CHAPTER 2. IMAGE OF THE PEASANTRY IN RUSSIAN ART OF THE 18TH CENTURY

2.1. The image of the peasantry in painting

In the 18th century, secular art came to the fore in Russian art. Several stages can be distinguished in the development of Russian painting of the 18th century. The first stage - the first third of the 18th century - painters then depicted mainly people of high rank. At this time, peasants are practically not depicted. Popular genres are portrait and landscape. The next two stages are the mid-18th century and the second half of the 18th century. These two stages interest us, since they are marked by the further flourishing of Russian national painting, which developed along the path of realism, but our topic can be traced more in the second half of the 18th century, so we will talk about this half.

The 18th century is rich in Russian portrait artists, but among them there were also those who were interested in the theme of the peasantry. These include A.I. Vishnyakova. , Shibanova M. , Ermeneva I.A. , Argunova I.P. . Through the paintings of these artists we can see the life, holidays and life of peasants in general.

Vishnyakov Alexander Ivanovich - son famous portrait painter Vishnyakova I.Ya. , not much is known about him, he was a genre artist. His painting "Peasant Feast" (Fig. 5) late 1760s - early 1770s. - one of the earliest images of peasant meals. Here we see the grotesque characteristic of the depiction of rough nature, characteristic of Dutch and Flemish paintings by masters of the 17th century, that is, here we see the imitation of a Russian artist by these masters, which does not reflect the originality of the Russian people and in the community of peasants.

Another artist Mikhail Shibanov - Russian artist second half of the XVIII century, a painter from serfdom, from 1783 - a “free painter”. He can be called the founder of the peasant everyday genre in Russian art. His paintings are unique for their time in terms of the subject matter depicted - in the 18th century fine arts Almost no artist depicted peasants. First of all, we're talking about about two canvases depicting scenes from the life of peasants, “Peasant Lunch” (Fig. 6) and “Celebration of the Wedding Contract.”

Figure 5

In 1774, Mikhail Shibanov painted the painting “Peasant Lunch”. This work was published during the Pugachev uprising. This topic was new to Russian society, and works dedicated to the peasantry were even considered scandalous. And although what is depicted by Shibanov is far from what the real life of the peasantry was, he depicted them this way not because he wanted to embellish the life and life of the peasants, but because it could offend the aristocracy. We can say that Shibanov was placed within a certain framework and could not fully express his vision. Despite the festive clothing, you can see the love of a mother for her child, the thoughtfulness of a grandfather, the cry of the Russian soul; the truthful peasant life is shown here.

Figure 6

Another picture of this theme is “Celebration of the wedding contract” (Fig. 6). The title refers to what is depicted in the painting. It really is a celebration. Some women are in decorated dresses, the guests are happy and happy for the bride and groom, who are in the center of the composition. These subjects of Shibanov are depicted masterfully. What is also striking is his courage that he was not afraid to raise such an acute problem.

Argunov Ivan Petrovich Russian portrait painter. Argunov was not busy with this topic, but we can highlight one painting from him, “Portrait of an unknown peasant woman in Russian costume” (Fig. 7) - one of his famous works. The portrait reflects the interest in the topic of the peasantry that has appeared in Russian society. Argunov, himself a descendant of the serfs of Count Sheremetyev, tried to show beauty and dignity in portraits, regardless of class.

Figure 7

The image of the peasant woman in this work by Argunov is conveyed with truthfulness, sincerity and respect. Since the author dressed the girl in a festive outfit, many believe that she was an actress. From an ethnographic point of view, we see how accurately the costume of a peasant woman from the Moscow province was conveyed. It is also easy to determine that this girl belongs to the peasant class by her lack of mannerisms and artlessness. The girl’s soft features, light smile, calm posture indicate modesty, openness, and kindness of a girl from the people.

Ermenev Ivan Alekseevich Russian painter, also considered a serf, he became friends with the future Grand Duke, to whom he was assigned to serve. Known for his series of eight watercolors “Beggars”, as well as the watercolor “Lunch (Peasant Lunch)”. Most often, he depicted two full-length figures against the sky: a beggar old woman and a child, a beggar and a guide, or a lonely figure of a beggar, but “Peasant Lunch” (Fig. 8) falls out of this series.

Figure 8

Many researchers believe that this picture reflects a formidable force ordinary people with such a difficult fate and life. Ermenev's paintings, especially paintings on the theme of the peasantry, have tragic meaning, show hopelessness and gloom, which we see even in the colors chosen for the picture.

2.2. The image of the peasantry in literature

The literature of the 18th century prepared fertile ground for the development of literature of the 19th century, so it cannot be said that the 18th century is forgotten. Writers of this time tried to decide acute problems of its modernity. Of course, here many of them did not ignore the peasant issue. As in painting, a number of authors can be identified who are interested in this problem, such as I. I. Bakhtina, M. V. Lomonosova, A. N. Radishcheva, D. I. Fonvizina, N. M. Karamzin.

Ivan Ivanovich Bakhtin is a public figure and writer, his work was dominated by satirical themes. The most daring theme in Bakhtin's work was the peasant question. In the work “Satire on the cruelty of some nobles towards their subjects,” the author showed the real features of peasant life in the 18th century. In the fairy tale “The Master and the Peasant Woman,” the writer also showed sympathy for the peasants, like some others.

