Each work of Valentin Serov has its own unique "character." He created in most cases in the genre of neoclassicism and used only oil for his paintings. Because of this, his images on the canvas did not have clear lines, but there were plenty of different color shades and transitions. The portrait of Gorky Maxim was no exception, but in him the artist preferred to use a small variety of colors, he used mainly dark tones.
Further in the article, we will consider in more detail what techniques the painter turned to in order to fully convey the image of the writer.
Creative revolutionary
Peshkov Alexey Maksimovich (Gorky's real name) was born March 28, 1868 in the city of Nizhny Novgorod in a military family. Mother was from a petty bourgeois family, she was widowed early, as father Maxim Savvateevich died of cholera. This loss really impressed little Alyosha, because they were the closest people and spent a lot of time together. Therefore, after a while, in his teens, Alexei Peshkov took a pseudonym - Maxim Gorky - in honor of his father.
After some time, mother also passed away due to a long illness.
At 11, the young writer was left completely alone, working as a dishwasher, baker and so on.
By the end of the 80s of the 19th century, Peshkov Aleksei Maksimovich entered Kazan University, where he first became acquainted with Marxist literature, and there he began to write propaganda materials.
In 1892 he published his first work, Makar Chudra, and, returning to his native Nizhny Novgorod, began to collaborate with local publications, where he promoted his creations. Since 1917, he has been active in political and revolutionary activities, advocates for the old intelligentsia, and condemns the methods of the Bolsheviks.
Soon Gorky became seriously ill, on the orders of Lenin he was sent for treatment abroad. After 10 years, namely by 1932, he returned to the USSR, after which he continued to be published. His works are devoted to revolutionary actions and the First World War.
Before his death, Maxim Gorky’s last novel, “The Life of Klim Samghin,” is published. After some time, he dies.
Grand master of portraits
Valentin Aleksandrovich Serov, Russian painter, was born on January 19, 1865 in St. Petersburg. His family was creative, his father and mother were composers. It was they who were able to instill a love for art to a still young boy.
He had to say goodbye to the head of the family early, his father died when the boy was only 5 years old. Soon, he and his mother moved to Munich, where already a young man, Valentin Alexandrovich received the entire knowledge base that he needed as an artist.
In 1879, Valentin and his mother returned to Moscow, where the great painter began to work actively. Later, traveling to different cities and countries, he admitted that his main passion was to draw from life.
Before the portrait of Maxim Gorky was painted, a lot of time passed, and a considerable portfolio was collected from Valentin Sergeyevich. He could draw everything that he sees, and his natures were quite different, both noble people and ordinary passers-by. For him, the main thing was to feel the soul and energy of the person whom he paints, and then the picture received unusual contrasting color solutions.
Dynamic accents
Unsurpassed Russian neoclassicist Valentin Serov is an artist with a capital letter, because his works are based on the character of the person who sits in front of him. Portraits during the period of revolutionary activity are significantly different from those works that he painted at the end of the 19th century.
The writer Maxim Gorky appeared before him in a very strict form and in dark clothes, which could not help but stare at him. The whole portrait is permeated with the spirit of revolution, and the spirit of rebellion and coup directly blows from it. In order to convey this unusual image, Serov turns to new techniques and builds an atypical composition. He refuses unnecessary interior details and sets a light background.
Strict image
The writer himself was also presented without any unnecessary details in clothes: a simple dark shirt and trousers tucked into boots. It seems that Gorky is having a dialogue with someone who is outside the canvas, a distant and strict look speaks of this. The raised right hand shows the gesture of a man fighting for his rights and defending them fiercely.
The colors are chosen harmoniously, the light background and the dark silhouette of the writer “play” with each other, creating a kind of symphony of colors and revolutionary energy.
The portrait of Gorky Maxim opened the artist in an unusual role, created a new page in his creative biography.
Unusual paint technique
Looking at this image of the writer, you can see not only that he seeks to show his innocence, but you can also see a number of some humanistic and philosophical thoughts.
Valentin Serov is an artist who was able to convey these complex moments through the prism of painting using ordinary panels and paints. The portrait is very simple, and the creator mainly used fluent touches, without resorting to excessive shades in the color “sections”.
The silhouette of the writer is depicted quite large, and the impression is "immensity" of the figure for the canvas, and it seems that he is about to go beyond the picture.
Unforgettable story
The portrait of Gorky Maxim is a kind of experiment where the author tried to convey emotions, the spirit of the era and the position of his nature.
These fettered movements of the writer, who want to go beyond the boundaries of the image, show his assertive personality, and a piercing look is a mirror of all those actions that he carried out in favor of his country, saving the old intelligentsia from the repressions of the Bolsheviks.
This portrait in Russian painting shows that revolutionary era, which should not be forgotten, because in the past there is a guarantee of a beautiful future.
The mysterious image of the unsurpassed Russian artist is stored in the museum-apartment of Maxim Gorky in Moscow, where everything is imbued with the spirit of that time, since the objects of his life are still preserved there.