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Perov's visit of the governess to the merchant's house. Description of the painting

19th century ... stormy, impetuous, controversial. The abolition of serfdom in 1861 put Russia on the path of capitalist development. Russia, like a train, rushes forward to a new life.

The peasants, although liberated, are still robbed and deprived of rights, dragging out a beggarly existence in need and grief.
Now there are new predators: a manufacturer, a merchant and a wealthy peasant, along with the landowner - greedy and insatiable, eager for power over the simple Russian people ...

The new "masters of life" suffer from soullessness and narrow-mindedness, cynicism and ruthlessness - everything is put into action, if only to humiliate, crush the Russian people, to subdue them. Many outstanding artists of the second half of the 19th century fought against oppression, including Vasily Grigorievich Perov.

The talented artist, whose name is on a par with I. Repin, V. Surikov, V. Savrasov, was accused of freethinking, sympathy for the oppressed people, so the authorities did not favor him during his lifetime. And yet, in spite of everything, his talent was recognized and appreciated.

During his life, Vasily Perov managed to create many paintings, and in each of them there is a protest and a struggle against the oppression and lack of rights of the people. Take, for example, “The Arrival of a Governess at a Merchant’s House”, a picture familiar and loved from childhood, but every time I carefully examine it, as if I see it for the first time.

A solid merchant's house, a large hall filled with light: delicate wallpaper with shining stars, light openwork silk curtains in the opening, entwined with garlands of greenery, lacquered chairs - everything is beautiful. So why does this beauty seem ghostly? But because it is light only in this room, behind which is a frightening darkness. The door to a dark corridor is open, from which the servants look at the young girl with fear and interest. They are trying to understand: who is she?

Elegantly, tastefully dressed, although her outfits are very modest: a brown dress with a white collar and cuffs, a bonnet and a blue ribbon - that's all the sophistication. Thin and fragile, like a stalk, she appeared before a merchant family. The gentle profile of the face and thin hands are drawn by the artist with a special feeling.
The girl takes out documents from her purse that give her the right to become a teacher, if the consent of the owner follows.

Now she is all, as if at gunpoint, she is being evaluated by several pairs of eyes at once, her fate is being decided ...
The owner of the house and the head of the family was in such a hurry to meet the young lady that he allowed himself to go out in a velvet robe. But, were you in a hurry? Or maybe he did not consider it necessary to dress as expected, they say, a small person, not worth it for her ...

Perhaps this version is more real, it is confirmed by the pose of the owner. He stands in front of a young girl, sticking out his stomach forward - his main advantage. The position of the hands: the left one rests against the side, and the right one holds the floor of the robe - once again emphasizes his confidence, we have the owner in front of us. It depends on him the outcome of this meeting. Feeling his superiority over the defenseless girl, he examines her with an evaluating look, like a commodity, like a thing that he is going to buy.

I would especially like to note the great work of the great master in the search for this image, how difficult it was for him. Being present at the fairs where transactions were conducted, in taverns and restaurants where their outcome was celebrated, Vasily Perov studied the poses, gestures, views of the merchants who were trading, made sketches in a huge number, before he found the only, most successful image that placed in the picture.

However, back to the merchant's house. Together with the host, other members of his family look at the young guest with great interest. In everything, the son, standing on his right hand, tries to imitate his father, his gaze is also evaluating, but there is more cynicism and mockery in him, as well as in his pose too. It becomes clear that the position of a girl - a governess, if she is accepted into this house, will not be envied.

The hostess and her eldest daughter, who are behind the back of the main person in the house, look at the guest with fear. For them, she is a phenomenon from another world unknown to them. These women will never be able to understand her, she will forever remain a stranger, which is why their looks are so frightened.

But there is a sincere interest in the governess of the enthusiastic children's eyes of the youngest merchant's daughter. She already understood that this teacher is here to study with her, to teach her languages and manners, so the interest is huge. Children's curiosity is associated with a feeling of joy, which the girl cannot hide due to her age. She dreams of getting to know her as soon as possible, the governess has already liked her future pupil.

I would like to hope that this will be the case. However, a sense of anxiety is felt in everything: the bright space of the hall is limited by two dark openings. There is a struggle between light and darkness, cynicism is opposed by moral purity: who wins?

And yet, the artist leaves hope for the best: the governess is not alone, as it seems to the viewer at first, which means there is hope for a brighter future. This is precisely another moral rise, another victory of the great master, which allowed this picture to take a special place in his work, to become one of the most beloved for the audience.

Description of the painting by Perov “Arrival of a governess in a merchant's house”

It is impossible not to note that Perov was well versed in the technique of painting portraits.
Every detail of the picture is a whole topic for discussion, each character is an open book that can be read to the end, understanding all aspects of the character.
So I liked this picture because all the details are psychologically subtly noticed.

People gathered, everyone is interested to look at the new person who will live in this house.
This girl is hired as a governess in a merchant's house for the youngest of her daughters.
She is afraid of an unknown future, she is in despair that she had to decide on this step.
But no one thinks about the state of the future servant, which obviously brings her to tears.
On the contrary, they examine it like a commodity on the market.
How can such an attitude not frighten her, and not instill excitement in her heart?

