Portrait of Nekrasov N. A.  by Konstantin Makovsky is a great poet against the backdrop of his native nature

Portrait of Nekrasov is a painting by Konstantin Yegorovich Makovsky, painted in 1856. In this work, the artist took as a basis the classical composition of a half-length portrait.

Nekrasov sits with his shoulders slightly hunched, turning three-quarters to the viewer, his hands folded relaxed on his knees. The poet’s face looks serious, but benevolent. It seems that the author managed to capture the moment when Nekrasov sat down to rest after a busy day.

Restrained clothing: a strict black frock coat and a snow-white shirt with a starched collar contrast with the background, which depicts a fine summer day. It is no coincidence that Makovsky preferred the endless meadows of rich green color, the sunset sky. Thus, he emphasized Nekrasov’s love for the Fatherland, which became an inexhaustible source of inspiration for him.

Name of the painting: “Portrait of N. A. Nekrasov.”
Author: Konstantin Egorovich Makovsky (1839-1915).
Year of writing: 1856
Size: 28 x 22 cm.
Style: Realism.
Genre: Portrait.
Technique: Oil.
Material: Canvas.
Location: Museum-apartment of N. A. Nekrasov, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Konstantin Makovsky is a famous Russian painter, one of the members of the association of the Wanderers.

He lived and painted in the second half of the 19th century, becoming most famous as a master of everyday scenes and portraits, in which he depicted many famous people of that time. One of the first works of Makovsky in this genre, written a year before entering the Imperial Academy of Arts, was a portrait of Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov.

This work was created in difficult times for the poet, when class splits began in the editorial office of Sovremennik. In the same year, the poem “The Poet and the Citizen” was written, in which Nekrasov, as it were, argues with himself, thinking about what his duty is: to glorify the beautiful or to serve society. All these thoughts and experiences were very subtly noticed and surprisingly authentically conveyed to Makovsky in his work. A thin, intelligent face, a slightly sad look in dark eyes, wrinkles that furrowed a high forehead – all this creates the image of a person deeply feeling and rooting for the fate of Russia.

The painting “Portrait of N. A. Nekrasov” by Konstantin Makovsky is a work in which the author, harmoniously combining portrait and landscape, fully revealed the many-sided and ambiguous nature of the great poet.