Bogdanov-Belsky chose an interesting topic, which he revealed to the viewer on his canvas "New Hosts".
Here is a family sitting and drinking tea at the table.
The usual picture, but there is something to think about if you look at it better.
So what makes this painting so special? What is my attitude to the events taking place here?
The family itself does not raise any questions.
We can say about them that they are peasants.
Here is a samovar on the table, and simple glasses almost in front of each of them, and ordinary bagels serve as a treat for tea.
But still, it is felt that these people are not ordinary, who sip a fragrant drink from saucers in a rural way.
The sown fright that settled in their eyes draws the attention of the viewer, who notices inconsistencies.
Why are they so uncomfortable? The picture doesn't fit together.
These ordinary people sit on expensive chairs made to order from quality materials.
Yes, and some items from the service, standing right there on the table, and these are porcelain cups, and a teapot, they say that they were not born and raised in this house.
Everything here is still alien and unusual to them.
And the house itself somehow bears little resemblance to a peasant's hut.
Columns, high ceilings, some items from the decoration in the house show that they are still guests here.
Perhaps they bought this estate from the ruined former owner, but do not yet feel comfortable in it.
The artist clearly emphasizes all the details that separate the residents from the house in which they are now located.
Its white walls are still cold for them.
Time will pass and they will redo everything in their own way.
The head of the family, with his inherent mastery, may start a grand renovation here, which everyone will be happy about.
And then they will begin to get used to housing, and the house will “register” them as their owners.
Then the picture will sound harmonious.
The painter specifically uses cold tones to show coolness and lack of comfort.
Yes, and on the faces he shows some embarrassment.
Thanks to this, the picture looks believable.
I even want to come up with a continuation of the story, the plot of which the author begins to tell with his work.
Composition based on the painting by N. P. Bogdanov-Belsky “New owners”
Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky is a talented Russian artist. He was born on December 8, 1868, was the illegitimate son of a farm worker. He received an excellent education, studied painting at the Imperial Academy of Arts.
A significant place in the work of this outstanding artist is occupied by the theme of the peasantry: the life of the family, traditions, the lives of children. His paintings “Mental account. In the folk school of S. A. Rachinsky”, “At the door of the school”, “Sunday reading in a rural school” are devoted to this particular topic. The well-known canvas “New Owners”, on which the artist reflects the life of a peasant family in a former landowner's house, was no exception. The picture reflects that period of time in the history of Russia, when there was a widespread ruin of the nobles, and merchants or wealthy peasants, who were once the servants of their masters, became the new owners of the manor's chambers. The prototype of the estate depicted on the canvas was Ushakov's estate in the village of Ostrovno, located on the shores of Lake Udomlya.
The painting depicts a large peasant family during a tea party. On a round table, covered with a snow-white tablecloth with light blue stripes, stands a samovar polished to a shine. In addition to him, there are simple glasses of tea near each member of the family. Only a little boy drinks tea from an expensive china cup. Bagels lie in the middle of the table.
In the center is the head of the family - an elderly man, with gray hair and a large beard, in a burgundy blouse and a black vest. He sits confidently and decorously drinks tea from a saucer. To his right, on mahogany chairs, apparently, his sons, the eldest and the youngest, settled down. They drink tea from saucers, dressed in simple peasant clothes: cloth jackets, blouses, trousers. Men sit uncertainly, in their postures one feels stiffness, a feeling of inconvenience and unusualness of the situation. To the right of the head of the family sits a middle-aged woman in a pink blouse with beads hanging around her neck. Her head, covered with a blue scarf, is lowered down: a woman is pouring tea from a small white teapot. She has a serious look, only a smile is barely noticeable on her lips. To her right are two young women, probably the sons' wives. They are also dressed in traditional peasant clothing of the time: simple jackets and long skirts.
In addition to adults, two more children are sitting at the table: a blond girl of about six and a boy, a little older than her. He is dressed in a plaid kosovorotka, intercepted at the waist with a belt, and simple short pants. The boy's bare feet rested unsteadily on the bar of a chair. Children are shackled more than others: the boy, depicted in the foreground, bent over, tucked his bare feet under him and, as if hiding from everyone. Perhaps, earlier he did not dare to enter the master's chambers, doing work in the yard, but now he is sitting at the former master's table and feels insecure.
Despite the simplicity of the clothes, it is impossible not to notice that they are of good quality, clean and tidy, without holes and patches. Apparently, before us are wealthy peasants who were able to buy out the former master's quarters and are now full-fledged new owners. However, even such attire is in contrast to the rich decoration of the pillared room. A picture hangs on the wall in a thick gilded frame, to the left of it there is a beautiful grandfather clock, the furniture is solid, refined and expensive. Ample light enters through the wide casement window. There are no curtains and you can see that it is a clear autumn day outside: the sky is blue, clear and cloudless, there are few leaves left on the tree, the ground is covered with a yellow-green carpet.
