Tragic story artist Chartkova began in front of a bench in the Shchukinsky yard, where, among many paintings depicting peasants or landscapes, he spotted one and, having paid the last two kopecks for it, brought it home. This is a portrait of an old man in Asian clothes, seemingly unfinished, but captured with such a strong brush that the eyes in the portrait looked as if they were alive. At home, Chartkov learns that the owner came with a policeman, demanding payment for the apartment. The annoyance of Chartkov, who has already regretted the two-kopeck piece and is sitting, due to poverty, without a candle, is multiplied. He reflects, not without bile, on the fate of the young talented artist, forced to a modest apprenticeship, while visiting painters “with just their usual habits” make noise and collect a fair amount of capital. At this time, his gaze falls on the portrait, which he has already forgotten - and the completely alive eyes, even destroying the harmony of the portrait itself, frighten him, giving him some kind of unpleasant feeling. Having gone to sleep behind the screens, he sees through the cracks a portrait illuminated by the moon, also staring at him. In fear, Chartkov curtains it with a sheet, but then he imagines eyes shining through the canvas, then it seems that the sheet has been torn off, and finally he sees that the sheet is really gone, and the old man has moved and crawled out of the frame. The old man comes behind the screen to him, sits down at his feet and begins to count the money he takes out of the bag he brought with him. One package with the inscription “1000 chervonets” rolls to the side, and Chartkov grabs it unnoticed. Desperately clutching the money, he wakes up; the hand feels the heaviness that was just in it. After a series of successive nightmares, he wakes up late and heavy. The policeman who came with the owner, learning that there is no money, offers to pay with work. The portrait of an old man attracts his attention, and, looking at the canvas, he carelessly squeezes the frames - a bundle known to Chartkov with the inscription “1000 chervonets” falls on the floor.
On the same day Chartkov pays the owner and, consoled by stories about treasures, drowning out the first impulse to buy paints and lock himself in the studio for three years, rents a luxurious apartment on Nevsky, dresses dandy, advertises in a popular newspaper, and the next day receives the customer. An important lady, having described the desired details of the future portrait of her daughter, takes her away when Chartkov, it seemed, had just signed and was ready to grab something important in her face. The next time she remains dissatisfied with the similarity that appears, the yellowness of the face and the shadows under the eyes, and finally mistakes Chartkov’s old work, Psyche, slightly updated by the disgruntled artist, for a portrait.
IN a short time Chartkov becomes fashionable: grasping one general expression, he paints many portraits, satisfying a variety of demands. He is rich, accepted in aristocratic houses, and speaks harshly and arrogantly about artists. Many who knew Chartkov before are amazed how his talent, so noticeable at the beginning, could disappear. He is important, reproaches young people for immorality, becomes a miser, and one day, at the invitation of the Academy of Arts, coming to look at a canvas sent from Italy by one of his former comrades, he sees perfection and understands the entire abyss of his fall. He locks himself in the workshop and plunges into work, but is forced to stop every minute due to ignorance of elementary truths, the study of which he neglected at the beginning of his career. Soon he is overcome by terrible envy and begins to buy best works art, and only after his early death from a fever combined with consumption, it becomes clear that the masterpieces, for the acquisition of which he used all his enormous fortune, were cruelly destroyed by him. His death is terrible: scary eyes He imagined the old man everywhere.
Chartkov's story had some explanation a short time later at one of the auctions in St. Petersburg. Among the Chinese vases, furniture and paintings, the attention of many is attracted amazing portrait a certain Asian whose eyes are painted with such art that they seem alive. The price quadruples, and then the artist B. comes forward, declaring his special rights to this canvas. To confirm these words, he tells a story that happened to his father.
Having first outlined a part of the city called Kolomna, he describes a moneylender who once lived there, a giant of Asian appearance, capable of lending any amount to anyone who wanted it, from old women to wasteful nobles. His interest seemed small and the payment terms were very favorable, but by strange arithmetic calculations the amount to be returned increased incredibly. Worst of all was the fate of those who received money from the hands of the sinister Asian. The story of a young brilliant nobleman, whose disastrous change in character brought upon him the wrath of the empress, ended in his madness and death. The life of a wonderful beauty, for the sake of her wedding with whom her chosen one made a loan from a moneylender (for the bride’s parents saw an obstacle to the marriage in the upset state of affairs of the groom), a life poisoned in one year by the poison of jealousy, intolerance and whims that suddenly appeared in the previously noble character of her husband. Having even encroached on the life of his wife, the unfortunate man committed suicide. Many less remarkable stories, since they happened in the lower classes, were also associated with the name of the moneylender.
