Composition based on the painting by Perov "Hunters at rest". "Hunters at rest": the secrets of Perov's most famous painting Hunters at rest description

Secrets of great paintings: "Hunters at rest"

Looking at the “Hunters at rest” by Vasily Perov, the modern viewer hardly notices that the picture depicts the same nonsense as in the hunting tales that one of the characters “poisons”.

Painting "Hunters at rest". Oil on canvas, 119 x 183 cm
Year of creation: 1871. Now kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.
Two author's copies of the painting are in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg and in the Nikolaev Regional Art Museum named after V.V. Vereshchagin in Ukraine.

“What a delight! 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, ”Fyodor Dostoevsky praised the picture, admiring the expressiveness and reliability of the characters. However, the scene of the rest of the three comrades is not at all true in detail. The characters mishandle their weapons, and their equipment and loot belong to different types of hunting. It seems that the painter chose a topic in which he understood little.

In fact, Perov was well versed in hunting. The artist went to the beast, as his first biographer Nikolai Sobko put it, “at all times of the year and tirelessly,” later even sharing his experience in essays for the Nature and Hunting magazine, which was published by naturalist Leonid Sabaneev. Ultimately, the passion for hunting cost the artist his life: due to a cold caught in the forest, Perov developed consumption, from which he died before he was 50 years old.

And Perov created “Hunters at Rest” as an anecdote picture, so that an understanding viewer would laugh at it no less than at absolutely slanderous hunting stories.


1. Skeptic. The peasant laughing at the story of the master, written from the doctor, amateur artist and writer Vasily Bessonov. Perov portrayed him as a commoner, emphasizing that the excitement of hunting, like this meal on the grass, unites the nobles and their servants.

2. Beginner. He listened to the narrator so much that he forgot to light a cigarette. Judging by the new sheepskin coat and expensive equipment that had not yet worn out in the forests, the character became interested in hunting recently. Perov wrote a gullible neophyte from the 26-year-old Nikolai Nagornov, in whose house his friends Kuvshinnikov and Bessonov used to gather to go hunting together.

3. Hare-hare. Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences Valentin Golovin noted: the molting of the animal can be determined: the action takes place in late autumn. It is strange that the carcass was not damaged: according to the rules of canine hunting, the killed hare had to be chipped off (poked with a dagger between the shoulder blades), cut off (cut off the front paws) and trimmed (inserted into the saddle).

4. Grouse. A forest bird could not be killed on the same hunt as a hare, an inhabitant of the fields.

5. Vral. Perov's friend, police doctor Dmitry Kuvshinnikov, posed for the role of the landowner-narrator. In the 1880s-1890s, the doctor, together with his wife Sophia, organized a literary and artistic salon in his house. The Kuvshinnikovs and landscape painter Isaac Levitan, with whom Sophia cheated on her husband, became the prototypes for the heroes of Chekhov's story "The Jumper".

6. Boots. The beginner's shoes, as Professor Golovin noted, also betray the inexperience of the character: it was very inconvenient to hunt in such high heels.

7. Binoculars. The narrator has binoculars of the old model, the first half of the 19th century, which indicates a solid hunting experience.

8. Horn. Used for canine hunting to pack hounds, but there is no sign of a flock of hounds. The only dog, according to different versions, is either a greyhound or a setter - a cop. On dog hunting, guns are not needed, since the dog takes the game. And on a rifle you don't need a horn.

9. Shotguns. An experienced hunter, in order not to clog the bore, will never put the gun with the muzzle on the ground. Especially if it is a first-class, expensive weapon from the English company Enfield, like here.

Artist Vasily Perov

1834 - was born on January 2 (new style) in Tobolsk. The artist was the illegitimate son of Baron Grigory Kridener, who served there as a provincial prosecutor.
1841 - for beautiful handwriting received from the teacher the nickname Perov, which became a surname.

1853–1862 - student at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.
1861 - painted the paintings "Rural religious procession at Easter" and "Sermon in the village."

1862–1864 - visited Germany and France
1862–1869 - was married to Elena Shaynes, three children were born in the marriage, but only son Vladimir survived to adulthood.

