Description of the picture:
Birds – Perov. 1870. Oil on canvas. 82,5×126
An unusually realistic, slightly touching work was written under the influence of a scene seen in the autumn forest. An old footman and a young man are busy with the bait of birds. Autumn forest acts as a scenery for action. Looking closely, you can see how, attracted by the sounds of the pipe, the birds fly to the sound. A cage in the hands of a barchuk is ready to accept one of them, that bird trills helped to survive a long and cold winter.
It is known that the autumn forest in the picture was co-written with Savrasov. Therefore, the background in the picture is a bit fabulous, even gloomy. But the heroes of the picture, full of impatience, liveliness balance the autumn poverty and color uniformity.
The dexterity and experience of an elderly footman gives him a former soldier, a participant in wars. In the young barchuk, the footman found a faithful disciple, closely following all the manipulations of the servant. Just a moment and the bird will be caught.
The tradition of catching birds has existed for many centuries. After the winter, on the day of the Annunciation, the captives were always released to fall again to catch a forest singer, for the sake of her trills in the house during the winter cold.
The amazing realism of the picture, its fullness with kindness, love for the native land, impeccable composition, precise color, talented and painstaking attention to detail and equipment – this is what is characteristic of this master’s work. It is no coincidence that it was precisely for this work that the artist received the title of professor of an art school."