At the age of 12, Ivan Ivanovich was assigned as a student of the first Kazan gymnasium. However, having studied there until the 5th grade, he made a decision and left the gymnasium. Instead, he entered the Moscow School of Architecture, Painting and Sculpture. After graduating from this institution, he continued to study at the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg: there he was a student of Vorobyov S.M. Classes at the Academy did not satisfy Shishkin, so he persistently wrote sketches and painted on the island of Valaam and in the vicinity of St. Petersburg. Thanks to such activities, he was more and more imbued with familiarity with local forms, he learned to convey it better and better with a brush and pencil. In the very first year of study at the Academy, Ivan Ivanovich was already awarded 2 small silver medals for an excellent drawing in which he conveyed the landscape of the environs of St. Petersburg. 1858 brings the artist a large silver medal across the view of Valaam. In 1859, Shishkin was awarded a small gold medal for drawing a landscape of St. Petersburg. And in 1860, Ivan received a large gold medal for the view of the Kukko area.
Together with the last award, Shishkin also receives an opportunity with which he can go abroad as a pensioner of the Academy. And so, in 1861, the painter went to Munich. There he visited the workshops of great artists (such as Franz and Benno Adamov, who were very popular with animal painters). In 1863 Ivan moved to Zurich. Here, under the guidance of Koller, who at that time was considered perhaps the best depiction of animals, he painted from those very animals of nature, copied them. It was in Zurich that the landscape painter first tried engraving with “royal vodka”. After Zurich, Ivan's next target was Geneva, where he got acquainted with the works of Kalam and Didet. From Geneva, Shishkin went to Dusseldorf. Here, by order of N. Bykov, he painted a picture called “View in the vicinity of Dusseldorf”. In the future, this very picture was sent to St. Petersburg. And it was with the help of her that Shishkin received the title of academician. However, Ivan Ivanovich did not only paint abroad, he also drew with a pen. His works of this kind brought foreigners into great surprise. In addition, several of these works were placed next to the drawings of the leading masters of Europe in the Düsseldorf Museum.
Ivan Ivanovich missed his homeland, so in 1866 he returned to St. Petersburg ahead of schedule, before the expiration of the term. Since that time, he quite often travels around Russia for artistic purposes, exhibiting works at the academy almost every year. After the establishment of the Association of Exhibitions at such exhibitions, he made drawings with a pen. In 1870, Shishkin joined the circle of aquafortists and again engraved with “royal vodka”. Since then, the painter has not neglected this art and devotes exactly the same amount of time as to other types of his activities. Every year Ivan's works consolidated his reputation as an incomparable aquafortist and, in general, one of the best painters in our country. Shishkin had at his disposal an estate in the village of Vyra (now the Leningrad Region, Gatchinsky District). The year 1873 became very important for the artist - "Forest Wilderness" prompted the academy to award Shishkin the title of professor. After the adoption of a new academic charter, Shishkin was invited in 1892 as the head of the landscape training workshop, but this position did not lie on his shoulders for long. Ivan Ivanovich died in March 1898, sitting at his easel and working on a new work.
How truly great are the artists whose inescapable supply of spiritual strength and life observations is poured into a form that is extremely clear, simple, accessible to the widest spectator. The whole philosophy of their paintings is a hymn to wildlife, the beauty of nature. Their work is reminiscent of a leisurely song, epic and free. The best canvases of artists become milestones in the development of the art of the country in which they lived and painted. Compatriots are proud of their paintings as national treasures, so great is the generalized sense of citizenship and feeling of the Motherland in these realistic works.
In the second half of the 19th century, the Russian national landscape was unconditionally affirmed. That is why Shishkin's work marks an important stage in the development of this genre. Among the prominent artists Shishkin Ivan Ivanovich(1832-1896) represents with his art an exceptional phenomenon, which was not known in the field of landscape painting in previous eras. Like many Russian artists, he naturally had a great talent for the nugget. Nemirovich-Danchenko spoke of his work in the following way: “A poet of nature, namely a poet who thinks in her images, disassembles her beauty where a mere mortal will pass indifferently.” Creativity Shishkin imbued with the pathos of life and the affirmation of the beauty and strength of nature of his native country.
