When looking at the paintings for today’s assigned discussion, one’s eyes would likely be immediately drawn to the colors. Vivid greens, reds, and blues jump out at you. Some paintings, however, remain muted, but the color isn’t what I want to focus on. The color is just an indication of the shift toward a less regal set of subjects, with many of these paintings taking place outside. The paintings we have looked at in this class were icons or portraits of the tsar or nobility. Instead of a man looking toward the viewer with a wry smile, the paintings from these artists portray the lives of everyday people doing everyday things. Take Spring, Plowlandby Venetsianov for example. This painting depicts a woman guiding a horse through a field to plow it while a baby plays off in the corner. This is a decidedly non-royal activity, which contrasts sharply with the past traditions of painting in Russia that we’ve seen in this class, which mainly consisted of royal/noble portraits and icons. Another example of peasant paintings from Venetsianov is On the Thresher Floor, which depicts some peasants resting and some working in a wooden building. Again, this style of painting, with peasants doing their work, is a drastic departure from previous norms, where the subjects were clean and poised for a portrait.

Even the portraits that were assigned for this class veer from the regal style we have seen before in this class. Those portraits were largely of nobles and leaders, as was apparent from their extravagant dress or the title of the painting, while these portraits are of people from much farther down on the socioeconomic ladder. Some examples include The Gold Embroideressand The Lace-Makerby Troponin. These portraits, as well as others we were assigned, were of peasants engaging in their occupation in less than luxurious clothing within the overall style of a portrait.

While there are paintings with religious themes, they relate much less to the standard template icons and more to the realistic painting style, with religious figures painted in realistic scenes. One such scene is The Appearance of Christ Before the People, where Jesus meets a group of people. Even the religious paintings seem to have evolved into a more European renaissance style, highlighting proportions and realism rather than borderline caricatures of religious figures as seen in previous icons.