New owners. Tea Party - Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky
Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky came from a poor family, but he was able to reach extraordinary heights in creativity, to a famous painter who painted with equal inspiration - both portraits of emperors and faces of peasant children.
He understood and loved the countryside, rural children, Russian endless fields and green forests.
The artist preferred to spend summers in the Udomelsky Territory of the Tver Region, where his painting “New Owners. Tea drinking. The picture is not quite simple, as it seems at first glance. To some extent, it reflects a certain stage in the changing life of peasants and nobles. Changes began to occur in 1861, after the abolition of serfdom.
The fact is that after this reform, capitalism began to develop actively in Russia. The nobility is gradually losing its position in society and weakening economically.
Many noble families went bankrupt and became poor, sold or mortgaged land. When the First World War began, there were very few nobles left in the villages. They had to sell their estates for nothing and leave for the city. This is such a moment in history that was reflected in the picture of Bogdanov-Belsky.
A family sits in front of us for tea. These are the new owners, who have just bought the estate of the landowners Ushakovs from the village of Ostrovno. The fact that the event took place quite recently is evidenced by some disorder in things in the right corner of the picture, as well as a portrait in a beautiful gilded frame.
The portrait, apparently of the former owner, was not even removed from the wall. And, perhaps, the newly-made owners themselves do not fully believe their new position in this house. This can be confirmed by the somewhat constrained postures of all the characters.
We can only guess what these people are thinking. Perhaps they still have fresh in their memory the recent times when they served on this estate as servants, grooms and cooks, they might not even let someone into the house. Maybe the head of the family depicted in the picture was the manager or clerk of the former landowner. And now they own all this property, but there is still some doubt and uncertainty in their eyes and behavior.
But their sedateness, peasant thoroughness is visible in everything - in ordinary dishes and food, in simple, but good-quality and new clothes. Bogdanov-Belsky, as always, depicts the smallest details with photographic accuracy - every cell, every fold on the shirts and skirts of the characters in the picture, the smoothed tuft on the head of the middle son and his large peasant hands.
Tassels on the tablecloth, carvings on the mahogany armchair, transparent glass of glasses and the shine of the samovar on the table are also carefully painted. The artist built the plot of the picture in contrast - the remains of a rich interior (clocks, paintings, furniture made of expensive wood, a garden outside the window) and a simple family of a wealthy peasant who now manages here.
Thanks to this contradiction, it is easier for us to understand what is happening and the plot of the picture itself. Draw a parallel and re-read with a new look the classics - "The Cherry Orchard" by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.
The name of the artist Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky was forgotten, although many of his paintings became textbooks. There are no serious studies or art albums about his life and work. He did not even get into the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Russian Artists.
Nikolai Petrovich was born in the village of Shopotovo, Smolensk province. The son of a poor woman from the Belsky district, he studied at the monastery. He painted icons with enthusiasm, as well as portraits of monks from nature. The successes of the young artist were such that they started talking about him as a talent, and assigned him to the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.
Pupils. 1901
From the age of 18, Bogdanov-Belsky began to live by his work.
“In my soul, everything that I lived for many years of childhood and adolescence in the village was resurrected ...”
Bogdanov-Belsky, or “Bogdash,” as his comrades called him, was a very kind and cheerful person. He paid especially much attention and love to peasant children, for whom there were always a large number of candies and nuts in the deep pockets of his deep jacket. And the children, getting to know him better, greeted him especially warmly, asking at the same time: “But when we write, we are always happy to stand for you and can come to you in new shirts.”
New fairy tale. 1891 In his persistent desire to write children, the world of childhood, where everything is real, without guile and falsehood, is also clearly visible:
"Unless you ... are like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven."
And those around him responded to this call. Already being an accomplished master, Bogdanov-Belsky received a letter from one teacher:
“You are one of us! Many artists know how to paint children, only you know how to write in defense of children ... "
A sick teacher. 1897 In 1920, Bogdanov-Belsky left for Petrograd, and from there to Latvia. His wife persuaded Bogdanov-Belsky to go abroad. He left light, leaving most of his belongings and paintings for safekeeping by local residents. It is difficult to say whether Bogdanov-Belsky himself believed in his return, but the reasons that prompted him to leave his homeland were, of course, much deeper than the persuasion of his wife.
Sunday reading at a rural school. 1895 To characterize the work of the deeply national and original artist Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky, most art critics use the epithet "peasant" (for example, a peasant artist). But he was, first of all, a talented painter who had been trained in the best art institutions and with wonderful teachers. For the “illegitimate son of a poor woman” (the words of the artist himself) studied at the beginning in the icon-painting workshop at the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (1882-1883), then at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture under V. Polenov, V. Makovsky, I. Pryanishnikov (1884-1889), at the Academy of Arts under I. Repin. In Paris, he visited for some time the studios of the French teachers F. Cormon and F. Colarossi.
