Youth
Andrei Sokolov managed to fight in the Civil War, and lost his parents and sister in the famine of 1922. Worked at a factory, got married. In 1929, he studied car business and began working as a driver. Sokolov remembers his wife with love and repentance. It especially gnaws at him that at the moment of farewell, he rudely pushed away the crying Irina. An enduring feeling of guilt towards the dead is characteristic of him, like many good people. The hero proudly talks about his son and two daughters. Family is the most important thing he treasured, the most terrible loss of all he experienced.
“Blessing” with a brush: first watercolor paintings
Peter Sokolov. Portrait of Nikita Muravyov (fragment). 1824. All-Russian Museum A.S. Pushkin, St. Petersburg
Peter Sokolov. Portrait of Alexey Peschurov. All-Russian Museum of A.S. Pushkin, St. Petersburg
Peter Sokolov. Portrait of Sergei Volkonsky (fragment). End of 1816–beginning of 1817. State Museum of A.S. Pushkin, Moscow
After graduating from the Academy, Sokolov began looking for work: he took on any paintings, gave private lessons. Soon he managed to get a job as an art teacher in the wealthy Levashov family. They became his first noble customers. Pyotr Sokolov drew portraits with pencil and chalk on dark brown paper: he applied light with chalk, refined shadows with pencil, and created halftones in the color of the paper.
A family friend, State Councilor Alexei Peschurov, learned about the problem with money. He hired the artist into his department: the painter was on the payroll and received a monthly salary. Sokolov was a frequent guest in the official’s house and painted portraits of Peschurov, his wife and sister. The State Councilor recommended the young man to his friends. Small portraits were very popular in those years: they could be taken on the road and did not require grueling posing sessions. Sokolov's works were given to friends and sent to relatives in other cities. He painted salon visitors and representatives of high society, with whom Peschurov introduced the artist. Gradually Sokolov replaced pencil with watercolor. Most often we ordered wedding portraits. Once they told Sokolov: “Now we can’t do without you, Pyotr Fedorovich, like we can’t do without a priest, if you don’t bless with your talented hand, then the marriage is considered invalid.”
After the sessions, Sokolov tried to maintain good relations with clients - they began to invite him to receptions and recommend him to friends. The painter’s son, also Peter, later wrote: “...Since he was very handsome and always dressed elegantly, he was willingly invited to evenings and to private houses.”
During the session, Pyotr Sokolov only painted the model’s face, sometimes outlining the figure with strokes, and finished the portrait in his home workshop. Dresses or uniforms were brought there, the artist dressed the mannequin, straightened the clothes so that the fasteners and folds looked beautiful, and then took up his brush. Sokolov’s son, Alexander, later wrote: “Pyotr Fedorovich achieved complete perfection in the rendering of accessories: the confusion of the lace pattern in the endless variety of folds was conveyed to him with photographic fidelity, but, of course, not so lifelessly and dryly; was transmitted, it seemed, so simply and with such ease...”
As soon as the portraits began to bring in a stable income, Pyotr Sokolov resigned from service in the department and left the Levashovs’ house, with whom he lived for four years.
War
The hero goes to the front immediately after the start of the war. Talking about the first months of the retreat, he casually, casually indicates his opinion about a person’s duty in war: “That’s why you are a man, a soldier, to endure everything, to endure everything, if need calls for it.” Sokolov is not a professional military man. This is a peaceful man who took up arms when the Motherland needed protection from enemies. And he is ready for hardships, difficulties, even suffering, if necessary. This is the main core of the image.
The episode where Andrei kills a traitor on the first night of captivity causes a lot of controversy. The question of the admissibility of evil as a weapon in the fight against other evil is decided unequivocally by Sholokhov. According to Sokolov himself, he kills not a person, but a “creeping reptile.” There is a war going on, and the murdered Kryzhnev at this moment is as much an enemy as the Nazis. The hero is simply doing his duty.
