N.P. told me. Kudrin is an interesting case that happened to him during his youth, when he worked for his first master in Orenburg, who was forced to go somewhere far away on business, entrusting Kudrin to manage the business during his absence. At this time, a telegram was received from Karetnikov, the father of the current directors, with an order to buy 5 thousand bales of cotton, with a transfer of several tens of thousands of rubles for this purpose. Kudrin immediately began to carry out his instructions and bought 5 thousand bales of cotton, approximately 40 thousand poods, after which he telegraphed: “I bought 5 thousand bales of cotton, immediately transfer the rest of the money for payment.” I received an answer from Karetnikov: “I ordered you to buy 5 thousand poods, why did you buy 5 thousand bales?” Kudrin made a copy of his telegram, had it certified by a notary and sent it by mail, notifying him of this by telegram; as it turned out, this happened due to a telegraph error.

This incident occurred just after the British announced a blockade of the coast of America, during the North American States War. The blockade that began greatly increased the price of cotton, reaching an all-time high. Karetnikov, of course, immediately transferred all the money for 5 thousand bales of cotton.

Kudrin's returning owner sent him to the fair to hand over sent cotton to Karetnikov. Kudrin, having come to Karetnikov, brought to show him the original telegram, which said 5 thousand bales, not pounds. Karetnikov took Kudrin into his arms, kissed him and handed him a package, telling him: “This is a gift for you!” The package contained 5 thousand rubles worth of brand new series with uncut coupons. It turned out that from this mistake at the telegraph Karetnikov made several million rubles.

The second company, our big customer, was the Partnership of Vikul Morozov and his sons. The owner of this company was an Old Believer and a non-priest Vikul Eliseevich Morozov. In my time, this company was headed as a leader by a certain Ivan Kondratievich Polyakov, a businessman outstanding in intelligence and other qualities. Polyakov was tall, rather stocky, completely bald, with clear, radiant eyes, involuntarily attracting people to him, forcing them to obey him; had a strong, persistent character and had the ability to quickly navigate all difficult issues. His career began as a guard at the gates of the Vikul Eliseevich factory; his wife Nenila Karpovna washed the floors and windows there during the factory's idle days. They were young, just married. Vikul Eliseevich Morozov was a big fan of listening to the reading of the Holy Scriptures in Church Slavonic, and one of his senior employees reported: the new young watchman at the factory gate reads well, very clearly and intelligently. The owner ordered to call Ivan. He really liked his reading and told the factory manager to put him in the building for some small work.

Polyakov gradually moved higher and higher, and finally, after the death of the old manager, he was put in his place, where in a short time he managed to prove himself: he turned a relatively unimportant business into one of the most advanced. After V.E. Morozov turned his personal business into a partnership with the board in Moscow, I.K. Polyakov was chosen as director, remaining in business until it was transferred to the Soviet government.

I.K. Polyakov enjoyed great popularity both among his competitors-manufacturers and among his many customers, who had special confidence in him. Whether there was any misfortune or difficulty in business, everyone hurried to him for advice, knowing that he would wisely and usefully give it to them.

Many of his customers, who could not cope with their business due to the prevailing unfavorable conditions for them, turned to him, and he reassured them and gave advice, which was almost always in their favor.

Many of the unscrupulous buyers, wanting to quickly make a fortune, came to him, explaining their difficult situation to some unfavorable reason for them, with a request to receive 10% for the amount they owed instead of the full ruble, others 20, 30%, etc. If This could not be done without a general meeting of all creditors, so they asked Ivan Kondratyevich to speak in their defense at the meeting, knowing that the majority of manufacturers listened to his voice and acted on his advice.

Over the years, the number of such defaulters has increased a lot, and in most cases they were those who would like to quickly get rich at the expense of others. Of course, all this could not be hidden from Ivan Kondratyevich - a great intelligence and experience man - and he, pursuing the personal interests of the Partnership where he worked, began to benefit the Partnership; So, making a promise to speak in defense of the defaulter at the meeting, he told him: “You offer 20%, good! If you give our company 50%, then I will ask for you, otherwise I won’t agree!” It is clear that the majority agreed to such a proposal.

