I bought a portrait of an old Asian foreigner in an art shop. The image of his face on the canvas was not finished, but the unknown author with extraordinary force painted the eyes, which looked as if they were alive, arousing in the viewer a strange, unpleasant, but at the same time bewitching feeling.

Chartkov spent his last two-kopeck piece on the portrait and returned to his poor, rented St. Petersburg apartment. The servant Nikita reported that in Chartkov’s absence the owner of the house came demanding immediate payment of the debt for housing.

The young artist experienced painful humiliation at the thought of his poverty. He believed that fate was unfair to him: despite his outstanding talent as a painter, Chartkov could not get out of poverty.

He went to bed upset. From behind the bed screens one could see the portrait purchased today, which was already hung on the wall. In the moonlight, the portrait's eyes looked piercing and frightening. Suddenly the old man depicted on the canvas moved, rested his hands on the frame, jumped out of it and sat down right next to Chartkov’s bed. From under his oriental attire he took out a bag, and from there - tied bundles of money, on each of which there was an inscription: “1000 ducats.” The artist looked greedily at this lot of money. The old man counted the packages and put them back into the bag, but one of them rolled to the side. Chartkov quietly grabbed him - and at that moment he woke up. What remained from the dream, however, was an unusually distinct feeling, as if everything had happened in reality. The palm retained a clear feeling of the heaviness of the package.

Chartkov began to dream how happily he could live, having at least a small part of the money he saw in his dream. In the morning, the owner of the house and the policeman came knocking on his door, demanding to pay for his stay immediately. The artist did not know what to answer: there was nothing to pay with. During a conversation, the quarterly, looking at standing paintings, picked up the portrait of an Asian man and carelessly pressed the frame. Chartkov noticed how the frame was pressed inward, and exactly the same package as he had dreamed fell out of it. He hurried to pick it up.

The package actually contained a thousand ducats. This huge sum allowed Chartkov to pay for his apartment, hire another, luxurious one, dress in the latest fashion and write an article for the newspaper about his extraordinary artistic talent.

Rich customers flocked to him. At first, he painted portraits from them diligently and with soul. But the number of clients grew. Chartkov could no longer perform all the pictures carefully. Little by little, he developed a special writing technique that made it possible to speed up the work, but deprived it of all inspiration and relegated it to a rough, artisanal level. Most of those he portrayed knew little about painting. Although less and less talent was noticed in Chartkov’s portraits, the public continued to idolize him. The more money he received, the more his thirst for it grew.

Once Chartkov saw a picture of one of his former acquaintances. Not caring about material wealth, he spent several years in hard work and achieved true artistic perfection. Immediately realizing how much higher this picture of his own works was, Chartkov was imbued with black envy of its author. He himself tried to portray something similar, but years of continuous pursuit of well-being destroyed the last glimpses of God's gift in him. Burning jealousy for anyone who showed himself to be more talented began to drain Chartkov. He now spent all the accumulated money on buying the best canvases at auctions, bringing them home and cutting them into pieces there. Having reached the point of madness, Chartkov died in terrible agony. The news that scraps of magnificent canvases had been found in his house horrified everyone.

"Portrait". Pre-revolutionary silent film based on the story by N.V. Gogol, 1915

Gogol “Portrait”, part 2 – summary

The same portrait of an Asian man from Chartkov’s house was exhibited at an art auction some time later. The amazing liveliness of the portrait's eyes attracted buyers, and the price quickly rose. However, in the midst of trade, a certain young artist entered and told the story of this painting.

Several decades ago, the father of this artist lived in one of the suburbs of St. Petersburg - Kolomna. An Asian moneylender who came from God knows where also settled there. Very tall, with a terrible, heavy look, he built himself a fortress-like house and began to give money to everyone - from poor old women to noble nobles. The moneylender charged exorbitant interest rates for his loans. Everyone soon began to be amazed by the strange fate of his borrowers. It seemed that the borrowed money was beginning to bring them misfortune. Generous people became money-grubbers, magnanimous people became envious, discord opened up in families, even to the point of bloody murders.

The artist's father painted on religious themes. Having once decided to portray the devil, he thought that the moneylender could serve as the best example for him. Oddly enough, soon after this, the Asian man personally came to him and offered to paint a portrait of himself.

The father agreed. The moneylender began to pose for him. My father put all his talent into the portrait, but only managed to finish the customer’s eyes completely on canvas. He could no longer write: his eyes seemed to come to life and were looking at him, causing a heavy, anxious feeling. The father announced that he was refusing the order and the money. The moneylender suddenly threw himself at his feet and asked him to finish the job. He said that in a mysterious way his nature should pass into the portrait, that after the completion of the painting he would not die, but would exist forever in the world. The father flatly refused. The next day he learned that the moneylender had died, bequeathing him an unfinished portrait.

