Summary “Portrait” should begin with the tragic history of the talented but very poor artist Chartkov. Namely, from the moment when Chartkov spent the last two-manded man in a shop on the Shchukin yard to acquire a portrait of an old Asian man in a national costume. The artist’s attention was drawn to the fact that, against the background of other paintings, this seemed unusually realistic, and the eyes of the Asian were as if alive. Returning home, Chartkov discovers that, while he was absent, the landlord came to demand a rent. Naturally, a poor artist almost immediately begins to regret the spontaneous purchase made. The gaze of the old man painted inspires alarm in Chartkov, he even throws a sheet on the canvas.
A dream come true
Summary “Portrait” of N. Gogol should also include the following important plot point - a nightmare that the artist dreamed that night. In a dream, the old man from the picture comes to life, sits down at Chartkov’s bed and begins to count the money he brought in the bag. However, the frightened artist was not at a loss, but tried to quietly hide the package with the alluring inscription "1000 pieces of gold." Chartkov has nightmares one after another, and in the morning he feels totally wrecked and exhausted. Soon, the landlord returns again for a fee. Upon learning that the artist does not have money, he suggests that he pay with his work. The owner's attention was attracted by a new portrait of an Asian. He takes it in his hands to make out better, and at that moment the very package, on which is written “1000 pieces of gold”, falls to the floor.
Unexpected wealth completely changes Chartkov
Chartkov’s life is undergoing global change. He pays the landlord and starts renting a luxurious apartment on Nevsky, dressing fashionably, accepting wealthy customers. Often the artist visits the homes of aristocrats, and begins to talk about his colleagues with harshness and notes of arrogance. Chartkov’s acquaintances are amazed how he could so quickly turn from a talented novice artist into a mediocre stingy. The summary “Portrait” should also include an episode where Chartkov sees in the Academy of Fine Arts the perfect work of one of his former comrades sent from Italy. At this moment, the main character realizes how low he fell. He locked himself in his workshop and began to work, but his work was hindered by ignorance of the simplest truths, which he had initially neglected. Envy settles in the heart of Chartkov, and he spends all the remaining money on buying up the best works of art, which he then brutally destroys. A little more time passed, and Chartkov fell ill with fever, to which consumption also joined, and after that he died in complete solitude. Until the last minute of the artist’s life, the terrible eyes of the painted old man haunt him.
The picture continues to live its own life
However, the summary of “Portrait” does not end on this note. An unusual portrait of an Asian with lively eyes after a while becomes the center of general attention at a St. Petersburg auction. The cost of the canvas has already managed to increase fourfold, and here B. is turning to the people present - a certain artist who assures that he has special rights to the painting. B. tells the story of his father.
A story told by Mr. B.
In his story, a city called Kolomna was mentioned, as well as one Asian moneylender who lived there. The inhabitants of Kolomna often turned to him, because the conditions offered by him: interest, terms of payment of debt - at first seemed extremely attractive. However, over time, the size of the debt increased several times, and borrowers were simply in a hopeless situation.
However, the fact that the character of the borrower underwent changes sooner or later was much more remarkable. One young man who came to Asian to borrow money for a wedding with a girl whose parents were against their union due to the financial distress of the groom, got what he wanted. The wedding took place. But very soon after that, unexpected qualities appeared in the character of the newly-made spouse: rudeness, aggression, jealousy, intolerance. At some point, he even made an attempt to kill his wife, but in the end he laid hands on himself. And this was far from the first and not the last sinister story connected with the name of the usurer.
Father B. himself had a chance to live next door to a loan shark. Once, an Asian asked the artist to depict his portrait, on which he would look “exactly alive”. The master agrees to undertake this work, however, the better and more perfect the portrait looks, the more real the moneylender's eyes seem, the more painful and harder the feelings that seize the artist become. He is almost ready to give up work, but the Asian asks the master to finish what he started and says that on this canvas he will "live after death." These words finally frightened the artist, and he escapes without completing work on the portrait. The maid delivered him an unfinished portrait, and the usurer passed away a day later. In summarizing the short story “Portrait”, it is important to note that the master himself, who worked on the painting, father B: felt the changes in his character, he began to feel envy, seeing the successes of his student, and stealthily harming him. Even in his other new works, the usurer's eyes invariably appear.
The artist wants to burn the canvas that broke his fate, but by coincidence, his friend begs the work for himself, who soon gives it to his nephew. And he, like the previous owners, wants to get rid of the terrible portrait. After the artist’s son and wife die, the confidence asserts in him that the soul of the money-lender really moved into the picture and through it continues to carry evil into the world. He sends his eldest son to study at the Academy of Arts, and he abandons the life of a layman and leaves for the monastery, begins to lead a strict and righteous lifestyle. This son was B., already mentioned above. He visits his father before going to Italy, and he decides to tell him the story of the usurer. In addition, the old artist asks his son to find a portrait and finally destroy it.
Unexpected ending
B. spends fifteen years of his life finding a canvas. And now he is next to a picture that has broken so many lives. However, at that moment when B. himself and the audience around him were turning in the direction of the picture, it was no longer in place. A voice is heard from the crowd: "Stolen." This was probably true.
Such an atypical and mind-boggling story was left to us by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol. "Portrait", a very brief content of which is given in this article, really can be called one of the most mysterious and emotionally strong works of the writer.