1866 - created "Troika" and "Arrival of a governess in a merchant's house".
1870–1877 - was a member of the Association of Traveling Exhibitions.

1872 - remarried to Elizaveta Druganova.
1882 - died of consumption in Kuzminki (now a district of Moscow).

Plot

What good hunting is complete without tale-telling gatherings? Vasily Perov, as an enthusiastic hunter, himself visited such meetings more than once, almost certainly also poisoned adventure stories about the strength of the beast, his prowess and good luck. That enthusiasm, which is read on the faces of the characters, causes the viewer to dialogue, we are involved in the scene, as if we read by the lips what exactly the bayun says.

“What a delight! 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, ”Fyodor Dostoevsky praised the picture.

"Hunters on the run". (wikipedia.org)

Contemporaries easily recognized the artist's acquaintances in the characters. In real life, all three were comrades and colleagues. Doctor Dmitry Kuvshinnikov posed for the narrator, doctor Vasily Bessonov for the "experienced" one, and 26-year-old doctor Nikolai Nagornov for the newcomer. Together with Perov, they often went hunting.

Still life painted in detail. A simple snack is forgotten behind a fascinating story. However, are the narrator and his listeners so experienced? An excellent gun lies carelessly in the grass, which is unacceptable. The horn, which was used for dog hunting, looks superfluous - there are no signs of a flock of hounds, that is, the inventory was collected without really understanding its purpose. The heel of the shoes is high, which is not convenient when hunting. It is obvious that none of the hunters is a master, they are all amateurs.

The colors of the landscape and the hare among the prey say that the events take place in late autumn. However, the hazel grouse lying right there makes it obvious that the artist himself is lying to us: both a forest bird and a hare, an inhabitant of fields and steppe zones, could not be killed on the same hunt.

The landscape, which plays the role of a "listener" here, was completed by Alexei Savrasov. Perov reported this in one of his letters, without specifying exactly how much work was done by Savrasov.

"Birdcatcher", 1870. (wikipedia.org)

The canvas "Hunters at rest" was created in the late period of Perov's work. At this time, the artist departs from his usual themes of a heavy peasant lot, the hypocrisy of the authorities and churchmen, and the general disorder of the country. The image of a peasant-contemplator, who is in unity with nature, comes to the fore.

The fate of the artist

Vasily Perov, as the illegitimate son of the Tobolsk prosecutor, received the surname of his godfather - Vasiliev, and the pseudonym with which he entered the history of art was given to him by a clerk who taught to read and write: “He draws letters beautifully, as if he was born with a pen in his hand. And therefore I will call him Perov.

"Rural religious procession at Easter". (wikipedia.org)

In Vasily's childhood, the family often moved: his father was fired from the service and it was necessary to get settled in a new way. At the age of 10, the boy had smallpox, which affected his vision - it never fully recovered.

Already in childhood, Vasily decided to become an artist. He was sent to study in Arzamas, but was expelled from school for a plate of hot porridge thrown at a classmate. At the age of 19, he entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Life was hard. In winter, he even skipped classes - there was nothing to go in the cold. It was hardly enough to pay for classes and an apartment, he lived from hand to mouth. If not for the help of one of the teachers, Perov would not have been able to complete the course.

Perov was one of those rare painters who did not benefit from a retirement trip to Italy. He returned ahead of schedule, saying that he did not understand Europe and could not create anything worthwhile. Perov spent the rest of his life in Moscow, where, despite his growing popularity, he continued to fight poverty.

"Troika". (wikipedia.org)

At the initial stage of the movement of the Wanderers, Perov worked closely with them. But as soon as he realized that their exhibitions did not bring him the financial peace he needed, he left the partnership. The last decade of Perov's life was marked by a state close to depression: he edited his early works and looked for new ideas. Those subjects that made him a name - the life of the streets, the faces of ordinary people, dullness, dirt and poverty, which some did not talk about, while others did not know at all - no longer captivated the artist. He was disappointed. Perov tried to prove himself in historical painting, in genre scenes, but many of his ideas remained at the stage of sketches. The last work of the artist was a large-scale painting "Nikita Pustosvyat".

In 1882, during his favorite hunt, Perov caught a cold, the disease developed into consumption, from which the artist died at the age of 48.