Many who wrote about “The Fate of Man” noted as Sholokhov’s special merit the fact that he brought captured soldiers out of accusations of betrayal and cowardice. The character created by Mikhail Alexandrovich deserves special respect, because surviving in a concentration camp is a real feat. Here the enemies have complete power. It is impossible to fight them as in a battle, on equal terms. You can only die without losing your dignity, without showing your weakness. Andrei demonstrates this readiness to die, but not to yield in a moral confrontation, in the scene of the duel with Commandant Muller. Exhausted by hunger and overwork, the prisoner reveals unprecedented strength of spirit: “I have my own, Russian dignity and pride,” “They didn’t turn me into a beast.”
Escape from captivity and return to the front add to Sokolov’s portrait such qualities as determination, courage, and the ability to take risks.
Popular writings
- Essay based on Lermontov's poem The Cliff (6th grade)
M.Yu. Lermontov is a poet with a very sensitive and subtle soul. Poetry and nature helped him describe his experiences through hidden images. He wrote the poem “The Cliff” at the end of his life - Essay I love my Motherland Russia
We love our Motherland, from small to large, this is our birthplace, our land, here we were born. There is no better country than ours, no more beautiful and colorful landscapes than ours. Traveling our roads - Essay Don - my favorite river
My favorite river, of course, is the Don. My grandparents are on the Don. I really like this river - it is very powerful, wide, there are a lot of fish in it and ships sail along it.
After the war
The war orphaned Andrei Sokolov. On the day of its completion, May 9, 1945, he loses the last member of his family - his son Anatoly, he was killed by a German sniper. Now there is nowhere and no one to return to. He is not trying to find his home. “Melancholy doesn’t allow you to stay in one place,” he admits to his interlocutor.
The adoption of Vanyusha was not an attempt to find a family, a new home. Vanyusha does not heal the wounds of his soul. Andrey also wakes up on a pillow wet from tears, his heart also clenches in pain at the thought of his loved ones. The orphan boy needed love and care, a loved one. And Andrei became such a person.
In pursuit of a government education: student at the Academy of Arts
Peter Sokolov. Andromache's lament over Hector's body (fragment). 1809. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Pyotr Sokolov was born into a wealthy Moscow family. However, financial well-being did not last long: the father of the future painter, Fyodor Sokolov, was a gambler and lost the house with all his property at cards. The head of the family died when the future artist was not even a year old. The mother raised her son alone. There was not enough money, and in 1800 they moved to St. Petersburg: there was a better chance of getting an education at public expense. With the help of a familiar official, actual Privy Councilor Alexei Peschurov, Pyotr Sokolov was assigned to the Educational School at the Academy of Arts, and soon to the Academy itself. Boys aged 8-9 from poor families were taken there. Sokolov was 13 at that time. Then his mother decided to reduce his age and, upon admission to the Academy, wrote down a different year of birth in the column - 1791.
Pyotr Sokolov studied in the most prestigious class of historical painting at that time. His teachers were famous artists Alexey Egorov and Vasily Shebuev. In 1805, Sokolov received his first award - a small silver medal for one of his student drawings. At the Academy, Sokolov met and became friends first with Fyodor Bryullov, and then with his younger brothers Alexander and Karl.
“From some of my father’s often humorous stories that have survived in my memory, we can conclude that his stay at the academy could not leave him with any sweet memories: the food was rough, uniforms were made new only for graduating students; everything that was torn and worn out was worn by the lower classes, falling into a completely shapeless state.”
Alexander Sokolov, son of the artist
In 1809, the student completed his diploma painting “Andromache’s Lament over the Body of Hector.” The young painter was awarded a small gold medal for his work. This grade was not enough to qualify for further studies in Italy: the Academy of Arts sponsored trips only for winners of a large gold medal. Petr Sokolov decided to stay for another year, but he failed to get a medal a second time. In 1810 he graduated from the Academy with the title of “free artist”.
