The first composition for the painting by I.E. Grabar "February Blue" - 4th grade.

February days are famous for severe snowstorms and strong winds. But there are also wonderful sunny days. One of these days the artist Grabar captured in his painting "February Blue".

In the foreground is a slightly curved birch. It is covered with a thin layer of frost. Frost shimmers from the bright sun. It seems that pearl beads hang on the widely spread branches of the birch. A little behind there are many thin young birch trees, as if leading a round dance around the old birch. They are wearing the same luxurious clothes. All birch trees stand on a snow-white, sparkling from the sun, bedspread, slightly dropping bluish shadows on it. The old foliage on the tops of the birches seems to be fiery gold. The birch grove is shrouded in the warmth of sunlight, the approach of spring is felt.

From above, over a birch grove, a cloudless azure-blue sky stretched out. Closer to the horizon, it brightens.

On the horizon you can see a solid wall of dark forest. There, in the thicket of the forest, is still the realm of winter.

The picture is wonderful, made in bright colors, evokes joyful feelings. It is filled with the freshness of a sunny frosty day and the quick awakening of nature.

*********

The second composition for the painting by I.E. Grabar "February Blue" - 5th grade.

Azure- azure, azure, pale blue.
Pearl- mother-of-pearl.
Coral- bright red.
sapphire- blue-green.
Lilac- gentle, light purple.

Plan.

1. Introduction.
2. The main part.
A. sky
b. Sun
V. snow
g. shadows
birch: trunk, branches
e. other birches
and. horizon
3. Conclusion. Impression.

The painting by I.E. Grabar “February Blue” depicts a frosty February morning. Everything around is filled with blue light. Sparkling snow shimmers under the sun. The birch trees are pierced by sunlight. This is a holiday of the azure sky and pearl birches, a holiday of nature itself.

A cloudless blue-azure sky, brightens towards the horizon and becomes sapphire. Despite the fact that it is still winter, the sun is already warming well. But there is a lot of snow. In the sun, pure snow casts a white-blue color. From the birch trees fall blue with a purple tint. In the foreground is a tall birch. The trunk is not straight, but as if curved in a magical dance. It's dark underneath. The higher the trunk, the whiter it is. The branches are snow-white, covered with hoarfrost, which shines in the sun. At the very top of the birch, last year's foliage has been preserved. Covered with hoarfrost, in the sun it burns with a coral color. The artist looks at the birch from the bottom up, so its top and side branches are not fully depicted. Behind the old birch stands many young birches. They kind of dance around her. The pearl branches of the birches intertwined and a fancy lace turned out against the background of the azure sky. A narrow strip of forest darkens in the distance. If not for her, heaven and earth merged into one inseparable space.

The wise Litrecon understands that boys and girls write essays differently, so we offer you two essay options: one for the fair sex, the other for the strong half of humanity. But if something still doesn’t suit you, you are welcome in the comments, state the essence of the problem.

Option 1 (male)

(177 words) I. E. Grabar is a Russian artist and art critic. He wrote not only paintings, but also articles on the topic of art, and after the revolution he did a lot to preserve the creative heritage of artists and icon painters.

The painting "February Blue" was painted in 1904. The artist was at a friend's dacha. He was walking and suddenly noticed a beautiful landscape, which impressed I. E. Grabar so much that he immediately ran home to make a sketch, and the next day he dug an easel right in the snowdrift on the street and began to write. A large-scale painting came out, which is now exhibited in the Tretyakov Gallery.

"February Blue" was created in the style of impressionism. Strokes of paint create a feeling of beauty, lightness and freshness. In front of the viewer is a birch grove, illuminated by the bright sun. On a February day, the sun shines especially brightly, it is already warming so that the snow is gradually melting (the picture shows that it has already become grainy). Behind the trees you can see the blue, clear sky. It is immediately clear that spring is coming. Looking at this picture, it becomes joyful, inspiration is felt.

I like this canvas because the artist found beauty in the ordinary and showed it to his viewers. The picture gives the mood of the holiday and inspires the search for beauty in everyday life.