Fonvizin Denis Ivanovich is a Russian writer who also raised the topic of the peasantry in his work. First of all, we can trace this in his work “The Minor.” In this work, Fonvizin, seeing the root of all evil in serfdom, ridicules the noble system and noble education. Moreover, this can be seen already by the surnames and names of the main characters; all these surnames tell us about internal qualities these people. Fonvizin in many works talks about the nobility and ridicules their life.

Another writer who was interested in the peasant question was Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin. In his work we see the development of literature and an in-depth look at the relationship between the landowner and the peasant. These trends can be observed in the work “ Poor Lisa" Given the conventionality of the figure of Lisa, this is still a depiction of the individual experiences of a peasant girl, her personal dramatic fate, in terms of the author’s emphasized sympathy and sympathy for her, which in itself was a new and, of course, progressive literary fact. All this can be seen in an excerpt from the work “Poor Liza”:

“Only Lisa, who remained after her father for fifteen years, - only Lisa, not sparing her tender youth, not sparing her rare beauty, worked day and night - weaved canvas, knitted stockings, picked flowers in the spring, and took berries in the summer - and sold them in Moscow. A sensitive, kind old woman, seeing her daughter’s tirelessness, often pressed her to her weakly beating heart, called her divine mercy, nurse, the joy of her old age, and prayed to God to reward her for all that she does for her mother.” We see the image of a hardworking, modest girl and how the author treats her. Karamzin in his works tried to reflect not only the attitude towards the peasantry and draw real image peasantry, but also to show his attitude to the relationship between peasants and landowners, the author himself believed that relations should go in a different direction, and real relations are relics of the past.

Despite the fact that the above-mentioned authors were interested, spoke and examined the image of the peasantry and its place in Russian reality, Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev made the most contribution to the study of this problem. This author for his views he was arrested and exiled to Siberia. Radishchev reflected the image of the peasantry in his works “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow” and “Liberty.”

One of the most significant phenomena of Russian literature of the eighteenth century is the work of A. N. Radishchev “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow.” It was written in the travel genre that was popular at that time. The main characters are the traveler and the Russian people. On his way, the traveler met representatives of all classes and the picture that the traveler paints is unsightly, he speaks of the fall of Russian society. Moral baseness and dirt are characteristic of all layers of society, but the worst thing is for the peasants, as the most socially vulnerable people: “the peasant is dead in law.” Indeed, the arbitrariness of the landowners goes beyond all moral boundaries, and ordinary people you have to endure it. For example, in the chapter “Lyubani” the author meets a peasant plowing on Sunday - a holy day of rest for the Orthodox:

“You are, of course, a schismatic, why do you work on Sundays?

No, master, I am baptized with a straight cross,” he said... “There are six days in a week, master, and we go to corvée six times a week...

How do you manage to get bread if you only have a free holiday?

Not only holidays, but the night is ours. If our brother is not lazy, he will not die of hunger.”

The traveler threatens the serf owners with this. In addition, the author says that the traveler sees not only patience and hard life the oppressed peasantry, but also the sleeping power of the people, which can wake up at any moment. The writer was exiled for this work.

CHAPTER 3. IMAGE OF THE PEASANTRY IN RUSSIAN ART OF THE 19TH CENTURY

3.1. Image of peasantry painting

In the second chapter we already talked about the relevance of the theme of the peasantry in the 18th century and that many representatives of art began to raise this topic in their work, but still the topic was not the main one and not widespread. In the 19th century Russian art acquired folk sound, in painting we see this in the transition from romanticism to realism. In Russian painting, the national accent in creativity was valued, which tells us that in this period the image of the peasantry can be traced in its most vivid form. The theme of the peasantry can be traced not only in a more complex form, i.e. the authors of the works highlight the problems in the acute form that actually existed in Russian society without censorship, but the number of authors writing about the peasant issue has increased many times, in addition, this topic has become new for Russian artists. All this is connected with the events that took place in connection with the reform of Russia and, first of all, this concerns the reform that abolished serfdom. Russian painters who were interested in this topic - A. G. Venetsianov, V. A. Tropinin, P. A. Fedotov - they are also artists of the first half of the 19th century. In the second half of the 19th century, this theme was reflected primarily in the works of the Wanderers G.G. Myasoedova, I. E. Repin, V. M. Maksimova, S. A. Korovin, etc.

