Paintings depicting rural life. Russian painter Alexei Gavrilovich Venetsianov
28.04.2017Each of us carries the world of childhood. Everything that surrounded us in childhood acquires with age deep meaning. Half-forgotten memories of that time in adulthood seem to us significant and deep. Often they determine the fate of a person, and if we are talking O creative person, then set the horizons of creative interests.
Simple Russian truth
Most of the Russian artists of the 19th century, who depicted the Russian village, were superficially familiar with its life. And only Vasily Maksimovich Maksimov (1844-1911) knew the world of the Russian village from birth, was a part of this world. Throughout his life he carried the love of patriarchal world Russian peasantry.
The childhood of the artist Vasily Maksimov passed in the village of Lopino, Novoladozhsky district, St. Petersburg province. His parents were state peasants, and until the age of ten Maximov grew up in the countryside. Poetic sensitivity woke up early in the boy. It was surrounded by a centuries-old way of life peasant life, colorful rituals of weddings and agricultural holidays, huts with beautiful carvings, costumes, home textiles, embroideries on them. And most importantly, simple working people, from whom he learned diligence, honesty, sincerity and mercy.
The father and mother of the future artist were the only literate people in the village. Vasily's great-grandfather was also famous in the village as a literate man. The father began to teach his son to read early. Just as early, the boy began to draw. His mother encouraged this inclination. But already at the age of six, Vasily survived the death of his father, and at ten, his mother.
With what reverence he wrote much later in his memoirs of people dear to him! The description of the mother is especially striking: “The late uncle Father Trifilius, recalling his sister, said: “Everyone was ready to confess to your mother, she inspired such a feeling with her whole being.” She could not stand lies in people and did not lie herself, she always told the truth, but she was so able to say that very rarely anyone was offended by her. From us she demanded complete sincerity and, when she noticed the slightest evasiveness, reproachfully directed her Brown eyes And this brought me back to the truth.
Vasily Maksimovich did not remember his mother sitting idle, getting angry or condemning anyone. She bore her early widowhood with dignity, not falling into despair when she was left alone with her three sons, but trusting in the will of God.
Difficult path
During her lifetime, her mother managed to send her son to the monastery school, and then to the novices of the Nikolaev Monastery. In the house of Hieromonk Anthony (Bochkov), his entire "monastic spiritual life" proceeded. Here the boy read books by N.V. Gogol, I.A. Krylov, Plutarch, recognized the poems of A.S. Pushkin. But Vasily soon left the monastery to study drawing. On a wagon of hay, brother Alexei brought Vasily to St. Petersburg. Here future artist entered the icon-painting workshop, where he was often offended and punished. Having escaped from this owner, he ended up with another. Life here was no easier, but here he was at least allowed to go to a drawing school with Institute of Technology, where he was accepted immediately into the third grade.
To survive in such conditions, Vasily needed to have great perseverance and inner aspiration. To live, the young man painted icons and portraits of local merchants. Finally, at the age of eighteen, he passed entrance exams to the Academy of Arts.
January 7, 1863 V.M. Maximov began his studies with reverence and delight. For him, the time of rapid success began. Soon he became the first in the class in drawing. Throughout the course, the peasant son Vasily Maximov was one of best students. He was talented in everything: he sang beautifully, wrote poetry, played in performances, was fond of woodcarving, etching, selflessly engaged in carpentry work - he made chairs, dishes and bowls. He did not tolerate idleness and satiety.
He passionately and genuinely loved his homeland. “I never considered a trip abroad to be the height of well-being, I even found it harmful to young man who does not know his homeland. Love for the motherland instilled in me my mother with her stories about Moscow, Kyiv and other places. What a connoisseur of foreign cities I am when I haven’t seen my own, and upon returning, perhaps, you won’t be able to understand and appreciate your own, ”he wrote.
In the autumn of 1866, Vasily Maksimov received a certificate with the title of an artist of the 3rd degree, after which he settled in native village. He lived in a hut, wore a Russian shirt and trousers; the tailor-brother sewed for him a tanned sheepskin coat with embroidery. The peasants accepted Maksimov, he became theirs for them. The authority of the artist was so great that the peasants went to him for advice, he was invited to family sections, with many peasants he corresponded later long years. Village life and writing peasant paintings became a real asceticism of a deeply convinced and strong in spirit artist.
