Fishing through the eyes of Russian artists
Russian artists themselves loved to fish and they would paint fishermen on their canvases with great pleasure. Sometimes even without trousers!
Vasily Avrorin ‘Angling’, 1830
Fishing as a leisure and hobby spread among nobility and intelligentsia in the first half of the 19th century. The class not engaged in daily physical labour had time to sit contemplatively on the shore with a fishing rod and money for fishing gear. It is noteworthy that artist Vasily Avrorin, who, by his main occupation, was a priest and served as a deacon, was the first to paint a picture of such a scenery.
Grigory Soroka ‘Fishermen. View in Spasskoye’, 1847
The painting depicts a village in Tambov Province, on the far bank of the pond one can see the Church of the Saviour Not Made By Hands, built in 1825 with funds from a local landowner. The building has survived to this day. The view is different, of course, but you can still imagine how it was 200 years ago.
Alexander Guinet ‘Landscape with Fishermen’, 1865
Guinet was a landscape painter and a friend of the much more famous Russian painter Ivan Shishkin. He cannot be called a marinist, but he painted water a lot and well. And, of course, he could not ignore the theme of fishing.
Vasily Perov ‘Fishing’, 1867
Perov was an avid fisherman, so the theme was close and familiar to him. But, this is not the main distinguishing feature of this painting. The figure of the child also draws attention. The fact is that Perov survived the death of two children, so the figure of the boy looks especially tender and out of place.
Vasily Perov ‘Fisherman’, 1871
In this painting, Perov already fully demonstrates himself as an artist-‘Wanderer’, attentive to everyday details and the psychology of the characters. In the center of the canvas is a slightly comical figure of a fisherman, more likely a landowner, who watches the process of fishing with passion and genuine interest.
Alexei Savrasov ‘Fishermen on the Volga’, 1872
Savrasov is a famous landscape painter and the author of the textbook painting ‘The Rooks Have Arrived’. His canvas is even more unique, in which the central place is occupied by an old man and a boy, busy preparing fish soup after a successful catch.
Illarion Pryanishnikov ‘Children Fishing’, 1882
Another famous artist from the association of “Wanderers”, a lover of scenes of folk life, a student of artist Vasily Tropinin. Being a passionate hunter and fisherman himself, he perfectly captured the children's excitement of waiting for the catch and caught fish.
Vladimir Makovsky ‘On a Hot Day’, 1881
In this painting, noble children are already engaged in fishing. But, they do it in the summer heat of the afternoon, without any success and, it seems, without much pleasure. The distinctive manner of this artist is that he focuses not on the depicted action, but on those who perform it.
Vladimir Makovsky ‘Catching Fish’, 1884
This artist has several paintings at once, in which the subject of fishing is present in one way or another. This one again depicts a noble family. The boy is carried away by fishing and his fishing rod is simply a long branch. His younger sister is rushing to him, probably with a governess, and he is unlikely to be happy about their arrival.
Vladimir Makovsky ‘Fishermen’, 1886
This painting focuses on peasant children. Makovsky painted a lot and well, their amusements and hobbies. These paintings were also acquired from Makovsky by gallery owners, including the Tretyakov brothers for their famous collection of paintings.
Vladimir Makovsky ‘Fisherman. Finland’, 1899
The focus of this painting is on elderly people, who are no less fascinated by the process than children, but are better at hiding their feelings.
Ivan Kramskoy ‘Poet Apollo Nikolaevich Maikov’, 1883
The theme of fishing may not always be present in the title, but it is reflected in the plot of the painting. Thanks to the artist, we now know that poet Apollo Maykov was also a fan of fishing.
Nikolai Bogdanov ‘Fisherman with a Boy’, 1889
Often, Russian artists painted either peasants or nobles. This painting is unique in that the nobleman's son has clearly escaped from the estate (visible in the background) to the old fisherman and is intensely asking him about something.
Narkiz Bunin ‘Fishing’, 1903
In 1903, the ‘Petersburg’ newspaper wrote that a painting by Bunin, depicting Leo Tolstoy and Repin trouserless in shirtsleeves and fishing, was on display at the exhibition of the St. Petersburg society of artists. The exhibition was visited by Count L. L. Tolstoy, Leo Tolstoy's son, and he was so outraged by what he saw that he sent his father a telegram asking for his advice on how to get the painting removed from the exhibition. The exhibition, however, immediately became a blockbuster.
