IMG 3228 Panorama

K.P. Bryullov. Portrait of P.V. Dollmaker (1841) The portrait of Pavel Vasilyevich Kukolnik was received in 1922 from the collection of A.V. Zhirkevich (1857-1927). It was written during the famous "Puppeteer Wednesdays". In the late 1830s and early 1840s, aspiring writers and venerable writers, artists, and artists met weekly on Wednesdays in the small St. Petersburg apartment of the Kukolnikov brothers. The center of attraction was the famous "triumvirate" - Karl Bryullov, Mikhail Glinka and Nestor Kukolnik. The elder brother of the poet Pavel Kukolnik (1795-1884), historian, professor at Vilna University, also participated in these evenings. Ironic, witty, tireless debater, he was brilliantly educated, no stranger to literature. The portrait is one of those works by Karl Pavlovich Bryullov, in which his gift as an improviser manifested itself, the ability to instantly be carried away by a person’s personality, completely surrendering to the will of inspiration. According to one of the eyewitnesses, this portrait was painted in this way, impromptu. A few strokes convey the individual features of the figure. In the rapid strokes of long strokes, in the nervously trembling spots of the background, there is a powerful energy of the formation of the image. Every detail is actively involved in this process of becoming. Hands clasped behind the back betray pent-up excitement. In the light movement of a strong muscular body, in the free turn of the shoulders, inner strength is expressed. But barely noticeable fatigue, which affected the posture, in the tilt of the head, fills the image with a deeper and more complex content.