Picture painted: 1889
Canvas, oil.
Size: 139 × 213 cm

Description of the painting "Three Bears" by I. Shishkin

Artist: Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin, Konstantin Apollonovich Savitsky
Name of the painting: "Morning in a pine forest"
Picture painted: 1889
Canvas, oil.
Size: 139 × 213 cm

In domestic spaces, you will not find a second such “hit” canvas, the plot of which is present on a rare grandmother’s bedspread, an embroidered little thought, tablecloths, plates, and even on wrappers with cute clubfoot. Memories of parents, chocolates and PR moves - that's what keeps us from forgetting I. Shishkin's painting "Morning in a Pine Forest" or, in the common people, "Three Bears".

Is it only Shishkin? Bears on canvas were painted by K. Savitsky, who at first depicted two clubfoot, and then raised their number to four. It used to be that Shishkin, despite his rather significant success in animal painting, was not able to depict bears, so he simply exploited poor Savitsky and did not even allow him to sign on the picture. In fact, the artists were friends, and the bears appeared only after the latter said that the canvas was not dynamic. Shishkin could draw anyone, but not bears, so he gave Savitsky the opportunity to revive the picture and sign it. Collector P. Tretyakov was not so loyal: he bought the painting from Shishkin, which means that the authorship is his, so there can be no Savitskys here. In general, the inscription was erased and "Morning in a Pine Forest" began to be considered one of the key paintings in the work of one of the most prominent Russian landscape painters.

Sweets "Mishka clumsy" with Shishkin's reproduction on a wrapper gave the name to the canvas "Three Bears". The delicacy that appeared had a filling of almonds, cocoa beans, was expensive, but it was so tasty that even the agitator of everyone and everything V. Mayakovsky could not resist and wrote they say, if you want "Bears", then set aside a certain amount of money in a savings book. That's how "Clumsy Bear" became "Three Bears" (and there are four of them in the picture), candy - one of the signs of the USSR, and I. Shishkin - a people's artist.

True, he was a singer of the nature of his native land even before the "Bears". The artist wanted and knew how to surprise, first of all, with landscapes, which he painted in such a fine manner that he earned the fame of a master of detailing. Only here you will see a haze of fog, as if floating among the branches of centennial pines, soft and cozy moss on boulders, clear water of a stream, morning or evening coolness, midday heat of summer. Interestingly, all the artist's canvases are partially epic, but always monumental. At the same time, Shishkin is not pretentious, he is simply the person who sincerely admires the majestic nature of his native land and knows how to portray it.

"Morning in a Pine Forest" pacifies the balance of its composition. Three bear cubs look very harmonious with their mother bear, and one wants to apply a divine proportion to the two halves of a fallen pine tree. This picture is like a random shot on an old camera that a tourist managed to make, who has been looking for true virgin nature for so long.

And if you look at the color of the picture, then the artist seems to be trying to capture all the richness of the colors of the dawn time. We see the air, but it is not the usual blue hue, but rather blue-green, a little cloudy and foggy. The predominant colors that surrounded the clumsy inhabitants of the forest are green, blue and sunny yellow, reflecting the mood of awakened nature. The bright shimmering golden rays in the background seem to hint at the sun, which is about to illuminate the earth. It is these highlights that give the picture solemnity, it is they who speak of the realism of the fog above the ground. "Morning in a pine forest" is another confirmation of the tangibility of Shishkin's paintings, because you can even feel the cool air.

Look closely at the forest. Its appearance is conveyed so realistically that it becomes clear: this is not a forest glade, but a deaf thicket - a true concentration of wildlife. Above it, the sun had just risen, the rays of which had already managed to make their way to the top of the treetops, splashing them with gold and again hiding in the thicket. Wet fog that has not yet dissipated seems to have awakened the inhabitants of the ancient forest.

