{"id":835,"date":"2020-03-25T03:26:12","date_gmt":"2020-03-25T03:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/russian-2240-spring-2020\/?p=835"},"modified":"2020-03-25T03:26:37","modified_gmt":"2020-03-25T03:26:37","slug":"perovs-immersive-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/russian-2240-spring-2020\/zflood\/perovs-immersive-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Perov&#8217;s Immersive Style"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In examining the works of Perov, two features of style in particular become apparent as means of expressing hardship and solace in tangible terms. First of all, Perov often incorporates background hues into foreground elements beyond the influence of lighting alone, creating a translucent effect. The man in\u00a0<em>The Troika<\/em>\u00a0(1866) is a prime example; the effect is made more powerful by the gray streaks extending over the man&#8217;s legs. Similarly, the bound and groveling men in\u00a0<em>Pugachev&#8217;s Judgement<\/em>\u00a0(1879) exhibit this feature in how their attire blends with the ground. Superficially, both instances of the technique serve to emphasize the eponymous subjects of the works. I would go further to claim that they add an element of otherworldly torment to the works. While the Russian and English traditions surrounding ghosts surely diverge, the idea that translucent humans (and other organic forms) are uncanny or distort our understanding of the passage of time within a work seems a cultural invariant.<\/p>\n<p>Perov inverts his technique to the opposite effect in\u00a0<em>The First Christians of Kiev\u00a0<\/em>(1880). Rather than rendering objects incorporeal, Perov includes hints of the hue and texture of the icon cover in the night sky to create the impression of cover for the worshippers. This gives a sense of supernatural protection from the elements. This contrast also features in the chronology within his paintings&#8217; narratives. While the aforementioned works show a man receding as if having passed the children and people groveling as though condemned,\u00a0<em>The First Christians of Kiev<\/em> suggests that the prayer began prior to the comforting atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p>The other defining feature is the use of composition in conveying hostility and clemency. Both\u00a0<em>The Troika<\/em>\u00a0and <em>Going to Burial\u00a0<\/em>(1865) achieve the former effect through inclined landscapes made more grueling by diagonal, cumbersome drawn sleds linking the subjects to their surroundings. In addition, the child subjects huddle amongst themselves (or a coffin) against an uncaring background. Again,\u00a0<em>The First Christians of Kiev<\/em> contrasts with his grimmer works in the use of the blanketing sky and layers of huddled adults to create a sense of safety. While the background terrain features steps, they are directed so as to suggest that the worshippers descended them to their point of congregation.<\/p>\n<p>Although Perov rejects the romanticization of peasant labor, his portrayal of early Christian worship is idyllic. As with his emphasis on hardship and solace, this thematic contradiction seems to resolve itself as a reflection of Perov&#8217;s goal to reflect (what he would consider to be) true ideals and dreaded realities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In examining the works of Perov, two features of style in particular become apparent as means of expressing hardship and solace in tangible terms. First of all, Perov often incorporates background hues into foreground elements beyond the influence of lighting alone, creating a translucent effect. The man in\u00a0The Troika\u00a0(1866) is a prime example; the effect [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-unit-8-russian-revival-social-critique"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/russian-2240-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/russian-2240-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/russian-2240-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/russian-2240-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1021"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/russian-2240-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/russian-2240-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/835\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/russian-2240-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/russian-2240-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/russian-2240-spring-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}