My father installed it at home. The moneylender's eyes retained human liveliness, and the artist who painted them soon felt a demonic influence on himself. The father was suddenly seized with envy of one of his students, whom he began to consider more talented than himself. The eyes of the saints that my father painted for churches somehow took on a devilish expression on their own. Suspecting that the portrait was to blame, the father wanted to cut it up, but restrained himself at the request of one friend, who begged for the painting of the moneylender for himself.

When the portrait was taken out of the house, the father began to calm down. But its new owner began to feel the pernicious power of the painting. He hurried to quickly sell the portrait off his hands. The face of the moneylender also brought misfortune to all subsequent owners. Many have seen an Asian man emerging from the frame of a painting at night.

Dying, the author of the portrait bequeathed to his artist son to remember: in creative inspiration there is some kind of dark side that must be avoided in every possible way. Under the influence of this dark passion, the eyes of the Asian were once painted. Now, before his death, the father conjured his son to find this portrait, wherever it was, and destroy it.

Story young artist The auction participants were so amazed that everyone forgot about the portrait itself. When at the end the audience turned to look at the painting, it was no longer there. The portrait was either stolen or magically disappeared.

Gogol’s story “Portrait” was written in 1833–1834 and was included in the “Petersburg Tales” cycle. The work consists of two parts, which tell us about two different destinies of the artists. The connecting link between the stories is the mystical portrait of a moneylender, which had a special influence on the lives of both heroes.

Main characters

Chartkov Andrey Petrovich- a talented artist who, after purchasing a portrait of a moneylender, ruined his talent by starting to paint portraits to order.

The artist's father B.- a self-taught Kolomna artist, who painted paintings for the church, painted a portrait of a moneylender, and went to a monastery.

Other characters

Artist B.- the son of the artist who painted the portrait of the moneylender, the narrator in the second part.

Moneylender- a tall, dark man with large “eyes of extraordinary fire.” He was an Indian, Greek or Persian by nationality, and always wore Asian clothes.

Part 1

In an art shop on the Shchukin yard, the young artist Chartkov buys a portrait “by a great artist” for the last two kopecks. The painting depicted “an old man with a bronze-colored face, cheekbones, and stunted,” and his eyes especially stood out.

At home, Chartkov feels as if the eyes of the old man in the painting are staring straight at him. At some point, the old man in the portrait came to life and “jumped out of the frames.” Sitting down near Chartkov, he pulled out a bag from the folds of his clothes and poured out bundles of chervonets from it. While the old man was counting the money, Chartkov quietly took one of the rolled away packages for himself. Having counted his wealth, the old man returned to the picture. The young man had nightmares all night.

In the morning, the owner of the property and the neighborhood supervisor came to Chartkov to find out when the young man would pay the money for the house. During the conversation, the policeman, examining the portrait of the old man, damaged the frame of the picture, and one of the packages the artist dreamed of fell to the floor.

With the money he miraculously received, Chartkov buys new clothes, rents a beautiful apartment and advertises in the newspaper that he is ready to paint paintings to order. The first to come to him is a rich lady and her daughter Lisa. The woman asks to remove the “defects” of her daughter’s face and in the end, satisfied, buys an unfinished sketch of Psyche’s face, mistaking it for a portrait of Lisa.

Chartkov becomes a famous artist in the city, he is loved in high society. He learned to draw portraits mechanically, distorting facial features, depicting real people, and custom masks.

Once, at an exhibition at the Academy of Arts, Chartkov was asked to evaluate a painting by his old friend. The hero wanted to make critical remarks, but the picture was so skillfully painted that he was speechless. Only now Chartkov realized how mediocre the pictures he painted were. The hero is trying to create something really worthwhile, but nothing comes of it. Chartkov orders the portrait of the old man to be thrown away, but this did not help.

Jealous of other artists, the hero spent all his wealth on buying paintings, and at home he cut them and trampled them under his feet, laughing. “It seemed that he personified that terrible demon that Pushkin ideally portrayed.” Gradually, the artist fell into madness - he saw the eyes of the old man from the portrait everywhere, and he died.

Part 2

The auction is in full swing. At stake is a portrait of “some Asian guy” with “extraordinary liveliness of eyes.” Suddenly one of the visitors intervenes in the auction - the young artist B. The young man reports that he has a special right to this painting and tells a story that happened to his father.

Once upon a time in Kolomna there lived a moneylender who could always provide the necessary amount of money to any person in the city. It seemed that he was offering profitable terms, but people ended up having to pay “exorbitant interest rates.” However, the strangest thing was that everyone who took loans from him “ended their lives in an accident” - the young nobleman went crazy, and the noble prince almost killed his own wife and committed suicide.

