Description of the painting wet meadow. Composition based on Vasiliev's painting "Wet Meadow"

F. Vasiliev is an artist whose wonderful work is mesmerizing. When you look at his paintings, you can not tear yourself away. You peer into every detail, and most importantly, you see familiar landscapes, because most often the author of the paintings depicted precisely Russian nature. Such a picture is the canvas Wet Meadow of Vasiliev. According to it, we will write - a description for the 8th grade.

Description of the painting Wet meadow

I will write an essay based on the painting by Vasiliev Wet Meadow with pleasure, because I have something to say. When I saw the reproduction, a lot of emotions immediately appeared. The work impressed and struck my imagination, made me think about life. I don’t know who sees what in the picture, but, first of all, I saw the struggle of nature with bad weather. It is as if the artist teaches us by his work to resist adversity, the difficulties that come along the way.

It would seem that only recently there was a thunderstorm, perhaps a strong wind was blowing. The clouds are still seething, boiling, blackening in the distance, hanging over the forest. But already in the foreground the sun breaks through, the sky brightens, saying that the elements will not return, despite the fact that it is still raining in the distance.

What did the rain leave behind?
The downpour has passed, the sky has stopped rumbling and spewing lightning, nature has fallen into silence, only the wind is blowing lightly. Before us was only a wet meadow, the silhouettes of several trees, and water in the form of a huge puddle in the center, which remained after the rain. The sun is not visible in the picture, but the author depicts sunlight, in addition, we see the reflection of the sun breaking through the clouds in the water. A little more and it will appear over the wet meadow and warm the rain-beaten grass and wildflowers.

On his canvas, the artist depicts many small details, but they all merged together, creating wholeness and naturalness. The picture is beautiful, just like Russian nature is beautiful, which Vasilyev so masterfully portrayed on canvas.

Fedor Vasiliev lived a very short life, only 22 years old. But, an ordinary person would not have been able to do for a whole century what this boy did in such a short period on earth. Phenomenal talent, unusual abilities and a love of work are the qualities that helped the young master gain popularity.

Biography touches

After Vasiliev ran away from the postal service, he left for St. Petersburg, where the doors of the Drawing School opened before him. In addition to training, the young artist was also engaged in restoration, earning a living. The master was interested in drawing from early childhood, and it was not just a hobby, it was a special gift, talent. Vasiliev, at the age of eighteen, having not studied anywhere before, could compete with famous artists of that time such as Repin, Shishkin, Kramskoy.

What names were not invented for a young boy - a mocker, a merry fellow, a “wonder boy”. Thanks to his cheerful nature, Vasiliev was a favorite of the public. For several years of training, the artist's skill reached a highly professional level, which others managed only after many years of continuous work. His unique talent was a reason for rumors, they even talked about the intervention of mystical forces, but these were only guesses and assumptions of envious people.

Later, Vasilyeva's sister married Shishkin, who was already famous at that time, which connected the young artist with family ties, which had already taken place. At night, Fedor still worked as a restorer. He was popular among the ladies of high society, as he always knew how to look good. His charming sonorous laugh, lemon gloves on his hands, a top hat on his head, as well as his active participation in all important events, could not but fascinate young ladies thirsting for love and passion.

His personal life was hidden from anyone, the artist lived in a small, cage-like room and painted wonderful, warming landscapes, in which he put his whole soul. The paintings of the young artist are notable for the fact that sincere feelings, simplicity and poetry come from them.

Later, the painter was struck by pneumonia, the consequence of which was the development of tuberculosis, which forced Vasiliev to go to Yalta, where there is a lot of sun, sand and fresh sea air. It was here that the painting “Wet Meadow” was born.

"Wet meadow" as the embodiment of the master's concept of painting

According to the young artist, the canvas appeared as a result of sketches developed at different times and in different places.

Vasiliev frees his works from traditional canonical methods. They do not differ in the brightness of colors and monumentality of images. The painting "Wet Meadow" embodied all the artist's pictorial views, his developed concept. The plot basis of the canvas is a wet meadow washed by rain. The beauty of nature is in the variety of its shades, which includes trees, slopes, shores, and a pond. It is as if a moment of calm and tenderness in the bosom of nature has been torn out of the whirl of life.

But it is also difficult to call a static picture, because if you look closely, you can see how the wind bends the trees, and the smooth water ripples a little. The sky acts as an independent character of the canvas, in which there is a clear confrontation. Although the storm is behind us, the skies let us know about the recent rain, and somewhere in the distance, thunder can still be heard. Light clouds slowly float above the ground, and in the background the trail of thunderclouds has not yet cooled down. Vasiliev quite often refers to the image of the sky in his work. This element in different canvases is endowed with its own characteristics, its own character, it seems to express the worldview of the master.

