Evening in St. Petersburg Vasily Ivanovich Surikov (1848-1916)

Description of Vasily Surikov’s painting An Evening in St. Petersburg

Painted in oil on canvas in 1871 in the genre of cityscape.

Vasily Surikov is a great Russian artist. He gave our country a huge cultural heritage and was a master of his craft.

The artist was born in Krasnoyarsk, where he spent his childhood. To learn the art of painting he went to St. Petersburg. During his life he traveled to many places in our great country, went to study painting and abroad. Much has been said about Surikov among the artists of the time, as well as in all other years. His paintings are filled, as if by mystical dreams, which give him an individual style, not peculiar to anyone else.

The canvas "An Evening in St. Petersburg" depicts old Peter. It takes us back in time, making the soul tremble. This is how people lived in those days, Surikov as if he captured the moment, which he left for us. But even more this painting is associated with a dream or a vision. People’s faces are not reachable, but still the canvas makes it clear, life was very, very multifaceted at the time. As, indeed, is the case now.

The right side of the painting does not depict rich people, they are sad. And even though you can’t see the boy’s face, you can see with what interest he is looking at the cart in which the rich ladies are rushing. The images of the ladies in beautiful outfits are glimpsed on the canvas, like shadows or ghosts. The tones are very calm.

Surikov painted the picture with light sketches, but it is striking in depth. In the center there is a cart, which is quickly rushed, harnessed horse. Time seems to have stopped, as if to allow the artist to capture this moment for ages. The full moon in the sky, its gray-blue hues, the snow on the road, the beautiful old lanterns, the bench standing beside the road, give us a chance to dive into that time and see how Tsarist Russia lived.

One can look at Surikov’s paintings endlessly. And each time they open for us a new side.

The painting is in storage at the Krasnoyarsk Surikov Museum.