The narrator’s father, a self-taught artist, planning to portray the spirit of darkness, often thought about his terrible neighbor, and one day he himself came to him and demanded that he draw a portrait of himself in order to remain in the picture “exactly as alive.” The father happily gets down to business, but the better he manages to capture the old man’s appearance, the more vividly his eyes appear on the canvas, the more painful a feeling takes over him. No longer having the strength to endure the growing disgust for work, he refuses to continue, and the pleas of the old man, explaining that after death his life will be preserved in the portrait supernatural power, completely frighten him. He runs away, the old man’s maid brings him the unfinished portrait, and the moneylender himself dies the next day. Over time, the artist notices changes in himself: feeling envious of his student, he harms him, the eyes of a moneylender appear in his paintings. When he is about to burn a terrible portrait, a friend begs him. But he too was soon forced to sell it to his nephew; his nephew also got rid of him. The artist understands that part of the moneylender’s soul has entered into the terrible portrait, and the death of his wife, daughter and young son finally assures him of this. He places the elder in the Academy of Arts and goes to the monastery, where he leads strict life, seeking all possible degrees of selflessness. Finally he takes up his brush and whole year writes the Nativity of Jesus. His work is a miracle, filled with holiness. To his son, who came to say goodbye before traveling to Italy, he communicates many of his thoughts about art and, among some instructions, telling the story of the moneylender, he conjures to find a portrait passing from hand to hand and destroy it. And now, after fifteen years of futile searches, the narrator has finally found this portrait - and when he, and with him the crowd of listeners, turns to the wall, the portrait is no longer on it. Someone says: "Stolen." Maybe you are right.
As a writer, he is a very mystical person. And the works, accordingly, match the creator. Unusual, fantastic and mysterious events around the characters often leave readers perplexed. What did the author want to say? What's the point? Let's look at one of the works of N.V. Gogol “Portrait”. First, let's remember what the story says.
The first part of the story
A young talented artist with the surname Chartkov buys a portrait of an old man in Asian clothes. The work is old and unfinished. The eyes are clearly depicted on it, they seem to be alive. Chartkov dreams of wealth and fame. However, he tries not to waste his talent and writes his works quite skillfully. But at the same time he lives in poverty, Chartkov doesn’t even have enough to pay for the apartment, for which the owner threatens to kick him out.
The artist comes home and falls asleep, he dreams that an old man comes up to him with a bag. In the bag there are scrolls with the inscription “1000 red notes.” The old man counts the scrolls, and Chartkov quietly steals one of them. When the artist wakes up the next morning, the owner comes to him to collect money for housing. Then the artist finds next to the portrait of the old man a scroll that he stole from him in a dream.
He's paying off his debts, dresses in decent clothes, moves to new apartment on Nevsky Prospekt and submits an advertisement to the newspaper saying that he is a brilliant artist. Later he receives an order for a portrait of a young woman and her daughter. Chartkov is interested in the work, but the customer does not like the truthfulness of the picture. Then, for the sake of money, Chartkov embellishes it. Now he is completely different from the customer’s appearance, however, she likes it and the artist gets his money. Then Chartkov understands that there is no need to paint pictures exactly - it is enough to depict the client as he wishes, without conveying his true face.
Soon Chartkov becomes a fashionable, popular artist, everyone praises his talent, writes about him in articles, for which, in truth, he pays out of his own pocket in order to show off to his friends and stroke his pride. Now he has lackeys and even students.
Once Chartkov was asked to evaluate a painting in Italy; after seeing it, the artist realized that he had wasted all his talent and, in comparison with this work of art, all his works were mediocrity, and he himself was insignificant.
Young artist goes crazy, destroying all works of art that he could get his hands on. He spends all his wealth, buying the most expensive paintings, carefully bringing them to his workshop and “with the fury of a tiger he rushed at her, tore, tore her, cut her into pieces and trampled on her.” At the same time, Chartkov constantly sees the eyes of that old man from the portrait, about whom he has already famous artist I completely forgot. He gets hot. By the end of his torment, the artist could no longer speak clearly, emitting terrible screams. “His corpse was terrible,” Gogol reports, taking into account the fact that Chartkov died of mental illness, and the corpse was physically terrible.
Second part of the story
The same portrait of an old Asian man was sold at auction. There was a lot of controversy around it, since so many were going to buy it.
The black-haired artist B., thirty-five years old, told the disputants the story that Once upon a time there lived an Asian moneylender. By old age, she never had children. The moneylender himself was known for lending large amounts both poor and rich, but everyone who received money from him died strange death. The moneylender came to the artist, the father of the artist B., to paint his portrait. The old man said: “I may die soon, I have no children; but I don’t want to die at all, I want to live. Can you draw such a portrait that it looks exactly like a living one?”
