Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin. ship grove

The amazingly beautiful landscape "Ship Grove" was painted by Shishkin in 1898.
This painting can be considered a true masterpiece.
The artist loved to draw Russian nature and presented it as it is.
Only he could so accurately show the beauty of our native nature.
His landscapes are alive and real, looking at them, it seems that you yourself are in the place depicted on the canvas.
You literally breathe in the smell of a pine forest or the freshness of spring rain.

The picture shows a forest with tall pines.
Their trunks cannot be embraced by hands, they are long-livers of this forest and have seen a lot in their life.
The tops of the pines stretch upwards towards the amazingly clear blue sky.
It breathes more freely and the air is cleaner and fresher.
There are many trees here and their fluffy crowns do not let the sun's rays in, although they still manage to break through the needles.
Therefore, sunspots can be seen on the ground in the depths of the forest.

On the right, a path leading into a wonderful forest is barely visible.
Near this forest there are young trees, which will eventually turn into the same mighty giants.
In the background is a stream that goes deep into the forest.
Judging by the fact that stones stick out of it and the bottom is visible, it is not at all deep.
Perhaps the water in it is from an underwater spring, therefore it is cool.
In an open area under the sun's rays, the water in the stream heats up and you can walk along it barefoot.
There is some kind of fence made of twigs across the stream.
It is clear that there is a person here.

Looking at the picture, there is a feeling of presence in this forest.
You hear the murmur of a stream, the rustle of trees that the wind makes move, the singing of birds and the sound of a woodpecker.
You can smell the pine needles, the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the water in the stream.
Shishkin helps us plunge into the world of beautiful Russian nature thanks to a subtle sense of nature.
Only he alone can so accurately convey all the beauty and uniqueness of our forest.

“Shishkin simply amazes us with his knowledge,
two, three studies a day rolls, but what difficult,
and completes completely. And when he is in front of nature ...
then exactly in his element, here he is both bold and dexterous,
does not think, here he knows everything ... "

(From a letter from Kramskoy to F. Vasiliev)

Many artists were inspired by the natural beauties of Rus' - Kuindzhi, Savrasov, Levitan. Among the masters of the landscape, Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin's canvases occupy a special stage, for whom forests and meadows were more than nature. This was his life. And that is why his paintings are so realistic and a little mysterious. After all, far from everyone, Mother Nature is ready to reveal her secrets. But the landscape painter Shishkin became one of those who comprehended her secrets.

Why is Ivan Shishkin called the singer of the Russian forest? In the artist's gallery we see many paintings dedicated to the theme of the forest epic. This is the well-known canvas “Morning in a Pine Forest”, and one of the first paintings “Deforestation”, and of course the epic work “Ship Grove” - the final landscape that put an end to the work of the famous landscape painter.

You can stand in front of the canvas “Ship Grove” endlessly, and every second your eyes will find more and more new details. This is the highlight of Ivan Shishkin's style: he scrupulously prescribed tiny elements, attaching importance to any little thing. Each pebble on the bank of the stream, each blade of grass is drawn with photographic accuracy. It makes you want to sit on a huge boulder, touch it with your palm and feel the warmth of a stone heated by the hot July sun.

The picture literally comes to life: running, ringing, water in the stream, a slight rustle of the wind sweeps through the tops of century-old pines. Their mossy trunks seem to exude the smell of amber resin. In the stream, the trunk of a birch cut down by someone lies alone. Probably, the village men prepared brooms for the bath. The rays of the sun were lost in the crowns of centuries-old trees. Only a small clearing could be illuminated by the summer sun, and sunlight could not penetrate into the depths of the forest thicket.

Sometimes it seems that in the painting “Ship Grove” Shishkin talks about the relationship of generations: here old pines symbolize wisdom and experience, here a fallen branch with withered needles means decrepitude, and next to it, young growth dazzles with greenery - low pines compete with each other, which of them taller and leaner. Soon they will take the place of their ancestors. See how the water washes away the shore? The roots of an old pine tree are exposed. Not much time will pass, and the hurricane will knock down the mighty trunk, uprooting it from the soil weakened by water.

