Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin (1832-1898) - a great landscape artist. He, like no one else, conveyed the beauty of his native nature through his canvases. Looking at his paintings, many people get the impression that in just a little while the breeze will blow or birdsong will be heard.

At the age of 20, I.I. Shishkin entered the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture, where teachers helped him learn the direction in painting that he followed all his life.

Without a doubt, "Morning in pine forest"is one of the artist's most popular paintings. However, Shishkin did not write this painting alone. The bears were drawn by Konstantin Savitsky. Initially, the painting bore the signatures of both artists, but when it was brought to the buyer Pavel Tretyakov, he ordered Savitsky’s name to be erased, explaining that he had ordered the painting only from Shishkin.

Description of the artwork “Morning in a pine forest”

Year: 1889

oil on canvas, 139 × 213 cm

Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

“Morning in a Pine Forest” is a masterpiece that radiates admiration for Russian nature. Everything looks very harmonious on the canvas. The effect of nature awakening from sleep is masterfully created with green, blue and bright yellow tones. In the background of the picture we see the rays of the sun barely breaking through, they are depicted in bright golden shades.

The artist depicted the fog swirling on the ground so realistically that you can even feel the coolness of the summer morning.

The painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” is so brightly and vividly drawn that it looks like a photograph forest landscape. Shishkin professionally and lovingly depicted every detail of the canvas. In the foreground are bears climbing a fallen pine tree. Their high-spirited play evokes only positive emotions. It seems that the cubs are very kind and harmless, and the morning is like a holiday for them.

The artist depicted bears in the foreground and sunlight in the background most vividly and richly. All other objects of the canvas look like light complementary sketches.

“The Nun” by Ilya Repin

Ilya Repin. Nun. 1878. State Tretyakov Gallery / Portrait under an X-ray

From the portrait, a young girl in strict monastic clothes looks thoughtfully at the viewer. The image is classic and familiar - it probably would not have aroused interest among art critics if not for the memoirs of Lyudmila Alekseevna Shevtsova-Spore, the niece of Repin’s wife. They revealed an interesting story.

Sofia Repina, née Shevtsova, posed for Ilya Repina for The Nun. The girl was the artist’s sister-in-law - and at one time Repin himself was seriously infatuated with her, but he married her younger sister Vera. Sophia became the wife of Repin’s brother Vasily, an orchestra member of the Mariinsky Theater.

This did not stop the artist from repeatedly painting portraits of Sophia. For one of them, the girl posed in a formal ball gown: light elegant dress, lace sleeves, high hairstyle. While working on the painting, Repin had a serious quarrel with the model. As you know, anyone can offend an artist, but few can take revenge as creatively as Repin did. The offended artist “dressed” Sophia in the portrait in monastic clothes.

The story, similar to an anecdote, was confirmed by an x-ray. The researchers were lucky: Repin did not remove the original paint layer, which allowed them to examine the heroine’s original outfit in detail.

"Park Alley" by Isaac Brodsky

Isaac Brodsky. Park alley. 1930. Private collection / Isaac Brodsky. Alley of the park in Rome. 1911

No less interesting riddle left for researchers by Repin's student, Isaac Brodsky. The Tretyakov Gallery houses his painting “Park Alley,” which at first glance is unremarkable: Brodsky had many works on “park” themes. However, the further you go into the park, the more colorful layers there are.

One of the researchers noticed that the composition of the painting was suspiciously reminiscent of another work of the artist - “Park Alley in Rome” (Brodsky was stingy with original titles). This painting was considered lost for a long time, and its reproduction was published only in a rather rare edition in 1929. Vanished with the help of an x-ray mystically a Roman alley was found - right under the Soviet one. The artist did not erase the finished image and simply made a number of simple changes to it: he dressed passers-by in the fashion of the 30s of the 20th century, “took away” the serso from the children, removed marble statues and modified the trees a little. So, with a couple of light movements of the hand, the sunny Italian park turned into an exemplary Soviet one.

When asked why Brodsky decided to hide his Roman alley, they did not find an answer. But we can assume that the image " modest charm bourgeoisie" in 1930, from an ideological point of view, was already inappropriate. Nevertheless, of all Brodsky’s post-revolutionary landscape works, “Park Alley” is the most interesting: despite the changes, the picture retained the charming grace of Art Nouveau, which, alas, no longer existed in Soviet realism.

“Morning in a Pine Forest” by Ivan Shishkin

Ivan Shishkin and Konstantin Savitsky. Morning in a pine forest. 1889. State Tretyakov Gallery

A forest landscape with bear cubs playing on a fallen tree is perhaps the most famous work artist. But the idea for the landscape was suggested to Ivan Shishkin by another artist, Konstantin Savitsky. He also painted a bear with three cubs: the forest expert Shishkin had no luck with bears.

Shishkin had an impeccable understanding of forest flora; he noticed the slightest mistakes in the drawings of his students - either the birch bark was depicted incorrectly, or the pine looked like a fake one. However, people and animals have always been rare in his works. This is where Savitsky came to the rescue. By the way, he left several preparatory drawings and sketches with bear cubs - I was looking for suitable poses. “Morning in a Pine Forest” was not originally “Morning”: the painting was called “Bear Family in the Forest,” and there were only two bears in it. As a co-author, Savitsky also put his signature on the canvas.

