Nikolai Gogol, “The Mysterious Portrait”, 1835 was a fantasy fiction of a oil painting that grants wishes. The “fantasy”of this Sci Fi is to use a “magic oil painting” as plot Device. The protagonist is named “Andrey Chartkov”. The protagonist is a portrait painter and poor; but, he “wishes” for magic to bring him money. When Andrey Chartkov’s rent is due; and, the landlord comes with a police officer to collect: then gold coins fall out of a portrait painting.
Andrey Chartkov next gets from another artist; however, this time he realizes the ”errors of his way”. This second portrait causes Andrey Chartkov to become ill; and, he dies of fever. Nikolai Gogol, “The Mysterious Portrait”, 1835 was a fantasy fiction; and, influenced other novels such as Oscar Wilde, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, 1891.
