"JOLLY LIFE NEAR THE PUB".

Sign. 1876. Oil on canvas, 59x76,5 cm.

Leonid Ivanovich Solomatkin (1837-1883) was a talented Russian genre artist of bright individuality and originality of manner. He was often called “an artist of bottoms of life” for his preoccupation with the life of poor people who were fond of “hanging around a pub”. In fact, the artist belonged to the same group, that’s why he portrayed his heroes with such a sympathy and understanding. Grotesque and expressiveness of images as well as the rare sense of self-irony are typical for Solomatkin’s paintings.
The first variant of the painting entitled “Jolly life near a pub” was executed in 1865 (private collection). The bitter irony that is felt in its title is characteristic for Solomatkin’s attitude towards the subject. In 1873 this particular variant was lithographed by A.Ikonnikov, and gained publicity under the tendentious title “Village getting old, pub getting new”. Later Solomatkin returned to this theme several times. The variant dated 1877 is now at the Belorussian Art museum in Minsk, the one of 1881 – in Vitebsk museum of Fine Arts. The painting presented now at the sales is dated 1876. These variants do not repeat each other, they differ in details – in the number of personages, in their appearance and costumes, in the time (morning, evening) and the season (summer, autumn). This is most typical for the artist who created different variants for many other of his paintings.
The painting represented now exposes the talent of the artist perfectly, and can be regarded as one of his crucial works valued for its special feeling of reality – at once grotesque, tragic and romantic.
Dr. Prof. Elena Nesterova

Literature: Elena Nesterova. Leonid Ivanovich Solomatkin. St-Petersburg: Golden Age, Artist of Russia, 2006.