Once the artist B.’s father was ordered to depict the “spirit of darkness.” The man believed that the ideal prototype would be a moneylender, and soon he himself came to the artist with a request to draw his portrait. However, the longer the man painted, the more disgusted he became with the work. When the artist announced his intention to refuse the order, the moneylender threw himself at his feet and began to beg him to finish the portrait, since it depended only on this whether he would remain in the world. Frightened, the man ran home.

In the morning, the moneylender's maid brought the artist an unfinished portrait, and in the evening he learned that the moneylender had died. Since then, the man’s character has changed; he began to envy young artists. Once, in competition with his own student, the artist painted a picture in which “he gave almost all the figures the eyes of a moneylender.” In horror, the man wanted to burn the ill-fated portrait, but his friend took it from him. Immediately after this, the artist’s life improved. He soon learned that the portrait did not bring happiness to his friend either, and he gave it to his nephew, who, in turn, sold the canvas to some art collector.

The artist realized what a terrible thing he had done when his wife, daughter and son died. Having sent his eldest son to the Academy of Arts, the man goes to a monastery. For many years he did not paint, atone for his sin, but in the end he was persuaded to paint the Nativity of Jesus. Seeing the finished painting, the monks were amazed by the artist’s skill and decided that his brush was guided by a “holy higher power.”

After graduating from the academy, artist B. visits his father. He blesses and instructs his son, saying that the artist-creator must be able to find the inner “thought” in everything. Saying goodbye, the father asks to find the portrait of the moneylender and destroy it.

When artist B. finishes his story, it turns out that the painting is missing. Apparently someone stole it.

Conclusion

In the story “Portrait,” N.V. Gogol, using the example of the destinies of two artists, described two opposing approaches to the tasks of art: consumer and creative. The author showed how destructive it can be for an artist to give up his gift for the sake of money and not understand that “talent is the most precious gift of God.”

The retelling of Gogol’s “Portrait” will be of interest to schoolchildren, students and anyone interested in classical Russian literature.

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An analysis of Gogol’s “Portrait” helps to identify the writer’s intention, as well as to consider the techniques with which N.V. Gogol was able to convey the main idea of ​​the work. This brief material will help in preparing for a literature lesson in 10th grade.

Brief Analysis

Year of writing- first edition - 1833-1834, second edition - 1841-1842.

History of creation- in 1832 the idea of ​​“Portrait” appeared, only in 1842 did N.V. Gogol completely finish work on the story.

Subject- art, creativity.

Composition– the story is divided into two parts: the first part, including exposition, plot, development of action, climax and denouement, tells about the fate of the artist Chartkov, the second part, which is written using the technique of a story within a story, tells about the origin of the ominous portrait.

Genre- story.

Direction– a combination of the traditions of romanticism and realism.

History of creation

In 1832, N.V. Gogol came up with the idea of ​​​​creating a “Portrait”; in 1833, the writer began working on the work, and already in 1834 he finished it. The story was first published as part of the collection “Arabesques” in 1835.

After numerous negative critical articles, N.V. Gogol decides to change his story: the plot, the name of the main character, the style of presentation, many dialogues. The revision took the writer a year: from 1841 to 1842. The edited work was published in the famous magazine Sovremennik with a note that this story is not the original.

Subject

The main theme of the work is the theme of art and creativity. N.V. Gogol contrasts true talent with craft. Main character Chartkov strives for money and fame, so he chooses the path of immorality. Material assets turned out to be for Chartkov more important than creativity, so he gradually loses his talent. The main character dies when he betrays real art and ruins his talent. Moral death entails physical death.

Another artist, who painted an ominous portrait of a moneylender, has true talent, since he was able to give up material wealth and go to a monastery.

Composition

The story “Portrait” is divided into 2 parts. The parts are complete, but interconnected. The connecting element is the portrait of a moneylender, bringing misfortune.

The first part tells about the life of Chartkov, an aspiring artist. The narrative is built from the episode of Chartkov’s purchase of the painting to the terrible death of the main character. That is, in this part there is an exposition associated with Chartkov’s former life, a plot associated with the purchase of a portrait, a development of action associated with Chartkov’s enrichment, a climax associated with the mental disorder of the protagonist, and a denouement associated with Chartkov’s death.

The second part talks about the ominous portrait that people are so eager to buy. The son of the artist who painted the portrait talks about the misfortunes this work of art brought. Compositionally, this technique can be assessed as a story within a story.

A compositional feature of the story is also that the images and parts are opposed to each other. Chartkov chooses the commercial path and fame, losing his talent and life, the father of the artist B. chooses true art, abandoning worldly life.

Genre

“Portrait” by N.V. Gogol is a story in terms of genre. This is indicated by one story line, associated with the theme of art and with the image of a portrait of a moneylender, a small number of characters and a small volume of work.

