Picture “Book bench”, Vasnetsov, 1876 
- Author: Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov
- Museum: Tretyakov Gallery
- Year: 1876
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Overview of the painting :
Book shop – Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov. 1876. Oil on canvas. 84 x 66.3 cm
Warm summer day, the market area of a small town. A few onlookers gathered at the book bench. The bench is designed for a simple buyer, for peasants. Therefore, on the counter: onion pictures, sheets with fairy tales, paper icons. Among potential buyers are representatives of different classes and ages.
In the center of the composition is the only buyer: a confident man with an ax behind his belt. He holds a big onion picture in his hands. With the appearance of a connoisseur, a man considers a picture he likes. Apparently, very soon she will decorate his hut.
Following the man is a parish priest with his son. Father comments on the picture, approving the choice of the buyer. Behind the back of the spiritual mentor, two curious women carefully listen to the comment.
In the foreground, boys read the displayed fairy tales on the sheets. Surov is the owner of the shop. His affairs are clearly not in the best way, so all his attention is focused on the buyer.
And around the sun, pigeons on the roof, clear sky. Summer for peasants is not a season for reading. They will do this in the winter. In the meantime, the book bench is mostly only onlookers, and curious boys.