Vasily Grigorievich Perov
Portet F.M. Dostoevsky, 1872
Oil, canvas. Tretyakov Gallery,
Moscow.

From the memoirs of Dostoevsky's wife:

In the same winter P.M. Tretyakov, owner of the famous Moscow art gallery, asked my husband for the opportunity to paint his portrait for the gallery. For this purpose, the famous artist V.G. Perov came from Moscow. Before work began, Perov visited us every day for a week; caught Fyodor Mikhailovich in a variety of moods, talked, challenged him to argue, and was able to notice the most characteristic expression in his husband’s face, precisely the one that Fyodor Mikhailovich had when he was immersed in his artistic thoughts. One could say that Perov captured in the portrait “a minute of Dostoevsky’s creativity.” I noticed this expression many times in the face of Fyodor Mikhailovich, when you would go into his place, notice that he seemed to be “looking into himself,” and leave without saying anything. (A.G. Dostoevskaya. Memoirs. - M.: Fiction, 1971)

In May 1872, V. G. Perov made a special trip to St. Petersburg to paint a portrait of F. M. Dostoevsky on Tretyakov’s instructions. The sessions were few and short, but Perov was inspired by the task before him. It is known that Tretyakov treated Dostoevsky with special love.
The portrait is executed in a single grayish-brown tone. Dostoevsky sits on a chair, turned in three quarters, crossing his legs and squeezing his knee with his hands with interlaced fingers. The figure gently sinks into the twilight of a dark background and is thereby removed from the viewer. Considerable free space is left on the sides and especially above Dostoevsky’s head. This pushes it even deeper and closes it in on itself. A pale face protrudes plastically from the dark background. Dostoevsky is dressed in an unbuttoned gray jacket made of good, heavy material. With help brown trousers The hands are shaded with black stripes. In his portrait of Dostoevsky, Perov managed to portray a man who feels alone with himself. He is completely immersed in his thoughts. The gaze is deepened into oneself. A thin face with finely traced light-and-shadow transitions allows you to clearly perceive the structure of the head. Dark blond hair do not violate the basic scale of the portrait.
In terms of color, it is interesting to note that the gray color of the jacket is perceived precisely as a color and at the same time conveys the texture of the material. It is set off by a spot of white shirt and a black tie with red speckles.
The portrait of Dostoevsky was sufficiently appreciated by his contemporaries and was considered the best of Perov’s portraits. Kramskoy’s review of him is known: “Character, power of expression, huge relief<...>the decisiveness of the shadows and a certain sharpness and energy of the contours, always inherent in his paintings, in this portrait are softened by an amazing color and harmony of tones." Kramskoy's review is all the more interesting because he was critical of Perov's work as a whole.

Vasily Grigorievich Perov (1834-1882) Portrait of the writer Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. 1872. Moscow, State Tretyakov Gallery

V. Perov met with F. Dostoevsky shortly after his return from abroad, where he spent two years hiding from debtors, tortured by overwork and illness. F. Dostoevsky has a thin, bloodless face, thin, sticky hair, small eyes, sparse facial hair, hiding a mournful expression on his lips. He is wearing a simple gray frock coat. But for all its almost photographic accuracy and detail, V. Perov’s portrait of F. Dostoevsky is a work of art.

Everything, from the figure to every detail, is distinguished here by its internal significance. The figure is moved to the lower edge of the picture and is visible slightly from above; she seems to be slumped over, overwhelmed by the weight of her experience. It is difficult to look at this gloomy man with a bloodless face, in a gray frock coat like a prisoner's robe, and not recognize in him a native of the “House of the Dead”, not to recognize in his premature old age traces of what he experienced. And at the same time, an unshakable will and conviction. tightly clenched hands with swollen veins close the ring of his arms.

Vasily Grigorievich Perov (1834-1882) Portrait of the writer Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. 1872. Moscow, State Tretyakov Gallery Fragment

Compared to later Russian portraits, this portrait of V. Perov is somewhat sluggish in execution. But it clearly highlights the characteristic features of F. Dostoevsky: high forehead, making up almost half of the head, squinting eyes, a broken contour of the cheekbones, which is repeated and reinforced in the lapels of the coat. Compared to the colorfulness of later Russian portraits, the portrait of F. Dostoevsky looks like a tinted engraving. With the exception of the red neckerchief, there is not a single bright spot in the picture, not a single decisive stroke of the brush; the hairs of the beard are scratched into the thinly applied paint. Apparently, this self-restraint of the artist was justified by the desire to contrast his ascetic ideal with the colorful splendor of secular portraits of K. Bryullov and his imitators.