The future artist was born in Yelabuga on the Kama, a remote Russian province. The inhabitants of this town carefully preserved the fundamental foundations of the patriarchal way of life. His father was a merchant, a cultured man. The father was the first from whom Vanya found support in his aspirations for art. In 1852, young Shishkin enters the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Then four years of study at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. Already during this period, Shishkin introduced an innovation in the landscape genre - a etude approach to the subject of the image, natural exploration of nature. One of the works of the academic period "VIEW ON THE ISLAND OF VALAAM" (Kukko area) (1858, Kiev Museum of Russian Art). The future artist admired meadows and forests, herbs and flowers, stumps and stones, bushes and mosses, in which the idea of living life, the eternal growth of nature was manifested. Shishkin was attracted by a thirst for artistic exploration of nature. He carefully examined, felt, studied every stem, tree trunk, quivering foliage on branches, revived grasses and mosses. For this picture, Shishkin received a large gold medal and the right to improve his work abroad after graduating from the Academy.
For two years, the artist gained knowledge in Switzerland, in Germany. From where he returned as a high professional, he became a professor (head of the landscape class) and a member of the Association of Wanderers. Here he nurtured his view of creativity and determined the themes of future works. Life in a foreign land sharpened his sense of the Motherland.
Opposite in plot is another painting by the artist “SESTRORETSKY BOR” (1887). Here is not a thicket, but sunlight breaking through the pines and warming the earth. And again, the main characters in Shishkin's landscapes are trees. In the spirit of his time, the artist poeticizes them, naming them according to the opening lines of the poem: “Among the flat valley…”, “In the wild north…”.
"AMONG THE VALLEY OF EQUAL ..." (1883, Kiev Museum of Russian Art) - romantic painting, which became a continuation of the majestic landscape, created based on the poem of the same name by Alexei Merzlyakov. The artist has developed a visually convincing painting, filled with the smells of the plain and the coolness of the fading day. Shishkin has been depicting a forest all his life, and here there is only one tree for the entire boundless space. The picture is addressed to the well-being of a person in a vast world. Shishkin's man is attached to the ground. Nature expresses the music of the human soul. Through its states, a person reflects on life. Thus, the artist's landscape expresses the state of nature and the feelings of a person who responds to this state. It is very difficult to say which of the artist's works is the most remarkable. All Shishkin's works show how his creative tasks expanded, and how a true landscape painter wanted to express the best folk ideals and aspirations in the images of Russian nature.
IN Shishkin's paintings how it sounds like "the spirit and image of the great, mighty space" called Russia. An epoch lives in the images of the artist, a mighty, unhurried people is imagined, a huge boundless country is seen, which has no end and which is constantly receding and receding into endless horizons. Shishkin conquered the widest circles of society with his works. After all, he created a real epic of the Russian forest, capturing not only the appearance of national nature, but also the character of the people. It was from Shishkin's love for nature that images were born that have long become unique symbols of Russia. Already the figure of Shishkin personified Russian nature for his contemporaries. He was called the "forest hero-artist", "king of the forest", "old man-forester", he was compared with an old strong pine, but he most likely looks like a lonely oak from his famous painting. After all, the artist had a difficult fate. Twice he married for love, and twice death claimed the women he loved. His sons have died. But Shishkin never allowed himself to transfer his own difficult condition to nature.
Shishkin died on March 20, 1898, like a true artist - at work. His student Grigory Gurkin worked in Shishkin's workshop. Hearing an unnaturally loud sigh, he looked out from behind the canvas and saw the teacher slowly sliding onto his side. This is how his niece describes the death of Ivan Ivanovich. But the work of the master is alive, in which the “spirit and image of the great, mighty space” called Russia sounds.
Shishkin Ivan Ivanovich is the founder of the Russian epic landscape, which gives a broad, generalized idea of the majestic and free Russian nature. In Shishkin's paintings, the strict truthfulness of the image, the calm breadth and majesty of the images, their natural, unobtrusive simplicity captivate. The poetry of Shishkin's landscapes is similar to the smooth melody of a folk song, with the course of a wide, full-flowing river.
Shishkin was born in 1832 in Yelabuga, among the untouched and majestic forests of the Kama region, which played a huge role in the formation of Shishkin as a landscape painter. From his youth, he was possessed by a passion for painting, and in 1852 he left his native places and went to Moscow, to the School of Painting and Sculpture. He directed all his artistic thoughts to the image of nature, for this he constantly traveled to Sokolniki Park to study sketches, studied nature. Shishkin's biographer wrote that before him no one painted nature so beautifully: "... just a field, a forest, a river - and they come out of him as beautiful as the Swiss views." In 1860, Shishkin brilliantly graduated from the Academy of Arts with a Big Gold Medal.