One of the large wholesalers, manufacturer Vasily Semenovich Fedotov, decided to increase his capital at the expense of his creditors, turned to I.K. Polyakov and received his consent to a certain discount with the understanding that he would support him at the meeting of creditors. Fedotov calmed down, assuming that his business was in the bag, and adopted a rather casual tone when talking with one of the major creditors, Nikolai Davidovich Morozov, still a relatively young man. N.D. Morozov, director of the Bogorodsko-Glukhovskaya manufactory, talented, energetic and eloquent, spoke at a meeting of creditors precisely against Polyakov’s proposal, demanding the appointment of a competition over Fedotov’s case, in order to once and for all discourage other defaulters from encroaching on creditors’ money. The general meeting agreed with his arguments, and a competition was established over the Fedotov case.

The competition was held quickly and very successfully for all the creditors, who received their entire debt, and this, it seems, was the first time in my life when no creditors lost during the competition, but Fedotov was severely punished *.

* V.S. Fedotov was a rather interesting type of merchant, who emerged from the ranks of clerks and achieved good prosperity, but self-interest with the desire to put an extra million in his pocket ruined him.

Fedotov was of average height, bald, with black eyes, trying not to look into your eyes; during meetings, he raised his eyelids, glanced at you quickly, and immediately lowered them; I had to observe the same look in some women, used by them as a special kind of coquetry. He was extremely nervous; when he spoke to you, he raised his eyes to the sky, his hands too, to testify that he was right, and if this, in his opinion, was not enough, he shed a tear and beat his chest. His whole figure, his whole appearance with his gestures and tears were somehow unnatural, and they especially didn’t trust him, calling him Vaska Fedotov behind his back, saying: “This Vaska will still invite us for a “cup of tea” someday.” . Among the merchants, a “cup of tea” meant a meeting of creditors with an offer of a discount. And this opinion turned out to be absolutely correct; he promptly, before the invitation to a “cup of tea,” transferred his two houses to his wife, the cost of which was approximately about 300 thousand rubles, deposited capital in her name in the bank, also 300 thousand rubles, and was sure that he provided himself with this “ black day." But it turned out, as they say, “man proposes, but God disposes”!

When the competition took place, his wife sent him out of her house, got together with some doctor and lived on the income from houses and capital. Fedotov, insulted, ruined in order to exist, became a stock market “hare” and was engaged in commission business, coming to me with various proposals. Once, during such a visit, he, pale, with eyes wandering from excitement, came to me, sat down on a chair, grabbed his head, fell on the table and sobbed. His sobs - I felt with all my soul - were sincere, and not crafty, as he had to do before to obtain any benefits; he really suffered. Water and valerian drops brought him to a calmer state, he apologized for the disturbance caused and said: “You know that I lost my entire fortune, my favorite business, abandoned by my wife, but no matter how painful it was for me, I endured. I had an only daughter who was the most precious to me. When he gave her in marriage, he awarded her fifty thousand rubles, the same number of diamonds and a dowry; whenever she came to me, I always gave something and asked her: “Do you need anything?” She was joy and love for me, I lived for her, and she was everything to me! Walking towards you at the Ilyinsky Gate, I see her coming towards me. You can imagine my unexpected joy! I rush to her... when she saw me, she turned to the side, pretending that she did not want to talk to me. It was already beyond my strength!” Soon after this incident he died.

N. Varentsov raises the problem of substitution of true values.

The author tells the story of a wealthy merchant Vasily Fedotov. This is a person whose life is driven by “the desire to put an extra million in his pocket,” and who measures everything in money. There is no word about his friends; about others it is said that he was “not particularly trusted.” Moreover, in Fedotov’s attitude towards his closest people - his wife and daughter - there is neither affection nor tenderness. The merchant uses his wife to “spread the straw”, and measures his “care” for his daughter by the sums spent on her: “I awarded her fifty thousand rubles, gave her the same amount of diamonds and a dowry, I always gave her something.”

In the end, both women turn away from the hero.

N. Varentsov is convinced that material well-being and an impressive fortune are far from the greatest value in a person’s life.

The central character of I. A. Bunin’s story “The Gentleman from San Francisco,” having substantial capital, does not have a name, because, according to the author himself, no one remembered his name anywhere. This is a person who first devoted himself to work in order to get rich, and then to pleasure in order to enjoy wealth. His sudden death doesn't really touch anyone - it's just a circumstance that ruins a good evening - and doesn't affect anything.

There is not even a coffin for him, and he is placed in a box of wine bottles. This nameless gentleman, although he acquired many material values, did not leave behind any trace either in the minds or in the hearts of people, which means that his life was truly worthless.