Option 2 (female)

(203 words) I. E. Grabar did a lot for Russian painting. He not only created beautiful works himself, but also saved many paintings from destruction after the revolution, helped to restore icons and monasteries.

The painting "February Blue" was written before all the upheavals of the twentieth century. In early 1904, the artist went to visit friends. He was walking down the street and suddenly dropped his stick. An ordinary person would have cursed and raised his cane in displeasure. But the talented artist suddenly looked around and saw incredible beauty, a picture of a very close renewal, an imminent spring holiday. And now the sketch is ready, and soon the landscape followed it.

The canvas depicts a forest. It goes into the depths of the picture, its scale is immediately visible. The azure sky, grainy snow - all this says that winter is gradually leaving this place. Every second and cyclical work goes on in nature: revival, growth, maturation, wilting. And so again and again. The moment of reviving is the most festive, the picture conveys not a plot, but a feeling. Not solid lines, but strokes create silhouettes of birches, which gives more tenderness and fragility to the coming spring-beauty. The combination of blue, white and brown enhances this impression.

I like this picture for its feeling of happiness and joy, this is sometimes so lacking in life. The artist managed to show the charm of early spring, in which an ordinary person sees only slush under his feet.

1. Introduction (Interesting facts about the artist);
2. Main part (History of the creation of the painting and description of the canvas);
3. Conclusion (My opinion about Grabar's landscape)

READ CAREFULLY!

Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar (1871-1960)

Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar - painter, was born on March 13, 1871 in Budapest, in the family of a Russian public figure E. I. Grabar.

Igor's childhood was not easy. The boy was often separated from his parents, remaining in the care of strangers. From childhood, he dreamed of painting, tried to be closer to artistic circles, visited all exhibitions, studied the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery.

From 1882 to 1989, Grabar studied at the Moscow Lyceum, and from 1889 to 1895 at St. Petersburg University at once in two faculties - law and history and philology. After graduating from university, he entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts.

In 1895, he studied at the workshop of Ilya Repin, where Malyavin, Somov, Bilibin studied at the same time.

Summer 1895 during the holidays, Grabar travels around Europe, visits Berlin, Paris, Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples. He is so fascinated by the works of the greatest artists of the Renaissance that he decides to travel further and enlighten himself.

Returning to Russia in 1901, the artist was again shocked by the beauty of Russian nature. He is fascinated by the beauty of the Russian winter, admired by the "grace" and "magnetism" of the magical birch tree. His admiration for Russia after a long separation was expressed in the paintings: "White Winter", "February Blue", "March Snow" and many others.

In the period from 1913 to 1925, the artist headed the Tretyakov Gallery. Here Grabar made a re-exposition, placing and systematizing all works of art in historical sequence. In 1917 he published a catalog of the gallery, which is of considerable scholarly value.

Igor Emmanuilovich is one of the founders of museology, restoration and protection of art and antiquity monuments. In 1918 the artist created the Central Restoration Workshop. He helped to save many works of ancient Russian art and the result of the work carried out by the workshops was the discovery of numerous outstanding monuments of ancient Russian art - icons and frescoes in Novgorod, Pskov, Vladimir and other cities.

In 1926-30 Grabar was the editor of the fine arts department of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.

From 1924 until the end of the 1940s, Grabar returned to painting again, paying special attention to the portrait, depicting his relatives, scientists and musicians. Among his famous portraits are "Portrait of a Mother", "Svetlana", "Portrait of a Daughter in a Winter Landscape", "Portrait of a Son", "Portrait of Academician S. A. Chaplygin". Two self-portraits of the artist "Self-portrait with a palette", "Self-portrait in a fur coat" are also widely known.

