After Yefim Chestnyakov returned to his native village of Shablovo from Saint Petersburg, he dreamt of achieving his goal of building a universal peasant culture, which, in his opinion, had to encompass all the art forms: painting and drawing, theater, sculpture and music. The artist more and more often turned to sculpture, an art form that allowed him to express his concepts more fully. He made fairly small (in size) clay figurines with the aim of portraying different peasant stereotypes. ‘Grandmother with her granddaughter’ is one of the clay sculptures that were a part of The City of Cordon art work with its multiple statuettes depicting people, animals, birds, as well as various types of buildings and trees. Researchers believe that the artist made approximately 400 different figurines for it, unfortunately, most of them have not survived to this day. The statuettes were able to move and thus be part of eloquent scenes on stage.
At the same time, any of the clay sculptures, on their own, were stand-alone works of art, and not only in terms of their execution. Each of them also looked unique and conveyed meaning and emotions well. The artist’s fellow villagers said that Yefim Chestnyakov used to stage theater performances for children and adults in his shed. His clay sculptures were the characters in these plays, while his drawings and paintings served as decorations. The clay sculpture “Grandmother with her granddaughter” draws one’s attention with its interesting appearance. The grandmother and her granddaughter are sitting on a bench with a cat next to them. The old woman is performing a typical household task, of churning butter out of sour cream. From Yefim Chestnyakov’s literary works, we learn that such a chore was accompanied by peasant women wishing for good luck “Churn butter, churn. The butter for the young ones, The butter milk for the dogs”. These words were spoken during the churning process so that good butter would be produced. The granddaughter is sitting next to her grandmother and eating a flatbread that she has dipped into the sour cream. The cat near her looks warm and cozy. There is an excerpt from Yefim Chestnyakov’s poem to go along with this clay sculpture, which includes a dialogue between a grandmother and her granddaughter.
‘Grandmother Ulyana says
“Anyutka, you woke up early.
Riddle me this! I went to
Listen to a nightingale,
The bird sang beautifully,
While the noisy spring rippled under the mountain and
Bubbled over the stones,
Telling tales about something.”
“What can such a rivulet say to you?
The nightingale was probably a tit
Singing on a bird cherry.
God rewards us with beautiful days.”
“The burbling stream tells us fairy tales.”
“What nuisance!
Who told you this?
Who could have said such a thing? ”
“Grandmother, you did.
It was winter time then,
And the rushlight was burning in its holder,
A blizzard was whistling on the porch.
The wind bellowed outside,
Hurling snow against the window”.’
At the same time, any of the clay sculptures, on their own, were stand-alone works of art, and not only in terms of their execution. Each of them also looked unique and conveyed meaning and emotions well. The artist’s fellow villagers said that Yefim Chestnyakov used to stage theater performances for children and adults in his shed. His clay sculptures were the characters in these plays, while his drawings and paintings served as decorations. The clay sculpture “Grandmother with her granddaughter” draws one’s attention with its interesting appearance. The grandmother and her granddaughter are sitting on a bench with a cat next to them. The old woman is performing a typical household task, of churning butter out of sour cream. From Yefim Chestnyakov’s literary works, we learn that such a chore was accompanied by peasant women wishing for good luck “Churn butter, churn. The butter for the young ones, The butter milk for the dogs”. These words were spoken during the churning process so that good butter would be produced. The granddaughter is sitting next to her grandmother and eating a flatbread that she has dipped into the sour cream. The cat near her looks warm and cozy. There is an excerpt from Yefim Chestnyakov’s poem to go along with this clay sculpture, which includes a dialogue between a grandmother and her granddaughter.
‘Grandmother Ulyana says
“Anyutka, you woke up early.
Riddle me this! I went to
Listen to a nightingale,
The bird sang beautifully,
While the noisy spring rippled under the mountain and
Bubbled over the stones,
Telling tales about something.”
“What can such a rivulet say to you?
The nightingale was probably a tit
Singing on a bird cherry.
God rewards us with beautiful days.”
“The burbling stream tells us fairy tales.”
“What nuisance!
Who told you this?
Who could have said such a thing? ”
“Grandmother, you did.
It was winter time then,
And the rushlight was burning in its holder,
A blizzard was whistling on the porch.
The wind bellowed outside,
Hurling snow against the window”.’
