Portrait of Dostoevsky. What is the uniqueness of the image of Vasily Perov

Thinking about Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-1881), we first of all remember his portrait by Vasily Perov. Many photographic portraits of the writer have been preserved. But we remember this picturesque image.

What is the artist's secret? How did the creator of Troika manage to paint such a unique portrait? Let's figure it out.

Images of Perov

Perov's characters are very memorable and bright. The artist even resorted to the grotesque. He enlarged his head, enlarged his facial features. So that it is immediately clear: the spiritual world of the character is poor.

And if his heroes suffered, then to an extraordinary extent. So there is not a single chance not to sympathize. 

The artist, like a true Wanderer, loved the truth. If we show the vices of a person, then with merciless honesty. If children are already suffering somewhere, then you should not soften the blow to the kind heart of the viewer.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Tretyakov chose Perov, an avid truth-lover, to paint a portrait of Dostoevsky. I knew that he would write the truth and only the truth. 

Perov and Tretyakov

Pavel Tretyakov himself was like that. He loved truthfulness in painting. He said that he would buy a painting even with an ordinary puddle. If only she were true. In general, Savrasov's puddles were not in vain in his collection, but there were no idealized landscapes of academicians.

Of course, the philanthropist loved Perov's work and often bought his paintings. And in the early 70s of the XIX century, he turned to him with a request to paint several portraits of the great people of Russia. including Dostoevsky. 

Fedor Dostoevsky

Fedor Mikhailovich was a vulnerable and sensitive person. Already at the age of 24, fame came to him. Belinsky himself praised his first story "Poor People"! For the writers of the time, this was an incredible success.

But with the same ease, the critic scolded his next work, The Double. From triumphant to loser. For a vulnerable young man, it was almost unbearable. But he persevered and continued to write.

However, a series of terrible events soon awaited him.

Dostoevsky was arrested for participating in a revolutionary circle. Sentenced to death, which at the last moment was replaced by hard labor. Imagine what he experienced! Say goodbye to life, then to find hope to survive.

But no one canceled hard labor. Passed through Siberia in shackles for 4 years. Of course, it traumatized the psyche. For many years I could not get rid of gambling. The writer also had epileptic seizures. He also suffered from frequent bronchitis. Then he got debts from his deceased brother: he hid from creditors for several years.

Life began to improve after marrying Anna Snitkina.

She surrounded the writer with care. I took over the financial management of the family. And Dostoevsky calmly worked on his novel The Possessed. It was at this time that Vasily Perov found him with such life baggage.

Working on a portrait

The artist focused on the face. Uneven complexion with gray-blue spots, swollen eyelids and pronounced cheekbones. All hardships and illnesses affected him. 

The writer is wearing a baggy, shabby jacket made of cheap fabric in a mediocre color. He is not able to hide the sunken chest and stooped shoulders of a man tormented by disease. He also seems to be telling us that the whole world of Dostoevsky is concentrated there, inside. External events and objects are of little concern to him.

Fedor Mikhailovich's hands are also very realistic. Swollen veins that tell us about internal tension. 

Of course, Perov did not flatter and embellish his appearance. But he conveyed the unusual look of the writer, looking, as it were, inside himself. His hands are crossed on his knees, which further emphasizes this isolation and concentration. 

The writer's wife later said that the artist managed to depict Dostoevsky's most characteristic pose. After all, she herself more than once found him in this position when working on a novel. Yes, "Demons" was not easy for the writer.

Dostoevsky and Christ

Perov was impressed that the writer strives for truthfulness in describing the spiritual world of man. 

And most of all, he managed to convey the essence of a person with a weak spirit. He falls into extreme despair, is ready to endure humiliation, or even he is capable of committing a crime out of this despair. But in the psychological portraits of the writer there is no condemnation, rather acceptance. 

After all, for Dostoevsky the main idol was always Christ. He loved and accepted any social outcast. And perhaps it was not for nothing that Perov depicted the writer so similar to Christ Kramskoy ...

I don't know if this is a coincidence. Kramskoy and Perov worked on their paintings at the same time and showed them to the public in the same year. In any case, such a coincidence of images is very eloquent.

In conclusion

The portrait of Dostoevsky is true. Just as Perov loved it. As desired by Tretyakov. And with what Dostoevsky agreed.

Not a single photo can convey the inner world of a person in such a way. It is enough to look at this photo portrait of the writer of the same 1872.

Here we also see a serious and thoughtful look of the writer. But in general, the portrait is not enough for us, which says about the person. Too standard pose, as if there is a barrier between us. While Perov managed to introduce us personally to the writer. And the conversation is very frank and ... sincere.

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Links to reproductions:

V. Perov. Portrait of Dostoevsky: https://www.tretyakovgallery.ru/collection/portret-fm-dostoevskogo-1821-1881

V. Perov. Janitor: https://www.tretyakovgallery.ru/collection/dvornik-otdayushchiy-kvartiru-baryne

V. Perov. Troika: https://www.tretyakovgallery.ru/collection/troyka-ucheniki-masterovye-vezut-vodu

A. Savrasov. Country road: https://www.tretyakovgallery.ru/collection/proselok/