This is At The Dacha, Summer, painted by Sergei Vinogradov (1839-1938, what a period of Russian history to have lived through). Vinogradov spent WWI at the dacha, or country micro-cottage/wooden shack, of his fellow painter Konstantin Korovin, designing war posters. By way of contrast, this undated painting is almost too pretty. Maybe designing war posters makes you long to paint sunlight, chairs with purple fringing and armfuls of flowers. I like to think so.
I am very interested in dachas, an 18th century idea that somehow survived - with adaptations - revolution, war and the collapse of communism. If you are interested in them too, I recommend Anna Benn and Fyodor Savintsev’s informative and visually fascinating book, from which I learned that, because of dachas, Russians remain the largest owners of second homes in the world. Here is a quote from Anna Benn’s introduction:
‘Today dacha living is remembered by many with nostalgia. In the late 20th century, the dacha played a crucial part in the childhood of millions of Russians. Often presided over by grandparents while parents worked in the city through the summer, Soviet children particularly recall the values instilled in them by their babushkas (grandmothers), the venerated matriarchs of the dacha. This is a fondly-remembered, sun-drenched world of growing and pickling, foraging and making, that many believe is now being lost as dacha settlements are subsumed into suburbia and old wooden ‘summer houses’ are replaced with more substantial permanent dwellings, constructed from breezeblock, brick and plastic’.
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I think I want a chaise longue (that looks very peculiar - but according to OED it is the correct spelling). And she must have rushed out and picked everything to fill every vase and and then shut the door and peacefully got on with her book (I'm assuming it is a book and not darning on such a day).
I’ve always loved Russian history and the idea of having a dacha has always appealed. So quietly elegant. Thanks for sharing ❤️