In Soviet times, Grabar became interested in the work of Andrei Rublev and I. E. Repin. In 1937 he created a two-volume monograph "Repin". This work brought Grabar the Stalin Prize. Since 1944, Grabar has been director of the Institute of Art History of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Igor Emmanuilovich died on May 16, 1960 in Moscow.
The history of the creation of the painting "February Blue"

"February Blue" is the most famous landscape of I.E. Grabar. The canvas "February Blue" the artist wrote with special love and put a part of his soul into it. He managed to create a new image of Russian nature. Even in a small reproduction, "February Blue" is bright, colorful, and creates the impression of a holiday. This landscape was especially dear to the artist himself. In his declining years, I. Grabar recalled with pleasure and spoke in detail about how this landscape was created. The artist saw the "February Blue" in the Moscow region when he was visiting a friend. It is impossible to convey better than the author himself the admiration for the beauty of nature, which he experienced.

About the birth of his favorite picture, “February Blue”, his detailed story: “Wonderful sunny February days have come. In the morning, as always, I went out to wander around the estate and observe. Something extraordinary was happening in nature, it seemed that she was celebrating some unprecedented holiday - the holiday of the azure sky, pearl birches, coral branches and sapphire shadows on lilac snow. I stood near a marvelous specimen of a birch, rare in the rhythmic structure of its branches. Glancing at her, I dropped my stick and bent down to pick it up. When I looked at the top of the birch from below, from the surface of the snow, I was stunned by the spectacle of fantastic beauty that opened before me: some kind of chimes and echoes of all the colors of the rainbow, united by the blue enamel of the sky. “If even a tenth of this beauty could be conveyed, then it would be incomparable,” I thought, and immediately ran for a small canvas and in one session sketched a sketch of the future painting from nature. The next day I took another canvas and within three days I painted a study from the same place. After that, I dug a trench in deep snow over a meter thick, in which I fit with an easel and a large canvas in order to get the impression of a low horizon and celestial zenith with all the gradation of blue - from light green below to ultramarine above. I prepared the canvas in advance in the workshop for glazing the sky, covering it on a chalky, oil-absorbing surface with a thick layer of dense lead white of various tonalities.

February was amazing. It froze at night, and the snow did not give up. The sun shone every day, and I was fortunate enough to paint in succession without interruption and change of weather for more than two weeks, until I finished the picture entirely on location. I painted with an umbrella painted blue, and I placed the canvas not only without the usual tilt forward, facing the ground, but turning it with its face to the blue of the sky, which is why reflections from the hot snow under the sun did not fall on it and it remained in the cold shadows, forcing me to triple the strength of the color to convey the fullness of the impression. I felt that I managed to create the most significant work of all that I have written so far, the most of my own, not borrowed, new in concept and execution. To convey the chimes of pure color - the color of the sky lit by the bright February sun, snow and the silvery trunk of a birch, the artist managed to fully ...

In the "February Blue" birch is an integral part, if not the only basis of the artistic image. In the very appearance of the birch, in the ability to see its charm in the general structure of the Russian landscape, the joyful perception of the nature of the native land, which distinguishes Grabar as a landscape painter in all periods of his work, affected. Of all the birches ever depicted by Grabar, in the birch of the "February Blue" the poetry of Grabarevo's landscape painting reached its culmination ... It was necessary to master not only the skill of the painter, but also an extraordinary feeling of falling in love with nature in order to depict the triumph of the coming spring, which we managed to show on his canvas to the artist. As always, he resorted to his favorite technique of showing a fragment of the landscape: the viewer does not see the top of the birch, and in the foreground on the snow lie the shadows of those trees that stand somewhere behind the viewer, thus “entering” into the picture space at the artist’s will. and from the bottom up looking at the whole multitude of intertwining branches and hanging branches, shining either white or gold against the background of the spring sky. The main character of the picture - a birch with rhythmically arranged branches - as if closes from the viewer arranged in bunches of two, three thin birch trees, going into the distance, to where a transparent birch forest penetrated by light is seen on the horizon ...

“What could be more beautiful than a birch, the only tree in nature whose trunk is dazzling white, while all other trees in the world have dark trunks. Fantastic, supernatural tree, fairy tale tree. I passionately fell in love with the Russian birch and for a long time almost painted it alone. The whiteness of the birch trunk becomes for Grabar a kind of screen reflecting iridescent highlights. Instead of black specks, he sees contrasts of pure colors.

