Sometimes it's better not to know the life history of prototype characters famous works. The girl with the peaches actually lived only 32 years (she died of pneumonia), her husband never remarried, and three children remained. The future in the eyes of the heroine of Valentin Serov’s film cannot be read. It is not even clear from her that she is the daughter of a wealthy industrialist.

1 GIRL. The mischievous character of Vera Mamontova can be read both in her sly gaze and in the fold of her lips - you’ll laugh at any moment. Disheveled hair, a blush all over her face, and a glowing earlobe indicate that she has just been running around the yard. And in a minute he will jump up and run further. However, this was her first experience of posing for a long time. Art critic Eleanor Paston says: “It is believed that Vrubel gave her external features to “The Snow Maiden,” “The Egyptian,” and Tamara in the illustrations for “The Demon.” Vera Savvishna was eventually nicknamed the “Abramtsevo goddess.” Vasnetsov also painted her portraits (“Girl with a Maple Branch”, “Hawthorn”).

2 BLOUSE. Vera is wearing casual clothes, although decorated with a bright bow. The loose blouse seems a little baggy and too childish for an 11 year old girl. The fact that she does not change clothes specifically for posing emphasizes the spontaneity of the situation and the simplicity of the relationship. The pink blouse becomes the brightest and most festive accent of the picture, and it seems that the light comes not only from the window, but also from the heroine.

ROOM 3. The scene is the Mamontovs’ dining room in the Abramtsevo estate, one of the enfilade rooms.

4 TABLE. A lot of people always gathered around the large extendable table - family members and friends. Eleanor Paston says that Serov often worked here.

5 PEACHES grown in the Mamontov greenhouse. The family bought trees for her from the Artemovo and Zhilkino estates in 1871. The peaches were grown by an Artemovsk gardener, whom the Mamontovs invited to their place after he sold them the trees.

6 MAPLE LEAVES. Serov completed work on the portrait in September. The yellowing leaves outside the window and on the table are evidence of the girl’s long patience. In addition, autumn maple leaves next to summer peaches seem to remind you: life is fleeting, and you should be happy while you are young and the sun is shining.

7 GRENADIER. The toy wooden soldier in the left corner is a product of Sergiev Posad artisans. According to Elena Mitrofanova, Deputy Director for Science at the Abramtsevo Museum-Reserve, the Mamontovs bought the toy from the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in 1884. The figurine was unpainted; Serov painted it. The Abramtsevo Museum even has a sketch of the painting made by the artist. The Grenadier still stands on the nightstand in the same corner.

8 RED LIVING ROOM. The neighboring room, part of which is visible on the left, is the so-called Red Living Room, where writers and artists, friends of the Mamontovs, gathered. There they read by role the works of Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, played music, and discussed.

9 CHAIRS. The Mamontovs inherited good-quality mahogany chairs from the Aksakovs, along with the tradition of artistic gatherings. Those two that stand by the window - with lyre-shaped backs - were very fashionable in early XIX centuries, and at the end of it they already turned into antiques. A Jacob style chair is visible in the Red Drawing Room. Similar furniture with strict straight outlines, with gilded brass inserts, appeared in Russia under Catherine II. In Abramtsevo both the lyre chairs and the Jacob, which still stands in the Red Drawing Room, have been preserved.

10 WINDOW The dining room, like the terrace adjacent to the Red Living Room, opens onto Abramtsevo Park, onto the alley named Gogolevskaya in honor of the writer who loved to walk here. It is clear that the window frames are far from new; the paint on them has peeled off in some places. This adds naturalness to the picture and a feeling of that coziness that can only be experienced within the “native walls”.

11 PLATE. Savva Mamontov was fond of applied arts. In 1889, he even opened a pottery workshop at the estate, in which ceramic products were created using the majolica technique. In particular, Vrubel was involved in this. The fate of the plate, depicted by Serov two years before the opening of the workshop, is unknown, but it fits so harmoniously into the interior that later another majolica plate, this time from the Mamontovs’ workshop, appeared on the same wall. It still hangs in the dining room in this place.

On an August day in 1887, 11-year-old Vera Mamontova, distracted from street games, ran into the house and sat down at the table, grabbing a peach. Her cheerful appearance impressed Valentin Serov so much that he invited the girl to pose. The artist knew the model from infancy. He often visited and even lived for a long time at the Mamontovs’ Abramtsevo estate, which they bought from the daughter of the writer Sergei Aksakov in 1870. Even under the Aksakovs, the estate was the center of Russian cultural life. Under the Mamontovs, the traditions continued. Turgenev, Repin, Vrubel, Antokolsky stayed here... Abramtsevo was both a “house of creativity” and a place where friends gathered in a homely atmosphere.

