In 1867, Vasily Grigorievich Perov took part in the Paris World Exhibition, where Pavel A. Tretyakov bought the now famous Troika painting from him.
Also this year, several significant works were written on the fate of people at the lowest level of the social hierarchy. In particular, a small work “Drawing teacher” in its final version was created.
This picture was supposedly written under the impression of the history of the fate of the artist Peter Mikhailovich Shmelkov. By birth serf, he was lucky to get into the newly created Moscow art class, from which the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture would later be organized, where his talent flourished in all its remarkable brilliance. He made brilliant successes, showed great promise. For the beautifully painted picture “Reading the Gospel in the Village Church” in 1843 he received the title of “free artist” and from the owner “free.”
This happy course of life is suddenly interrupted by the intrigue of one of the teachers and Shmelkov, in order to survive, he has to go to the cadet corps as a drawing teacher. This kind of occupation almost completely excluded creative activity. Shmelkov never got out of this misfortune. All his life he conceived a picture and believed that his condition was temporary, and he could continue to work. But it never happened. True, he later from his preparatory sketches created a certain genre, which later could well be called a caricature or satirical graphics.
In this field, he, being an extremely talented artist, was very successful. According to art historians even able to leave a significant mark in the history of Russian graphics. But the dream of free creativity did not come true.
In Perov’s painting, his figure and facial expression show that this man is in the last stage of despair. When you look at him, the heroes of F. M. Dostoevsky from his novels “Poor People”, “Humiliated and Offended” and “Netochka Nezvanova” come to mind.
Such hopelessness, exacerbated by overt poverty and physical exhaustion, that it is impossible to look at it without aching feelings. The rich decor of the room, packs of traced tables with the image of the noses, ears and eyes of plaster originals, standing on an easel. An empty chair designed for a rich student who clearly neglects a poor teacher. A folder with the drawings of the teacher himself casually leaning against the wall behind the chair on which our hero sits.
All evidence of the loss of any hope for the future. This picture, like many works of Vasily Grigorievich Perov, reflects the fate of the “little man” in Russia.
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