Of course, V. Perov and F. Dostoevsky are artists of different scales and their place in Russian culture is not the same. And yet their meeting in 1872 was fruitful. When pronouncing the name of F. Dostoevsky, we cannot help but recall the portrait of V. Perov, just as we remember the sculpture of Houdon when the name of Voltaire is pronounced.

***

About the Russian portrait.

Russian portrait during the 18th and early 19th centuries created its own historical tradition.
In the portraits of O. Kiprensky one can see the special warmth and cordiality of the contemporaries of Pushkin’s era.
K. Bryullov brings more brilliance and secular gloss to the portrait, but under this cover one can discern signs of fatigue and emptiness in people. In his latest works he shows especially much insight.
P. Fedotov painted portraits mainly of people close to him: in his portrait-drawings there is more sensitivity to life common man than in the then widespread miniature portraits with a touch of constant secularism.
V. Tropinin, especially in the portraits of the late Moscow period, has more peace, complacency and coziness.
Otherwise, in the 50s and early 60s, almost no portraits of any artistic significance were created in Russia ( Self-portraits of Russian artists of this time in the “Catalogue of painting of the 18th-18th centuries”. State Tretyakov Gallery", M., 1952, plate XXXVI). Traditions portrait art didn't disappear. Home and family portraits were commissioned from artists and decorated the walls of living rooms in private homes. Artists often painted themselves. But among the portraits of that time there are almost no works of significant content and pictorial merit.

At the end of the 60s and in the 70s, a number of outstanding masters appeared in this field: N. Ge, V. Perov, I. Kramskoy and the young I. Repin ( “Essays on the history of Russian portraits of the second half of the 19th century century.", M., 1963. The chapters of the book give characteristics of the portraiture of individual masters, but do not touch upon the question of the main stages in the development of Russian portraiture of this time as a whole.). A number of significant works of portrait art and images of outstanding people of that time are being created. With all the diversity of these portraits, created by different masters, one notices in them general signs: the active power of a person and his high moral pathos are emphasized. Through the signs of various characters, temperaments and professions, one can see the general ideal of a person who thinks, feels, is active, selfless, and devoted to an idea. In portraits of this time, the moral principle is always noticeable, they characteristic- masculinity. It cannot be said that the prototype of the people in the portrait was the consistent revolutionary Rakhmetov, or the rebel-individualist Raskolnikov, or, finally, the Russian nugget - the “enchanted wanderer” Leskov. It cannot be argued that the creators of the portrait directly followed the call of N. Chernyshevsky “higher human personality we do not accept globe nothing" or the confession of N. Mikhailovsky: "I am not the goal of nature, but I have goals, and I will achieve them." In any case, the best Russian portraits of this time show faith in man. The idea of ​​a noble, selfless, strong-willed personality inspired the best thinkers and writers in Russia at that time ( V. V. Stasov. Collected Works, vol. I, St. Petersburg, 1894, p. 567.).

In 1846, on the literary horizon of St. Petersburg
a new talented star appeared - Fyodor Dostoevsky. A novel by a young author
"Poor People" creates a real sensation among the reading public. To no one before
the unknown Dostoevsky becomes a public figure in an instant,
the honor of seeing the most famous fight in their literary salon
People.

Most often Dostoevsky could be seen at evenings at
Ivan Panaev, where the most famous writers and critics of the time gathered:
Turgenev, Nekrasov, Belinsky. However, it is by no means an opportunity to talk with one’s own
more venerable fellow writers were drawn there young man. Sitting in the corner
room, Dostoevsky, holding his breath, watched Panaev’s wife, Avdotya. This
was the woman of his dreams! Beautiful, smart, witty - everything about her excited his mind.
In his dreams, confessing his ardent love, Dostoevsky, because of his timidity, was even afraid
talk to her again.

Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky

Avdotya Panaeva, who later left her husband for
Nekrasova, was completely indifferent to the new visitor to her salon. "WITH
the first glance at Dostoevsky,” she writes in her memoirs, “one can see
it was that he was a terribly nervous and impressionable young man. He was
thin, small, blond, with a sallow complexion; small gray
his eyes moved somehow anxiously from object to object, and his pale lips
twitched nervously." How could she, the queen among these writers and counts, convert
pay attention to such a “handsome guy”!

Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. Portrait by V. Perov

Portrait painted by Perov,
There is completeness in it, the blossoming of the soul,
The burning spirit is its basis.
A prophet ahead of the times

Realizing that he would not be able to conquer the proud beauty with his
appearance, Dostoevsky chooses a different path: he will become a famous writer
(luckily there is already an initiative!) - and she herself will come running to him.

