Perov was a passionate hunter. But this painting is not so much a reminder of his hobby as a well thought-out creative task. In 1870, for the painting The Bird-Catcher (1870, GTG), the artist received the title of professor and position of a teacher at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Realising the responsibility of such work, Perov decides to paint a picture that would prove his skill. By this time, he had moved away from dramatic themes of national life in his art, he was not seeking to “reveal the ills of society,” but chooses scenes depicting “small” mercies of “ordinary” people. The frontal composition consists of three different characters: an experienced hunter-liar, a credulous novice and a person doubting the veracity of the story. The characters are depicted against a simple autumn landscape, and the foreground is filled with a carefully thought-out still-life: shot game and a hare, a hunting rifle, a game-bag and a horn. Painted in a classic brownish colour range, the picture is consonant with The Hunter's Sketches by I.S. Turgenev and demonstrates a new stage in the creative work of Perov as a genre painter.
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow