old gardener Vasily Ivanovich Surikov (1848-1916)

Description of Vasily Surikov’s painting "The Old Gardener".

The painting "Old Man the Gardener" is an excellent example of a rural portrait. Surikov preferred to paint paintings on historical subjects, but if the master dared to portray a simple rural man, he put his whole soul into the work. In front of us a peasant. His gray, curly beard and sun-burnt hair help us to understand that this man has lived quite a long time. It is immediately clear that Surikov with warmth and sympathy for the hard peasant work.

The man is wearing dirty, old clothes. A white shirt, belted with a dark rope, and dark wide pants. No shoes, apparently too much of a luxury for a poor peasant. His feet are rough, dirty, but steady on the ground.

The man stands up against the sun and tries to shield his eyes from the bright, scorching light with his hand. His skin has completely darkened from his constant exposure to the sun’s rays. At the sight of this peasant, the only question arises: where is he looking? Surikov does not give us the answer to this troubling question. The man’s gaze is directed forward, but we don’t know what’s there. Perhaps he is looking over his vegetable garden and sadly thinking about how much work he still has to do.

To the right of the human figure are plants. These are probably the young shoots of root crops that have been diligently planted in the beds. Very soon you will have to go to work again to harvest the crops. Behind the man is a small haystack, cleverly covered with sacking. In the distance go immense fields and a small island of trees, which protects the harvest from the winds.

Surikov abandoned the unreality of color solutions. All colors are very natural, natural. Careful drawing of drapery fabric gives the picture additional relief.