The Tretyakov Gallery KRAMSKOY, IVAN NIKOLAYEVICH 1837–1887 The

The Tretyakov Gallery KRAMSKOY, IVAN NIKOLAYEVICH 1837–1887 The Tretyakov Gallery is famous for its rich collection of paintings, painted by great artists. One of them Ivan Nikolayevich Kramskoy. Painter, drawer, produced lithographs, etchings and sculptures. His portraits of cultural personalities, many of which were commissioned by P.M.Tretyakov, are characterized by a profound social and psychological interpretation of the figure

Self portrait 1867 oil on canvas 52,7 x 44 (oval) The Self Portrait captures Kramskoi’s evaluation of himself, namely the features of the personality and the artist’s relation to the world. He slightly looks down at the viewer; his eyebrows have definitely shifted, his gaze is severe and demanding. Kramskoi shows himself to be an incorruptible judge of the reality surrounding him, a fighter for his ideals. This is the way youthful Social Democrats saw themselves. at 10, Lavrushinsky Lane, Hall 20

Inconsolable Grief 1884 oil on canvas 228 x 141 Kramskoi tries to make a tragic note powerful and resonant. He has chosen a huge, almost formal state room scale for the canvas. The figure of a woman in mourning is turned directly facing the viewer. The solemnity of the circumstance, the opulence of the entourage only serve to emphasize the drama of the situation. The artist has endowed the heroine with the portrait features of his wife S.N. Kramskaya. at 10, Lavrushinsky Lane, Hall 20

Portrait of Lev Tolstoy 1873 oil on canvas 98 x 79,5 Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, the great Russian writer, author of the novels War and Peace, Anna Karenina, Resurrection, and of the novellas Death of Ivan Ilyich, The Kreuzer Sonata, of the plays Power of Darkness, as well as of works on philosophical, religious and aesthetic subjects. During the 1860s, P.M. Tretyakov got the idea of forming a gallery of portraits of the leading personalities in Russian culture. The initiative for doing a portrait of Tolstoy belonged to Kramskoi, but it corresponded to a long-held desire of Tretyakov. The portrait was done on Tolstoy’s estate of Yasnaya Polyana at the time he was working on the novel Anna Karenina. Tolstoi acknowledged that the portrait was a success. at 10, Lavrushinsky Lane, Hall 20

An Unknown Lady 1883 oil on canvas 75,5 x 99 The viewer is intrigued both by the model and her name. We see here depicted a young woman in a carriage against the background of the Anichkov Palace in St Petersburg. The woman is not particularly beautiful but she is impressive and “chic.” Her costume corresponds to the latest fashion of the time and indicates that she belonged to the “ladies of the demi-monde.” Not without reason the critics called her “the coquette in a carriage.Kramskoi emphasizes a certain demonism in his heroine’s features - the sensuous lips; eyes that seem to be hazy, under a veil, thick eyebrows forming a broken arc. The topic of the beauty of sin became fashionable among the next generation of Russian artists. The painting is unusually bright, densely painted, and relaxed. Kramskoi clearly tried to shine with his outstanding painterly mastery. at 10, Lavrushinsky Lane, Hall 20