1911
Oil on canvas
119 х 122

The work is executed in the manner of neo-primitivism, a movement in Russian art of the early 20th century. The artist breathes new life into the domestic genre, to assert, using a robust parody, the inherently valuable expressiveness of artistic form, even with substance lacking. The painting is a challenge to all received values of classic art. Larionov is being ironic when comparing a soldier reclining under a fence to "Venus at rest". "Venus" is also present in the drawings featured on the fence. It is not masterpieces of painting that the artist targets but stereotypes of perception. The picture is painted using rough colours, but when seen in the context of the overall colour scheme they do not look out of line. The colour-conscious artist triumphs with his Rabelaisian theme. The colourful brushstrokes applied vie with "glossy" painting, a benchmark of achievement for many. The devices of epatage and grotesque set the distance between the artist, versed in the choice of depictive means, and the unsophisticated viewer who in art looks for forms and themes that are familiar to his eye.

at 10, Krymsky Val, Hall 1