The Portrait

This mystical work captivates with its plot. Many people, when getting to know it, would like the text to be somewhat longer—so easy and interesting it reads.

In the novella “The Portrait,” a young painter tells of his dream: to become fashionable and famous. One day he buys a strange portrait of an old man whose eyes looked at the painter with vivid, penetrating life. At night the portrait comes alive, and the young man dreams that the old man walks around the apartment. In the morning he finds money that allows him to launch his career and gain fame. But the price of such a gift turns out to be too high. The artist starts painting flattering portraits that people like—just as they like photoshopped photographs today. Yet it has nothing to do with real art. The portrait and the money given by the old man bring the painter misfortune: he loses not only his talent, but also his peace of mind. But the young man isn’t the old man’s only victim—there are others too…

In his story, Gogol raises the eternal question: true creation or money? Often these two things are incompatible. And there are always those who choose the latter.