Peasant son and general's daughter
Visiting the neighboring estate of General Izmailova, Vasily met her daughter. “I fell in love with this wonderful girl, I fell in love sacredly, I’m ready to lay down my head for her if circumstances demanded, but I concealed this feeling from everyone so that no one touched roughly this shrine. Meanwhile, the disturbing feeling of the unknown haunts me day and night,” the artist wrote.
Maximov was afraid that she and her parents, being nobles, would not accept him, peasant son living with his brothers in a simple hut. He was not ashamed of his roots and wrote with pride that "he does not intend to abandon his relatives in the future."
The fears were in vain: Lydia warmly and simply accepted the timid and inept recognition of the artist. And soon, on January 29, 1868, the general's daughter became the wife of a peasant. Lydia Alexandrovna became the artist's muse and adviser.
“You are ours, if you write, it’s not for laughter”
Vasily Maksimov works with enthusiasm, one after another, paintings appear in which, without idealization, but also without rough naturalism, the artist, faithful to the truth, shows Russian peasant world. Ilya Repin said best of all about Maksimov: “His paintings can be called pearls folk art. They are modest, not spectacular, they do not scream with their colors, they do not cry out with their plots ... this is the simplest Russian eternal truth. She shines from Maximov's unpretentious paintings, from every face and gesture ... "
The audience paid attention to the work of Vasily Maksimov very early. His painting "Grandma's Tales", written by the artist at the age of 23, was bought for his famous gallery philanthropist P.M. Tretyakov, who later acquired all major works Vasily Maksimovich.
The peasants themselves, who posed for Maximov, told him: “You are ours, if you write, it’s not for laughter.” These pictures are amazing. Log huts with their modest and poor life at first glance seem miserable to the viewer. But it is worth peering, and an understanding comes of how complex and deep the world of their inhabitants is. The obligatory emphasis is made by the artist on the image of the red corner of the Russian hut. Rows of icons stand here, a lampada burns, illuminating the walls of a poor dwelling with a golden light. And in moments of despair, danger, disaster, it is these icons that the heroes of his paintings turn their eyes to.
A traveling exhibition in 1882 featured several of Maximov's paintings. One of them is "Sick Husband". The artist continued a theme close to him, depicting a sick village peasant on a couch in a hut, next to him his wife bent over the icons. This was part of his childhood memories of his father's illness and mother's fervent prayer.
Several times V. M. Maksimov traveled to the Volga. In the village of Varvarikha, near Yuryevets, he will write the touching "Blind Master". The blind owner of the house sits on a bench by the window, holding on his knees small child. The father feeds the baby, next to it is a cradle-cradle stuffed with straw. Homemade in the field. Rods and tools are scattered everywhere. The owner weaves baskets, he is not a burden to the family, but its support. Surprisingly calm expression on his face. And here, in this poor house, they live with faith and hope in the mercy and help of God.
During these years, Maksimov created a whole series of paintings dedicated to the life of the poor, the difficult peasant lot: “Poor Dinner” (1879), “Auction for arrears” (1880), “Bread loan” (1882), “At my lane” (1891) , "The dashing mother-in-law" (1893). The artist could not stand falsehood and "writing". I. N. Kramskoy said about his works: “Yes, yes, the people themselves painted their own picture.”
"Unfashionable" artist
In 1885, the artist's wife, Lidia Alexandrovna, became the heiress of the Lyubsha estate. Maximov enthusiastically began to rebuild the dilapidated estate and located a workshop on the first floor. But hopes for a prosperous future did not come true. Need haunted the artist all his life. The family grew, there were already four children: two daughters and two sons. And his paintings were less and less interested in viewers and critics, they were less and less bought. The artist did not stop working, tried himself in new genres, participated in exhibitions of the Wanderers.
A new time has come, requiring complex images and ambiguous themes. Maximov did not want to follow the fleeting fashion. In addition, during a trip to his homeland, the artist fell into a ravine on the Volkhov, and was in cold water for a long time. Since then, the disease has ravaged his body. Constant poverty made life difficult for the family. Hopes for income from Lyubsha did not materialize, and Maksimov was completely ruined. Moved to Petersburg. The last surge of energy allowed the sick artist to take up the painting " Forgiveness Sunday". He made several sketches. But the picture remained unfinished. December 1, 1911 the artist died.