And the artist’s father B. got to work. He tormented himself while writing this work, but he still conveyed the old man’s eyes through the paper. The day after the work on the eyes was completed, the old moneylender died. And the artist who painted the portrait became an envious intriguer.
When his painting was rejected at the competition in favor of his student, the artist’s father B. wanted to burn the portrait, but a friend stopped him, taking the portrait for himself, then resold it, explaining that the portrait prevented him from living peacefully and he himself felt as if he was going crazy. The author of the portrait of a moneylender was touched by the story of his friend and decided to go to a monastery. Having learned his story, the monks said that the artist should paint a picture for the church, but he replied that he was not yet worthy of this. After twelve years of solitude and monastic severity, he nevertheless painted the image and, having met with his son, blessed him to destroy the portrait of the moneylender so that he would no longer denigrate anyone’s thoughts.
While artist B. was telling this story to buyers at the auction, the portrait itself disappeared without a trace. Some thought it was stolen, while others thought it evaporated on its own.
Brief analysis of the work
Characteristics of Chartkov
The young artist Chartkov is a victim not only of the devilish influence of the portrait, but also your lack of will. Chartkov’s tragedy is that he himself ruined his talent by exchanging it for money and fame, and when he realized what exactly he had done, it was too late. Chartkov can be compared with Piskarev, the hero of Nevsky Prospekt. Both are dreamers, both are talented artists who lived in poverty. Having retreated from the truth in his creativity, Chartkov embarked on the path of self-destruction not only as an artist, but also as a person.
The role of Nevsky Prospekt in the story
This is not the first time Nevsky Prospect appears before the reader in the collection “Petersburg Tales”. In any work by N.V. Gogol, which contains a description of Nevsky Prospect, some kind of mysticism occurs. Nevsky Prospekt participates in the works:
- "Nose"
- "Portrait"
Story idea
From the point of view of N.V. Gogol, art is God's gift, which should not touch evil, and the content of the portrait of a moneylender is demonic. In this story, Chartkov’s talent was ruined by the commercialism of society - money is considered the main charm of life, and true art fades into the background. The artist's father B., in turn, was able to stop, although his goal was not wealth, but a challenge to his talent. Will he or will he not be able to paint a portrait as realistically as the customer requires?
Gogol sees deliverance from blind passions by solving the problems of the main characters, in particular, with the help of the church. After all, if talent is given to a person by God, then the purification of talent from unnecessary passions can also be done with God's help. The main topic of this work is the theme of good and evil in art. Gogol believes that the one who is given talent “must be the purest of souls of all.”
Briefly about the problems posed by the author
N.V. Gogol puts the following in “Portrait”: social problems:
- the role of the artist in society;
- the problem of true art;
- theme of immoral choice;
- theme of fate.
It was summary And brief analysis story “Portrait” online, we hope that this retelling was informative and useful.
Retelling plan
1. Poor artist Chartkov buys a portrait.
2. Dreams of Chartkov. The appearance in reality of what he saw in a dream.
3. The artist becomes vain. His work is increasingly mediocre.
4. An artist who has lost his talent sees brilliant picture, sent from Italy.
5. He buys the best works of art and destroys them. Death of Chartkov.
6. An aristocrat talks about a famous moneylender. Stories about the misfortunes of people who borrowed money from him.
7. A portrait makes the other owner unhappy, and then many more people.
8. The artist’s story about the devilish power of the portrait.
Retelling
Part I
The story begins with a description of an art shop in Shchukin's yard. By what the artists depicted and what visitors bought in the shop, one can already judge the degradation of their tastes.
It was in front of this shop that the young artist Chartkov stopped. The artist's poor attire showed that he was devoted to his work and did not care about his outfit. At first he “laughed internally at these ugly pictures,” then he thought, “who needs these Flemish men, these red and blue landscapes, which show some claim to a somewhat higher step in art, but in which all its deep humiliation was expressed?” Chartkov had stagnated for so long that the nimble merchant had already begun to tie together several paintings to sell to him. It seemed inconvenient for the artist to leave with nothing, and he began to rummage through a pile of old trash in the hope of finding something.
When the owner turned to Chartkov again, he was already standing motionless in front of one portrait. “It was an old man with a bronze-colored face, cheekbones, stunted... The portrait, it seemed, was not finished; but the power of the brush was striking. Most extraordinary of all were the eyes: it seemed as if the artist had used all the power of his brush and all his diligent care in them. They simply looked, looked even from the portrait itself, as if destroying its harmony with strange liveliness.” The owner literally forced this portrait on him. Chartkov bought it, not understanding why he did it. His mood immediately deteriorated, “annoyance and indifferent emptiness embraced him at that very moment.” Tired, he dragged himself to a very poor and dirty home. The door was opened for him by Nikita, a sitter, a painter and a floor sweeper rolled into one. He said that the owner of the rooms came for money. The artist was overcome by a “inclement mood.”
