60-70-ies. XIX century – the time of inception of the first revolutionary sentiment. In society, dissatisfaction with the existing social system, with its problems and unjust orders, grew. People appear, each of whom, acting in different ways, sought to build a happy future based on equality and freedom.
Representatives of the creative intelligentsia, more than anyone else, sharply reacted to the imperfections of public order and shared the growing revolutionary moods. Among artists, actively speaking with critics of the existing structure and the ruling power, was the artist Vladimir Makovsky. He repeatedly emphasized his own position through his paintings. Among the works reflecting the revolutionary theme, the “Condemned” canvas written in 1879 stands out.
The main character of the picture was a young Narodnoselets arrested and convicted for disagreeing with the authorities. From the courtroom gendarmes brought him to his relatives. Seeing his son’s thoughtful and sullen face, his mother turns to him in tears with a prayer and inconsolable grief in his voice. The crying father, who has closed in his grief, is trying to keep her, realizing that nothing can be changed. The rest of those who came to the court look at him with anxiety and sadness, doomed to exhausting hard labor, as if saying goodbye, after all, they were returning home from prison.
There is no doubt that the artist openly sympathizes with the convict and his family, subtly, with a special sad warmth, conveying their state of mind: inconsolable grief and anxiety for the future-bringing sadness. The muted gray-brown gamma of the palette, in which the color of the picture is decided, perfectly matches the drama and darkness of the scene.
Truthful, filled with deep ideological meaning and clarity of content, the work “Condemned” touched the acute issues of our time, which earned unconditional recognition both among the creative intelligentsia and among ordinary people.
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