Vasily Maximovich Maximov (1844-1911) – master of genre painting. Born into a peasant family in the village Lopino Novgorod province. In 1855 he came to St. Petersburg, where he studied in icon-painting workshops until 1862. After a year he enrolled as a volunteer at the Academy of arts.
In 1866 he left the walls of the Academy of arts and went to study Russia and the poor Russian village. A year later, he presented at the exhibition of the Society for the promotion of arts picture "Grandma's fairy tale", which received the award and was bought by Tretyakov for the art gallery.
The picture "Grandma's fairy tale" impresses with its authenticity, truthfulness of the image. The artist, himself a native of the village, as nobody else knew and understood peasant life. Hard work, meager joy, infrequent rest, all this was part of his own destiny.
Each carried their own contribution – the men did heavy physical work, women were carrying the house and work from the men behind. Enough worries and in children from an early age in the nurses, the assistants, how many got joy, games careless? And when playing, if parents are bent back by dark. And in the evening you can relax under the magical old wives ' tales.