It would seem that a wonderful future awaited Chartkov, he was supposed to become a great artist, because he had the main thing - talent, which his professor also pointed out to him. But the professor warned Chartkov: “...you have talent; it will be a sin if you destroy him... Beware; you are already beginning to be drawn to the light; I sometimes see you have a smart scarf on your neck, a hat with a gloss... Think about every job, give up the smartness - let other money get it. Yours will not leave you.”
Sometimes he wanted to party and show off, but for all that he could take power over himself. At times he could forget everything, taking up his brush, and would tear himself away from it as if from a wonderful, interrupted sleep. But more and more difficulties arose. Chartkov sometimes eked out a miserable existence, and when it happened that the owner came ten times a day to demand payment, he imagined the enviable fate of a rich artist. “Why do I suffer and, like a student, fumble over the ABCs, when I could shine no worse than others and have money.”
Chartkov begins to be disturbed by strange things, scary dreams. It’s as if the portrait comes to life, and an old man comes out of it - a ghost with heavy bundles on which “1000 ducats” is written. It seems to him that one package falls out of the old man’s hands, the artist greedily grabs it and looks to see if the old man notices. He was awakened by a knock on the door. It was the owner and the quarterly overseer who came to demand payment for housing. Chartkov explains that he has nothing to pay him yet. The quarterly notices a terrible portrait, touches it and one of these packages in blue paper with the inscription “1000 chervonny” falls out. The young man rushes to the package and convulsively squeezes it in his hand. He managed to send the guests away, promising to pay and move out by evening. Locked in the room, he counted the money and began to think where it could come from. He decides: “Now I am provided for at least three years, I can lock myself in a room, work... And if I work for three years for myself, slowly, not for sale, I will kill them all, and I can be a glorious artist " But “another voice was heard from within, more audible and louder,” in a word, human weakness manifested itself in Chartkov, a desire to show off, to flaunt, to live for one’s own pleasure. And this second voice gradually gains the upper hand.
Chartkov begins to live differently: “in his soul, an irresistible desire was revived to grab glory this very hour by the tail and show himself to the world.” He moves to a new apartment, and his first visitors come to him. He paints his first portrait, putting all his available talent into it: “... the work attracted him. He had already forgotten everything, even forgot that he was in the presence of aristocratic ladies, and sometimes even began to show some artistic skills, saying out loud different sounds, at times singing along, as happens with an artist who is immersed with all his soul in his work.”
He looked forward to the next session when he could get back to work. “The work occupied him entirely, he completely immersed himself in his brush, again forgetting about the aristocratic origin of the original. As I caught my breath, I saw how his light features emerged and this almost transparent body of a seventeen-year-old girl.”
Soon Chartkov realizes that his efforts, painstaking work, desire to portray “every shade” of a person and, finally, his talent are of no use to anyone. The portrait, into which the artist put his whole soul, was not accepted, and the portrait of Psyche, which showed only a slight resemblance to the girl who ordered the painting, caused a joyful cry of amazement from the ladies. The artist was generously gifted with money, smiles, compliments, invitations to dinners, “in a word, he received a thousand flattering awards.” The portrait caused a stir in the city. Chartkov was literally attacked by visitors, who gradually destroyed his talent. They didn't understand real art. Everyone sought to satisfy their pride. And, despising them, the artist begins to please them: “Whoever wanted Mars, he shoved Mars in his face; whoever aimed at Byron, he gave him Byron’s position and turn...”
Soon he himself began to marvel at the wonderful speed and agility of his brush. Everyone was delighted and proclaimed him a genius. Soon it was impossible to recognize the modest artist in Chartkov. He now allowed himself to speak harshly about other artists and about art; he imagined himself to be a genius who had the right to scold the great artists - Raphael and Michelangelo. To such an extent he was spoiled by fame and praise, which were “bought by him with his own money,” that he became bored. Those who knew Chartkov before could not understand how the talent that manifested itself so clearly at the very beginning of his life could disappear in him. life path? He stopped believing in inspiration, all his thoughts and feelings turned to gold. He was “ready to turn to one of those strange creatures“, of which there are many that come across in our insensitive light, at which a person full of life and heart looks with horror, to whom they seem to be moving stone coffins with a dead man inside instead of a heart.”
But one event shocked and stirred up his “vital composition.” This event turned out to be an invitation to the Academy of Arts to discuss a new work sent from Italy by a Russian artist, one of his former comrades, who gave up everything and gave everything to art.