Conclusion
The image of Andrei Sokolov is one of the most striking images in the literature of the 20th century. His courage lies not only in his inner readiness for heroism, but also in his ability to fulfill his duty after difficult trials and terrible losses. Sokolov lives because he still has somewhere to apply his strength, there is someone to warm with the warmth of his soul. The essence of his character is the natural desire to do good, to bring benefit where it is needed. Without formulating his principles in literary pathetic phrases, the hero fulfills his human destiny on earth - he lives, works, fights for the sake of continuing life on earth, so that there is less grief and evil around him.
Characteristics of the image of Andrei Sokolov can be useful when writing essays and for preparing literature lessons.
“In love to the point of adoration”: marriage to Bryullov’s sister
Peter Sokolov. Portrait of Idalia Poletica. 1820s. State Museum of Fine Arts named after. A.S. Pushkin, Moscow
Peter Sokolov. Portrait of Yulia Sokolova. Around 1827. State Museum of A.S. Pushkin, Moscow
Peter Sokolov. Portrait of an unknown woman in a dark red hat (fragment). 1828. State Museum of A.S. Pushkin, Moscow
Pyotr Sokolov often visited the Bryullovs. In the house, the artist met Yulia Bryullova, the younger sister of his friends at the Academy: Fyodor, Alexander and Karl Bryullov. Sokolov immediately fell in love with the girl, she reciprocated his feelings. In 1820, the young people got married.
“Live, flirtatious, almost a child (she was married when she was sixteen), she was never bored with him. She loved social life, and her husband, who was in love with her to the point of adoration, apparently completely shared her tastes. In addition, the type of his painting, elegant, portraiture, mainly suitable for depicting delicate female faces and outfits, naturally introduced him into the circle of high society people and interests; he was generous and devoted to “woman” in the collective sense of the word.”
Alexandra Isakova, granddaughter of the artist
There were famous guests at the wedding. The father seated at the celebration was the Smolensk military governor, Count Stepan Apraksin.
Portraits of the Imperial Family and Russian Nobility
Peter Sokolov. Portrait of Vasily Zhukovsky. 1820s. Museum V.A. Tropinin and Moscow artists of his time, Moscow
Peter Sokolov. Portrait of Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich. 1828. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Peter Sokolov. Portrait of Praskovya Annenkova. 1825. Private collection
The artist knew many noble people: maid of honor Natalya Stroganova, Prince Sergei Volkonsky, Princess Ekaterina Dolgorukaya - they all posed for the portrait painter. Sokolov assessed his success as follows: “My abilities were received favorably by the public.”
In 1820, the painter painted Alexander Vitberg, the architect of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, and the poet Vasily Zhukovsky. Zhukovsky presented his portrait to Alexander Pushkin, who had recently completed the poem “Ruslan and Lyudmila.”
In 1821, Pyotr Sokolov was invited to the Anichkov Palace. The artist had to create a portrait of the three-year-old Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich - the future Emperor Alexander II. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna praised the work, and Sokolov painted the three little daughters of Nicholas I. Since then, the painter began to often receive orders from the imperial family.
“The entire high society willingly went to spend a pleasant hour of time in the artist’s studio and, moreover, as much out of respect for the artist as their affection for a person who was extremely sociable, cheerful and although he did not have a salon gloss and foreign jargons, often covering up complete vacuity , but on the other hand, in terms of his moral decency and intelligence, he converged with anyone who possessed these qualities.”
Alexander Sokolov, magazine "Russian Antiquity"
In 1824, Pyotr Sokolov painted Maria Volkonskaya and Praskovya Annenkova, the wives of the future Decembrists. Ekaterina Muravyova, the mother of two participants in the uprising, also ordered her portrait from the artist in order to send it to her sons in Siberia. One of the daughters-in-law wrote in response: “Nikita instructed me to especially thank you for your portrait, he finds it amazing; As for me, I have never seen anything more similar in my life.”
From the income from the portraits, Sokolov rented a large apartment with its own entrance in the center of St. Petersburg. And at the end of the 1830s, the family moved to a separate two-story mansion on Gryaznaya (today Nikolaevskaya) street. The wife's father and her younger brother Ivan also lived in their house.