Serov was first brought to Abramtsevo by her mother-composer in 1875. He grew up with the older Mamontov children, constantly enduring their pranks. The younger Vera also made fun of young Serov. Everything changed in 1887, when the 22-year-old artist returned from Italy, inspired by sunny landscapes and Renaissance masterpieces. Then Serov, according to his recollections, was in a daze in his head and the desire to “write only what is gratifying.” Until recently, the artist was an involuntary participant in Vera’s games, and now the one whom until now no one could force to sit still, posed for him for hours every day for almost two months. On the girl’s part, it was a tribute to close family relationships. And the painting was “a kind of gratitude from Serov to the warmth and comfort of the Mamontovs’ house, which became a second family for the artist,” says Eleanor Paston, Doctor of Art History, senior researcher at the Tretyakov Gallery.

“There are creations of the human spirit that outgrow many times the intentions of their creators... Among these... we must include that amazing Serov portrait. From the sketch of “a girl in pink”... it has grown into one of the most remarkable works of Russian painting.”, - artist Igor Grabar wrote about the painting.

Valentin Serov gave the painting to Vera's mother, Elizaveta Mamontova, and for a long time the portrait was in Abramtsevo, in the same room where it was painted. Now a copy hangs there, and the original is exhibited in the Tretyakov Gallery.

What was the fate of the girl?

Nine years after “Girl with Peaches,” Viktor Vasnetsov painted another portrait of Vera, promising to give it to her only if she marries a Russian.

Soon the gift was already hanging above her husband’s desk: Vera married Alexander Dmitrievich Samarin, the future chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod (Minister for Church Affairs) and leader of the nobility of the city of Moscow.

His popularity among Orthodox Muscovites was so great that when a metropolitan was elected in Moscow in the summer of 1917, among the candidates were: Archbishop Tikhon of Yaroslavl (later elected Patriarch) and layman Alexander Samarin.

They got married in Moscow on Povarskaya in the Church of Boris and Gleb - this was the parish of the Samarins, who lived nearby. Later the church was destroyed by the Bolsheviks, now there is a chapel on this site - right next to the exit from the Arbatskaya metro station.

Everyone was happy for them - the young people had loved each other for a long time, but they were able to get married only after the death of Alexander Dmitrievich’s father, who for many years did not consent to his marriage with Vera.

The newlyweds settled on their estate near the village of Averkievo, Pavlo-Posad district. And in April 1904, the Samarins had their first child, Yurochka.

In August 1905, a daughter, Liza, was born, and in May 1907, a second son, Sergei.

And on December 27, 1907, Vera Savvichna suddenly died from transient pneumonia. It burned down in three days. The whole family was going to Abramtsevo for Christmas, we stopped while passing through our Moscow house on Povarskaya and...

She was buried in her beloved Abramtsevo, near the Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands. Vera was only 32 years old.

Her sister Alexandra Savvishna took upon herself all the care of the children. Here she is in the photo, first on the left. Nearby are Savva Mamontov with Vera’s children - Seryozha, Lisa and Yuri. Italy, 1910.

Alexander Dmitrievich outlived Vera by 25 years. He never married again. In memory of his beloved wife, Samarin built a temple Life-Giving Trinity in the village of Averkievo, not far from their estate.

In the 30s, the temple was closed and looted and throughout the years of Soviet power it was used as a utility room, including for storing various chemical fertilizers. Now, thanks to the efforts of parishioners, sponsors and patrons of the arts, the temple has almost been restored.

Alexander Dmitrievich himself died in the Gulag in 1932.
His daughter, Lisa, spent all the years of Yakut exile with him.

She died very early - at thirty-two, and everyone who is at least a little familiar with Russian painting will forever remember her at the age of twelve. The same as Valentin Serov wrote it in “Girl with Peaches”. But, besides Serov, Viktor Vasnetsov, Nikolai Kuznetsov, Mikhail Vrubel wrote to Vera Mamontov.

She was the beloved and long-awaited daughter of the railway magnate, famous industrialist and entrepreneur Savva Ivanovich Mamontov and his wife Elizaveta Grigorievna. Before Vera, they already had three sons and, according to family legend, after the third birth, when it became clear that there would be a boy again, Elizaveta Grigorievna promised her husband: “But the next one will certainly be born a girl!” And so it happened. After three boys, two more daughters appeared in the Mamontov family - Vera and Alexandra.

