The social elements of the countryside theme are brightly incarnated in this painting by Fyodor Vasilyev. The cart ruts in the twisting road in the foreground evoke the impression of the poverty and hopelessness of peasant life. The lonely figure of the peasant woman disappearing into the distance adds spatial depth to the landscape.

Vasilyev Fyodor

Vasilyev, Fyodor Alexandrovich
1850, Gatchina (St Petersburg Province) -1873, Yalta
Painter, landscapist. Studied under Ivan Kramskoi at the evening classes of the School of Drawing, Society for the Encouragement of Artists (1863-67) and under the restorer Ivan Sokolov at the Imperial Academy of Arts (from 1865). Worked under Ivan Shishkin on the island of Balaam (1867). Extern student of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1871; did not attend classes). Accompanied Ilya Repin and Ivan Makarov on a trip down the Volga (1870). Class artist (1872), reduced to honorary fellow (1873). Member of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists (from 1868). Contributed to the exhibitions of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists (1867-73; with interval), Imperial Academy of Arts (1872, 1873) and Moscow Society of Lovers of the Arts (1872).