The 19th century can be divided into two parts. The first part of the 19th century is represented in the works of such artists as Venetsianov A.G., Tropinin V.A., Fedotov P.A. - the peasant world before the abolition of serfdom is reflected here, and the second part of the 19th century is represented mainly in the works of the Itinerants - here we see the peasant world after the abolition of serfdom. At the beginning of the 19th century, the theme of the peasantry and folk life was new. Venetsianov Alexey Gavrilovich master of genre scenes from peasant life, he not only made a huge contribution to culture with the help of his paintings, but also raised many peasants, giving them an education and a path to another life. Despite Venetsianov’s talent in painting portraits, it was not his portraits that brought him the greatest fame, but his painting peasant images. Although Venetsianov was not the first to depict peasants, he was the first to depict them in poetic form. The artist painted peasant children, peasant girls and, of course, everyday life peasant people. We see a number of paintings called “peasant woman” by the artist, which depict peasant girls engaged in one activity or another; on their faces we see fatigue and a sad gaze into the distance, their hands point to heavy daily work girls, but at the same time speaks of their hard work and modesty; besides, of course, one cannot help but highlight some of his most famous paintings in this topic are “Reapers” (Fig. 9) and “Threshing Floor”. The artist was inspired to paint the painting “The Reapers” by peasants who admired nature and a butterfly that landed on the hand of a peasant woman. This picture is one of those that reflects the significance of the image of the Russian peasantry. The theme of the harvest in Venetsianov’s work can be traced throughout his entire artistic activity, as for this picture, in it we see a peasant woman and her son who admire nature, that is, butterflies perched on the peasant woman’s hand. Also, looking at the picture with the naked eye, we see that all the action takes place during the harvest, their clothes are yellowed from hard work and dust, and their hands are black from the work just completed. No matter how strange it may be, the painting “The Reapers” still did not bring such success as the work “The Barn”, which was completed for a huge amount of money. Here again the theme of the harvest is traced, but in the painting “The Threshing Floor” we already see a composition depicting many peasants either resting or preparing for hard work. The author emphasizes the importance of peasant labor and its difficult orientation.

Figure 9

Pavel Andreevich Fedotov made no less contribution to conveying the image of the Russian peasantry. Fedotov laid the foundations critical realism V everyday genre, which was the main thing for him in his work. But if Venetsianov showed the peasantry itself, then Fedotov showed the upper strata of society, showing their meaninglessness of existence, the emptiness inside them. The artist uses satire to show the insignificance of some and the importance of others. The work of Venetsianov and Fedotov was continued by the Itinerant artists, who formed the color of the second half of the 19th century. Despite the fact that when talking about the beginning of realism and conveying the image of the Russian peasantry, we are talking about the names of Venetsianov and Fedotov, we must not forget to mention Tropinin. Tropinin Vasily Andreevich master of romantic and realistic portraits. He painted people of different classes, trying to convey not their belonging to a certain class, but to show a specific person typical of a given society. In Tropinin’s work, we are interested in such works as “The Lacemaker” (Fig. 10), “Gold Seamstress”, where we see the hard manual work of peasant women. These films were well received by critics and audiences alike. The painting “The Lacemaker” has become a real pearl of Russian art. This picture, like “The Gold Seamstress,” shows us a very sweet girl and unlike a peasant serf. The author of these works wanted to convey to the viewer the image of hard peasant work, and Tropinin shows that hard work, happiness and dignity do not go against the grain. The artist demonstrates all this in his painting “The Lacemaker.” In the first half of the 19th century, the theme of the peasantry was new, but still the theme manifested itself much more clearly in the second half of the 19th century. In the second half of the 19th century, “Itinerants” can be distinguished in painting; almost each of them contributed to the formation of the image of the peasantry. Myasoedov Grigory Grigorievich is the most prominent representative of Russian realism. The main topic that Myasoedov addressed was peasant life. The evolution of Myasoedov’s creativity is visible in his works. One of the paintings reflecting the theme of the peasantry is “The Zemstvo is having lunch” (Fig. 11). The painting was painted during the years of the abolition of serfdom. The peasants are next to the zemstvo, apparently on their way to do some business, but they are forced to sit on the threshold. In the window you can see a servant who has washed all the dishes, apparently the peasants decided that the ranks had a good lunch and their problem would not interest them. Visible in the picture new reality which shows without embellishment Russian society.

Figure 10

In addition, in the picture we see new trick the author, expressing the topic, he is a critic who shows the truth of Russian society, and the author leaves some understatement, a question in his works, allowing the viewer to draw conclusions on their own. The main emphasis in this picture is on the peasants: their facial features are well drawn, which shows us inner world peasants who had a hard time getting along with the new free life and did not become happier from the reforms adopted towards the peasant question. Their facial expressions are unhappy and tired from hard work, which calls on the viewer to sympathize and pity the poor peasant husbands.

Figure 11

Unlike the previous painting, “Mowers,” painted even before “The Zemstvo is Dinning,” shows us the lyrical image of the peasantry and speaks of their unity and good nature.

Another famous Wanderer artist, Vasily Maksimovich Maksimov, devoted all his work to the development of the theme of the peasantry. One of his main works, the work “The Healer at a Village Wedding” shows the true view of the Russian village, here the author tries to reveal the charm folk images, peasant life, but the author reflected not only the life of the peasants, but also described the image of the Russian peasantry, in such paintings as “Sick Husband”, “Family Division”, etc.

An artist such as Abram Efimovich Arkhipov also contributed to the development of this topic. Not much is known about Arkhipov, but much has been said about his work. main topic Arkhipov’s creativity is peasant. He wrote many paintings about peasant life, these include “The Drunkard”, “Washerwomen” (Fig. 12), “ Northern village”, “On the Volga”, etc. All pictures show the true life of peasants after the abolition of serfdom.

Figure 12

Each painting by Arkhipov shows a scene of peasant life. For example, “The Washerwomen” the painting shows us exhausting, hard work. In this picture we can trace the detail of the image, as well as social motives. Social motives can be traced in the depiction of fatigue from hard work and the hopelessness of their position as women, as well as spiritual melancholy, which is caused by a feeling of hopelessness.