And it was not by chance that they called her Vera.

The Mamontovs chose the names of their children with intention: their first letters had to sequentially form the name SAVVA: Sergey - Andrey - Vsevolod - Vera - Alexandra.

Elizaveta Mamontova was truly, without hypocrisy and hypocrisy, religious. Valentin Serov wrote to his fiancée Olga Trubnikova: “Here, at the Mamontovs, they pray and fast a lot, that is, Elizaveta Grigorievna and the children are with her. I don’t understand this, I don’t condemn, I have no right to condemn religiosity and Elizabeth Gr<игорьевну>because I respect her too much - I just don’t understand all these rituals. I always stand like such a fool in church (in Russian especially, I can’t stand sextons, etc.), I feel ashamed. I don’t know how to pray, and it’s impossible when there is absolutely no idea about God.”

But for Elizaveta Grigorievna, what caused the rejection of her favorite Antosha Serov was fulfilled deep meaning. For her, the name “Faith” was associated with the most important Christian virtue: faith was an integral component of her spiritual life.

Savva Mamontov with his daughters Vera (pictured on the right) and Alexandra.

Elizaveta Grigorievna Mamontova with her daughter Vera.

Vera Mamontova. Abramtsevo. 1890s.

In the Mamontovs’ house on Sadovo-Spasskaya, known throughout enlightened Moscow, and especially in their Abramtsevo estate near Moscow, an atmosphere of creativity, joy, mutual sympathy and love reigned. Artists, sculptors, writers, and musicians gathered there. Home performances, hide and seek and tag, games of small towns - ordinary and special, “literary”, Cossacks-robbers, in which the artist Repin participates along with children, and his own children’s boat “fleet” on the Vorya River, led by the artist Polenov, horseback riding , fascinating creative activities - wood carving, watercolors, ceramics... So Serov’s complaints about Verusha posing for him are easily explained. “I tortured her, poor thing, to death” - the girl couldn’t wait to run away and do something more interesting. And yet, for almost a month and a half, Vera obediently sat at the Abramtsevo living room table. This was the price of the masterpiece.

About ten years before this significant moment for Russian art, the aged Ivan Turgenev visited Abramtsevo. He visited the estate long before the Mamontovs bought it. Turgenev, like Gogol, was a welcome guest of the former owner, writer Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov. Now the author of “Notes of a Hunter” examined the estate, renewed through the efforts of the Mamontovs, and recalled with nostalgia how they used to hunt here, go for mushrooms, and fish. Turgenev funny said that Aksakov meticulously recorded in his diary: in 1817, 1858 shots were fired while hunting, 863 units of game were killed, and in 1819 - so many... Once while fishing, Turgenev incredibly upset Aksakov, who was proud of his book “Notes on Fishing", because while the theoretical fisherman and the owner of the estate caught only a brush and a roach, Turgenev was lucky enough to extract a pike of one and a half arshins. It was during these cheerful conversations that the living classic met the younger Mamontova.

In the fictional presentation of Vladislav Bakhrevsky it looks like this:

“We came to the red living room and sat down.
Verusha, flushed and blowing away a strand of hair that was getting into her face, ran in with red cheeks and sparkling eyes.
- Oh, what an angel! - Ivan Sergeevich exclaimed and extended his hands, inviting the girl to come to him.
Fearless Verusha, without hesitation, threw herself into the arms of the giant with a white head and settled on her knees.
- She's three and a half? - asked Turgenev.
- There will be three in October.
- So I'm not quite old yet. If a person has not forgotten how to understand how old children are, he is fit to live.
- Verusha is very playful. “She looks older than her age,” agreed Elizaveta Grigorievna...”

There is no doubt that the charming Vera Mamontova was everyone’s favorite from birth. Memories and letters from numerous family friends speak about this as well. One day Savva Ivanovich sent family photo to a close friend, sculptor Mark Antokolsky. Antokolsky’s response letter is enthusiastic:

“Your photograph is so charming that it makes you happy and laugh with you. May God grant you to always rejoice and laugh. The Abramtsevo goddess is lovely, lovely! Please kiss her for me. In a word, I repeat about everything: “lovely, wonderful!” And this is the absolute truth.”
As you might guess, Mark Matveevich calls Vera “Abramtsevo goddess” and “charm.”

