Grandma's Fairy Tales is a painting by Russian artist Vassily Maximov, completed in 1867. It is held in the State Tretyakov Gallery (Inventory No. 584). The dimensions of the canvas are 67 × 92 cm (68 × 92.6 cm according to other sources). The painting depicts a large peasant family gathered in a village hut on a winter's evening, illuminated by the glow of a luchina, as adults and children listen with rapt attention to a fairy tale being told by their grandmother.
Maximov worked on the painting Grandma's Fairy Tales in 1866-1867 and finished it on 27 November 1867. Between the end of 1867 and the beginning of 1868, the painting, under the title Old Woman Telling Fairy Tales on a Winter's Evening, was presented at the exhibition of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists, held in St. Petersburg. Maximov's work was well received and awarded its first prize. In December 1867, the artist Apolinary Horawski noted in his critique that Grandma's Fairy Tales was "something that really deserved special attention" and had "special authority." The canvas was purchased by Pavel Tretyakov directly from the exhibition. In 1870, Maximov was awarded the title of class artist of the 1st degree for his paintings Grandma's Fairy Tales, Dream of the Future (1868), Gathering for a Walk (1869) and Old Woman (1869).
Art historian Alexander Zamoshkin wrote that in the painting Grandma's Fairy Tales Maximov "created, avoiding any sentimentality, deeply vital images," and that his pictures of peasant children were particularly heartfelt. The art historian Dmitri Sarabianov noted that in this work "for the first time that poetic note sounded," which "will be particularly audible" in Maximov's later canvas A Sorcerer Comes to a Peasant Wedding (1875), while in Grandma's Fairy Tales "the whole scene as a whole focuses on the traditional, patriarchal and therefore beautiful motif."
History
Background and creation Vassily Maximov was born into a peasant family in the village of Lopino, Novoladozhsky Uyezd, Saint Petersburg Governorate. He lost his parents at an early age; his father, Maxim Terentyevich, died when Vassily was six years old, and his mother, Anastasia Vasilyevna, died when he was ten. Vassily Maximov loved his mother very much and retained warm feelings for her throughout his life. Anastasia Vasilyevna was a hardworking, responsive and prudent woman. She was also an excellent storyteller of "fairy tales, stories and tall tales". She often recounted her impressions of her travels to Moscow and Kyiv, as well as to the Solovetsky Monastery and other places.
From 1862 onwards, Maximov studied at the Academy of Arts, initially as a free student and subsequently, from 1863 to 1866, in the class of historical painting, where his tutors were Fyodor Bruni, Timofey Neff, Alexey Markov and Pyotr Shamshin. During his studies at the Academy, Maximov received three silver medals for studies and drawings from life, and in 1864 he was awarded a small gold medal for his painting Sick Child (Village Scene). Having studied alongside such famous future artists as Ilya Repin, Vasily Polenov and Konstantin Savitsky, Maximov was (according to Repin) "one of the first of the very top ten." Having refused to participate in the competition for the big gold medal, he left the Academy in 1866 with a certificate of a class artist of the 3rd degree.
In the same year, 1866, the artist moved to the village of Shubino, Korchevskoy Uyezd, Tver Governorate, where he worked as an art teacher at the estate of the Counts Golenishchev-Kutuzov. During his stay in Shubino, the artist conceived the themes of his future paintings, including Grandma's Fairy Tales, Family Section and All in the past. In particular, it was there that the artist created the drawing entitled Winter Evening in the Village (now in the State Russian Museum). This drawing is regarded as the "original idea" for the painting Grandma's Fairy Tales. Upon his return to St. Petersburg, Maximov informed his acquaintance, the artist Arseny Shurygin, with whom he had leased a room, that he would not stay in the capital for long, but would go "to the village to paint a painting that he had conceived this summer." He was going to work on his first complex composition - Grandma's Fairy Tales.
After a few days of packing, Maximov went to his home village of Lopino, where he settled with his older brother Alexei, who provided him with a separate hut. It was small, with a low ceiling, but with a large Russian stove. In his memoirs, Maximov wrote: "I was happy with the decision to live in the village, to be free, to familiarise myself with know peasant life - not through someone else's glasses and not from childhood memories, but in the fullness of my preparation and love." As the artist himself states, the entirety of September 1866 was dedicated to "composing the 'Storyteller of Fairy Tales', turning this way and that the original sketch made in Shubin from childhood memories." It is known that the portrayal of a woman telling fairy tales was inspired by the artist's memories of his mother Anastasia Vasilyevna. Maximov later described his work during this period as follows: "Whatever work I did, I could not forget my main task - to express the different characters of children listening to their grandmother. Fascinated by this side of work, I loved my painting. It seemed to be left to fulfil; I especially believed in myself when I painted the sketch in oil paint."
Nevertheless, work on the painting proceeded slowly. In December 1866,The Julian calendar ("old style") is used to date events that took place in the Russian Empire. Maximov's friend Arseny Shurygin, an artist, visited Lopino to observe the local traditions associated with Christmas and New Year. Shurygin persuaded Maximov to begin work as soon as possible on the final version of ‘The Storyteller of Fairy Tales’. In his memoirs, Vassily Maximovich wrote: "Arseny's insistence that I should sooner start serious work made me confess my weakness of will, the sin that I did not suffer from in relation to art." In an attempt to justify himself, Maximov also cited the impossibility of working on a complex piece in his brother's "tiny cell" or large hut, which was always occupied by members of his family and often by strangers. These explanations did not satisfy Shurygin, who suspected the real reason for the delay was his friend's infatuation.