Peasant's son, truly folk artist Vasily Maksimov throughout his life, out of time and fashion, remained true to his main calling: "selfless service to his great people." “I feel right only in the fidelity of my view of the life of the people, which I love,” said V. M. Maksimov. And today we need this truth in order to feel with gratitude and love a part of our people, their past and present.
Prepared by Oksana BALANDINA
How is the work of the Russian artist with the sonorous surname Venetsianov most often defined? Paintings depicting genre scenes from peasant life are called the beginning of the national household genre in painting, a phenomenon that would eventually flourish in the era of the Wanderers.
But the magnitude of Venetsianov's artistic talent, the scale of his human personality had a huge impact on the development of Russian visual arts not only within the same genre. This becomes especially noticeable when looking closely at his canvases.
"Portrait of a mother" (1802)
Alexei Gavrilovich Venetsianov was born in 1780 into a Moscow merchant family with ancestors from Greece. In Russia, they received the nickname Veneziano, later converted into a Russian surname. When Alexei became interested in drawing, his studies did not seem like something serious parents. Maybe that's why he didn't get a regular art education. It is believed that he received the first knowledge about the technique of painting from the "uncle" - the educator, and main source artistic education that Venetsianov received - paintings by old masters in museums and creations contemporary painters in salons and galleries.
The main genre in Russian painting of that time was the portrait, and therefore the first painting experience of Venetsianov known to us belongs to this genre. mother - Anna Lukinichna, nee Kalashnikova.
It is noticeable how the twenty-two-year-old youth still lacks painting skills, how difficult it is for him to convey volume, air and light. But something else is also visible - his ability to convey different textures of fabric, sufficient confidence in the drawing. And most importantly, he managed to convey the feelings of his model: some embarrassment and tension of the mother from her unusual role and his tender attitude towards her.
"Self-portrait" (1811)
After 1802, Venetsianov moved to St. Petersburg, where he tried to make a name for himself and start earning a living through painting. Soon he was forced to enter the service of a minor official in the postal office. Lucky case allowed him to get acquainted with the famous portrait painter V. L. Borovikovsky (1757-1825), who highly appreciated the paintings of Venetsianov and became his mentor both in the profession and in life. Perhaps due to his influence, Venetsianov petitions the Academy of Arts for the official title of painter. According to the charter of the Academy, the applicant had to submit his work. To this end, Venetsianov paints a self-portrait.
In this picture you can already see high level technical skill of the artist. This is an accurate and truthful work of a true realist, devoid of romantic touch and embellishment. The psychological depth of the image created by the artist was also highly appreciated. Here and attentive focus on work, and a clearly felt sense of self-esteem.
Venetsianov was defined by the Council of the Academy of Arts as "appointed" - one of the formal qualification levels of the artist, which made it possible to obtain the title of academician after completing a task assigned by the Council. Venetsianov becomes an academician after writing a given portrait of K. I. Golovachevsky.
"Barn" (1821)
Soon after receiving the title of academician of painting, Venetsianov unexpectedly leaves the capital and service and settles in his estate Safonkovo in the Tver province. Here he creates his most significant works, dedicated to the poeticization of peasant life.
Before starting work on the painting “The Barn”, the artist ordered his serfs to dismantle the front wall in a large barn where grain was stored. He set himself the task of conveying depth, similar to those that struck him in the paintings of the French painter Francois Granet. In addition to the image of a room receding into the distance, amazing for that time, the carefully verified composition of frozen in different poses figures of peasants and animals. They are full of ancient significance and amazing poetry.
The painting was highly appreciated by Emperor Alexander I, who bought it from the artist, and also presented the author with a diamond ring. This slightly eased his financial situation.
“On the arable land. Spring" (1820s)
Many paintings by Alexei Gavrilovich Venetsianov are full of secrets and mysteries that are still beyond the control of professionals and art lovers. Such is a small canvas (65 x 51 cm) with an almost Botticelli title and a poetic sound commensurate with greatest masterpieces Renaissance. It is believed that this picture is part of a cycle dedicated to the seasons.
The scene of peasant labor appears as an action full of sacred, cosmic meaning. The figure of a young woman who went to hard work, wearing her best clothes, a child on the edge of the field, making the plot look like an icon of the Virgin, the mirror figure of another peasant woman leaving in the depths - everything is full of mysteries. The landscape is filled with significance and great simplicity, against which these ordinary and at the same time majestic events take place. Alexei Venetsianov, whose paintings are difficult to attribute to certain genre, is considered one of the founders of the Russian poetic landscape.