Vera Mamontova poses in a chair for artist Nikolai Kuznetsov. Photo. 1880s

Vera Mamontova, dressed in the costume of the biblical Joseph to participate in a home performance. 1880s

Easter table in the Mamontov family. 1888 At the table - Vera with her older brothers.

Live painting “Russian dance”. Vera with cousin Ivan Mamontov. 1895.

Vera and Vsevolod Mamontov on horseback in Abramtsevo.

In memoirs about the Abramtsevo circle you can often find the words “Yashkin’s hut” or “Yashkin’s house”. Either Abramtsev’s owners will settle Ilya Repin and his family in this “hut on chicken legs” for the summer, or the Vasnetsov brothers. The eldest, Victor, admitted that he had never worked as calmly and well as here, and the youngest, Apollinaris, even included “Yashka’s hut” in his landscape.

What kind of name is this? The Abramtsevo Chronicle helps you find out - a journal where they wrote down all the most important things: what they worked on, what they played, what they were doing and who came to visit. At the beginning of May 1877, a note was made in the hand of Savva Mamontov: “A separate dacha called “Yashkin’s House” was built. This name was given because little Verushka called this house her own, and since her nickname was “Yashka,” the house was called Yashkin.”

Mamontov’s biographer Bakhrevsky explains the origin of the nickname: “Little Verusha has yakaled a lot since childhood.” Well, perhaps so - for everyone’s favorite, there would be nothing out of the ordinary. But among the Mamontovs, as in many families, this was a common thing; all children were given affectionate nicknames: Andrei was called Dryusha, Vsevolod - Voka, Vera - Yashka, younger Alexandra- Shurenka-Murenka. It seems that for the Mamontovs this was the same “everyday exchange of family jokes hidden from others that make up secret code happy families”, as Vladimir Nabokov would wonderfully formulate much later in “Other Shores”.

Yashkin's house
Apollinary Mikhailovich Vasnetsov

When “The Girl with Peaches” was written, Verusha was 12, Serov was 22. Serov first came to Abramtsevo as a ten-year-old boy; Vera had just been born at that time. He was the same age as her beloved brothers, since childhood he lived for a long time with the Mamontovs, and participated in many of Abramtsevo’s “creative outrages.” He was completely at home in the Mammoth family.

Vsevolod, Vera’s elder brother, recalled Valentin Serov: “He was touchingly friendly with my sisters, who were much younger than him, and at the same time, surprisingly good-naturedly endured all sorts of pranks... It was on the basis of this friendship that Serov’s famous “Girl with Peaches” was born. , one of the Russian pearls portrait painting. Only thanks to his friendship did Serov manage to persuade my sister Vera to pose for him. A twelve-year-old, cheerful, lively girl on a fine summer day is so drawn to run free, run around, and play pranks. And then sit in the room at the table, and move even less. This work by Serov required many sessions, and my sister had to pose for a long time for it. Yes, Anton himself admitted the slowness of his work, was very tormented by this and subsequently told his sister that he was her unpaid debtor.”

Vsevolod and Vera Mamontov. Photographs from the 1880s.

Valentin Serov (far left) in the office of the Moscow Mamontov house. At the piano is the artist Ilya Ostroukhov. Standing: nephews of Savva Mamontov and his son Sergei. Photo from the 1880s.

The artist of the older generation, Viktor Vasnetsov, treated Vera with special tenderness. He saw her completely differently than young Serov. Fascinated by Russian antiquity, Vasnetsov painted Vera Mamontova in the image of a hawthorn. Both this gold-embroidered soul warmer and the “brocaded tunic on the crown” surprisingly suited the dark-eyed, serious, with thick sable eyebrows and the legendary blush inherited from her mother to Vera, the daughter of the hereditary merchant Savva Mamontov. And Vasnetsov made a comic promise from Vera that she would certainly marry a Russian. For the wedding, Vera’s fiancé Alexander Samarin (who completely satisfied Vasnetsov’s wishes, since he came from ancient noblemen), the artist presented another portrait of Vera - “Girl with a Maple Branch.” She is depicted on it in the same simple and sweet pearl-colored dress in which she will marry Samarin. “This was the type of a real Russian girl in character, beauty of face, charm,” Vasnetsov will say with admiration and bitterness about Vera after her sudden death.

