“Gypsy”

Date of creation: 1886

Dimensions: 83 x 65 centimeters

Location: Serpukhov Historical and Art Museum (Serpukhov, Moscow Region, Russia)

The painting by Nikolai Yaroshenko entitled “Gypsy” depicts a lively, emotional young gypsy with an impenetrable but lively face. The author is characterized by single-figure sketches: such works as “Stoker” and “Female Student” can be attributed to this category. But it should be remembered that the artist painted only those faces that interested him from a spiritual point of view: they had to express some uniqueness, paradoxically combined with universality. We see this contradictory unity in the face of the gypsy depicted in the painting.

She stands out against the dense vegetation behind her, but the viewer feels that in an essential relationship there is no clear boundary between her and nature. It is clear that she is not a person formed by society. The naturalness of the gypsy is emphasized by the fact that she is looking into the window, not looking out of it. She belongs to another category of people, now almost gone from the stage of life, but once very common – people who can rightfully be considered creations of nature, and not society. Already in the 19th century, Yaroshenko looked with some amazement at this “dying species”. He had a desire to capture on canvas what would inevitably disappear. To convey to contemporaries the very fact of the existence of such a miracle, to preserve the memory. Finally, to understand for himself what is hidden inside this mobile nature, and, quite possibly, to adopt something. It seems that the frame of the painting is a window frame, and the gypsy is in reality looking straight at us. Her temperamental pose and gaze betray her readiness to resist or rush into battle. Her weapon is simple cunning. It is safe to say that she is invincible.