Painting by Vasily Perov “Troika” has a trivial plot for its time and a difficult history of writing. It was difficult for the artist to find models for the heroes of his painting: children who are forced to pull a huge barrel of water. The easiest thing was with the side characters – models for them were found quickly, but for a long time I could not find a model for the average hero. There were practically no people willing to pose in the workshop.

At first, Perov made many sketches, painted sketches, trying to find suffering and torment in the child’s face. The artist has already found the composition, has built a troika, but the face of the average cabman has not yet appeared. And just as he was passing by a crowd of poor children, he noticed a boy. Perov managed to find the parents of this child, they were simple peasants. Since there were many superstitions among the people about the painted people, the mother did not allow the artist to work with her son for a long time. But after that she gave permission.

When the painting was completed, it was a great success. All visitors to the exhibition were amazed at the hopelessness and ill-fated fate of these children. After some time, the gallery workers noticed that the same visitor comes to the picture every day, and stands in front of it in tears. It soon became clear that this woman was the mother of the “average cab” who had recently died of typhus. The sad story of this woman was passed on to Perov, who immediately decided to meet with her. At the meeting, the unhappy mother begged to sell her the painting, offering her last money. Of course, this was impossible, but Vasily Grigorievich, in order to console his mother, painted a portrait of her son, which he presented to her.

The painting “Troika” still impresses with its expressiveness and emotionality. And from the numerous sketches and sketches, you can view the entire history of work on the canvas and trace the thoughts and views of the artist.

Year of painting: 1866.

Dimensions of the painting: 51.5 x 65.8 cm.

Material: canvas.

Writing technique: oil.

Genre: genre painting.

Style: realism.

Gallery: State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.