What's going on in this painting by Pavel Yakovlev?

The hero of this painting has made himself comfortable: he's reclining on a bed, which is being transported on a cart along with other belongings, a cigar in one hand, the other behind his head. His dreamy gaze is directed somewhere toward the sky. The painting's title explains it all: ‘The Artist's Move to a New Apartment’.

A Story from Life

Pavel Yakovlev created very few positive paintings like this one. He was born in the Voronezh Governorate. His father, a small merchant, decided to send his 12-year-old son to work in Moscow for a tea merchant, but he changed his mind at the last moment and sent Pavel to an icon painting workshop instead. It turned out he had chosen a lifelong profession for his son. Later, he entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where he studied under the famous Vasily Perov. Due to lack of money, he gave art lessons and his paintings mostly depicted tragic scenes: a hail-battered field, a murdered girl in a fancy dress, an old man sitting on a pile of ashes. It's all the more surprising that he came up with the idea for such a lighthearted painting, created in 1899.

Perhaps his own wanderings played a role: when Yakovlev could no longer afford his tuition, he dropped out of art school and moved to Voronezh. Then, when things improved, he returned to Moscow to show renowned collector Pavel Tretyakov his painting ‘After the Hailstorm’.

Portrait of the Artist

It’s believed that the artist depicted himself in the painting, albeit slightly flattering his appearance. His contemporaries remembered him as a gloomy, deep-voiced man. He wore a short velvet jacket, a red scarf tied around his neck. In the painting, the curly-haired artist is moving with modest belongings: his only possessions are the bed on which he lies, his canvases, his easel and a bust of Apollo, patron of the Muses.

He appears to be in excellent spirits. Perhaps, the reason is the route. The cart is carrying him past the Moscow Kremlin walls across the Moskvoretsky Bridge. Apparently, the artist's finances have improved and he can afford a studio with a view of the Moskva River and the ancient fortress.