Vasily Polenov. Grandma's garden. 1878

Grandma's garden

Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov (1844-1927) - painter, master of landscape. He studied at St. Petersburg University and the Academy of arts. In 1871, he also received a law degree and a gold medal and the title of class artist. A year later, Polenov went to a four-year journey through Europe.
Polenov among the first artists introduced in the Russian landscape clean bright colors, easy to swab, contrast.
In the picture "Grandma's garden" viewer sees an old typical noble mansion – such buildings built up all of Moscow with suburbs after the fire of 1812. These houses were made of wood, but distinctive columns and a thick layer of plaster had to create the illusion of a solid stone building. The viewer sees how the bottom of such a "dummy column" peeled, revealing the wooden walls.
In the foreground, the main characters are a crooked old woman in an old – fashioned cap and a young granddaughter in a fashionable dress. A striking juxtaposition of old and new. Grandmother looks also flabby, as well as her house – the peeling walls of the mansion can be compared with the hooked figure of an elderly heroine.