Pavel Fedotov is a picky bride. Description of the painting P

First, a tale read somewhere. The father says to his son: "Let's go to the Gogol Museum today, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is a very funny writer." And now the father walks between the windows, and the boy trudges behind him and moaning: "Dad, I'm not funny ... I'm not funny! Not-funny!"

In the Russian Museum, in front of Pavel Fedotov's painting "Major's Matchmaking", everyone becomes ridiculous. Specially observed: the most dreary spectator faces light up with sudden smiles. Either they rejoice at recognition - this work was replicated widely, even on postage stamp was. Whether the plot itself amuses. He really can not help but amuse.

In the time of Fedotov, genre paintings were considered entertaining, base art. The top of the hierarchy was occupied by historical canvases, biblical and ancient subjects. And everything that is "about life" is a topic that is not worthy of a real artist.

It's nice, after all, that everyone writes as he hears. What if from the charming Pavel Fedotov, who has been delighting us with "The Picky Bride", "Breakfast of an Aristocrat" for almost two hundred years, " Fresh cavalier", there were only paintings like "Meeting the Grand Duke in the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment" or "Wade the rangers on maneuvers."

But life is an amazingly wise thing: it washed away all these official constructions with scenes of shabby everyday life. It was they who - clumsy, funny, sometimes almost shameful - remained interesting to the public many generations later. And they also helped poor fellow Fedotov, a poor officer, stuffed with Nikolaev drill, to enter the history of art forever.

Someone said: literature is divided into funny and bad. When you look at Fedotov's paintings, you believe that this also applies to other arts. Everything that is devoid of humor is lifeless and short-lived.

Interestingly, the artist himself was never married. And in "Major's Matchmaking", perhaps he realized his secret dream. It is no coincidence that in the first version of the picture, more sarcastic (it is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery), Fedotov painted the major-groom from himself. And the brave mustache that the hero twists in anticipation of the reception is quite recognizable.

It is generally accepted that Fedotov is ridiculing here his contemporary customs and customs: they say that marriage is a prudent deal when an impoverished rank and status is combined with low-grade capital. I want there to be a story about love, but it turns out, as always, about profit.

But marriage in the 19th century was not only the choice of a life partner, as we have. Rather, they chose life itself, its entire structure, way of life and perspective. It is as if today a young girl had to pass the exam at once, enter the desired university and find a job she likes with a fair salary and career prospects. A successful or unsuccessful marriage determined everything: the sphere of communication, the standard of living, the circle of acquaintances, the health and well-being of children. Nowadays, any decision can be played back. In the century before last, brides and grooms were deprived of such a right.

Well, how can you not lose your head from doubts and worries? Our heroine lost, rushing like a wounded bird. And her mother, still a very young woman, not yet forty, is trying to stop this flight - her lips folded in a tube clearly read: "Ku-u-ud, fool ?!" Involuntarily, you will recall Gogol's Agafya Tikhonovna with her identikit of the ideal groom.

Before the canvas "Major's Matchmaking" everyone becomes funny

Pavel Fedotov, who exchanged the service of the Guards for the wrong craft of the artist, was funny and observant. And he loved fables: he even corresponded with Ivan Andreevich Krylov himself. He also composed his paintings as fables - it is enough to give their full names:

"The old age of an artist who married without a dowry in the hope of his talent"

"Picky Bride, or the Hunchbacked Groom"

"Out of Time Guest, or Breakfast of an Aristocrat"

"A Fresh Cavalier, or the Consequences of a Feast"

"The House Thief, or the Chest of Drawers Scene"

And with what performances he accompanied the exhibited works! For example, at the “Major’s Matchmaking” he pulled with a squeaky parsley accent: “But our bride will not foolishly find a place: A man! A stranger! Oh, what a shame! .. And a smart mother grab her dress! the hawk threatens the turtledove - the major is fat, dashing, his pocket is full of holes - he twists his mustache: I, they say, will get to the money! Moreover, these verses were sung by a man in a captain's uniform.

Yes, he laughs at his heroes, but he also loves them, and admires them, and sympathizes with them. So the bride on this canvas was dressed up in an almost wedding dress, and the samovar is a symbol of a comfortable home life and the fusion of two elements, fire and water, male and female. feminine, placed in the very center of the composition. But it is still unknown what the matchmaking will turn into. But the artist is in a hurry to rejoice for his heroes. Let them, funny and absurd, be happy.

In his diaries, Fedotov wrote: "Happy is he who can find poetry everywhere, pearling both a tear of sorrow and a tear of joy."