Throughout the entire period of his work, the artist followed one of his rules, and did not change him all his life: “Only imitation of nature can satisfy a landscape painter, and the most important thing for a landscape painter is a diligent study of nature ... Nature must be sought in all its simplicity ... "
Thus, all his life he followed the task of reproducing the existing as truthfully and accurately as possible and not embellishing it, not imposing his individual perception.
Shishkin's work can be called happy, he never knew painful doubts and contradictions. His entire creative life was devoted to improving the method he followed in his painting.
Shishkin's pictures of nature were so truthful and accurate that he was often called a "photographer of Russian nature" - some with delight, others, innovators, with slight contempt, but in fact they still cause excitement and admiration in the audience. No one passes by his canvases indifferent.
The winter forest in this picture is shackled by frost, it seems to be numb. In the foreground are several hundred-year-old giant pines. Their powerful trunks darken against the background of bright white snow. Shishkin conveys the amazing beauty of the winter landscape, calm and majestic. To the right, an impenetrable thicket of the forest darkens. Everything around is immersed in winter sleep. Only a rare ray of cold sun penetrates the realm of snow and throws light golden spots on the branches of pines, on a forest clearing in the distance. Nothing breaks the silence of this amazingly beautiful winter day.
A rich palette of shades of white, brown and golden conveys the state of winter nature, its beauty. Here is shown a collective image of a winter forest. The picture is full of epic sound.
Bewitched by the Enchantress Winter, the forest stands -
And under the snowy fringe, motionless, mute,
He shines with a wonderful life.
And he stands, bewitched ... enchanted by a magical dream,
All shrouded, all shackled with a light downy chain ...
(F. Tyutchev)
The picture was painted in the year of the artist's death, he, as it were, resurrected the motifs close to his heart associated with the forest, with pines. The landscape was exhibited at the 26th Traveling Exhibition and met with a warm welcome from the progressive public.
The artist depicted a pine mast forest illuminated by the sun. Pine trunks, their needles, the bank of a forest stream with a rocky bottom are bathed in slightly pinkish rays, the state of rest is emphasized by a transparent stream sliding over pure stones.
The lyricism of evening lighting is combined in the picture with the epic characters of a giant pine forest. Huge tree trunks with several girths, their calm rhythm give the whole canvas a special monumentality.
"Ship Grove" - the artist's swan song. In it, he sang of his homeland with its mighty slender forests, clear waters, resinous air, blue skies, with a gentle sun. In it, he conveyed that feeling of love and pride in the beauty of the mother earth, which did not leave him throughout his creative life.
Summer afternoon. It just rained. There are puddles on the country road. The moisture of warm rain is felt both on the gold of the grain field and on the emerald green of the grass with bright wildflowers. The purity of the earth washed by the rain is made even more convincing by the sky brightened after the rain. Its blue is deep and pure. The last mother-of-pearl-silvery clouds run away to the horizon, giving way to the midday sun.
It is especially valuable that the artist was able to soulfully betray the nature renewed after the rain, the breath of the refreshed earth and grass, the thrill of running clouds.
Vital truthfulness and poetic spirituality make the painting "Noon" a work of great artistic value.
The canvas depicts a flat landscape of central Russia, the calm beauty of which is crowned by a mighty oak. Endless expanses of the valley. In the distance, the ribbon of the river gleams a little, a white church is barely visible, and further towards the horizon, everything is drowned in a foggy blue. There are no boundaries of this majestic valley.
The country road winds through the fields and is lost in the distance. On the sides of its flowers - daisies sparkle in the sun, unpretentious hawthorn blooms, thin stalks of panicles lean low. Fragile and delicate, they emphasize the strength and grandeur of a mighty oak, proudly towering over the plain. Deep pre-storm silence reigns in nature. Gloomy shadows from the clouds ran across the plain in dark waves. A terrible storm is coming. The curly green of the giant oak is motionless. He, like a proud hero, expects a duel with the elements. Its powerful trunk will never bend under the blows of the wind.
This is Shishkin's favorite theme - the theme of centuries-old coniferous forests, forest wilderness, majestic and solemn nature in its unperturbed peace. The artist was well able to convey the character of a pine forest, majestically calm, embraced by silence. The sun gently illuminates the hillock near the stream, the tops of centuries-old trees, leaving the forest wilderness immersed in the shade. Snatching the trunks of individual pines from the forest dusk, the golden light of the sun reveals their harmony and height, the wide scope of their branches. Pine trees are not only correctly depicted, not only similar, but beautiful and expressive.