When considering this point, we must not forget such artists as Perov and Repin. Repin Ilya Efimovich - outstanding artist, the theme of the peasantry was not the main one for him, but his first painting on this topic became world famous. “Barge Haulers on the Volga” (Fig. 13) is precisely the picture that we have known since school, it emphasizes many literary works. Each barge hauler painting is different, but they all show the oppression of the poor. The picture calls for mercy towards ordinary people. Repin showed the verdict with this work modern society and showed the oppression of the powerless.

Figure 13

Like Repin, Perov wrote peasant stories, but unlike him, he attached great importance to this topic. He painted many canvases on the theme of peasant oppression and the difficult fate of peasants. Vasily Perov, like Repin, painted a painting similar to “Barge Haulers on the Volga”, the painting “Troika”. The meaning is similar, but in the second work Perov speaks not about barge haulers, but about ordinary children who pull a barrel of water. Perov’s painting tells us about the need of peasants and peasant children and their difficult journey, the author emphasizes the latter by showing how cold it is, the water freezes outside, so we can imagine how cold it is for children to carry such a burden.

Figure 14

Authors depicting images of the Russian peasantry express the national character of the Russian people. Artists in their canvases depict the real life of Russian society of the 19th century, but when talking about the Russian peasantry in art, we must not forget about the writers who tried to reach Russian society, raising the pressing issue of enslavement.

There is no work more honorable and 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, and the feeling of satisfaction from a job well done have always interested artists. One of the first to the topic rural life addressed the Dutch artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder, nicknamed Muzhitsky for his passion. In the cycle of paintings “The Seasons,” three of the five surviving works show rural everyday life: “Return of the Herds,” “Haymaking” and “Harvest.” Two latest paintings differ in their peaceful and joyful atmosphere from most of Bruegel’s works.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the pastoral genre - an idealistic depiction of rural life - became especially popular in European, and especially French, painting. The most famous paintings describing rural life are by Francois Boucher: “Farm”, “Morning in the Village”, “Rest of Peasants”. However, everything depicted in the pastorals is far from real life, and only by the beginning of the Enlightenment, realism began to prevail in pastoral painting, for example, the works of the English artist Thomas Gainsborough “The Return of the Peasants from the Market”, “Return from the Harvest”.

The pastoral painting of Alexey Venetsianov is filled with Russian flavor. His paintings, idealizing the life of the Russian peasant, have always been quite popular: “On the 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”, the wall of this agricultural building on the artist’s estate was dismantled. Once again, interest in peasant labor in Russian painting arose with the advent of the Association of Traveling Exhibitions. For example, the painting by Grigory Myasoedov “Mowers” ​​( Time of suffering) celebrates the joy of work and its unity with the hot landscape. Ivan Kramskoy often turned to the peasant theme. There is a well-known series of peasant portraits “Miller”, “Forester”, “Contemplator”, “Beekeeper” and others, in which representatives of some rural professions are typified.

Vincent van Gogh addressed this topic many times, for example, one of the few paintings sold during the artist’s lifetime was “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 theme raised in the painting “The Sower”, because he believed that the sower personifies the rebirth and infinity of life. Although the Dutch artist is classified as a post-impressionist, in his understanding of the complexity, monotony and exhaustion of peasant labor, he becomes a true realist. Perhaps Van Gogh adopted this attitude towards 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 Ear Pickers”, “Angelus”, “The Winnower”, “The Sower”, “Threshing” and many others.

The artist Arkady Plastov was called the singer of the Soviet peasantry. His numerous paintings glorify the hard work of the collective farmer. All his heroes have very expressive hands - strong, knobby, not afraid of any work. Today it is customary to accuse his paintings (“Harvest”, “Haymaking”, “Summer”, “Tractor Driver’s Dinner”, “Potato Harvesting”) of “ socialist realism" - embellishment of reality, but they are unique in their pronounced national character and the nationality of images. This is how the artists saw it different countries and eras, complex and thankless peasant labor, not without its own special charm and beauty.

Venetsianov is called the singer of peasant life. The peasant theme did not correspond to the prevailing aesthetic views spectators of the time in which the artist lived. His passion for low genre"caused misunderstanding. Best paintings found their audience only decades after the painter’s death.

Introducing children to Venetsianov’s work should begin with preschool age. I offer educational material for children about the biography and paintings of the artist.
Alexey Gavrilovich Venetsianov – creator new topic in Russian painting. His work was original, free and original. He created, obeying his mind, listening to his heart, and did not try to please anyone with his paintings.

A. G. Venetsianov was born in Moscow in 1780. His ancestors came from Greece. Gavrila Yurievich's father was a merchant and saw his successor in his son. Alexey s early years He copied pictures and wrote from life. It was pointless to fight his son’s hobby, so his father bought him the book “The Curious Artist and Craftsman.” From the memoirs of the artist’s nephew N. Venetsianov it is known that little Alexei there was a teacher, Pakhomych, who taught him to prepare paints, prime the canvas and stretch the canvas onto a stretcher. Venetsianov studied at a private boarding school, after which he worked in the Drawing Department.

In 1802 the artist moved to St. Petersburg. In 1807 he entered the service of the Post Office. There Venetsianov met the famous portrait painter V.L. Borovikovsky. This is how the aspiring painter found himself in the center of artistic life and in the circle of famous Russian writers and artists. In the same year, he began publishing the first humorous sheet in Russia, “The Journal of Caricatures for 1808 in Persons,” which was later banned by censorship for satire on officials.

