Lukian Popov was born in 1783 in a poor family of a plowman in the village of Arkhangelskoye (now Arkhangelovka). Soon, his father was called up for military service, and the family moved to the neighboring Orenburg. The boy got his first job when he was twelve. He had to give the most part of his salary to his family. Later, when he studied arts in St. Petersburg, his life was hard as well. However, immediately after graduating from the Academy of Arts in 1902, he returned to his homeland, despite the great career opportunities he was offered in the capital.
Deep Sleep
Creation period
1911 to 1912
Dimensions
94,5x129,6 cm
Technique
Canvas, oil
Collection
Exhibition
3
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Lukian Popov
Deep Sleep
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#6
The artist completed the genre piece Deep Sleep in 1912. In the foreground, two sleeping men are depicted. Probably, they are artisans, farm laborers or settlers who got tired on the road and decided to take a nap in the middle of the steppe. The serenity of their sleep is emphasized by soft, muted tones and the absence of sharp color contrasts; the landscape is markedly calm and ‘spacious’.
This picture chimes with two constant themes of Popov’s paintings. The artist often depicted the life of Russian peasants in general, and in particular, settlers who were forced to leave their native villages. Many genre works by Popov are also devoted to these issues, for example, Threesome (Dispute), where a villager argues with a city dweller, or The Groom (1904) where the artist depicted a matchmaking scene. In Popov’s works, the theme of peasant resettlement had shaped into a whole cycle of its own.
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The Groom, 1904
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Dramatic plots are frequent here. For instance, the canvases Settlers in Winter and Settlers among Thunderstorm (1900’s) show peasants confronting the weather which has taken them by surprise in the midst of an exhausting trip to new places. The Old Peasant Woman painting of the same period depicts an elderly woman with eyebrows faded from constant wanderings under the scorching steppe sun.
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1. Settlers in Winter, 1900’s. 2. Settlers among Thunderstorm, 1900’s
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The Itinerants appreciated folk motifs in Popov’s work. In 1900, the artist started to take part in their exhibitions, and in 1903 he was granted full membership of the Partnership. However, in 1914, a discord broke out between the painter and the association. That year, Lukian Popov’s little son died, the artist painted a tragic canvas and decided to present it at the annual exhibition.
However, the Partnership council refused him, because the work was not in the spirit of the exhibition’s ‘celebratory tone’. Many Itinerants sided with Popov, but the picture was never exhibited. Soon after that, in the same year, the artist himself suddenly died.
#11
Orenburg Regional Museum of Fine Arts
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Deep Sleep
Creation period
1911 to 1912
Dimensions
94,5x129,6 cm
Technique
Canvas, oil
Collection
Exhibition
3
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