Here the cubs and the she-bear woke up, having developed their stormy activity. Satisfied and well-fed, the bears explore the world around them from the very morning, exploring the nearest fallen pine tree, and the mother bear watches over the cubs, who climb the tree with touching clumsiness. Moreover, the bear watches not only the cubs, but also tries to catch the slightest sounds that can disturb their idyll. It is simply amazing how these animals, painted by another artist, could revive the compositional solution of the picture: the fallen pine seemed to have been created for this bear family, busy with their important affairs against the backdrop of a remote and wild corner of Russian nature.

The painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” reveals the mastery of a realistic image and its quality, which is in many respects ahead of modern digital technology. Every blade of grass, every ray of sun, every pine needle is written by Shishkin lovingly and reverently. If the foreground of the canvas depicts a fallen pine tree with bears climbing on it, then an ancient forest is located in the background. Bear cubs and the rest of nature evoke calming positive emotions in every person. Animals, like toys, fill the beginning of a new day with kindness and tune in to positive thinking. Looking at these cute animals, one cannot believe that they are predators by nature and cannot be capable of cruelty. But the main thing is not even that. Shishkin focuses the viewer's attention on the harmony of the sunlight that comes from the background of the picture with the cubs in the foreground. Draw a visual line through them - and you will certainly notice that these are the brightest objects in the picture, and everything else, including irregularly shaped pine trees, are just complementary strokes.

It seems that "Morning in a Pine Forest" depicts real, live bears in some fantastic landscape. The Vyatka forest, from which nature is written off, the researchers say, is very different from the Shishkin forest. I just wonder if there are bears there now, because the picture has been educating the aesthetic and moral taste of people for a century, and asks to take care of the environment.

“Morning in a Pine Forest” is perhaps one of the most famous paintings by Ivan Shishkin. The first thing that attracts and touches the audience looking at the masterpiece is the bears. Without animals, the picture would hardly have turned out so attractive. Meanwhile, few people know that it was not Shishkin who painted the animals, but another artist named Savitsky.

Bear Master

Konstantin Apollonovich Savitsky is no longer as famous as Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin, whose name is known, probably, even by a child. Nevertheless, Savitsky is also one of the most talented domestic painters. At one time he was an academician and a member of the Imperial Academy of Arts. It is clear that it was on the basis of art that Savitsky met Shishkin.
Both of them loved Russian nature and selflessly depicted it on their canvases. That's just Ivan Ivanovich preferred more landscapes in which people or animals, if they appeared, then only in the role of secondary characters. Savitsky, on the contrary, actively portrayed both of them. Apparently, thanks to the skill of a friend, Shishkin established himself in the idea that the figures of living beings were not very successful for him.

Help a friend

In the late 1880s, Ivan Shishkin completed another landscape, in which he depicted morning in a pine forest with unusual picturesqueness. However, according to the artist, the picture lacked some kind of accent, for which he planned to draw 2 bears. Shishkin even made sketches for future characters, but was dissatisfied with his work. It was then that he turned to Konstantin Savitsky with a request to help him with the animals. A friend of Shishkin did not refuse and gladly set to work. The bears turned out to be envious. In addition, the number of clubfoot has doubled.
In fairness, it should be noted that Shishkin himself was not going to cheat at all, and when the picture was ready, he indicated not only his last name, but also Savitsky. Both friends were satisfied with the joint work. But everything was spoiled by the founder of the world-famous gallery, Pavel Tretyakov.

Stubborn Tretyakov

It was Tretyakov who purchased Morning in a Pine Forest from Shishkin. However, the philanthropist did not like 2 signatures in the picture. And since after the purchase of this or that work of art, Tretyakov considered himself the sole and full owner of it, he took and erased the name of Savitsky. Shishkin began to object, but Pavel Mikhailovich remained adamant. He said that the manner of writing, including with regard to bears, corresponds to the manner of Shishkin, and Savitsky is clearly superfluous here.
Ivan Shishkin shared the fee received from Tretyakov with a friend. However, he gave Savitsky only the 4th part of the money, explaining that he did the sketches for "Morning" without the help of Konstantin Apollonovich.
Surely, Savitsky was offended by such an appeal. In any case, he did not write a single canvas in tandem with Shishkin. And Savitsky's bears, in any case, really became the decoration of the picture: without them, "Morning in a Pine Forest" would hardly have received such recognition.

