Arkady Aleksandrovich Plastov (1893 - 1972) was born, lived his whole life and died in the village of Prislonikha, Ulyanovsk Region. An exception for Arkady Alexandrovich was the years of study of painting in St. Petersburg and Moscow. A. A. Plastov is an artist, first of all, of the plot genre, although he was involved in portrait painting, and also worked on illustrations for Leo Tolstoy’s short stories “Canvas” and “Three Deaths”, made in watercolor and gouache. Since 1947 he was a full member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR. A. A. Plastov is an artist of the genre of socialist realism. His works are clear and simple enough to perceive.
Love of homeland
Back in 1908, the boy, looking at the work of icon painters, for himself firmly decided that he would only be an artist, and no one else. After studying in 1917, he returned to his native land and worked in kind. But in 1931 there was a fire. He destroyed all his works, and sketches, and sketches created over forty years. Since that time A.A. Plastov realized that it was impossible to be distracted from his activities, and he began to devote all his time to painting. Everything attracted his loving attention: the changing life of the village, and the changes taking place in people. Listening to the call of time, A.A. Plast painted with love for his fellow villagers. He watched how events are changing in the country, and how they affect the way of life and way of life of people.
War
In the paintings created during the Great Patriotic War, the artist achieves great drama. One of the most bitter canvases, “The Fascist Passed”, shows the horror and meaninglessness of ragged lives on a clear day.
In this quiet corner, it would seem, and there is no hint of war.
"Haymaking"
By this time, A. A. Plastov painted as a great master.
July, the crown of summer, mowing. Everyone works together, in a row, very skillfully, without harming each other with sharp braids. As if you hear the sound of a scythe (“whack-whack”) and falling grass. The viewer is enchanted by the flowering edge of a birch forest with its openwork branches. The birds fell silent, all the impending heat and the aroma of freshly cut grass and flowers are felt. But this is a joy. Hay will be dried well. The picture shows that it works both old and young. For a young kid, summer is not a simple idleness, but a work that brings everyone both joy and benefit. Haymaking is a time when everyone works very smoothly and quickly. Everything must be done in time. In the foreground is a guy who grew up during the war years. He got used to work since childhood.
Behind him is a woman, then a middle-aged man. Perhaps he came from the front and is now happily working, forgetting the horrors of battle. The last in the row is an elderly dexterous indefatigable man, the scythe holds well in his strained hands. Like everything that A. A. Plastov writes, paintings, including Haymaking, are filled with love for the Motherland. The realist artist admired the surrounding villagers beauty, truthful, proven by nature. Their work is hard, but in perfect harmony with nature. The topic of haymaking was often addressed by Plast. His paintings attracted by the beauty and generosity of summer and the inspired work of people.
"In summer"
There are two mushroom pickers in the picture - a woman who fell asleep in the shade of a birch, and a sitting girl, near full baskets with heavy mushrooms. Nearby a faithful friend - a dog, is also gaining strength on the return trip. Among the emerald greenery of grass and white-birch birches, the girl’s red scarf, her snow-white clothes, and mother’s cornflower blue dress stand out clearly. Fills A. A. Plastov paintings with simple ingenuous content, close to Russian people.
"First snow"
The picture is cloudy, but from this it does not lose either its charm or brightness.
The girl and her brother ran out onto the porch and watch the first large snowflakes slowly fall. Already the whole earth is covered with snow. Children are chilly, but they do not leave - interesting. It is difficult to find in A. A. Plastov a more lyrical work. The children retained the ability to enjoy the beauty of simple phenomena. The strata of the picture are sometimes written with avaricious means, but from this they do not lose their charm.
The paintings of A. A. Plastov show how difficult, but at the same time, peasant work is festive. The creation of images is dominated by color. He creates the mood of national paintings in his spirit. In his works, Plast continues the best classical traditions of Russian artists. He captured the life and life that has already become a thing of the past for our urban population.