Notes of subtle folk humor are introduced by amusing figures of bears looking at a hollow with wild bees. The landscape is bright, clean, serenely joyful in mood.
The picture is painted in cold silver-green tones. Nature is saturated with raw air. The blackened trunks of oaks are literally shrouded in moisture, streams of water flow along the roads, raindrops bubble in puddles. But the cloudy sky is already beginning to lighten. Penetrating a grid of fine rain hanging over an oak grove, a silvery light pours from the sky, it is reflected by gray-steel highlights on wet leaves, the surface of a black wet umbrella turns silver, wet stones, reflecting light, acquire an ashy hue. The artist forces the viewer to admire the subtle combination of dark silhouettes of trunks, milky-gray veil of rain and silvery muted gray shades of greenery.
In this canvas, more than in any other picture of Shishkin, the nationality of his perception of nature was revealed. In it, the artist created an image of great epic power and a truly monumental sound.
A wide plain stretching to the very horizon (the artist deliberately places the landscape along an elongated canvas). And everywhere, wherever you look, ripened grain is earing. The oncoming gusts of wind sway the rye in waves - this makes it even more acute to feel how tall, fat and thick it is. The undulating field of ripe rye seems to be filled with gold, casting a dull sheen. The road, turning, cuts into the thick of the loaves, and they immediately hide it. But the movement is continued by tall pines lined up along the road. It seems as if the giants are walking across the steppe with a heavy, measured tread. Mighty, full of heroic forces nature, a rich, free land.
A sultry summer day portends a thunderstorm. From the long standing heat, the sky has discolored, lost its sonorous blue. The first thunderclouds are already creeping over the horizon. With great love and skill, the foreground of the picture was painted: a road covered with light dust, with swallows flying over it, and fat ripe ears, and white heads of daisies, and cornflowers blue in the gold of rye.
The painting "Rye" is a generalized image of the motherland. It victoriously sounds a solemn hymn to the abundance, fertility, majestic beauty of the Russian land. A huge faith in the power and richness of nature, with which it rewards human labor, is the main idea that guided the artist when creating this work.
The artist perfectly captured the sunlight in the sketch, the gaps of the bright blue sky in contrast with the greenery of the oak crown, the transparent and quivering shadows on the trunks of old oaks.
The painting is based on the poem of the same name by M.Yu. Lermontov.
The theme of loneliness sounds in the picture. On an impregnable bare rock, in the midst of pitch darkness, snow and ice, stands a lone pine tree. The moon illuminates the gloomy gorge and the endless distance covered with snow. It seems that in this realm of cold there is nothing alive, everything around is frozen. numb. But on the very edge of the cliff, desperately clinging to life, a lone pine stands proudly. Heavy flakes of sparkling snow fettered its branches, pulling down to the ground. But the pine bears its loneliness with dignity, the power of severe cold is unable to break it.
Shishkin Ivan Ivanovich (1832-1898) - the most famous Russian painter, graphic artist, who depicted nature in all its glory. The variety of works of the creator is amazing: in his paintings one can find steppe and forest-steppe, coniferous landscapes not only in Russia, but also in other countries. It is popular both in our country and all over the world.
Ivan Shishkin: biography
This outstanding man was born into a merchant's family and lived an ordinary life until his school years. As you know, Shishkin could not study at a regular school, so he left it and went to an art school. From there, he entered the university in St. Petersburg, where students were taught not only painting, but architecture and sculpture. Such a base had a very good effect on the development of the abilities of young Shishkin. However, the study tasks were not enough for the artist, and he spent his free time in the open air.
Shishkin's independent practice
Plein air is painting outdoors. Artists created on the street to create light, atmospheric paintings, as opposed to the idealized paintings that were made in the studios (with the help of imagination). Ivan Shishkin also got out to the open air. The biography of this person consists of constant travels to different parts of the world to learn how to draw different landscapes.
Shishkin went out for walks with paints or graphic materials (pencils, charcoal) and wrote to the district of St. Petersburg. Thanks to this habit, the young man quickly improved his skills in depicting shapes and details.
Soon the merits of the young painter were noticed in the educational institution, and the artist Shishkin received many medals for these works. The pictures became more realistic and he made fewer mistakes. Soon the young man became one of the most famous artists in Russia.