Ivan Shishkin glorified not only his hometown (Yelabuga) throughout the country, but also the entire vast territory of Russia throughout the world. His most famous painting is Morning in a Pine Forest. Why is she so famous and why is she considered practically the standard of painting? Let's try to understand this issue.

Shishkin and landscapes

Ivan Shishkin is a famous landscape painter. His unique style of work has its origins in the Düsseldorf School of Drawing. But, unlike most of his colleagues, the artist passed the main techniques through himself, which allowed him to create a unique style that is not inherent in anyone else.

Shishkin admired nature all his life, she inspired him to create numerous masterpieces from a million colors and shades. The artist has always tried to depict the flora as he sees it, without any exaggerations and decorations.

He tried to choose landscapes untouched by human hand. Virgin, like the forests of the taiga. combine realism with a poetic view of nature. Ivan Ivanovich saw poetry in the play of light and shadow, in the power of Mother Earth, in the fragility of one Christmas tree standing in the wind.

The versatility of the artist

It is difficult to imagine such a brilliant artist as the head of the city or as a school teacher. But Shishkin combined many talents. Coming from a merchant family, he had to follow in the footsteps of his parent. In addition, Shishkin's good nature quickly attracted people all over the city to him. He was elected to the post of manager and helped to develop his native Yelabuga as best he could. Naturally, this manifested itself in the writing of paintings. Peru Shishkin owns the "History of the city of Yelabuga".

Ivan Ivanovich managed to paint pictures and participate in fascinating archaeological excavations. For some time he lived abroad, and even became an academician in Düsseldorf.

Shishkin was an active member of the Wanderers, where he met with other famous Russian artists. He was considered a real authority among other painters. They tried to inherit the style of the master, and the paintings inspired both writers and painters.

After himself, he left a memory of numerous landscapes that have become decorations of museums and private collections around the globe.

After Shishkin, few people managed to depict the whole versatility of Russia's nature so realistically and so beautifully. Whatever happened in the artist's personal life, he did not let his troubles be reflected on the canvases.

background

The artist treated the forest nature with great trepidation, she literally captivated him with her countless colors, variety of shades, the rays of the sun breaking through the thick pine branches.

The painting "Morning in a Pine Forest" became the embodiment of Shishkin's love for the forest. It gained popularity very quickly, and was soon used in pop culture, on stamps, and even on candy wrappers. To this day, it is carefully kept in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Description: "Morning in a pine forest"

Ivan Shishkin managed to capture one moment from a whole forest life. He conveyed with the help of a drawing the moment of the beginning of the day, when the sun had just begun to rise. An amazing moment of the birth of a new life. The painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” depicts an awakening forest and still sleepy bear cubs who are getting out of a secluded dwelling.

In this picture, as in many others, the artist wanted to emphasize the immensity of nature. To do this, he cut off the tops of the pines at the top of the canvas.

If you look closely, you can see that the roots of the tree on which the cubs frolic have been torn out. Shishkin seemed to emphasize that this forest is so unsociable and deaf that only animals can live in it, and the trees fall by themselves, from old age.

In the morning in a pine forest, Shishkin indicated with the help of the fog that we see between the trees. Thanks to this artistic move, the time of day becomes obvious.

co-authorship

Shishkin was an excellent landscape painter, but rarely took on the images of animals in his works. The painting "Morning in a Pine Forest" was no exception. He created the landscape, but the four cubs were painted by another artist, an animal specialist, Konstantin Savitsky. They say that it was he who suggested the very idea for this picture. Drawing morning in a pine forest, Shishkin took Savitsky as a co-author, and the picture was originally signed by the two of them. However, after the canvas was transferred to the gallery, Tretyakov considered Shishkin's work to be more extensive and erased the name of the second artist.

Story

Shishkin and Savitsky went to nature. This is how the story began. The morning in the pine forest seemed so beautiful to them that it was impossible not to immortalize it on canvas. To search for a prototype, they went to Gordomlya Island, which stands on Lake Seliger. They found this landscape and new inspiration for the painting.