"February Blue" is one of the examples of the highest degree of color decomposition among all the paintings of Grabar. The artist writes in pure color, not mixing paints on the palette, but applying them in short, small strokes to the surface of the canvas. Deep blue, light blue, turquoise and yellowish-blue tones of the sky are conveyed by all the many individual strokes of blue, white, yellow, in places green and red. The same happens with birch trunks, the surface of the snow, where white, red, lilac, yellow tones coexist, and all this together merges into a single surface of snow with its deep blue-lilac tones, into the whiteness and gold of a birch trunk.

"February blue" Grabar said a new word in Russian landscape painting.
Azure (other Russian from Greek) - 1) light blue, blue; 2) light blue paint. (Dictionary.)
Color synonyms:
Azure \u003d azure \u003d blue.
Coral (color) - bright red.
Sapphire (color) - blue or green, the color of sapphire.
Yellow (color) - golden, golden.

WRITE AN ESSAY ACCORDING TO THE PROPOSED PLAN.

Essay-description based on the painting by I.E. Grabar "February Blue"

PLAN

1. History of the painting. (Very briefly! - the number 1 of the collection.) The meaning of the title. (The canvas is dazzling with an azure-blue sky, stretching to an endless height. The space is filled with light and air.)
2. Azure sky in Grabar's painting. (The sky occupies about three-quarters of the canvas in “February Azure”. As if a dome has opened above the picture. Such an intense blue sky happens in Russia - and it is on sunny winter days. How do we understand that the day is sunny? - The birch trunks sparkle, on them the reflections of the sun are visible. The palette of the sky is diverse: from bright blue to light blue. The azure background creates a feeling of solemnity and juiciness of the sunlight that spills over the picture.)
3. Birches. Birch in the foreground of the picture. (Author: “... a marvelous specimen of a birch” ... A mighty, huge, old tree that has seen not a single winter. The color of the trunk, branches, bright red last year's foliage at the top, in harmony with the clear blue of the vast sky. Far away are her girlfriends, young birch trees. The lace of branches is reflected in the big cloudless blue sky. Yellow, pearly, reddish, orange shades are warm tones. Birch trees are a symbol of our homeland, a symbol of Russian winter. Many songs and poems have been written about them.)
4. Non-standard approach to the angle of the picture. (The viewer is invited to look at the snow-covered birch grove as if from below. This technique expands the space and allows ..., creating)
5. The lower part of the picture is snow: in the sun and in the shade. (The snow is loose, settled in some places, melted. The special beauty of sapphire shadows on lilac snow, endless turquoise overflows, shining snow cover.)
6. "February azure" I.E. Grabar - the poetry of awakening spring. Impression, feelings and mood caused by the picture. (The artist expressed his feelings in the picture with the help of a symphony of color, creating the mood of an unprecedented holiday ... see the collection end -1,2. Did the poems of poets and the music of composers, sounding at the lesson, help to see the beauty of "February Blue"?)

(At the lesson, musical compositions by Antonio Vivaldi "The Seasons. Spring" and Edvard Grieg's "Morning", the suite "Solveig" from the opera "Peer Gynt" are heard.)

Poems that are consonant with the picture and the mood of the artist (texts can be used in an essay):

“It’s also cold and cheese ...” Ivan Bunin

Still cold and cheese
February air, but over the garden
The sky is already looking with a clear look,
And the world of God is getting younger.
Transparent-pale, as in spring,
The snow of the recent cold is shedding,
And from the sky to bushes and puddles
There is a blue gleam.
I do not stop admiring how they see through
Trees in the bosom of the sky,
And it's sweet to listen from the balcony
Like bullfinches in the bushes ring.
No, it's not the landscape that attracts me,
The greedy gaze will not notice the colors,
And what shines in these colors:
Love and joy of being.

Yesenin S.A.

White birch
under my window
covered with snow,
Exactly silver.

On fluffy branches
snow border
Brushes blossomed
White fringe.