School students may be given the difficult task of describing a work of art. At first glance, the painting "Hunters at rest" does not give wide scope for creativity. Nevertheless, if you look closely, you can understand that it contains a piece of life filled with emotions and experiences. The painting "Hunters at Rest", a photo of which can be seen in magazines or school textbooks, can evoke feelings for everyone. The task of parents is to correctly convey to their son or daughter the essence of such a task so that the child can easily cope with it.

Plan for constructing a description of the picture

In order for the student to be able to understand how to write a story about what he saw in the artist’s drawing, he should be offered a plan. The famous painting "Hunters at rest" contains a fairly broad meaning. The order of writing may be as follows:

Approximately such a plan will help to describe the work that the artist Perov wrote. “Hunters at Rest” is a painting that reveals to everyone their emotions, worries and the state of mind of prey lovers depicted on canvas.

Descriptions for schoolchildren

The texts of the story about the image seen can be approximately the following content.

"Perov's famous painting "Hunters at Rest" evoked various sensations in me, but they are all pleasant. The artist in pastel colors managed to convey bright and overflowing emotions.

In the foreground, three tired hunters can be seen, who, most likely, have either already gathered at home, or simply decided to rest. One of the hunters, judging by the expression on his face and gestures, enthusiastically tells a true story or fiction that happened to him during the hunt. The second lover of ambush, waiting for prey, listens attentively to the narrator. And the third, relaxed and smiles. Most likely, he either does not believe the story, or plunged into his own thoughts and dreams.

Also in the foreground, you can see that the hunters will not come home empty-handed. They have already got a duck, a hare.

A thunderstorm is visible in the background of the image. Clouds thickened over a wide field and darkened menacingly. The trees bent their crowns, as if they wanted to protect themselves from a strong wind. But the hunters, apparently, are not embarrassed by the approaching bad weather.

The artist managed to convey all the emotions, the picture is alive and allows you to fully plunge into the atmosphere of what is happening."

Approximately in this way the picture "Hunters at rest" can be described. But it is possible to describe a work of art more broadly.

Details

The painting "Hunters at rest" is perceived by everyone in their own way. Another description could be the following.

“Perov very vividly and emotionally depicted those chasing game at a halt. It can be seen that the hunters are tired, but satisfied with their campaign. In the foreground, it is clearly visible that one of them will bring game home, and someone will bring a hare.

It seems that the hunter in a black cloak that looks expensive did not catch anything that day and decided to colorfully describe his past victories. Although, having looked fleetingly, it becomes clear that the hunter's gestures go off scale. Therefore, it is likely that he is telling a fable.

A very young hunter is also dressed decently enough, carefully listening to every word. This can be seen both in his facial expression and in the way he froze in anticipation of the outcome of the story.

And the third lover of hunting with a smirk looks at what is happening. It seems that he has heard various fascinating and fictional stories from the narrator more than once. But, despite some doubts in his face, the hunter is quite satisfied with today.

It looks like all the friends had a great time. This is reflected in the faces and in their mood. It is also noticeable that all of the depicted are quite wealthy and not poor people of that time. This can be seen in their clothes, grooming, accessories.

A dog of one of the hunters is running nearby. She does not want to rest and everything shows that she is still looking for prey.

In the background of the work of art, impending clouds are visible. Birds, as if flying away from a thunderstorm. In the endless field, the trees bowed their branches, sheltering their trunks from the weather, as if wrapping themselves up.

However, the hunters are in no hurry to leave the friendly and sweet atmosphere. After all, they did a good job today with weapons and they have something to brag to each other.

Description of the artwork "Hunters at rest" for high school students

High school students are often asked to write sayings about the artistic creations of famous authors. Usually graduates write briefly, but richly. For example:

"The picture shows three comrades who hunted excellently and decided to take a break. The active dog of one of them does not let you forget the meaning of coming to an open field.

It can be seen that this is not the first time men visit the hunt. Each of them is different, but they are all positive characters. Boasting, joy, surprise, and doubt are conveyed in their emotions.

In the background, you can see that there will be a thunderstorm soon. Apparently, the bad weather does not frighten the hunters, and they will continue to continue the action.

