Hunters at rest short description. The painting "Hunters at rest": a description for schoolchildren

Vasily Perov is a famous Russian genre painter of the second half of the 19th century. One of the most famous paintings of the painter is "Hunters at Rest", painted in 1871. Why did this particular picture become so popular, where the author's repetitions from "Hunters at Rest" are stored and how is one of the characters of the canvas connected with the writer Leo Tolstoy?

Interestingly, Vasily Perov was skeptical about his painting and did not value his work highly, unlike his contemporaries. For example, Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote about the painting “Hunter at Rest”: “The painting has long been known to everyone; one lies ardently and deliberately, the other listens and believes with all his might, and the third does not believe anything, lay down right there and laughs ... What a charm!<…>After all, we almost hear and know what he is talking about, we know the whole turn of his lies, his style, his feelings.

Vasily Perov "Hunters at rest", 1871

Vasily Perov managed to create a masterpiece. In one painting "The Hunter at Rest", which the artist conceived as a joke, he combines several pictorial genres at once: an everyday scene, a landscape, a still life. In the center, against the background of autumn fields, are three hunters. An elderly poor nobleman, animatedly talks about his hunting exploits. The young man trustingly listens to him, and is so carried away by the story that he forgot to light a cigarette. And the peasant, reclining in the center, only smirks ironically - he has already heard enough of such stories.

The artist in the picture depicted his friends. The narrator is doctor Dmitry Kuvshinnikov. By the way, after the painting was exhibited at the first traveling exhibition, Kuvshinnikov's name became popular in literary, artistic and theatrical circles. Writers and artists often gathered at his house, among them - Chekhov, Levitan and others. The skeptic hunter is another friend of Perov, Vasily Bessonov, a physician and amateur artist. The prototype of the young hunter was the 26-year-old doctor Nikolai Nagornov, who later married Varvara Tolstaya, the great writer's niece. It turned out that three doctors became hunters.

The original painting "Hunters at Rest" (oil on canvas 119x183) is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery. In 1877, the artist wrote a reduced author's copy, which is stored in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. There were legends that Perov made three paintings of "Hunters at Rest". The third option was found in Nikolaev in Ukraine. For more than 20 years, employees of the Nikolaev Regional Art Museum. V. Vereshchagin were sure that the picture in their fund was an excellent copy, because in Soviet times Perov's masterpiece was very popular, a huge number of copies and reproductions of "Hunters" appeared. However, in 2004, the museum was visited by the Kiev restorer Nikolai Titov, who stated without a doubt that the canvas and paints belonged to the 19th century. The picture was sent for research, during which art critics found out that it was the author's repetition. After the restoration, a copy of "Hunters at Rest" was included in the main exposition of the museum.

REFERENCE

The artist Vasily Perov had a difficult fate. He was the illegitimate son of the provincial prosecutor, Baron Georgy Kridener. The exact date of the artist's birth is not known - January 2 or 4, 1833. And although after the birth of Perov, his parents got married, Vasily could not bear the name of his father. For a long time, the surname "Vasilyev" was indicated in the documents, given by the name of the godfather.

After the resignation of the baron, his family moved to the Samara province. Here, little Vasily was sent to study with a deacon. He made the greatest progress in calligraphy, for which he received the nickname Perov, which stuck to him for life.

Ivan Kramskoy "Portrait of Vasily Perov", 1881

Vasily wanted to study painting, but his parents opposed this for a long time. In the end, Perov left for Moscow in 1852 and entered the School of Painting and Sculpture. In 1862, the artist married Helena Shaynes, left with his family for Paris at the expense of the Academy. But two years later the artist returned to his homeland, he was not close to the genre scenes of French life. Perov was more interested in the life of ordinary people in Russia. In the 1860s, he created paintings where he revealed the contradictions of modern life - "Troika", "Seeing the Dead", "Scene at the Post Station" and others. In them, he tried to show the plight of hired workers.

Vasily Perov "Troika", 1866

In 1869-1870, a tragedy occurred in the life of the artist, which influenced his work. Perov's wife and two children died from the epidemic, only his son Vladimir survived. The painter began to depict a simple man, his joys of everyday life. The artist's passion for hunting was reflected in several paintings - "Fisherman", "Birdcatcher" and others. In addition to paintings on everyday topics, Vasily Perov created historical canvases and portraits of Dostoevsky, Ostrovsky and his other contemporaries.

Vasily Perov "Portrait of F. M. Dostoevsky", 1872

In 1872 Perov married a second time. Toward the end of his life, Vasily Georgievich began to engage in literature, wrote stories. Vasily Perov died of consumption in 1882 in Moscow. The artist was buried at the monastery cemetery in the Danilov Monastery. The painter's son from his first marriage, Vladimir Perov, also became an artist.

