All in the Past

An elderly mistress and her servant sit beside a small house. A larger mansion with boarded windows stands behind them. Maximov titled his 1889 painting Everything Is in the Past, inviting a comparison between the two parts of the estate.

The mansion’s windows are boarded up and trees surround it. Neither figure moves towards the building. The painting’s activity has shifted to the smaller house in the foreground.

The mistress leans back in a cushioned chair. Her bonnet, elaborate clothing and comfortable seat retain signs of former prosperity, set beside the neglected mansion.

The servant sits lower and continues her knitting. Her bowed head and working hands stand out beside the reclining mistress. Their familiar division of occupations persists into old age.

A samovar and tea things stand at the right edge. Along with the knitting, they establish the day’s ordinary occupations beside the abandoned mansion.

Behind the chair, a path curves towards the large house. It places both buildings within a single setting. Their differing conditions can be compared by following it from the occupied courtyard to the shuttered windows in the distance.

Lilac blossoms above the mistress’s chair. Plants continue growing and flowering beside the closed mansion. This detail establishes the season, but it does not by itself explain what happened to the estate or its residents.

Maximov works in the tradition of realist genre painting. Occupations, clothing and housing establish the women’s circumstances. The condition of familiar objects carries the estate’s story, from the empty mansion to the inhabited yard.