I learned that the basis of the picture of Yu. M. Neprintsev “Rest after the Battle” is Tvardovsky’s poem “Vasily Terkin”. It was her reading that caused the artist to draw such a wonderful picture on a military theme.
In his work, Neprintsev showed soldiers who were stationed at the edge of a winter, snow-covered forest. Each of them is busy with his own business, but at the same time, they stick together. Some of them are having lunch, someone is smoking, someone is listening to the stories of their fellow soldiers.
Apparently, the conversation is not on sad topics, because the faces of the characters in the paintings are joyful, they laugh with pleasure. They look quite carefree. I think that the artist specially painted them like this, because it is impossible to be tense all the time. If possible, people tried to be distracted from front-line everyday life, at least for a few hours and again they were torn into battle, seeking new military heights. One can hardly believe that these people have repeatedly looked into the eyes of death, accomplished feats, and protected each other and our Homeland. Now they are vigorous, merry and gaining new strength in order to continue their combat exploits.
The artist could not ignore the theme of the beauty of Russian nature. Soldiers are shown in the meadow between magnificent pines. The heroes of the picture defend not only the freedom of their loved ones, the right to life, but also the opportunity to admire the local unique nature.
I would like to note the shade of white that the artist used. The snow is shown perfectly white, not every picture has such a tone, no matter what the author draws on. I think this was done not by chance, but in order to emphasize the successful outcome of the battle and the whole war as a whole. I believe that the picture was very life-affirming and light, and we observe dark colors only when depicting soldiers’ overcoats.
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