The Russian School of Painting
successes of his contemporaries Yegorov and Shebuyev in the field of classical art did not move him. He modestly chose a way of his own and, as he progressed along it methodically and quietly, he founded a small school of painters who considered it their main purpose to depict, unassumingly, their surroundings.
From the later phase of Realism Venetzianov's art is distinguished by a very characteristic and, from the artistic standpoint, highly valuable trait: it is not narrative. Not literary themes, not anecdotes[1] moved Venetzianov, but rather pictorial motives, sheer colour problems, directly put by nature. And Venetzianov was well enough prepared to master these problems with simplicity and artistic skill. He possessed more technical knowledge than many of his colleagues. He was lucky enough to have been at one time the pupil of Borovikovsky, and he learned from this virtuoso many a secret of the craft, which was later on forgotten. Venetzianov's best works are his portraits, his "Barn," where, following the example of Granet, he endeavours to depict the interior of a scantily lighted building; his "Housewife, Settling Accounts," reminiscent, in regard to light effects, of Pieter de
- ↑ His paintings with narrative themes, such as "The Last Communion," "The Recruit's Farewell," and "The Soldier's Return," do not belong to his best works. He is less veracious in them. The arrangement is awkward, and the pictorial element neglected. (Author's note.)
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