Zemstvo has lunch

Previous events and work on the picture

I.N. Kramskoy . Portrait of G. G. Myasoedov (1872, State Tretyakov Gallery )

In 1853-1862, Grigory Myasoedov studied at the Academy of Arts in the class of historical painting , where his mentors were Timofey Neff and Alexei Markov . In 1862, for the painting “The Flight of Grigory Otrepiev from the Tavern on the Lithuanian Border” (now at the Navy ), Myasoedov was awarded the big gold medal of the Academy of Arts. Together with this award, he received the title of class artist of the 1st degree, as well as the right to a retirement trip abroad ^{[13] [14]} . In 1863-1866, the artist worked in Italy , France and Spain , and also visited Germany , Belgium and Switzerland . In May 1866, Myasoedov returned to Russia, and in the spring of 1867 he again went abroad, first to Paris , and then to Florence . In March 1869, Myasoedov returned to Russia, in the following years he lived and worked in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tula , Kharkov and Poltava provinces, as well as in Crimea ; in 1870 for the painting "Spells" he received the title of academician of historical painting ^{[13] [15]} . Myasoedov was one of the organizers of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions (“Wanderers") founded in 1870 ^[16] , the first exhibition of which opened in November 1871 in St. Petersburg ^[7] (two paintings of Myasoedov - “Grandfather of the Russian Navy” were exhibited there and “By the Berries” ^[15] ).

Myasoedov worked on the painting "Zemstvo dines" in the period 1871-1872 ^[5] . According to the artist himself, he “wanted to get closer to the real and the everyday in Zemstvo” ^{[17] [18] [19]} . For a long time it was believed that evidence and documents that shed light on the history of this canvas were not preserved ^{[20] [21]} . In particular, in a monograph published in 1971 on the work of Myasoedov, art critic Irina Shuvalova wrote: “Unfortunately, we do not know the history of this work. Not a single preparatory sketch has been preserved, there is no written evidence of the artist or his friends about how and where work on the painting proceeded ” ^[22] .

In publications of the late 2000s - early 2010s, art critic Anatoly Hvorostov talked about how he managed to establish some details related to the work of Myasoedov on the painting. The artist’s father, Grigory Andreyevich Myasoedov, was a small nobleman, and his estate was in the village of Pankovo, Novosilsky district, Tula province (now part of the Novoderevenkovsky district of the Oryol region ) ^{[20] [23]} . Assuming that the artist himself occasionally had to visit the county center - the city of Novosil on business related to his father’s estate, Hvorostov turned to the Novosilsky Museum of Local Lore with a request for help in identifying the building depicted on the painting “Zemstvo dines”. The director of the museum, Maria Andreevna Kaznacheeva, said that "the district zemstvo was completely destroyed during the war, and after restoration it lost its former appearance", while photographs of the old building were not preserved. Additional information was found in the written evidence stored in the museum’s collections of Ananiy Semyonovich Remnev, a native of the village of Pankovo, who worked in the building of the former Zemstvo in the first post-revolutionary years. Discussing the painting "Zemstvo lunch," Remnev wrote: "The porch and the facade of the building in general, the location of the windows reminds me of the building of the former Novosilsky Zemstvo. Apparently, Myasoedov saw him and put it on the canvas ” ^[20] .

2nd Traveling Exhibition and Sale of Painting

The canvas was presented at the 2nd exhibition of the Partnership of Traveling Art Exhibitions ("Wanderers"), which opened in St. Petersburg on December 26, 1872 ^{[6] [7]} . Initially, the picture was known as the "County Zemstvo Assembly at Lunch Time" ^{[24] [1] [25]} . Myasoedov’s work was liked by the audience who visited the traveling exhibition - it was called “one of the best and most informative paintings on a modern theme” ^[8] . In a letter to Vasily Perov, the artist Ivan Kramskoy shared his impressions of the exhibition: “The landscape department and the portrait department - a brilliant genre - are average and even positively good. But the picture of Myasoedov is beautiful ” ^[26] . Nevertheless, there were also critical reviews. In particular, in a review published in the journal Patriotic Notes , the writer Pavel Kovalevsky , paying tribute to Myasoedov’s intention to “convey far from a comic, but a completely different property, position of members of the Zemstvo council”, noted that the artist “came to his painting not ready: idealist by vocation and manner, he could not cope with the everyday humility of a simple, non-protesting and unprepossessing drama in its really-rough shell ” ^[27] . Due to the fact that the paintings of the 2nd traveling exhibition were not shown in Moscow, some of them, including Zemstvo dine, were included in the Moscow part of the 3rd exhibition, which opened on April 2, 1874 ^{[1] [ 7]} .

