Literary salons were a prominent feature of the intellectual scene in the Russian capital. The large canvas on display, commissioned by Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky in 1832–1836, depicts the regular attendees of the poet’s weekly gatherings: Pletnyov, Odoyevsky, Koltsov, Gogol, Glinka, Krylov, Krivtsov, Vielgorsky, Kozlov, and Karamzin. Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin himself is also featured; he sits on a couch in a characteristic pose, with his arms crossed.
Saturday Meeting at Vasily Zhukovsky’s (copy)
Creation period
the 1950s–1990s
Place of сreation
the USSR
Dimensions
55x109 cm
Technique
canvas, oil; painting
Collection
Exhibition
3
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#34
Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky asked to paint a perspective view of his office and include images of his closest friends and associates; it was necessary to feature more than ten individuals and paint them from life. [Alexey Gavrilovich distributed the task among his students as follows: ] Mikhailov painted the office itself, while other students completed the figures; I was also assigned two of them.
#35
During Zhukovsky’s literary events, Pushkin read his works “Poltava” and “Boris Godunov”, as well as several chapters from an unfinished novel in prose about his great-grandfather, Hannibal. The novel was published under the title “The Blackamoor of Peter the Great” in the literary magazine “Sovremennik”.
#36
Yet, he said, it is a pity that we live so high up, we are lofting.
#37
Zhukovsky’s friend and executor, Professor Karl von Seidlitz, described the rooms on the top floor as follows,
#38
Zhukovsky’s residence not only served as a workshop for the enlightened artist, but it was also furnished with elegant simplicity. There were large armchairs, small sofas, desks, and a library — everything was arranged so that he could work here, read there, and converse with friends in yet another nook. On a large desk, at which he worked standing, there were busts of members of the royal family; plaster casts of ancient heads stood in the corners of the room; paintings and portraits adorned the walls.
#39
In the summer of 1839, Zhukovsky moved out of the Shepelev House. By order of Emperor Nicholas I, the building was demolished the same year to make way for the construction of the New Hermitage.
The State Pushkin Museum houses a copy of the work
commissioned by Vasily Zhukovsky. It was made in the second half of the 20th
century by the Soviet artist Boris Ivanovich Klabunovsky.
#40
Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation
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Saturday Meeting at Vasily Zhukovsky’s (copy)
Creation period
the 1950s–1990s
Place of сreation
the USSR
Dimensions
55x109 cm
Technique
canvas, oil; painting
Collection
Exhibition
3
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