One of the most outstanding works of the Russian school of painting of the second half of the 19th century is the painting "The Stranger". Kramskoy painted it in 1883. The painting was first presented to the public in the same year at the exhibition of the Wanderers in St. Petersburg. Its original name is "Unknown." After the audience saw her, many rumors immediately appeared. Who is the young lady that Ivan Kramskoy depicted in the picture? An exact answer to this question has not been obtained until today. Studying the diaries and personal correspondence of the artist also could not clarify the situation: Kramskoy never mentioned the identity of the woman who became the main character of his most famous work.
Search for a prototype of an unknown girl
There are several versions about whose image the painting "Stranger" conveys. Description of the appearance of the Kursk beauty of the peasant woman Matryona Savvishna, who became the wife of nobleman Bestuzhev, is most suitable for the heroine of the canvas. Some researchers of Kramskoy’s work believed that his daughter Sophia was the model posing for him when painting. Some art historians were of the opinion that the prototype of the girl from the canvas was Anna Karenina, while others attributed her resemblance to Nastasya Filippovna Barashkova, the heroine of Dostoevsky’s novel “Idiot”. At the beginning of the XX century, the young lady from the picture began to be associated with the tender and mysterious blocking “Stranger”.
Critics rating
Many contemporaries of Kramskoy believed that the painting "The Stranger" was painted with the aim of exposing the moral principles of society, which in no way could serve as an example to follow. Art critic V. Stasov called the beauty on canvas "a cocotte in a wheelchair." According to N. Murashko, “dear camellia”, that is, a woman of easy virtue, was depicted on the canvas. Describing the "Stranger", the critic P. Kovalevsky called her "one of the devil of big cities."
Description of the young lady
What is the picture "Stranger"? Kramskoy portrayed on her a beautiful young woman, riding in an open carriage on Anichkov bridge. The young lady, regally looking against the backdrop of snowy St. Petersburg, is dressed expensively and fashionably. The artist prescribes all the details of an elegant wardrobe of a stranger with particular care. A luxurious coat with blue satin ribbons, trimmed with sable furs, a hat with feathers, gloves of the finest leather, a gold bracelet - all this gives out to a wealthy woman.
The gaze of the beauty, framed by fluffy eyelashes, arrogant, in it slides contempt for others. But at the same time, in her eyes you can read the insecurity inherent in all people who depend on the world in which they live. Despite the neglect, the girl is very beautiful, graceful, she attracts enthusiastic looks. The unknown lady obviously did not belong to the upper world. The manner of dressing in the latest fashion, as well as painted lips and plentifully tinted eyebrows indicate that she, most likely, was the kept woman of some noble gentleman.
Czech find
About 60 years after the writing of The Stranger, a sketch for this painting was accidentally discovered in a private Czech collection. On it the young lady is dressed in a dark closed dress, her hair is gathered in a high hairstyle. The woman depicted in the sketch is strikingly similar to The Stranger, however, in her look, contempt for others is even more visible. Kramskoy portrayed the beauty insolent and smug, giving her expression a kind of caricature. The sketch shows that the master has long nurtured the idea of ​​creating a revealing portrait that ridicules the vices of society.
Rumors of a curse painting
Not only the mysterious image of the main character attracts art lovers to the painting "Stranger". The artist created a truly mystical work, because for decades it has attracted troubles and setbacks to its owners.
Having painted, Kramskoy offered Tretyakov to buy it for his gallery, but he refused, being sure that portraits of beautiful women could draw strength from a living person. The Stranger found refuge in private collections, first in Russia, then abroad, but she brought misfortune to all her owners. A curse hangs over Kramskoy himself: a few months after the picture was released, two sons passed away one after another.
After long journeys in 1925, the mysterious “Stranger” returned to Russia and still took her place in the Tretyakov Gallery, where she is to this day. Since then, she has ceased to bring misfortunes to others. Fans of Kramskoy’s work are sure that if the canvas had originally been included in the Tretyakov’s collection, then notoriety would not have followed him, because that was where it should have been from the very beginning.