"Reapers" (1820s)
But the main genre for Venetsianov remains the portrait, and the main task he solves is the expression of genuine interest and respect for those he portrays. High pictorial skill, combined with laconicism and sophistication of the composition, enhances the impression that Venetsianov has on the viewer. the contents of which can fit into a few phrases, amaze with depth and versatility, even if their heroes are simple peasants.
On the hand of the reaper, who stopped for a moment to rest, two butterflies sat down. A boy looks at them over his shoulder, mesmerized by their beauty. The artist painted almost a snag - it seems that now the light wings will flutter and disappear in the summer heat. The main characters are just as real - their faces, hands, clothes. The feelings expressed by the young woman and the child also seem real, and most importantly, one can feel how Venetsianov admires them.
"Morning of the landowner" (1823)
The role of Venetsianov as the founder of genre diversity in Russian painting is undeniable. One of the first he tried to draw attention to the special beauty of Russian nature, paving the way for future brilliant landscape painters - Levitan, Shishkin, Kuindzhi, Savrasov. In the portrait, he showed completely unusual main characters - people from the people. But the poeticization of the everyday genre was a particularly innovative phenomenon.
It is believed that the master made his wife, Marfa Afanasievna, and her serf girls the heroines of his painting. This explains the warm feeling that permeates this canvas. There is no confrontation between the hostess and her forced servants - it is more like a family scene in which the girls have their own dignity and calm beauty. Not less than important role the environment plays in the picture: the content of the interior is lovingly drawn out and - what is especially striking - soft, but all-filling light.
"Zakharka" (1825)
Peasant children - frequent characters portraits and genre paintings written by Venetsianov. Paintings "Sleeping Shepherd", "Here are those father's dinner”, “Shepherd with a horn” depict children not as incorporeal cherubs from icons and classical paintings - these are full-fledged heroes with their own character, experiencing powerful emotions that are part of the harmony of our world. Such is Zakharka - main character With names and descriptions similar works the artist becomes clear his vocation as a teacher, which left its mark on Russian painting.
He thought about the fate of talented children born as serfs when he saw a yard boy trying to draw something with chalk on a blackboard. Soon the “Venetsianov school” was born from this. In addition to teaching skills, he gave shelter to peasant children, fed and watered them, tried to redeem many of them to freedom. Among the students of Venetsianov - brilliant Gregory Forty and about 70 artists, many of whom graduated from the capital's Academy of Arts. The activities of the school proceeded in the face of opposition from official academicians, who did not honor Venetsianov with the title of teacher of painting.
“In the harvest. Summer" (182?)
His life cannot be called carefree, it has always been filled with work and trouble. Its end was also tragic and unexpected - Alexei Gavrilovich died in 1847, when the horses harnessed to his wagon suddenly got scared and carried away, and he, trying to stop them, fell onto the road.
Man on earth, the harmony of his relationship with nature, with the whole world around - main topic artist Venetsianov, main point and the value of his heritage, something for which his name is revered by connoisseurs and lovers of Russian painting. The picture depicting a reaper against the backdrop of a recognizable Russian landscape, which at the same time has cosmic significance, is one of the pinnacles of the great Russian painter's work.
There is no work more honorable and more important than cultivating the land. Unfortunately this simple truth does not always work in this world. However, the poetics of peasant labor, harmony with the surrounding world, the feeling of satisfaction from a job well done have always interested artists. One of the first to the topic rural life the Dutch artist Pieter Brueghel the Elder, nicknamed Muzhitsky for his passion, turned. In the cycle of paintings "Seasons", three of the five surviving works show rural everyday life: "Return of the herds", "Haymaking" and "Harvest". Two latest canvases differ in their peaceful and joyful atmosphere from most of Brueghel's works.
At the beginning of the 17th century, in European, and especially in French, painting, the pastoral genre became especially popular - an idealistic depiction of rural life. The most famous paintings describing rural life, Francois Boucher: "Farm", "Morning in the Village", "Resting Peasants". However, everything depicted on the pastorals is far from real life, and only by the beginning of the Enlightenment, realism begins to prevail in pastoral painting, for example, works English artist Thomas Gainsborough "Return of the Peasants from the Market", "Return from the Harvest".
