Walking on the Volga Boris Kustodiev (1878-1927)
Boris Kustodiev – Walking on the Volga
Edit attribution
Download full size: 1527×1200 px (0,5 Mb)
Painter: Boris Kustodiev
Album navigation:
Kustodiev conceived the idea for the painting while staying at the Hermitage Hotel, whose windows overlooked the Volga embankment. This particular hotel served as a prototype of the festival of life that was depicted by the artist: cozy kiosks with sweets, street tea parties, piers with steamboats, the Resurrection Cathedral visible on the other bank of the Volga, and all this space filled with burghers and merchants, in general, with purely Kustodievian characters. And if you listen attentively you can hear, it seems, a romance coming from somewhere, which brings to mind Ostrovsky’s "Bespridanitsa.
ArtClub
Best Contemporary Atists
Description of Boris Kustodiev’s painting "Walking on the Volga
Kustodiev conceived the idea for the painting while staying at the Hermitage Hotel, whose windows overlooked the Volga embankment. This particular hotel served as a prototype of the festival of life that was depicted by the artist: cozy kiosks with sweets, street tea parties, piers with steamboats, the Resurrection Cathedral visible on the other bank of the Volga, and all this space filled with burghers and merchants, in general, with purely Kustodievian characters.
And if you listen attentively you can hear, it seems, a romance coming from somewhere, which brings to mind Ostrovsky’s "Bespridanitsa. Larisa and Paratov and the others are about to appear... On the whole, the picture of provincial life, depicted from the height of the second floor, produces a truly pacifying, strangely harmonious impression.
Kustodiev was not in vain nicknamed "the Imagineer of Life". Like Gogol, he wants to portray through the detail the character of the Russian nation, to convey his longing for a bygone Russia with its unhurried patriarchal way of life on the eve of the events of the twentieth century. Going on vacation to Kostroma Province one day, he first saw a fair which struck him with its brilliance and variety of interesting faces to the core. Hence the implicit desire of the artist to depict the festive side of people’s life - perhaps not without the influence of the creator of Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.
Still, Kustodiev is a modernist painter by nature, and this can be seen in his detached, slightly ironic depiction of everyday life, which can be seen here and there. At the purely artistic level the Art Nouveau style is expressed by a certain conventionality, we can even say, the unreality of the depicted. When looking at Kustodiev’s paintings, you can’t tell at once whether you are looking at the image of a busy street, or just a bright decoration, or a pattern on a tapestry.
You cannot comment Why?
The foreground is occupied by a bustling scene of activity. A wooden structure, likely a vendor’s stall displaying goods labeled “Воды” (Waters), occupies the lower left corner and draws immediate attention. Around it, a crowd of people are engaged in various activities – some appear to be strolling along the embankment, others seem to be interacting with vendors or simply enjoying the atmosphere. The figures are rendered with loose brushstrokes, suggesting movement and spontaneity. Their attire indicates a period setting, with women wearing long dresses and headscarves, and men sporting hats and suits.
A dense grove of trees flanks the left side of the composition, their foliage creating a visual barrier between the viewer and the riverbank. A tall evergreen tree stands prominently within this grove, acting as a vertical anchor for the scene. The artist employed a palette dominated by greens, blues, and yellows, conveying a sense of warmth and vitality. Light plays across the water and illuminates the figures, contributing to the overall impression of a sunny afternoon spent in recreation.
Beyond the immediate depiction of a pleasant day out, the painting hints at broader social themes. The presence of the vendor’s stall suggests commerce and trade, while the gathering of people implies community and shared experience. The distant church spire introduces an element of spirituality or cultural identity. Theres a sense of transition – a moment captured between rural tranquility and burgeoning urban life, as suggested by the combination of natural landscape and signs of human activity. The overall effect is one of nostalgic observation, capturing a fleeting moment in time that speaks to themes of leisure, community, and the evolving relationship between people and their environment.