"Afternoon near Moscow"
This picture is very light and bright. The first thing that catches your eye is the contrast of sky and field, blue and yellow. The artist (Shishkin) allocated more space for the sky, probably because the sheaves are already very bright. Most of the picture is occupied by gray clouds. They can be found in many shades: emerald, blue and yellow. Only a thin band of bluish horizon separates the field from the sky. In this distance, you can see the hills, and a little closer are the dark blue silhouettes of shrubs and trees. Closest to the viewer is a spacious field.
The wheat is already ripe, but the wild, unsown land is visible on the left. The riot of burnt grass stands out against the background of the yellowish mass of ears and creates an unusual contrast. In the foreground we see the beginning of a wheat field: the artist arranged reddish, burgundy and dark ocher strokes so that the depth of these sheaves was felt. On the road that runs between the grass and the field, the artist Shishkin depicted two figures. By the clothes of these people, one can tell that they are peasants. One of the figures definitely belongs to a woman: we see a scarf tied around her head and a dark skirt.
"Pine trees illuminated by the sun"
Many amazing works were written by Ivan Shishkin. Pine forest he loved to portray the most. However, it is worth paying attention to other canvases: they are not without beauty and sometimes turn out to be much more interesting than more famous paintings.
Pine trees are one of the eternal themes in the work of such an artist as Shishkin Ivan Ivanovich. In this landscape, the play of light and shadow is especially remarkable. The sun shines from behind the artist's back, in time it is noon or late afternoon. In the foreground are two tall pines. Their trunks are so strongly drawn to the sky that they do not fit in the picture. Therefore, tree crowns begin only in the middle of the picture. Although the trunks are not very old, moss has already grown on their bark. From the sun it seems yellowish and in some places gray.
The shadows from the trees are very long and dark, the artist depicted them almost black. Three more pines can be seen in the distance: they are arranged compositionally so as not to knock the viewer off the main thing in the picture. The color scheme of this work - warm consists mainly of light green, brown, ocher and yellowish shades. This palette evokes joy and a sense of peace in the soul. All this is diluted with a few cold shades, which Shishkin skillfully distributed throughout the picture. We see emerald shades on the top of the crowns of pines and on the far left. Thanks to this combination of colors, the composition looks very harmonious and bright at the same time.
"Landscape with a lake" (1886)
This picture is one of the few by Shishkin that depicts water. The artist preferred to paint the dense forest, in contrast to the light vegetation in this work.
The first thing that attracts attention in this work is the lake. The water surface is written in great detail, so that you can see light ripples near the shore and accurate reflections of trees and shrubs.
Thanks to the clear light blue, and in some places purple sky, the water in the lake seems very clean. However, ocher and greenish inclusions give the impression that this lake is real.
The foreground of the painting
In the foreground is the green beach. Small grass is so bright that it seems acidic. Near the very edge of the water, she is lost in the lake, in some places peeking out of its smooth surface. In the contrasting grass, small wild flowers are visible, so white that it seems as if they are glare from the sun on the plants. To the right of the lake, a large dark green bush swaying from the wind interspersed with bright light green shades.
On the other side of the lake, on the left, the viewer can make out the roofs of several houses; there is probably a village near the lake. Behind the rooftops rises an emerald, dark green pine forest.
The artist (Shishkin) chose the right combination of light blue, green (warm and cold), ocher and black.
"Dali"
Something mysterious emanates from Shishkin’s painting “Dali”, the landscape seems to be lost in the sunset. The sun has already set, and we see only a light streak of light near the horizon. Lonely trees rise to the right in the foreground. There are many plants around them. The greenery is very dense, so almost no light breaks through the bushes. Closer to the center of the canvas is a tall linden, which leaned over from the weight of its branches.
The sky, as in other paintings, occupies most of the composition. The sky is the lightest on the canvas. The gray-blue color of the sky turns into light yellow. Scattered light clouds look very light and dynamic. In this work, Shishkin Ivan Ivanovich appears before us as a romantic and a dreamer.
In the foreground we see a small lake that goes into the distance. It reflects dark stone and burnt ocher and yellow-green grass. In the distance are purple, gray hills, not very high, but noticeable.
Looking at the picture, you are filled with a feeling of sadness and comfort. This effect is created thanks to the warm shades that the artist Shishkin used in his work.