Workshop in Abramtsevo. On the wall is a portrait of Vera Mamontova by Vasnetsov. Under the glass is her outfit. Photo source: anashina.com

Of course, Vasnetsov’s portraits of Vera cannot compare in popularity with Serov’s “Girl with Peaches.” But Vasnetsov also has a completely textbook picture, inspired by the image of Vera Mamontova - “Alyonushka”. The immediate model for her was another girl, a poor orphan from a village neighboring Abramtsev, but it was Vera who became the source of inspiration. Vasnetsov wrote:
“Critics and, finally, myself, since I have a sketch of an orphan girl from Akhtyrka, have established that my “Alyonushka” is a natural-genre work!
Don't know!
May be.
But I won’t hide the fact that I looked very closely at the facial features, especially at the shine of Verusha Mamontova’s eyes, when I wrote “Alyonushka.” These are the wonderful Russian eyes that looked at me and the whole world of God in Abramtsevo, and in Akhtyrka, and in Vyatka villages, and on Moscow streets and bazaars, and live forever in my soul and warm it!”

Vera's family life was happy, although, alas, short-lived.
And the marriage union itself between Vera Savvishna Mamontova and Alexander Dmitrievich Samarin did not become possible immediately.

In the mid-1890s, Vera Mamontova was engaged in social work in schools and shelters, following in this her mother Elizaveta Grigorievna, who did a lot to ensure that schools appeared in the villages of Akhtyrka and Khotkovo, neighboring Abramtsevo, and there was an infirmary and craft workshops to help employ peasant children. after graduation. Having grown up among people of art, Vera attended lectures on history and literature in Moscow. There she met Sofia Samarina, the niece of the Slavophile Yuri Samarin and a representative of a noble family related to the Volkonskys, Trubetskoys, Golitsyns, Ermolovs, Obolenskys, and the poet Zhukovsky.

Sophia and Vera became close friends, and Mamontova began to visit her friend’s house. There there was a meeting with Alexander, Sophia’s brother. Charming Vera captivated Alexander Dmitrievich, her elder by seven years, immediately and forever. He asked his parents for blessings for his marriage with Vera Savvishna, but each time he received a categorical refusal. The owners of the ancient noble family and vast plots of land they did not even want to hear about intermarrying with the Mamontov merchants. For Russian artists, Verusha was an inspiration and “charm” - but for the elder Samarins, she remained the daughter of a dubious “millionaire”. “To marry a merchant’s wife means to dilute the blue ancient blood of the nobles, too thick, too red,” Bakhrevsky figuratively explains the resulting rejection. And then a period of serious trials began for the Mamontovs: Savva Ivanovich left the family, carried away by the soloist of his Private Opera Tatyana Lyubatovich, and in 1900 he was accused of embezzlement, arrested, and lost a significant part of his fortune. The scandals were public and covered in detail in the press. The Samarins pushed Vera Mamontova away and didn’t want to hear about her.

Thus, several years passed in a state of complete and painful uncertainty. The feelings of Vera and Alexander Dmitrievich did not die or weaken. And in 1901, Samarin decided to try again to get permission from his seventy-year-old father to marry Vera. The father refused this time too. Apparently, the conversation was so difficult that after it the elder Samarin was struck, and soon he was gone. Passed more than a year after his death, when Samarina’s mother Varvara Petrovna finally gave in and blessed her son for marriage.

On January 26, 1903, Vera Mamontova and Alexander Samarin walked down the aisle. One after another, three children were born into their family: Yura, Lisa and Seryozha. But the marriage, built on deep mutual respect and love that survived many years of trials, lasted less than five years. He was cut off sudden death Vera December 27, 1907. A young woman burned to death in three days from fulminant pneumonia.

Alexander Samarin outlived his beloved by exactly a quarter of a century and was never married again. He remained in Russian history as an independent figure, not just “the husband of the girl with peaches.” Since 1908, Samarin was the Moscow provincial leader of the nobility, since 1915 - Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod and member State Council. After resigning from the post of Chief Prosecutor, he was the chief commissioner of the Russian Red Cross, chairman of the Moscow Diocesan Congress. Alexander Samarin was more than once nominated to those positions in the hierarchy of the Russian Church that before him could not be occupied by the laity - only by clergy; a rare case. In 1919, he was arrested by the Soviets and sentenced to death, but the sentence was later overturned. In 1925, he was again arrested and exiled to Yakutia for three years. In 1931, he was arrested again. According to the recollections of those who served exile with Vera Savvishna’s husband, even there he remained faithful to his monarchical and religious convictions, worked a lot - taught doctors German, was working on a book on Yakut grammar.

Her younger sister Alexandra took upon herself the responsibility of raising Vera’s orphaned children.