The island, all covered with forests, kept the remains of virgin nature. For many centuries it stood untouched. This could not leave artists indifferent.

Claims

The painting was born in 1889. Although initially Savitsky complained to Tretyakov that he erased his name, he soon changed his mind and abandoned this masterpiece in favor of Shishkin.

He substantiated his decision by the fact that the style of the painting fully corresponds to what Ivan Ivanovich did, and even the sketches of the bears originally belonged to him.

Facts and misconceptions

Like any well-known canvas, the painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” is of great interest. Consequently, she has a number of interpretations, she is mentioned in literature and in the cinema. This masterpiece is spoken about both in high society and on the streets.

Over time, some facts have been changed, and general misconceptions are firmly rooted in society:

• One of the common mistakes is the opinion that Vasnetsov created Morning in a Pine Forest together with Shishkin. Viktor Mikhailovich, of course, was familiar with Ivan Ivanovich, since they were together in the club of the Wanderers. However, Vasnetsov could not be the author of such a landscape. If you pay attention to his style, he is not at all like Shishkin, they belong to different art schools. These names are still mentioned together from time to time. Vasnetsov is not that artist. "Morning in a pine forest", without any doubt, drew Shishkin.
• The name of the painting sounds like "Morning in a pine forest." Bor is just a second name that people seemed to find more appropriate and mysterious.
• Unofficially, some Russians still call the painting "Three Bears", which is a gross mistake. The animals in the picture are not three, but four. It is likely that the canvas began to be called that because of the sweets popular in Soviet times called "Clumsy Bear". The wrapper depicted a reproduction of Shishkin's "Morning in a Pine Forest". The people gave the candy the name "Three Bears".
• The picture has its "first version". Shishkin painted another canvas of the same theme. He called it "Fog in the pine forest." Not many people know about this picture. She is rarely remembered. The canvas is not on the territory of the Russian Federation. To this day it is kept in a private collection in Poland.
• Initially, there were only two bear cubs in the picture. Shishkin later decided that four clubfoot must be present in the image. Thanks to the addition of two more bears, the genre of the picture has changed. She began to be on the "borderline", as some elements of the game scene appeared on the landscape.

Everyone knows this picture, and its author, the great Russian landscape painter Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin, is also known. The name of the painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” is remembered worse, more often they say “Three Bears”, although there are actually four of them (however, the painting was originally called “Bear Family in the Forest”). The fact that the bears in the picture were painted by Shishkin's friend, the artist Konstantin Apollonovich Savitsky, is known to an even narrower circle of art lovers, but is also not a secret with seven seals. But how the co-authors divided the fee, and why Savitsky's signature in the picture is almost indistinguishable, the story is bashfully silent about this.
The thing went something like this...

They say that Savitsky first saw Shishkin in the Artel of Artists. This Artel was both a workshop and a dining room, and something like a club where the problems of creativity were discussed. And then one day young Savitsky was having dinner at the Artel, and next to him some artist of a heroic physique kept joking, and between jokes he completed the drawing. To Savitsky, this approach to business seemed frivolous. When the artist began to erase the drawing with his rough fingers, Savitsky had no doubts that this strange man would now ruin all his work.

But the drawing is very good. Savitsky, out of excitement, forgot about dinner, and the hero went up to him and rumbled in a friendly bass voice that it was not good to eat badly, and that only someone with an excellent appetite and a cheerful disposition could cope with any work.

So they became friends: the young Savitsky and the already well-known, respected Artel Shishkin. Since then, they have met more than once, went to sketches together. Both were in love with the Russian forest and once started talking about how it would be nice to paint a large-scale canvas with bears. Savitsky allegedly said that he had painted bears for his son more than once and had already figured out how to depict them on a large canvas. And Shishkin seemed to smile slyly:

Why don't you come to me? I pulled off one thing...

