Perov, the painting "Hunters at rest": the history of creation, description of the canvas and a little about the artist himself

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Vasily Grigoryevich Perov created many amazing paintings. Among them is the painting "Hunters at Rest". Although the artist painted it at the end of the 19th century, connoisseurs of painting are still happy to look at the canvas, which depicts real people, their facial expressions and gestures are transmitted.

Creative biography - the beginning of the journey

The artist Vasily Perov lived in 1833-82. The exact date of his birth is unknown, tentatively it is the end of December 1833 - the beginning of January 1834. Grigory Vasilyevich is the illegitimate son of Baron Grigory (George), the provincial prosecutor. Despite the fact that after the birth of the child, the parents got married, he still did not have the right to a title and a surname.

Somehow Vasily's father invited an artist to them. The boy loved to watch the work of the painter, and this aroused his great interest in creativity. Despite the fact that because of the smallpox, which the child had had, his eyesight deteriorated, Vasily studied diligently and did drawing on his own.

Then the father gave the child toArzamas art school, where he studied from 1846 to 1849. The school was headed by A. V. Stupin, he spoke flatteringly about the young talent and said that Vasily had talent.

Without graduating from college due to a conflict with a fellow student, the young man moved to Moscow, where he entered the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

Awards, paintings

In 1856, for the portrait of Nikolai Grigorievich Kridener Perov was awarded a small silver medal. Then there were the works "Arrival of the policeman", "Scene on the grave", "Wanderer". For the painting "The First Order" the artist was awarded a small gold medal, and for the "Rural Procession on Easter" he was presented with a large gold medal.

Then the painter created many more beautiful canvases, including his famous painting "Hunters at rest", "Troika", "Sleeping children", "Arrival of a schoolgirl". His latest works are "The Wanderer in the Field", Fishermen", "The Old Man on the Bench", "Yaroslavna's Lament".

About the famous painting

The painting "Hunters at rest" was painted by V. I. Perov in 1871. If in the first half of the period of his work the artist reflects the bleak scenes of folk life (“Seeing the Dead Man”, “The Craftsman Boy”, Troika”, etc.), then in the second he increasingly depicts hunters, bird-catchers, fishermen who so much like what what they do.

The artist himself was very fond of hunting, so he was familiar with this topic. Now the painting "Hunters at Rest" is in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, anda copy created by the author in 1877 can be seen by visiting the State Russian Museum.

Who is depicted on the canvas - real prototypes

The hunters at Perov's camp are non-fictional characters. If you pay attention to the canvas, you will see the narrator on the left. In his guise, the artist conveyed the image of D. P. Kuvshinnikov, who was a famous Moscow doctor, a great lover of gun hunting.

Vasily Grigoryevich Perov did an excellent service to the physician, glorifying him even more. After the painting was presented at a traveling exhibition, D. P. Kuvshinnikov became very popular in artistic, theatrical, and literary circles. Artists, writers, actors began to gather in his apartment.

The skeptic hunter on the canvas also has its own real prototype. In the image of this man, Perov captured the doctor V. V. Bessonov, who was a friend of Kuvshinnikov.

The youngest hunter was drawn with Nikolai Mikhailovich Nagornov. This 26-year-old youth was a colleague and friend of Bessonov and Kuvshinnikov. A year later, the young man married the niece of the famous writer Leo Tolstoy.

Now that it is known who these hunters are at Perov's h alt, looking at the picture, peering into its smallest details will be even more interesting.

Description of the plot of the picture

Three hunters are depicted in the foreground. Apparently, they have been wandering through the forest since early morning in search of prey. Their trophies were limited to a duck and a hare. The hunters got tired and decided to take a break.

Small islands of snow are visible in the background. On the front and side - witheredgrass, bushes on which green leaves have not yet blossomed. Most likely, this is the end of March or the beginning of April. It's already getting dark, but men are not afraid of the dark. They feel good in each other's company, as common interests, conversations unite.

Hunters at rest - a description of these brave men

The artist was able to convey facial expressions, facial expressions of his characters. Looking at them, it becomes clear what they are talking about, thinking.

So, the man sitting on the left, the prototype of which was D. P. Kuvshinnikov, is the oldest. It is clear that he is a seasoned hunter. The man talks about his exploits. By the way his hands are tense, it is clear that he says that he somehow met a bear and, of course, emerged victorious from this fight.

The middle-aged man who is positioned between the two hunters can be seen to be sarcastic about the friend's story. Apparently, he heard this bike more than once. This hunter lowered his eyes and barely suppressed a smile so as not to laugh, but does not want to betray his older friend and does not tell the young hunter that this story is a fiction. Here they are, hunters on a h alt. The cost of a fictional story is low, but the youngest hunter does not know it.

He listens so intently to the narrator that he doesn't see what's going on around him. He even forgets to smoke - the hand with the cigarette froze - the young man follows the verbal plot so tensely. Apparently he has only recently joined thiscompany and does not yet know all the tales that his new friends can tell.

You think about all this, looking at the picture that the author wrote so realistically. The hunters at rest, though frozen in one position, but it seems that now they will get up and go towards new adventures.