When the canvas was delivered to the merchant Pavel Tretyakov, he was indignant: he paid for Shishkin (ordered an original work), but received Shishkin and Savitsky. Shishkin, how fair man, did not attribute authorship to himself. But Tretyakov followed the principle and blasphemously erased Savitsky’s signature from the painting with turpentine. Savitsky later nobly renounced copyright, and the bears were attributed to Shishkin for a long time.

“Portrait of a Chorus Girl” by Konstantin Korovin

Konstantin Korovin. Portrait of a chorus girl. 1887. State Tretyakov Gallery / Reverse side portrait

On the back of the canvas, researchers found a message from Konstantin Korovin on cardboard, which turned out to be almost more interesting than the painting itself:

“In 1883 in Kharkov, a portrait of a chorus girl. Written on a balcony in a commercial public garden. Repin said when S.I. Mamontov showed him this sketch that he, Korovin, was writing and looking for something else, but what is it for - this is painting for painting’s sake only. Serov had not yet painted portraits at this time. And the painting of this sketch was found incomprehensible??!! So Polenov asked me to remove this sketch from the exhibition, since neither the artists nor the members - Mr. Mosolov and some others - liked it. The model was not a beautiful woman, even somewhat ugly.”

Konstantin Korovin

The “Letter” was disarming with its directness and daring challenge to the entire artistic community: “Serov had not yet painted portraits at that time,” but he, Konstantin Korovin, painted them. And he was allegedly the first to use techniques characteristic of the style that would later be called Russian impressionism. But all this turned out to be a myth that the artist created intentionally.

The harmonious theory “Korovin is the forerunner of Russian impressionism” was mercilessly destroyed by objective technical and technological research. On the front side of the portrait they found the artist’s signature in paint, and just below in ink: “1883, Kharkov.” The artist worked in Kharkov in May - June 1887: he painted scenery for performances of the Russian private opera Mamontova. In addition, art historians have found that the “Portrait of a Chorus Girl” was made in a certain artistic manner- a la prima. This technique oil painting allowed me to paint a picture in one session. Korovin began to use this technique only in the late 1880s.

After analyzing these two inconsistencies, the Tretyakov Gallery staff came to the conclusion that the portrait was painted only in 1887, and Korovin added an earlier date to emphasize his own innovation.

“The Man and the Cradle” by Ivan Yakimov

Ivan Yakimov. Man and cradle.1770. State Tretyakov Gallery / Full version work

For a long time Ivan Yakimov’s painting “Man and Cradle” puzzled art critics. And the point was not even that this kind of everyday sketches are absolutely not typical for painting XVIII centuries - the rocking horse in the lower right corner of the picture has a rope that is too unnaturally stretched, which logically should be lying on the floor. And it was too early for a child to play with such toys from the cradle. Also, the fireplace did not even fit half onto the canvas, which looked very strange.

“Clarified” the situation - in literally- X-ray. She showed that the canvas was cut on the right and top.

IN Tretyakov Gallery The painting arrived after the sale of the collection of Pavel Petrovich Tugoy-Svinin. He owned the so-called “Russian Museum” - a collection of paintings, sculptures and antiques. But in 1834, due to financial problems the collection had to be sold - and the painting “Man and the Cradle” ended up in the Tretyakov Gallery: not all of it, but only its left half. The right one, unfortunately, was lost, but you can still see the work in its entirety, thanks to another unique exhibit of the Tretyakov Gallery. The full version of Yakimov’s work was found in the album “Collection of Excellent Works Russian artists and curious domestic antiquities”, which contains drawings from most of the paintings that were part of Svinin’s collection.

It is difficult to find someone who has not at least once seen a painting by Ivan Shishkin "Morning in a pine forest", be it a reproduction on the wall or an illustration in a school textbook. But most of us know it from the wrapper of the “Bear-toed Bear” candies. How it happened that bears appeared in the landscape painter’s painting, and the recognized masterpiece began to be associated with candies - later in the review.

Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin was considered highest degree a master when it was necessary to write out every leaf, every blade of grass, but he had no problem with depicting people or animals. That's why on famous painting“Morning in a Pine Forest,” a bear family, was painted by another artist, Konstantin Savitsky.

The painting was signed by both artists, but when it was taken to the customer Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov, he erased Savitsky’s name with turpentine, declaring that he had ordered the painting from only one painter.

Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin received 4,000 rubles for the painting. He gave one thousand to Savitsky. Konstantin Apollonovich was indignant that the fee was not divided in half, and even angrily stated that his bears occupy a central place in the picture, and the forest is only a background. These words offended Shishkin very much. The artists no longer painted joint paintings.

Around the same period when the painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” was presented to the general public, a new type of candy was produced at the Einem Partnership confectionery factory: chocolate-covered wafer plates with a layer of almond praline. The need arose to create a wrapper for candy, and then the eyes of the owner of the company, Julius Gates, accidentally fell on a reproduction of Shishkin’s painting. A solution has been found.