And now Chartkov is in the hall, where there is already a whole crowd of visitors. The deepest silence reigned everywhere. Putting on his face an expression of a connoisseur, he hastened to approach the painting; “But, God, what did he see!” Pure, immaculate, beautiful, like a bride, stood before him the artist’s work. Modest, divine, innocent and simple, like a genius, it rose above everyone. “And it became clear even to the uninitiated what an immeasurable gulf exists between the creation and a simple copy from nature.” Chartkov's soul comes to life, epiphany occurs. He realized that he had rejected the great gift of nature - the talent of an artist. And all this is for the sake of gold, for the sake of position in society. He sank, lost selfless connections with people, became attached to the world of wealth and things. And then “almost rage was ready to burst into his soul,” “he recognized that terrible torment that gives birth to great things in a young man, but when he has gone beyond dreams turns into fruitless thirst: that terrible torment which makes a person capable of terrible atrocities. He was overcome by terrible envy, envy to the point of rage.” From then on, he began to buy the best works of art, brought them home and, with the fury of a wild beast, destroyed these canvases. “Eternal bile was present on his face.” Chartkov began to experience fits of rage and madness. All this resulted in a terrible disease. He died in three days, “his corpse was terrible.” Nothing remained of his enormous wealth in the room, but only cut up pieces were found high works art.
Part II
In one of the houses of wealthy art lovers, an auction sale of things took place. Many merchants, aristocratic experts and poor noble gentlemen have gathered, who come only to find out how it all ends. The attention of all those present was attracted by a portrait of some Asian man with a strange expression on his face. “Those who surrounded were amazed at the extraordinary liveliness of the eyes.” Many competitors had already abandoned the portrait because the price was enormous. There were two famous aristocrats left who “would probably have raised the price to the point of impossibility” if one of those present had not said that he had the right to this portrait like no one else: “Everything assures me that the portrait is the one I am looking for.” "
Curiosity arose among those around him. The gentleman began his story. It was about a moneylender who settled among poor people. This moneylender was an Asian, supplying the needy with small sums at high interest. The strange thing was that everyone who received money from him ended his life in an unhappy way.
Among the aristocratic society of that time, a young philanthropist attracted attention. He was noted by the empress herself. This young man surrounded himself with artists, poets, scientists, tried to give them work, helped them in every possible way. Having spent a little money and in order to keep up with his business, he turned to a famous moneylender. Having made a loan, after some time our hero completely changed, “became a persecutor, a pursuer of developing talent.” He became suspicious, began writing unfair denunciations, and made many unhappy. The matter came to the empress. This nobleman was punished and removed from his place. His compatriots looked at him disapprovingly. His vain soul suffered; “pride, deceived ambition, destroyed hopes, all came together, and in fits of terrible madness and rage his life was interrupted.”
Another story is a love story. A young man fell in love with one of the beauties of the northern capital, who seemed to her relatives to be an “unequal match.” He was refused. He left the capital and returned after some time very rich. The girl's father agreed. It was rumored that this young man became so rich because he entered into some kind of agreement with a moneylender. All of St. Petersburg was jealous of this beautiful couple. But their happiness did not last long. The husband became very jealous of his beautiful wife, insulted her, and beat her. And when she started talking about divorce, he almost killed her with a knife. He was thwarted, and in a fit of despair he killed himself.
There were many examples in the lower classes. People began to fear the moneylender.
The real subject of this story is our narrator's father. Father was wonderful person, self-taught artist, nugget. He was given orders in the church. One of the jobs occupied him very much: he had to place the spirit of darkness in a picture. He often thought about making the devil out of the moneylender. One day, a moneylender came to the artist himself and asked to draw a portrait of him: “I may soon die, I have no children; but I don’t want to die completely, I want to live.” The artist agreed and began to paint a portrait. First of all, he tried to depict eyes, but the more he delved into them, the harder it was for him: “These eyes pierced his soul and produced incomprehensible anxiety in it.” Finally he threw down the brush and said that he could no longer paint. The moneylender fell at his feet, begged him to finish the portrait, said that “he had already touched his living features with his brush, that if he conveyed them correctly, his life would be retained in the portrait by supernatural force, that through this he would not die completely, that he needed to be present in world." The father, horrified by what he heard, rushed out of the room. Soon an old woman came from the moneylender and brought a portrait, saying that “the owner does not want the portrait and does not give anything for it.” On the evening of the same day, the moneylender died.
There was a change in my father. He began to feel jealous of one of his students. And when he received an order for a painting for a rich church, it completely blew him up. He ensured that a competition was announced for the painting. Locked in his room, he wrote the best of his works. When the paintings were exhibited, one spiritual person noticed that there was no holiness in the faces, “as if the artist’s hand was guided by an unclean feeling.” The father saw with horror that he had given all the faces the eyes of a moneylender. He returned home in a rage, dispersed everyone, broke his hands and wanted to burn the easel. But his artist friend prevented him, convincing him to give the portrait to him.
