“Children”, Bogdanov-Belsky – overview of the painting 
- Posted by Bogdanov-Belsky
- Museum: Samara Art Museum
- Year: 1910
Overview of the painting :
Children – Nikolay Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky. Oil on canvas.
The outstanding master of painting Bogdanov-Belsky personality is very interesting and multifaceted. He is a successful, requested artist – his customers were high-ranking people, members of the imperial family, intellectuals, and aristocrats, but peasants, especially children, were always at the core of his work.
Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky, born in the Russian outback, preferred to write on village genre topics. Thanks to talent, hard work, strength of character, he was able to grow from the poor son of a butterfly to a world-famous artist. Bogdanov-Belsky, having spent almost a quarter of a century abroad, never forgot his roots. After all, once his fate was a success, due to the fact that Nikolai S. noticed the abilities. AND. Rachinsky is the creator of public schools in villages. He not only sent a talented boy to school, but also took part in his future life.
Therefore, the theme of the Russian village, peasant children, their education, enlightenment occupies the main place in the work of the artist. He believes that the children of the village are very direct, sincere, inquiring, darovite. He is given great creative satisfaction to write these smart, natural faces of children.
Surely, Nikolai Petrovich was a very kind and bright person, otherwise his paintings would not have been so warm, sincere, and joy of childhood.
Modernists considered him responsive and sweet, soft and easy to communicate, and the children were stuck to him, especially since there was always something tasty for the children in the pockets of his clothes.
In 1910, he wrote a simple but noteworthy picture of “Children”.
The canvas is saturated with bright and fresh colors. The author carefully, accurately and accurately writes out every detail – patterns and slits between the boards of the gazebo, crack benches, folds of clothes.
The artist, who graduated from the school in landscape class, perfectly writes nature – the sun’s rays sprinkle with glare of light through the tender, juicy greens of foliage, pieces of the blue summer sky are viewed through it.
On a wooden painted bench in a garden gazebo, with his hands folded on his lap, two village boys of seven years old are sitting. Their poses are a little tense, it feels like they came to pose for the picture at the request of the artist. They have clean shirts, new pay-free pants.
The bran-haired boy in the foreground seems more constrained and shy, serious.
The second, in a red shirt and a straw hat, creates the impression of a living, shustral and brisk little boy who was temporarily persuaded to sit on a bench and make a serious face.
The guys look childishly interested and naive. Surely, after the next session, they eagerly ran to the easel and watched with interest how the picture changes every time after the artist’s work.
Considering the simple, Russian, modest faces of the boys, their calmly clasped hands in an adult way, the author creates a general atmosphere of the picture – the peasant children of the art are accustomed to work, they are not moody and are not spoiled. They are more adult and steppe, they are without falsehood and pretense, here they are in front of you, ordinary boys from the village.
And no matter how their fate subsequently develops, this interesting moment from life will surely remain in their memory.
And the artist knows the price of hard village work, he himself “left the people”, and therefore believes that childhood is so important for every person, it must be remembered and captured as the most beautiful, carefree period of life.
The paintings of Bogdanov-Belsky attract, first of all, kindness and love for unbiased peasant children.
The artist, deprived of family affection, who grew up without a father with his uncle, who considered them to be superfluous with his mother, is very clear and close to the topic of village kids. He sympathizes with them, with them in the future, possibly a difficult life.
But now they are children – funny or sad, inquisitive or thoughtful. And Nikolai Petrovich will not stop drawing them until the end of days.
Unfortunately, the artist himself did not have his own children, but in all his works there is love and a part of the author’s soul for children who made the work of Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky immortal.