Description of the picture hunters at rest The painting "Hunters at rest": a description for schoolchildren

Around this picture Vasily Perov since its appearance, serious passions have been burning: V. Stasov compared the canvas with the best hunting stories of I. Turgenev, and M. Saltykov-Shchedrin accused the artist of excessive theatricality and unnaturalness of the characters. Besides, in "Hunters on a Rest" everyone easily recognized the real prototypes - Perov's acquaintances. Despite the mixed reviews from critics, the picture became incredibly popular.

In the image of an ironically grinning hunter, Perov portrayed the doctor and amateur artist Vasily Bessonov, and the 26-year-old Nikolai Nagornov, a future member of the Moscow city council, served as the prototype for the young hunter, naively listening to hunting stories. This is confirmed in his memoirs by A. Volodicheva, the daughter of Nagornov. In 1962, she wrote to art critic V. Mashtafarov: “D. P. Kuvshinnikov was one of my father’s closest friends. They often went hunting for birds. My father had a dog, and therefore gathered with us: Dmitry Pavlovich, Nikolai Mikhailovich and Dr. Bessonov V.V. They are depicted by Perov (“Hunters at Rest”). Kuvshinnikov tells, father and Bessonov listen. Father - carefully, and Bessonov - with distrust ... ".

Looking at the “Hunters at rest” by Vasily Perov, the modern viewer hardly notices that the picture depicts the same nonsense as in the hunting tales that one of the characters “poisons”.

“What a delight! Of course, to explain - so the Germans will understand, but they will not understand, like us, that this is a Russian liar and that he is lying in Russian. After all, we almost hear and know what he is talking about, we know the whole turn of his lies, his style, his feelings, ”Fyodor Dostoevsky praised the picture, admiring the expressiveness and reliability of the characters. However, the scene of the rest of the three comrades is not at all true in detail. The characters mishandle their weapons, and their equipment and loot belong to different types of hunting. It seems that the painter chose a topic in which he understood little.

In fact, Perov was well versed in hunting. The artist went to the beast, as his first biographer Nikolai Sobko put it, “at all times of the year and tirelessly,” later even sharing his experience in essays for the Nature and Hunting magazine, which was published by naturalist Leonid Sabaneev. Ultimately, the passion for hunting cost the artist his life: due to a cold caught in the forest, Perov developed consumption, from which he died before he was 50 years old.

And Perov created “Hunters at Rest” as an anecdote picture, so that the understanding viewer would laugh at it no less than at the very outrageous hunting stories.


1. Skeptic. The peasant laughing at the story of the master, written from the doctor, amateur artist and writer Vasily Bessonov. Perov portrayed him as a commoner, emphasizing that the excitement of hunting, like this meal on the grass, unites the nobles and their servants.

2. Beginner. He listened to the narrator so much that he forgot to light a cigarette. Judging by the new sheepskin coat and expensive equipment that had not yet worn out in the forests, the character became interested in hunting recently. Perov wrote a gullible neophyte from 26-year-old Nikolai Nagornov, in whose house his friends Kuvshinnikov and Bessonov used to gather to go hunting together.

3. Hare-hare. Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences Valentin Golovin noted: the molting of the animal can be determined: the action takes place in late autumn. It is strange that the carcass was not damaged: according to the rules of canine hunting, the killed hare had to be chopped off (poked with a dagger between the shoulder blades), cut off (cut off the front paws) and trimmed (inserted into the saddle).

4. Grouse. A forest bird could not be killed on the same hunt as a hare, an inhabitant of the fields.

5. Vral. Perov's friend, police doctor Dmitry Kuvshinnikov, posed for the role of the landowner-narrator. In the 1880s-1890s, the doctor, together with his wife Sophia, organized a literary and artistic salon in his house. The Kuvshinnikovs and landscape painter Isaac Levitan, with whom Sophia cheated on her husband, became the prototypes for the heroes of Chekhov's story "The Jumper".

