Portrait of Actress Polina Antipyevna Strepetova
Portrait of the Actress Polina Antipyevna Strepetova by Nikolai Yaroshenko
Date: 1884
Dimensions: 120 x 78 centimeters
Location: State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow, Russia)
Nikolai Yaroshenko was often called the “Conscience of the Itinerants” by his contemporaries, thus emphasizing his integrity and rejection of violence. His work was distinguished by high civic pathos, expressing the desire for freedom and justice. The artist was not afraid to raise the most pressing and acute issues of that time, addressing the themes of the revolutionary movement and creating images of the best representatives of the era. Looking at his portrait, it is difficult to immediately recognize the great Russian tragic actress Polina Strepetova in the woman he depicts. The simplicity of her appearance, the restrained color palette, the laconicism of the drawing and the severity of the composition create an impression of asceticism.
A modest woman of short stature, bareheaded, in a dark dress with white cuffs and collar, appears before the viewer in deep thought. Her pale face, marked by traces of life’s trials, and her painfully clasped hands stand out sharply against the dark background. Art critic Vladimir Stasov noted that the portrait conveys the entire nervous, exhausted, tragic and passionate nature of the actress. Strepetova became famous for her performance of the roles of Katerina in Alexander Ostrovsky’s “The Storm” and Lizaveta in Alexei Pisemsky’s “Bitter Fate”. Her heroines are integral, strong personalities, deeply suffering in the “dark kingdom” of wild morals. Strepetova’s performance was perceived as a rebellion of a living soul against the oppressive darkness and inhumanity.
This is exactly how Yaroshenko presented Strepetova. In the image of a fragile and modest woman, one senses spiritual nobility, inner beauty that transforms her face. In her upright posture, in the energy of her clasped hands and compressed lips, in her clear gaze, one senses a strong, determined nature, ready to sacrifice for the sake of good and justice.