Ivan Shishkin lived and breathed Russian nature, identifying it with human life. That is why his paintings seem to come to life before the gaze of observers, they are so convex and embossed. The artist's love for his native land manifested itself in the play of colors, the skill of the brush and the theme of Russian nature, to which the epic canvases of the great landscape painter are dedicated.

"The exhibition smelled of pine, the sun, the light arrived," wrote K. Savitsky when he saw the picture. This canvas, combining harmony and grandeur, became a worthy completion of the integral and original work of the "singer of the Russian forest". The landscape was based on nature sketches made by Shishkin in his native Kama forests. The work embodies the deep knowledge of nature, which was accumulated by the master over almost half a century of creative work. The monumental painting (the largest in Shishkin's work) is the last solemn image of the forest in the epic he created, symbolizing the heroic strength of Russian nature.

The picture began to play, the note is strong, wonderful, - congratulations, I'm not alone, everyone is delighted; bravo!.. There was a smell of pine at the exhibition - the sun, light ...
K.A.Savitsky I.I.Shishkin
http://www.art-catalog.ru/picture.php?id_picture=170

Heroic pines and gigantic mossy firs with intricately curving branches surround us from all sides. Everything on the artist’s canvases was filled with numerous, lovingly painted signs of forest life: roots crawling out of the ground, huge boulders, stumps overgrown with moss and honey mushrooms, bushes and broken branches, grass and ferns. All this was studied to the smallest detail, chosen and written by I. Shishkin, who spent half his life in the forest and even looked like an old forest man.

The artist's work is an enthusiastic ode to the epic beauty and power of the Russian forest. No wonder I. Kramskoy said: "Before Shishkin, Russia had far-fetched landscapes, such as never existed anywhere." Even taking into account the categorical nature of such a statement, I. Kramskoy did not sin too much against historical truth. The majestic Russian nature, which served as a source of poetic images in folklore and literature, indeed, has not been depicted so vividly in landscape painting for a long time. And only the color of I. Shishkin's landscapes was distinguished by the sophistication of the richest shades of green, in the soft range of which brown spots of tree trunks are organically included. If he depicts the water surface of a pond, then it shimmers with him as a mother-of-pearl of unsteady reflections of trees, shrubs and herbs. And nowhere does the artist fall into salonism, the sentimental perception of nature was alien to I. Shishkin. This is what allowed him in 1898 to write a truly epic masterpiece - the painting "Ship Grove", which is considered one of the pinnacles of the artist's work.

The canvas depicts a typical Russian forest landscape with a rising mighty wall of dense coniferous forest. Its edge literally bathes in the rays of the blessed summer sun. Its dazzling light not only gilded the crowns of trees, but also, igniting a quivering radiance of glare, penetrated into the depths of the forest. The impression of the picture on the viewer is created as if in reality he inhales the tart smell of a pine forest heated by the sun.

The water of the ferruginous stream flowing out from behind the trees also seems to be heated to the very bottom. Permeated with light and every grain of sand of the exposed soil of its channel.

It seemed that there were no particularly bright colors in this picture, just as there are none in a pine forest in reality - with its monotonous color of the green dressing of trees and their trunks. There is no variety of plant forms in the picture, just as this is not found in a pine forest, where only one species of trees reigns. There's a lot more that doesn't seem to be...

Meanwhile, the picture immediately captivates the viewer with the national features of the Russian landscape - its majestic beauty, strength and fortress. The specific earthly forces of nature in I. Shishkin seem to be unearthly powerful, absorbing everything random, base and petty.

The first impression of the picture is majestic calmness and equanimity. I. Shishkin wrote it, not looking for those changeable effects - morning, rain, fog, which he had before. This painting seems to be reminiscent of "Pine Forest", but the difference between them is very significant. If the trees in "Pine Forest" were depicted in their entirety - completely with the sky above them, then in the "Ship Grove" the bushes and trees on the left of the canvas disappeared, while others moved towards the viewer and occupied the entire canvas. The pine trees have leveled out, and there is no contrast between near and far. Instead of the previous detailing, I. Shishkin finds another method to attract the attention of the viewer, opposing either similar or heterogeneous motives.

