“Cabustnica”, Nikolay Ivanovich Feshin – overview of the painting 
- Posted by Nikolay Ivanovich Feshin
- Museum: Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts
- Year: 1909
Overview of the painting :
Cabbage – Nikolay Ivanovich Feshin. Oil on canvas. 219 x 344 cm
Feshin Nikolay Ivanovich, completing his studies at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts in 1909, writes the thesis “Cabustnica”.
She appeared for a reason, since childhood Nikolai loved to watch the village life, folk customs, holidays. And the artist was seriously preparing for his thesis, went to the Nizhny Novgorod region, looked closely at interesting types of looks, made sketches, sketches.
Already at first glance on the canvas you begin to look forward to some event. And, indeed, it is – this is the Orthodox holiday of the Exaltation, celebrated in the fall, on the last day of the summer of Babi.
People say that the Exaltation of Cabbage is the first lady. Here it is, in the center of the canvas, white, crispy, with green leaf clings. For the winter, you need to cook, salt and quench cabbage, nurse and savior in the long Russian winter.
The crowd of men and women surrounding the “grown-cabbust” is lively and joyful. There are several reasons for this: behind difficult field work, harvested, the Wozdvizhen post ended. Now you can skip a stack of vodka, which one of the women immediately carries – it is not accepted to buy such a holiday. Nimble little boys are delighted with all this turmoil, dragging and dropping, choose cabbage seeds by old faith.
Everyone cuts, cleans, shink, wrinkles cabbage. A feeling of a common holiday is created. Here the woman in black bent over the next head, on the left a tall and large woman looks with approval at the laughing company depicted on the right side of the picture.
In the work of “Cabustnica” Feshin’s extraordinary talent is manifested in the construction of the composition, in the contrast of color spots with the general restraint of the palette.
The plot heroes are not idealized characters, each is individually discharged, with its own character. But all of them are united by a festive attitude, the joy of joint useful work. Which, probably, the author wanted to convey – to be able to find beauty in everyday things, and this should be learned from a simple people.