The exposition of the hall contains works that laid the foundation for the Vasnetsov Brothers Art Museum. Among them is the painting by Vasily Baksheev ‘The Losers. At Lunch.’ It was donated by the author in 1910 and was included in the very first museum exhibition.
In this painting, the artist continues the theme of the family discord drama, which he began in the ‘The Prose of Life’. Revealing the drama of one family, the author shows the life of Russian society, which he knew well. The plot of the picture is simple. It depicts a scene in a small room with a modest setting. A shattered, dilapidated sofa, an unprepossessing wardrobe in the back, a stool, and chairs speak of a small prosperity of the owners. In the center of the composition, a small family has gathered around the table for a meager meal. The mother is a sad, faded woman with tear-stained eyes; the son is a young man, a dreamer, and a teenage girl. The father, having gone to the closet, has a shot. Hard life has bent the man’s back early, turning him into an old man who finds solace in his drinking addiction. The woman looks longingly, waiting for the head of the family to take his place at the table. The drunkard father, the need, and the endless chain of hardships - that’s all what fell to the lot of this family. And ahead are the same worries about a piece of bread, the same joyless and gray existence. For his son, the house became alien and unnecessary. Only the girl, not understanding what is happening, carelessly plays with the cat.
The artist was able to convey not only the visual images of the heroes of the painting, but also the nature of their relationship. Later, he himself wrote about his work: ‘My’ Losers ‘[…] convey the attitude of the “little people” of my generation to life - hopelessness, disconnection, slavish feeling’. The color scheme of the work, sustained in cold gray-ocher tones, enhances the mood of oppressive melancholy. Only the figure of the daughter in a light pink dress is highlighted with a bright joyful spot. By this, the master distinguishes the young image from the rest of the characters – she is the only one so far not involved in the family drama. The sideboard is filled with darkness from the inside; the oppressive heaviness of the entire furnishings of the room intensifies with its blackness.
‘The Losers’ is a sad tale of those who have lived their entire lives without rising above their worries about a piece of bread. By the depth of the spiritual atmosphere of its time the genre paintings of Vasily Baksheev resonate with the work of Anton Chekhov. There is no expression of external movements; the drama of life unfolds in the emotional experiences of the characters. Analyzing his work, the artist once remarked: ‘I painted all my paintings on the basis of what I saw in the surrounding life’.
In this painting, the artist continues the theme of the family discord drama, which he began in the ‘The Prose of Life’. Revealing the drama of one family, the author shows the life of Russian society, which he knew well. The plot of the picture is simple. It depicts a scene in a small room with a modest setting. A shattered, dilapidated sofa, an unprepossessing wardrobe in the back, a stool, and chairs speak of a small prosperity of the owners. In the center of the composition, a small family has gathered around the table for a meager meal. The mother is a sad, faded woman with tear-stained eyes; the son is a young man, a dreamer, and a teenage girl. The father, having gone to the closet, has a shot. Hard life has bent the man’s back early, turning him into an old man who finds solace in his drinking addiction. The woman looks longingly, waiting for the head of the family to take his place at the table. The drunkard father, the need, and the endless chain of hardships - that’s all what fell to the lot of this family. And ahead are the same worries about a piece of bread, the same joyless and gray existence. For his son, the house became alien and unnecessary. Only the girl, not understanding what is happening, carelessly plays with the cat.
The artist was able to convey not only the visual images of the heroes of the painting, but also the nature of their relationship. Later, he himself wrote about his work: ‘My’ Losers ‘[…] convey the attitude of the “little people” of my generation to life - hopelessness, disconnection, slavish feeling’. The color scheme of the work, sustained in cold gray-ocher tones, enhances the mood of oppressive melancholy. Only the figure of the daughter in a light pink dress is highlighted with a bright joyful spot. By this, the master distinguishes the young image from the rest of the characters – she is the only one so far not involved in the family drama. The sideboard is filled with darkness from the inside; the oppressive heaviness of the entire furnishings of the room intensifies with its blackness.
‘The Losers’ is a sad tale of those who have lived their entire lives without rising above their worries about a piece of bread. By the depth of the spiritual atmosphere of its time the genre paintings of Vasily Baksheev resonate with the work of Anton Chekhov. There is no expression of external movements; the drama of life unfolds in the emotional experiences of the characters. Analyzing his work, the artist once remarked: ‘I painted all my paintings on the basis of what I saw in the surrounding life’.