After the opening of the 2nd Mobile Exhibition in St. Petersburg, Pavel Tretyakov expressed his interest in acquiring the painting “Zemstvo dines”. In a letter to Tretyakov written in January 1873, Myasoedov wrote: “Of course, I am pleased with your desire to put my work in your gallery, and, considering it an honor to get into your collection, I am ready to make all kinds of concessions from the assigned price; the price that I announced to the Academy for “Zemsky lunch”, 1200. But since the Academy still doesn’t say anything definite, and since it is much more pleasant for me to be with you, and not at the Academy <...>, I lower it to 1000 rubles. In the same letter, Myasoedov asked Tretyakov: “Please, Pavel Mikhailovich, tell us your final intentions, so that I could freely dispose of my actions and that I should not be embarrassed by the vain desire to get into your collection” ^{[3] [19]} .

Pavel Tretyakov continued negotiations on the price and offered the artist to sell the painting for 900 rubles. In response to this proposal, in a letter to Tretyakov dated January 11, 1873, Myasoedov wrote: “My sincere desire, dear Pavel Mikhailovich, to make all kinds of concessions in order to only converge to mutual pleasure; although a hundred rubles is much more important to me than to you ... ”The artist agreed to get 900 rubles for the painting, but“ clean ”, excluding the 5% (45 rubles) that he had to pay to the Partnership, so he asked Tretyakova increase the price to 945 rubles. In the same letter, Myasoedov wrote: “So, I think, Pavel Mikhailovich, that 45 rubles will not stop you, and I will have the pleasure of seeing myself in your gallery, as well as hanging a label on which I will be sold , and with one care in my soul will be less ” ^[28] . Negotiations ended with the fact that Tretyakov agreed to purchase the painting "Zemstvo dines" for 945 rubles ^[9] .

Refinement of the painting and subsequent events

Nevertheless, the painting did not satisfy Tretyakov somehow, and in 1876 he expressed a desire to sell it, and even for a lesser amount than he paid for it ^[9] . Concerned by such a development of events, Myasoedov, who was in Kharkov at that time, wrote to Tretyakov in a letter dated December 9, 1876: “I assure you, Pavel Mikhailovich, that I am very pleased that my painting is with you and not with anyone else. I regret that you were disappointed in “Zemstvo” ... ” ^[29] From an earlier letter dated September 1876, it follows that Myasoedov suggested Tretyakov leave 500 rubles (of the two thousand that he promised to pay for the canvas)“ Reading the Regulations ” February 19, 1861 ”) in order to“ cover the loss that could occur when selling my old painting ” ^{[30] [31]} .

In the end, Tretyakov decided not to get rid of the painting "Zemstvo dines", but he turned to the artist with a request to make some changes to the canvas ^[9] . Myasoedov agreed, and in his letter dated December 1876, he wrote to Tretyakov: “I am ready to make any correction in the painting“ Zemsky Lunch ”, and if you found the opportunity to send it now, I would have taken it ...”, “I I’ll do everything I can to eliminate the shortcomings that are noticed in it. ” In the same letter, Myasoedov gave detailed instructions on how to send the canvas to Kharkov, asking "to remove" Zemstvo "from the frame for safety and send it immediately by rail to the station, and the receipt to the house of the Volga-Kama Bank on Rybnaya Street " ^[29] where he lived ^[32] . After some time, the artist told Tretyakov: “The picture you sent for correction,“ Zemsky lunch ”[,] was received by me in perfect condition, after correcting everything that is possible, I will immediately send it to you” ^{[9] [33]} .

One of the comments made by Tretyakov was that, in his opinion, the hens depicted in the foreground did not quite fit in such a serious design. Answering Tretyakov, Myasoedov wrote: "I think that it’s not the hens that interfere, but some other minor flaws that you, too, are likely to find redundant." According to the artist, the main problem was not in the hens, but in the rooster, which was present in the first version of the composition. According to Anatoly Hvorostov , “the playful walk of the chicken admirer in the direction of the hens left no doubt about his intentions,” and this prevented viewers from focusing on understanding the seriousness of the plot and composition. In addition to removing the rooster, Myasoedov also worked on the images of almost all the peasants depicted in the picture, and also made some changes to the image of the upper part of the porch. The differences between the versions of 1872 and 1876 can be identified by comparing the current canvas with engraving from the first version of the painting, published in the “Illustrated Catalog of the Second Traveling Art Exhibition”, published in St. Petersburg in 1873. The revised version of the painting satisfied Pavel Tretyakov, and he left it in his collection ^{[10] [34]} .

In 1878, two paintings by Grigory Myasoedov - "Zemstvo dines" and "Reading the Regulations February 19, 1861" - were exhibited in the Russian art department at the World Exhibition in Paris ^{[1] [11]} . In the catalog of the Paris exhibition, the canvas appeared under the French name "Intervalle d'une séance du Zemstvo (Assemblée provinciale)" ( GG Miassoïédoff ) ^[35] .