And there is a birch
In sleepy silence
And the snowflakes are burning
In golden fire

A dawn, lazy
Walking around,
Sprinkles branches
New silver.

february blue

When I look at this picture, I immediately understand that it depicts beautiful Russian nature, because a birch grove is located against the backdrop of a snow-white carpet. Each branch of birch, which is located in the foreground, is shrouded in hoarfrost, like lace. How it sparkles and shimmers on this clear, sunny day! The whole edge is flooded with light.

The snow glitters and sparkles merrily in the rays of the last winter sun, and the woven birch branches cast shadows in the form of a fancy pattern on the snow cover. Over the boundless birch grove stretched an immense azure sky. February is the most amazing month of the year. It smells so cool from it, but the fresh, warm aroma of spring is already felt, which means that soon the grove will blossom in spring and put on a green outfit.

The main character of this amazing picture is a white-trunked birch. Its trunk is elegantly and gracefully curved, which conveys not only the magnificence of the tree, but also the strength. It seems that she is alive and, tired of the cold, exposes her sides to the gentle sun to warm herself. In the distance, her cheerful girlfriends are visible, who are no less beautiful and elegant. How realistic they look! It seems that you will reach out your hand, and you are about to touch the trunk.

Painting by I.E. Grabar "February Blue" fascinates. Separately, I want to note the skill of the creator. The artist used mostly cold colors when creating the picture. But the foliage that remains from last year and the trunks of birch trees, immersed in the rays of the sun, amiably shine with gold. How contrasting it looks against the background of cold white snow and a clear blue sky, from which it breathes freshness. It is this warm radiation that helps the viewer to understand that it is the last month of winter before him.

The peace and quiet of this picture beckons to be in the middle of a beautiful birch grove depicted on canvas, which leaves wonderful, joyful impressions and evokes the brightest memories. It is impossible not to note the subtle sense of beauty and love for nature of the creator who had a hand in writing this picture.

Description 2

Before us is the painting "February Blue". On it, the famous Russian artist I.E. Grabar depicted a frosty February morning. The picture seems to be overflowing with blue radiance. The snow sparkles and shimmers under the sun's rays. The birch is pierced by sunlight.

The azure sky is cloudless, towards the horizon the color becomes lighter and turns to sapphire. It is still quite cold in February, but the sun is already warming the air well.

We see that there is still a lot of snow around. In the sun, pure snow pierces the eyes with a light blue glow. Shadows fall from the birches, turning dark blue and purple in the snow.

The birch trunk is slightly curved, like the waist of a young dancing girl. Towards the bottom, it acquires a dark color, and at a height it becomes snow-white. Thin snow-white branches are covered with hoarfrost, shining in the sun, as if adorned with diamond chips. At the very top of the tree, the withered foliage of last year is still visible.

The artist chose such an angle from which the tree appears before the viewer from the bottom up. Like a sculpture that captures the beauty of nature.

Behind the main Russian beauty, there are young birch trees that have not yet fully grown strong. They resemble a round dance of dancing girls. The artist managed to convey the dance of nature, its jubilation in connection with the approaching spring.

Birch branches intertwined like fine silk lace. A dense forest is seen in the distance, which separates the sky and the earth with a dark stripe. If not for him, they would have merged into one. There, in the dark and cold forest, winter still reigns. And here in the meadow, spring is already beginning to awaken.

Igor Grabar is rightfully considered the poet of the Russian winter. His picture is so realistic that you just want to come up and hug this thin-barreled birch, which with its branches is ready to hug you in return. Breathe in the fresh frosty air of a sunny February day. Hear the creak and crunch of fresh snow falling under your feet. And most importantly, enjoy the silence of nature.

The artist shared with the world a piece of that indescribable beauty that is found in Russia. The picture is filled with an abundance of bright colors and eye-catching streams of sunlight. Frosty freshness and purity of virgin nature emanates from the canvas.