He writes, but is in too much of a hurry. In the "Double" published from his pen
The individual style that brought success to the first novel is missing. Book
criticized by all and sundry (how nice it was to walk through this young
upstart!). And now they no longer invite Dostoevsky to literary salons, but
Belinsky does not shake hands and does not call "hope" Russian literature". A
the most important thing is that now it is completely impossible to show up at the Panayevs, where he
They will look at you with contempt as if you were a loser! Dostoevsky writes to his brother Mikhail:
“I’ll say about myself that I absolutely don’t know what else will happen to me. I have money
there is not a penny... I write and see no end to my work... Boredom, sadness, apathy..." Here's from
It was precisely this boredom that one day, at the invitation of a friend, he dropped in for an evening at a club
Petrashevsky...

V.A.Favorsky. Portrait of F.M. Dostoevsky

Young liberals gathered there, drank tea, read
French books banned by censorship talked about how good life would be
under republican rule. Dostoevsky liked the cozy atmosphere, and although
He was a convinced monarchist and began to go to “Fridays.”

Only these ended tragically for Fyodor Mikhailovich
"tea party" Emperor Nicholas I did not at all favor various liberals and their
peaceful assemblies. I remembered that in 1825 they wanted to organize similar “amateurs”
tea"! Therefore, having received information about the "Petrashevsky circle", he gave an order to everyone
to arrest. One night (it was 1849) they came for Dostoevsky. First six months
solitary confinement Peter and Paul Fortress, then the sentence is death penalty,
replaced by four years of prison with further service as a private...

I.S.Glazunov. Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky

The four years that followed were some of the hardest of my life.
Dostoevsky. A nobleman by birth, he found himself among murderers and thieves,
who immediately disliked the “political”. "...Each of the new arrivals in the prison
two hours after arrival he becomes like everyone else,” he recalled. -
Not so with a noble, with a nobleman. No matter how fair, kind, smart, his
for whole years they will hate and despise everything, the whole mass." But Dostoevsky did not
broken. On the contrary, he came out a completely different person. It was at hard labor
came knowledge of life, human characters, understanding of what in a person can
combine good and evil, truth and lies. And most importantly, a deep faith came in
God, and behind it - the confidence that a crime is always followed by God's
punishment. Subsequently, this topic will become dominant in his
creativity.

And now the years of hard labor have passed. In 1854 Dostoevsky arrived in
Semipalatinsk A small town, lost in the Asian steppes, full of dull and
mediocre provincial faces. Life promised nothing but
daily marching under the scorching sun in order to maintain combat readiness
soldiers to fight nomadic tribes...

I.S.Glazunov. Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. White Night

After some time, Dostoevsky fell in love. Object
His friend's wife, Maria Isaeva, became his desire. This woman has spent her entire life
I felt deprived of both love and success. Born in quite
wealthy family of a colonel, she unsuccessfully married an official,
turned out to be a hereditary alcoholic. The husband lost position after position - and
So the family ended up in Semipalatinsk, which can hardly be called a city.
Lack of money, broken girlish dreams of balls and handsome princes - everything caused
she is dissatisfied with her marriage. How pleasant it was to feel the gaze of burning eyes
Dostoevsky

Dostoevsky, throughout for long years who didn't know women's
caresses, it seemed that he had met the love of his life. Evening after evening he
spends with the Isaevs, listening to the drunken eloquence of Maria’s husband just for the sake of
to be near your beloved.

I.S.Glazunov. Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. Night

In August 1855, Maria's husband dies. Finally an obstacle
eliminated, and Dostoevsky proposed to the woman he loved. Did you love him?
Maria? More likely no than yes. Pity - yes, but not the same love and understanding,
which the writer, suffering from loneliness, so longed to receive. But vital
pragmatism took over. Isaeva, who had a growing son and debts in her arms
for her husband's funeral, there was nothing left to do but accept her offer
fan. On February 6, 1857, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Maria Isaeva got married. IN
On the wedding night, an incident occurred that became an omen of the failure of this
family union. Dostoevsky suffered an attack due to nervous tension
epilepsy. Body convulsing on the floor, foam flowing from the corners of it
mouth, - the picture she saw forever instilled in Maria a shade of a certain disgust for
to her husband, for whom she already had no love.

In 1860, Dostoevsky, thanks to the help of friends, received
permission to return to St. Petersburg.

Straight from the train, the writer finds himself in a new world. As everybody
has changed since the 40s! Freedom of speech, freedom of ideas! Most creative
people are published newspapers and magazines that respond to actual problems society. Not
Dostoevsky became an exception. In January 1861, together with his brother, he began
publish the monthly review "Time". Fedor Mikhailovich - editor-in-chief,
Mikhail is in charge of financial matters. The magazine quickly gained popularity for
account of attraction to cooperation famous writers(Turgenev, Ostrovsky),
live reaction to events taking place in the country.