Alexander Dmitrievich and Vera Savvishna Samarina.

Vera Savvishna Samarina with her son Yuri. 1904

Requiem service for Vera Savvishna, celebrated in the Abramtsevo Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands. 1908

Savva Mamontov (in the center) with his grandchildren Seryozha, Lisa and Yura (children of Vera). 1910. Far left is Alexandra Mamontova, Vera’s younger sister, who devoted herself to raising her little nephews.

Alexander Samarin with his daughter Elizaveta.

Lisa and Yura Samarin (Vera's children) and Natasha Polenova (the artist's daughter).

Daughter and husband of Vera Samarina (Mamontova) in Yakut exile. Late 1920s.

It must have been after the fact, after the death of the “Abramtsevo goddess,” that someone remembered bad omen. After all, long before physical death Vera was already “dying” in Mikhail Vrubel’s drawing “Tamara in the Coffin,” made in expressive and ominous black watercolor.

The children of Savva Mamontov, with whom Vrubel was friends, often served as his models. He was friends with the early deceased Andrei Mamontov, also an artist and aspiring architect. From Vera's other brother, Vsevolod, the artist borrowed many features for the Demon and Lermontov's Kazbich; he painted Tamara from Vera herself.

And Vera, teasingly, called her friend Vrubel “Monelli.” In Roman dialect it means "little sparrow" (Wróbel in Polish - sparrow). Some found this reversal of the surname very offensive. But it is known that Vrubel, who was very capricious, did not have an easy-going character and was categorically harsh in his judgments, wrote only those for whom he felt sympathy.

Perhaps the best thing is Vrubel’s relationship with Vera and the Abramtsevo atmosphere itself - the atmosphere of “warmth of a unifying secret”, a happy creative conspiracy, without which neither “Alyonushka”, nor “Girl with Peaches”, nor Vrubel’s masterpieces would have arisen - is conveyed by the story recorded by his son Professor Adrian Prakhov Nikolai. Once, while visiting Abramtsevo, Vrubel was late for evening tea. He unexpectedly appeared in the dining room “at the moment when Verushka said something in a whisper to my sister, who was sitting next to her... Mikhail Alexandrovich exclaimed: “Speak in a whisper! Speak in a whisper! - I just thought of one thing. It will be called “The Secret.” We all started fooling around, whispering something to our neighbor. Even the always quiet and calm “Aunt Liza” (Vera’s mother Elizaveta Grigorievna) smiled, looking at us, and herself asked Vrubel in a whisper: “Do you want another cup of tea?”
A day later, Mikhail Alexandrovich brought a woman’s head entwined with the sacred Egyptian snake Uraeus for evening tea.
“Here is my “Secret,” said Vrubel.
“No,” they objected to him, “this is “Egyptian” ...

M.A.Vrubel. Egyptian

M.A. Vrubel "Tamara in the coffin".

Original article:

And you are familiar with at least several of their paintings. But when it comes to impressionism with Russian roots, it turns out that most of our contemporaries have a very vague idea of ​​what shoots these roots gave. With realism - everything is in order here! Russian artists showed truthfully... angrily denounced... called with their paintings... and so on. Undoubtedly, they showed, denounced, and called, but they also felt and conveyed sensations in their works. The work of many Russian painters is directly related to impressionism, and their work is world famous. art criticism recognized as bright and worthy examples of this trend.

One of the very first paintings created in this direction in Russia was a portrait of Vera Mamontova, which is known as “Girl with Peaches.”

Valentin Aleksandrovich Serov entered the chronicles of Russian painting as a wonderful landscape painter, a master of canvases on historical and everyday themes.

But a special place in the list of the artist’s paintings includes his numerous portraits.

Famous statesmen and literary and artistic figures, society ladies and very young girls, charming children and images of the wise life experience people – from their faces, framed, you can create an entire art gallery.

But if we imagine that a huge number of these portraits were not created, but only one was painted, then even then the artist’s name would not be “lost,” because such a face simply cannot help but pay attention.

“Girl with Peaches,” which is considered one of the most famous paintings in Russian painting, was painted by Valentin Serov when he was only 22 years old. It was the summer of 1887, the artist had recently returned from a trip to Italy, bright impressions of the sunny country, amazing architecture and brilliant Italian art filled him up. He wrote:

"IN this century they write everything that is difficult, but I want, I want, joyful things, and I will write only joyful things.”

