Description of the picture:
On the turf bench – Ilya Efimovich Repin. 1876. Oil on canvas. 36×56
The work of the great master depicts a hot noon. Before us is a family fleeing the summer heat in the shade of trees. The natural arbor is equipped with a comfortable bench мейд of turf. The depicted group, no doubt, poses for the artist.
Compositionally, the group can be divided into the center and two extreme figures. In the center there is an elderly couple (parents of Repin’s wife) and a girl with needlework (sister of Repin’s wife). The central group seems unhappy with their role. The artist’s attention weighs on them. But the woman (Vera Alekseevna Repina – the artist’s wife), sitting on the left, enjoys posing. The man on the right (husband of Repin’s wife’s sister) – took a picture pose, his attitude towards the process is condescending and frivolous. Only a couple of children playing on the grass (Vera and Nadia – the daughters of Repin) behave naturally and organically.
The plot of the painting is set in the hot summer, laced with lush greenery, which gives the work an atmosphere of carefree relaxation and quiet family happiness."
