''The Beauty'' (russian: Красавица, translit=Krasavitsa) is an

oil-on-canvas Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

painting executed in 1915 by the Russian artist Boris Kustodiev.

Description

The painting measures 141 by 185 centimeters and is now housed at the Tretyakov Gallery. The

Moscow Art Theatre The Moscow Art Theatre (or MAT; russian: Московский Художественный академический театр (МХАТ), ''Moskovskiy Hudojestvenny Akademicheskiy Teatr'' (МHАТ)) was a theatre company in Moscow. It was f ...

actress Faina Shevchenko was the model for the painting. The painting features a

nude Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...

, large woman sitting on a bed in a colorfully decorated room with flowery wallpaper. With her right hand the woman is holding her breasts. Her pubic area is only partly hidden by her legs.

History

Faina Shevchenko, age 21, an actress of the

, was the model for the painting. Kustodiev generally preferred stout women for his paintings, and once remarked that "skinny women do not inspire.""худые женщины на творчество не вдохновляют" (in Russian) Therefore he obviously viewed ''The Beauty'' as a

chef-d'œuvre A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

of his style and absolute pinnacle of his career, later creating three paintings stylistically similar to ''The Beauty'' with minor alterations in set and pose. The painting conveys a hyperbolical archetype of a

mother goddess A mother goddess is a goddess who represents a personified deification of motherhood, fertility goddess, fertility, creation, destruction, or the earth goddess who embodies the bounty of the earth or nature. When equated with the earth or th ...

according to Kustodiev's personal ideal. He first noticed Shevchenko at a play in the theatre, for which he served as a set decorator. It took Kustodiev a time and an effort to talk Shevchenko into the creation, for initially she refused: "Oh! I, the actress, be sitting in the nude! Thousands of people will see, what a disgrace!" After a while she agreed only "for the sake of the art." Initial sketches show the woman holding a strip of fabric covering tips of her breasts and specifically the nipples. After the rumours of Shevchenko posing for the painting in the nude reached her chief,

Konstantin Stanislavski Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski ( Alekseyev; russian: Константин Сергеевич Станиславский, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin sʲɪrˈgʲejɪvʲɪtɕ stənʲɪˈslafskʲɪj; 7 August 1938) was a seminal Russian Soviet Fe ...

, he called her a "

harlot Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

", though later Stanislavski pardoned Shevchenko and gave her major roles in plays staged at the theatre. Shevchenko herself, after viewing the painting at its premiere, reportedly said "Very fat!" Kustodiev replied "As is" and kissed her hand.

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

, who visited the premiere, said that "the Devil steered the painter's reckless hand while he was creating". Upon viewing ''The Beauty'' at its Berlin premiere at the Unter Den Linden gallery,

George Loukomski George Kreskentevich Loukomski (russian: Гео́ргий Креске́нтьевич Луко́мский; 1884 in Kaluga – 1952 in Nice) was an artist, art critic and art historian from the Russian Empire. Born in 1884 in Kaluga, Russi ...

, an art critic, labelled the painting "The

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl ( rus, Ярослáвль, p=jɪrɐˈsɫavlʲ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence ...

ian

Danaë In Greek mythology, Danaë (, ; ; , ) was an Argive princess and mother of the hero Perseus by Zeus. She was credited with founding the city of Ardea in Latium during the Bronze Age. Family Danae was the daughter and only child of King Acris ...

". Reproductions of the painting by the artist, he presented to

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...

and Feodor Chaliapin. The original was kept by the family of the artist and was eventually confiscated by the communist authorities during the

Stalin's purges The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secreta ...

in 1937–38, and since then is stored at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

References

Paintings by Boris Kustodiev Nude art 1915 paintings Collections of the Tretyakov Gallery Paintings of women {{20C-painting-stub