According to some assumptions, it was the painting “Zemstvo lunch” that could prompt the plot for the story of Vsevolod Garshin, “The True History of the Ensk Zemsky Assembly” (1876) ^[36] , which is close to Myasoedov’s painting “by the power of conviction” and “by the satirical severity of content”. It was also noted that the urgency of the topic, the journalistic coloring and the “peculiar genre outline” of Myasoedov’s work bring him closer to the work of such Narodnik writers as Nikolai Zlatovratsky and Nikolai Karonin-Petropavlovsky ^[22] .

The action takes place against the background of the light wall of the house, above the porch of which is the inscription "County zemstvo government" ^[37] . The wall is old, with cracks and sometimes crumbling plaster , in one place on it someone drew a man ^[38] . The bright midday sun shines. The peasants resting and dining were located by the wall and porch ^{[37] [39]} . Their figures are located strictly frontally, in one row; no external action is observed in the picture ^[17] . Nevertheless, the impression that the canvas shows “an ordinary scene of a quiet provincial life” is deceptive. Having looked more closely, one can see that the sitting and standing peasants have “thoughtfully gloomy faces” ^{[37] [40]} .

At first glance, the peasants can be mistaken for waiting walkers-petitioners, but this is not so: the artist did not depict walkers in the picture, but the peasant part of the zemstvo ^[40] - those who came to participate in the county zemstvo meeting of vowel- men ^[41] . Zemstvos began to appear in separate provinces and counties of the Russian Empire after the Zemstvo reform of 1864. In particular, in the Tula province, district zemstvo councils were opened in December 1865 ^[42] . Zemstvos were granted the right to make and execute decisions on certain economic, cultural and educational issues. Despite the fact that the peasants received the right to elect their vowels to participate in zemstvo assemblies, the dominant role in them remained with the representatives of landowners ^[43] . Representatives of this more affluent, "noble" part of the zemstvo are not shown in the picture. Apparently, their meal takes place in the building of the Zemstvo council, in the open window of which you can see the footman ( sex ) wiping the plates; a wet towel hangs from the window, and there is a battery of bottles with wine and liquors at the windowsill ^{[44] [45] [46]} . Thus, on the example of the peasants and landowners participating in the zemstvo assembly, the artist shows the actual inequality of various classes. Nevertheless, he “avoids any declarativeness, annoying moralization” and invites viewers to independently draw conclusions based on the scene depicted by him ^[47] .

Of the representatives of the peasant part of the zemstvo, the most striking is the image of a peasant with blond hair sitting at the porch in the very right part of the picture. He thought deeply, mechanically clutching a piece of bread in his right hand. His figure is slightly advanced and lit by the sun. Part of the peasant’s face is also illuminated, while the other is in the shade: the resulting light contrast emphasizes the emotional expressiveness of his image ^[48] . Perhaps this technique was used by Myasoedov to show doubts and thoughts in which the peasant is immersed. According to Anatoly Hvorostov, “the light still defeats the shadow”: “it seems that he will now stand up, straighten his shoulders, take a step towards the sun, towards the light and lead his brethren” ^[26] . According to Irina Shuvalova, in the guise of this peasant you can see "and impaired dignity, and moral strength, and spiritual nobility" ^[48] . Subsequently, Myasoedov used a similar image in the sketch “Peasant-mower” (canvas on cardboard, oil, 37 × 17 cm , State Tretyakov Gallery , inv. 21969), written during the period of work on the painting “ Suffering time. Kossa ”(1887, State Russian Museum ) ^[49] . Although both figures are executed in a similar color scheme, they differ in that the sitting peasant is deep in thought, while the mower depicted in the sketch is full of strength and energy ^[50] .

Another man, also sitting on the porch, thought sadly, sprinkling bread with salt. She is offered to him by a peasant standing next to him, in a friendly gesture and an open expression on whose face a sincere desire is shown to help his comrade ^[48] . The artist’s attention to details is characteristic - such as hardened hands gently sprinkling bread with salt, as well as two rags in which the salt itself is wrapped ^[51] . Next to these two peasants is an old man leaning on a stick, whose eyes are full of bitterness ^[48] . He is one of the most striking images of the canvas: in his figure hunched from years of work and his face wrinkled with wrinkles, “you can read the simple and bitter history of his life” ^[38] . In the center of the picture, under an open window, is a good-natured peasant “with a lively, crafty look,” who holds in his hand a bunch of young green onions . He was on his guard, listening to what was happening in the room above him, ^[48] - perhaps the ringing of frayed dishes ^[51] . To his left lies a peasant in a bright Cumach shirt. His clothes look newer than other peasants - perhaps he is the youngest of them ^[17] . He sleeps with his head resting on his knapsack , his face is almost invisible ^[48] . The image of a peasant sitting against the wall in the left-most part of the picture, with his posture, gaze and tilt of his head, as well as “some special self-deepening” is consonant with the fair-haired peasant in a blue shirt sitting on the porch on the right side of the canvas. According to Irina Shuvalova, “their similar, symmetrically located at the edges of the figures balance and close the central group, giving the composition stability and completeness” ^[48] . The art historian Mikhail Alpatov also noted that “two on the edges are intentionally planted strictly frontally, symmetrically - this is an attempt to give the scene monumentality” ^[52] .