Ivan Shishkin is one of the most famous painters and graphic artists who depicted nature. This man was truly in love with forests, groves, rivers and lakes of Russia, so I worked them out to the smallest detail in my work. According to Shishkin's paintings, one can not only describe the climate of Russia, but also study the basics of plein air painting. The artist mastered both oil paints and graphic materials to perfection, which is quite rare among creative people. It is difficult to name people who painted nature as well as the artist Shishkin. The paintings of this man are very naturalistic, contrasting and bright.
Today we will talk about the brightest, most talented representative of Russian art, a Russian landscape painter, a follower of the Düsseldorf school of art, an engraving draftsman and aquafortist Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin. The genius of the brush was born in the winter of 1832 in the city of Yelabuga in the family of a noble merchant Ivan Vasilyevich Shishkin. From childhood, living on the outskirts of the village, Ivan Shishkin admired the expanses of yellow fields, the breadth of green forests, the blueness of lakes and rivers. Having matured, all these native landscapes did not go out of the guy’s head and he decided to learn to be a painter. As you can see, he did it perfectly and the master left behind a huge mark in the history of Russian culture and painting. His brilliant works are so natural and beautiful that they are known not only in his homeland, but also far beyond its borders.
And now we will tell about his work in more detail:
"Morning in a Pine Forest" (1889)
Everyone knows this work by Ivan Shishkin, the master of the brush painted forest thickets and paths a lot, but this picture is the most beloved, because the composition includes playful and wonderful cubs playing in a clearing near a broken tree, which make the work kind and sweet. Few people know that the authors of this canvas were two artists Konstantin Savitsky (painted bear cubs) and Ivan Shishkin (depicted a forest landscape), but a collector named Tretyakov erased Savitsky's signature and Shishkin alone is considered the author of the painting.
By the way, on our website there is a fascinating article with very beautiful ones. We recommend viewing.
"Birch Grove" (1878)
The artist simply could not fail to embody the Russian folk beauty, a slender, tall birch, on the canvas, which is why he painted this work, where he depicted not one black and white beauty, but a whole grove. The forest seemed to have just woken up, and the glade was filled with morning light, the sun's rays play among the white trunks, and passers-by are walking along the winding path leading into the forest, admiring the beautiful morning landscape.
"Brook in a birch forest" (1883)
Paintings by Ivan Shishkin can rightly be considered real masterpieces, because he so skillfully conveyed in them all the subtleties of nature, the glare of the sun's rays, tree species, and even, it seems, the noise of foliage and the singing of birds. So this canvas conveys the murmur of a stream in a birch grove, as if you yourself found yourself among this landscape and admire this beauty.
"In the Wild North" (1890)
The master adored the snowy winter, so his collection of canvases also includes winter landscapes. A beautiful spruce is covered with snow in the wild north in a huge snowdrift, beautifully standing in the midst of a winter desert. When you look at this winter beauty, you want to drop everything, grab a sled and start down a slippery hill through the cold snow.
"Amanita" (1878-1879)
See how naturally the fly agaric mushrooms are depicted in this picture, how accurately the colors and curves are conveyed, as if they are just about very close to us, you just have to stretch out your hand. Handsome fly agarics, oh what a pity that they are so poisonous!
"Two female figures" (1880)
Women's beauty cannot be hidden from the male gaze, and even more so from the artist. So the painter Shishkin depicted on his canvas two graceful female figures in fashionable outfits (red and black) with umbrellas in their hands, walking along a forest path. It is noticeable that these charming ladies are in high spirits, because the charm of nature and the fresh forest air are certainly conducive to this.
"Before the Storm" (1884)
Looking at this picture, the fact that all this is drawn from memory, and not from nature, is amazing. Such precise work requires a lot of time and effort from the artist, and the elements can break out in a matter of minutes. See how many shades of blue and green are here and how accurately the mood of the approaching thunderstorm is depicted, that you seem to feel the full weight of the humid air.
Ivan Shishkin often saw this landscape live, as in the village everyone woke up before dawn. The way the morning fog descended on the meadows and fields brought him complete delight and amazement; Sky, earth and water - the three most important elements that harmoniously complement each other - this is the main idea of the picture. Nature seems to wake up from sleep and wash itself with morning dew, and the river again starts its winding path, reaching the depths, that's what comes to mind when you look at this Shishkin's picture.