He could. And tried to teach it to others. It's after, in next generation, the Wanderers will appear with their love for the genre, Dostoevsky with the "tear of a child", Leskov and Ostrovsky with a variety of colors of philistine or merchant life. Pavel Fedotov, a poor officer endowed with the talents of a draftsman, cartoonist, writer and actor, was the forerunner of them all. And he was the first to introduce us to their heroes.

But he himself did not have time to marry: at the age of thirty-seven, he died in a lunatic asylum from a mental disorder. Funny.

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Pavel Fedotov's painting "The Picky Bride" was painted in 1847. With this picture, Fedotov paid tribute to the memory of the fabulist Krylov three years after his death. As a basis, the artist took Krylov's fable of the same name about a finicky beauty who for several years refused all suitors wooing her, until she realized herself, drawing attention to her fading skin ...

A beauty that hasn't faded yet

For the first who wooed her, she went,

And I'm glad, I was glad

What went for a cripple.

The unnatural emotional expression of the faces of the depicted attracts attention: the courteous indulgence of a middle-aged lady and the plea for the opportunity to be next to her by an already middle-aged gentleman, who understands that his chances are small: the groom is disgusting in appearance. However, the artist shows the bride's obvious interest in the next contender for her hand. Realizing the need for her consent this time, because apparently she had no choice left, she pretends to hesitate before entrusting herself to this ugly old man, although it is obvious that she has already made a decision, the announcement of which her parents are eagerly awaiting, watching the process behind the door. The groom's chic clothes - an expensive jacket, a shiny top hat, patent leather shoes - attract them much more than sincere feelings, and guarantee a "successful marriage."

The artist emphasizes the external ugliness of the groom with moral character his favourites. The abundance of cosmetics on her face betrays a desire to please and avoid rejection on his part.

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Painting by Pavel Fedotov Picky Bride: description, biography of the artist, customer reviews, other works of the author. A large catalog of paintings by Pavel Fedotov on the website of the online store BigArtShop.

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Pavel Andreevich Fedotov was born in Moscow in 1815 in the family of a titular adviser. His father during the time of Catherine served in the army, upon retirement he received the rank of lieutenant and the nobility.

Pavel, at the age of 11, was assigned by his father to the First Moscow Cadet Corps, where he showed the ability to military service, and in 1830 he was promoted to non-commissioned officer, and in 1832 - to sergeant major, and in the same year he graduated with honors.

During his studies, he was fond of mathematics and chemistry, and in free time- drawing.

In 1833, Fedotov was promoted to the first officer's rank, in 1834 he, with the rank of ensign, was sent to serve in the Finnish Life Guards Regiment in St. Petersburg, where he served for 10 years.

After three years of service, the young officer began to attend evening drawing lessons at the Academy of Arts, practiced at home, drawing portraits of his colleagues, scenes of regimental life, caricatures. The portraits turned out to be very similar, but the portrait of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, whose images were willingly bought, came out especially well from Fedotov's brush.

In the summer of 1837, Fedotov painted a watercolor painting "The Meeting of the Grand Duke", for which the prince himself granted the artist a diamond ring. This award, according to Fedotov, "finally imprinted in his soul artistic pride." After that, the artist began the painting “The Consecration of the Banners in Winter Palace updated after the fire. The still unfinished picture was presented to the Grand Duke, who, in turn, showed it to his august brother, which resulted in the highest command: “to grant the painting officer the voluntary right to leave the service and devote himself to painting with a maintenance of 100 rubles. banknotes per month.

After much deliberation, Pavel Andreevich nevertheless decided to take advantage of the royal favor: he submitted a letter of resignation, and in 1844 he was dismissed with the rank of captain and the right to wear a military uniform.

Despite the fact that now he had to live on a meager pension, the love of art helped to persistently go towards the intended goal - to become a real artist.

At first, Pavel Andreevich chose the battle genre for himself, but later he found his true calling in genre painting.

The fabulist Krylov, who saw some of Fedotov's works, helped the artist to decide on his choice and advised him to take up genre painting. Heeding this advice, Fedotov painted two oil paintings one after the other: “The Fresh Cavalier” and “The Picky Bride” and showed them to Bryullov, who was all-powerful in those years at the Academy of Arts, who was delighted. The Council of the Academy Fedotov was nominated for the title of academician and received a cash allowance, which allowed him to continue the begun painting "Major's Matchmaking"

After the exhibition of this picture, the Council of the Academy unanimously recognized the artist as an academician, the name of Fedotov became known to the general public, laudatory articles by critics appeared in magazines. Simultaneously with the “Major’s Matchmaking”, a poem became known that explained the meaning of this picture, composed by the artist himself. At the same time, it turned out that Fedotov from a young age loved to write poetry, fables, romances, which he himself set to music ...

