Description of the picture:
Peasant children in the field – Alexey Gavrilovich Venetsianov. Canvas, oil. 38.5 x thirty cm
Venetsianov is known for his paintings depicting peasant life. Having retired from public service, the artist settled in his estate, where he saw with his own eyes the life of serfs. Especially interesting are his childhood images. The author writes children with special love and awe. This picture also belongs to such works.
The canvas depicts a simple Russian landscape: a field with grazing cattle; a forest is visible in the distance; a clear, clear sky occupies a third of the space.
In the foreground of the canvas, the artist placed the figures of children – two girls and a boy. The shepherd boy is drawn sitting on a large stone with his back to the viewer. He looks at the girls who brought him lunch. One of them holds out a crust of bread, and the boy held out his хэнд to take it. Most likely, this is a brother and sisters from one peasant family.
Girls, by contrast, are written facing the viewer. The eldest, in a blue handkerchief, looks at her brother smiling. Another – takes her, resting his head on his shoulder. This gesture is very touching, showing how the girls are friendly and how warmly they relate to each other and to the boy.
They are not richly dressed, but the clothes are clean and tidy. The girls wear long shirts, decorated with a strip of colored fabric on the bottom. On top of the shirts are canvas hoodies with belts. On their heads are scarves, on their feet are bast shoes. The boy has his own hat, which lies on the ground in the foreground. This means that he is considered already quite adult. He also wears a hoodie with a sash and bast shoes.
The canvas has a restrained pastel color, the colors are calm, not bright, which emphasizes the routine of the situation. With striking color spots you can see a scarf and a strip at the bottom of the older girl’s sundress, which further highlights her image in front of other characters of the picture. First of all, the viewer’s eyes fall on her and then she notices her sister, standing behind her, and the boy in the foreground. It can be seen that the artist concentrated the main lyrical message on her meek, serene face. The second girl stands as a reflection of the first, already more clearly demonstrating tenderness for her sister.
In the hands of the girls are baskets with mushrooms or berries. Apparently, they are returning from the forest, which is green in the distant background.
The children of the peasants began to work early, to help their parents with the housework. Their life was not easy, but this did not stop them from caring for each other. The work of Venetsianov evokes warm emotions in the viewer and makes you admire this trinity.
Aleksey Gavrilovich was one of the first among artists to portray serfs as people capable of expressing noble feelings, strong in spirit and beautiful in soul.
It is known that on his estate he built an art school for talented peasant children. Venetsianov had to redeem some of them from other landowners. He talked a lot with serfs and saw that they were worthy of sympathy and respect. He tried to show this in his works, one of which is the described picture."