Pushkin in the Style of Sargent
How Neural Networks (Gemini, Midjourney, Sora) are Helping to Resurrect the Golden Age
Article Author: Historian Sergei Gavrilov
Recently, we conducted a rather fascinating series of experiments at the crossroads of classical Russian literature and advanced AI-visualization technologies. Our aim was not merely to churn out illustrations, but rather to see just how capably modern neural networks might handle culturally specific and historical material.
The Selection of Tools and a Spot of Fine-Tuning
Our very first task was to create a series of watercolors illustrating Pushkin’s rather playful quatrain, “And you shall be left wondering.” Sergei was busily working on an article concerning the Velho sisters, who happen to be mentioned within it:
And you shall be left wondering
On the bank of frozen waters:
“Is Mamzelle Schroeder with her red nose
Not bringing the lovely Velhos?”
We decided to test several of the more popular tools:
Midjourney: This particular generator proved, in our estimation, to be one of the most remarkably powerful. However, to coax out the precise style we desired, it required no fewer than ten attempts and a rather frightfully complex prompt, complete with reference images (a portrait of Pushkin alongside a separate picture of a young lady). The resulting images emerged quite splendidly in the watercolor style of John Singer Sargent.
Sora: When fed the exact same prompt, Sora produced a result that leaned rather heavily toward a “children’s illustration.” Despite this little hiccup, Sergei managed to successfully employ Sora to translate Pushkin’s verses into watercolors.
Gemini (Google’s AI): We employed Gemini for a spot of additional processing—specifically, to apply a watercolor touch to an image that had initially been conjured up in Midjourney.
Over the course of our work, it became quite clear that AI generators are rather “oriented towards Western content.” This means the operator must possess a frightfully thorough understanding of precisely what the machine “knows” and “does not know” in order to coax out relevant Russian imagery. Nevertheless, the final result was a set of genuinely marvelous watercolors which, in Sergei’s own estimation, turned out to be “stunning, lively, and bright”—along with a website constructed entirely with the help of AI visuals.
