The portrait of F. M. Dostoevsky, written by Perov on the order of the Tretyakov Gallery, was completed in 1872. The artist wrote it with inspiration, fully devoting himself to the task, because the great Russian writer was close to him in spirit, ideologically and religiously. But, despite his creative upsurge, in the work on Perov’s portrait he stumbled over self-criticism towards himself and the grandeur of Dostoevsky’s personality. Having overcome all difficulties, Vasily Perov created a truly outstanding portrait, based not only on the maximum external similarity, but also on the truthful reflection of the essence of a person, his character.
In the picture, the artist depicted the writer on a dark background, the colors as such are not, the artist directed all means to show Dostoevsky’s inner world, without being distracted by external trifles. The viewer is shown a writer slightly above and to the side. An attentive gaze fixed at one point, a slight turn of the head, a tense posture with the hands clasped on the knee – everything indicates that the writer is extremely focused and internally tense.
The composition of the work is very closed and only aims to isolate the writer from all external, unnecessary. The setting in the picture is simply absent, the artist even practically hid the chair in which Dostoevsky sits.
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