By reading the newspaper. news from the war. 1905 
Village friends. 1912 
Children at the piano. 1918 
For a book. 1915 Perhaps the most distinctive feature of almost all the paintings of the painter: the very kindness that the artist put into them when creating comes from them (look at his paintings “At the Sick Teacher”, 1897; “Students”, 1901).
Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky died in 1945 at the age of 77 in Germany and was buried at the Russian cemetery in Berlin.
Virtuoso. 
Visitors. 1913 
Teacher's birthday. 1920 
To work. 1921 
New owners. Tea drinking. 1913 
Children. Balalaika game. 1937 
Away. 1930 
Latgalian girls. 1920 
Little girl in the garden 
Crossing. 1915 
For reading the letter. 1892 
Lady on the balcony. Portrait of I.A. Yusupova. 1914 
Portrait of M.P. Abamelek-Lazareva 
Portrait of Adjutant General P.P. Hesse. 1904 
Bogdanov-Belsky Nikolai Petrovich. Self-portrait. 1915 Composition based on the painting: N. P. Bogdanov-Belsky "New owners".
N. P. Bogdanov-Belsky is one of the outstanding Russian artists. His name has been unjustly forgotten. Now it rightfully stands on a par with such names as I. Repin, I. Shishkin, V. Vasnetsov and others.
In his work, N.P. Bogdanov-Belsky very often refers to the theme of the peasantry. He draws peasant children, the life of a peasant family. The painting "New Masters" is a reflection of the realities of the time when former slaves became the owners of the estates of the squandered nobles.
The painting depicts a peasant family drinking tea. They sit at a round table on mahogany chairs. The rich furnishings of the living room contrast with the clothes of the owners of the house. Expensive, refined furniture, a picture in a gilded frame, a clock on the wall - all this went to the new owners from the former owners of the estate. The new owners are dressed in simple peasant clothes: blouses, simple trousers, cloth jackets.
The whole family sat sedately at the table. They drink tea from a samovar. Almost everyone has saucers in their hands, from which they loudly sip tea poured into simple glasses. Only the younger boy on the left has tea poured into an expensive porcelain cup. Bagels are lying right on the tablecloth - a favorite delicacy for tea in a peasant family.
When looking at the picture, you pay attention to the fact that the peasants are sitting at the table somewhat constrained. It is probably still fresh in their memory how they entered this drawing room at the call of a mistress or master, stopped in indecision at the door. And the landowner's family was sitting at the table. On the table were expensive silverware.
Now the former owners are gone, and they - simple peasants - are sitting at this expensive table in a room that once made them tremble. They have not yet got used to their position as the owners of the landowner's estate. And the autumn garden looks with curiosity through the uncurtained window.
Description of the painting by N. P. Bogdanov-Belsky "New owners".
The name of the outstanding Russian artist Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky was unfairly forgotten. But nevertheless, now it quite rightly stands on a par with such names as Shishkin, Vasnetsov, Repin and others.
Often in his work, the artist touches on the theme of the peasantry. He draws the life of a simple peasant family, peasant children. The painting "New Masters" reflects the realities of those times when the nobles squandered their estates, and their former slaves became their masters.
The artist painted the painting "New Owners" in the Udomlya region, in the village of Ostrovno. And as a background for depicting events, the artist painted the hall of the estate of the former landowners Ushakovs. The events taking place in the picture are taking place everywhere and throughout Russia. Ruined, the nobles sold their family estates to wealthy merchants and peasants. The disappearing world of noble estates is the theme that Bogdanov-Belsky addresses in his picture.
The interior has a huge meaning in this picture. It depicts the remnants of former luxury and splendor: a picture in a heavy frame hanging on the wall, a large grandfather clock, expensive furniture - everything is left from the former owners of the estate. But now the owners here are simple peasants - in a place that once made them tremble. They are now the owners of the landlord's estate, but they have not yet got used to this position.
In the picture we see a family of peasants drinking tea. They sit on mahogany chairs at a round table. Their simple peasant clothing contrasts with the rich furnishings of the living room: exquisite furniture, a picture in a gilded frame. Former peasants with the whole family sedately settled down at the table. Everyone drinks tea from a large samovar. Almost everyone holds a saucer in their hands, from which tea is loudly sipped, which is poured into simple glasses. Only the youngest boy drinks tea from an expensive china cup. And right on the tablecloth lies a favorite delicacy of a peasant family - bagels.
Looking at the picture, you immediately notice how constrainedly the peasants are sitting at the table. Surely, they have not yet forgotten how not so long ago they entered this room only at the call of the master or lady, stopping at the door in indecision. And through the window, not covered with curtains, the autumn garden, transparent air and bare tree trunks look with curiosity. It is the contrast of the interior of the noble estate with the images of heroes in simple clothes that shows the viewer the essence of what is happening and helps to imagine life in this house.
