Vasily Pukiryov (1832-1890) was a Russian painter whose career at the beginning of his career can only be envied - a peasant son who, thanks to his talent, became an academician of painting. His most famous painting - "Unequal Marriage", partly served Pukiryov bad service - he began to be perceived by contemporaries, and especially descendants, as a painter of one picture. But Pukiryov also painted portraits to order, genre and historical paintings. His artistic heritage is quite rich, interesting and noteworthy paintings in Pukiryov and in addition to the famous "Unequal Marriage" enough, for example, "The Gambler", "Dowry", "Clerk explains to the parishioners the picture of the Last Judgement".
A dowry
Pukiryov's fate at the beginning was as good as possible - a peasant's son, thanks to his ability to draw, entered the Academy of Arts at the age of 16. He did not have to be like Vasily Tropinin, who was a serf by birth, already in the status of a fairly famous artist to serve at the table at his masters. Pukiryov was from free peasants, and at that time it was a very significant advantage over serfs. By the age of 18 he had already become an art teacher, 5 years later - a non-class artist, and three years later, when he graduated from the school with honours - a free artist.
The Gambler
Obviously, all this time he had to work part-time writing paintings and giving lessons in painting. At the age of 28, Pukiryov received the coveted title of academician of painting, settled in a rented flat - good thing he had already begun to earn enough not to wander around the corners.
And in 1862, at the age of 30 years Pukiryov wrote the most famous painting "Unequal Marriage", about which we will talk in detail.
An unequal marriage
At first glance, everything is simple and clear - a young girl is married off to an elderly wealthy gentleman against her will. It is on this, clearly ambiguous situation, and focus attention - well, how can parents so trade their daughter's happiness for some personal mercantile interests? But not everything is so simple. If you look closely, you will notice that there are three brides in the picture - the first one, of course, is in the foreground next to her elderly groom, the second one is on the left behind the groom's shoulder, she is elderly and not very beautiful, and the face of the third one is not visible, but you can see the bride's wreath.
Unequal Marriage. fragment
Some people, not having understood the artist's idea, claimed that the elderly woman standing on the left behind the groom's shoulder was a matchmaker who managed to please the elderly gentleman who wanted to marry a young bride who could be his granddaughter. By the way, the situation depicted in the picture is not a special exception in the XIX century, it is known that the famous painter Ivan Aivazovsky married a young Armenian woman Anna Sarkisova-Burnazyan for the second time, who was 40 years younger than her husband.
But let's return to the painting. Assuming that the woman is a matchmaker, why is she standing so close to the priest and the groom, and most importantly, why is she wearing a bride's wreath? And one more woman, whose face is not visible in the wedding wreath - three brides at one marriage ceremony is already too much. The conclusion is simple, but somewhat unusual - the two women in the wreaths are not real characters, but ghosts of the groom's dead wives. That is, this picture combines mysticism and a relatively ordinary situation of the XIX century.
It is worth paying attention to the splendid transfer of light from candles and natural sunlight - it is very difficult to combine all this, it is an indicator of the highest artistic skill, but Pukiryov coped. Artificial light from candles has a warm hue, and the light from the sun is closer to the cold spectrum, and if you pay attention to the bride's hand, you can see that at the wrist it is reddish from the candle, and further skin of the usual white color, as in natural light.
Unequal marriage. fragment
That is, there are no questions about any technical details for Pukirev - he really is a master with a capital letter, it’s just a pity that they know him mainly from only one painting.
But how accurately, thanks to these details, Pukirev was able to convey the necessary depth and drama of the situation. There is nothing in common between the bride and groom, and the ghosts of his dead wives only emphasize this truth. And where is the guarantee that, out of melancholy and grief, the young bride will not join the two wives who have already left this world? But the groom has little grief: his wife has died - he will take another wife, this is not the first time. Therefore, in Pukirev’s painting he cannot evoke any other feelings other than hostility.
But you can really sympathize with the girl - here she stands with tear-stained eyes, almost a child, and her genuine grief only emphasizes the difference in age and perception of the world.
Pukirev’s picture caused a lot of noise, moreover, it changed the very attitude in society towards such marriages. Before that, they were considered the norm, and they happened quite often, although in 1860 the Synod forbade older men from marrying too young and clearly underage girls. But many people circumvented this ban. But after the noise caused by Pukirev’s picture, self-respecting older gentlemen themselves refused to marry young girls - this became bad manners, unacceptable in decent society.
Unequal marriage. fragment
It is worth paying attention to one more detail - the picture depicts a single moment before the climax, that is, the “moment before” technique. The hands of the girl and the priest touch, she will become the wife of an elderly man, and one can only sympathize with her future life. But only a great master can capture and reliably depict this very “moment before”. And what is the contrast between the bright hand of the girl and the darkened hand of the priest - in Pukirev’s painting he is clearly not a messenger of the forces of light, rather the opposite. By the way, such a contact of hands was first used by the great Michelangelo, in his main work - the painting of the Sistine Chapel. Read more about what labors and hardships it cost him.
Michelangelo. Fragment of the Sistine Chapel painting
By the way, it is known who this unfortunate bride really is - the girl Praskovya Varentsova. She is the illegitimate daughter of a noble and wealthy nobleman Matvey Varentsov, who had his own legitimate children, which is why he decided to marry off his illegitimate daughter, since she could not count on an inheritance and a rich dowry - the main indicators of an enviable bride and a successful marriage.
Her life, as one might expect, was unhappy - after the death of her husband, she lived in the Mazurin almshouse, where she died. There is even a drawing of Praskovya Varentsova from 1907 by the artist Vladimir Sukhov. In this broken old woman, it is very difficult to recognize the young and beautiful bride.
Vladimir Sukhov. Praskovya Varentsova. 1907
But everything could have been different if her parents had married her to Vasily Pukirev himself. It is known that he wooed them, but Varentsov did not want to marry his illegitimate daughter to an artist of peasant origin, even if he was at least three times talented and famous.
Pukirev’s fate after painting this canvas was not very happy - although he painted several worthy paintings, he met old age in poverty and obscurity and died, forgotten by everyone, at the age of 58. But I wonder if Praskovya had been married off to an artist, would he have painted his “Unequal Marriage” and would this painting have had such an impact on society’s attitude towards such marriages? Truly, the ways of the Lord are mysterious.
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