The Arrival of a Governess at a Merchant's Home by Vasily Perov

Perov had something new to say in many genres, but his real vocation was genre painting, to which he devoted all his talent and the best years of his life. In this genre he took up social problems of inestimable importance, expressing the most progressive ideas of the time. His famous works include Funera Procession, Troika, The Drowned Woman, At the Last Inn.
In the painting The Arrival of a Governess at a Merchant's Home Perov told about the fate of women. We see a governess, a modest, intelligent girl, timidly and embarrasedly presenting herself to the merchant's family, who brazenly and unceremoniously looke her up and down. The artist's disctinctive marks are a sharp satirical flavour and apt characterisation, clear composition and gentle, muted colours.

The Major's Marriage Proposal by Pavel Fedotov

Fedotov has always been keen on drawing. He drew everywhere - at the marketplaces, in government departments and in the streets. With every drawing he commented onlife. The drawings resemble quick, light scetches, convey objects and figures with remarkable precision. From the very start Fedotov was fond of genre painting. And the picture that made him famous was The Major's Marriage Proposal, which developed the theme of Fedotov's poem about a major who decided to put himself in a more surer financial footing by marrying a rich merchant daughter. The object of his criticism was the morality of different classes, people who turned a marriage into a profitable deal. "It was an other tragedy looking out from behind a jolly, amusing scene", wrote Stasov.
Fedotov used a new creative method which allowed him to attain the level of socially significant art.

Italian Midday by Karl Bryullov

In August 1822 Karl and his brother set off for Italy as beneficiaries of the newly founded Society for the Encouragement of the Artists. About this trip different books have contradictory information. One says that the brothers were warned by special instructions against becomeing too keen on the 'low genre', i.e. genre painting. But notwithstanding the Society's warnings, Bryullov applied himself avidly to genre painting, and produced his Italian Morning, Girl Picking Grapes in the Environs of Napes and Italian Midday. The other book says that Tsar Nicolas I himself asked Bryullov to paint Italian Midday.
Anyway, artist's ideas of painting were clearly seen in this work. A young Italian woman is plucking a bunck of grapes amid dense greenery. The gentle outline of her head, shoulders and arms, the colour on her cheeks and the dazzle of moist eyes all sparkle with the joy of life, with a full-blooded awareness of life and with a sense fo being at one with nature. The sun's rays pierce the foliage of the vineyard, flitting over girl's arms. face and clothes. The atmosphere is one of a vital link between man and nature.