I.A. Ivanov. Portrait of F.M. Dostoevsky

As editor-in-chief, Dostoevsky personally re-reads everything
published articles, writes his own, begins to publish in parts the novel “Humiliated and
offended." There is not enough time for everything - we have to work at night.
Despite the joy that a literary creation gives, the body has difficulty
endures such an exhausting lifestyle. Epilepsy seizures are becoming more frequent. Family
life does not bring peace at all. Constant quarrels with my wife: “I shouldn’t
married you. I would be happier without you." Stepson - Pasha - spoiled
a child, looking at whom even then one could predict the future
troubles...

The meeting with young Polina Suslova seemed to stir up
Dostoevsky's feelings forever extinguished, making him feel like a man.
The acquaintance happened quite banally. Suslova brought the story to the magazine.
Dostoevsky liked it and wanted to communicate more with the author. These
meetings gradually grew into an urgent need for the editor-in-chief, without
he could no longer get by with them.

K.A. Vasiliev. Portrait of F.M. Dostoevsky

It's hard to imagine people more incompatible with each other than
Dostoevsky and Suslova. She is a feminist, but he has always been of the opinion
the supremacy of men. She was interested in revolutionary ideas, he was a conservative and
supporter of the monarchy. At first, Polina became interested in Dostoevsky as a famous
editor and writer. He is a former exile, which means he is a victim of something she hates.
mode! However, disappointment soon set in. Instead of strong personality, which
hoped to find, the young girl saw a shy, sick man,
whose lonely soul dreamed of understanding.

In 1863, an uprising broke out in Poland, quickly and violently.
suppressed by the introduced units of the Russian regular army. All large
imperial newspapers and magazines responded with a wave of unanimous approval to the decisive
government actions to prevent the split of the country. Dostoevsky could not
stay away - an article by the young critic Strakhov appeared in the magazine
"The Fatal Question", dedicated to the historical aspects of the events that arose.
"...They interpreted it this way: that we ourselves, on our own, assure that the Poles are so much higher
us by civilization, and we are lower than them, that, naturally, they are right and we are to blame,”
Fyodor Mikhailovich wrote to Turgenev. In general, the article was misunderstood not only
readers, but also the all-seeing eye of censorship - in December the magazine was closed for personal reasons
instructions of the Minister of Internal Affairs.

O.F. Litvinova. Portrait of F.M. Dostoevsky

Dostoevsky's attempts to clarify the situation, hitting thresholds
bureaucratic offices led to nothing. Saddened and tired of everything, he
leaves with Suslova for Paris. But here, instead of the anticipated rest with
the woman he loves, Dostoevsky falls into some kind of irrational dream. Pauline
She stated that she had not loved him for a long time and was going to leave him. A complete
tearful explanation, as a result of which they decided to continue traveling together
- but already as friends.

This word "friends" is interesting, especially in towards a woman,
which in soul (oh this male self-confidence!) and body is only a few days old
back belonged to you, allowed you to caress her, was so pliable and full
admiration. The proximity of Suslova turned into an obsession for Dostoevsky. Every
evening he came up with thousands of reasons to stay longer in her room, in
hoping that today she will still let him onto her bed...

Such feelings began to frighten Fyodor Mikhailovich. Urgently
you need to distract yourself, switch your attention to something else. But what will happen
panacea for this unbridled passion, which can also make you beat
heart in anticipation of pleasure? Roulette! In the gambling house Dostoevsky forgot
Polina, that's all your problems. The whole world was concentrated in this spinning ball
and the hope that he will stop at the hidden number. It is from this time that it takes
Dostoevsky's long-term weakness began, which in the future brought many
suffering both to himself and to those close to him.

Dostoevsky is not just a player - he is obsessed with the game. And constantly
loses. At first I tried to justify going to some gambling house
an invented winning system: they say, if you calculate and bet correctly, then
sure to be lucky and so on. Then I got tired - I just rushed like crazy towards
green cloth in the vain hope of good luck. The losses have reached the point where
When Dostoevsky returned to Russia, Suslova had to pawn her watch in a pawnshop
(which kept company with Dostoevsky’s own clock, has been there for a long time
vacationers!).

The next year, 1864, became one of the hardest years in my life.
Dostoevsky. In the spring, his wife Maria dies of consumption, and in the summer, his brother Mikhail dies.
The double loss was experienced very hard: “And so I was suddenly left alone, and it became
I’m just scared... I felt for the first time that there was no one to replace them, that
I only loved them in the world... Everything around me became cold and deserted.”