An excellent picture, evokes a whirlpool of emotions and experiences. It feels like I've been out in the open field chasing game."

What emotions does the painting “Hunters at Rest” convey?

It is difficult to say in one word what is shown in the picture. But it is clearly visible - the artist tried very hard to fill his creation with many experiences, so that everyone who looks sees his own. Here is the sadness of nature, and positive thinking, despite what is happening around, and the state of mind of a hunter satisfied with the prey.

How to end the description of the picture

In the description of the picture, all the nuances are important. The conclusion is one of the most important parts of a work. Therefore, it is beautiful, filled and with emotions to complete the presentation of what he saw.

"Hunters at rest" (1871)

When I tell you my True Tales, I remind myself of a left hunter, and my friends are both incredulous, like an average one, and listening, like a right one.

The picture is known to absolutely any inhabitant of our country. She is in textbooks, she is on the walls in many houses, even on candy wrappers. We know it by heart. And yet, I will tell you a couple of points that you may not know.

"To be fully an artist, one must be a creator; and to be a creator, you need to study life, you need to educate the mind and heart, educate not by studying official sitters, but by vigilant observation and exercise in reproducing types and their inherent inclinations ... By this study, you need to adjust the sensitivity to perceive impressions so that not a single object swept past you without being reflected in you, as in a pure, correct mirror ... An artist must be a poet, a dreamer, and most importantly, a vigilant worker ... He who wants to be an artist must become a complete fanatic, living and eating one art and only art " .
V.G. Perov "Our teachers"

Vasily Grigoryevich Perov was born on January 4 (December 23, old style) 1833 in Tobolsk, in the family of the provincial prosecutor Baron Grigory Karlovich Kridener. The boy was illegitimate, his parents got married later. All his younger brothers received the titles of barons and the surname Kridener, Perov received the surname of his godfather - Vasiliev, later the artist changed it to the nickname "Perov", given in childhood for success in penmanship. The boy's real father, Baron G.K. Kridener, was a liberal, educated man, played the piano and violin, knew several foreign languages ​​and even wrote poetry. It was the latter that became the reason that some time after the birth of Vasily, the baron was dismissed for free-thinking rhymes.

Let's get back to the picture now.

And Perov did not write it alone, but in tandem with another famous artist - Alexei Savrasov. Together they taught at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Savrsov's share is not known to us, but there is an interesting point.

Perov wrote two versions of "Hunters at Rest": the first is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery, and the second - in the Russian Museum. Perov writes the second version a few years later. Did he turn to Savrasov again?

And the hunters are all real people! Friends of the artist.

Doctor Dmitry Kuvshinnikov was depicted in his famous painting "Hunters at rest" by the artist V.G. Perov. The Hunter Storyteller on the left is him. Two other characters in the picture were painted from Kuvshinnikov's friends: the skeptic hunter is the doctor and amateur artist Vasily Vladimirovich Bessonov, and the young hunter is Nikolai Mikhailovich Nagornov, a relative of Leo Tolstoy (he was married to his niece, Varvara Valerianovna Tolstoy).
http://proekt-wms.narod.ru/moscow/2_4.htm

The picture is very popular with the audience, but some celebrities have sharply criticized it.
They didn't like unnaturally exaggerated emotions

M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin criticized the picture for the lack of immediacy: “It’s as if, when showing the picture, there is some kind of actor who is instructed by the role to speak to the side: this is a liar, and this is gullible, inviting the viewer not to believe the liar hunter and have fun with gullibility rookie hunter.

The landscape in the picture is written much better, compositionally it is closely connected with the characters. There is something disturbing in the surrounding nature - in the piercing wind, in the withered autumn grass, in the gloomy horizon. The sky is covered with clouds, thunderstorms cannot be avoided.

The most pronounced figure is, of course, the elderly hunter on the left, passionately telling his comrades about his hunting adventures. The second hunter, in the middle, is middle-aged, listens with a grin to an elderly hunter, scratches his ear, one might say, the narrator clearly makes him laugh with another tale, and he clearly does not trust him, but it is still interesting to listen to him. The young hunter, on the right, carefully and trustingly listens to the stories of the old hunter, it is likely that he himself also wants to tell something about his hunt, but the old man clearly does not give him a word to say.

