Vladimir Egorovich Makovsky, 1846-1920

Makovsky's choice of a dacha as the subject of this painting was not accidental. The dacha lies at the very centre of summer life in Russia and it immediately places the work within a very specific social context, which would have been well understood by his contemporaries. While winter was spent in the city, attending to business and enjoying theatrical premiers and balls, in the summer society moved to the countryside. Here, musical evenings and poetry readings were followed by fishing and long walks.

However, characteristically for Makovsky, the offered lot is not only a depiction of a scene from everyday life but also a means of social comment. Taking its roots from the manor, a countryside retreat of aristocratic families, the dacha had become an affordable form of a rented summer accommodation for students, merchants, and people from many classes. The dacha became a symbol of social change, of the decline of the aristocracy and the rise of the merchant class in the second part of the 19th century.

Arrival at the Dacha is a brilliant example of Makovsky's narrative talent. While the painting captures the single, dramatic moment of the man's arrival, every elaborate detail from the clothes, physical appearances and gestures to the placing of the figures in the composition conveys the story of his journey, from being met at the station by his servants, to finally greeting his family at the front door. The gifts in the man’s arms even hint at what will happen next.  Makovsky skilfully underscores the collective expectation by lining up the figures of the boy, the servant and the merchant on one side, and the nanny with a girl and a man on the porch behind the merchant's wife.

The painting is full of details alluding to the serenity of country pastimes: a lake for fishing and boat rides, woods for strolling and picking berries, a light carriage for visiting the neighbours and puppies for children to play with. Makovsky’s use of translucent pinks in the sky creates a light, summery atmosphere. The building and the small wood seclude this group and the viewer away from civilisation, creating a private pastoral paradise.