In 1811, the artist received the title of “appointed” for a self-portrait submitted to the Academy of Arts. This level could be overcome by all those who did not study at the Academy. A year later, Venetsianov completed the program, receiving the title of “academician”. During the Patriotic War of 1812, Venetsianov created a series of caricatures of the French and Gallomaniac nobles.

In 1815, the artist married a girl from a noble family, M. A. Azaryeva. A year later, daughter Alexandra was born, three years later - daughter Felitsata. In 1818, the Venetsianov family bought a small estate in the Tver region. From the memories of daughter Alexandra:

“Our peasants loved daddy very much, and he took care of them like a father. Our poorest peasant had two horses, but for the most part four and six..."

In Safonkovo, Venetsianov painted pictures of peasant life and portraits. These works, created from life, are among the new artistic direction, the basis of which was a truthful reflection of life. Here's what he wrote about the difficult path of the artist:

“the brush of a modern painter is often controlled by need and politeness, and he is forced to deviate from the truth and defile his dignity.”

In 1820, the artist began teaching talented peasant children the craft of painting. Over time, a group known as the “Venetsianov school” was formed. The teacher placed many of his students in the Academy of Arts. Venetsianov told his students:

“Talents then develop when they are guided along the paths to which nature has assigned them.”

He himself followed the path prescribed by nature.

In 1824, he exhibited “peasant” paintings at the Academy of Arts. The academic council rejected the artist’s sketches for a competition painting, which would have opened the way for him to the title of “painting advisor.”

In 1830, Venetsianov received the title of “artist to the Emperor”. He was given an annual salary of 3,000 rubles and awarded the Order of St. Vladimir 4th degree.

In 1831, his wife Marfa Afanasyevna died, leaving two young daughters to be raised by her father. In 1833, Gavrila Yuryevich’s father passed away. Maintaining the school required exorbitant expenses. Over 20 years, more than 70 students attended the school. Many students became famous artists: N.S. Krylov, L.K. Plakhov, A.V. Tyranov, A.A. Alekseev, G.V. Soroka...

Wanderers, monks, icon painters found shelter in Safonkovo... Venetsianov stopped exhibiting his paintings. He had to mortgage his estate and take on commissioned works: portraits and icons for churches. IN last years he suffered from loss of strength and fainted. On December 4, 1847, the artist was transporting sketches of icons from Safonkovo ​​to Tver. On the way down the mountain, the horses skidded and he was thrown out of the sleigh. This trip ended in tragedy.

“Zakharka” 1825

The portrait of a peasant boy was based on a real person. Zakharka was the son of the peasant Fedula Stepanov. In the image of Zakharka, the artist showed a little peasant worker. His clothes, hat, and mittens were not the right size. They didn't give him a job because of his age. The boy holds an ax on his shoulder.

Zakharka has been working since an early age and knows that the life of the whole family depends on his work. The boy’s eyes are averted to the side, but his concentrated gaze captivates him with simplicity, naturalness, and kindness. Soft facial features, plump lips, huge, thoughtful eyes, and a turn of the head create at the same time a feeling of naivety and apparent adulthood, harshness. Peering into the face of a peasant boy, the viewer understands that it is on such simple workers that the world rests.

Read and discuss with your child N. A. Nekrasov’s poem “A Little Man with a Marigold”

Once upon a time in the cold winter time,
I came out of the forest; it was bitterly cold.
I see it's slowly going uphill
A horse carrying a cart of brushwood.
And, walking importantly, in decorous calm.
A man leads a horse by the bridle
In big boots, in a short sheepskin coat,
In big mittens... and he's as small as a fingernail!
- Great, lad! - “Go past!”
- You’re too formidable, as I can see!
Where do the firewood come from? - “From the forest, of course;
Father, you hear, chops, and I take it away.”
(A woodcutter’s ax was heard in the forest.)
- What about my father? big family? -
“The family is big, but two people
Just men: my father and I..."
- So there it is! What's your name? -
"Vlas."
- How old are you? - “The sixth has passed...
Well, she’s dead!” - the little one shouted in a deep voice.
He pulled the reins and walked faster...

While discussing the poem, ask your child a few questions:

• Who does the poet Nekrasov talk about in his work? (About a boy)
• What's his name? How old is he?
• What is he doing in the forest? (Carrying brushwood)
• Why does Vlas have big boots and mittens? (Clothes were worn by everyone in a poor peasant family in turn)
• How does Vlas behave? What is he like? (hardworking, important, formidable, responsible...)

Consider Venetsianov’s painting “Zakharka”. Ask your son (daughter) to answer the questions:

• Who is shown in this picture? How old is he? (7-9 years)
• What is he holding in his hand? (Tool)
• Where is he going? (He goes to work)
• Why is the boy working? (He lives in a peasant family. Peasant children helped their parents from an early age)
• What feelings do you have for the hero of the picture? What is he like? (Serious, thoughtful, strong, confident...)
• What do these two works have in common? (The main character of Nekrasov’s poem and Venetsianov’s painting is a village boy).
• How are Vlas and Zakharka similar? (Vlas and Zakharka know how to work. They are both from a peasant family, and, despite their young age, they work a lot and consider themselves adults).
• How do the poet Nekrasov and the artist Venetsianov feel about their heroes? (Nekrasov feels for his little hero pity and tenderness, calling the boy “a small man.” However, he admires his maturity and prudence: “It’s a big family, but two people. Just men: my father, and me...”. Venetsianov's feelings for Zakharka are conveyed in the very image of the hero. The portrait is full of emotions: the turn of the head and the boy’s habitual handling of the instrument speaks about the feeling of adulthood, childhood facial features and size of clothing give away).