The contraption turned out to be Morning in a Pine Forest. Only without bears. Savitsky was delighted. And Shishkin said that now it remains to work on the bears: there is, they say, a place for them on the canvas. And then Savitsky asked: "Let me!" - and soon a bear family settled in the place indicated by Shishkin.

P.M. Tretyakov purchased this painting from I.I. Shishkin for 4 thousand rubles, when the signatures of K.A. Savitsky was not there yet. Having learned about such an impressive amount, Konstantin Apollonovich, who had seven shops, came to Ivan Ivanovich for his share. Shishkin suggested that he first fix his co-authorship by signing the picture, which was done. However, Tretyakov did not like this trick. After the transaction, he rightfully considered the paintings his property and did not allow any of the authors to touch them.

I bought a painting from Shishkin. Why else Savitsky? Give me some turpentine, - said Pavel Mikhailovich and erased Savitsky's signature with his own hand. He also paid money to one Shishkin.

Now Ivan Ivanovich was already offended, who reasonably considered the picture to be a completely independent work even without bears. Indeed, the landscape is charming. This is not just a deaf pine forest, but precisely morning in the forest with its fog that has not yet dissipated, with the tops of huge pines that have slightly turned pink, cold shadows in the thickets. In addition, Shishkin drew the sketches of the bear family himself.

How the matter ended and how the artists divided the money is not known for certain, but only since then Shishkin and Savitsky have not painted pictures together.

And “Morning in a Pine Forest” gained wild popularity among the people, all the same, thanks to the figures of a she-bear and three cheerful cubs, so vividly written by Savitsky.

“Morning in a Pine Forest” is a painting by Russian artists Ivan Shishkin and Konstantin Savitsky. Savitsky painted the bears, but the collector Pavel Tretyakov erased his signature, so Shishkin alone is often credited as the painting's author.

The painting is popular due to the compositional inclusion of elements of animalistic plotting into the landscape canvas. The picture conveys in detail the state of nature seen by the artist on the island of Gorodomlya. It is not a dense dense forest that is shown, but sunlight breaking through the columns of tall trees. You can feel the depth of the ravines, the power of centuries-old trees, the sunlight, as it were, timidly looks into this dense forest. The frolicking bear cubs feel the approach of morning.

Presumably, the idea for the painting was suggested to Shishkin by Savitsky, who later acted as a co-author and depicted the figures of cubs (according to Shishkin's sketches). These bears, with some differences in poses and numbers (at first there were two of them), appear in preparatory drawings and sketches (for example, seven versions of Shishkin's pencil sketches are kept in the State Russian Museum). The animals turned out so well for Savitsky that he even signed the painting together with Shishkin. Savitsky himself told his relatives: "The painting was sold for 4 thousand, and I am a participant in the 4th share."

Having acquired the painting, Tretyakov removed Savitsky's signature, leaving the authorship to Shishkin, because in the painting, Tretyakov said, "starting from the idea and ending with the execution, everything speaks of the manner of painting, of the creative method peculiar to Shishkin."

In the inventory of the gallery, initially (during the lifetime of the artists Shishkin and Savitsky), the painting was listed under the title "Bear Family in the Forest" (and without indicating Savitsky's surname).

Russian prose writer and publicist V. M. Mikheev wrote the following words in 1894:
Take a look into this gray fog of the forest distance, into “The Bear Family in the Forest” ... and you will understand what a connoisseur of the forest, what a strong objective artist you are dealing with. And if something in his paintings interferes with the integrity of your impression, then it’s not the detail of the forest, but, for example, the figures of bears, the interpretation of which leaves much to be desired and spoils the overall picture where the artist placed them. Obviously, the master - specialist of the forest is far from being so strong in depicting animals.

Reproductions of "Morning in a Pine Forest" were widely replicated in the USSR. However, this began even before the revolution, in particular, since the 19th century, the reproduction has been reproduced on the wrapper of the “Clumsy Bear” chocolates. Due to this, the picture is well known among the people, often under the name "Three Bears" (although there are four bears in the picture). Due to such candy-wrapping replication, the picture began to be perceived in the Soviet and post-Soviet cultural space as an element of kitsch.