Gradually, the father began to calm down, but misfortunes began to haunt his friend. He somehow connected this with the portrait. The friend also hastened to get rid of it, giving it to his nephew, who in turn gave it to someone else. So the portrait began to travel around the world.
The father felt guilty and sinful and therefore became a hermit, settling in the desert for several years. When he returned, he came to the monastery and said that he was ready to paint a picture. It was the birth of Jesus. For a whole year he wrote without leaving his cell. It was worth it. The touched abbot said that the artist’s brush was guided by a higher power. At this time, our narrator graduated from the Academy of Arts and returned after a twelve-year separation.
The father told his son about the incident that happened in his life, bequeathed to take care of his talent: “Save the purity of your soul. He who has talent within himself must be the purest of souls.” And he asked that the request be fulfilled: “If you happen to see that portrait somewhere..., by all means, destroy it...”
While everyone was listening to this story in fascination, the portrait disappeared from the wall: “Someone has already managed to steal it...”
The tragic story of the artist Chartkov began in front of a bench in the Shchukinsky yard, where, among many paintings depicting peasants or landscapes, he saw one and, Having given the last two kopecks for it, he brought it home. This is a portrait of an old man in Asian clothes, seemingly unfinished, but captured with such a strong brush that the eyes in the portrait looked as if they were alive. At home, Chartkov learns that the owner came with a quarterly notice, demanding payment for the apartment. The annoyance of Chartkov, who has already regretted the two-kopeck piece and is sitting, due to poverty, without a candle, is multiplying. He reflects, not without bile, on the fate of a young talented artist, forced to a modest apprenticeship, while visiting painters “just with their usual manner” they make noise and collect a fair amount of capital. At this time, his gaze falls on the portrait, which he has already forgotten, and the completely alive eyes, even destroying the harmony of the portrait itself, frighten him, giving him some kind of unpleasant feeling. Having gone to sleep behind the screens, he sees through the cracks a portrait illuminated by the moon, also staring at him. In fear, Chartkov covers it with a sheet, but then he imagines eyes shining through the linen, then it seems that the sheet has been torn off, and finally he sees that the sheets really are no, but the old man moved and crawled out of the frames. The old man comes behind the screen to him, sits down at his feet and begins to count the money, which he takes out of the bag he brought with him. One package with the inscription “1000 chervonets” rolls to the side, and Chartkov grabs it unnoticed. Desperately clutching the money, he wakes up; the hand feels the heaviness that was just in it. After a series of successive nightmares, he wakes up late and hard. The quartermaster who came with the owner, having learned that there is no money, offers to pay with work. The portrait of an old man attracts his attention, and, looking at the canvas, he carelessly squeezes the frames - a bundle known to Chartkov with the inscription “1000 chervonets” falls on the floor.
On the same day, Chartkov pays the owner and, consoled by stories about treasures, drowning out the first impulse to buy paints and lock himself in the workshop for three years, rents a luxurious apartment on Nevsky, dresses like a dandy, advertises in a popular newspaper, and the very next day he accepts the order. An important lady, having described the desired details of the future portrait of her daughter, takes her away when Chartkov, it seemed, had just signed and was ready to capture something important in her face. The next time she remains dissatisfied with the revealed similarity, the yellowness of the face and the shadows under the eyes and, finally, accepts Chartkov’s old work, Psyche, slightly updated with displeasure, as a portrait. pre-bath artist.
In a short time, Chartkov becomes fashionable: grasping one general expression, he paints many portraits, satisfying a variety of demands. He is rich, accepted in aristocratic houses, and speaks harshly and haughtily about artists. Many who knew Chartkov before are amazed how his talent, so noticeable at the beginning, could disappear. He is important, reproaches young people for immorality, becomes a miser, and one day, at the invitation of the Academy of Arts, coming to look at a canvas sent from Italy by one of his former comrades, he sees perfection -stvo and understands the entire abyss of his fall. He locks himself in the workshop and plunges into work, but is forced to stop every minute due to ignorance of elementary truths, the study of which he neglected at the beginning of his career. Soon he is overcome by terrible envy, he begins to buy the best works of art, and only after his imminent death from a fever combined with consumption, it becomes clear that the masterpieces, for the acquisition of which he used all his enormous fortune, were cruelly destroyed by his wife. His death was terrible: the old man’s terrible eyes appeared everywhere to him.
The story of Chartkov had some explanation a short time later at one of the auctions in St. Petersburg. Among the Chinese vases, furniture and paintings, the attention of many is attracted by an amazing portrait of a certain Asian man, whose eyes are painted with such art that they seem alive. The price increases almost fourfold, and then the artist B. comes forward, declaring his special rights to this canvas. To confirm these words, he tells a story that happened to his father.