The pastoral painting of Alexei Venetsianov is filled with Russian flavor. His paintings, idealizing the life of the Russian peasant, have always been quite popular: “On arable land. Spring”, “Reapers”, “Sleeping Shepherd”. Despite the romanticization of rural life, Venetsianov strove for maximum realism in his work, for example, to work on the painting “The Barn”, a wall was dismantled near this agricultural building in the artist’s estate. Again, interest in peasant labor in Russian painting arises with the advent of the Association of Traveling Exhibitions. For example, Grigory Myasoedov's painting "Mowers" (Holy Time) ripens the joy of labor and its unity with the hot landscape. Often referred to peasant theme Ivan Kramskoy. Known series peasant portraits"Melnik", "Woodsman", "Contemplator", "Beekeeper" and others, in which representatives of some rural professions are typified.
Vincent van Gogh addressed this topic many times, so one of the few paintings sold during the life of the artist "Red Vineyards in Arles" depicting the grape harvest. Another famous "rural" painting by Van Gogh is The Potato Eaters. Several times he turned to the topic touched upon in the canvas "The Sower", because he believed that the sower personifies the rebirth and infinity of life. Although Dutch artist referred to as post-impressionists, in his understanding of the complexity, monotony and exhaustingness of peasant labor, he becomes a real realist. Perhaps Van Gogh adopted such an attitude to rural life from Jean Millet, whose work greatly influenced young artist. Millet himself, the founder of the Barbizon school, said to himself that he was just a peasant. However, in his works, sometimes a certain poetry of rural life slips through “The Gatherer of Ears”, “Angelus”, “Flower”, “The Sower”, “Threshing” and many others.
The artist Arkady Plastov was called the singer of the Soviet peasantry. In his numerous paintings he sings of hard labour collective farmer. All of his characters have very expressive hands - strong, knotty, not afraid of any work. Today it is customary to blame his paintings ("Harvest", "Haymaking", "In Summer", "Tractor Driver's Dinner", "Potato Picking") in " socialist realism" - embellishment of reality, however, they are unique in their pronounced national character and nationality of images. Artists saw it this way different countries and eras, complex and thankless peasant labor, not without its own special charm and beauty.
Nikolai Nevrev. "Torg. Scene from serf life". 1866
One landowner sells a serf girl to another. Imposingly shows the buyer five fingers - five hundred rubles. 500 rubles - the price of a Russian serf in the first half of the 19th century. The seller of the girl is a European-educated nobleman. Pictures on the walls, books. The girl dutifully waits for her fate, other slaves crowded in the doorway and watch how the bargaining ends. Yearning.
Vasily Perov. "Rural religious procession at Easter". 1861
Russian village 19th century Orthodox Easter. Everyone is drunk as hell, including the priest. The dude in the center carries the icon upside down and is about to fall. Some have already fallen. Funny! The essence of the picture - the commitment of the Russian people to Orthodoxy is exaggerated. Addiction to alcohol is clearly stronger. Perov was a recognized master genre painting and a portrait. But this picture of him tsarist Russia was banned from display and reproduction. Censorship!
Nikolai Nevrev. "Prododeacon proclaiming longevity at merchant name days". 1866
Merchants ,
For the most part, yesterday's peasants are walking around. Pop entertains drunken guests. Apparently, the priest has also rolled up. By the way, the guy on the left has cool pants (with a bottle), Cherkizon is resting.
Grigory Myasoedov. "The land is having lunch." 1872
Times of Alexander II. Serfdom cancelled. Introduced local government- zemstvos. Peasants were also chosen there. But there is an abyss between them and the higher classes. Therefore, lunch apartheid. Gentlemen - in the house, with the waiters, the peasants - at the door.
Fedor Vasiliev. "Village". 1869
1869 The landscape is beautiful, but the village, if you look closely, is poor. Wretched houses, leaky roofs, the road is buried in mud.
Jan Hendrik Verheyen. "Dutch village with figures of people". 1st floor 19th century.
Well, that's it, for comparison :)
Alexey Korzukhin. "Return from the city". 1870
The situation in the house is poor, a child crawls on the shabby floor, the father brought a modest gift from the city for an older daughter - a bunch of bagels. True, there are many children in the family - only in the picture there are three of them, plus perhaps one more in a makeshift cradle.
