At Home 1918

Boris Kustodiev’s painting ‘At Home’ captures a moment of leisure in what we might assume to be the Russian countryside. But who are these people? What are they doing? Are they workers or owners? What does it tell us about the society that made it possible? The answers to these questions are not straightforward, but can be illuminated if we dig a bit deeper. Kustodiev was painting in the early Soviet era, when artists were expected to depict the lives of ordinary workers. Yet, in this painting, we see what might be a middle-class family enjoying a summer’s day at their dacha. Is Kustodiev making a political comment? Is he critiquing the new Soviet regime? These are questions that require careful consideration of the social and political context in which the painting was made. By looking at historical documents, and considering the artist’s biography, we can begin to understand the complex social forces that shaped this artwork.