Vasili Pukirev

The Unequal Marriage, 1862

Vasily Vladimirovich Pukirev (Russian: Василий Владимирович Пукирев; 1832 – 13 June 1890) was a Russian painter and illustrator. He is primarily known as the artist of the painting The Unequal Marriage.[1] Vasily studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. He first worked as a portraitist but later turned to historical painting.

The Unequal Marriage

The Unequal Marriage (1862), is a painting depicting the wedding ceremony of an elderly, high-ranking official and a young, visibly unhappy girl. This was one of the celebrated denunciatory pictures of the 1860s, revealing the unequal position of women and the corruption of bureaucracy. This critical mode, reflecting the general striving for reform in Russia after the Emancipation reform of 1861, was intended to arouse the dormant social conscience and change society.

The Unequal Marriage is currently on display at the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, Russia.[2]

Other work

Other socially conscious works include Collection of Arrears (1869) and Damaged Field (1870).

See also

References

  1. ↑ Article in 1000 Russian painters, compiled by Astakhov A.Yu. Bely Gorod, ISBN 0010500537, available online as
  2. ↑ Details at the State Tretyakov Gallery website

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wassilij Wladimirowitsch Pukirew.