The skies in the painting "Wet Meadow" evoke an impression of uncertainty. On the one hand, they are painted with light blue colors, the sun's rays appear through them and the whole meadow is filled with light. On the other hand, the second half of the canvas is empty against the background of the gloomy tones of black clouds.

To embody the wet meadow, the author uses soft lines of green hues. All of it is covered with lively and filled with power after the rain with emerald-colored grass. The whole picture is full of small details that give it integrity and completeness. Here you can see a barely noticeable path, hills, snags. A superficial glance will not be able to catch the fullness of the canvas. The motif of the painting is simple and unique. Every person somewhere in the memory will find a similar story from life.

The plot features of the canvas

The canvas is successfully complemented by overgrown branchy trees against the background of a lowland hidden behind the horizon by a gray haze of the forest. In the center of the work is a backwater. Its dark blue waters and tobacco-brown shores attract the eye. The composition of the picture, with its simplicity and ease, is endowed with accents of monumentality. All the details in it, as well as their combination, are thought out to the smallest detail. Such organization and completeness gives the feeling that this is a separate video frame.

A person looking at the picture cannot help but appreciate the forceful and emotional investments of the artist, which led to the harmony of the canvas. The plot can be interpreted in different ways. Someone will see here the confrontation between good and evil, light and darkness, someone will be fascinated by the allegory of the struggle of life with death, the young generation with the passing into oblivion. The picture excites sensitivity, because when viewing the work of Vasiliev, you can enjoy the freshness of the air after the rain, the view of the departing thunderclouds, breathe in the aromas of freshly washed herbs and trees.

The painting is highly valued not only by modern art historians. They paid tribute to her for the life of the artist, calling the canvas “Wet Meadow” “swan song”. His personal life is shrouded in mystery and secrets. We will never unravel the psychology of the master. His life was not distinguished by luxury, Vasilyev earned his fees by honest work and unsurpassed talent, which has always been the subject of rumors and discussions. Truly valuable, his works are at the pinnacle of pictorial art, they inspire and soothe the spiritual impulses of connoisseurs.

Looking at this picture, I could not take my eyes off for a long time.
I was struck by the beauty and recognizability of the landscape of Russian nature.
It seems that quite recently, or maybe a moment ago, a thunderstorm rumbled, but now it is quiet.
We see somewhere on the horizon how it rains.
And it was there, it seemed to me at times that lightning flashes, and thunder rumbles reach us from there.
The foreground of the picture without rain, although we see gloomy clouds, the sun is noticeably trying to break through them.
We see the reflection of its rays in the backwater.
The sun tries to gently illuminate everything around, and as if dew drops begin to sparkle in the clearing.

It seemed to me that the artist sought to depict in his landscape everything moving or in motion.
Somewhere in the distance you can see how the wind sways the branches of trees, you can see how the grass sways and it seems that clouds mixed with clouds are moving by the wind.
The sky seemed to me depicted especially accurately and even expressively, probably not without reason the artist paid so much attention to it, giving half of the canvas to the image of the sky.
Very beautifully, Vasiliev managed to convey the contrast by depicting dark, thick clouds, with gaps in the sunny, blue sky.
It seemed to me that the storm has not yet completely subsided, it has just begun to fade, and nature seems to rejoice at this phenomenon and begins to blossom and smile with gratitude.

Vasiliev's paintings very often convey a lot of emotions to us, and I could not stay away.
I was not only interested in this work, but also impressed.
It even seemed to me that the main idea of ​​this landscape or the idea that the artist wanted to convey to us is the struggle of nature with inclement weather, the ability to withstand adversity and storms no matter what.
I liked this work also because it made me think about many topics, not only related to the surrounding nature, but also the ability to withstand difficulties.

WET MEADOW

Fedor Vasiliev

The phenomenon of the "artistic origin" of the landscape painter Fyodor Alexandrovich Vasiliev has always continued and continues to amaze anyone who in one way or another comes into contact with his work. Art historian L. I. Iovleva notes that on the horizon of Russian art of the 1860s, he appeared at the age of eighteen, almost a self-taught boy. But somehow unexpectedly, almost suddenly, he became an equal among the leading artists of that time. On “equals” I participated with them at exhibitions, on “equals” I won competitions and in two or three years I achieved such professional successes that others took years, and sometimes a whole life to conquer.

