Fortune teller 1870

Vasily Vereshchagin made "Fortune Teller" with oil paint. Oil paint is traditionally seen as an elevated artistic medium, but here its smooth finish almost clashes with the raw subject matter. Look closely at the clothing. The figures appear to be wearing garments of Central Asian origin. Perhaps felted wool, pieced together, embroidered, and adorned with trade beads, maybe even metal findings. These details signal a wealth of cultural information. Were these textiles produced through skilled labor? And if so, how do we account for their distressed condition? The work’s material qualities, from the oil paint to the imagined textiles, ask us to consider labor, trade, and the narratives of cultural exchange embedded within them. By attending to the making and the materials of this painting, we recognize the interconnectedness of art, craft, and social context.