Having first outlined a part of the city called Kolomna, he describes a usurer who once lived there, a giant of Asian appearance, capable of lending any amount to anyone he wanted, from an old woman’s niche. to wasteful nobles. His interest seemed small and the payment terms were very favorable, but with strange arithmetic calculations the amount to be returned increased incredibly. Worst of all was the fate of those who received money from the hands of the sinister Asian. The story of a young, brilliant nobleman, a disastrous change in the character of which brought upon him the wrath of the empress, ended with his madness and death. The life of a wonderful beauty, for the sake of her wedding with whom her chosen one made a loan from a moneylender (for the bride’s parents saw an obstacle to marriage in the upset state of affairs of the groom), a life poisoned in one year by the poison of jealousy , impatience and whims, suddenly revealing the previously noble character of her husband. Having even attempted the life of his wife, the unfortunate man committed suicide. Many not so noticeable stories, since they happened in the lower classes, are also connected with the name of the moneylender.
The narrator’s father, a self-taught artist, when planning to portray the spirit of darkness, often thought about his terrible neighbor, and one day he himself appears to him and demands to draw a portrait of himself in order to remain in the picture “perfectly alive.” The father happily gets down to business, but the better he manages to capture the old man’s appearance, the more vividly his eyes appear on the canvas, the more painful a feeling takes over him. No longer having the strength to endure the growing aversion to work, he refuses to continue, and the pleas of the old man, explaining that after death his life will be preserved in the portrait with supernatural power, they completely frighten him. He runs away, the old man’s maid brings him the unfinished portrait, and the moneylender himself dies the next day. Over time, the artist notices changes in himself: feeling envious of his student, he harms him, the eyes of a usurer appear in his paintings. When he is about to burn a terrible portrait, a friend asks him out. But he too is forced to soon sell it to his nephew; his nephew also got rid of him. The artist understands that part of the moneylender’s soul has entered the terrible portrait, and the death of his wife, daughter and young son finally assures him of this. He places the eldest in the Academy of Arts and goes to a monastery, where he leads a strict life, seeking all possible degrees of self-denial. Finally, he takes up his brush and paints the birth of Jesus for a whole year. His work is a miracle, filled with holiness. To his son, who came to say goodbye before traveling to Italy, he communicates many of his thoughts about art and, among some instructions, telling the story of the moneylender, he conjures find a portrait passing from hand to hand and destroy it. And now, after fifteen years of futile searches, the narrator finally found this portrait - and when he, and with him the crowd of listeners, turned to the wall, the portrait on it not anymore. Someone says: "Stolen." Maybe you are right.
Year of writing:
1834
Reading time:
Description of the work:
The story Portrait was written by Nikolai Gogol in 1834. This work belongs to the genre of a fantastic story, in which Gogol contrasts true and imaginary values, good and evil, and human responsibility.
The first part of the story Portrait can be considered a prologue, and although it certainly precedes the main part, nevertheless, as a separate story it is of great interest. The final part of the story is an open ending.
Below read a summary of the story Portrait.
The tragic story of the artist Chartkov began in front of a bench in the Shchukinsky yard, where, among many paintings depicting peasants or landscapes, he spotted one and, having given the last two kopecks for it, brought it home. This is a portrait of an old man in Asian clothes, seemingly unfinished, but captured with such a strong brush that the eyes in the portrait looked as if they were alive. At home, Chartkov learns that the owner came with a policeman, demanding payment for the apartment. The annoyance of Chartkov, who has already regretted the two-kopeck piece and is sitting, due to poverty, without a candle, is multiplied. He reflects, not without bile, on the fate of a young talented artist, forced to a modest apprenticeship, while visiting painters “with just their usual manners” make noise and collect a fair amount of capital. At this time, his gaze falls on the portrait, which he has already forgotten - and the completely alive eyes, even destroying the harmony of the portrait itself, frighten him, giving him some kind of unpleasant feeling. Having gone to sleep behind the screens, he sees through the cracks a portrait illuminated by the moon, also staring at him. In fear, Chartkov curtains it with a sheet, but then he imagines eyes shining through the canvas, then it seems that the sheet has been torn off, and finally he sees that the sheet is really gone, and the old man has moved and crawled out of the frame. The old man comes behind the screen to him, sits down at his feet and begins to count the money he takes out of the bag he brought with him. One package with the inscription “1000 chervonets” rolls to the side, and Chartkov grabs it unnoticed. Desperately clutching the money, he wakes up; the hand feels the heaviness that was just in it. After a series of successive nightmares, he wakes up late and heavy. The policeman who came with the owner, learning that there is no money, offers to pay with work. The portrait of an old man attracts his attention, and, looking at the canvas, he carelessly squeezes the frames - a bundle known to Chartkov with the inscription “1000 chervonets” falls on the floor.