The publication uses materials from the encyclopedia "Treasures of Russian Museums" and from the official website of the Nikolaev Art Museum. V. Vereshchagin.


Around this picture Vasily Perov since its appearance, serious passions have been burning: V. Stasov compared the canvas with the best hunting stories of I. Turgenev, and M. Saltykov-Shchedrin accused the artist of excessive theatricality and unnaturalness of the characters. Besides, in "Hunters on a Rest" everyone easily recognized the real prototypes - Perov's acquaintances. Despite the mixed reviews from critics, the picture became incredibly popular.



Vasily Perov himself was a passionate hunter, and the topic of hunting was well known to him. In the 1870s he created the so-called "hunting series": the paintings "Birdcatcher", "Fisherman", "Botanist", "Pigeon", "Fishing". For "Ptitselov" (1870), he received the title of professor, as well as a teaching position at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. But the most striking and recognizable in this cycle, of course, was the painting "Hunters at Rest".



The canvas was exhibited for the first time at the 1st Traveling Exhibition and immediately caused conflicting responses. Critic V. Stasov admired the work. M. Saltykov-Shchedrin criticized the picture for the lack of immediacy and truth of life, for the affectation of emotions: “It’s as if some actor is present when the picture is shown, to whom the role instructs to speak to the side: this is a liar, and this gullible, inviting the viewer not to believe the liar hunter and have fun with the gullibility of the novice hunter. Artistic truth should speak for itself, and not through interpretation. But F. Dostoevsky did not agree with critical reviews: “What a charm! Of course, to explain - so the Germans will understand, but they will not understand, like us, that this is a Russian liar and that he is lying in Russian. After all, we almost hear and know what he is talking about, we know the whole turn of his lies, his style, his feelings.



The prototypes of the hunters were real people who knew Vasily Perov. The doctor Dmitry Kuvshinnikov, a great lover of rifle hunting, acted as a "liar", enthusiastically telling fables, the same one who also served as the prototype of Dr. Dymov in Chekhov's Jumping Girl. Kuvshinnikov's wife Sofya Petrovna was the mistress of the literary and artistic salon, which was often visited by V. Perov, I. Levitan, I. Repin, A. Chekhov and other famous artists and writers.



In the image of an ironically grinning hunter, Perov portrayed the doctor and amateur artist Vasily Bessonov, and the 26-year-old Nikolai Nagornov, a future member of the Moscow city council, served as the prototype for the young hunter, naively listening to hunting stories. This is confirmed in his memoirs by A. Volodicheva, the daughter of Nagornov. In 1962, she wrote to art critic V. Mashtafarov: “D. P. Kuvshinnikov was one of my father’s closest friends. They often went hunting for birds. My father had a dog, and therefore gathered with us: Dmitry Pavlovich, Nikolai Mikhailovich and Dr. Bessonov V.V. They are depicted by Perov (“Hunters at Rest”). Kuvshinnikov tells, father and Bessonov listen. Father - carefully, and Bessonov - with distrust ... ".



Of great importance in this work are the gestures of the characters, with the help of which the artist creates psychological portraits of his heroes: the narrator’s outstretched hands illustrate his “terrible” story, a grinning commoner scratches his head in disbelief, the left hand of a young listener is tensely clenched, the right hand with a cigarette froze, which betrays enthusiasm and ingenuous horror with which he listens to fables. The prey of hunters depicted in the lower left corner could well become an independent still life with game, but the artist deliberately focused all his attention on the faces and hands of the characters, highlighting these accents with bright light.

because of what Levitan was going to challenge Chekhov to a duel

In the foreground, the artist showed the prey with which the brave hunters go home. Some of them shot a duck, and someone - a hare. One of the comrades sits in a dark coat, leaning forward a little - and enthusiastically tells the others something. Another hunter lay down on the yellowed grass. He listens to the story, but looks at his friend incredulously. The third hunter completely believes the story of his friend, so he listens carefully, even stretched out a little forward. A little to the side runs a dog that is not used to rest. She heard something - and is ready to continue hunting without her master.

In the background, you can see an endless field with yellowed grass, and a sad, autumn sky hangs from above. Against the background of the sky, the shadows of birds flicker, which no longer attract hunters.

The picture is written in a slightly humorous style, as it is clear that one of the hunters boasts of his long-standing merits, but they actually did not exist. This canvas breathes optimism and enthusiasm, so the mood immediately improves - and there is a desire to do something good.

Second version of the essay:

Vasily Grigorievich Perov is a famous Russian artist. His brushes belong to such famous paintings as "Troika", "Seeing the Dead", "Tea Party in Mytishchi". No less famous is his painting "Hunters at Rest".

