Boris Kustodiev (1878–1927) portrayed the lavish lifestyle of the provincial merchant class (Merchant’s Wife 1915, Shrovetide 1916, Merchant’s Wife at Tea 1918). Much of his artistic heritage is given over to pictures depicting all the originality of Russian folk life, with its bright fairs, noisy bazaars and merry public festivities at Shrovetide. The artist loved everything Russian — wooden utensils, painted toys, garish sarafans and headscarfs, peasant huts with traditional carvings. Much of this defined the style of his works — decorative, gaudy colours and somewhat simplified interpretation of form.
In the Portrait of Fyodor Chaliapin (1922) the famous Russian operatic bass is depicted in his native environment of a provincial town, with its sunshine and bracing frosts. Kustodiev depicts the motley and noisy atmosphere of the traditional Butterweek Fair, with its carousels, fairground booths, ice hills, sledge rides and gatherings around the samovar.