In A.P. Chekhov’s story “Rothschild’s Violin,” the undertaker Yakov Bronza is often dissatisfied and gloomy, because he has little work and suffers losses. He takes out his bad disposition on others, primarily on his wife. And only after her death, Yakov realizes that in his entire life he had not said a single kind word to her and regrets that he was not merciful, kind, and gentle. Sadly, the realization of the paramount importance of spiritual warmth and support from loved ones comes to the hero too late.

You should always remember that money and luxury are transitory phenomena, and love, mercy, responsiveness are a currency that will never depreciate.

Updated: 2017-05-16

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Vasily Fedotov was a rather interesting type of merchant, who emerged from the ranks of clerks and achieved good prosperity, but self-interest with the desire to put an extra million in his pocket ruined him.
Fedotov was of average height, bald, and tried not to look you in the eyes. When meeting, he raised his eyelids, glanced at you quickly and immediately lowered them; The same look, used as a special kind of coquetry, was observed in some women. He was extremely nervous; when he spoke to you, he raised his eyes to the sky, his hands too, to testify that he was right, and if this, in his opinion, was not enough, he shed a tear and beat his chest. His whole figure, his whole appearance with these gestures and tears were somehow unnatural, and they didn’t particularly trust him, calling him Vaska Fedotov behind his back, saying that this Vaska would still invite them to a “cup of tea.” Among the merchants, a “cup of tea” meant a meeting of creditors with an offer of a discount. And this opinion turned out to be absolutely correct; he promptly, before the invitation to a “cup of tea,” transferred both houses to his wife, the cost of which amounted to about three hundred thousand rubles, deposited capital in her name in the bank, also three hundred thousand rubles, and was sure: with this he secured himself for a rainy day .
But it turned out that, as they say, man proposes, but God disposes. The competition passed, and his wife escorted him out of her house. Fedotov, insulted and ruined in order to exist, became a stockbroker and, doing commission business, visited his acquaintances with various offers. Once, during such a visit, he, gloomy, unhappy, with his eyes wandering from excitement, came to me, sat down on a chair and, grabbing his head, fell on the table and sobbed. His sobs were sincere, and not sly, as he had to do before to obtain any benefits; now he was really suffering. Water and valerian drops brought him to a calmer state, he apologized for the disturbance and said:
- You know that I lost my entire fortune, my favorite business, was abandoned by my wife, but no matter how painful it was for me, I endured it. I had an only daughter who was the most precious to me. When I married her, I awarded her fifty thousand rubles, and gave her the same amount of diamonds and a dowry; whenever she came to me, I always gave her something, asked her: “Do you need anything?” She was joy and love for me, I lived for her, and she was everything to me! And on the way to you, at the Ilyinsky Gate, I see her coming towards me. You can imagine my unexpected joy! I hurry to her. When she saw me, she turned to the side, pretending that she did not want to talk to me. It was already beyond my strength!
(According to N. Varentsov)

Varentsov Nikolai Alexandrovich (1862-1947) – Moscow industrialist and public figure.

Sometimes, I think, it makes sense to introduce you, dear friends and readers, to the old, most interesting in my personal opinion and successful, posts from my old closed diary, which I once created not in the virtual space of li.ru. Here is one of the old posts taken from that early diary of mine (this post was compiled by me and then published there back in November 2006).

Pavel Andreevich Fedotov (1815-1852)

The crowd in the exhibition halls did not decrease. In front of the main canvas of the exhibition “Major's Matchmaking,” the artist Pavel Fedotov stood and, like a market barker, invited visitors to linger near the painting, explaining its contents in a syllable that he himself called a “folk drawl”:

Here is a merchant's house - there is plenty of everything in it,

One smells like a village, the other like a tavern.

But one sense is that everything was not borrowed,

How is it sometimes with you, honest gentlemen!..

The trick worked. This was the artist’s new fantasy - to explain painting in rhyming syllables, to turn onlookers into listeners, and listeners into spectators. Magazines wrote about the artist's success. “Major's Matchmaking” brought him the title of academician of painting, and his rhymed commentary earned him recognition from experts in Russian literature.

P.A. Fedotov. Major's matchmaking. 1851

Pavel Fedotov was born in Moscow on June 22, 1815 and came from the family of a very poor official, a retired ensign, and a former soldier of Catherine's times.