The most formidable character in the picture is the owner of the house.
His imperious appearance, tenacious, unkind look, frighten a young girl.
With one of his postures, he wants to "crush" any free-thinking in the servants.
The older daughters, peering over his shoulder, had already adopted their father's habit of seeing people as inferior.
And now they look at the newcomer with contempt.
Even the merchant's secretary, whose role is slightly higher than the position assigned to the governess, looks at the girl with laughter and mockery.

Maybe the young lady will receive support from the servants? No, I did not see on the faces of the servants a hint of pity and sympathy.
There is ridicule on their faces, they sneer at the small baggage, at the humiliation of an inexperienced girl, at her modest appearance.
But, in the picture there is still a person who is glad for the arrival of the governess.
This is the youngest daughter of a merchant.
It is lit with delight and curiosity.
The artist gave her a bright dress and a clear face.
And only this ray of hope can warm the heart of a frightened governess.

I like that Perov even tried to convey the history of the house.
On the walls of the spacious room there are no icons familiar for that time, instead a portrait hangs, one can see the father or grandfather of the merchant, for whom he has respect.
Sturdy furniture, simple decoration.
All this shows a modern family with innovative views and an understandable way of life.
This additional acquaintance with the family helps to better understand his views.

The theme of the picture corresponds to the critical and ridiculing style of the works of Vasily Perov, who was one of the first to draw attention to the lack of rights of ordinary people of his time. The artist boldly reflected the truth in his paintings, ridiculing such immoral scenes, and confirmation of this is another picture of the arrival of a governess in a merchant's house, painted by the artist in 1866.

The artist often observed when people are bought and sold, like a commodity, or even tritely lose at cards. The picture shows a merchant family, smugly looking at the governess girl who came to the service, respectively, not of her own free will and as it happened in a completely foreign family, where there is no nobility and understanding and any decency.

The well-fed merchant, who is also the head of the family, dressed only in a dressing gown, legs wide apart, arrogantly evaluates the governess modestly bowing her head, holding her necessary belongings in her hands.

Behind the back of the owner of the house, an obstinate, well-fed wife looks out with distrust with a desire to express various tricky questions, with incomprehensible and unexpected fear, they look at the newly arrived spoiled merchant's daughters.

The merchant's son, clasping his hands behind his back, obscenely looks at the girl with a smirk, expecting a stern and ordered conversation between his father, that is, the head of the family, with the governess who has arrived at their house.

The further difficult fate of the newly-made governess, apparently, is foreseen and understood by the people hired as servants, with ingratiating interest, they peek out from behind the door in anticipation of the usual stereotyped phrases and instructions.

The picture The arrival of a governess in a merchant's house reflects the difficult customs and way of life of that time, where there is ignorance and a lack of education that does not color people. The conversation of the merchant's family with the new governess, as we see from the depicted types of the characters in the picture, is quite understandable and presumably will be short, strict and, accordingly, humiliating, with the obligatory fulfillment of all the whims of the head of the family and his family. A young and powerless girl in a hopeless situation, she understands that it will not be easy for her here, and she will have to endure various unfair tricks of these not noble personalities.

The plot is outrageously dreary and sad, but this is true of that time and similar scenes of the 60s of the 19th century could be seen in many families of this type. The picture is very close to the spirit of the famous writer Gogol, the plots of which he often described in his stories.

Today, the painting The arrival of a governess in a merchant's house is in Moscow in the Tretyakov Gallery, its size is 44 by 53 cm, it is painted on a wooden base.

January 2 (December 21, old style) marks 183 years since the birth of the outstanding Russian painter Vasily Perov.

His name is usually associated with famous paintings. "Hunters at rest" and "Troika", where other works are less known, such as, for example, "The Governess's Arrival at the Merchant's House".

Many interesting facts are hidden in the details of this picture.

I. Kramskoy. Portrait of V. Perov, 1881 |

Vasily Perov was often called the successor of the work of the artist Pavel Fedotov, with whose paintings Perov is related to the choice of acute social topics, the critical focus of his work, and the special significance of details that are invisible at first glance. In the 1860s each new picture of Perov became a social phenomenon, his works, revealing the ulcers of society, were in tune with the era of great reforms. The artist was one of the first to draw attention to the powerlessness of ordinary people of his time.

V. Perov. Self portrait, 1870 |

One of these works was the painting "The arrival of a governess in a merchant's house" (1866). Compositionally and stylistically, it is very close to the genre paintings of P. Fedotov, first of all, the echoes are noticeable with the Major's Matchmaking. But Perov's work is more tragic and hopeless. In 1865, in search of nature for the planned work, the artist went to the Nizhny Novgorod fair, where merchants from all cities of Russia gathered and "peeped" the necessary types there.

V. Perov. Arrival of a governess to a merchant's house, 1866. Sketch |

They seemed to have descended from the pages of A. Ostrovsky's works. These notable analogies sometimes even led to the accusation that Perov was secondary to the writer's artistic world. So, for example, I. Kramskoy wrote about this picture: “The governess herself is charming, there is embarrassment in her, some kind of haste and something that immediately makes the viewer understand the personality and even the moment, the owner is also not bad, although not new: taken from Ostrovsky. The rest of the faces are superfluous and only spoil the matter.
It is hardly possible to fully agree with the opinion of Kramskoy. The rest of the characters were by no means "superfluous". A colorful figure of a young merchant, the son of the owner, who stands next to his father and looks at the young lady without hesitation. Commenting on this picture, Perov spoke of "shameless curiosity" - this phrase characterizes the merchant in the best possible way.