On the same day, Chartkov pays the owner and, consoled by stories about treasures, drowning out the first impulse to buy paints and lock himself in the studio for three years, rents a luxurious apartment on Nevsky, dresses like a dandy, advertises in a popular newspaper, and the next day accepts the customer. An important lady, having described the desired details of the future portrait of her daughter, takes her away when Chartkov, it seemed, had just signed and was ready to grab something important in her face. The next time she remains dissatisfied with the similarity that has appeared, the yellowness of the face and the shadows under the eyes, and finally mistakes Chartkov’s old work, Psyche, slightly updated by the disgruntled artist, for a portrait.
In a short time, Chartkov becomes fashionable: grasping one general expression, he paints many portraits, satisfying a variety of demands. He is rich, accepted in aristocratic houses, and speaks harshly and arrogantly about artists. Many who knew Chartkov before are amazed how his talent, so noticeable at the beginning, could disappear. He is important, reproaches young people for immorality, becomes a miser, and one day, at the invitation of the Academy of Arts, coming to look at a canvas sent from Italy by one of his former comrades, he sees perfection and understands the entire abyss of his fall. He locks himself in the workshop and plunges into work, but is forced to stop every minute due to ignorance of elementary truths, the study of which he neglected at the beginning of his career. Soon he is overcome by terrible envy, he begins to buy the best works of art, and only after his early death from a fever combined with consumption, it becomes clear that the masterpieces, for the acquisition of which he used all his enormous fortune, were cruelly destroyed by him. His death was terrible: he saw the old man’s terrible eyes everywhere.
Chartkov's story had some explanation a short time later at one of the auctions in St. Petersburg. Among the Chinese vases, furniture and paintings, the attention of many is attracted by an amazing portrait of a certain Asian man, whose eyes are painted with such art that they seem alive. The price quadruples, and then the artist B. comes forward, declaring his special rights to this canvas. To confirm these words, he tells a story that happened to his father.
Having first outlined a part of the city called Kolomna, he describes a moneylender who once lived there, a giant of Asian appearance, capable of lending any amount to anyone who wanted it, from old women to wasteful nobles. His interest seemed small and the payment terms were very favorable, but by strange arithmetic calculations the amount to be returned increased incredibly. Worst of all was the fate of those who received money from the hands of the sinister Asian. The story of a young brilliant nobleman, whose disastrous change in character brought upon him the wrath of the empress, ended in his madness and death. The life of a wonderful beauty, for the sake of her wedding with whom her chosen one made a loan from a moneylender (for the bride’s parents saw an obstacle to the marriage in the upset state of affairs of the groom), a life poisoned in one year by the poison of jealousy, intolerance and whims that suddenly appeared in the previously noble character of her husband. Having even encroached on the life of his wife, the unfortunate man committed suicide. Many less remarkable stories, since they happened in the lower classes, were also associated with the name of the moneylender.
The narrator’s father, a self-taught artist, planning to portray the spirit of darkness, often thought about his terrible neighbor, and one day he himself came to him and demanded that he draw a portrait of himself in order to remain in the picture “exactly as alive.” The father happily gets down to business, but the better he manages to capture the old man’s appearance, the more vividly his eyes appear on the canvas, the more painful a feeling takes over him. No longer having the strength to endure the growing disgust for work, he refuses to continue, and the pleas of the old man, explaining that after death his life will be preserved in the portrait by supernatural force, completely frighten him. He runs away, the old man’s maid brings him the unfinished portrait, and the moneylender himself dies the next day. Over time, the artist notices changes in himself: feeling envious of his student, he harms him, the eyes of a moneylender appear in his paintings. When he is about to burn a terrible portrait, a friend begs him. But he too is forced to soon sell it to his nephew; his nephew also got rid of him. The artist understands that part of the moneylender’s soul has entered into the terrible portrait, and the death of his wife, daughter and young son finally assures him of this. He places the elder in the Academy of Arts and goes to a monastery, where he leads a strict life, seeking all possible degrees of selflessness. Finally, he takes up his brush and paints the Nativity of Jesus for a whole year. His work is a miracle, filled with holiness. To his son, who came to say goodbye before traveling to Italy, he communicates many of his thoughts about art and, among some instructions, telling the story of the moneylender, he conjures to find a portrait passing from hand to hand and destroy it. And now, after fifteen years of futile searches, the narrator has finally found this portrait - and when he, and with him the crowd of listeners, turns to the wall, the portrait is no longer on it. Someone says: "Stolen." Maybe you are right.