If the above is of interest, then read and see photo reproductions of Fedotov’s paintings (I appreciate his great talent in the field of genre painting) below. The post is relatively small in volume, and it also contains photographic reproductions of his paintings.

Fedotov P.A. Portrait of A.I. Fedotov, the artist's father. 1837. Watercolor

At the age of eleven, having received almost no scientific training, he was assigned to the 1st Moscow Cadet Corps, in which, with his brilliant abilities, academic success and exemplary behavior, he attracted the attention of his superiors and surpassed all his comrades. At fifteen he is a non-commissioned officer, at seventeen he is a sergeant major. As the best graduate of the cadet corps, Pavel is transferred to the capital, and at eighteen he becomes an ensign of the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment. He started drawing while still in the cadets, amusing his classmates with funny cartoons. In the regiment he continued to paint portraits of his colleagues, and when the Grand Duke came to the unit, Fedotov dedicated a pictorial subject to this event. The prince liked the watercolor and awarded the guardsman a diamond ring.

P.A. Fedotov. Meeting in the camp of the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich on July 8, 1837. 1838

A year later, the Grand Duke visited the regiment again. This time he was shown the painting “Consecration of Regimental Banners after the Fire in the Winter Palace”, begun by Fedotov. Soon followed by the highest Decree, allowing the artist to leave military service to study painting with the assignment of support from the treasury. However, Fedotov was in no hurry to resign.

P.A. Fedotov. Bivouac of the Life Guards Grenadier Regiment. 1843

Even in his third year of regimental service, he began attending evening classes at the Imperial Academy of Arts. It was then, as the artist put it, that his “pencil touched passers-by,” and he learned to portray “a man spat upon by fate.”

P.A. Fedotov. Officer and orderly. 1850

Meanwhile, the world that opened up to Fedotov in versification fascinated him no less than the play of colors and the harmony of lines. He composed romances and songs, performed them to the accompaniment of a seven-string guitar, altered scenes and arias from the opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila” in a humorous way, and performed the performance in front of friends. He forever remained faithful to his seven-string girlfriend - he kept a mannequin of a model with a guitar in his hands in his workshop. Contemporaries heard his romances “Cuckoo” and “Darling”, the song “Lyubochka” and the soldier’s march “Whether it’s the huntsman’s business”, sung by the Russian infantry almost until the First World War.

Fedotov joked about himself in his drawings and did not hesitate to show them to friends and acquaintances. He portrayed himself in funny or tragic pictures, often under circumstances that had never happened to him in life. On paper, canvas and cardboard, a parallel fantasy world emerged of the artist’s turbulent life, filled with courtship, gambling, engagement, marriage, love affairs, happy fatherhood and ending in a poor and frail old age. Looking at Fedotov’s drawings, it seems that he has placed the artist’s intimate world under a magnifying glass. This idea apparently occurred to Fedotov himself.

Fedotov P.A. Fresh gentleman (Morning of the official who received the first cross). 1846

P.A. Fedotov. Aristocrat's Breakfast (Unexpected Guest). 1850

P.A. Fedotov. Walk. 1837. Watercolor. [Group portrait: P.A. Fedotov in the uniform of an officer of the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment, A. I. Fedotov (the artist’s father), A. I. Kalashnikov (the artist’s half-sister)]

In the drawing he made in the hospital shortly before his death, an official nobleman in a uniform and epaulettes closely examined the artist’s confused face through a large magnifying glass in a precious frame. The lack of emotion on the nobleman’s face indicated that even under magnification he could not see anything in the painter: only eyes full of anxiety, a bristling mustache, and a mouth slightly open in a silent scream...

In a caricature written shortly after his retirement, Fedotov depicted himself in a gallant half-bow, declaring his love to a pretty young lady. The young lady's dog barked at the gentleman from under the music stand.

P.A. Fedotov. The picky bride. 1847

This episode might not have been worthy of attention if the questionnaire filled out in Fedotov’s hand when he was admitted to the psychoneurological hospital had not been preserved. Just two questions and two answers:

"When did the illness begin?" - "In June 1852."

"The first signs of a painful condition?" - “It started with a declaration of love.”

However, those fateful explanations when the artist proposed marriage to two young ladies at once are still far away, and the drawing in question was just a funny joke.