Trying to forget himself, Dostoevsky delves into the solution of pressing problems.
problems. And there were plenty of these problems! After Mikhail's death there remained
debts for 25 thousand rubles. Saving his brother's family from complete ruin, Fedor
Mikhailovich issues bills for the required debts in his name, takes on relatives
for security. Many then were able to warm their hands on those who were poorly versed in
financial affairs writer who signed many promissory notes without checking
their true validity...

Having shouldered the debt burden, Dostoevsky spun like
squirrel in a wheel. I tried to publish a magazine, but instead of profit new ones appeared
debts. Finally the situation reached the point where the most impatient creditors
threatened with debtor's prison. And then the famous St. Petersburg artist appears on stage
publisher-reseller Stellovsky, who offered Dostoevsky three thousand rubles for
publication of his three-volume collection. An additional clause to the agreement was
the writer's obligation to write in return for money already paid new novel,
the manuscript of which had to be submitted no later than November 1, 1866. IN
otherwise, Stellovsky received the exclusive right of ownership of the
all works. Having no choice, Dostoevsky agrees to these enslaving
conditions. The money received is used to pay part of the bills.

By the beginning of October, the writer had not yet written a single line of the future
novel. The situation was simply catastrophic. Realizing that he himself will not have time
write a novel, Dostoevsky, on the advice of friends, decides to resort to help
a stenographer who would take down what the writer dictated. So in the house
Dostoevsky received a young assistant - Anna Grigorievna Snitkina. At first
not liking each other, in the process of working on the book they become closer,
imbued with warm feelings. The novel, called "The Gambler", was completed in
term and transferred to Stellovsky. The time has come to part, however, Fedor Mikhailovich,
attached with his lonely soul to a young girl, he keeps putting off this
moment, offers to continue working together.

Dostoevsky understands that he fell in love with Anna, but is afraid to admit it
their feelings, fearing rejection. Then he told her a fictitious story about
an old artist who fell in love with a young girl. What would she do in this place?
girls? Would you reciprocate this person? Of course, the insightful Anna
nervous trembling, the writer’s face immediately understands who the true characters of this
stories. The girl’s answer is simple: “I would answer you that I love you and will love you.”
all my life." The lovers got married in February 1867.

Despite the fact that Dostoevsky madly loves his wife, for
Anna's family life begins with troubles. And fortunately there would only be problems
in a lack of money... The writer’s relatives immediately disliked the young wife, especially
the stepson, Pyotr Isaev, was zealous. Didn't work anywhere, lived off his stepfather,
Isaev saw Anna as a rival and feared for his future. What is this stepfather on
old age does? No devil in the ribs. And if she gives birth to children for him, and him,
will his stepfather leave his beloved son without an inheritance under her influence? And decided to survive
the young stepmother from home with various petty meannesses, insults and slander.
The wife of Dostoevsky’s late brother, Emilia Feodorovna, also contributed.
She liked to publicly make various caustic remarks about “hands that cannot
do nothing in the house,” which brought the young housewife to tears. Realizing that this
It can’t go on any longer and a little more and she’ll just run away from this house,
Anna persuades Dostoevsky to go abroad.

A four-year wandering in a foreign land begins. I note that
Dostoevsky never loved Europe. Yes, he admired many cultural
monuments, but could never understand the Europeans, regardless of whether it was
German or French. They are too materialistic, closed in on themselves, have forgotten about
spirituality. I saw Russia as the center of true spirituality, according to which,
No matter how much I was abroad, I was constantly bored. It’s good that Fyodor Mikhailovich didn’t
lived until 1917 and did not see the true appearance of a Russian “close to God”
man!

In Germany, Dostoevsky regained his passion for roulette.
Leaving his wife in Dresden, he rushes to Hamburg - the German Monte Carlo. Loses
all the family savings brought, as well as money borrowed from friends.
He pawns his gold watch - half an hour later he is again as naked as a falcon. Dostoevsky
returns to confess to his wife. She doesn’t scold him, realizing that her Fedor
simply cannot resist this all-consuming passion. Dostoevsky promises
don't play anymore. They move to Baden-Baden - and here again there is roulette. And again
started again. Just what to play for? Advance payment for a future book by Dostoevsky
asks publisher Katkov for 500 rubles. Having received it, he loses it within a day. What
further? Asks his wife to take some things to the pawnshop, including those donated for
wedding earrings and wedding ring.

Moving to Geneva. Here, huddled in a cheap apartment,
experiencing constant need, Dostoevsky begins work on the novel “The Idiot.”
I have to write quickly, because deadlines are running out, and the publisher, having paid
several advances, have not yet seen a single line of the future book.