The central part of the picture is occupied by three hunters, who settled down to rest after a successful hunt. The hare and ducks lying nearby clearly indicate that the hunt was a success. And the faces of the characters in the picture express satisfaction. The poses of hunters, their appearance speak volumes to the audience.

The hunter on the left, who enthusiastically tells something, is from the nobility. He is well dressed and well groomed. He tells hunting tales so emotionally: his eyes are wide open, his hands show that the beast is about to pounce on him. His whole appearance says: “The bear has risen on its hind legs. Goes to me. It's about to grab it with its clawed paws. Most likely, his story is pure fiction.

The second hunter, also a nobleman, seems to be new to the business. He is so captured by the story of an experienced partner that he does not notice anything around. His hand with the cigarette froze halfway, he did not move. The young man believes every word of the narrator. It seems that he will now exclaim: “Oh, Lord, what passions!”.

And only the third hunter is distrustful of the story. An experienced hunter, a simple peasant peasant, understands that the master has lied, but it hurts a lot. It is amusing for him to hear the lies of an educated person. The peasant hunter laughs at the gullibility of his young partner. His smile says: “Oh, and you lie, brother, much! And you believe everything!”

And only the nature surrounding the hunters does not share the carelessness and contentment of the hunters. Birds are circling anxiously in the sky, gloomy clouds are approaching. The branches of the shrubbery all around froze in some kind of anxious expectation. But satisfied with the hunt and carried away by the story, men do not notice this tension.

Serious passions burned around this work by master Vasily Perov from the moment it appeared: V. Stasov compared the canvas with the best hunting stories of I. Turgenev, and M. Saltykov-Shchedrin accused the artist of excessive theatricality and unnaturalness of the characters. In addition, in "Hunters on a Rest" everyone easily recognized the real prototypes - Perov's acquaintances. Despite the mixed reviews from critics, the picture became incredibly popular.



V. Perov. Self-portrait, 1870. Detail

Vasily Perov himself was a passionate hunter, and the topic of hunting was well known to him. In the 1870s he created the so-called "hunting series": the paintings "Birdcatcher", "Fisherman", "Botanist", "Pigeon", "Fishing". For "Ptitselov" (1870), he received the title of professor, as well as a teaching position at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. But the most striking and recognizable in this cycle, of course, was the painting "Hunters at Rest".

V. Perov. Birder, 1870

The canvas was exhibited for the first time at the 1st Traveling Exhibition and immediately caused conflicting responses. Critic V. Stasov admired the work. M. Saltykov-Shchedrin criticized the picture for the lack of immediacy and truth of life, for the affectation of emotions: “It’s as if some actor is present when the picture is shown, to whom the role instructs to speak to the side: this is a liar, and this gullible, inviting the viewer not to believe the liar hunter and have fun with the gullibility of the novice hunter. Artistic truth should speak for itself, and not through interpretation. But F. Dostoevsky did not agree with critical reviews: “What a charm! Of course, to explain - so the Germans will understand, but they will not understand, like us, that this is a Russian liar and that he is lying in Russian. After all, we almost hear and know what he is talking about, we know the whole turn of his lies, his style, his feelings.

Left: D. Kuvshinnikov. On the right is the central character *Hunters at rest*

The prototypes of the hunters were real people who knew Vasily Perov. The doctor Dmitry Kuvshinnikov, a great lover of rifle hunting, acted as a "liar", enthusiastically telling fables, the same one who also served as the prototype of Dr. Dymov in Chekhov's Jumping Girl. Kuvshinnikov's wife Sofya Petrovna was the mistress of the literary and artistic salon, which was often visited by V. Perov, I. Levitan, I. Repin, A. Chekhov and other famous artists and writers.

Left - V. Perov. Portrait of V. Bessonov, 1869. On the right - an incredulous listener, one of the *Hunters on a halt*

In the image of an ironically grinning hunter, Perov portrayed the doctor and amateur artist Vasily Bessonov, and the 26-year-old Nikolai Nagornov, a future member of the Moscow city council, served as the prototype for the young hunter, naively listening to hunting stories. This is confirmed in his memoirs by A. Volodicheva, the daughter of Nagornov. In 1962, she wrote to art critic V. Mashtafarov: “D. P. Kuvshinnikov was one of my father’s closest friends. They often went hunting for birds. My father had a dog, and therefore gathered with us: Dmitry Pavlovich, Nikolai Mikhailovich and Dr. Bessonov V.V. They are depicted by Perov (“Hunters at Rest”). Kuvshinnikov tells, father and Bessonov listen. Father - carefully, and Bessonov - with distrust ... ".