In the center of the picture, he highlights several pine trees illuminated by the sun. To the left, the pines go deep into the grove, now appearing in the light, now hiding in the shadows. On the other side of the canvas, a solid array of greenery is shown. Next to the mighty trees that have been living for hundreds of years, I. Shishkin depicts a young growth that is replacing the old giants - thin pines stretch upwards, speaking of young life. The tops of huge trees are hidden behind the frame of the picture, as if they do not have enough space on the canvas, and our gaze cannot cover them entirely. Immediately in the foreground, thin perches are thrown across a small stream, spreading over the sand with a layer of transparent water.

"Ship Grove" was painted by the artist under the impression of the nature of his native places, memorable to I. Shishkin since childhood. On the drawing to the picture, he made the inscription: "Afanosofskaya Ship Grove near Yelabuga", and with this canvas Ivan Shishkin completed his creative path.
http://nearyou.ru/100kartin/100karrt_77.html

The painting "Ship Grove" (the largest in size in Shishkin's work) is, as it were, the last, final image in the epic he created, symbolizing the heroic Russian strength. The realization of such a monumental idea as this work testifies that the sixty-six-year-old artist was in the full bloom of his creative powers, but his path in art ended there.
On March 8 (20), 1898, he died in his studio at the easel, on which stood a new, just begun painting "Forest Kingdom".

The amazingly beautiful landscape "Ship Grove" was painted by Shishkin in 1898. This painting can be considered a true masterpiece. The artist loved to draw Russian nature and presented it as it is. Only he could so accurately show the beauty of our native nature. His landscapes are alive and real, looking at them, it seems that you yourself are in the place depicted on the canvas. You literally breathe in the smell of a pine forest or the freshness of spring rain.

The picture shows a forest with tall pines. Their trunks cannot be embraced by hands, they are long-livers of this forest and have seen a lot in their life. The tops of the pines stretch upwards towards the amazingly clear blue sky. It breathes more freely and the air is cleaner and fresher. There are many trees here and their fluffy crowns do not let the sun's rays in, although they still manage to break through the needles. Therefore, sunspots can be seen on the ground in the depths of the forest.

On the right, a path leading into a wonderful forest is barely visible. Near this forest there are young trees, which will eventually turn into the same mighty giants. In the background is a stream that goes deep into the forest. Judging by the fact that stones stick out of it and the bottom is visible, it is not at all deep. Perhaps the water in it is from an underwater spring, therefore it is cool. In an open area under the sun's rays, the water in the stream heats up and you can walk along it barefoot. There is some kind of fence made of twigs across the stream. It is clear that there is a person here.

Looking at the picture, there is a feeling of presence in this forest. You hear the murmur of a stream, the rustle of trees that the wind makes move, the singing of birds and the sound of a woodpecker. You can smell the pine needles, the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the water in the stream. I.I. Shishkin helps us plunge into the world of beautiful Russian nature thanks to a subtle sense of nature. Only he alone can so accurately convey all the beauty and uniqueness of our forest.

We continue the project "The history of one picture". In it we talk about the most famous paintings from St. Petersburg museums. Today we are talking about the last work of the great Russian landscape painter, in which he depicted a view of a pine forest near Yelabuga, familiar from childhood.

1. “Ship Grove” is, in a certain sense, the artist’s testament, because it was his last painting. Despite the apparent similarity with other landscapes that came out from under the brush of Shishkin (for example, with "Morning in a Pine Forest"), this work seems to generalize all his creative experience. Here, numerous motifs, scattered over the previous works of the master, are woven into one knot. And one more nuance: the size of the canvas surpasses all the others created by the painter.

