The painting Wild Herbs by Alexey Zhabsky is a genre work depicting the everyday life of the countryside. The canvas shows a young milkmaid at a dairy farm, who rakes fresh grass for cattle. In the stall behind her, there are some cows. A little boy, maybe the woman’s son, is watching her.

The artist created the painting in the spirit of socialist realism. The artists of this style showed idealized Soviet life in their paintings: calm or joyful people, monumental urban or factory landscapes, villages with farms and grain fields. They often chose common people of the soil as their models: factory workers, milkmaids, or tractor drivers.

Socialist realism was also characterized by the symbolism of a radiant future, which was often conveyed in symbolic ways. In the painting by Alexey Zhabsky, the brighter future is symbolized by the open door of the barn and the field lying beyond, under the bright rays of summer sun. This part of the painting is the lightest in colors.

The painting Wild Herbs is executed in brighter, warmer and lighter colors than the earlier and most famous series of paintings by Zhabsky Children of War. In this series, the artist portrayed a young widow with children who read, draw, prepare for school, or share a wartime ration. The artist painted Children of War in muted and dull tones; people in these paintings look fragile, pale and sad.

Alexei Zhabsky created the famous series of paintings based on his own childhood impressions. The future artist was born on March 20, 1933 in the Novosibirsk region, in the village of Aleksandrovka. In 1940, his father died, and his mother with six children moved to the mining town of Kiselevsk. Soon, the war began. The painter recalled that his family lived in hunger and poverty during the years of the war.

At 16, Zhabsky entered an art college. At that time, still lives were one of his favorite genres. The artist imitated the style of old masters and especially of his favorite painter Feodor Tolstoy.

Zhabsky also painted landscapes, including views of Moscow and Uglich, Transcarpathian villages, and the old estate of Abramtsevo. He created portraits of collective farm peasants, military men, seamstresses, and postmen.

The painting Alone is one of the most famous works of Alexei Zhabsky. The artist portrayed himself in the studio, in front of a blank canvas.