Grandma's Fairy Tales

Grandma's Fairy Tales
ArtistVassily Maximov
Year1867
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions67 cm × 92 cm (26 in × 36 in)
LocationTretyakov Gallery, Moscow

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[1] (68 × 92.6 cm according to other sources).[2][3] 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.[4]

Maximov worked on the painting Grandma's Fairy Tales in 1866-1867 and finished it on 27 November 1867.[Note 1][5] 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.[6][7] Maximov's work was well received and awarded its first prize.[8] 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."[9] The canvas was purchased by Pavel Tretyakov directly from the exhibition.[6] 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).[6][10]

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.[11] 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."[12]

  1. ^ State Tretyakov Gallery catalogue, vol. 4, book 1 (2001, p. 419)
  2. ^ "Vasily Maksimov — Babushkiny skazki, 1867" Василий Максимов — Бабушкины сказки, 1867 [Vassily Maximov - Grandma's Fairy Tales, 1867]. Moya Tretyakovka — my.tretyakov.ru. Archived from the original on 2024-03-08. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  3. ^ "Maksimov Vasily Maksimovich — «Babushkiny skazki» (1867)" Максимов Василий Максимович — «Бабушкины сказки» (1867) [Maximov Vassily Maximovich - ‘Grandma's Fairy Tales’ (1867)]. State Catalogue of the Museum Fund of the Russian Federation — goskatalog.ru. Archived from the original on 2019-06-22. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  4. ^ Roginskaya (1989, p. 90)
  5. ^ Leonov (1951, p. 108)
  6. ^ a b c State Tretyakov Gallery catalogue, vol. 4, book 1 (2001, p. 418)
  7. ^ Leonov (1951, p. 115)
  8. ^ Art. Modern Illustrated Encyclopaedia, vol. 3 (2007, pp. 54–55)
  9. ^ Botkina (1960, pp. 77–78)
  10. ^ Metelkina (2008, p. 405)
  11. ^ Zamoshkin (1950, p. 14)
  12. ^ Sarabianov (1989, p. 111)


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