Summer is a key season in Yefim Chestnyakov’s paintings. Only under the gentle rays of the sun, can one spend countless hours outside, walking in a forest, feeling free and relaxed. His paintings rarely depict fun times in winter. After all, it is cold. And Emperor Frost with his harsh pranks and drama was never a part of his tales and scenes. Perhaps, in a region with such long winters, everyone tired of the cold and dreamt of the sun and its warmth. The painting Children at play is an exception to this rule.
Surprisingly, the huts within haystacks in this art work, with their arches and awnings at entrances, windows and leaning ladders, seem toy-like. These warm cozy-looking houses were made out of haystacks by children of the village. The artist gave free reign to his imagination: the huts in the painting have windows with shutters and awnings, like porches do. The work of art combines elements from fairy tales and literature, it is not simply a lifelike painting, as is evidenced by the unusual scene depicted in front of the viewer. Each of the subjects grabs one’s attention demanding a careful examination.
Everyone on the painting - from the elderly man on the buggy to the children frolicking nearby - capture the viewer’s imagination. For instance, the sled that the man is travelling on sits atop wheels, as toys do, and is drawn by a horse on wheels. In fact, the girls are enjoying themselves on unusual sledges too, which are also supported on wheels. The free reign given to the imagination is evident, and yet the horse harness is depicted surprisingly accurately. The children appear to have taken a break from their games and seem to be watching, with interest, the elderly man who arrived in their village on a toy horse. And only the birds are doing what they are accustomed to: they are looking for and pecking at seeds. All the subjects in the painting play an important role in its composition. In fact, they all create a link between the group of children and the horse-drawn sled.
After studying the picture further, one is left with the impression that Yefim Chestnyakov painted his subjects with his clay sculpture theater, “The City of CordOn”, in mind. This art work includes everything that, with time, transformed into a particular style of painting and a specific use of color: a warm ochre-colored foreground and a cold-looking background. Highlighting contours in a shade of brown when depicting all the elements is one of the key features of Yefim Chestnyakov’s paintings.
Surprisingly, the huts within haystacks in this art work, with their arches and awnings at entrances, windows and leaning ladders, seem toy-like. These warm cozy-looking houses were made out of haystacks by children of the village. The artist gave free reign to his imagination: the huts in the painting have windows with shutters and awnings, like porches do. The work of art combines elements from fairy tales and literature, it is not simply a lifelike painting, as is evidenced by the unusual scene depicted in front of the viewer. Each of the subjects grabs one’s attention demanding a careful examination.
Everyone on the painting - from the elderly man on the buggy to the children frolicking nearby - capture the viewer’s imagination. For instance, the sled that the man is travelling on sits atop wheels, as toys do, and is drawn by a horse on wheels. In fact, the girls are enjoying themselves on unusual sledges too, which are also supported on wheels. The free reign given to the imagination is evident, and yet the horse harness is depicted surprisingly accurately. The children appear to have taken a break from their games and seem to be watching, with interest, the elderly man who arrived in their village on a toy horse. And only the birds are doing what they are accustomed to: they are looking for and pecking at seeds. All the subjects in the painting play an important role in its composition. In fact, they all create a link between the group of children and the horse-drawn sled.
After studying the picture further, one is left with the impression that Yefim Chestnyakov painted his subjects with his clay sculpture theater, “The City of CordOn”, in mind. This art work includes everything that, with time, transformed into a particular style of painting and a specific use of color: a warm ochre-colored foreground and a cold-looking background. Highlighting contours in a shade of brown when depicting all the elements is one of the key features of Yefim Chestnyakov’s paintings.
