The painting “Girl with Peaches” («Девочка с персиками») is a recognized masterpiece of the Russian artist Valentin Aleksandrovich Serov (1865-1911) (Серов Валентин Александрович). It was painted in 1887 and is an oil on canvas measuring 91 x 85 cm, now located in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. This is one of the first and most significant works in the direction of Russian impressionism for which it paved the way. This picture combines several genres: there is a landscape , a still life , and a portrait .
Valentin Serov first went to the Abramtsevo estate in 1875 with his mother, and growing up continued to often visit the estate.
Serov wrote “Girl with Peaches” when he was not yet 22 years old. Valentin Aleksandrovich sought to create not just a portrait, but a living picture that reflected a moment in life. He was inspired by the beauty and spontaneity of Verusha, and invited the 11-year-old Vera Mamontova to pose after seeing her running into the house, taking a peach, and sitting down at the table. Vera posed for Serov every day for almost two months.
The expressiveness of the picture is given by bright details, a play of highlights and a young image of the heroine of the portrait. The artist placed the girl in an atmosphere of a carefree sunny day, ripe peaches and a cozy dining room. The peculiarity of this portrait was that Serov added to it elements of a still life (fruits on the table, a knife, leaves) and a landscape (a garden outside the window). This technique allowed to expand the general meaning of the picture.
In the center of the composition is Mamontov’s daughter Verochka. She is sitting at a large table covered with a white tablecloth, and there are several chairs with high backs nearby. The objects in the room indicate that the girl lives in a wealthy family, and many chairs in the dining room are reminiscent of a large family.
The girl is dressed in a light pink loose blouse with a turn-down collar and a puffy bow. This bow tells about the romantic and bright character of the girl. There is no feeling that she was preparing to pose. The artist deliberately left her hair the way they were, sticking out in unruly curls. She certainly frolicked in the garden and wants to run to play again. It seems hard for her to sit still. There is a blush on her cheeks, making her look like the peaches that lying on the table. The happy look of the girl says that she lives among people who love her.
She holds a peach in her hands, which look very tanned. We can say that the girl spent the summer outdoors outside the city. Three more fruits and a silver carving knife lie on the table nearby. The peaches are beautifully combined with yellow leaves which talks about the time of fruit ripening. It can be seen that the objects were not laid out on purpose, but the moment was chosen spontaneously. The peaches have their own history. They were raised in a greenhouse by a gardener specially hired by the owner of the estate. These fruits indicate the prosperity of the owners of the estate and a penchant for the exotic.
The girl is surrounded by various objects. We see the backs of the chairs around the dining table. Behind the girl is a figure of a grenadier, reminiscent of the children in the house.
There is a painted plate on the wall. The plate is drawn as a tribute to Savva Mamontov, who was fond of pottery arts.
Another detail that reflects an outstanding intuitive impressionist in Serov is as if a random edge to the composition. The door on the girl’s right, a half of a chair cut by the frame give the image a look of reality, spontaneous and relaxed. The art historian Mark Copshitzer noted, ” a chair, part of which is captured on canvas, has its continuation beyond the space of the painting, it marks the beginning of the whole world which did not appear on the painting, with its chairs and tables, and other peaches, and the other girls”.
Outside the window, the garden begins to turn yellow. Summer is coming to an end. Maple leaves, in turn, are depicted because the artist began work on the canvas in the height of summer, and finished only in September. In addition, maple autumn leaves create a special contrast in comparison with ripe peaches, reminiscent of the transience of everything and the need to enjoy the sun, as well as everything that happens around.
Serov achieved a fantastic effect of lightness and freshness by placing the light source behind the model. Shining through the leaves, the sun’s rays reflecting off the tablecloths and the girl’s blouse, it adds pink and gold to the space around the subject. Warm, delicate colors, soft reflected light, a lot of air were unusual for Russian painting of those years.
The main difference from the canvases of other portrait painters is the fullness of light. The main character sits in front of the window and is well lit, sun glare on all objects, on hair and clothes. Light dissolves the contours of objects, this brings the work closer to the canvases of the French Impressionists.
The statement of the author himself about the idea of the picture has been preserved. He wrote that he wanted to achieve a special freshness in his painting. The girl was supposed to look in the picture the same as on that summer day. The bright image of Vera coincided with how the artist imagined beauty. The author dreamed of conveying on canvas the joy of life that surrounds the girl and lives in her.
The artist succeeded superbly. Together with him we admire the carefree world of childhood. These moments are especially valuable because they pass quickly. The transience of time is reminiscent of autumn leaves in the foreground of the picture and the coming autumn outside the window. You can feel the philosophical message in the picture. The artist shows the transience of time. Summer changes very quickly, and youth also passes quickly.
I hope you enjoyed this painting as much as I did.
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