Sergei Korovin. "On the world". 1893
This is a village of the late 19th century. There are no more serfs, but a stratification has appeared - kulaks. At a village meeting - some kind of dispute between the poor and the kulak. For the poor man, the topic, apparently, is vital, he almost sobs. The rich fist neighs over him. The other fists in the background are also giggling at the rogue loser. But the comrade to the right of the poor man was imbued with his words. There are already two ready-made members of the committee, it remains to wait for 1917.
Vasily Maksimov. "Auction for arrears". 1881-82.
The tax office is freaking out. Tsarist officials sell samovars, cast-iron pots and other peasant belongings under the hammer. The heaviest taxes on peasants were redemption payments. Alexander II "The Liberator" actually freed the peasants for money - then for many years they were obliged to pay to their native state for the allotments of land that they were given along with their will. In fact, the peasants had this land before, they used it for many generations while they were serfs. But when they became free, they were forced to pay for this land. The payment had to be made in installments, right up to 1932. In 1907, against the background of the revolution, the authorities abolished these requisitions.
Vladimir Makovsky. "On the boulevard". 1886-1887
At the end of the 19th century industrialization came to Russia. The youth are moving to the city. She has a roof over there. They are no longer interested in their old life. And this young hard worker is not even interested in his peasant wife, who came to him from the village. She is not advanced. The girl is horrified. Proletarian with an accordion - all according to FIG.
Vladimir Makovsky. "Date". 1883
There is poverty in the village. The boy was given "to the people." Those. sent to the city to work for the owner, who exploits child labor. The mother came to visit her son. Tom obviously has a hard time, his mother sees everything. The boy greedily eats the brought bun.
And further Vladimir Makovsky. Bank crash. 1881
A crowd of deceived depositors in the bank office. Everyone is in shock. A rogue banker (on the right) quietly dumps with a loot. The cop looks the other way, like he doesn't see him.
Pavel Fedotov. " fresh cavalier". 1846
The young official received the first order. Washed all night. The next morning, putting the cross right on the dressing gown, he demonstrates it to the cook. Crazy look full of arrogance. The cook, personifying the people, looks at him with irony. Fedotov was a master of such psychological pictures. The meaning of this: flashing lights are not on cars, but in their heads.
More Pavel Fedotov. "Breakfast of an aristocrat".1849-1850.
In the morning, the impoverished nobleman was taken by surprise by unexpected guests. He hastily covers his breakfast (a piece of black bread) French novel. Nobles (3% of the population) were a privileged class in old Russia. owned huge amount lands around the country, but a good farmer from them rarely turned out. Not a bar business. As a result - poverty, debts, everything is mortgaged and re-mortgaged in banks. At Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard" the estate of the landowner Ranevskaya is being sold for debts. Buyers (wealthy merchants) are tearing up the estate, and one really needs the master's The Cherry Orchard(to resell for dachas). The reason for the problems of the Ranevsky family is idleness in several generations. Nobody took care of the estate, and the mistress herself lived abroad for the last 5 years and wasted money.
Boris Kustodiev. "Merchant". 1918
The provincial merchant class is Kustodiev's favorite topic. While the nobles in Paris were squandering their estates, these people rose from the bottom, making money in a vast country where there was where to put their hands and capital. It is noteworthy that the picture was painted in 1918, when the Kustodiev merchants and merchants throughout the country were already in full swing against the bourgeoisie.
Ilya Repin. "The Procession to Kursk province". 1880-1883.
Different strata of society come to the procession, and Repin portrayed them all. Ahead they carry a lantern with candles, followed by an icon, then they go the best people- officials in uniforms, priests in gold, merchants, nobles. On the sides - security (on horseback), then - the common people. The people on the roadsides periodically rake, so as not to cut off the authorities and not climb into his lane. Tretyakov did not like the constable in the picture (on the right, in white, with all his foolishness he beats someone from the crowd with a whip). He asked the artist to remove this Cop lawlessness from the plot. But Repin refused. Tretyakov bought the painting anyway. For 10,000 rubles, which was just a colossal amount at that time.
Ilya Repin. "Convergence". 1883
But these young guys in another picture of Repin - they no longer go with the crowd to all sorts of religious processions. They have their own way - terror. This " Narodnaya Volya", an underground organization of revolutionaries who assassinated Tsar Alexander II.
