Among Yefim Chestnyakov’s works of art, there are far more drawings than paintings. This is because, in artist’s native Shablovo, a remote village, it was almost impossible to buy paint and canvases while pencils, watercolors and paper were easy to find. Hence, since 1920s, Yefim Chestnyakov more and more often created drawings. His work of art ‘Celebration’ was made using watercolors and colored pencils.
At first glance, the watercolor painting’s composition does not seem elaborate. But, in fact, Yefim Chestnyakov created a multifaceted work of art with multiple figures in order to convey to a viewer, as closely as possible, the atmosphere at the venue depicted at the time. The subjects of Yefim Chestnyakov’s painting are depicted using bright vibrant colors. The figures look happy and serene in anticipation of the holiday. We see a group of young women and girls who are wearing their best outfits and headdresses in the painting. Their dresses, skirts and blouses are adorned with colorful collars and frills. Outfits of some of these maidens are decorated with flowers and ribbons of every possible hue. All of this helps convey the fun, celebratory mood to the viewers.
It is clear straight away that the scene depicted is not from every day life. It looks as if the young women have taken a quick break from the festivities to stand perfectly still in front of the artist, poised to rejoin the celebration and its hoopla. The youngest of the girls are in the center of the foreground. Behind their backs, there is a row of older maidens, and one of them is holding a colorful umbrella. Each of the subjects of the watercolor painting is holding a tiny white kerchief tightly in her hand. One of the girls also has an object, which looks like a children’s toy, clenched in her fist, in addition to the kerchief.
Yefim Chestnyakov portrayed the girls in such a way so as to emphasize the individuality of each of them. He appeared to want to show the viewers that they all have their own unique personality. The artist highlighted the dissimilar elements of their clothes and headdresses, which are all distinct and vary from one girl to another. He also accentuated the barely noticeable and yet different feelings expressed by the girls’ faces. Each of them seems to be thinking about her own inner world while posing for the artist. The backdrop for the entire group is a village landscape. The log houses are depicted in practically all the colors of the rainbow. Some of them are in warmer hues, while others in greenish or bluish-purple tones. Yefim Chestnyakov did not portray an imaginary scene from a fairy tale. The artist tried to depict a concrete spot where large sunflowers grow near people’s homes and log houses stand side by side, and where village residents are friendly and kind to one another and can happily gather on the street together. This place reflects the warmth and glow of the author’s inner world.
At first glance, the watercolor painting’s composition does not seem elaborate. But, in fact, Yefim Chestnyakov created a multifaceted work of art with multiple figures in order to convey to a viewer, as closely as possible, the atmosphere at the venue depicted at the time. The subjects of Yefim Chestnyakov’s painting are depicted using bright vibrant colors. The figures look happy and serene in anticipation of the holiday. We see a group of young women and girls who are wearing their best outfits and headdresses in the painting. Their dresses, skirts and blouses are adorned with colorful collars and frills. Outfits of some of these maidens are decorated with flowers and ribbons of every possible hue. All of this helps convey the fun, celebratory mood to the viewers.
It is clear straight away that the scene depicted is not from every day life. It looks as if the young women have taken a quick break from the festivities to stand perfectly still in front of the artist, poised to rejoin the celebration and its hoopla. The youngest of the girls are in the center of the foreground. Behind their backs, there is a row of older maidens, and one of them is holding a colorful umbrella. Each of the subjects of the watercolor painting is holding a tiny white kerchief tightly in her hand. One of the girls also has an object, which looks like a children’s toy, clenched in her fist, in addition to the kerchief.
Yefim Chestnyakov portrayed the girls in such a way so as to emphasize the individuality of each of them. He appeared to want to show the viewers that they all have their own unique personality. The artist highlighted the dissimilar elements of their clothes and headdresses, which are all distinct and vary from one girl to another. He also accentuated the barely noticeable and yet different feelings expressed by the girls’ faces. Each of them seems to be thinking about her own inner world while posing for the artist. The backdrop for the entire group is a village landscape. The log houses are depicted in practically all the colors of the rainbow. Some of them are in warmer hues, while others in greenish or bluish-purple tones. Yefim Chestnyakov did not portray an imaginary scene from a fairy tale. The artist tried to depict a concrete spot where large sunflowers grow near people’s homes and log houses stand side by side, and where village residents are friendly and kind to one another and can happily gather on the street together. This place reflects the warmth and glow of the author’s inner world.
