12 paintings by Russian artists that you won't see in textbooks

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

A short excursion into the history of Russian painting will introduce you to a dozen paintings that will never make it to the pages of school textbooks.

Alexey Korzukhin - "The Drunken Father of the Family" (1861)

For his painting "The Drunken Father of the Family" Korzukhin received a small gold medal from the Imperial Academy of Arts! The canvas realistically conveyed a picture familiar to many. The drunken head of the family has already turned over the chair and is ready to knead out all his anger on his innocent wife and child …

Ivan Gorokhov - "Washed down" (turn of the XIX-XX centuries)

Another picture on the topic of drunkenness. The drunken peasant happily carries a bottle of vodka, while the rest of the household prepares for the worst.

Vladimir Makovsky - "I won't let you in!" (1892)

And here the desperate wife is trying with all her might to keep her husband from going to the wine shop again. Judging by the expression of the man, his wife will not stop him.

Vladimir Makovsky - "Quietly from the Wife" (1872)

If the frail husband was afraid of his wife, he had to drink on the sly …

Vasily Maksimov - "Following the example of the elders" (1864)

Children also tried to keep up with adults and took an example from their fathers.

Ivan Bogdanov - "Newbie" (1893)

A drunken shoemaker "teaches life" to a tear-stained apprentice …

Mikhail Vatutin - "Educator" (1892)

And again, a shoe-maker brings up children with a constant bottle of vodka. Apparently, it was not for nothing that a saying appeared among the people: drunk like a shoemaker.

Pavel Kovalevsky - "Whipping" (1880)

In those days, the upbringing of children was generally very different from today. The stick clearly prevailed over the carrot.

Sergei Korovin - "Before Punishment" (1884)

However, not only children, but also adults were flogged with rods. The painting captured a scene in a rural municipality government. The convicted peasant, standing in the middle, pulls off a torn zipun, and in the corner the executor ties the last bundle of thin rods.

Firs Zhuravlev - "Merchant Feast" (1876)

The feast is in full swing, and some of the guests have already forgotten why they were gathered here.

Nikolay Nevrev - "Protodeacon proclaiming longevity at merchant name days" (1866)

As you can see, the commemoration from the name day was almost the same …

Vasily Perov - "Rural religious procession for Easter" (1861)

And here is how the bright holiday of Easter was celebrated in the villages. Most of the peasants are already drunk, the peasant in the center is holding the icon upside down, and some cannot stand on their feet at all.

Perhaps the curriculum planners are really right. They say, who is interested in painting, he himself will find uncomfortable pictures, and it is still too early for students to get acquainted with all the "delights" of the life of our ancestors …