Description of the painting by Ilya Repin “Portrait of PS Stasova”

Description of the painting by Ilya Repin Portrait of PS Stasova

The painting is dedicated to the amazing woman Polixena Stepanovna Stasova. She was an active public figure. Fought for the rights of women and defended the need for their education. The artist tried to convey the inner world of the famous Russian woman.

On the canvas depicts a woman. She sits on a high-backed chair. The chair is made of dark wood, varnished. The upholstery of the piece of furniture is made of velvety fabric of green color in dark speck. Such light, soft upholstery of the chair favorably emphasizes Polyksena Stasova’s figure. Such furniture has always been exclusively for wealthy people, which indicates Stasova’s good position in society. There is a wealth in their family, and it can be engaged in socially useful work, instead of domestic hard work. Another small luxury item at work is the golden watch on the lady’s right hand. Perhaps this is all the details indicating the wealth of the Stasov family. She put her left hand on the arm of the chair.

We see that this is a modest woman wearing a black long dress. There are no patterns or embroidery on it. Only small black ruffles are visible at the top of the dress. Instead of a collar, a small white jabot is seen on Stasova. This detail of the wardrobe is repeated on the woman’s cuffs – wide white ruffles are knocked out from under the sleeves. Stasov hair loose. The woman only slightly fastened them on the back of his head, allowing the lush black hair to lie freely on her shoulders.

Stasova Polyxena is no longer young, she is 40 years old at the time of writing the picture. The woman is shown a little tired. It is immediately evident that she gives a lot of strength and energy to her work. Her eyes are calm, a little stern, but still radiate kindness. Her lips are depicted in a slight smile, her right eyebrow is raised.


1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

Description of the painting by Ilya Repin “Portrait of PS Stasova”