The so-called portrait-type became widespread in the Russian art of the 1870s. Artists created images of various social strata. Forester by I.N. Kramskoi is one of them. He is depicted almost in full height as if coming out of the forest. The diagonally placed stick, which is obviously in his hand, enhances the sense of movement. Such an interpretation gives the traits of genre painting to the portrait and brings to mind works by V. A. Tropinin, if not for Kramskoi’s objectivity in the depiction of his model. His expressive round eyes piercing the viewer, a slightly strained expression of the face testify to the documentary accuracy of the portrait image and give an internal expressiveness to it.
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow