Vasily Vereshchagin loved to travel, and almost all the time was on the road. During his life, he managed to visit dozens of countries. Among them are the USA, and China, and many regions of the Caucasus and Transcaucasia. However, 2 trips to Turkestan played a special role in his work.
It was the memories of the terrible war in Samarkand that became food for the brain and inspiration for the artist. In the period from 1867 to 1870 he made his first arrival in the country. Then, from the artist’s brush came the masterpiece “After Failure”, dated 1868. The appearance of the picture coincided with the aggravation of the military-political situation in the region. It was then that large-scale military operations took place, with the goal of joining the territories of Asia to Russia. This was the reason for the struggle of local residents with Russian soldiers.
To fully cover the events of that time, Vereshchagin to the canvas "After Failure" painted the second pair of paintings "After Good Luck." Both masterpieces described the events of the “holy war” from two sides. The works depicted the brutal and bloody side of the battle for each warring state.
The plot is simple, but eloquent. The fortress wall is in the background. Crows soar above her - a symbolic image of death. In the foreground are the dead bodies of Bukhara. Next to them, the Russian wars speak calmly. One completely smokes slowly next to the dead.
The canvas condemns such soulless behavior of soldiers, completely denying the usual image of noble warrior-winners. The picture sounds like a silent reproach to the bloodshed and silent tranquility of the killers.
Description Picture Alyonushka