At the end of the acquaintance with the picture, you can invite the child to learn Nekrasov’s poem.

« The Sleeping Shepherd" (between 1823-1826)

Summer day. The sun is shining brightly, illuminating with its rays the blue sky, a mirror-like river, green banks, wooded hills, distant arable land... Here stands a row of peasant houses with fenced gardens. A peasant woman carries water from the river. The village lives its own simple life, which is closely connected with nature.

On foreground depicts a shepherd sleeping in a sweet sleep. He is wearing warm homespun clothes with a red belt and bast shoes with onuches on his feet. His right leg is extended forward, his arms are relaxed. In the image of the poor shepherd, the harmony of man and nature is visible.

Ask your child to describe the picture. Ask him a few questions:

• What time of year is shown in the picture?
• How is nature depicted?
• What mood does the artist convey to us, the audience?
• What is the boy doing? (sleeping)
• What does he do in his life? (grazing cows).
• What family is he from? What kind of clothes does he have? (He is dressed in a shirt, ports and an overcoat).
• What is he wearing? (in bast shoes with onuchas).

When considering the clothes and shoes of the hero of the picture, parents should pay attention to the development vocabulary child. It is necessary to explain to him the meaning old words, which have gone out of use today, such as armyak, ports, bast shoes, bast, bast, onucha...

Word "ports" means long narrow pants, Armenian- a peasant caftan made from Armenian. Kaftan– upper men's clothing, similar to a robe. Armenian– wool fabric.

Lapti- a type of footwear that was used in every peasant family. They were woven from linden bast, willow and oak bark. Lyko- young bast, fibrous, fragile subbark from any tree. Lub – inner part bark of young trees. Onucha- a piece of dense cloth, wrapped around the foot when wearing bast shoes or boots.

After discussing the picture, invite your son or daughter to draw up short story using old words.

The time of creation of the portrait is unknown.

A young girl looks at the world openly and timidly. Living eyes reflect a pure, innocent soul. A sincere look beckons with mystery. The lips froze in a slight smile. Her brown hair is combed smoothly. A blue scarf carefully frames a gentle face. She does not know evil and the hard lot of peasants, she believes in goodness, trusts people...

This is not a peasant woman exhausted by work, but a young beauty. Even in the way the girl holds her hand, there is nobility of manners and feelings. The artist depicted an image full of harmony and youthful charm. He is confident that the young peasant woman brings light to the world and deserves happiness in life.

"The Reapers" 1825

The painting shows a scene from peasant life, which the artist observed in the field, at harvest work. The heroes of the picture are peasant woman Anna Stepanovna and her son Zakharka. The reaper stopped to rest, and at that moment two butterflies landed on her hand. Her sad, tired appearance is striking. There is doom in the eyes, a half-smile on his face. Holding her hand in the air, she shows the arriving beauties to her son. The boy examines them with surprise and interest. He enjoys life. main idea The picture is that the peasants are close to nature, admire its beauty, and are imbued with it.

For a deeper depiction of the difficult peasant lot, the artist uses individual details: a woman’s canvas shirt darkened from work, a sundress sewn from scraps, the heat appearing on the reaper’s face, exhausted tender hands holding a sickle, the boy’s weather-beaten fingers... No matter how cruel fate may be, the peasant woman strives to beauty. Her modest beads remind of this.

“On the arable land. Spring" 1820

Early morning. A young peasant woman in a red sundress and an elegant kokoshnik is harrowing arable land. The first day of plowing was a real holiday. The peasants went out into the field in their the best outfits. The picture is full of allegories. The goddess of spring is embodied in the image of a woman. She smoothly steps across the arable land with bare feet. The horses pulling the plow obediently obey their mistress. On the outskirts of the field, a baby wearing only a shirt is playing. A young mother admires her firstborn, entrusting him to mother earth. A child represents the beginning of life. Greenery is visible in the plowed field. Here young trees grow next to a dried out gnarled stump. In the distance, as if in a circle, another peasant woman leads the horses. In that simple plot the eternal cycle of life appears: the renewal of nature in connection with the change of seasons, its birth and withering.

“At the harvest. Summer" 1820

The painting is a window into the big world of peasant concerns. A rye field, harvested in places, stretches to the horizon. The yellow field glistens from the hot air of the sun. visible in the distance female figures reapers The harvest is taking its course - haystacks are being woven.

In the foreground sits a mother breastfeeding her baby. The older children brought him to feed him. There is a sickle next to the woman. The reaper looks at the ripe field, clutching the child to her heart. She has a job waiting for her that needs to be completed in a short time. In this picture, the artist showed an idyll - the beauty of peasant everyday life and the beauty of Russian nature, hiding all the hardships of peasant labor.

The main theme of Venetsianov’s work is man on earth and his connection with nature. The artist showed on his canvases the daily activities of peasants, their life, characters, relationships with the outside world. He played his first violin in painting masterfully. This is it true value artist A. G. Venetsianov.

Dear reader! I invite you to take a tour of the work of the Russian painter A. G. Venetsianov. I wish you and your children pleasant impressions and emotions!

