Portrait of an old woman, Grigory Grigoryevich Mäsoedov – overview 
- Author: Grigory Grigoryevich Mäsoedov
- Museum: Art Museum, Kostroma
- Year: XIX century
Overview of the painting :
Portrait of an old woman – Grigory Grigoryevich Mäsoedov. Oil on canvas. 41.5 x 30.6 cm
XIX century, a time of change and reform in Russia. Interrogation artists in their work turn to the image of the living, real life of ordinary people, their portraits are distinguished by the ability to reveal the inner world and the character of a person. And among the best works of talented Russian painters is “Portrait of an Old Woman”, created by Grigory Grigoryevich Miasoedov.
Small, chamber picture. An old woman dressed in a worn red-brown tulup thought of something. A tightly tied black scarf with a small fringe on the head, decorated on the edge with a gray stripe, closes the hair.
In a neyark scattered light, a yellowish-pale, wrinkled and stray face is clearly visible. Deep folds move away from the wings of the straight nose to narrow, tightly compressed, colorless lips. Once beautiful eyebrows faded, losing a beautiful bend. Exiled, wrinkled eyelids hang on their eyes, almost completely hiding them. But, despite this, it is clear that in her youth she was very good at herself.
A big difficult life lived, a lot had to be experienced, but she dealt with everything. Now we have before us a magnificent, confident old woman, strong and strict. In a calm, slightly detached look, wisdom and patience are visible.
The artist uses a minimum of muted, non-small gray and brown shades, faded black, emphasizing the pallor of the face. Light ash with barely noticeable lilac reflections of the background of the picture does not distract attention.
It is no coincidence that the master chose such a paint palette, emphasizing the difficult nature of the old woman. We see a living person who has seen a lot in life, but has not lost stamina and self-esteem. And, most importantly, we feel her kindness and know how reliable she is for her family.
The picture is filled with warmth and sympathy, to which light sadness and regret of the past are mixed.