Artwork
Rural funeral
Rural funeral is an oil painting by the Realist artist Vasily Perov. It dates from 1865 and is held in the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The scene is populated with a horse, a dog, and a child, set against a snowy sky, elements that together evoke the bleakness of peasant life in 1865.
In Rural funeral, Vasily Perov depicts a winter procession conveying a child's coffin through a snow-covered rural landscape. The scene is populated with a horse, a dog, and a child, set against a snowy sky, elements that together evoke the bleakness of peasant life in 1865. The small size of the coffin, contrasted with the vast wintry setting, underscores the tragedy of a young life lost, while the accompanying horse and dog suggest the humble, isolated nature of the burial.
The painting reflects Perov's engagement with themes of rural hardship and mortality, presenting the funeral procession as a somber meditation on poverty and grief in the Russian countryside.
Technique & Style
Rural funeral is an oil painting on canvas created by Vasily Perov in 1865. The work measures 44.5 cm in height by 57 cm in width and portrays a horse, a child, a coffin, a dog, a sky, and snow. Painted in oil on canvas, it is housed in the Tretyakov Gallery, where it remains part of the collection today.
Legacy
Rural funeral has been recognized as a significant example of Russian realist painting from the 1860s, reflecting Perov's focus on social themes and rural life. Its presence in the Tretyakov Gallery collection has contributed to ongoing scholarship on 19th-century Russian art, though specific later influences or direct citations in artistic movements are not documented in the available sources.
Overview
Vasily Grigorevich Perov created the oil painting Rural Funeral in 1865. The work portrays a winter scene of a funeral procession, with a wooden sleight bearing a child’s coffin, a horse, a woman, two children, and a black dog moving along a snowy road under a gray sky. The canvas is part of the Tretyakov Gallery’s collection.
History & Provenance
Rural Funeral was painted during Perov’s involvement with the Peredvizhniki, the itinerant realist artists who sought to bring socially relevant subjects to a wider audience. After its creation, the work entered the collection of Moscow’s Tretyakov Gallery, where it remains on display.
Context
The painting reflects the Russian Realist movement’s commitment to depicting unembellished scenes from daily life, particularly those that reveal social conditions. Perov, a founding member of the Peredvizhniki, used this funeral scene to illustrate the hardships and communal bonds of the peasantry in mid‑19th‑century Russia.
Artist & collection
Artist
Vasily Grigorevich Perov (Russian: Василий Григорьевич Перов; 2 January 1834 – 10 June 1882) was a Russian painter, a key figure of the Russian Realist movement and one of the founding members of Peredvizhniki.