Looking at pictures of everyday life, I saw a strong contrast in life. In this post, I collected life in a village hut, empty log walls, dim light, a stove and a heavy table without a tablecloth - a picture of life in this space.

1. Felitsyn R. On the porch of the hut. 1855


Childhood is a carefree time, but looking at these girls, doubt arises. Such a concentrated face of the older one, the younger one braiding her curls, and the eyes of the second one looking into the distance...

2. Shibanov M Peasant lunch. 1774


There is a modest lunch in the dark space of the hut, and such different emotions can be read from the faces of these people! A mother nursing her child is the only one in the world. Exhale deeply and your shoulders become heavy, and you can hear your heartbeat...

3.Kulikov and Winter Evening


The time for field work has ended and in winter, in the dim light of the window and in the evening, work of a different nature, handicraft and homework, continues.

4. Maksimov In Poor Dinner. 1879


And again dark colors low ceiling of the hut and empty walls. There are not even curtains in this house, everything is too heavy, tired faces, doom... And what a beautiful color men's shirts.

5. _Maksimov In Grandmother's Tales. 1867


Probably one of the most interesting moments life - grandmother's stories on a dark evening with a torch - this is learning and knowledge and traditions and the wisdom of life. How cozy...

6. Maksimov V Who is there. 1879


I remember when it was dark winter evening at grandma’s, with the crackling of the stove and the sounds of the wind in the wires, suddenly the crunch of snow under someone’s feet and a knock on the door... for some reason it was always a little scary, while grandma went out into the corridor I waited warily and then someone’s familiar voice and that’s it it becomes cozy and safe again;)
The shadow on the wall reminded me of this feeling.

7. Maksimov V Sick husband. 1881


A terrible and sad scene... all we can do is pray and wait...

8. Maksimov V Outlived the old woman. 1896

I can’t find words to convey all the feelings that arise while looking at this story. Incredibly strong.

9. Maksimov In Family section. 1876


And again, low ceilings, I can only guess what is causing the division.

10. Shibanov M Celebration of the wedding contract. 1777


The treat is a loaf of bread on the table, and what elegant women! The meaning of “dowry” becomes clearer. The girl's outfit is hers spiritual world. You can't buy this...

11. Trutovsky K In the hayloft. 1872


The delightful joys of life. You can't look without a smile ;)

12. Pelevin and Firstborn. 1888

No matter how harsh the world outside may be, the happiness of the arrival of a baby illuminates the heart. There is more light in the hut, and the stove is white and the dishes are shining and the touching kitten is in the cradle, every detail is filled with joy.

13. Korovin P Christening. 1896

Nikolay Nevrev. "Bargaining. A 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 average price of a Russian serf in the first half of the 19th century. The girl's seller is a European-educated nobleman. Pictures on the walls, books. The girl humbly awaits her fate, other slaves crowd at the door and watch how the bargaining will end. Yearning.

Vasily Perov. "Rural religious procession at Easter." 1861

Russian village of the 19th century. Orthodox Easter. Everyone is drunk as hell, including the priest. The guy in the center is carrying the icon upside down and is about to fall. Some have already fallen. Funny! The essence of the picture is that the Russian people’s commitment to Orthodoxy is exaggerated. Addiction to alcohol is clearly stronger. Perov was a recognized master of genre painting and portraiture. But this picture of him Tsarist Russia was prohibited from display or reproduction. Censorship!

Grigory Myasoedov. "The zemstvo is having lunch." 1872

Times of Alexander II. Serfdom cancelled. Local self-government - zemstvos - was introduced. Peasants were also chosen there. But between them and the higher classes there is an abyss. Therefore - dining apartheid. Gentlemen are in the house, with waiters, peasants are at the door.

Fedor Vasiliev. "Village". 1869

1869 The landscape is beautiful, but the village, if you look closely, is poor. Poor houses, leaky roofs, the road is buried in mud.

Jan Hendrik Verheyen. "Dutch village with figures of people." 1st half 19th century.
Well, that's it, for comparison :)

Alexey Korzukhin. "Return from the city." 1870

The situation in the house is poor, a child is crawling on the shabby floor, and for an older daughter, her father brought a modest gift from the city - a bunch of bagels. True, there are many children in the family - only in the picture there are three of them, plus perhaps another one in a homemade cradle.

Sergey Korovin. "On the World". 1893

This is already a village of the late 19th century. There are no more serfs, but a division has appeared - fists. At a village gathering there is some kind of dispute between a poor man and a kulak. For the poor man, the topic is apparently vitally important; he almost sobs. The rich fist laughs at him. The other fists in the background are also giggling at the loser beggar. But the comrade to the poor man’s right was imbued with his words. There are already two ready-made members of the committee; all that remains is to wait until 1917.

Vasily Maksimov. "Auction for arrears". 1881-82.

The tax office is furious. Tsarist officials auction samovars, cast iron pots and other peasant belongings. The heaviest taxes on peasants were redemption payments. Alexander II “the Liberator” actually freed the peasants for money - they were then obliged to pay their native state for many years for the plots of land that were given to them 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. Payment had to be made in installments, right up to 1932. In 1907, against the backdrop of the revolution, the authorities abolished these taxes.

