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Portrait of A. L. Venetsianova, the artist's mother

Alexey Gavrilovich Venetsianov • Painting, 1801, 66×74 cm
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About the artwork
Art form: Painting
Subject and objects: Portrait
Style of art: Realism
Technique: Oil
Materials: Canvas
Date of creation: 1801
Size: 66×74 cm
Artwork in selections: 13 selections

Description of the artwork «Portrait of A. L. Venetsianova, the artist's mother»

The Portrait of A. L. Venetsianova is the first work by Venetsianov known to us. The artist turned twenty-two when he painted the portrait of his mother Anna Lukinichna. She was the wife of a poor merchant and came from the Kalashnikovs merchant dynasty (perhaps Lermontov glorified one of her distant ancestors in his Song of the Merchant Kalashnikov).

Looking at her tightly compressed lips and tensely crossed arms, one can assume that it was most likely the first time Anna Lukinichna posed for a portrait, which m de her feel embarrassment and discomfort.

While working on the portrait, the young artist could not cope with the depth of space
Venetsianov was a self-taught painter, apart from the fact that his yard teacher Prokhorych gave him pastel drawing lessons sometimes. Therefore, in his first picture, along with all its warmth and charm, he felt the inability to convey spatial depth. The mother’s figure looked flat, there was almost no volume in it.
Even though Venetsianov did not really master the space rendering, noticeable is the care the beginning artist showed in drawing the folds of the shawl, the iridescent terracotta dress and the satin cap of his mother, who dressed up for this occasion.

The touché technique in the portrait is borrowed from Rokotov
Venetsianov painted Anna Lukinichna in a kind of hazy halo. This method of applying paints is called touché in painting. Venetsianov borrowed his touché from the famous portraitist of the 18th century, Fyodor Rokotov, who made this technique his own hallmark. It is interesting that Venetsianov was not only familiar with the portraits by Rokotov, but also knew him personally, since in his youth, he lived with his parents the same street in Moscow. Rokotov was not his idol, but in the 1800s he was definitely an example to follow.

The painting could have been destroyed like other early works by Venetsianov
In 1812, when Moscow occupied by Napoleon was burning, the house of Venetsianov’s parents, along with all their property, burned down. Many of the artist’s early works vanished in the fire. However, the Portrait of A. L. Venetsianova survived, because at the beginning of the 19th century, when Venetsianov left to seek fortune and fame in St. Petersburg, he took the painting with him, as the portrait of his mother was especially dear to him.

Written by Anna Vcherashniaya



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