#43771 Boris Kustodiev (1878-1927)

Description of Boris Kustodiev’s painting The Russian Venus

This is the great Russian artist’s last major painting. Painted by him in the last year of his life, when Kustodiev was already almost completely affected by his severe illness. Experiencing severe pain caused by tuberculosis of the spine, Kustodiev in his painting tried to portray a collective image of a Russian village beauty. A lush young lady, sparkling with health, shine, the purity of her freshly washed skin. Her golden hair falls like a waterfall to one side. A sincere, lively smile and cornflower blue, beautiful eyes.

It is important to pay attention to the setting in which the girl is situated. This is an ordinary village bathhouse, of which there are thousands all over Russia. The girl is a true Venus, as you can see soap bubbles at her feet, and as legend has it Venus emerged from the foam of the Mediterranean Sea, and in Russia from the soap foam of a hot bath.

The image of Russian Venus, in Kustodiev’s view, is exactly personified in a healthy girl in the prime of her life, strong, in the lush body of a country woman. Capable of creating a strong family and bearing healthy children.

Kustodiev was attracted to thin women with a lively mind, such was the artist’s wife. But most often in his paintings the author liked to portray obese women. He portrayed them with some tenderness, and sometimes, even mockery.

For this painting, the master posed Elena Nikolaeva, a young village girl. Quite remarkable is the fact that during the restoration of the painting it turned out that the birch twigs broom was finished on the girl’s body a year after the completion of the painting. This once again confirms that the artist greatly valued the opinion of his beloved wife and apparently a whole year was in contemplation over the picture and still decided to finish drawing the object, covering the intimate place of the girl.