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

Of great importance in this work are the gestures of the characters, with the help of which the artist creates psychological portraits of his heroes: the narrator’s outstretched hands illustrate his “terrible” story, a grinning commoner scratches his head in disbelief, the left hand of a young listener is tensely clenched, the right hand with a cigarette froze, which betrays enthusiasm and ingenuous horror with which he listens to fables. The prey of hunters depicted in the lower left corner could well become an independent still life with game, but the artist deliberately focused all his attention on the faces and hands of the characters, highlighting these accents with bright light.

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

Today, reproductions of this painting have become a traditional gift for avid hunters. The canvas painted by V. Perov in 1871 is now in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, and a copy created in 1877 is in the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.

V. Perov. Hunters at Rest, 1877 copy

He left many of his famous works to posterity. On the canvases, the master captured ordinary people who are sad, rejoice, work, go hunting. Not everyone knows that the painter Perov himself was not averse to wandering through the forest with a gun over his shoulder. The painting "Hunters at rest" was written by him with skill, and it shows.

The future artist was born illegitimate. And although his parents soon got married in the church, the father could not give the boy his last name. At first, the child's name was Vasily Vasiliev - this was the name of his godfather. But why did he become Perov? Turns out it's a nickname. His boy was given by a literacy teacher, noting with this word diligence, the child’s ability to use a pen for writing.

But Vasily was not only a diligent student. The boy has been addicted to drawing since childhood. He loved to watch how a real artist draws, whom the father of the child invited to their home.

When Perov took in then he realized that this was his calling. Despite poor eyesight, which deteriorated after suffering from smallpox, Perov became an artist. At first he studied at the Arzamas art school, then he graduated from the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.

Some of the artist's works

For his work, the artist was awarded silver medals. At the beginning of his work, the painter reflected the sad aspects of the life of the people, painting such paintings as “The arrival of the policeman”, “Scene on the grave”, “Drowned women”, “Troika”. In the middle and second half of the creative path, the artist paints more joyful paintings. “A holiday in the vicinity of Paris”, “Songbook seller”, “Scene by the railway” - all these works were created by Perov.

The painting "Hunters at rest" was painted by Vasily Grigorievich in 1871 and belongs to the late period of his work.

Picture: first character

One glance at the canvas is enough to see: it depicts 3 people. It is interesting that V. G. Perov drew them from real people. The painting "Hunters at Rest" captured three doctors who liked to hunt in their spare time.

On the left sits the eldest in the company. This is D. P. Kuvshinnikov - a lover of gun hunting, a famous Moscow doctor. Turning our eyes to the canvas, we see - Kuvshinnikov tells something interesting. His eyes are wide open, and his hands imitate the claws of a predator. Apparently, he tells his young friend how he once hunted, and he was attacked by a lynx, a wolf or a bear. Of course, the hunter defeated this animal and showed remarkable abilities.

Perfectly conveyed facial expressions, the position of the head, hands, body of his character Perov. The painting "Hunters at Rest" is a scene of friends resting and reflects the liveliness of their conversation.

Second character

The grateful listener sitting on the canvas on the right also has his own real prototype. This is Nikolai Mikhailovich Nagornov, who at the time of the creation of the canvas was 26 years old. In life, he was a friend of D.P. Kuvshinnikov and also worked in medicine. Interestingly, this young man a year later married the niece of the famous writer Tolstoy.

But for now, he was completely absorbed by the older hunter's story. He listens to the story of the man sitting across from him and looks at him wide-eyed. The young man froze, he is not interested in either the meal or the cigarette he holds in his right hand. And the narrator is trying with might and main, he even took off his headdress, because he felt hot.

Third hero

Very realistically conveys all the moods of the canvas, which was written by Perov - "Hunters on a halt." The picture introduces us to another hero, the prototype of which was the doctor V.V. Bessonov. As you might guess, in life he was a friend of Kuvshinnikov and Nagornov.

On the canvas, Bessonov grins. From the expression on his face, one can understand that he has heard his friend's hunting story more than once and does not believe in it. The man scratches himself behind his ear, it is clear what this gesture means. He tries to distract himself so as not to laugh and tell the young comrade the truth. Perov knew all this. “Hunters at Rest” is a picture that allows you to mentally travel back to the end of the 19th century, become participants in an interesting scene and guess what the main characters of the canvas are talking about.

Surrounding landscape, small details

Everything matters in art. After it became clear who exactly is depicted on the canvas, what the men are talking about, it is interesting to see what surrounds them and calculate what time of the year the action takes place. This will help the description of the painting "Hunters at rest." Perov, most likely, painted the time of early spring.

It can be seen that the grass is withered, as it appears before us when the snow melts. But in some places he remained: in the background, on the field, small white islands are visible. The men are dressed warmly, so they are not cold that evening.

All this is clearly conveyed by the picture "Hunters at rest". Perov V. and his friends liked to walk through the woods with a gun. The artist preserved his impressions for centuries.


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