Description of the picture:
Portrait of Gogol – Alexander Andreevich Ivanov. Wood, oil. Fourteen x 12.5 cm
The painter Alexander Andreevich Ivanov is a representative of 19th-century Russian classicism. Perhaps this is one of the most thoughtful, non-worrying, deep artists, his paintings are contemplative and warm.
Ivanov writes many portraits, including “Portrait of Gogol”.
In Italy, in 1837, two talents met, two completely opposite characters, but maybe this is what laid the foundation for many years of creative and human friendship.
It is not surprising that when considering a portrait, one feels a special approach and the thrill of Alexander Ivanov to write it, knowledge of the subtleties of Gogol’s character, facial expressions, and moods.
The writer is depicted not in a ceremonial robe, but in a red coat, under which the collar of the shirt is visible. Hair and mustache are also quite homely – slightly knocked down, without the obligatory “fit” at that time. Nikolai Vasilievich looks calm, thoughtful, strict. But with the help of a brush of a brilliant artist, you begin to feel the hidden facets of character: in the look – still tamed energy, in the face – a certain tension.
The author was able in this chamber work to accurately convey the state and psychological portrait of Gogol. According to contemporaries of Ivanov, the similarity of the portrait with the original is simply amazing.
An interesting story that happened in one thousand eight hundred forty three when it was from this portrait of Ivanov that lithography was printed in the Moskvityan magazine, where the famous author of Dead Souls was presented.
Gogol believed that no one should know before completing work on the author’s novel, all the more so without his knowledge. In a letter to his friend Stepan Petrovich Shevyrev, he indignantly described himself in that portrait as “a slut in a bathrobe.”
But perhaps here you can not agree with the writer. Ivanov’s talented work is distinguished by sincerity, liveliness, romance and great expressiveness."