presentation on the Wanderers

1. chapter 20, “The Wanderers and
the Mighty Handful”
RUSN 2150

2. A closer look at the Wanderers
Vasily Perov (1833-82),
A Village Sermon,1860
Perov’s painting
received the gold
medal in the Academy
of Arts annual
competition, showing
a relaxation of the
strict oversight
characteristic under
Tsar Nicholas II (see p.
330 in Land of the
Firebird).
link to the painting
Depictions of the
lives of the
common people

3. Vasilii Perov, Troika, 1866 link to the painting

4. Grigorii Myasoedov,
Medicine Man, 1860
A znakhar’ practices folk,
herbal medicine. The
word znakhar’ comes from
the Russian verb “to
know.” Such practices
were outlawed during the
Soviet period and could
be punished by up to two
years in prison. Herbal
medicine was legalized in
Russia during the last
decade, but a practitioner
must hold a college
degree in health sciences.
link to the painting

5. Viktor Vasnetsov (1848-1926), Bogatyr at the Crossroads, 1882
Recall the main character’s choices in the folktale about Ivan
Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf. link to the painting
Historical topics, from Medieval times to
the 19th century

6. Viktor Vasnetsov, Baptism of Vladimir, 1890?, fragment of fresco
in Vladimir Cathedral in Kiev link to the painting

7. Konstantin Makovsky, Boyar Wedding Feast in the 16th Century, 1883
link to the painting

8. Vasily Surikov (1848-1916), Morning of the Streltsy’s Execution, 1881
Peter the Great hurriedly returned from Europe when the special
military force called the Streltsy rebelled. He had their bodies hung
from the Kremlin walls. Nicholas Ge’s painting of Peter I interrogating
his son Alexis was part of the first Wanderers exhibit in 1871 (see Land of
the Firebird, p. 333). link to the painting

9. Vasilii Perov, Pugachev’s Judgment, 1879, Russian Museum
The painting is a critical view of the rebel leader. Note the gallows
in the background and the unfortunates at the bottom of the stairs.
The nobleman with his hands bound strikes a defiant pose. link

10. Nikolai Ge (1831-94), Pushkin at Mikhailovskoe, link to the painting
By the late 19th century, Pushkin (d. 1837) was no longer popular. This was
the age of great novels. His reputation as Russia’s national poet began to be
reestablished with the erection of a monument to him in Moscow in 1881.

11. Boris Kustodiev (1878-1927), Liberation of the Peasants, 1907 link

12. Landscapes
Ivan Shishkin (1831-98), Pine Forest, 1890s link to the painting
Shishkin’s forest scenes often evidence past destruction.

13. Ivan Shishkin, Haystacks – Preobrazhenskoe, 1890 link to the painting
The road often figures prominently in Russian landscapes and later films.

14. Ivan Shishkin, Morning in a Pine Forest, 1889 (purchased by
Pavel Tretyakov the same year) link to the painting

15. Ilya Repin (1844-1930),
Summer Day at
Abramtsevo, 1880
The State Memorial
History, Art and
Natural Museum
Reserve V. D. Polenov,
Polenovo link
The industrialist
Mamontov had
purchased the estate,
once belonged to the
Slavophile Sergei
Aksakov, and turned it
into a center for artists
and education in the
arts. (See chapter 22.)
Tretyakov and
Mamontov’s activities
show the growing
importance of private
funding.

16. Vasily Polenov (1844-1927), Russian Village, 1888
link to the painting

17. Arkhip Kuindzhi (1842-1910),
Birch Grove, 1901
link to the painting

18. Arkhip Kuindzhi, Red Sunset on the Dnieper, 1905-1908,
Metropolitan Museum of Art link to the painting

19. Boris Kustodiev, Winter, 1916 link