In the Russian villages of that time, ponyova was not just a garment: it showed the status of Mistress. There even was even a rite of donning it, which demonstrated that the participating girl was ready for marriage. Usually, women sewed ponyovas for themselves: they took several pieces of fabric of different colours and combined them.

These skilled women paid special attention to the decorations because each element had its own meaning. Looking at the chequered pattern on a woman’s skirt, one could identify the district, the province, and the village she was from. The number of squares, along with the pattern and colour of the embroidery, even indicated the age of the owner.

Sergei Vinogradov was given recognition during his lifetime, earned good money, taught many students. During the 1917 Revolution, he tried to adapt to the new reality and even participated in decorating the Kremlin for the first anniversary of the Revolution. However, he did not succeed in becoming a part of the new artistic elite: Vinogradov could not come to terms with Constructivism that was prevailing in the art of painting. To help his colleagues who also could not switch to new genres, Vinogradov decided to organise an exhibition in the USA.

As a result, he displayed works by more than a hundred artists in one of the streets of New York but managed to sell just a tenth of them at the maximum.

After the USA, Vinogradov settled and very quickly achieved success in Riga. He returned to painting landscapes and opened his own school. In Latvia, Vinogradov organised exhibitions of his works and paintings of his students. Sergey Vinogradov died in 1938.