When choosing a compositional solution to the canvas, Myasoedov abandoned the classical techniques of the stage construction of space and the arrangement of characters; according to art historian Natalia Masalina , he “took as if a part of life, limiting it to a frame” ^[38] . The space in the picture freely “spreads” to the right, left and up, and behind it is limited by the peeling wall of the house ^[53] . Фигуры крестьян, расположенные на фоне этой стены, приобретают особую выразительность и привлекают внимание зрителей. Тень слева от здания и пятно солнечного света в правой части создают эффект «отодвигания» сцены вглубь пространства полотна, в результате чего она принимает естественный и непринуждённый вид. Действие происходит на открытом воздухе и при сильном освещении, вследствие чего яркость красок теряет свою интенсивность. Для передачи этого эффекта художник применяет «разбелку»: по словам Масалиной, «слепящее солнце как бы помогает ему гасить яркие краски, которые были бы несовместимы с характером произведения» ^[54] . В целом композиция полотна статична, а расположенные в ряд фигуры крестьян психологически связаны друг с другом ^[17] .

Художественный критик Владимир Стасов в статье «Двадцать пять лет русского искусства», опубликованной в 1883 году, называл полотно «Земство обедает» одним из самых значительных произведений Мясоедова, а также «истинно современной „хоровой“ картиной». По мнению Стасова, в этом полотне «присутствовала также нота негодования и сатиры». Описывая сюжет картины, Стасов писал, что крестьяне, одетые в зипуны и сермяги , обедают хлебом и луком в ожидании, пока их более обеспеченные товарищи «кончат своих жареных фазанов и шампанское и уже потом пожалуют судить и рядить с „этими“ о всех важных делах» ^[55] .

Художник и критик Александр Бенуа в книге «История русской живописи в XIX веке», первое издание которой вышло в свет в 1902 году, признавал видную роль Мясоедова в истории русского изобразительного искусства не только как «главного зачинщика и организатора Передвижных выставок», но и в качестве автора «двух наиболее прогремевших когда-то в передвижническом стане произведений» — «Земство обедает» и «Чтение Положения 19 февраля 1861 года». Тем не менее Бенуа подверг критике первое из этих произведений: описывая сюжет картины «Земство обедает», в котором подразумевается неравенство богатых и бедных членов собрания, он отмечал, что она «может прямо служить образчиком фальшивого „передвижнического стиля“» ^[56] .

В изданной в 1971 году монографии о творчестве художника искусствовед Ирина Шувалова писала, что картина «Земство обедает» — «высшее достижение всей творческой жизни Мясоедова, самая капитальная, самая значительная его картина», представляющая собой важнейшую веху в его творчестве. Рассматривая «Земство обедает» в одном ряду с такими полотнами 1870-х годов, как « Бурлаки на Волге » Ильи Репина и « Ремонтные работы на железной дороге » Константина Савицкого , Шувалова писала, что эти произведения определили «новый этап в развитии русской реалистической жанровой живописи» ^[12] . Шувалова также отмечала, что картина «Земство обедает», на которой запечатлена важная страница жизни пореформенной России, стала «неотъемлемой частью большого и славного художественного наследия передвижничества» ^[57] .

Сравнивая творчество Григория Мясоедова и Василия Перова , искусствовед Виталий Манин отмечал, что картина «Земство обедает» открыла «следующую за Перовым страницу изобличительного искусства». По словам Манина, «то, что у Перова носило прямое и недвусмысленное обличение» (присутствовавшее в таких произведениях 1860-х годов, как « Тройка », «Утопленница» и «Проводы покойника»), Мясоедов в своём «Земстве» показывает косвенно, выделяя только одну сторону во взаимоотношении двух сословных состояний, но в то же время подразумевая другую путём мысленного противопоставления. Отмечая «униженное состояние» ожидающих окончания барского обеда крестьян, а также их кажущуюся покорность и неторопливую рассудительность, Манин отмечал, что «этот истинно бытовой план показан вне действия, он углублён в психологическое состояние, и этим намечен ещё один подход в разрешении бытового жанра» ^[58] .

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