Realism, and "Purpose" Painting
torial workmanship, which are not to be found in the works of Savitzky or Yaroshenko.
One more painter of the realistic school deserves special consideration. This is Pryanishnikov (1840–1894). His first canvas "The Bazaar," painted a year after Perov left for the West is alongside "The Church Procession" and "The Arrival of the Governess" one of the most remarkable pictures of the sixties. Pryanishnikov is, however, even more interesting, because in course of time he strove to free himself from the fetters of purpose painting, and was one of the first to seek new paths. True, "Our Saviour's Day in the Country" (1887) strongly reminds one of a photograph and is far from being model painting, but it was important, that while Repin was busy with his version of the "Church Procession," while Vladimir Makovsky kept on telling his flat anecdotes, and all the rest endeavoured to paint something "useful," Pryanishnikov suddenly threw away all intentions to instruct, narrate, or force his thoughts on people, and turned to the depiction of reality. At that time this was a bold innovation, but before a decade had passed pure realism became the motto of the entire young Russian art.
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