Painting "Major's Matchmaking": description of the painting

Usually, the picture belongs to the everyday genre, rather it speaks about the seriousness of the plot, rather than its humorous nature, but Pavel Fedotov created his own niche in Russian art, in which he combined genre painting, his own observance and wit.

The painting "Matchmaking Major" earned him the title of academician, public recognition and love of the public. Fedotov was ranked with such social portraitists as Ivan Krylov, Nikolai Gogol and Alexander Ostrovsky. Contemporaries and art critics called his style not just everyday painting, but critical romanticism or comic realism.

Household genre in painting

Household sketches are a genre of painting depicting daily, routine actions or moments of life, characterizing a certain class of people and their cultural identity.

The first everyday sketches can be considered elements of rock art, which depicted scenes of hunting or the daily life of ancient people. Later, images on Egyptian papyri and Greek frescoes followed, depicting the way of life of these peoples. However, as a separate genre of painting, everyday sketches began to take shape in the era of late feudalism and modern times.

With the growth of democratic values and an improvement in the standard of living, the domestic genre began to gain increasing popularity among artists. Even in Renaissance Europe, pictures on the everyday theme began to come out from the brush of Giotto, Van Eyck and El Greco, then the trend continued Bruegel, Vermeer, Rubens and Velasquez.

Russian genre painting and everyday subjects of Russian artists

The genre in Russia was widely used in the middle of the XIX century. The artists emphasized the everyday life of the peasants and their brutal oppression. The life of the merchant class and the gentry became much less frequently the subject of the picture. A particularly important period in the development of genre Russian painting was the era of the Wanderers.

In the Russian art, vivid representatives of the domestic genre - Repin, Serov, Vereshchagin and Venetsianov. Pavel Fedotov discovered a new style not only in Russian painting in general, but also in the everyday genre in honesty. His comedic approach to everyday sketches made Fedotov a favorite of the public, and the picture "Matchmaking Major" became the pearl of the academic exhibition of 1848.

Author Biography

Pavel Fedotov came from an impoverished family titular counselor. He started drawing still in the Cadet Corps, and during the military service in the Life Guards began to take painting lessons at the Academy of Arts.

Fedotov had a sharp eye, which noted the subtle characteristics of people and the characteristics of their behavior, so his portraits possessed not only high similarity, but also a unique character. During the service, painting for Fedotov remained a favorite pastime, but due to the strained financial circumstances he could not quit his service and devote himself to art.

The turning point in the life of the artist was a meeting with the Grand Duke Mikhail and later with his brother, Emperor Nicholas I, who was amazed by the talent of the young officer and granted him the right to voluntary discharge from service and maintenance, in order that Fedotov could seriously engage in painting.

History of the painting

The newly-minted artist thought to become a battle-listist, because during the reign of Nicholas I the battle scenes had a huge commercial success. The first paintings by Fedotov depicted scenes of battles, raids and barracks life.

Despite the choice made, the artist continued to sketch his everyday observations and write comic portraits. Some of these sketches were written based on the fables of Ivan Krylov. Seeing them, the fabulist advised Fedotov to study genre painting, paying special attention to the artist's wit, wit and technical accuracy. After the eulogies of Krylov, Fedotov wrote two everyday stories - "Picky Bride" (on the tale of Krylov's fable) and "Fresh Cavalier."

Fedotov also painted many sketches, one of which was destined to become a painting "Matchmaking Major." The description of the picture "The Picky Bride" has already established the reputation of the innovator for the artist, but the further development of Fedotov's career was after acquaintance with Bryullov.

Having seen already finished pictures, Karl Bryullov persuaded the Council of the Academy to nominate Fedotov for the title of academician and to allocate him the content. At the exhibition in 1848 the artist exhibited his new canvas. "Matchmaking Major" - a picture that produced an unexpected furor and shook the stiff Petersburg audience, forcing to roll with laughter. According to the results of the exhibition, the council unanimously awarded Fedotov the title of academician.

Description of the painting P. Fedotov "Matchmaking Major"

Cloth "Matchmaking Major" with amazing accuracy depicts and ridicules merchant ambitions and unskilful show-off. With his subtle wit peculiar to him, Fedotov depicts characters typical for the action and gives them precise characteristics, while not hyperbolizing at all.

As a result, the viewer sees a freeze-frame from the life of the merchant class: a passage room, a hastily assembled table, dressed not in the place of the lady, and the owner of the house embarrassed by the new coat, while the creator of the celebration phlegmatically twists the culprit of the celebration-the groom.

Before the exhibition, Fedotov wrote a playful poem about the plot of the work "Matchmaking Major." The description of the painting in verse form names all the characters of the canvas and explains their mood and behavior. Based on the written by Fedotov, who rose to the rank of nobleman and retired, the major is looking for a profitable marriage, since the pension is too small.

The bride's family are bright representatives of the prosperous merchant class, who strive to get into the noble society with all their might. It would seem that there is little comedy in this situation, but the author managed to teach character types so that the picture is filled with humor and mild ridicule.

Elements of comedy

The public liked the picture "Matchmaking Major" for a subtle wit and clearly noticed minor misunderstandings, among them:

1. The unpreparedness of the groom and his obvious ignorance of noble norms.
2. Excessive preparation of the merchant family and their inept attempts to meet these standards.

Description of the picture Fedotov "Matchmaking Major" introduces the viewer to the retired major who was awarded the title of nobleman and seeks a brighter richer, but of simple blood, which affects his preparation for the bride's bridegrooms:

• Matchmaking takes place on a fast day, judging by the table covered and the dish with kulebyaka;
• The major appeared without a bouquet for the bride;
• The major picked out the matchmaker from the common people, judging by her parade muffler.

The desire to enter noble society was characteristic of many rich and influential merchants, this explains the inept imitation of the norms of behavior at court. The painting "The Matchmaking of the Major" depicts a merchant family trying to extradite a daughter to a nobleman, while the room and the merchants themselves look extremely comical:

• The room in which the action takes place is the front, not the living room or dining room, which does not correspond to etiquette;
• The tablecloth with which the table is made is not intended for eating, but must perform a decorative function in the cabinets or boudoir;
• The table is too small for so many snacks;
• In the front there are a lot of superfluous characters - the cook, hastily covering the table, the sitter and the prizhivalka, who does not belong in the room;
• The evening gowns of the merchant's wife and daughter do not correspond to the time, nor the time of the day;
• Accessories for mother and daughter dresses (scarves) are not chosen according to etiquette.

Despite the sharp humor with which the artist wrote his characters, Fedotov's painting "Matchmaking Major" does not convey an atmosphere of malice and ridicule. Rather, on the contrary, it convinces viewers to accept heroes as they are.

Picture P. Fedotov "Matchmaking Major": analysis from a historical point of view

The process of preparing the picture took a very long time. Pavel Fedotov for a long time was looking for the right room and the right characters. Many contemporaries and critics noted the historical accuracy of the picture and its belonging to its time.

Fedotov spent many weeks in search of a room, begging for merchant houses, until he found an ideally suitable front in one of the taverns. Then laborious searches of right sidelites and prizhivalki were spent. For the role of major, the artist invited one of his colleagues, and he copied his father's figure several times to show the unusual coat in comparison with the Armenian.

"Matchmaking Major" - a picture, Fedotov's efforts practically written off from nature. The room itself, characters, accessories, even paintings and portraits on the walls are authentic, historically true and most fully reveal the nature of the merchant class and the operation of matchmaking.