The estate of the famous Russian philanthropist Savva Mamontov, Abramtsevo, has always been such a “pleasant” place for the artist. In this family, Serov was known and loved since teenage years, his friends came there to paint the most beautiful surrounding landscapes, and the very atmosphere of the hospitable manor’s estate was conducive to creativity.

For the next painting, the artist chose a very young model - the daughter of the owner of the house, Vera Mamontova. The twelve-year-old girl was not a beauty, but her face with bright lips, dark “currant” eyes and a delicate blush simply begged to be painted. In working on it, the artist used techniques characteristic of impressionism: plein air painting, a subtle color palette, light pouring from the windows, which creates a luminous halo around the figure sitting at the table.

But in this work there are not only techniques - they would not be worth much without the most important thing - Valentin Serov managed to convey a momentary feeling of happiness, youth, the joy of being. Looking at the picture, one gets the impression that this is a randomly snatched “frame” from life, seen by the attentive and friendly eyes of the artist: that a maple leaf was fluttering on a branch just recently, that a peach with a ruddy side will soon be eaten, and the tablecloth was wrapped on the table because that there are small children in the house who could pull her down to the floor. The master’s “living” brush captured just one moment of the wonderful summer day and the serene life of a teenage girl. Art critic Mark Kopshitzer very accurately said about this feeling:

“...life continues outside the picture and constitutes the beginning of what is not included on the canvas big world, where there are chairs, and tables, and other peaches, and other girls"

The painting was highly praised by critics, who were unanimous in the opinion that it was painted in the tradition of impressionism, and a master of European caliber appeared in Russian painting. The artist gave this painting to Vera’s mother, and it hung for a long time in the very room where the painting was painted. It is currently exhibited at the Tretyakov Gallery.

Vera Mamontova subsequently had to pose for great painters more than once. So, two of her portraits were painted by the Russian artist Viktor Vasnetsov.

Unfortunately, this wonderful woman passed away early, at the age of 33. Her husband, leader of the Moscow provincial nobility, and then chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod, Alexander Dmitrievich Samarin, had a hard time with the loss. He remained faithful to the Faith until the end of his life, and in memory of her, in the village of Averkievo, he built the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in XVII style century.

Many members of the famous Abramtsevo circle took part in its design; for example, the tiles were made according to sketches. Currently, this is one of the many operating churches in the Moscow region.

Days of free visits to the museum

Every Wednesday you can visit the permanent exhibition “Art of the 20th Century” in the New Tretyakov Gallery for free.

The right to free access to exhibitions in the Main Building on Lavrushinsky Lane, the Engineering Building, the New Tretyakov Gallery, the V.M. House-Museum. Vasnetsov, museum-apartment of A.M. Vasnetsova is provided on the following days for certain categories of citizens in order general queue :

First and second Sunday of every month:

for students of higher educational institutions of the Russian Federation, regardless of the form of study (including foreign citizens-students of Russian universities, graduate students, adjuncts, residents, assistant trainees) upon presentation of a student card (does not apply to persons presenting student cards “student-trainee” );

for students of secondary and secondary specialized educational institutions (from 18 years old) (citizens of Russia and CIS countries). Students holding ISIC cards on the first and second Sunday of each month have the right to free admission to the “Art of the 20th Century” exhibition at the New Tretyakov Gallery.

every Saturday - for members large families(citizens of Russia and CIS countries).

Please note that conditions for free admission to temporary exhibitions may vary. Check the exhibition pages for more information.

Attention! At the Gallery's box office, entrance tickets are provided at a nominal value of “free” (upon presentation of the appropriate documents - for the above-mentioned visitors). In this case, all services of the Gallery, including excursion services, are paid in accordance with the established procedure.

Visit to the museum holidays

On National Unity Day - November 4 - Tretyakov Gallery open from 10:00 to 18:00 (entrance until 17:00). Paid entrance.

• Tretyakov Gallery in Lavrushinsky Lane, Engineering Building and New Tretyakov Gallery - from 10:00 to 18:00 (box office and entrance until 17:00)
• Museum-apartment of A.M. Vasnetsov and the House-Museum of V.M. Vasnetsova - closed

Waiting for you!

Please note that the conditions for discounted admission to temporary exhibitions may vary. Check the exhibition pages for more information.

The right to preferential visits The Gallery, except in cases provided for by a separate order of the Gallery management, is provided upon presentation of documents confirming the right to preferential visits to:

• pensioners (citizens of Russia and CIS countries),
• full holders of the Order of Glory,
• students of secondary and secondary specialized educational institutions (from 18 years old),
• students of higher educational institutions of Russia, as well as foreign students studying at Russian universities (except for intern students),
• members of large families (citizens of Russia and CIS countries).