"View of Yelabuga" (1861)
Ivan Shishkin never forgot where he came from and loved his native land very much. That is why he often painted his hometown Yelabuga. This picture is executed in black and white, and the genre of a sketch or sketch, sketched with a simple pencil, seemingly unusual for a brush master, but, as we see, Shishkin painted not only in oil and watercolor. TopCafe also encourages you not to forget the places where you come from, and sometimes return there.
Each natural phenomenon did not go unnoticed by the artist, even light and fluffy clouds, which he loved to watch, and draw even more so. It would seem that eternally floating, blue featherbeds can tell, but the painter was able to tell the story of the movement and life path of fabulously beautiful celestial bodies.
"Bull" (1863)
The landscape painter loved to draw animals, which he loved very much from childhood. This genre in the art of drawing is called "animalism". How naturally the little bull turned out, looking at this canvas I want to go up to him and pat him on the back, but, unfortunately, this is just a drawing.
"Rye" (1878)
One of the most famous landscapes of Shishkin after the painting "Morning in a Pine Forest". Everything is very simple: a sunny summer day, golden rye is earing in the field, and tall giant pines are visible in the distance, the field is divided by a winding road leading into the depths of the forest. The landscape is very familiar to everyone who was born in the countryside, looking at it, it seems that you found yourself at home. Beautiful, natural and very realistic.
"Peasant woman with cows" (1873)
Living in the outback and seeing everything with his own eyes, the painter could not help but depict the complexity of peasant life and hard peasant labor. The work is drawn in the style of a sketch in black and white pencil, which gives it a certain prescription or antiquity. Peasants have long been associated with land, cattle breeding and crafts, but this only elevates them in our eyes, and artists help us see all the connection and beauty by depicting beautiful and realistic paintings.
As we can see, the painter was able to beautifully depict not only his favorite forest landscapes, but also portraits, which, unfortunately, are almost non-existent in his collection. This work is dedicated, I would say, to a well-fed, ruddy Italian boy and his spotted calf. It is a pity that the year of writing the work itself and its further fate is unknown.
The very name of the picture speaks of what the artist wanted to convey to us, seeing such pictures live, Ivan Ivanovich was very upset, because he adored the trees and nature around him. He was against the fact that man invades nature and destroys everything around him. With this work, he tried to reach out to humanity and stop the cruel process of deforestation.
"The Herd Under the Trees" (1864)
It seems to me that cows are the most beloved animals of our painter, because in addition to forest groves and edges, among his works, where there are animals, only cows are found, however, not counting the bears on the famous canvas, but as we already know, they were painted by another artist, not Shishkin. Living in the village, I often observed a similar picture, when a herd of cows came for lunch milking and, waiting for their mistresses, settled comfortably under the spreading trees. Apparently, Ivan Shishkin once observed something similar.
"Landscape with a lake" (1886)
Often, the artist is dominated by all sorts of shades of green, but this work is an exception to the rule, here the center of the landscape is a deep blue, transparent lake. As for me, a very beautiful and successful landscape with a lake, it’s a pity that Shishkin painted rivers and lakes very rarely, but how wonderfully they turned out!
"Rocky Shore" (1879)
In addition to his native land, the master of landscapes also loved the sunny Crimea, where every landscape is a real piece of paradise. Shishkin has a whole collection of paintings painted on a sunny peninsula called Crimea. This work is very bright and lively, there is a lot of light, shades and colors, however, as everywhere in the Crimea.
How ugly this word sounds and how skillfully and beautifully our master of landscapes depicted this natural phenomenon. In one work, all shades of brown and dark green (marsh, so to speak) colors are collected. Cloudy and dim, there is not a single cloud in the sky, the sun's rays do not cut through the space, and only two lone herons came to the water.
"Ship Grove" (1898)
The last and greatest work of Shishkin completes a real epic of forest landscapes throughout his life, showing the real heroic strength and beauty of Russian mother nature. Drawing forest expanses, Shishkin tried to glorify and show everyone the boundless Russian lands - the real national wealth of his homeland.
Finally
Even during his lifetime, Ivan Shishkin was dubbed the title of "King of the Forest" and it is understandable why, because among his many paintings, there are most forest landscapes at different times of the year. Why the artist painted mostly forest groves is not clear, because there are a lot of natural paintings, but this is his choice, it's like Aivazovsky once decided to paint only the sea for himself. Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin is deservedly considered one of the most talented and beloved Russian artists, and all his works are performed at the highest level. The artist's contribution to Russian art is truly colossal, limitless and truly priceless.