6. Boots. The beginner's shoes, as Professor Golovin noted, also betray the character's inexperience: it was very inconvenient to hunt in such high heels.

7. Binoculars. The narrator has binoculars of the old model, the first half of the 19th century, which indicates a solid hunting experience.

8. Horn. Used for canine hunting to pack hounds, but there is no sign of a flock of hounds. The only dog, according to different versions, is either a greyhound or a setter - a cop. On dog hunting, guns are not needed, since the dog takes the game. And on a rifle you don't need a horn.

9. Shotguns. An experienced hunter, in order not to clog the bore, will never put the gun with the muzzle on the ground. Especially if it is a first-class, expensive weapon from the English company Enfield, like here.

Artist Vasily Perov

1834 - was born on January 2 (new style) in Tobolsk. The artist was the illegitimate son of Baron Grigory Kridener, who served there as a provincial prosecutor.
1841 - for beautiful handwriting received from the teacher the nickname Perov, which became a surname.

1853–1862 - student at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.
1861 - painted the paintings "Rural religious procession at Easter" and "Sermon in the village."

1862–1864 - visited Germany and France
1862–1869 - was married to Elena Shaynes, three children were born in the marriage, but only son Vladimir survived to adulthood.

1866 - created "Troika" and "Arrival of a governess in a merchant's house".
1870–1877 - was a member of the Association of Traveling Exhibitions.

1872 - remarried to Elizaveta Druganova.
1882 - died of consumption in Kuzminki (now a district of Moscow).

Looking at the “Hunters at Rest” by Vasily Perov, the modern viewer hardly notices that the picture depicts the same nonsense as in the hunting tales that one of the characters “poisons”

The painting "Hunters at rest"
Oil on canvas, 119 x 183 cm
Year of creation: 1871
Now kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.
Two author's copies of the painting are in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg and in the Nikolaev Regional Art Museum named after V.V. Vereshchagin in Ukraine

“What a delight! Of course, to explain - so the Germans will understand, but they will not understand, like us, that this is a Russian liar and that he is lying in Russian. After all, we almost hear and know what he is talking about, we know the whole turn of his lies, his style, his feelings, ”Fyodor Dostoevsky praised the picture, admiring the expressiveness and reliability of the types. However, the scene of the rest of the three comrades is not at all true in detail. The characters mishandle their weapons, and their equipment and loot belong to different types of hunting. It seems that the painter chose a topic in which he understood little.

In fact, Perov was well versed in hunting. The artist went to the beast, as his first biographer Nikolai Sobko put it, “at all times of the year and tirelessly,” later even sharing his experience in essays for the Nature and Hunting magazine, which was published by naturalist Leonid Sabaneev. Ultimately, the passion for hunting cost the artist his life: due to a cold caught in the forest, Perov developed consumption, from which he died before he was 50 years old.

And Perov created “Hunters at Rest” as an anecdote picture, so that the understanding viewer would laugh at it no less than at the very outrageous hunting stories.

1. Skeptic. The peasant laughing at the story of the master, written from the doctor, amateur artist and writer Vasily Bessonov. Perov portrayed him as a commoner, emphasizing that the excitement of hunting, like this meal on the grass, unites the nobles and their servants.

2. Beginner. He listened to the narrator so much that he forgot to light a cigarette. Judging by the new sheepskin coat and expensive equipment that had not yet worn out in the forests, the character became interested in hunting recently. Perov wrote a gullible neophyte from 26-year-old Nikolai Nagornov, in whose house his friends Kuvshinnikov and Bessonov used to gather to go hunting together.

3. Hare-hare. Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences Valentin Golovin noted: the molting of the animal can be determined: the action takes place in late autumn. It is strange that the carcass was not damaged: according to the rules of canine hunting, the killed hare had to be chopped off (poked with a dagger between the shoulder blades), cut off (cut off the front paws) and trimmed (inserted into the saddle).