Direction

An analysis of Gogol's story “Portrait” is impossible without considering the direction in which the writer worked. While working on his work, N.V. Gogol was between romanticism and realism, so “Portrait” absorbed the features of these two directions. From romanticism N.V. Gogol took the fantasy world and the technique of antithesis. However, the elements of mysticism are explained by Chartkov’s dream, all the events that take place are described realistically.

This article, which will help you write an essay “Analysis of Gogol’s “Portrait,” will consider the history of the creation of the story, its theme, compositional features, genre and direction.

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Rating Analysis

Average rating: 4.1. Total ratings received: 513.

N.V. Gogol saw St. Petersburg not only as a flourishing capital, whose life is full of magnificent balls, not only a city where best achievements art of Russia and Europe. The writer saw in him a concentrate of depravity, poverty and cowardice. The collection “Petersburg Tales” was dedicated to identifying the problems of society in northern Palmyra, and at the same time throughout Russia, and searching for ways of salvation. This cycle includes “Portrait,” which will be discussed in our article.

The writer came up with the idea for the story “Portrait” in 1832. The first edition was published in the collection "Arabesques" in 1835. Later, after writing “Dead Souls” and traveling abroad, in 1841 Gogol subjected the book to significant changes. In the third issue of Sovremennik, a new version was published. In it, the epithets, dialogues, and rhythm of presentation were changed, and the surname of the leading character became “Chartkov” instead of “Chertkov,” which was associated with the devil. This is the story of "Portrait".

The motif of an image possessing ominous power was inspired by Gogol’s then-fashionable novel by Maturin “Melmoth the Wanderer.” In addition, the image of a greedy moneylender also makes these works similar. In the image of the greedy businessman, whose portrait turns the life of the main character upside down, one can hear echoes of the myth of Agasphere - the “Eternal Jew” who cannot find peace.

Meaning of the name

The ideological concept of the work lies in its title – “Portrait”. It is no coincidence that Gogol names his brainchild this way. It is the portrait that is the cornerstone of the entire work, which allows you to expand the genre range from a story to a detective story, and also completely changes the life of the main character. It is also filled with special ideological content: it is the symbol of greed and depravity. This work raises the question of art and its authenticity.

In addition, this title of the story makes the reader think about the problems that the writer reveals. What else could the title be? Suppose, "The Death of the Artist" or "Greed", none of this would carry such symbolic meaning, and the ominous image would remain only a work of art. The title “Portrait” focuses the reader on this particular creation, forces him to always keep in mind, and subsequently, see in it more than the captured face.

Genre and direction

The direction of fantastic realism set by Gogol showed up relatively little in this work. There are no ghosts, animated noses or other humanized objects, but there is a certain mystical power of the moneylender, whose money brings people only grief; The painting, completed at the end of his life, continues the terrible mission of the man depicted in it. But Gogol gives a simple explanation for all the terrifying phenomena that happened to Chartkov after acquiring the canvas: it was a dream. Therefore, the role of fiction in “Portrait” is not great.

The story in the second part receives elements detective story. The author gives an explanation of where the money could have come from, the discovery of which at the beginning of the work seemed magical. In addition, the fate of the portrait itself has the features of a detective: it mysteriously disappears from the wall during the auction.

The portrayal of the characters of Chartkov's capricious clients, his naive craving for tasteless pomp - all these are comic techniques embodied in the book. Therefore, the genre of the story is correlated with satire.

Composition

The story “Portrait” consists of two parts, but each of them has its own compositional features. The first section has a classic structure:

1. exposition (life of a poor artist)
2. tie-in (purchase of a portrait)
3. climax (Chartkov's mental disorder)
4. denouement (death of the painter)

The second part can be perceived as an epilogue or some kind of author’s commentary on the above. The peculiarity of the composition of “Portrait” is that Gogol uses the technique of a story within a story. The son of the artist who painted the ominous portrait appears at the auction and claims ownership of the work. He talks about the difficult fate of his father, the life of a greedy money lender and the mystical properties of the portrait. His speech is framed by the auctioneers' bargaining and the disappearance of the very subject of the dispute.

About what?

The action takes place in St. Petersburg. The young artist Chartkov is in extreme need, but with his last pennies he buys a portrait of an old man in a shop on Shchukin’s yard, whose eyes “stroking as if they were alive.” Since then, unprecedented changes began to occur in his life. One night the young man dreamed that the old man came to life and stuck out a bag of gold. In the morning, gold chervonets were discovered in the frame of the picture. The hero moved to a better apartment, acquired all the things necessary for painting in the hope of devoting himself entirely to art and developing his talent. But everything turned out completely differently. Chartkov became a fashionable popular artist, and his main activity was painting commissioned portraits. One day he saw the work of his comrade, which awakened his young man former interest in real creativity, but it was already too late: the hand does not obey, the brush performs only memorized strokes. Then he goes berserk: he buys up the best paintings and brutally destroys them. Soon Chartkov dies. This is the essence of the work: material wealth destroys a person’s creative nature.

