Analysis of Gogol's "Portrait", a creative study of the mission of art

Who does not know the story of Gogol "Portrait"? The analysis of the work is very interesting and instructive - there comes an understanding of what kind of semantic load the central image carries - the artist Chartkov. This character is an indicator of the conflict between real art and commercial art, deliberately paid for, well-fed, fundamentally turned fillet part to the life of most decent people. Wicked metamorphosis, caused by the portrait and happened to a talented person, is allegorically shown in the work.

The Petersburg painter-genre painter Chartkov writes good pictures, but vegetates on Vasilievsky Island in poverty. He is working hard as an artist. In his paintings, smears of impartial truth are seen. The latter causes irritation among solvent citizens. (During the work on "Potrtot" Gogol was in Italy, temporarily leaving Russia because of the persecution of the "Inspector"). But he is steadily moving towards his goal.

Everything changed the case. Once in the Shchukinsky court Chartkov sees an image of an Asian man with strikingly written (simply living) eyes. And he buys this portrait for the last money. The work of Gogol further narrates about the subsequent mysterious metamorphoses of Chartov's personality. He began to dream of terrible dreams, where invariably there was an old man, written in a portrait. Even after covering these amazing eyes for the night, the artist finds a torn blanket in the morning. Once he dreamed about how the old man moved, got out of the frame and began counting his money, packed in bags. The writer quietly hid one of the bags with the inscription "one thousand chervonets" for the frame of the portrait.

(How do you, dear readers understand, the analysis of Gogol's story "Portrait" defines its genre as a mystical story, a story-allegory). Wake from knocking at the door. The owner of the apartment house, having secured the support of the quarterly, came to expel him for non-payment. Quarterly, taking the painted portraits in the rent account, accidentally took up the frame of the portrait of the old man - suddenly a bag appeared on the floor, seen in a dream by Chartkov. Discovered money allows the artist not only to pay off, but also to start a new life. He removes expensive housing on Nevsky, updates his wardrobe, gives announcements about accepting orders.

The first customer is a wealthy lady who ordered a portrait of her daughter. Chartkov takes up work, but it does not go well. Let's think, what will the analysis of Gogol's "Portrait" tell us at this stage? Something inside the artist has changed. If we say very briefly, the talent is gone. Slightly changing his earlier portrait of Psyche, he still does the work. Suddenly he is lucky, his paintings are in fashion. Orders go one after another. Chartkov is now well-off, we invite. However, his new paintings, not marked with talent, surprise admirers of art connoisseurs. The creative crisis is accompanied by a personal crisis, now he is a miser and a grudge. Once he is invited to the Academy of Arts to present an old friend's canvas.

Standing before the talented painting Chartkova embraces the shock. Analysis of Gogol's "Portrait" in this symbolic episode shows: the author brings the real art and its antagonist face to face. At first Chartkov wants to regain the ability to create, but can not. Closing in the workshop and working without sleep, he feels the impotence of his brush. The final realization of the lost talent deprives him of his reason. The artist's days are numbered. Chertkov feverishly begins to buy up available talented paintings. When he is found at home by the dead from consumption and nervous exhaustion, they find out that he has destroyed all the redeemed ones. All except the portrait.

However, Gogol does not finish his story on this.

Even after the death of Chartkov, a portrait of an Asian man appears on the Petersburg auction. The price for it is rapidly increasing fourfold. Young artist B from Kolomna declares that he has a special right to purchase. And tells a story about a man depicted on a canvas - an Asian giants who gave loans. Loans were profitable, but they were invariably accompanied by the fatal fate of borrowers. So, approached to the Court of a nobleman, taking a loan, fell into disgrace with the empress, lost his mind and died. A young landlord who took a loan for a wedding, suffered a complete deformation of the person: a riot, an attempt on the life of the bride, and, finally, suicide.

The portrait was painted by the father of artist B by the order of an Asian. Ordering his image, he explained the idea. Written unusual portrait will grow old, and the usurer will live forever. Already started the work, the father of the artist B was frightened, because the image of the spirit of darkness turned out. After the interruption of the work, the sinister customer died. The portrait was asked by a friend of the artist, but the canvas that carried troubles did not stop, and he had it. Since then, a terrible portrait appears here and there ...

The end of the story is in the spirit of American thrillers. Horned by the story of the artist B listeners suddenly notice that a terrible portrait is stolen from the auction. The literary analysis of Gogol's "Portrait" story points to the nonrandomness and logical conditioning of such a plot turn. After all, the problem affected by the classic is eternal.

Are the ideas of the "Portrait" relevant today? Undoubtedly. The problem of the role of the creative personality and the significance of artistic works is really important today. What is missing now is the "ray of light" that illuminates the "dark kingdom"!