Approximately a month prior to Shurygin's arrival, on 21 November 1866, Maximov met his future wife, Lydia Alexandrovna, daughter of Alexander Alexandrovich Izmailov, a State Councillor (later an Active State Councillor), and his wife, Nadezhda Konstantinovna, who owned the small estate of Lyubsha near Lopin. Maximov, according to his memories of Lydia Alexandrovna, "fell in love with this divine girl, fell in love passionately, sacredly ..." The artist let her in on his work on Grandma's Fairy Tales, and later wrote: "Lydia Alexandrovna was very much occupied with my work, she got so used to me that imperceptibly we began to dream of a successfully completed painting..." It is possible that one of the images, depicting a young woman breastfeeding a child, was inspired by Lydia Alexandrovna. A drawing of her image by Maximov, dated 18 January 1867, has been preserved. From the beginning of 1867 the artist had a new studio near Lyubsha at his disposal. It was "a peasant's hut, the most typical, Ladoga, spacious[,] with a stove and a bed, huge entryway and a yard." His future mother-in-law, Nadezhda Konstantinovna Izmailova, was a great help to Maximov in finding a house for the workshop and negotiating the rent (the final price was three rubles a month).
From the beginning of 1867 Maximov resumed active work on Grandma's Fairy Tales. While still in Lopin, he "drew 'The Storyteller' with sauce according to a sketch with changes in the composition." Then, at the invitation of the Izmailovs, he moved to Lubsha, since it was closer to his cold studio, where he measured the interior of the hut, which he used to construct the perspective. It took him about a year to complete the painting of Grandma's Fairy Tales, which he finished on 27 November 1867.
Society for the Encouragement of Artists exhibition, the purchase of the painting and subsequent events Towards the end of 1867 and the beginning of 1868 (the appearance of the painting Grandma's Fairy Tales at the exhibition is dated in different sources as either December 1867 or early 1868), the painting entitled Grandma's Fairy Tales, which was exhibited under the title The Old Woman Telling Tales on a Winter Evening, was presented at the Society for the Encouragement of Artists' permanent exhibition, held in St Petersburg. The collector and patron of the arts, Pavel Tretyakov, who was in Moscow at the time, followed the exhibited paintings with great interest. He was informed of new additions by the artist Apollinarius Goravsky. In December 1867, he wrote to Tretyakov that "Maximov has quite distinguished himself with his work," and his painting "Grandmother's Tales" is "something that really deserves special attention" and has "special authority." On Goravsky's advice, Tretyakov purchased the painting Grandma's Fairy Tales, which was valued at 500 rubles (according to other sources, Tretyakov paid 300 rubles for the painting). According to the catalogue of the Tretyakov Gallery, the purchase took place in 1867. It was the first work by Maximov that Tretyakov acquired. Furthermore, in 1867 or 1868, Maximov was awarded a prize of 500 rubles by the Society for the Encouragement of Artists for his painting Grandma's Fairy Tales. This prize, established by the patron of the arts Pavel Stroganov, was awarded for genre painting. The financial reward from this award helped to strengthen the artist's financial position.
Vasily Maximovich and Lydia Alexandrovna were wed on 29 January 1868, following the completion of the painting. Prior to this, they had to persuade Lydia Alexandrovna's parents to consent to the marriage for a long time. Nadezhda Konstantinovna believed that her daughter could find a husband with a higher social status and was shocked that she was marrying the son of a peasant. Alexander Alexandrovich, with all due respect to Vasily Maximovich, made reference to the fact that Lydia Alexandrovna was still very young, as well as the fact that she had no dowry. In his opinion, such a marriage would impede the growth and development of an aspiring artist. At the same time, Alexander Alexandrovich was a passionate lover of art. While visiting the Society for the Encouragement of Artists exhibition, he saw a painting, Grandma's Fairy Tales, which he liked very much and was proud to know its author. Finally, the marriage licence was granted. That same year, Maximov portrayed his young wife in the canvas Dream of the Future (or Dreams of the Future, 1868, now in the State Russian Museum).
In 1870, Vassily Maximov requested that Pavel Tretyakov send his painting, Grandma's Fairy Tales, from Moscow to St Petersburg for exhibition at the Academy of Arts. In a letter dated 16 August 1870, Tretyakov replied: "I am pleased to send your painting directly to the Board of the Academy, but after the exhibition is over, I humbly ask you to hurry as quickly as possible so that the painting is well packed and sent to me in Moscow." The painting was returned to Tretyakov on 22 December. In the same year, 1870, Maximov was awarded the title of class artist of the 1st degree for the paintings Grandma's Fairy Tales, Dream of the Future, Gathering for a Walk (1869, now in the State Museum of Fine Arts of Kazakhstan) and Old Woman (1869, now in the State Tretyakov Gallery).
Subject, characters and composition