Vladimir Makovsky. "On the boulevard." 1886-1887

At the end of the 19th century. Industrialization came to Russia. Young people go to the city. She's going crazy there. Their old life is no longer interesting to them. And this young hard worker is not even interested in his peasant wife, who came to him from the village. She's not advanced. The girl is terrified. The proletarian with an accordion doesn’t care.

Vladimir Makovsky. "Date". 1883

There is poverty in the village. The boy was given away to the public. Those. sent to the city to work for an owner who exploits child labor. The mother came to visit her son. Tom obviously has a hard life, his mother sees everything. The boy greedily eats the bread he brought.

Vladimir Makovsky. "Bank collapse." 1881

A crowd of defrauded depositors in a bank office. Everyone is in shock. The rogue banker (on the right) is quietly getting away with the dough. The policeman looks in the other direction, as if he doesn’t see him.

Pavel Fedotov. " Fresh gentleman". 1846

The young official received his first order. They washed it all night. The next morning, putting the cross directly on his robe, he shows it to the cook. A crazy look full of arrogance. The cook, personifying the people, looks at him with irony. Fedotov would be a master of such psychological paintings. The meaning of this: flashing lights are not on cars, but in heads.

Pavel Fedotov. "Aristocrat's Breakfast". 1849-1850.

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. They owned a huge amount of land, but they rarely made good farmers. Not a lord's business. The result is poverty, debt, everything is mortgaged and re-mortgaged in banks. In Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, the estate of the landowner Ranevskaya is sold for debts. Buyers (rich merchants) are destroying the estate, and one of them really needs a lordly The Cherry Orchard(to resell as dachas). The reason for the problems of the Ranevsky family is idleness over several generations. No one was taking care of the estate, and the owner herself had been living abroad for the last 5 years and wasting money.

Boris Kustodiev. "Merchant". 1918

Provincial merchants are Kustodiev’s favorite topic. While the nobles in Paris wasted their estates, these people rose from the bottom, making money in huge country, where there was where to put your hands and capital. It is noteworthy that the picture was painted in 1918, when the Kustodiev merchants and merchant women throughout the country were already being pushed to the wall by fighters against the bourgeoisie.

Ilya Repin. "Religious procession in the Kursk province." 1880-1883

Different layers of society come to the religious procession, and Repin depicted them all. A lantern with candles is carried ahead, followed by an icon, then the best people go - officials in uniforms, priests in gold, merchants, nobles. On the sides there are guards (on horseback), then there are ordinary people. People on the side of the road periodically rake in order not to cut off the bosses and get into his lane. Tretyakov did not like the police officer in the picture (on the right, in white, beating someone from the crowd with all his might). He asked the artist to remove this cop chaos from the plot. But Repin refused. But Tretyakov bought the painting anyway. For 10,000 rubles, which was simply a colossal amount at that time.

Ilya Repin. "Gathering". 1883

But these young guys in another painting by Repin no longer go with the crowd to all sorts of religious processions. They have their own way - terror. This is "People's Will", an underground organization of revolutionaries who killed Tsar Alexander II.

Nikolai Bogdanov-Belsky. "Oral counting. In public school S.A.Rachinsky". 1895

Rural school. Peasant children in bast shoes. But there is a desire to learn. The teacher is in a European suit with a bow tie. This a real man- Sergei Rachinsky. Mathematician, professor at Moscow University. On a voluntary basis he taught at a 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. "Chained Poland". 1863

According to the 1897 census, literate people in the country were 21%, and Great Russians - 44%. Empire! Interethnic relations the country has never been smooth. The painting by Polish artist Jan Matejko was written in memory of the anti-Russian uprising of 1863. Russian officers with angry faces shackle a girl (Poland), defeated, but not broken. Behind her sits another girl (blonde), who symbolizes Lithuania. She is groped dirty by another Russian. The Pole on the right, sitting facing the viewer, is the spitting image of Dzerzhinsky.

Nikolay Pimomenko. "Victim of fanaticism." 1899

The painting shows real case, which was in the city of Kremenets (Western Ukraine). A Jewish girl fell in love with a Ukrainian blacksmith. The newlyweds decided to get married with the bride converting to Christianity. This worried 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 on his neck, in front of her is a rabbi with fists, behind him is a concerned public with clubs.

Franz Roubo. "Assault on the village of Gimry." 1891

Caucasian War of the 19th century. Hellish mixture of Dags and Chechens by the tsarist army. The village of Gimry (Shamil’s ancestral village) fell on October 17, 1832. By the way, since 2007, a counter-terrorist operation regime has been in effect in the village of Gimry again. The last (at the time of writing this post) clearing by riot police was on April 11, 2013. The first is in the picture below:

Vasily Vereshchagin. "Opium eaters." 1868

The painting was painted by Vereshchagin in Tashkent during one of the Turkestan campaigns of the Russian army. middle Asia was then annexed to Russia. How the participants in the campaigns saw the ancestors of today's guest workers - Vereshchagin left paintings and memoirs about this. Dirt, poverty, drugs...

Peter Belousov. "We will go the other way!".1951
And finally, the main event in the history of Russia in the 19th century. On April 22, 1870, Volodya Ulyanov was born in Simbirsk. His elder brother, a Narodnaya Volya member, tried himself, perhaps, in the sphere of individual terror - he was preparing an attempt on the life of the Tsar. But the attempt failed and the brother was hanged. That’s when young Volodya, according to legend, told his mother: “We will go a different way!” And let's go.