Critics often reproached Dostoevsky for the incompleteness of his
novels, a heap of large numbers storylines, many of whom were lost
in the middle of the works. The fact is that, unlike the same Turgenev or
Tolstoy, who were quite wealthy, Dostoevsky was forced to offer
publishers do not have completed novels, but only future drafts. For the planned
works were paid in advances, on which, in fact, he lived. With my
The publishers set deadlines within which Dostoevsky did not have time to “polish”
my novels - so I had to miss something somewhere in order to meet the deadline.

The writer has a hard time dealing with his death from pneumonia.
three-month-old daughter Sonya. "I will never forget and will never stop tormenting! -
he writes to his friend Maikov. - I can’t understand that she doesn’t exist and that I’ll never have her
I’ll see.” As if to confirm Dostoevsky’s dislike for Europeans, they “distinguished themselves”
local residents. On the second day after my daughter’s death, neighbors came to visit
home. Only instead of condolences they said that, of course, it’s sad that
someone died, but since Anna Grigorievna’s sobs prevent them from sleeping,
asked... not to make noise.

Work helps with depression. Response to "Nechaevism" in Russia
becomes the warning novel "Demons", which, following "The Idiot", brings
long-awaited fame at home.

Posthumous portrait from Kramskoy,
The trace of immortality was reflected,
A soul yearning for God
Liberation dawns.

After returning to St. Petersburg (1871) in the life of Dostoevsky
Finally, a bright streak is coming. He is working on "A Writer's Diary", writes
most famous novel"The Brothers Karamazov", children are born. And always near
With him is his life support - his wife Anna, who understands and loves. And what else
does a man need for real happiness?..

Source
Kievsky
telegraph

Madeleine_de_Robin

http://www.liveinternet.ru/community/3299606/post188455725/

portraits of Dostoevsky

taken here http://nizrp.ru/dostoevsky_portrety.htm

Photo gallery

http://www.fdostoevsky.ru/photo/

From the memoirs of F.M.'s wife Dostoevsky A.G. Snitkina. “That same winter P.M. Tretyakov, the owner of the famous Moscow art gallery, asked his husband for the opportunity to paint his portrait for the gallery. For this purpose, the famous artist V.G. Perov came from Moscow.

Before work began, Perov visited us every day for a week; caught Fyodor Mikhailovich in a variety of moods, talked, challenged him to argue, and was able to notice the most characteristic expression in his husband’s face, precisely the one that Fyodor Mikhailovich had when he was immersed in his artistic thoughts. One could say that Perov captured in the portrait “a moment of Dostoevsky’s creativity.”

I noticed this expression many times in Fyodor Mikhailovich’s face, when you would go into his place, notice that he seemed to be “looking into himself,” and leave without saying anything. (A.G. Dostoevskaya. Memoirs. - M.: Fiction, 1971).

The image of Dostoevsky in the portrait of Perov

The portrait of the writer created by Perov was so convincing that for future generations the image of Dostoevsky seemed to merge with his canvas. At the same time, this work has become a historical monument of a certain era, a turning point and difficult, when a thinking person was looking for solutions to basic social issues. F.M. Dostoevsky was 51 years old when the portrait was painted. At this time, he was working on one of his most controversial works - the pamphlet novel "".

Portrait of F.M. Dostoevsky is perhaps one of the most famous works of V.G. Perova. In it, the artist depicted the true character of the famous writer. The figure of the person being portrayed is painted on a dark background. The lack of particular variety of colors suggests that the artist focused his main attention on displaying inner world Russian genius. V.G. Perov simply and accurately expressed the psychological state conveyed by the verbal formula “withdraw into oneself.”

The figure, as if compressed in the dark space of the canvas, is depicted slightly from above and from the side. The turn of the head, the closed features of the face, the gaze directed at an invisible point outside the picture, create a feeling of deep concentration, “suffering” of thought, which is hidden behind external asceticism. The writer's hands are nervously clasped on his knee - a wonderfully found and, as we know, characteristic gesture for Dostoevsky, closing the composition and serving as a sign of internal tension.

A minute of Dostoevsky's creativity

Judging by the above review by A. Dostoevskaya, Perov caught “a minute of Dostoevsky’s creativity” in the portrait... Hence this extremely restrained coloring of the picture, its strict, compact composition, freed from any surroundings. Even Dostoevsky’s chair, depicted in silhouette, in muted tones, is barely visible in the dark background painting. Nothing distracting or telling. On the contrary, starting from the model itself, the artist introduces a contemplative mood into the portrait, conducive to reflection, that is, to the co-work of the viewer. Therefore, the very position of the figure, with its angular outline, tenaciously grasped hands on the knees, is designed as a closed composition, concentrated in itself.