Nikolai Bogdanov-Belsky. "Mental account. In public school S.A. Rachinsky ". 1895
Rural school. Peasant children in bast shoes. But the desire to learn is there. The teacher is in a European suit with a bow tie. This a real man- Sergey Rachinsky. Mathematician, professor at Moscow University. Volunteer taught at rural school in the village Tatevo (now Tver region), where he had an estate. Great deal. According to the 1897 census, the literacy rate in Russia was only 21%.
Jan Matejko. "Shackled Poland". 1863
According to the 1897 census, 21% were literate in the country, and 44% were Great Russians. Empire! Interethnic relations the country has never been smooth. The painting by the Polish artist Jan Matejko was painted in memory of the anti-Russian uprising of 1863. Russian officers with vicious mugs shackle a girl (Poland), defeated, but not broken. Behind her sits another girl (blonde), who symbolizes Lithuania. Another Russian paws her dirty. The Pole on the right, sitting facing the viewer, is the spitting image of Dzerzhinsky.
Nikolay Pimomenko. "Victim of Fanaticism" 1899
The picture shows real case, which was in the city of Kremenets (West Ukraine). A Jewish girl fell in love with a Ukrainian blacksmith. The young decided to get married with the bride's conversion to Christianity. This disturbed the local Jewish community. They behaved extremely intolerantly. The parents (on the right in the picture) disowned their daughter, and the girl was obstructed. The victim has a cross around his neck, in front of him is a rabbi with fists, behind him is a worried public with clubs.
Franz Rubo. "The assault on the village of Gimry". 1891
Caucasian war of the 19th century Hellish batch of Dags and Chechens by the tsarist army. The aul of Gimry (Shamil's ancestral village) fell on October 17, 1832. By the way, since 2007, the counter-terrorist operation regime has again been operating in the aul of Gimry. The last (at the time of writing this post) sweep by riot police was on April 11, 2013. The first one is in the picture below:
Vasily Vereshchagin. "Opium eaters". 1868
The picture was painted by Vereshchagin in Tashkent during one of the Turkestan campaigns of the Russian army. middle Asia then annexed to Russia. How the participants in the campaigns of the ancestors of the current guest workers saw - Vereshchagin left paintings and memoirs about this. Dirt, poverty, drugs...
Peasant life in the work of Russian artists.
The theme of the peasantry and peasant life attracted and excited many Russian artists. They turned to folk life And labor activity ordinary people and saw in this a special significance. believed that the peasantry is the backbone of the Russian state, and peasants are the main keepers of Russian traditions and culture of the country, because it was the peasantry who for many centuries managed to preserve the original Russian way of life and self-organization.
The life of a peasant was highly dependent on the change of seasons. In the period from spring to autumn, they worked in the field, picked mushrooms and berries for the winter, grazed cattle and prepared hay and firewood for the cold.
N.E. Makovsky "Feeding turkeys" oil on canvas. V.E. Makovsky "Girl with geese" oil on canvas. 1875
VE Makovsky "Fisherwomen" oil on canvas. 1886
I.F. Khrutsky "Portrait of a boy" oil on canvas. 1834. A.I. Strelkovskiy "At the Well" watercolor on paper. 1878.
Most of the time in the summer, the peasants, young and old, spent in the field. Therefore, a lot of rituals and holidays were associated with agriculture and the change of seasons. The peasants even had their own special calendar, which fixed milestones agricultural work and holidays associated with their completion.
A.G. Venetsianov "On arable land, spring" oil on canvas. 1820
G. Myasoedov. "The Passionate Time" oil on canvas. 1887
The peasants spent the whole day in the field. They worked from spring, growing crops all summer and early autumn. They went to the field with the whole family, where they dined and rested. In the field they even took infants who were supposed to be looked after by the older guys.
A.G. Venetsianov "Reapers" oil on canvas. 1820s
Makovsky K.E. " Peasant lunch in the field” oil on canvas. 1871
Z.E. Serebryakova "Peasants" oil on canvas. 1914
Makovsky K.E. "Reaper" oil on canvas. 1871
Harvest The final stage of farming was harvesting or “harvesting”. The peasants took this time very seriously, because they were gathering the long-awaited harvest, the result of everyday work. They said: "What you collect in August, you will spend the winter with it." “The first sheaf is the first autumn holiday”On the Assumption (August 28 - according to a new style), the holiday of the end of the harvest (dozhinki) was celebrated. These days used to be performed ancient rite associated with the veneration of mother earth.