However, despite the fact that by the beginning of the 1850s the well-deserved recognition came to the artist, success was overshadowed by the increased attention of censorship, which caused satirical orientation Fedotov's creativity and his adherence to principles. Patrons began to turn away from Fedotov.

Worries and disappointment, together with the constant strain of the mind, hands and eyes, especially when working in the evening and at night, had a devastating effect on Pavel Andreevich's health. The artist's eyesight worsened, he began to suffer from congestion of blood to the brain, frequent headaches, grew old beyond his years, and in his very character an increasingly noticeable change took place: cheerfulness and sociability were replaced by thoughtfulness and silence.

In the spring of 1852, Pavel Andreevich showed signs of an acute mental disorder. The people around him thought he was crazy.

Friends and the authorities of the Academy placed Fedotov in one of the private St. Petersburg hospitals for the mentally ill, and the sovereign granted him 500 rubles for his maintenance in this institution. Despite this, the disease progressed, and in the fall of 1852, acquaintances secured the transfer of Pavel Andreevich to the Hospital of All Who Sorrow on Peterhof Highway. Here Fedotov died on November 14 of the same year, forgotten by all but a few close friends.

The texture of the canvas, high-quality paints and large-format printing allow our reproductions of Pavel Fedotov to be as good as the original. The canvas will be stretched on a special stretcher, after which the picture can be framed in a baguette of your choice.

Pavel Andreevich Fedotov (June 22, 1815, Moscow - November 14, 1852, St. Petersburg) - Russian painter and graphic artist.

The son of a very poor official, a former warrior of Catherine's times, and later a titular adviser Andrei Illarionovich Fedotov and his wife, Natalya Alekseevna, he was born in Moscow on June 22, 1815 and baptized on July 3 in the Church of Kharitonia in Ogorodniki, Nikitsky forty. The recipients at baptism were collegiate adviser Ivan Andreevich Petrovsky and the daughter of a nobleman Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Tolstaya.

Self-portrait. 1848

At the age of eleven, without any scientific training, he was appointed to the pupils of the first Moscow cadet corps. Thanks to his abilities, diligence and exemplary behavior, he attracted the attention of his superiors and surpassed his comrades. In 1830 he was made a non-commissioned officer, in 1833 he was promoted to sergeant major and in the same year he graduated as the first student, and his name, according to established custom, was entered on an honorary marble plaque in the assembly hall of the corps.

Released as an ensign in the Life Guards, the Finnish Regiment moved to St. Petersburg. After three or four years of service in the regiment, the young officer began attending evening drawing lessons at the Academy of Arts, where he tried to more accurately copy some parts of the human body from plaster models. Diligently studied the forms human body and tried to make his hand more free and obedient in order to transfer the beauty of nature to a blank canvas. For the same purpose, he practiced at home, drawing portraits of his colleagues and acquaintances in pencil or watercolor paints during free time. These portraits were always very similar, but Fedotov studied the facial features and figure of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich especially well, whose images, emerging from under his brush, were willingly bought by sellers of paintings and prints.

Summer 1837 Grand Duke, returning to St. Petersburg from a trip abroad for treatment, visited the Krasnoselsky camp, where the guardsmen who adored him met him with a noisy ovation. Struck by the picturesqueness of the scene that happened at the same time, Fedotov sat down to work and in just three months completed a large watercolor painting “The Meeting of the Grand Duke”, in which, in addition to the portrait of His Highness, portraits of many of the participants in the celebration were placed. The painting was presented to the Grand Duke, who granted the artist a diamond ring for it. With this award, according to Fedotov, "artistic pride was finally imprinted in his soul." After that, he set about another picture, “The Consecration of the Banners in the Winter Palace, renovated after the fire,” but, feeling a great need for a livelihood, he decided to present this picture to the Grand Duke in order to solicit them. The latter showed it to his august brother, which resulted in the highest command: “to grant the drawing officer the voluntary right to leave the service and devote himself to painting with a maintenance of 100 rubles. assign. per month".

Fedotov thought for a long time whether to take advantage of the Tsar's mercy or not, but finally submitted his resignation and in 1844 was dismissed with the rank of captain and the right to wear a military uniform. Having parted with epaulettes, he found himself in difficult living conditions - even worse than those under which he, the son of poor parents, had to exist while serving in the guard. On the meager pension granted by the sovereign, it was necessary to support himself, help his father's family, which fell into great need, hire sitters, purchase materials and allowances for artwork; but the love of art kept Fedotov cheerful and helped him struggle with difficult circumstances and persevere towards his intended goal - to become a real artist.

