Low Marks Again (1952)  by Fedor Reshetnikov

 

Visual notes:

  • the young kid on the bike is wearing black sweater pants and yellow-blue striped sweater
  • the kid in the foreground is blond. The other characters are brown or black haired
  • the adult woman is wearing a red apron, a hair ban, a watch
  • there’s a carpet on the floor
  • there’s a cabinet on the right of the picture
  • the youngest kid, close to the adult woman, is sitting on a little bicycle. He smiles as he looks at the other kid
  • the kid in the foreground wears a winter coat over a black smock. He wears balck shoes
  • there’s a picture hanged to the wall
  • there’s a table with a yellow table cloth (decorated with orange stripes)
  • there’s a cookoo clock on the wall
  • the girl in the background is standing up. She wears black clothes and a red scarf, as well as some black bows tied to her braids
  • the look  on the room in the back shows a window, a plant over the windowsill, a radiator, a painting, curtains
  • a door in the background opens to another room
  • there’s an object in the back (on the left respect to the kid in the foreground), that seems a record player
  • walls are painted in a blueish grey color
  • the scene happens in the interior of a house
  • the woman looks at the child with an upset look
  • 4 characthers: an adult woman, three young age persons (two male and one female)
  • a dog (playful behavior)
  • the kid in the foreground is holding a school bag containing books
  • the kid looks sad
  • the girl in the background looks at the kid in the foreground with an annoyed look

 

 

Questions:

What family is represented in the picture?

Why is the girl having such an annoyed look?

What time of the day is the depicted scene?

Why does the mother look upset? Why does the little kid of the bicycle smile?

Why the painter depicted this situation?

In what kind of historical setting can we localize the scene of the painting?

What kind of feelings does the painting suggest, if any?