During the auction, when his property is being sold, one gentleman claims rights to the portrait of an old man, which was bought by Chartkov at Shchukin’s yard. He tells the background and description of the portrait, and also admits that he himself is the son of the artist, the author of this work. But during the auction, the painting mysteriously disappears.

The main characters and their characteristics

We can say that each part of the story has its own main character: in the first it is Chartkov, and in the second the image of a moneylender is vividly presented.

• The character of the young artist changes dramatically throughout the work. At the beginning of the “Portrait” Chartkov is romantic image artist: he dreams of developing his talent, learning from the best masters, if only there was money for it. And then the money appears. The first impulse was quite noble: the young man bought everything necessary for painting, but the desire to become fashionable and famous in an easier way than through many hours of work took over. At the end of the first part, the artist is overwhelmed by greed, envy and frustration, which forces him to buy up the best paintings and destroy them, he becomes a “fierce avenger.” Of course, Chartkov is a small man, unexpected wealth turned his head and eventually drove him crazy.
• But it can be assumed that the effect of the golden chervonets on the main character is not due to his low social status, but with the mystical effect of the money of the moneylender himself. The son of the author of the portrait of this Persian tells many stories about this. The moneylender himself, wanting to preserve part of his power, asks the artist to paint a portrait of him. The narrator's father took on this job, but could not cope with it. In this painter, Gogol portrayed the true creator in the Christian understanding: to undergo purification, pacify his spirit and only then begin to work. He is contrasted with Chartkov, the artist from the first part of the story.

Themes

This relatively short story touches on many topics relating to quite diverse areas of human life.

• Theme of creativity. Gogol introduces us to two artists. What should a true creator be like? One strives to study the works of masters, but is not averse to gaining fame in an easier way. Another painter first of all works on himself, on his desires and passions. For him, art is part of his philosophy, his religion. This is his life, it cannot contradict it. He feels responsible for creativity and believes that a person must prove his right to engage in it.
• Good and evil. This theme is expressed through both art and wealth. On the one hand, feathered means are needed so that the creator can freely go about his business and develop his talent. But using the example of Chartkov, we see that initially good intentions to invest in one’s improvement can turn into death, first of all, death human soul. Is it only the mystical sweetness of the moneylender's heritage that is to blame? Gogol shows that a person can overcome anything, if only he is strong. The main character demonstrated weakness of spirit, and therefore disappeared.
• Wealth- the main theme in the story “Portrait”. Here it is presented as a way to find happiness. It would seem that just a little money, and everything will be fine: there will be a happy marriage with the first beauty, creditors will leave the family alone, everything necessary for creativity will be acquired. But everything turns out differently. In addition to satisfying needs, money has reverse side: the product of greed, envy and cowardice.

Issues

• The problem of art. In the story, Gogol offers the artist two paths: to paint portraits for money or to engage in self-improvement without any special claims to wealth. The artist faces a difficult choice: to develop, he needs funds for paints, brushes, etc., but many hours of work and infamy will not bring any money. There is a way to get rich quick, but painting portraits does not mean increasing your skill level. When deciding what to do, you need to remember one thing: if the one who follows the path of the master monk makes a mistake, he can still be saved, but he who follows the easy road will no longer get rid of the “hardened forms.”
• Vanity. Gogol shows in the story how Chartkov, who suddenly became rich, gradually comes to vanity. At first he pretends that he does not recognize his teacher, then he agrees to endure the whims of clients for the sake of money and fame. The omen of trouble is the censure of the classics, and the result of this path was madness.
• Poverty. This problem faces most of the characters in "Portrait". Poverty does not allow Chartkov to freely engage in creativity; due to his not very high position, one of the heroes of the second part cannot marry his beloved. But poverty here is not only a material problem, but also a spiritual one. Gold drives the heroes crazy, makes them greedy and envious. According to the author, a cowardly person with a lot of money is not able to cope: it completely destroys him.

The meaning of the story

Always remember about your soul, and not chase wealth - this is the main idea of ​​​​the story “Portrait”. All the possibilities for achieving a goal, finding happiness in a person already exist - Gogol talks about this. Later, Chekhov would turn to this idea in his drama “Three Sisters,” where the girls will believe that the path to joy is Moscow. And Nikolai Vasilyevich shows that it is possible to reach the goal, in this case, to comprehend art, without any special material costs. The main thing is not in them, but in inner strength person.

The narrator in the second part talks about the fatal effect of the moneylender's money, but is it fair to attribute all the troubles to mysticism? A person who puts money first is vulnerable to envy and depravity. That is why wild jealousy awoke in the happy spouse, and despair and vindictiveness awoke in Chartkov. This is where it lies philosophical meaning story "Portrait".