4. Grouse. A forest bird could not be killed on the same hunt as a hare, an inhabitant of the fields.

5. Vral. Perov's friend, police doctor Dmitry Kuvshinnikov, posed for the role of the landowner-narrator. In the 1880s-1890s, the doctor, together with his wife Sophia, organized a literary and artistic salon in his house. The Kuvshinnikovs and landscape painter Isaac Levitan, with whom Sophia cheated on her husband, became the prototypes for the heroes of Chekhov's story "The Jumper".

6. Boots. The beginner's shoes, as Professor Golovin noted, also betray the character's inexperience: it was very inconvenient to hunt in such high heels.

7. Binoculars. The narrator has binoculars of the old model, the first half of the 19th century, which indicates a solid hunting experience.

8. Horn. Used for canine hunting to pack hounds, but there is no sign of a flock of hounds. The only dog, according to different versions, is either a greyhound or a setter - a cop. On dog hunting, guns are not needed, since the dog takes the game. And on a rifle you don't need a horn.

9. Shotguns. An experienced hunter, in order not to clog the bore, will never put the gun with the muzzle on the ground. Especially if it is a first-class, expensive weapon from the English company Enfield, like here.

Artist
Vasily Perov

1834 - was born on January 2 (N.S.) in Tobolsk. The artist was the illegitimate son of Baron Grigory Kridener, who served there as a provincial prosecutor.
1841 - for beautiful handwriting he received from the teacher the nickname Perov, which became a surname.
1853–1862 - student of the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.
1861 - painted the pictures "Rural religious procession at Easter" and "Sermon in the village."
1862–1864 - visited Germany and France.
1862–1869 - was married to Elena Shaynes, three children were born in the marriage, but only son Vladimir survived to adulthood.
1866 - created "Troika" and "Arrival of a governess in a merchant's house."
1870–1877 - was a member of the Association of Traveling Exhibitions.
1872 - remarried, to Elizaveta Druganova.
1882 - died of consumption in Kuzminki (now a district of Moscow).

Photo: Fine Art Images / Legion-media

Most of the prominent people, including writers, composers, actors, artists, were avid hunters and considered this hobby to be the best pastime and the most inspiring moments in life. The description of the hunt is present in the recognized literary classics - Tolstoy, Turgenev, Hemingway. The theme of hunting also often captivated great artists. In our open spaces, one of the most famous paintings dedicated to hunting is the painting by Vasily Perov “Hunters at Rest”, the second name is “Three Hunters”.

Painting “Three hunters”

A little about the author - artist Vasily Perov

Vasily Grigorievich Perov was a very passionate and passionate hunter.

In the last years of his life, he even became a correspondent for Sabaneev's journal Nature and Hunting, where he not only wrote interesting articles, but also posted a series of theoretical articles about hunting. Of course, a favorite pastime could not but be captured on the canvases of the artist. In the 70s, Perov created a series of paintings dedicated to nature and the relationship of people with it - these are canvases such as "Dovecote", "Fisherman", "Birdcatcher", "Botanist". And the most famous of this cycle was the painting "Hunters at Rest". The author wrote two versions of the picture: one is stored in Moscow in the State Tretyakov Gallery, and the second - in the St. Petersburg Russian Museum.

At the first exhibition, the picture made a lot of noise. Because of her, many artists and critics even quarreled.

Stasov was delighted and said that this plot was as good as Turgenev's. But Saltykov-Shchedrin did not like it. The writer said that there is no spontaneity in it, they say, the artist has already very deliberately shown one hunter as a liar, the second as a gullible novice, and the coachman shows with all his appearance that this is exactly the case.

What did the audience see in 1871 at the exhibition?

It was then that the painting was exhibited for the first time. The main thing that struck the audience of those times was an interesting plot and psychological portraits of the characters on the canvas.