The unbuttoned frock coat - not very new, worn in places, rather rough, inexpensive cloth - slightly revealed the white shirtfront, hiding the sunken chest of “a sick, frail man, tortured by illness and hard work,” as one of his contemporaries wrote about Dostoevsky. But for Perov, “illness and hard work” are just life circumstances in which Dostoevsky the writer lives and works day after day.

In this case, the artist is interested in something completely different – ​​Dostoevsky the thinker. And therefore, the gaze, without lingering on the torso, ascends to the face with the rhythms of verticals. Dostoevsky’s flat, wide cheekbones, sickly pale face is not very attractive in itself, and yet it can be said to magnetically attract the viewer. But, once in this magnetic field, you catch yourself not looking at the portrait itself: how it is drawn, how it is written, since the plasticity of the face, devoid of active sculpting, in the absence of sharp changes in light and shadow, is devoid of special energy, as well as soft, the subtle texture of the letter, which only delicately reveals, but does not emphasize the physicality of the skin.

With all this, the pictorial fabric of the face itself, being woven from dynamic light, is unusually mobile. Now whitening the color, now shining through it, now outlining the shape with a light touch, now illuminating a high, steep forehead with a golden radiance, light thereby turns out to be the main creator of both the color painting of the face and its modeling. Moving, emitted in varying degrees of intensity, it is the light that deprives the plastic of monotony here, and the facial expression - of rigidity, causing that imperceptible, elusive movement in which Dostoevsky's secretly hidden thought pulsates. She attracts, or rather, pulls into herself, into her bottomless depths...

Dostoevsky's dramatic moment

Perov managed to capture and display on canvas that dramatic moment when some terrible truth with its tragic inevitability was revealed to Dostoevsky’s spiritual eyes and his soul shuddered from great sorrow and hopelessness. But despite all this, in the gaze of Perov’s hero there is not even a hint of a call to fight.

And this is also a very accurate fit into the image of a person who was never tempted by the “secret vision of evil,” but was crucified “for what would come or, at least, should come,” who suffered and believed “out of love, not out of fear.” Hence his awareness of the way of the cross for man, country and people. Hence his call: “be patient, humble yourself and be silent.” In a word, everything that Fyodor Mikhailovich called the “suffering consciousness” of the Russian people. And it is precisely this, this “suffering consciousness” of Dostoevsky himself, that permeates his pictorial image as “ main idea his face."

The portrait of Dostoevsky was sufficiently appreciated by his contemporaries and was considered the best of Perov’s portraits. Kramskoy’s review of him is known: “The character, the power of expression, the enormous relief, the decisiveness of the shadows and a certain sharpness and energy of the contours, always inherent in his paintings, are softened in this portrait by an amazing color and harmony of tones.” Kramskoy’s review is all the more interesting because he was critical of Perov’s work in general.” (From the book: Lyaskovskaya O.L. V.G. Perov. Features creative path artist. – M.: Art, 1979. – P. 108).

Portrait of F.M. Dostoevsky by K.A. Trutovsky

The first lifetime image of young F.M. Dostoevsky from the era of his literary debut is a graphic portrait created by his friend at the St. Petersburg Engineering School, Konstantin Aleksandrovich Trutovsky, who at that time was already studying at the Imperial Academy of Arts.

In his memoirs, K.A. Trutovsky writes: “At that time, Fyodor Mikhailovich was very thin; His complexion was somewhat pale, gray, his hair was light and sparse, his eyes were sunken, but his gaze was penetrating and deep. Always concentrated in himself, in his free time he constantly walked thoughtfully back and forth somewhere to the side, not seeing or hearing what was happening around him. He was always kind and gentle, but he got along with few of his comrades...”

Being an illustrator by his artistic profile, Trutovsky did not strive to convey in his portrait the entire depth of the writer’s inner world - he, first of all, recreated Dostoevsky’s external appearance. Much in this work comes from the spirit of the times, the cliches and academic training that existed at that time. In fashion (like a secular esthete), a neckerchief is tied, in the eyes there is peace and trust, as if the writer is trying to look into his future with hope. There is still no bitterness of trials and suffering on the face of the person being portrayed - he is an ordinary young man with everything ahead of him.

Portrait of F.M. Dostoevsky, artist Dmitriev-Kavkazsky

About the second lifetime portrait of Dostoevsky, created by V.G. Perov, discussed above, and the third belongs to the famous engraver, draftsman, etcher (Etching is a type of engraving on metal) Lev Evgrafovich Dmitriev-Kavkazsky. After graduating from the Academy of Arts, Dmitriev-Kavkazsky made reproduction etchings from paintings by Repin, Rubens, Rembrandt and was soon awarded the title of academician of engraving.

