A. A. Plastov’s illustrations to A. S. Pushkin’s novel “The captain’s daughter”: representation as an interpretation of the concept of Russian classics

Arkady Plastov (1892-1973) in his unfinished cycle of illustrations for Pushkin's novel «The Captain's Daughter» (1836) represents the events in eccentric mood: he depicts Emelyan Pugachev, the leader of the peasant uprising, dominating the square and public life in general, while Grinev and Savelich are given separate features of holy fools. At the same time Pugachev looks at the viewer; the viewer is invited to befriend the element of rebellion. We prove that these illustrations represent an interpretation of the novel: the artist shows how Pushkin went from a novel in the vein of Walter Scott simultaneously to realism and new classicism and the formation of the canon of Russian classical literature. Grinev and Shvabrin acquire the traits of the types of classicist culture, respectively, the raisonneur and the libertine . Comparison with other illustrations shows that the two imperatives, the depiction of the emotions of the characters and the depiction of great historical events, cannot be harmonized in one illustration. Discontinuities arise, helping the reader to better understand the specificity of Pushkin's realism by serving as a basic commentary, specifying the overall realism of the novel rather than the emotional content of the scenes.