Free visit right The main and temporary exhibitions of the Gallery, except in cases provided for by a separate order of the Gallery’s management, are provided to the following categories of citizens upon presentation of documents confirming the right of free admission:

• persons under 18 years of age;
• students of faculties specializing in the field visual arts secondary specialized and higher educational institutions of Russia, regardless of the form of education (as well as foreign students studying at Russian universities). The clause does not apply to persons presenting student cards of “trainee students” (if there is no information about the faculty on the student card, a certificate from educational institution with the obligatory indication of the faculty);
• veterans and disabled people of the Great Patriotic War, participants in hostilities, former minor prisoners of concentration camps, ghettos and other places of forced detention created by the fascists and their allies during the Second World War, illegally repressed and rehabilitated citizens (citizens of Russia and the CIS countries);
• conscripts Russian Federation;
• Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of the Russian Federation, Full Knights of the Order of Glory (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• disabled people of groups I and II, participants in the liquidation of the consequences of a disaster in Chernobyl nuclear power plant(citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• one accompanying disabled person of group I (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• one accompanying disabled child (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• artists, architects, designers - members of the relevant creative Unions of Russia and its constituent entities, art historians - members of the Association of Art Critics of Russia and its constituent entities, members and employees Russian Academy arts;
• members of the International Council of Museums (ICOM);
• employees of museums of the system of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the relevant Departments of Culture, employees of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and ministries of culture of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
• volunteers of the “Sputnik” program - entrance to the exhibition “Art of the 20th Century” (Krymsky Val, 10) and “Masterpieces of Russian Art of the 11th - early 20th Century” (Lavrushinsky Lane, 10), as well as to the House-Museum of V.M. Vasnetsov and the Apartment Museum of A.M. Vasnetsova (citizens of Russia);
• guides-translators who have an accreditation card of the Association of Guides-Translators and Tour Managers of Russia, including those accompanying a group of foreign tourists;
• one teacher of an educational institution and one accompanying a group of students from secondary and secondary specialized educational institutions (with an excursion voucher or subscription); one teacher from an educational institution that has state accreditation educational activities when conducting an agreed training session and having a special badge (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• one accompanying a group of students or a group of conscripts (if they have an excursion package, subscription and during a training session) (Russian citizens).

Visitors to the above categories of citizens receive a “Free” entrance ticket.

Please note that the conditions for discounted admission to temporary exhibitions may vary. Check the exhibition pages for more information.

"Girl with Peaches" is certainly the most famous picture V. Serova. The canvas was painted by a young artist in the summer of 1887 at the estate of S.I. Mamontov. The teenage girl depicted on the canvas is Mamontov’s daughter, twelve-year-old Verochka.

The painting was difficult to create - the work took more than three months - but it seems to us that the work was created quickly, in a fit of happy insight. What qualities of this picture make it so inexplicably attractive to the viewer?

Probably, the secret of the charm of this work is simple - the painter managed to convey the thrill of a fleeting moment, but at the same time give the picture completeness and completeness. A dark-skinned girl in a light blouse with a bow sits at the table. It seems to us that she sat down for a moment, mechanically took a peach in her hand, and a moment later she fluttered like a butterfly and flew back into the garden.

The girl has delicate skin, dark eyes with bluish whites and the same dark hair. She simply looks at us with a barely noticeable smile. She has a peach in her hand, on the tablecloth nearby there are peaches, a knife, maple leaves... The room is flooded sunlight. Sun rays, penetrating into the room, they softly lie on the table, and on the girl’s hands, and on the antique furniture of the winter dining room...

The picture captivates the viewer with its freshness of color and harmony artistic image, and amazing internal harmony, and enormous vitality. Using impressionistic techniques, in particular the free vibration of the brushstroke, Serov conveys with great skill the play of light, its saturation, and the way shadows lie.

And most importantly, the artist managed, with the help of a small painting, to tell a whole novel about a girl, about her character, feelings - as bright and pure as her appearance. The painting “Girl with Peaches” is an ode to spring, the charm of youth and spontaneity, to everything that delights and pleases us in life.

In addition to the description of the painting by V. A. Serov “Girl with Peaches”, our website contains many other descriptions of paintings by various artists, which can be used both in preparation for writing an essay on the painting, and simply for a more complete acquaintance with the work of famous masters of the past .