At first, after his retirement, he chose battle painting as a specialty for himself, as a field of art in which he had already successfully tried his hand, and which in the Nikolaev era promised honor and financial support. Having settled in a poor apartment "from the tenants" in one of the distant lines of Vasilyevsky Island, denying himself the slightest comfort, contenting himself with a 15-kopeck lunch from the kitchen master, sometimes enduring hunger and cold, he began to practice drawing and writing sketches from nature even more diligently than before. at home and in academic classes, and in order to expand the range of his battle plots, which had hitherto been limited to infantry, he began to study the skeleton and muscles of the horse, under the guidance of prof. A. Zaurweida. Of the works conceived by Fedotov at that time, but remaining only designed in sketches, the most remarkable, according to his friends, were “French marauders in a Russian village, in 1812”, “Jägers crossing the river on maneuvers”, “Evening entertainment in the barracks on the occasion of the regimental holiday ”and several compositions on the theme“ Barracks life ”, composed under the influence of Gogart. However, painting military scenes was not the true vocation of our artist: wit, subtle observation, the ability to notice the typical features of people of different classes, knowledge of the situation in their lives, the ability to grasp the character of a person - all these qualities of talent, clearly manifested in Fedotov's drawings, indicated that he should to be not a battle-player, but a genre painter. But he was not aware of this, arranging everyday scenes, so to speak, in passing, for his own amusement and for the amusement of his friends.

This continued until the letter of the fabulist Krylov opened his eyes. Krylov, who had seen some of Fedotov's works, urged him to abandon the soldiers and horses and focus exclusively on the genre. Heeding this advice, the artist almost hopelessly locked himself in his studio, doubled his work on the study of painting techniques. oil paints and, having mastered them sufficiently, by the spring of 1848 he wrote two paintings one after another according to the sketches already in his album: “The Fresh Cavalier” or “The Morning of the Official Who Received the First Cross”, and “The Picky Bride”. Being shown to K. Bryullov, then all-powerful at the Academy of Arts, they led him into admiration; thanks to him, and even more to their merits, they delivered to Fedotov from the Academy the title of an appointed academician, permission to turn the painting "Courtship of a Major" that he had already started into the program for an academician, and a cash allowance for its execution. This picture was ready for academic exhibition 1849, at which she appeared along with the "Fresh Cavalier" and "The Picky Bride". The Council of the Academy unanimously recognized the artist as an academician, but when the doors of the exhibition opened to the public, the name of Fedotov became known throughout the capital and sounded from it throughout Russia.

Fedotov's popularity was facilitated by the fact that almost simultaneously with the Major's Matchmaking, a poetic explanation of this painting, composed by the artist himself and distributed in handwritten copies, became known. Fedotov loved to practice poetry from a young age. Both drawing and painting were mixed up in his conversation with the muse: most artistic ideas, expressed with his pencil or brush, then poured out under his pen into rhymed lines, and vice versa, one or another theme, which first gave Fedotov the content for a poem, later became the plot of his drawing or painting. In addition, he composed fables, elegies, album pieces, romances, which he himself set to music, and, at the time of his officership, soldiers' songs. Fedotov's poetry is much lower than the creations of his pencil and brush, however, it also has the same virtues as they are noted, but ten times more. However, Fedotov did not give of great importance his poems and did not go into print with them, allowing them to be written off only by friends and close acquaintances. Both those and others rightly considered the explanation for the “Major’s Matchmaking” to be the most successful work Fedotov poetry and willingly communicated it to everyone.

The academic exhibition of 1848 delivered to Fedotov, in addition to honor and fame, some improvement in material resources: in addition to the pension received from the state treasury, he was ordered to release 300 rubles each. per year from the amount allocated by the Cabinet of His Majesty for the promotion of worthy artists. This was most appropriate, since the circumstances of Fedotov's relatives at that time worsened and he had to spend heavily on them. In order to see his people and arrange his father's business, he soon after the exhibition ended, went to Moscow. From his paintings, flaunted at the St. Petersburg exhibition, and from several drawings in sepia, an exhibition was arranged that led the local public to the same, if not more delight, as the St. Petersburg one. Fedotov returned from Moscow pleased with her, healthy, full of bright hopes, and immediately sat down again to work. Now he wanted to bring into his work, directed before that to denounce the vulgar and dark sides Russian life, a new element - the interpretation of bright and gratifying phenomena. For the first time, he decided to present the image attractive woman, suffered a great misfortune, the loss of her beloved husband, and in 1851-1852 he painted the painting "The Widow", and then set about the composition "The Return of the College Girl to parental home”, soon abandoned by him and replaced by another plot: “The Sovereign's Arrival at the Patriotic Institute”, which also remained only half developed. Despite the success of his first paintings, Fedotov became more and more convinced that he lacked serious preparation in order to convey his ideas to the canvas quickly and freely, which at his age to conquer himself artistic technique one must work persistently, spending an abyss of time and using at least some sufficiency. It was hardly possible to have a shelter and feed on the pension and allowance received, but meanwhile, from them it was necessary to buy art materials, hire nature and send to Moscow an allowance to relatives who, with all the care of the artist, fell into complete poverty. It was necessary, putting aside the new compositions for an indefinite period, to earn money by less serious work - writing cheap portraits and copying their previous works.

