Boys (playing boys). 1911 Kuzma Sergeevich Petrov-Vodkin (1878-1939)

надо же быть таким извращенцем!!!

Почему для вас оголённые тела = извращенство? Художник нарисовал обычную жизнь мальчуганов того времени, для которых это всё просто ребячество и только, без каких-либо подтекстов.

In reality, the painting is a masterpiece and quite tragic.
At first glance, if you dont think about the meaning and plot, or pay attention to the year, it simply depicts two boys around 12 years old playing or engaging in some kind of athletic activity. Its ordinary childhood, then and now.
But then a deeper association comes to mind – one of them is holding something in their hand, and the viewer tries to understand what it is. An allegory of Cain and Abel comes to mind, along with other archetypal things that I wont go into detail about here.
The boy on the right seems to be covering his head from a blow, defending himself from an attack, while the lighter-skinned and thinner one simultaneously attacks him and, at the same time, seems to hold him back from falling. But looking at the details, you see that his hand is clenched into a fist.
The idea is that the viewer tries to solve a mystery – are these children playing, or is it actually an attempt at murder, or something else? They start analyzing the boys poses and notice that the curly-haired and dark-skinned boys feet are on a different plane; he seems to be pushing off and falling at the same time. And in the light-haired boys hands is a piece of earth, and the shape of the earth they are standing on resembles, say, a map.
This refers to Amundsen and Scotts conquest of the South Pole. Its no coincidence that the dark-haired boy is physically more developed, at least his legs are.
Perhaps the idea is also that by trying to solve the meaning, the viewer – whether its an ordinary childrens rest or a sharp conflict – tries, for example, to stand in such poses themselves. It requires quite a lot of muscle strain, and the intensity of the tension is shown in red on their bodies.
So, theres no mention of any relaxed pose; look at their faces. The light-haired boys face looks like the figure in *The Motherland Calls*, this is not a childs face.

In general, the artist shows the futuristic nature of humanity – two naked boys in a tense dialogue with each other rise above the planet and can be said to transcend even the cosmos.
And the slightly ambiguous and contradictory plot, like a tragic story about travelers – especially if the viewer is familiar with the details, dirt, and accusations of other similar expeditions, such as cannibalism and infection of local populations – is not chosen by chance. Then *Two Captains* might come to mind.

One can also see in this something reminiscent of *yin and yang*. The purity of the aspirations of outstanding explorers is always mixed with the material side of life, in the form that one must compromise with others to obtain funds and resources for carrying out their absolutely pure and innocent goals. The material aspect of achievement and concern for it outweighs the main thing – happiness and value in the unity of bright aspirations towards a goal and the process itself, full of tension. The feat of effort and tension should not be spoiled by baseness. If these boys were constantly immersed in material worries, they would not be able to exert themselves so much for some goal.

*Голый результат есть труп*, оставивший позади себя устремления и становление, и больше никому не интересны будут ни сомнения, ни возвышающие над обывательской бытовухой желания.
*Ибо суть дела исчерпывается не своей целью, а своим осуществлением*
Мальчиков интересует процесс, а не результат, преодоление трудностей, принятие решений, а не вечный статичный статус. В этих позах почти все мышцы тела напряжены, художник хотел показать саму суть – напряжение, борьбу. У них ничего нет, кроме руки друга, единственной что удерживает его от падения, а у второго нет ничего кроме кусочка земли в руке
(Которую он тоже сжимает с такой максимальной силой, что видно как сильно вздулась, напряглась часть ладони, попробуйте сами так сделать и поймёте о чем я говорю)
Достижение, чудо – в самом процессе.
Мне лично это почему-то напоминает ещё о Букрееве и Фишере.
Конкуренция и желание быть первым, обладать хотя бы этим, приводит к безумию и одержимости.
Когда мальчик высказывает свои волшебные желания, он тоже как бы становится голым – риск мечты быть растоптанной, смешанной с грязью, смешаться с грязью материального.