Friends considered Fedotov a confirmed bachelor. Everyone knew his usual excuse: “The bird values ​​the branch, not the golden cage.” However, the cage was not empty in his drawings. At one of them, the wife lamented about her husband’s gray hair, and he consoled him - the bad St. Petersburg climate was to blame. The idyll of the marriage series was broken by a sketch that hinted at the spouse’s affair on the side. Having risen in bed, the owner of the familiar mustache and hairstyle discovered that the owner’s dog had chewed his shoes, thrown near the bed, and was annoyed: “Oh, what a naughty Fidelka you are!”

In 1851, the artist finished painting “The Widow” and placed an image of her deceased husband in a rich frame behind the heroine’s back, giving him his own features. God knows why Fedotov did this: the plot of the picture is inspired by the fate of his sister Lyuba, who went bankrupt after the sudden death of her husband. His own image instead of a portrait of his deceased spouse looked inappropriate to say the least.

There is nothing ostentatious, nothing deliberate, no pose in the widow’s appearance; it contains the same unvarnished truth of life that constitutes the very essence of Fedotov’s painting. In none of his previous works did he achieve such strength in expressing feelings.

Fedotov worked hard and for a long time on the picture. “About “The Widow,” exhibited in 1852, I know they will say: “It’s no wonder to do well by studying a subject for two years.” Yes, if everyone could have enough character to study the same thing for two years, so that Once you give yourself a pure direction, then good works would not be rare,” he wrote in his diary. The method of his creativity remained the same as during the creation of “The Major’s Matchmaking” - Fedotov still looked carefully at reality, and still constantly and carefully painted from life. Only the artist’s experience has become more diverse and wider, his skill has become even more perfect, and his ability to generalize has become more acute.

The artist almost finished the canvas, but the desired color scheme was not found. By nightfall, Fedotov was exhausted and went to bed. Karl Bryullov appeared to him in a dream, saying that he had to abandon his previous plan. Together they approached the painting, removed the curtain, and Bryullov, taking a brush, showed how and what colors should be mixed, where and in what order they should be applied. In the morning, Fedotov followed Bryullov’s advice exactly. It turned out great!

"The Widow" has come down to us in four versions.

P.A. Fedotov. Widow (1st version). 1851

P.A. Fedotov. Widow (2nd version). 1852

Comparing these stages of gradual maturation of the idea, it is easy to notice that Fedotov worked most persistently on the color scheme, in which he wanted to express the entire emotional mood of the picture, and on the image of the widow herself.

Just as the heroes of his satirical paintings evoke associations with the characters of Ostrovsky's plays, "The Widow" with its soulful lyricism and refined simplicity is reminiscent of the female images created by Pushkin.

The painter's fantasy - to take a place in the portrait frame on the chest of drawers near the "Widow" - turned out to be the last and fatal. Less than a year later he fell ill.

Worries and disappointment, together with the constant strain of the mind and imagination and the continuous use of hands and eyes, especially when working in the evening and at night, had a devastating effect on Fedotov’s health: he began to suffer from illness and weakness of vision, rushes of blood to the brain, and frequent headaches , grew old beyond his years, and a more and more noticeable change took place in his very character: cheerfulness and sociability were replaced in him by thoughtfulness and silence. Finally, Fedotov’s painful state turned into complete insanity. Friends and academic authorities placed him in one of the private St. Petersburg hospitals for the mentally ill, and the sovereign granted 500 rubles for his maintenance in this institution, ordering him to make all possible efforts to heal the unfortunate man. But the disease moved forward with unstoppable steps. Soon Fedotov fell into the category of restless ones. Due to poor care for him in the hospital, his friends arranged for his transfer in the fall of 1852 to the Hospital of All Who Sorrow, on the Peterhof Highway. Here he did not suffer for long and died on November 14 of the same year at the age of thirty-eight, having regained consciousness two weeks before his death.

Fedotov (Pavel Andreevich)

In the comments I will add a few more photo reproductions of paintings by P.A. Fedotov and interesting details about his painting “The Major’s Matchmaking” and the history of its painting :)

Fedotov P.A. Self-portrait
Read more about the painting by P.A. Fedotov "Major's Matchmaking"

Fedotov developed this plot not only in painting, but also in literature; he owns the poem “Amendment of Circumstances, or the Major’s Marriage,” which is a detailed poetic commentary on the picture, as well as “Raceya,” “a folk story in a drawn-out tune,” written specifically as an explanation for the “Major’s Matchmaking.” The poet-artist set himself the task of showing:

"...how people live in the world, How others chew at other people's expense."