I am not a hunter, but a hunter friend, he told me that there are many inaccuracies in the picture.

The dog in the background, apparently a setter, and with the cops do not hunt hares. The black grouse lying on the right is his prey, but there is also a horn in the picture, and it is used only when hunting with hounds. In addition, when hunting for black grouse is open (and, by the way, it is found in the forest, not in the field), hunting for a hare is closed. But whether hunting was opened in that century, I do not know. He also said that a self-respecting hunter would not throw a gun like that - the barrel would become clogged, the trigger would break. These are the bells and whistles from the modern hunter.

In the vastness of the network, I found such a story about a picture, only I lost the link. But read:

"Hunters at Rest" is one of the most popular paintings by the outstanding artist of the second half of the 19th century, Vasily Grigorievich Perov.
Until recently, it was believed that the artist painted two versions of this painting. But there is an assumption that the author created three paintings "Hunters at rest". And one of them was kept in the Nikolaev Museum for 22 years as a copy ...

The most famous painting by Vasily Perov in the century before last made a splash at an exhibition in Europe, along with Repin's "Barge Haulers on the Volga". After the exhibition, the canvas was bought by the famous collector Tretyakov, the artist wrote the second author's version for the tsar, and now it is in the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. Sensation - the third version of the "hunters" was found in the Nikolaev Regional Museum.

The canvas was studied for two years. The picture was painted without a sketch with a pencil, but immediately with paints - it was in this manner that Vasily Perov worked. "Nikolaev" picture of the same size and written in the same 1871 as the work, which is stored in the Tretyakov Gallery. And the version that Perov wrote for the tsar and which is kept in St. Petersburg was created later - in 1877 - and is smaller in area.

Kyiv restorers presented the results of the research to the Tretyakov Gallery. They agreed with the conclusions of experts from the National Academy of Arts; Perov's authorship is still under consideration.

It still remains a mystery who the artist Perov really was? Critical realist, Wanderer VG Perov was a friend of almost all the outstanding painters of his time.
He had eccentricities, which, perhaps, explain how Perov could paint such a canvas as "Hunters at Rest" in the 19th century. The picture is directly stuffed with encrypted messages, mathematical formulas and prophetic predictions.

Many years ago, the employees of the Russian Museum noticed that by the end of the working day, female caretakers gathered in the Perov Hall, not far from the Hunters at Rest. The work was rescheduled several times, but the result was the same. And caretakers, and visitors to the museum, and excursions most of all grouped and spent time near this picture.

There have been some studies that have revealed a real anomaly. The air temperature in this painting was always 2.6 - 2.8 degrees higher than in the other halls. The mechanical clock at Perov's painting slowed down, and the quartz movements began to beat down the rhythm and even stopped. The picture had a strange effect on people as well.

The canvas was subjected to infrared radiation and x-rays. In the picture we got an image of three men, very strongly reminiscent of someone. The picture was printed and ... the Yalta Conference arose! On the left, leaning slightly forward, sat Joseph Stalin and convincingly proved something. Opposite him, with his hands on his paralyzed legs, sat Roosevelt, and between them, looking skeptically at Stalin, lay Winston Churchill. By superimposing a transparent map of Europe on the picture, the experts were amazed. Stalin's hands accurately indicate the opening line of the second front, while the right hand rests on the coast of Normandy, where the allied landing took place seventy years later.

If we calculate the percentage of the area occupied by the three figures of hunters to the total area of ​​the picture, then we will get the exact figure as a percentage of the total share of the three countries of England, America and Russia in the production of weapons in relation to the rest of the world in 1945! The killed game in the right corner of the picture, circled in one line, strangely resembles the outlines of defeated Japan. And if we connect the eyes of three hunters with the same line, then we will get the exact geometry of the Bermuda Triangle.

Perov ideally placed his characters in parts of the world in relation to the gun, which lies slightly to the right and below the center of the picture and means the equator. It's the first thing that catches your eye...

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 spontaneity and truth of life, for the affectation of emotions: “It is as if, when showing the picture, there is some kind of actor who is instructed by the role 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.