2. Shishkin became famous primarily as a landscape painter. His element was nature, and not only Central Russian, but also the nature of Northern Europe. The artist was interested in calm, soft beauty. Contrary to popular belief, Ivan Ivanovich did not create an exclusively Russian landscape. After graduating from the Academy of Arts, he traveled and worked extensively, including in Germany and Finland. By the way, his eldest daughter from his first marriage, Lydia, moved to Suomi after marriage.

3. As for the "Ship Grove", she appeared under the impression familiar to Shishkin from childhood. The canvas depicts the nature of the native places of the artist, a native of the Vyatka province. The landscape was based on sketches from nature, made by Ivan Ivanovich in his native Kama forests. On the drawing to the picture, he made the inscription: "Afanasofskaya Ship Grove near Yelabuga."

4. It was not difficult for researchers to find out that the canvas depicts a pine forest adjacent to Yelabuga from the northwest. Here, in Bolshoy and Nizhny Afanasovo, mast pines have been harvested since the 18th century. Actually, this is where the name “Ship Grove” came from. Centennial trees up to forty meters high and about half a meter in diameter have long been used to build ships. A tall light trunk went to the masts of ships.

5. Work on the painting continued for three years. The first sketches date back to 1895. The plot is quite simple. The artist, as always, attached great importance to details, he carefully painted almost every stem and every blade of grass. In front of the viewer is a clearing flooded with the sun. And then gradually the canvas absorbs the dusk more and more.

6. Experts note that in this picture, the Shishkin forest seems to be bathed in sunlight and a variety of colors and shades that are uncharacteristic of the earlier Shishkin. Despite the usual dullness, the palette of the canvas is very diverse. Many even find traces of the influence of the Impressionists here.

7. This work is often compared and even confused with Pine Forest, without noticing an important nuance. "Pine Forest" is an image of trees that merge with the sky, while the composition of "Ship Grove" is completely different. Instead of bushes and trees in the left corner of the picture, there are trunks located in the very center. Pine trees seem to grow more evenly, there is no contrast between near and far objects. Shishkin replaced detailing with another method of attracting attention - he contrasted several groups that carry a different semantic load.

8. The canvas was first shown at the 26th exhibition of the Wanderers, held in St. Petersburg from February 22 to March 29, 1898. The work immediately received numerous rave reviews from both ordinary visitors and colleagues in the shop. For example, the artist Savitsky could not restrain his emotions and wrote a letter to the author with the words: “The picture began to play, the note is strong, wonderful - congratulations, I’m not alone, everyone is delighted, bravo ... There was a smell of pine at the exhibition! The sun, the light has arrived! .. "

9. The exhibition had not yet ended when, on March 8 (March 20, according to the new style), 1898, the landscape painter died in his studio at the easel, on which stood the new, just begun painting "Forest Kingdom". D. Uspensky wrote about this in the Nedelya newspaper: “A traveling exhibition in mourning: shortly after its opening, Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin died at the age of 67. He was a wonderful man, stern in appearance, in fact a kind-hearted man, in appearance - a volost foreman, in fact - the finest artist.

10. Up to the present time, the painting "Ship Grove" is considered one of the most popular in Shishkin's work and, by the way, widely reproduced. It can be found on postcards and stamps, on T-shirts, carpets and even (attention!) photo wallpaper.

SPECIFICALLY

Ivan Ivanovich SHISHKIN (1832-1898).

In 1852 he moved to Moscow and entered the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. After completing the course, four years later, the talented student was advised to continue his education at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts.

Shishkin began to get involved in landscapes while still at school. And in the first year of his stay at the academy, he was awarded a small silver medal for "View in the environs of St. Petersburg." In 1858, the artist received a large silver medal for the painting View on the Island of Valaam.

The successes achieved allowed the artist to travel abroad as a scholarship holder of the Academy. He traveled to Munich, Zurich, Prague and Düsseldorf.

In 1865 Ivan Ivanovich was awarded the title of academician. In subsequent years, famous masterpieces were created: "Cutting down the forest" (1867), "Pine trees illuminated by the sun" (1886), "Morning in a pine forest" (1889, and the bears were painted by K. A. Savitsky).