Vasily Maximov was born and grew up in an ordinary peasant family. He knew firsthand about the life of the Russian countryside, about heavy peasant labor, about folk traditions and practices. It is not surprising that the image of the common people was the main theme of his work.
The picture “Family section” takes the viewer to the Russian village of the second half of the XIX century. The time when rural communities break up, once large and friendly peasant families break up into separate small farms. The age-old patriarchal foundations are crumbling, kinship ties are broken, the brother goes against his brother. The artist personally witnessed such “sections” and saw relatives share houses, cattle, plows and plows, carts and harnesses, dishes, household utensils, canvases and icons. No one wants to stay with a nose, everyone wants to take away the best for themselves. This side of the peasant life is cruel, but it had a place to be, and Maximov truthfully described it in his picture.
Two siblings share property. Around a small cramped room scattered a bunch of things, utensils, fabrics and furs. At first glance, the picture feels the tension and intensity of emotions of those gathered. Difficult and contradictory mental states of the brothers. The elder, remembering kinship, does not wish to offend his brother, with difficulty he demolishes his reproving glance, but selfish aspirations do win.
The characters of the female daughter-in-law are directly contradictory to the male. The elder daughter-in-law, the former mistress of the house, is represented by an evil, greedy, with a ruthless gaze she looks at the younger brother’s family, clutching at things that she does not want to give. The imperious peasant woman robbed and deceived the young daughter-in-law, unfairly leaving her with nothing. But the offended girl is not defiled by malice, the artist wrote her modest and pretty, radiating inner dignity, despite the experienced misfortune. The youngest daughter-in-law is the brightest image in this heavy, oppressive picture. The redistribution of property was accomplished, and nothing can be fixed.
Maximov’s work was appreciated by his contemporaries and, in particular, P. Tretyakov, who acquired the canvas for his collection. And today in the exposition of the Tretyakov Gallery, you can see the touching image of the younger daughter-in-law, who humbly bowed her head before greed and greed, which prevailed in this once-native house.
(2 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)