Already in the very intonation of the poetic explanation, the artist’s satirical attitude towards his characters is expressed.
He sequentially shows first the scene of action:

Here is a merchant's house -
There's plenty of everything in it,
There’s just no point in anything:
One smells like a village,
Another tavern...

And then, one by one, all the characters:

Here is the owner-merchant himself,
The box is full of money...
What else?
Yes, you see, honor lured:
“I don’t want, you see, a guy with a beard...
At least give me a major,
Without that, I won’t give my daughter to anyone! . "
... Pankratievna the matchmaker,
Unscrupulous liar,
In brocade shugai, thick in shape,
Coming with a report
What, they say, the groom deigned to welcome...
... our bride
Foolishly he won’t find a place:
Man! stranger! Oh, what a shame!
And a smart mother
Grab her by the dress!
And so, if you please take a look,
Like in another room
The hawk threatens the turtledove, -
Like a fat, brave major,
The pocket is full of holes,
Twirls his mustache:
“I, they say, will get to the money!..”

“My work in the workshop is small: only a tenth. My main work is on the streets and in other people’s houses. I learn from life. I work, looking into both eyes,” said Fedotov.
These words are fully confirmed by a whole cycle of studies, sketches and full-scale sketches associated with the work on “The Major’s Matchmaking”.
One of Fedotov’s friends, I. Mozhaisky, tells, from the artist’s own words, how the main images of “The Major’s Matchmaking” took shape:
"... There may be such lucky people for whom imagination immediately gives the desired type. I am not one of them, and perhaps I am too conscientious to pass off a game of fantasy as possible. When I needed the type of merchant for my "Major" , I often walked around Gostiny and Apraksin Dvor, looking closely at the faces of the merchants, listening to their conversation and studying their manners. Finally, one day, at the Anichkin Bridge, I met the realization of my ideal, and not a single lucky person was assigned to Nevsky. a pleasant rendezvous, I could not be more delighted with my beauty, as I was delighted with my red beard and thick belly. I accompanied my find home, then I found an opportunity to meet him... I studied his character... and then I only brought him into my picture. “I studied one face for a whole year; what did the others cost me!”
The story is continued by another memoirist, also a close friend of the artist, who wrote from his words:
“When decorating “Matchmaking,” Fedotov first of all needed a sample of a room suitable for the plot of the picture. Under various pretexts, he entered many merchant houses, invented, looked out and remained dissatisfied. The walls there were good, but the accessories did not get along with them; the furnishings there were suitable, but the room was too bright and large. Once, walking near some Russian tavern, the artist noticed through the windows of the main room a chandelier with smoked glass, which “just fit into his picture” and immediately entered the tavern. With indescribable pleasure, I found what I had been looking for for so long. The walls, smeared with yellow-brown paint, the paintings of the most naive decoration, the ceiling decorated with painted “pouquets,” the yellowed doors - all this was completely consistent with the ideal that had been floating around in Fedotov’s imagination for so many days.
As soon as he overcame the first difficulty, a thousand others appeared. It was necessary to find the original of the merchant fastening his caftan, his wife holding (in the painting) the bride by the dress, the bride, the servants, the groom, the muslin dress, and various accessories necessary for the painting. Searching for living types throughout the wide area of ​​St. Petersburg could not be a burden to our observer; finding faces was not a very difficult matter. . . Some good-natured merchant... willingly agreed to let his person be copied, one of the officers he knew himself volunteered to serve in kind for the groom, unquestioningly donning a uniform and standing in one place for as long as Fedotov wanted. At the Tolkuchy and Andreevsky markets, our painter spotted several old women and carers... and hired them for a reasonable price... Dresses, furniture and small things were taken from friends, and objects of the same kind, too old and dirty, were chosen from shops or restaurants."
Contemporaries strongly emphasize the closeness of Fedotov’s paintings to nature, their almost documentary accuracy in recreating reality. This feature, indeed characteristic of Fedotov, was especially appreciated by his first viewers.
For those who want to take another look at P.A. Fedotov’s painting “The Major’s Matchmaking,” but in a photo reproduction with higher resolution, I am posting this option here (see below).

How simply Nikolai Aleksandrovich Varentsov describes the people he remembers, and how interesting it is to read. But he wrote in the thirties, when he was already seventy years old.

