Vasily Grigoryevich Perov (1834-1882) - the great Russian artist-Wanderer. During his life he was recognized as one of the best representatives of everyday realistic and historical painting, an outstanding master of portraiture. In the article we will consider the most famous paintings by Perov Vasily Grigoryevich with the names, we will give a brief description of each of them.
Wanderers
We know Perov as the organizer and representative of the independent association of Russian artists of the late 19th century, which functioned under the name "Partnership of Traveling Art Exhibitions". Members of this association were also called Wanderers. They contrasted their works with the works of "academics" with their canvases on biblical and mythological subjects and portraits in full dress. The so-called salon landscapes were popular. The Russian academic artists include, for example, Alexander Ivanov and Karl Bryullov.
The Wanderers, on the other hand, drew inspiration from the history of the people and their culture. The first exhibition of paintings by artists included in this association was held in 1871 in the building where the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts was located. Later, these works moved to Moscow, Kiev, Kharkov. Canvases "Rooks Have Arrived" by A. Savrasov and "Peter I Interrogates Alexei Petrovich in Peterhof" by N. Ge.
Demonstrations of the Wanderers took place in various cities of the Russian Empire. Among the goals of such events were, in particular, the acquaintance of the inhabitants of Russian provinces with the works of Russian artists and the development of a love of art among contemporaries from different sectors of society. Along the way, the artists sold their canvases, since there was a union at their own expense. They were purchased both in museums and for private collections. Often the Wanderers painted portraits to order.
At different times, such famous masters as Ilya Repin, Vasily Surikov, Ivan Kramskoy, Ivan Shishkin, Isaak Levitan, Valentin Serov, Vasily Perov and others were involved in the partnership.
"Easter Religious Procession"
The initial sketch of this picture, made by the young boarder of the Academy of Arts Vasily Perov in 1861, terrified the advice of venerable academic teachers: the priest on it was portrayed as drunk, barely standing, the majority of parishioners were the same.
The procession, consisting of parishioners who had thoroughly walked, fell out of the hut onto a muddy slushy street. Some peasant holds the icon upside down, and the clerk, lying about the amount drunk, is lying on the porch with almost no feelings. And the view of the other participants in the move is very depressing.
I must say that the action takes place during the Bright Week, after the celebration of Easter - at this time the priest usually came to visit the parishioners. And on the occasion of the holiday in each house, of course, he was destined to honor and treat.
The sketch of Vasily Grigoryevich Perov’s painting “The Village Religious Procession on Easter” was rejected, and the canvas, to which the restless Perov later returned again, was forbidden. His acquaintances predicted the artist's exile almost to Solovki instead of his rightful trip to Italy. The Highest Synod called the picture "slander" and "death of high art." However, the irony of the artist was quite clear to many: the calling to be a spiritual shepherd was in fact far not higher than the people around him and, of course, not cleaner. He is one of all, with the same sins and weaknesses. Is such a person able to lead believers? The artist left the answer to this question at the discretion of the public.
"Troika"
Among the paintings by Perov, Vasily Grigoryevich, this is perhaps the most tragic and heart-touching work. His other name is "Artisans take water." The artist painted it in 1866. Format, this is the largest of the artist's works - the size of the canvas is 123.5 by 167.5 cm.
In this painting, the artist intentionally used gloomy, lacking brightness, dull colors. Three children in cast-offs - two boys and a girl, straining, pulling a barrel of ice water. Children are exhausted and exhausted by overwork. A cold winter wind beats in their face. Behind the barrel is supported and pushed by an adult, whose faces we cannot see, a dog runs to the side of the children.
Here is what the critic and art historian V.V. Stasov wrote about this work:
How many of us do not know Perov’s Troika, these Moscow children, who were forced by the owner to drag a huge vat of water on the sleet on a sled. All these kids are probably rural by birth and only drove to Moscow for fishing. But how much they have suffered in this "craft"! Expressions of hopeless suffering, traces of eternal beatings are painted on their tired pale faces; the whole life is told in their rags, poses, in the heavy turn of their heads, in their tormented eyes ...
This painting made Perov “the artist of the great tribulation of the people” and brought the well-deserved title of academician.
"Rest hunters"
The appearance of this canvas among amateurs, connoisseurs of painting and critics caused a lot of emotions. The canvas was compared with the Notes of the Hunter by I. S. Turgenev, while blaming the artist for the excessive theatricalization of the scene. M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, for example, spoke of the unnaturalness and simplicity of the characters' poses. F. M. Dostoevsky heatedly argued with him, who said:
What a charm! Of course, to interpret - so the Germans will understand, but they will not understand, like us, that this is Russian liar and that he is lying in Russian. We almost hear and know what he is talking about, we know the whole turn of his lies, his syllable, his feelings!
So, "Hunters on a halt", which appeared in 1871, continued a series of already known similar paintings by artist Perov Vasily Grigoryevich, such as "Birds", "Fisherman", "Fishing", "Dovecote", and became the most popular among these paintings .
It must be said that Perov, who had already become a professor at the Academy of Arts, more and more rarely embodied scenes in his works that talked about the hardships and injustices of folk life, striving for the fullest realization of his artistic skill.
On the canvas "Hunters on a halt" the usual frontal composition: having settled down to relax after hunting, three people sit, looking and surrounding surroundings (guns, yagdtash and horn, shot game, hunting dog) - avid hunters. Among the characters, the centerpiece is an elderly “liar”, enthusiastically telling his tales about the incredible stories that happened to him on the hunt, his also a middle-aged comrade who, with a skeptical smile, scratches his ear, and a young hunter, trustingly listening to these tales. The picture is designed in brownish "autumn" colors. After all, the peak of hunting was precisely at this time.
About prototypes
In this picture, in fact, three portraits are immediately enclosed. As you know, the prototypes of the characters of the work were real people, which, of course, especially fueled the public's interest. For example, in the figure of a “lie”, which enthusiastically tells entertaining, but for the most part unprecedented hunting stories, many recognized Dmitry Kuvshinnikov, a great lover of gun hunting. Literary historians know that the same person served as a prototype for Dymov for Chekhov (the story "The Springbok").
The doctor and amateur painter Vasily Bessonov "played" the ironic and not believing comrade. But the young hunter, naively believing "liar", was "played" by Nikolai Nagornov, who in the future will become a member of the City Council in Moscow.
Portrait of F. M. Dostoevsky
In 1872, Perov painted one of his best works - a portrait of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, which was commissioned to him by P. M. Tretyakov, the owner of the Picture Gallery in Moscow. The writer’s wife said of that wonderful work that Perov was able to catch that “minute of creativity” of the writer when he, focused on his thoughts, seemed to “look into himself”.
Later, the artist I. N. Kramskoy will appreciate this picture with these words:
This portrait is not only the best portrait of Perov, but also one of the best portraits of the Russian school in general. In it, all the artist’s strengths are evident: character, power of expression, huge relief and, which is especially rare and even, one might say, the only time Perov met, is the color <...>. The decisiveness of shadows and some kind of sharpness and energy of the contours, always inherent in his paintings, are softened in this portrait by an amazing coloring and harmony of tones; looking at him, positively, you don’t know what to be more surprised at, but the main advantage, of course, is the expression of the character of the famous writer and man ...
We have given descriptions of paintings by Perov, Vasily Grigoryevich - an outstanding Russian artist.