At the end of 1880 L.E. Dmitriev-Kavkazsky creates a pictorial portrait of F.M. Dostoevsky (pen, pencil). The artist very accurately conveys the writer’s appearance, without focusing special attention on the semantic dominant of the portrait. There is no predominance of either lyricism or tragedy in the work: before us is a man with a common appearance (reminiscent of a merchant), immersed in his thoughts, with a cut and squinting eyes characteristic of Dostoevsky.

Photos of Dostoevsky

The best photographic portrait of Dostoevsky is considered to be the work of St. Petersburg photographer Konstantin Aleksandrovich Shapiro (1879).

Other incarnations of Dostoevsky in portraits

Image of F.M. Dostoevsky finds its multifaceted embodiment in fine arts XX century (M.V. Rundaltsov, M.G. Roiter, N.I. Kofanov, S.S. Kosenkov, A.N. Korsakova, E.D. Klyuchevskaya, A.Z. Davydov, N.S. Gaev and etc.).

In the engraving by V.A. Favorsky Dostoevsky stands in front of a table with a pile of printing proofs in his hands. He is dressed in a long dark frock coat. On the table there are two tall candles in candlesticks and a stack of books, on the wall there are two small photographs in frames. The tall, thin figure of the writer is illuminated from the right. The artist accurately reproduces famous lifetime portraits and photographs of Dostoevsky’s facial features: a high, steep forehead, soft, smoothed hair, a long, thin beard, lowered brow ridges. Like Perov, the artist psychologically subtly depicted Dostoevsky the creator, capturing his gaze, immersed in himself.

A picturesque portrait of Dostoevsky by K.A. Vasilyeva is another original image of the writer. Dostoevsky sits at a table covered with green cloth, in front of him is a sheet of white paper, and on the side is a burning candle with a bloody top of the flame. The uniqueness of this portrait lies in the fact that not only the candle, but also the writer’s face and hands seem to emit light. And, of course, again the emphasis is on a special, inward-looking gaze.

Vasily Grigorievich Perov
Portet F.M. Dostoevsky, 1872
Oil, canvas. Tretyakov Gallery,
Moscow.

From the memoirs of Dostoevsky's wife:

That same winter, P.M. Tretyakov, the owner of the famous Moscow Art Gallery, asked his husband for the opportunity to paint his portrait for the gallery. For this purpose, the famous artist V.G. Perov came from Moscow. Before work began, Perov visited us every day for a week; caught Fyodor Mikhailovich in a variety of moods, talked, challenged him to argue, and was able to notice the most characteristic expression in his husband’s face, precisely the one that Fyodor Mikhailovich had when he was immersed in his artistic thoughts. One could say that Perov captured in the portrait “a minute of Dostoevsky’s creativity.” I noticed this expression many times in the face of Fyodor Mikhailovich, when you would go into his place, notice that he seemed to be “looking into himself,” and leave without saying anything. (A.G. Dostoevskaya. Memoirs. - M.: Fiction, 1971)

In May 1872, V. G. Perov made a special trip to St. Petersburg to paint a portrait of F. M. Dostoevsky on Tretyakov’s instructions. The sessions were few and short, but Perov was inspired by the task before him. It is known that Tretyakov treated Dostoevsky with special love.
The portrait is executed in a single grayish-brown tone. Dostoevsky sits on a chair, turned in three quarters, crossing his legs and squeezing his knee with his hands with interlaced fingers. The figure gently sinks into the twilight of a dark background and is thereby removed from the viewer. Considerable free space is left on the sides and especially above Dostoevsky’s head. This pushes it even deeper and closes it in on itself. A pale face protrudes plastically from the dark background. Dostoevsky is dressed in an unbuttoned gray jacket made of good, heavy material. Brown trousers with black stripes highlight the hands. In his portrait of Dostoevsky, Perov managed to portray a man who feels alone with himself. He is completely immersed in his thoughts. The gaze is deepened into oneself. A thin face with finely traced light-and-shadow transitions allows you to clearly perceive the structure of the head. Dark brown hair does not disturb the basic scheme of the portrait.
In terms of color, it is interesting to note that the gray color of the jacket is perceived precisely as a color and at the same time conveys the texture of the material. It is set off by a spot of white shirt and a black tie with red speckles.
The portrait of Dostoevsky was sufficiently appreciated by his contemporaries and was considered the best of Perov’s portraits. Kramskoy’s review of him is known: “Character, power of expression, huge relief<...>the decisiveness of the shadows and a certain sharpness and energy of the contours, always inherent in his paintings, in this portrait are softened by an amazing color and harmony of tones." Kramskoy's review is all the more interesting because he was critical of Perov's work as a whole.