“I was in charge of selling cotton, but for the sale of other goods, such as raw silk, cheese, wool, leather, astrakhan fur, it was Bukharan Khusein Shagaziev. He was about fifty years old, short in stature, had a prominent, stubborn forehead, sparse facial hair, and high cheekbones. He dressed like a European... He looked dapper: there was a pin with a large diamond in his tie, a ring with the same diamond on his index finger, and a thick gold chain with key rings hanging on his vest. He spoke Russian quite well, with a slight accent. He had a high opinion of himself and did not like it when he had to make comments in his affairs, even in a very mild form. ... This happened because he was considered the best specialist in karakul and the Bukharians trusted him extremely and loved him. When an uncultured Asian feels that he is considered an essential person in a business, it is very difficult and unpleasant to deal with him: he becomes like a horse without a bridle.
When Shagaziev came to Moscow for the first time, someone decided to take him to the ballet at the Bolshoi Theater. This sight stunned him, as he himself told me: hundreds of beautiful half-naked women, gracefully dancing to the accompaniment of wonderful music, a striking shine from the lighting, from elegant ladies, with a depressing smell of perfume. All this turned his head, he grabbed it with his hands, assuming that he had gone crazy: after all, this is a pure illusion of a Mohammedan paradise with houris!
This performance decided his fate. He left Bukhara and his family and settled in Moscow forever.
…
He spent a lot of money on women, had beautiful and elegant wives.
One day he invited me to dinner. The hostess was young, beautiful, covered in expensive diamonds, and behaved modestly and respectably. It was noticeable that she had a great influence on him and he did not refuse her anything. Less than a month had passed after this dinner when I heard: Shagaziev had to leave Moscow for a few days due to some business, and during his absence his wife left him, taking away all the furniture and all the diamonds. At first he was killed, but soon he was consoled by another, equally beautiful and young.”

Furniture, why take it away? Eh, women!

“Vasily Semenovich Fedotov was a rather interesting type of merchant, who emerged from the ranks of clerks and achieved good prosperity, but self-interest with the desire to put an extra million in his pocket ruined him.
Fedotov was of average height, bald, with black eyes, trying not to look into your eyes; during meetings, he raised his eyelids, glanced at you quickly, and immediately lowered them; I had to observe the same look in some women, used by them as a special kind of coquetry. He was extremely nervous; when he spoke to you, he raised his eyes to the sky, his hands too, to testify that he was right, and if this, in his opinion, was not enough, he shed a tear and beat his chest. His whole figure, his whole appearance with his gestures and tears were somehow unnatural, and they especially didn’t trust him, calling him “Vaska Fedotov” behind his back, saying: “This Vaska will still invite us for a cup of tea someday.” "". Among the merchants, a “cup of tea” meant a meeting of creditors with an offer of a discount. And this opinion turned out to be absolutely correct; he promptly, before the invitation to a “cup of tea,” transferred his two houses to his wife, the cost of which was approximately about 300 thousand rubles, deposited capital in her name in the bank, also 300 thousand rubles, and was sure that he provided himself with this “ black day." But it turned out, as they say, “man proposes, but God disposes”!
When the competition took place, his wife sent him out of her house, got together with some doctor and lived on the income from houses and capital. Fedotov, insulted, ruined in order to exist, became a stock market “hare” and was engaged in commission business, coming to me with various proposals. Once, during such a visit, he, pale, with eyes wandering from excitement, came to me, sat down on a chair, grabbed his head, fell on the table and sobbed. His sobs - I felt with all my soul - were sincere, and not crafty, as he had to do before to obtain any benefits; he really suffered. Water and valerian drops brought him to a calmer state, he apologized for the disturbance caused and said: “You know that I lost my entire fortune, my favorite business, abandoned by my wife, but no matter how painful it was for me, I endured. I had an only daughter who was the most precious to me. When he gave her in marriage, he awarded her fifty thousand rubles, gave her the same amount of diamonds and a dowry; whenever she came to me, I always gave something and asked her: “Do you need anything?” She was joy and love for me, I lived for her, and she was everything to me! Walking towards you at the Ilyinsky Gate, I see her coming towards me. You can imagine my unexpected joy! I rush to her... when she saw me, she turned to the side, pretending that she did not want to talk to me. It was already beyond my strength!”
He died shortly after this incident."