Z.E.Serebryakova. "Harvest" oil on canvas. 1915
A.G. Venetsianov “Summer, At the Harvest” oil on canvas. 1820
K.S.Malevich "Hacks" oil on canvas. 1912
In winter, the peasants were mainly engaged in household chores. The women sat at the needlework. They spun, weaved, knitted, sewed new clothes. Men went hunting, harvested firewood, fished, made tools for summer jobs. In some villages, they were engaged in folk crafts, such as basket weaving or pottery.
VG Malyshev "Kitchen" oil on canvas.
Z.E.Serebryakova "Peasant woman with pots" paper, watercolor, whitewash 1900s A.G.Venetsianov "Peasant woman at embroidery" oil on canvas 1843
I.A. Pelevin "Children in a sleigh" oil on canvas. 1870
Most peasant families had many children. Children with early years love for one's family, respect for elders, fellow villagers, respect for parents were instilled. They grew up in conditions of mutual assistance, older children always helped and looked after the younger ones, and the younger ones obeyed the elders. Peasant children worked together with adults, over time doing more and more difficult and responsible work, often doing the same work as their parents.
V.E. Makovsky "Peasant Children" oil on canvas.
A. M. Kolesov “Peasant woman giving a drink to a soldier” oil on canvas 1859 K. V. Lemokh “Varka” oil on canvas. 1893
V.E. Makovsky "Shepherds" oil on canvas. 1903
A.G. Venetsianov “The Sleeping Shepherd” wood, oil. 1824
V. Vasnetsov "For Water" oil on canvas. N. Pimonenko "Boy with a basket" canvas on cardboard, oil. late XIX– early XX
A.G. Venetsianov "Peasant children in the field" oil on canvas. 1820s Makovsky K.E. "Children running from a thunderstorm" oil on canvas. 1872
In the Russian village of the past, an important aspect of social and family life constituted a holiday. Holidays interrupted the monotony of everyday life, set a certain rhythm for life. The holiday was a real ritual, where everything had its time, its place. Sunday after working week- the day is not just a free day, but a festive day, for which they are preparing.
We were seriously preparing for the big holidays. The hostesses washed the floors and heated the baths, dressed in smart clothes, went to the festive service in the church, baked pies, cooked meat soup. Gathered on the table, spread a clean tablecloth, put treats. The father of the family played the accordion, sang songs, danced. Major holidays were celebrated by the whole village. The peasants even said: “We have been working for the holiday all year long.”
K.A.Trutovsky "Dance on the Trinity in the Kursk province" oil on canvas. 1860
One of brightest moments peasants had young years before marriage. This is the time of joint games of girls and boys, gatherings, round dances, caroling at Christmas time.
A special place in the life of peasant youth was occupied by a round dance. The round dance often began like this: two or three young women and the same number of brides stood in the middle of the street and began to “play songs”. Many young women and girls joined them, then young men and boys came up, often with harmonicas, rattles, tambourines. Then one of the participants was already singing loudly, and a guy with a handkerchief in his hands came out into the middle of the circle. A round dance began ... Round dance
B.M. Kustodiev "round dance" oil on canvas
A.P. Ryabushkin "A guy got into a round dance" oil on canvas. 1902
Wedding Wedding was the main ritual in the life of a peasant. Marriage meant acquiring the status of a full and full member of the community. The whole settlement participated in the ritual, and each of the participants had a role consecrated by tradition. Married and married necessarily with the consent of the parents and with their blessing.
E.V. Chestnyakov "Svahonka, my dear, come out!" wood, tempera
E.V. Chestnyakov "Peasant Wedding" wood, oil
Long winter evenings, especially on Christmas Eve, peasant girls wondered, trying to penetrate the secrets of their fate and unravel who their betrothed would be. Divination
N. K. Pimonenko " Christmas divination" canvas, oil. 1988 A. G. Venetsianov "Fortune-telling on the cards" oil on canvas. 1842
The presentation was prepared by the teacher additional education GBOU school No. 245 of the Primorsky district of St. Petersburg Oreshkina Natalya Nikolaevna. 2014
