Dannaya kniga posvyashchena dostatochno ostroy i diskussionnoy probleme russkogo bidermayera. Delo v tom, chto v rossiyskom iskusstvovedcheskom soobshchestve po sey den' ne stikhayut spory, naskol'ko vozmozhno govorit' o burzhuaznom stile bidermayer primenitel'no k russkoy zhivopisi. Shiroko privlekaya istoricheskie i sotsiokul'turnye dannye, opirayas' na noveyshie issledovaniya v oblasti bidermayera zapadnykh spetsialistov, nakonets, obrashchayas' neposredstvenno k proizvedeniyam zhivopisi, avtor stremitsya pokazat', chto slukhi o burzhuaznosti bidermayera neskol'ko preuvelicheny: v osnove etogo stilya lezhat idealy vysokoy prostoty, chelovechnosti i garmonii chastnoy zhizni; i idealy eti vsegda sokhranyalis' v luchshikh obraztsakh bidermayera - vplot' do ugasaniya stilya v nachale 1850kh godov. Po mneniyu avtora, rassmotrennoe s pozitsiy russkogo bidermayera tvorchestvo A.G. Venetsianova i khudozhnikov ego shkoly, a takzhe V.A. Tropinina, P.A. Fedotova ne tol'ko perestaet byt' zamknutym i stanovitsya chast'yu obshcheevropeyskogo khudozhestvennogo konteksta, no i obnaruzhivaet v sebe neozhidannye storony i svezhie rakursy.