Composition description of the painting February blue Grabar

I. Grabar, a talented Russian landscape painter, depicted on his canvas a winter landscape that boggles the imagination.

The winter February day plays with the bright color of snow-white colors, diluted with azure sky, so deep and bright. Many shades of blue convey the entire depth of the canvas, echoing and merging together, they create a colorful magical mosaic.

In the still frosty air, a slight breeze is felt, foreshadowing the change of season and the coming heat. Sunlight illuminates the forest edge. Usually February, harsh, full of blizzards and snowstorms, today is meek and quiet, bad weather has receded, clear days have come, foreshadowing the birth of a new life, warmth, and at the same time, hope.

In the foreground, proudly straightening up and spreading still bare sprawling branches, stands a young birch. The camp of the snow-white Russian beauty delights and attracts the eye with its almost unearthly beauty. So tall, reaching for the sky, she seems to be spinning in a dance.

Her birch friends, standing behind in an even formation, flicker with their white trunks with black stripes. It seems that they are about to spin in a round dance along the snowy creaking crust.

Through the branches of trees, the sky turns into a colorful kaleidoscope, there are many colors and shades - lilac, blue, blue, purple, ultramarine. Delicate pastel colors are pleasing to the eye and make you look at the details of the picture again and again. In the background, the line of the forest is visible, the trees, densely lined up next to each other, form a dense wall, depicted as a blurry dark almost merging strip.
The space is full of light and air, giving the impression of an open space. The contrast of turquoise skies and white snow-covered land create an unforgettable landscape incomparable in charm. How many joyful emotions are captured in this gentle winter landscape!

This picture can be safely called an ode to spring, the trees are ready to meet the heat, and the birds that fly in from distant warm countries are already throwing off their silvery snow caps in anticipation, but, despite the fact that it is February, everything breathes in spring, the last winter days are about to sink into oblivion and the long-awaited warmth will come.

The painter uncommonly brightly and colorfully revealed an ordinary spring plot, having beaten it in his specific manner, he showed that grace, mystery and versatility are hidden in simple things.

Option 4

When you see winter, you see different shades of blue. Azure is an even better word to describe. This color by name hints at the mineral lapis lazuli, but by associations it is associated with some kind of space and something immense.

In fact, such an idea can be traced in this picture, here the artist acts only as a conductor of beauty created by nature. He simply tells the viewer, but does not invent anything from himself, on the contrary, Grabar tries to most purely, but at the same time quite vividly convey the improbability of this whole phenomenon. When you look at the February azure, you are immersed in the picture, you begin to strive to cover all these vast expanses with your eyes.

Although the perspective of the picture is closed by the forest and, as such, the space is not visible here, in fact, the feeling of it arises, because even the very name Grabar hints at this inclusiveness. When we look at the picture, we know how the azure sky stretches over all Russian forests, how it is reflected in the snowy fields, how cold the air is permeated, how the snowflakes sparkle, how colorful the trees are, how beautiful this expanse is. Beauty is the dominant factor here.

In fact, Grabar, describing a specific phenomenon, writes the beauty of nature. This is the task of the artist - to spread and establish beauty in the world. In this picture, Grabar coped with his task.

This essay is usually written in 4th grade and 5th grade. exercise 358

Painting title: february blue

Exhibit place: permanent exhibition of the Tretyakov Gallery in Lavrushinsky lane, 10, room 38

The artist created a picture under the direct impression of nature. Igor Grabar wrote his “February Blue” in the winter-spring of 1904, when he was visiting friends in the Moscow region. During one of his usual morning walks, he was struck by the holiday of awakening spring, and later, being already a venerable artist, he very vividly told the story of the creation of this canvas.

“I stood near a marvelous specimen of a birch, rare in the rhythmic structure of its branches. Glancing at her, I dropped my stick and bent down to pick it up. When I looked at the top of the birch from below, from the surface of the snow, I was stunned by the spectacle of fantastic beauty that opened before me: some kind of chimes and echoes of all the colors of the rainbow, united by the blue enamel of the sky. Nature seemed to be celebrating some unprecedented holiday of the azure sky, pearl birches, coral branches and sapphire shadows on lilac snow.“. It is not surprising that the artist passionately wanted to convey “ even a tenth of this beauty“.