A cheerful, witty, temperamental young man F. Vasiliev, as he appears from the pages of I.E. Repin and I. Kramskoy, was ill with an incurable disease at that time - consumption. He left for the Crimea and lived in Yalta for the last two years. On the streets of Yalta, almonds fell off, roses blossomed, the “Judas tree” dressed in a magnificent thick pink outfit, magnolias bloomed, large brushes of wisteria hung from flexible lashes of branches. But the artist was possessed by an irresistible craving for his native land, for the discreet charm of Russian nature. In Yalta, F. Vasiliev for a long time still depicted old, familiar and painfully heartfelt northern motifs dear to him. Among the album drawings, where he made pencil sketches of the Crimean nature that was new to him, there are landscapes of central Russia sketched from his memories.

In the Crimea, F. Vasilyev also painted the painting “Wet Meadow”, which became one of the masterpieces of Russian landscape painting. In it, he wanted to express his feelings, all his love - everything that preserves the memory of the heart. There will be no mighty mountains, no cypresses, no lush southern flowers, no azure sea - just a rain-washed wet meadow under a huge sky, a few trees in the distance and shadows of clouds driven by the wind running across the wet grass.

The storm is leaving, but the sky is still boiling and seething. Shaggy clouds rush and collide with formidable haste, peals of thunder are still heard - everything in the picture is full of movement, everything lives and breathes: trees bending under the gusts of wind, and rippling water, and the sky ... Even especially the sky, imbued with a typically Vasilyevsky mood , which is contrasted on the canvas with ominous clouds, still pouring down streams of rain on the forest visible in the distance. The sky in the canvases of F. Vasiliev always plays a significant role, and in "Wet Meadow" it is almost the main means of expressing the artist's poetic thought. A sparkling warm gap in the clouds, reflected in the water and supported by reflections on the ground, fights against huge dark and cold clouds and shadows running along the earth.

As if in contrast to the intense life of the sky, the rest of the landscape is extremely simple and the lines of its drawing are softer, calmer. Every detail of the picture (and there are many of them on this canvas) is a variation of the main theme, but all the details are so dissolved in the whole that you can recognize them only upon very careful consideration.

At first glance, "Wet Meadow" wins over the viewer with the simplicity and familiarity of the motive. In the depths of a wide lowland, two spreading trees rise. Far behind them, in the gray haze of the forest, a strip of sky appears. A steep slope stretches along the lowland, and in front - almost in the center - a swampy backwater with swampy banks glistens. That, in fact, is all that is depicted on the canvas of F. Vasiliev. But his contemporaries saw in this picture more than even a generalized image of the northern nature native to the artist.

The picture captures the viewer with the extraordinary depth of the spiritualized landscape, the immediacy of feelings and moods invested in it. F. Vasiliev's nature never seems to be "cold, eternal and indifferent." He constantly searched for harmony and purity in her, the artist warmed and inspired her with a deeply poetic feeling, and it was in his paintings that intimate-lyrical, sad and yearning theme, which froze with his death, first sounded. On the one hand, the mood of struggle and resistance, and on the other hand, sadness and melancholy, expressed in The Wet Meadow, subdue and involuntarily force us to return to the sad biography of its 22-year-old author.

The composition of "Wet Meadow" is simple and unconstrained, and at the same time it is difficult to imagine a more thoughtful and monumental work. It is easy to distinguish the compositional center in the picture, to which the main lines of the landscape converge - the outlines of the slope, the banks of the backwater, the paths, the borders of light and shadow in the meadow, the strip of forest. The visual center that organizes the whole picture is the dark silhouette of two mighty trees. F. Vasiliev moved it to the right of the geometric center, and that is why the picture does not look static.

Surprisingly smoothly and in relief unfolds in the "Wet Meadow" space. The sky with its seething and seething, with its play of light and with its cosmic infinity is depicted by an unsurpassed master and poet of the sky, which was considered the artist F. Vasiliev. And at the same time, each bush of grass in the foreground reproduces the vegetation of central Russia with botanical accuracy.

"Wet Meadow" was submitted to the competition of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists in St. Petersburg in 1872 and received the second prize (the first was awarded to I. Shishkin's painting "Pine Forest"). In relation to nature and art, both artists had much in common. Both of them were children of the land they sang about; both were closely connected with her, knew her with all her secrets, and therefore were able to see and so reverently convey her beauty.

When the head of the Wanderers I. Kramskoy saw F. Vasiliev's "Wet Meadow", he was shocked. And the pure spring greenery, and the flying light, and the inaudible breeze that charged the water in the overgrown riverbed, and the invisible drops of rain on the wet foliage of trees - everything spoke of an unusual artist and sensitive to the "noise and music of nature"