Worries and disappointment, together with the constant strain of the mind and imagination, and with the incessant occupation of the hand and eyes, especially when working in the evening and at night, had a devastating effect on Fedotov's health: he began to suffer from illness and weakness of vision, congestion of blood to the brain, and frequent headaches. , grew old beyond his years, and in his very character a more and more noticeable change took place: cheerfulness and sociability were replaced in him by thoughtfulness and taciturnity. Finally, Fedotov's morbid state turned into complete insanity. Friends and academic authorities placed him in one of the private St. Petersburg hospitals for the mentally ill, and the sovereign granted him 500 rubles for his maintenance in this institution, ordering him to make every possible effort to heal the unfortunate. But the disease went forward with unstoppable steps. Soon Fedotov fell into the category of restless. In view of his poor care in the hospital, his friends secured his transfer in the fall of 1852 to the Hospital of All Who Sorrow, on Peterhof Highway. Here he did not suffer for long and died on November 14 of the same year, having come to his senses two weeks before his death. He was buried at the necropolis of the masters of arts of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Father's portrait. 1837

And Fedotov and his comrades in the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment. 1840

Lord! Get Married - Helpful! 1840-41

Anchor, more anchor!

Bivouac of the Life Guards Grenadier Regiment 1843

Portrait of Olga Petrovna Zhdanovich, nee Chernysheva. 1845-47

Fresh Cavalier. Morning of the official who received the first cross. 1846

Portrait of P P Zhdanovich. 1846

Picky bride. 1847

Portrait of Anna Petrovna Zhdanovich 1848

Major's marriage. 1848

All cholera is to blame. 1848

Fashionable Wife (Lioness Sketch). 1849

Aristocratic breakfast. 1849-1850

Winter day. Early 1850s

Portrait of M. I. Krylova. 1850

Widow. ca 1850

Portrait of N. P. Zhdanovich at the harpsichord. 1850

Players. 1852

Players. Sketch

Chief and subordinate

Girl The head of a pimp. Late 1840s

The end of Fidelka. 1844

Shop. 1844

Christening 1847

Home thief. 1851

Self-portrait. Late 1840s

Fully

Description of the painting by Fedotov “The Picky Bride”

Fedotov's painting "The Picky Bride" depicts a funny matchmaking scene.
The action takes place in a luxurious room, the walls of which are decorated with paintings in gilded frames.
The room is furnished with expensive carved furniture, there is also a cage with a large parrot.
In the center of the picture is the same choosy bride who sits in front of the groom in a magnificent iridescent dress.
She is no longer as young as before, such women in those days were ranked among the old maids.
Her beauty has already faded, but she still lives with her parents and was not married.

Before her on one knee is the long-awaited groom.
He is not at all handsome, which the girl dreamed of in early years.
The groom is hunchbacked, ugly and already balding.
He looks at the bride with a look full of expectation.
A man wants to hear the cherished phrase: "I agree!".
His top hat, gloves and cane are scattered on the floor.
The feeling that he ran to the bride, hastily threw his things on the floor and is waiting for the decision of the picky bride.
To the right of the groom is a small white dog, which, like him, is waiting to see if a no longer young woman will give consent.
Apparently, the bride's parents, hiding behind the curtain and waiting for an answer, add to the comical situation.
They have already completely despaired of marrying their daughter, and now a potential groom has come, and the parents are hoping for a positive response.

Everyone is waiting for the decision of the bride, because the fate of all those present depends on her word.
She is not young, all the contenders for the hand and heart have long been married, and she was still waiting for that ideal one, which she did not wait for.
Now she has no choice, she will have to marry the one who proposes or remain an old maid for life.
No matter how ugly the groom is, the discriminating bride has no one else to choose from.
Parents understand this and look forward to her answer.
The fate of the bride is predetermined, because thanks to her legibility, she had no choice at all.