Christmas tree came in several stages. New Year's Eve we were celebrating on the orders of Peter the Great from January 1, 1700. In the royal decree stated: "As a distinguished and a passing gate streets and houses to inflict some ornaments of ancient and branches of pine, fir and juniper , repair fire from small guns and rifles, lobbing rockets and light the fires. And people meager each at least by the tree or branch at the gate with ". This holiday decorations from fir branches and carnivals are very fond of the Russian people. But the real Christmas tree appeared in Russia a century later, when Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, became the wife of Emperor Nicholas I in 1817. Small tufts of fir branches are festive attribute on tables in the Winter Palace on the eve of Christmas, in memory of the sweet to the heart of the former home of Princess Charlotte of Prussia, where Christmas trees decorated with candles burning all her childhood. It is a quiet celebration in the royal family complement the custom to give each other Christmas gifts, which are usually placed at the same fir tree on a table or hung on its thorny branches. Gifts were many, and for the royal feast with the time it takes elochki bigger, until one day in the hall of the palace did not bring this beautiful green forest, which is easy to put all the gifts.

Christmas tree on Christmas firmly in fashion among the courtiers. Especially in the Winter Palace was then taken to let for Christmas, not only the court, and all children who wish to share with the king of the holy feast (but not more than 4000 people). Since the royal tree saw thousands of eyes.

Yet in the 30 years of XIX century Christmas trees were placed on a holiday mainly in the homes of the Germans in St. Petersburg. In the story "Christmas tree and a Wedding" Fyodor Dostoevsky, published in 1848, says that five years ago, the hero was invited on the eve of the new year on a children's ball from the tree. Dostoevsky it comes to Petersburg, where there are many foreigners, including Germans. But in Moscow this custom if nothing else was known. According to A. Remizov, "neither the common people, either in old buildings of the old order is not a Christmas ritual for the holy night to light the Christmas tree ... It is for me to say - guidance on the antiquity of our Moscow, I do not know childhood is no Christmas tree ... It's quite an adult, I saw for the first time (the end of XIX century.) Christmas tree - it lit us after the evening service on Christmas Eve. "

Only at the end of the XIX century, Christmas trees began in Russia, the main decoration and urban and rural homes, and became inseparable from the winter holidays. But in 1916, Christmas trees on Russian soil were in disgrace. As during the Great Patriotic War, the nobility gave up the language of Napoleon, and in the imperialist Holy Synod called Russian patriots do not put in the homes of thorny trees, as they came to us from the German tradition.

In 1918, at the tree took up arms against the Soviet regime - but now as a superstition. Nevertheless, many continued to celebrate Christmas and decorating the Christmas tree in secret.

 

The prohibited Christmas tree stayed up until 1935, when the authorities had an idea: do not celebrate Christmas and New Year. The silver eight-pointed star of Bethlehem at the top of the tree was a red five-pointed, and under-dressed Christmas trees a country on the orders of Stalin greeted the new, 1935 from the Nativity. Since then, the persecution of the Christmas tree in our country have stopped. Every winter, we now celebrate Christmas and New Year in her company, even knowing how long and difficult was it the historical way into our homes.

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[Люси]

The old year leave of sorrow,
Forget the anxiety, resentment, trouble --
Only health, success and happiness
I wish for you in the New Year!

[LCR]

Yes, Well, I also join in the congratulations and wishes

All artists of visitors to this forum, I wish the intensive and fruitful work (after all, is one of very few professions where the work or deliver incomparable pleasure - I know this for my husband, my friends), and numerous successful exhibitions and prestigious sales.

All dealers and gallery owners - and successful exhibitions and countless sales of the most expensive price (what yuez this? Not earn - and the show will not be able to organize!), And in addition, the discovery of new talented artists.

All collectors - new and exciting acquisitions (at the best prices - as you see, depending on the category of optics is changing, and you say, the theory of relativity!).

All forumistam, regardless of category - a lot of happiness and success in all that is important for nihz, health and so on - it is difficult not to be banal, in formulating the new year wishes, however brief.

[Тютчев]

CButvymGohouse!