The painting "Aristocrat's Breakfast" Fedorov. Description of the picture

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

Humor and satire have a special place in our lives. The desire to make fun of someone (both in a good and in an evil, cynical manner) is inherent in almost any person. Art is no exception. Poets, writers, artists and representatives of other creative professions pay their attention to everything funny and absurd, which can bring new colors to everyday life. The relevance of such motives took place in the cultural life of society many years ago.

Pavel Andreevich Fedotov occupies a special place in Russian satirical painting. “Breakfast of an Aristocrat” is a painting also known under the author’s title “A Guest at the wrong time”, which is one of the most famous and recognizable works of the painter.

The life and fate of the artist

Pavel Andreevich Fedotov was born on June 22 (July 4), 1815 in Moscow. His father was a retired officer and served in the Moscow Deanery Council. In 1826, Pavel became a pupil of the Moscow Cadet Corps, graduated with honors, after which he served for 10 years in the St. Petersburg Finnishshelf. At the same time, he studied at the drawing class of the Academy of Arts and soon became known in narrow circles thanks to his talent and the regimental genre sketches that appeared from under his brush, playful, romantic drawings, as well as portraits of colleagues. His work was approved not only by fellow soldiers, but also by the emperor's family, especially the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Alexander Nikolayevich. Two paintings were painted specially for him.

After graduating from the service in 1844, Fedotov decided to devote himself entirely to creativity and continued to attend the Academy, namely the class of battle painting. But she was not interested in him, and soon the artist came close to working in the genre, which he referred to as morally critical scenes from modern life, to which the painting “Breakfast of an Aristocrat”, painted in 1850, also belongs. Two years earlier, in 1848, he showed his work to Karl Pavlovich Bryullov, who gave them high marks and strongly supported Fedotov.

During his short life, Pavel Andreevich created canvases that became examples of everyday painting and ridiculed the whole essence of the life of the privileged strata of contemporary society. He died on November 14 (26), 1852 in a mental hospital after an exacerbation of mental illness and was buried at the Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg.

Creativity of Pavel Fedotov

As mentioned earlier, everyday life has become the main genre of the artist's works. In 1846, he began to master the technique of oil painting in the process.work on the canvas "Fresh Cavalier". A year later, Pavel Andreevich painted the painting "The Picky Bride", for which he was awarded the title of academician, and in the fall of 1848 the painting "Major's Courtship" was released, which brought him the championship among painters of domestic scenes.

In 1850 (February to May) Fedotov was in Moscow, where the painting "Breakfast of an Aristocrat" was completed, work on which began back in St. Petersburg. Later he painted the canvas “The Widow”, the plot of which was inspired by the death of the husband of the artist’s sister. His last works were "Anchor, more anchor!" and "Players". After that, he alth did not allow further work, but what was created left a noticeable mark on the history of Russian painting.

History of Creation

As mentioned earlier, in 1850 the artist completed one of his most famous paintings, Breakfast of an Aristocrat. Fedotov’s painting, written after the resounding success of The Major’s Matchmaking, was inspired by a feuilleton, the name of the author of which remained unknown (presumably, it was then a young writer Ivan Goncharov): “Have you accidentally tried to come to such people at home and make them by surprise? What was said was very close to the artist, and the easiest move was to fully follow this statement. However, the painter did not succumb to temptation, but captured the moment preceding this.

What do we see in the picture?

Undoubtedly, what is depicted on one of the most recognizable paintings by Pavel Fedotov, "Aristocrat's Breakfast", deserves analysis. The description of the picture in the brightest colors corresponds to what the artist carried through his work. This is a mockery of human vices in all their manifestations.

Looking at the canvas, we see a young nobleman, frightenedly covering a hunk of black bread, which makes up his entire morning meal, at the sound of the footsteps of an intruder. The artist writes out in every detail the environment surrounding the hero: this is a box from under a printed deck of cards under the table, indicating a penchant for gambling; a book covering a simple breakfast, in which one of the novels fashionable at that time was printed; posters advertising oysters and a theatrical performance, located on chairs (visiting the latter was a must-have pastime for secular youth of that time); a dapper dressing gown, tailored in the latest Parisian fashion.

But the most eloquent element that can complete the description of Fedotov's painting "Breakfast of an Aristocrat" is an absolutely empty wallet turned inside out. The artist, in his characteristic manner, ridicules the themes so beloved by him and close in spirit: human vanity, vanity, ostentatious life, carefully concealed wretchedness under the guise of external well-being and splendor. It should be noted that the character shown on the canvas was typical for that time, which leaves no doubt about the relevance of the plot to whichFedotov asked.

The fate of the work

At present, the painting "Breakfast of an Aristocrat", along with other significant works of the artist, is in Moscow, in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Lavrushinsky Lane. At one time, Pavel Tretyakov, the founder of the museum, managed to collect some rare graphic works from the early period of Fedotov's work. Today they are kept in the gallery funds, but are not exhibited in the halls of the museum. Picturesque canvases, which got into the collection later, are included in the permanent exhibition. This is the painting "Breakfast of an Aristocrat", which became the subject of consideration in this article, as well as the canvases "Major's Courtship", one of the author's copies of "The Widow", "The Fresh Cavalier" and "The Picky Bride".

The significance of Pavel Fedotov's work in Russian painting

The importance of what this artist expressed in his works cannot be overestimated. He is rightly called the founder of such a genre in the visual arts as critical realism. In the process of his creative development, he moved from the heaped compositions characteristic of him at the very beginning with a huge amount of detail to simpler and more natural images. His canvases firmly rooted in art a new genre of satirical painting with a national flavor, which gave rise to creativity for other young artists.