I. Grabar admitted more than once that of all the trees in central Russia, he loves birch most of all, and among birches - its “weeping” variety. This time the artist quickly returned home for a canvas, and then in one session from nature sketched a sketch of the future painting. The next day, taking another canvas, he began to paint from the same place an etude, which was everyone's favorite "February Blue". Further on this picture I. Grabar he worked outdoors, in a deep trench, which he specially dug in the snow.

In the “February Blue” I. Grabar reached the limit of color saturation, he painted this landscape in pure color, applying strokes in a dense layer. It was precisely such tiny strokes that revealed the volumes of tree trunks, and patterns of branches, and snow bumps. The low point of view opened up the opportunity for the artist to convey all the gradations of blue - from light green at the bottom to ultramarine at the top.

Igor Grabar, having mastered the best achievements of impressionism, found his artistic style in art - unique and original. The nature of Russia acquired a completely new look in his landscapes, sparkled with iridescent colors, filled with a sense of space and light. In this regard, Grabar continued and developed the beginnings that appeared in the work of I. Levitan, V. Serov, K. Korovin and other outstanding Russian landscape painters.

Biography of Igor Grabar

Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar was born on March 13, 1871 in Budapest, in the family of a Russian public figure E. I. Grabar. In 1876, his parents, who were among the supporters of the Slavic liberation movement, moved to Russia.

Igor's childhood was not easy. The boy was often separated from his parents, remaining in the care of strangers. From childhood, he dreamed of painting, tried to be closer to artistic circles, visited all exhibitions, studied the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery.

From 1882 to 1989, Grabar studied at the Moscow Lyceum, and from 1889 to 1895 at St. Petersburg University at once at two faculties - legal and historical-philological. After graduating from university, he entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts.

In 1895, he studied at the workshop of Ilya Repin, where Malyavin, Bilibin and Somov studied at the same time.

Summer 1895 during the holidays, Grabar travels around Europe, visits Berlin, Paris, Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples.

Returning to Russia in 1901, the artist was again shocked by the beauty of Russian nature. He is fascinated by the beauty of the Russian winter, admired by the "grace" and "magnetism" of the magical birch tree. His admiration for Russia after a long separation was expressed in the paintings: "White Winter", "February Blue", "March Snow" and many others.

In 1910-1923, he moved away from painting and became interested in architecture, art history, museum activities, and the protection of monuments.

He conceives and implements the publication of the first "History of Russian Art" in six volumes, writes the most important sections for it, publishes monographs about Isaac Levitan and Valentin Serov. Igor Grabar also published other art publications.

In the period from 1913 to 1925, the artist headed the Tretyakov Gallery. Here Grabar made a re-exposition, placing and systematizing all works of art in historical sequence. In 1917 he published a catalog of the gallery, which is of considerable scholarly value.

Igor Emmanuilovich is one of the founders of museology, restoration and protection of art and antiquity monuments. In 1918 the artist created the Central Restoration Workshop. He helped to save many works of ancient Russian art and the result of the work carried out by the workshops was the discovery of numerous outstanding monuments of ancient Russian art - icons and frescoes in Novgorod, Pskov, Vladimir and other cities.

From 1924 until the end of the 1940s, Grabar returned to painting again, paying special attention to the portrait, depicting his relatives, scientists and musicians. Among his famous portraits are "Portrait of a Mother", "Svetlana", "Portrait of a Daughter in a Winter Landscape", "Portrait of a Son", "Portrait of Academician S. A. Chaplygin". Two self-portraits of the artist "Self-portrait with a palette", "Self-portrait in a fur coat" are also widely known.

In Soviet times, Grabar became interested in the work of Andrei Rublev and I. E. Repin. In 1937 he created a two-volume monograph "Repin". This work brought Grabar the Stalin Prize. Since 1944, Grabar was director of the Institute of Art History of the USSR Academy of Sciences.