The picture was painted in the 1880s, when Vladimir Makovsky, Russian painter, participant and one of the leaders of the Association of Itinerant Art Exhibitions, was at the peak of his creative career.
Makovsky was considered a genre artist. He was at his best when painting scenes from daily life: vivid and short picturesque stories. In his pictures, the painter often unfolded scenes depicting simple joys of ordinary people.
In the Forester’s Hut, is his nod towards hunting, which was quite popular in the Russian culture of those times. Then, people from every strata of society went hunting in Russia: some for food, others for entertainment and still others used hunting as a kind of ‘journey to the people’ (mixing with ordinary people).
Thus, the hunting world of the 2nd half of the 19th century could mirror Russian life with all its contrasts and problems. In the same vein, Vladimir Makovsky approached this theme: he showed two hunters of a higher social status having a short rest in a shabby dwelling of an old forester.
In the foreground to the right there must be an urban person. His theatrically self-centred posture and his dandish and clearly little worn hiking outfit show that he is new to the woods and this hut in particular. The painter’s additional irony can be implied by a cheap popular print of carefree boaster Anika-the-Warrior hanging on the wall next to his seat.
The man’s dinner companion is a grey-moustached landowner. His understanding watchful eyes featuring on his mobile sun-tanned face tell us that he is an experienced hunter. His confident bearing suggests that he may be a hereditary owner of the vicinity, has known the woods for quite a while and actually owns it.
In strong contrast to the rich there are ordinary people. An old forester grimly looks the other way. The only woman in the picture is, in the opinion of art historians, the forester’s wife, who turns her back to the viewers and is busy housekeeping. Her face cannot be seen and her hair is covered with a bright square.
A tired ranger, clearly sick with a cold, is shown side-faced. He is focused on the channel of his rifle barrel. A care-taker of the Moscow School of Arts, Sculpture and Architecture, who was a retired solder and often accompanied artists in the hunting field had sat for the ranger’s figure.
This picturesque composition in many ways reminds the viewers of Makovsky’s picture Lovers of Nightingales — one of the artist’s first creative achievements for which the title of an academician was conferred on him. The work was highly praised by Feodor Dostoevsky. It is on display in the Tretyakov State Gallery.
Makovsky was considered a genre artist. He was at his best when painting scenes from daily life: vivid and short picturesque stories. In his pictures, the painter often unfolded scenes depicting simple joys of ordinary people.
In the Forester’s Hut, is his nod towards hunting, which was quite popular in the Russian culture of those times. Then, people from every strata of society went hunting in Russia: some for food, others for entertainment and still others used hunting as a kind of ‘journey to the people’ (mixing with ordinary people).
Thus, the hunting world of the 2nd half of the 19th century could mirror Russian life with all its contrasts and problems. In the same vein, Vladimir Makovsky approached this theme: he showed two hunters of a higher social status having a short rest in a shabby dwelling of an old forester.
In the foreground to the right there must be an urban person. His theatrically self-centred posture and his dandish and clearly little worn hiking outfit show that he is new to the woods and this hut in particular. The painter’s additional irony can be implied by a cheap popular print of carefree boaster Anika-the-Warrior hanging on the wall next to his seat.
The man’s dinner companion is a grey-moustached landowner. His understanding watchful eyes featuring on his mobile sun-tanned face tell us that he is an experienced hunter. His confident bearing suggests that he may be a hereditary owner of the vicinity, has known the woods for quite a while and actually owns it.
In strong contrast to the rich there are ordinary people. An old forester grimly looks the other way. The only woman in the picture is, in the opinion of art historians, the forester’s wife, who turns her back to the viewers and is busy housekeeping. Her face cannot be seen and her hair is covered with a bright square.
A tired ranger, clearly sick with a cold, is shown side-faced. He is focused on the channel of his rifle barrel. A care-taker of the Moscow School of Arts, Sculpture and Architecture, who was a retired solder and often accompanied artists in the hunting field had sat for the ranger’s figure.
This picturesque composition in many ways reminds the viewers of Makovsky’s picture Lovers of Nightingales — one of the artist’s first creative achievements for which the title of an academician was conferred on him. The work was highly praised by Feodor Dostoevsky. It is on display in the Tretyakov State Gallery.
