"Hunters at Rest": the secrets of the most famous paintings Perov

• "Hunters at Rest": the secrets of the most famous paintings Perov

Around this painting by Vasily Perov since its inception burned serious passions: painting Stasov compared with the best hunting stories Turgenev and Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin artist accused of being too theatrical and unnatural characters. In addition, the "Hunters at Rest" all easily learned real prototypes - Perova friends. Despite the mixed reviews of critics, the picture has become incredibly popular.

V. Perov. Self, 1870. Fragment

Vasily Perov was an avid hunter and hunting theme was familiar to him. In 1870-ies. he created the so-called "hunting series": the painting "Fowler", "Fisherman", "nerd", "pigeon", "Fishing". For "the Fowler" (1870), he became a professor and lecturer in the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. But the most striking and recognizable in this cycle definitely was the picture "Hunters at Rest."

V. Perov. Fowler, 1870

The canvas was exhibited for the first time on the 1st traveling exhibition and immediately caused contradictory responses. Critic Stasov admired the work. Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin criticized for its lack of immediacy of painting and the truth of life, for the artificiality of emotions: "As if at a showing of the picture there is some kind of actor whose role requires talking to the side: this liar and the gullible, inviting the viewer to not believe liar hunter and fun over credulity novice hunter. Artistic truth should speak for itself, rather than using the interpretation. " But F. Dostoevsky did not agree with the critical comments: "What a darling! Of course, to explain - so understand and Germans, but because they did not understand, as we do, that this Russian liar and that he is lying in Russian. We're almost hear and know about what he says, we know the entire turnover of his lies, his style, his feelings. "

On the left - D. Kuvshinnikov. Right - the central character * * Hunters at Rest

Hunters prototypes have become real people familiar Vasily Perov. In the role of "liar", enthusiastically telling stories, I made the doctor Dmitry Kuvshinnikov, a great lover of hunting rifle - the same one who served as a prototype and Dr. Dimova in "The Grasshopper" Chekhov. Wife Kuvshinnikova Sofia Petrovna was the mistress of a literary and artistic salon, which were often V. Perov, I. Levitan, Repin, Chekhov and other famous artists and writers.

Left - V. Perov. Portrait of V. Bessonov, 1869. On the right - an incredulous listener, one of * * Hunters at Rest

The image ironically grinning hunter Perov depicted the doctor and amateur artist Vasily Bessonov, and the prototype for the young hunter, naive man regarded hunting tales, served as a 26-year-old Nikolai Nagorny, a future member of the Moscow City Government. This confirms in his memoirs and Volodicheva - daughter Nagornova. In 1962 she wrote the art critic V. Mashtafarovu "Kuvshinnikov DP was one of the closest friends of my father. They often went on the hunt for a bird. My father was a dog, and so we were going to Dmitry Pavlovich, Nicholas M. and Dr. Vladimir Bessonov They represented Perov ( "Hunters at Rest"). Kuvshinnikov tells father and Bessonov listen. Father - carefully and Bessonov - with a grain of salt ... ".

V. Perov. Hunters at rest, 1871. Fragment with game

Of great importance in this work are the characters gestures with which the artist creates a psychological portraits of his characters: splayed narrator hands illustrate his "scary" story, grinning commoner disbelief scratching his head, left arm of a young listener compressive stress, the right hand with a cigarette froze that gives enthusiasm and the simple-minded horror with which he listens to stories. Depicted in the lower left corner of the mining hunters could easily become an independent still life with game, but all the attention the artist deliberately focused on the faces and hands of the characters, highlighting the bright light accents.

Kramskoy. Portrait of V. Perov, 1881. Detail

Today, reproductions of paintings became a traditional gift for the avid hunter. Cloth, written V. Perov, in 1871, is now in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, and a copy is created in 1877 - the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.