Both masters created their most famous paintings in the Ryazan province. Both artists are prominent representatives of Russian impressionism, and the central image of a Russian peasant woman, which at the beginning of the 20th century was associated with the image of Russia, became central to their work. However, Malyavin's fame as the author of epic pictures of Russian peasant women was wider and louder.

This exhibition is built on the principle of monographic personal expositions: one part of the exposition is dedicated to portraits and the peasant cycle of Philip Malyavin, while the second part is devoted to landscapes, genre paintings, and peasant images by Abram Arkhipov.

The works of Malyavin and Arkhipov are united by their virtuoso use of red, one of the most difficult colors in painting. Since ancient times, red has had a sacred meaning, associated with the hearth, fire, blood, sacrifice, divine power, and was used in heraldry. In their paintings, Malyavin and Arkhipov played out entire colorful symphonies, filling the music with red tones with various meanings.

Of interest was that the Tretyakov Gallery exhibited for the first time "Self-portrait with Wife and Daughter", painted in the Art Nouveau style, unusual for Malyavin. The familiar peasant Malyavin here becomes "chic" Malyavin. For a native of the village, who became a rich academician and artist, the self-portrait became a symbol of self-affirmation in society and in art.

The exposition included paintings from the State Russian Museum, Scientific Research Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts, Ryazan I.P. Pozhalostin State Regional Art Museum, Khanty-Mansiysk State Art Museum, Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum, Saratov A.N. Radishchev Art Museum, other museums, and private collections.