Tkachev Brothers - Russian painters

Author: Tkachyov
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1997-11-01
Features: Painting the Russian Mother, which was the lifelong dream of the Tkachyov brothers, and Novocheshm was the ideal place to fulfill this wish. First, there was the Tkachyov brothers' own studio there. Second, the village had many women of all ages, whose fates left such a profound impression and whose images were so vivid that you couldn't help but sit down and start painting. They toiled from morning to evening, nurturing their children and grandchildren, and their indomitable will moved the Tkachyov brothers deeply. Expressing love for the hardworking mother was the motivation behind this painting. Over the years, they accumulated materials and painted a series of portraits of suffering mothers, from which they selected everything needed for Mothers. The Tkachyov brothers felt that adhering to plotless storytelling and presenting the characters straightforwardly was the best approach for a monumental work. Therefore, they chose an ordinary and common scene: women of different ages sitting side by side on a bench—some wearing white and pregnant, future mothers; next to them was an elderly mother in a deep blue dress and black headscarf, who somewhat resembled the Tkachyov brothers' own mother; in the center was a mother holding her child; at the far right, the image of a young woman, more like an urban visitor; among the mothers, a few girls aged three or four were added; in the distance, a flock of geese was walking. To achieve the greatest expressiveness, the Tkachyov brothers did not add too much to the scene, striving to present it to the audience in a rough manner and with a large canvas. While creating this painting, they were filled with unprecedented passion. This was thanks to the environment. Sometimes, they moved the painting to the courtyard to check the proportions from a distance. Some details were painted directly: the model was right there, and people often sat on the bench next to the Tkachyov brothers' bathroom. It became a kind of club where one could hear village news. Most importantly, one could see the main subjects of the painting in their natural state. While creating this work, the Tkachyov brothers strove to give each woman a unique life image while also ensuring that the women sitting together were not distant or isolated, conveying a sense of their spiritual unity. Because these were the mothers of Russia.