In the wake of the alarming and dull autumn nature, three hunters settled down for a halt. The characters depicted in the picture are real people, friends of the artist, who served as prototypes of hunters. The hunt was clearly successful - in the foreground we also see some kind of bird. We also see other hunting attributes - a gun, a horn, a net and a yagtdash. An elderly hunter - judging by the clothes of the nobles, but not rich, tells another tale and is clearly in the spirit of Baron Munchausen. His burning gaze and active gestures indicate that the story of the story that happened is greatly exaggerated.

The second character is a young hunter, dressed expensively, with a needle, listens attentively and by his appearance believes every word of the narrator. The expression on his face indicates that he trustingly takes the whole story of the old narrator at face value.

A simple peasant lay down nearby, it can be seen from the clothes that this is most likely a coachman. He tilts his hat to one side and grins, scratching behind his ear in disbelief. Apparently, he has already heard many times and knows that these stories are very different from what he saw with his own eyes on many hunting trips. He clearly chuckles at the gullibility of the young hunter. It even seems that he is thinking about something of his own and no longer pays attention to the stories of the old master.

Some critics saw the whole life cycle of a person in the plot: youth, eagerly learning the world, absorbing everything with sincere faith. Then comes maturity and experience, when everything is questioned, and nothing is taken for granted. And maturity is replaced by old age, which lives more with memories of the past.

At first glance, the impression of calmness and carelessness on the canvas is created. But if you look closely at the plot, you can notice the restlessness and anxiety in nature.

Birds are circling in the sky, the sky is overcast, the wind has risen - obviously, a thunderstorm is approaching. In contrast to the drama of nature, the hunters' poses are completely carefree. The author succeeded in a truly brilliant combination of a dramatic background and an almost anecdotal plot.

The great success of the picture and forced Perov to make a copy of it.

Modern history of the painting

The story of the three hunters at rest did not end there. Since the appearance of the picture, she has become very beloved among the people. Based on the plot of Perov, thousands of copies were made, the image was transferred to tapestries, rugs, and bedspreads. There is a picture even on candy wrappers. This cute trinity is embroidered, appliquéd, burned out and, lately, even tattooed on the body. In the city of Yekaterinburg, a monument was erected according to the plot of "Hunters". A lot of funny and not so funny caricatures appeared, parodying the plot of the picture. It turns out that Perov brilliantly coped with the task, since the picture has acquired its own history and many parallel tasks.

Interesting facts related to the painting "Hunters at Rest"

This is a very interesting moment. During the years that the "Hunters at Rest" are kept in the Russian Museum, it was transferred several times from room to room. And the staff noticed that the picture is always much warmer than in the halls. For an unknown reason, and caretakers. And sightseers constantly gathered in groups near this picture. It was decided to study it more thoroughly. Scientists have uncovered startling facts. Firstly, it turned out that the temperature of the canvas itself and the air next to it is always almost 3 degrees higher than in the entire room, although this was not observed with neighboring paintings. The clocks installed nearby were malfunctioning - the mechanical ones slowed down, and the electronic ones stopped working. People also feel strange changes in the body - their hair and nails grow noticeably faster.

When the picture was trained with X-rays, everyone was shocked: the printed picture showed not hunters, but ... the Yalta Conference - the figures became exactly like Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt. When they put a map of Europe on tracing paper on top, it turned out that “Stalin” on the canvas points to the line of the second front. Oddly enough, scientists have found many more, as they claim, prophecies on this canvas - encrypted mathematical formulas, astronomical facts, even the exact diagram of the Bermuda Triangle.

Whether it's true or fiction, whether to believe it or not is everyone's business, but you can always admire a masterpiece.

Around this picture Vasily Perov since its appearance, serious passions have been burning: V. Stasov compared the canvas with the best hunting stories of I. Turgenev, and M. Saltykov-Shchedrin accused the artist of excessive theatricality and unnaturalness of the characters. Besides, in "Hunters on a Rest" everyone easily recognized the real prototypes - Perov's acquaintances. Despite the mixed reviews from critics, the picture became incredibly popular.

because of what Levitan was going to challenge Chekhov to a duel