A person with a strong spirit is not subject to such low qualities; she is able to cope with them and get rid of them. This illustrates the life path of the artist, the author of the portrait of a moneylender.

What does it teach?

The story “Portrait” warns about the danger of exalting money. The conclusion is simple: wealth cannot be set as the goal of life: this leads to the death of the soul. It is important to note that for the image little man characterized not only by material poverty, but also by spiritual poverty. This can explain the troubles of Chartkov and the moneylender’s borrowers. But Gogol does not give a single positive example when money would be beneficial. The author's position is clearly expressed: the only the right way the writer sees it in spiritual improvement, in renunciation of secular temptations. The main character understands this too late: he did not heed the warnings of his teacher, for which he was severely punished.

In this story, Gogol is closest to Hoffman in style and method of correlating the fantastic and the real. Here, every unusual thing can be explained rationally, and the characters are as close as possible to the society of St. Petersburg. Such persuasiveness alarmed the reader of the story and made “Portrait” a relevant work both for Gogol’s contemporaries and for his heirs.

Criticism

Literary criticism of the author's contemporaries was varied. Belinsky disapproved of this story, especially the second part, he considered it an addition in which the author himself was not visible. Shevyrev also adhered to a similar position, accusing Gogol of a weak manifestation of the fantastic in “Portrait”. But Nikolai Vasilyevich’s contribution to the development of Russian classical prose can hardly be overestimated, and “Portrait” also makes its contribution here. Chernyshevsky speaks about this in his articles.

When considering critics' assessments, it is important to keep in mind that the final edition of "Portrait" took place during the late, critical period of Gogol's work. At this time, the writer is looking for a way to save Russia, mired in bribery, greed and philistinism. In letters to friends, he admits that he sees an opportunity to correct the situation in teaching, and not in introducing any newfangled ideas. From these positions one should consider the validity of the criticism of Belinsky and Shevyrev.

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Retelling plan

1. Poor artist Chartkov buys a portrait.
2. Dreams of Chartkov. The appearance in reality of what he saw in a dream.

3. The artist becomes vain. His work is increasingly mediocre.
4. An artist who has lost his talent sees a brilliant painting sent from Italy.
5. He buys best works art and destroys them. Death of Chartkov.
6. An aristocrat talks about a famous moneylender. Stories about the misfortunes of people who borrowed money from him.
7. A portrait makes the other owner unhappy, and then many more people.
8. The artist’s story about the devilish power of the portrait.

Retelling
Part I

The story begins with a description of an art shop in Shchukin's yard. By what the artists depicted and what visitors bought in the shop, one can already judge the degradation of their tastes.

It was in front of this shop that the young artist Chartkov stopped. The artist's poor attire showed that he was devoted to his work and did not care about his outfit. At first he “laughed internally at these ugly pictures,” then he thought, “who needs these Flemish men, these red and blue landscapes, which show some claim to a somewhat higher step in art, but in which all its deep humiliation was expressed?” Chartkov had stagnated for so long that the nimble merchant had already begun to tie together several paintings to sell to him. It seemed inconvenient for the artist to leave with nothing, and he began to rummage through a pile of old trash in the hope of finding something.

When the owner turned to Chartkov again, he was already standing motionless in front of one portrait. “It was an old man with a bronze-colored face, cheekbones, stunted... The portrait, it seemed, was not finished; but the power of the brush was striking. Most extraordinary of all were the eyes: it seemed as if the artist had used all the power of his brush and all his diligent care in them. They simply looked, looked even from the portrait itself, as if destroying its harmony with strange liveliness.” The owner literally forced this portrait on him. Chartkov bought it, not understanding why he did it. His mood immediately deteriorated, “annoyance and indifferent emptiness embraced him at that very moment.” Tired, he dragged himself to a very poor and dirty home. The door was opened for him by Nikita, a sitter, a painter and a floor sweeper rolled into one. He said that the owner of the rooms came for money. The artist was overcome by a “inclement mood.”

It would seem that a wonderful future awaited Chartkov, he was supposed to become a great artist, because he had the main thing - talent, which his professor also pointed out to him. But the professor warned Chartkov: “...you have talent; it will be a sin if you destroy him... Beware; you are already beginning to be drawn to the light; I sometimes see you have a smart scarf on your neck, a hat with a gloss... Think about every job, give up the panache - let other money get them. Yours will not leave you.”

Sometimes he wanted to party and show off, but for all that he could take power over himself. At times he could forget everything, taking up his brush, and would tear himself away from it as if from a wonderful, interrupted dream. But more and more difficulties arose. Chartkov sometimes eked out a miserable existence, and when it happened that the owner came ten times a day to demand payment, he imagined the enviable fate of a rich artist. “Why do I suffer and, like a student, fumble over the ABCs, when I could shine no worse than others and have money.”

