The exhibition of the Iskitim Museum of Arts and History includes a painting “Window in the Sauna”. It was created by Ivan Petrovich Popov in the 1960s–1970s.
Almost all residents of Srostki had so-called black bathhouses. They were not equipped with chimney venting. The smoke would simply come out of the stove and circulate along the floor, ceiling, and walls. As a result, all the inner surfaces of the bathhouse would become black with soot. The doors and windows of such bathhouses were unusually low and sometimes had two or three layers of glass to help keep them warm longer. A black bathhouse was believed to provide great benefits for the human body. This painting shows a window with a bucket, a kerosene lamp, and soap on the windowsill. These simple household items reflect the difficult life of peasants during that time. At the same time, the painting gives off a sense of warmth and comfort.
In his autobiography “Diary of an Artist”, Ivan
Popov described that period in his life,
