Etude lying to the boy's painting 'The Court Pugachev' 

Vasily Perov made this study for his painting 'The Court of Pugachev' in the late 1870s, likely using oil on canvas. It depicts a young man lying down, seemingly exhausted or ill. Perov was a key figure in the Russian realist movement, and his art often engaged with themes of social inequality and the plight of the common person. In Tsarist Russia, art academies followed strict rules; however, Perov and his contemporaries pushed against institutional constraints, seeking a new form of public art. This study, while preparatory, offers insight into the way Perov was thinking through the tragic story of Yemelyan Pugachev and the peasant rebellion he led against Catherine the Great. To understand this work fully, one needs to look at the socio-political conditions of 19th-century Russia, as well as the history of Russian art institutions, especially the Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions that Perov helped found. In doing so, the contingent nature of art and its interpretation can be better understood.