Chartkov begins to be disturbed by strange, terrible dreams. It’s as if the portrait comes to life, and an old man comes out of it - a ghost with heavy packages on which “1000 ducats” is written. It seems to him that one package falls out of the old man’s hands, the artist greedily grabs it and looks to see if the old man notices. A knock on the door woke him up. It was the owner and the quarterly overseer who came to demand payment for housing. Chartkov explains that he has nothing to pay him yet. The quarterly notices a terrible portrait, touches it and one of these packages in blue paper with the inscription “1000 chervonny” falls out. The young man rushes to the package and convulsively squeezes it in his hand. He managed to send the guests away, promising to pay and move out by evening. Locked in the room, he counted the money and began to think where it could come from. He decides: “Now I am provided for at least three years, I can lock myself in a room, work... And if I work for three years for myself, slowly, not for sale, I will kill them all, and I can be a glorious artist " But “another voice was heard from within, more audible and louder,” in a word, human weakness manifested itself in Chartkov, a desire to show off, to flaunt, to live for one’s own pleasure. And this second voice gradually gains the upper hand.

Chartkov begins to live differently: “an irresistible desire was revived in his soul to grab glory this very hour by the tail and show himself to the world.” He moves to a new apartment, and his first visitors come to him. He paints his first portrait, putting all his available talent into it: “...the work attracted him. He had already forgotten everything, even forgot that he was in the presence of aristocratic ladies, sometimes even began to show some artistic skills, pronouncing various sounds out loud, sometimes singing along, as happens with an artist immersed with all his soul in his work.

He looked forward to the next session when he could get back to work. “The work occupied him completely, he completely immersed himself in his brush, again forgetting about the aristocratic origin of the original. As I caught my breath, I saw how his light features emerged and this almost transparent body of a seventeen-year-old girl.”

Soon Chartkov realizes that his efforts, painstaking work, desire to portray “every shade” of a person and, finally, his talent are of no use to anyone. The portrait, into which the artist put his whole soul, was not accepted, and the portrait of Psyche, which showed only a slight resemblance to the girl who ordered the painting, caused a joyful cry of amazement from the ladies. The artist was generously gifted with money, smiles, compliments, invitations to dinners, “in a word, he received a thousand flattering awards.” The portrait caused a stir in the city. Chartkov was literally attacked by visitors, who gradually destroyed his talent. They didn't understand real art. Everyone sought to satisfy their pride. And, despising them, the artist begins to please them: “Whoever wanted Mars, he shoved Mars in his face; whoever aimed at Byron, he gave him Byron’s position and turn...”

Soon he himself began to marvel at the wonderful speed and agility of his brush. Everyone was delighted and proclaimed him a genius. Soon it was impossible to recognize the modest artist in Chartkov. He now allowed himself to speak harshly about other artists and about art; he imagined himself to be a genius who had the right to scold the great artists - Raphael and Michelangelo. To such an extent he was spoiled by fame and praise, which were “bought by him with his own money,” that he became bored. Those who knew Chartkov before could not understand how the talent that manifested itself so clearly at the very beginning of his life could disappear in him. life path? He stopped believing in inspiration, all his thoughts and feelings turned to gold. He “was ready to turn into one of those strange creatures that many come across in our insensitive light, at which a person full of life and heart looks with horror, to whom they seem to be moving stone coffins with a dead man inside instead of a heart.”

But one event shocked and stirred up his “vital composition.” This event turned out to be an invitation to the Academy of Arts to discuss a new work sent from Italy by a Russian artist, one of his former comrades, who gave up everything and gave everything to art.

And now Chartkov is in the hall, where there is already a whole crowd of visitors. The deepest silence reigned everywhere. Putting on his face an expression of a connoisseur, he hastened to approach the painting; “But, God, what did he see!” Pure, immaculate, beautiful, like a bride, stood before him the artist’s work. Modest, divine, innocent and simple, like a genius, it rose above everyone. “And it became clear even to the uninitiated what an immeasurable gulf exists between the creation and a simple copy from nature.” Chartkov's soul comes to life, epiphany occurs. He realized that he had rejected the great gift of nature - the talent of an artist. And all this is for the sake of gold, for the sake of position in society. He sank, lost selfless connections with people, became attached to the world of wealth and things. And then “almost rage was ready to burst into his soul,” “he recognized that terrible torment that gives birth to great things in a young man, but when he has gone beyond dreams turns into fruitless thirst: that terrible torment that makes a person capable of terrible atrocities. He was overcome by terrible envy, envy to the point of rage.” From then on, he began to buy the best works of art, brought them home and furiously wild beast destroyed these paintings. “Eternal bile was present on his face.” Chartkov began to experience fits of rage and madness. All this resulted in a terrible illness. He died in three days, “his corpse was terrible.” Nothing remained of his enormous wealth in the room, but only cut up pieces of high works of art were discovered.

