In 1878, shortly after Leo Tolstoy’s novel “Anna Karenina” was published, Anna was recognized as one of the best female characters in world literature. Many Russian artists tried to embody her appearance in drawings. One such example was the Soviet graphic artist Konstantin Rudakov, who was inspired by Tolstoy’s characters. During the Great Patriotic War, he created a portrait gallery of characters from the novel “War and Peace” and made illustrations for “Anna Karenina”.
Rudakov’s watercolors are distinguished by his very personal and emotional attitude to the characters. The artist worked thoroughly on Anna’s depiction. Konstantin Rudakov sought to convey Anna’s sensual experiences, her doubts and dreams. The artist clearly sympathized with the character, his Karenina is touching and tender, expressive and dynamic.
Leo Tolstoy quotes such remarks about Anna Karenina’s appearance: “Shining gray eyes, that looked dark from the thick lashes”, “Anna was not like a fashionable lady, nor the mother of a boy of eight years old. In the elasticity of her movements, the freshness and the unflagging eagerness which persisted in her face <…> she would rather have passed for a girl of twenty.” Anna had black curly hair, small hands, and a graceful, albeit slightly full, figure.
Rudakov managed to convey the external luster and insincerity of the life that so burdened Anna with her delicate taste and sense of beauty. The scene of Alexey and Anna’s talk highlights the differences in their characters. Karenin is a rational person, with a proclivity for common sense and cold-blooded reasoning. Anna, on the other hand, is a passionate person who is desperately seeking balance between emotional excitement and family duties.
Ethically speaking, in this situation, Karenin is in the right and Anna admits her fault, however, most readers’ sympathies still lie with her. When creating Anna, Tolstoy sought to emphasize the ambiguity of her character. The author believed that she undoubtedly violated her moral duty and rejected her destiny as a mother figure.