Part II

In one of the houses of wealthy art lovers, an auction sale of things took place. Many merchants, aristocratic experts and poor noble gentlemen have gathered, who come only to find out how it all ends. The attention of all those present was attracted by a portrait of some Asian man with a strange expression on his face. “Those who surrounded were amazed at the extraordinary liveliness of the eyes.” Many competitors had already abandoned the portrait because the price was enormous. There were two famous aristocrats left who “would probably have raised the price to the point of impossibility” if one of those present had not said that he had the right to this portrait like no one else: “Everything assures me that the portrait is the one I am looking for.” "

Curiosity arose among those around him. The gentleman began his story. It was about a moneylender who settled among poor people. This moneylender was an Asian, supplying the needy with small sums at high interest. The strange thing was that everyone who received money from him ended his life in an unhappy way.

Among the aristocratic society of that time, a young philanthropist attracted attention. He was noted by the empress herself. This young man surrounded himself with artists, poets, scientists, tried to give them work, helped them in every possible way. Having spent a little money and in order to keep up with his business, he turned to a famous moneylender. Having made a loan, after some time our hero completely changed, “became a persecutor, a pursuer of developing talent.” He became suspicious, began writing unfair denunciations, and made many unhappy. The matter came to the empress. This nobleman was punished and removed from his place. His compatriots looked at him disapprovingly. His vain soul suffered; “pride, deceived ambition, destroyed hopes, all united together, and in fits of terrible madness and rage his life was interrupted.”

Another story is a love story. A young man fell in love with one of the beauties of the northern capital, who seemed to her relatives to be an “unequal match.” He was refused. He left the capital and returned after some time very rich. The girl's father agreed. It was rumored that this young man became so rich because he entered into some kind of agreement with a moneylender. All of St. Petersburg was jealous of this beautiful couple. But their happiness did not last long. The husband became very jealous of his beautiful wife, insulted her, and beat her. And when she started talking about divorce, he almost killed her with a knife. He was thwarted, and in a fit of despair he killed himself.

There were many examples in the lower classes. People began to fear the moneylender.

The real subject of this story is our narrator's father. My father was a wonderful person, a self-taught artist, a genius. He was given orders in the church. One of the jobs occupied him very much: he had to place the spirit of darkness in a picture. He often thought about making the devil out of the moneylender. One day, a moneylender came to the artist himself and asked to draw a portrait of him: “I may die soon, I have no children; but I don’t want to die completely, I want to live.” The artist agreed and began to paint a portrait. First of all, he tried to depict eyes, but the more he delved into them, the harder it was for him: “These eyes pierced his soul and produced incomprehensible anxiety in it.” Finally he threw down the brush and said that he could no longer paint. The moneylender fell at his feet, begged him to finish the portrait, said that “he had already touched his living features with his brush, that if he conveyed them correctly, his life would be retained in the portrait by supernatural force, that through this he would not die completely, that he needed to be present in world." The father, horrified by what he heard, rushed out of the room. Soon an old woman came from the moneylender and brought a portrait, saying that “the owner does not want the portrait and does not give anything for it.” On the evening of the same day, the moneylender died.

There was a change in my father. He began to feel jealous of one of his students. And when he received an order for a painting for a rich church, it completely blew him up. He ensured that a competition was announced for the painting. Locked in his room, he wrote the best of his works. When the paintings were exhibited, one spiritual person noticed that there was no holiness in the faces, “as if the artist’s hand was driven by an unclean feeling.” The father saw with horror that he had given all the faces the eyes of a moneylender. He returned home in a rage, dispersed everyone, broke his hands and wanted to burn the easel. But his artist friend prevented him, convincing him to give the portrait to him.

Gradually, the father began to calm down, but misfortunes began to haunt his friend. He somehow connected this with the portrait. The friend also hastened to get rid of it, giving it to his nephew, who in turn gave it to someone else. So the portrait began to travel around the world.

The father felt guilty and sinful and therefore became a hermit, settling in the desert for several years. When he returned, he came to the monastery and said that he was ready to paint a picture. It was the birth of Jesus. For a whole year he wrote without leaving his cell. It was worth it. The touched abbot said that the artist’s brush was guided by a higher power. At this time, our narrator graduated from the Academy of Arts and returned after a twelve-year separation.

The father told his son about the incident that happened in his life, bequeathed to take care of his talent: “Save the purity of your soul. He who has talent within himself must be the purest of souls.” And he asked that the request be fulfilled: “If you happen to see that portrait somewhere..., by all means, destroy it...”

While everyone was listening to this story in fascination, the portrait disappeared from the wall: “Someone has already managed to steal it...”