After October revolution the candy factory was nationalized and renamed “Red October”, although for several years they added “formerly” in parentheses. “Einem” was so popular trademark. The candy “Teddy bear” became the favorite sweet of Soviet citizens. Over time, Shishkin's painting became associated with the wrapper, and its title was simplified to "Three Bears", although there are four of them on the canvas.

Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin was remembered by posterity not only for his painting “Morning in a Pine Forest.” He, like no one else, managed to convey through his paintings the beauty of the pristine forest, the endless expanses of fields, and the cold of a harsh region. so realistic that it seems that the sound of a stream or the rustling of leaves is about to be heard somewhere.

Painting: 1889
Canvas, oil.
Size: 139 × 213 cm

Description of the painting “Three Bears” by I. Shishkin

Artist: Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin, Konstantin Apollonovich Savitsky
Title of the painting: “Morning in a pine forest”
Painting: 1889
Canvas, oil.
Size: 139 × 213 cm

In our country, you will not find another such “hit” canvas, the plot of which is present on a rare grandmother’s bedspread, an embroidered little thought, a tablecloth, plates, and even on wrappers with cute clubtoes. Memories of parents, chocolates and the moves of PR people - this is what does not allow us to forget about I. Shishkin’s painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” or, in common parlance, “Three Bears”.

But only Shishkin? The bears were painted on canvas by K. Savitsky, who at first depicted two clubfooted bears, and then raised their number to four. Previously, it was believed that Shishkin, despite his rather significant successes in animal painting, was not able to depict bears, so he simply exploited poor Savitsky and did not even allow him to sign the picture. In fact, the artists were friends, and the bears appeared 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 put a signature. The 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 outstanding Russian landscape painters.

The “Teddy Bear” candies with Shishkin’s reproduction on the candy wrapper gave the name to the painting “Three Bears”. The delicacy that appeared was filled with almonds and cocoa beans, it was expensive, but it was so tasty that even the agitator of everyone and everything, V. Mayakovsky, could not resist and wrote that if you want “Bears,” then put a certain amount of money into a savings book. This is how “Teddy Bear” became “Three Bears” (and there are four of them in the picture), candy became one of the signs of the USSR, and I. Shishkin became a people’s artist.

True, he was a singer of nature native land and before the Bears. The artist wanted and knew how to surprise, first of all, with landscapes, which he painted so brilliantly that he earned the reputation of a master of detail. Only here you will see a haze of fog, as if floating among the branches of hundred-year-old pines, soft and cozy moss on boulders, clear water of a stream, morning or evening coolness, midday heat of summer. What’s interesting is that all the artist’s paintings are partly epic, but always monumental. At the same time, Shishkin is not pretentious, he is simply a person who sincerely admires the majestic nature of his native land and knows how to portray it.

“Morning in a Pine Forest” pacifies with the balance of its composition. Three bear cubs look very harmonious with their mother bear, and you just want to apply 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 take after searching for true virgin nature for so long.

And if you look at the coloring of the picture, it’s as if the artist is trying to capture all the richness of the colors of the dawn time. We see air, but it is not the usual shade of blue, but rather blue-green, a little cloudy and foggy. The predominant colors that surrounded the clubfooted inhabitants of the forest are green, blue and sunny yellow, reflecting the mood of awakened nature. The bright flickering of golden rays in the background seems to hint at the sun that is about to illuminate the earth. It is these glares that give the picture solemnity; it is they that speak of the realism of the fog above the ground. “Morning in a Pine Forest” is another confirmation of the tactility 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 clearing, but a deep thicket - a true concentration of living nature. The sun had just risen above her, the rays of which had already managed to make their way to the top of the tree crowns, splashing them with gold and again hiding in the thicket. The damp fog, which has not yet cleared, seems to have awakened the inhabitants of the ancient forest.

The cubs and the mother bear woke up, having developed their vigorous activity. Satisfied and well-fed bears will learn in the morning the world, exploring a nearby fallen pine tree, and the mother bear watches the babies, who are touchingly clumsily climbing the tree. Moreover, the mother bear watches not only the cubs, but also tries to catch the slightest sounds that could disturb their idyll. It’s simply amazing how these animals, painted by another artist, could come to life compositional solution paintings: a fallen pine tree 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 mastery realistic image and its quality, which is in many ways superior to modern digital technology. Every blade of grass, every ray of sun, every pine needle was written by Shishkin lovingly and reverently. If the foreground of the canvas depicts a fallen pine tree with bears climbing on it, then in the background there is an ancient forest. Bear cubs and the rest of nature evoke calming positive emotions in every person. Animals, like toy animals, fill the beginning of a new day with kindness and set us up for positive thinking. Looking at these cute animals, it’s hard to believe that they are predators by nature and cannot be capable of cruelty. But that’s not even the main thing. Shishkin focuses the viewer’s attention on harmony sunlight, which comes from the background of the painting with cubs in the foreground. Visually draw a line through them - and you will certainly notice that these are the brightest objects in the picture, and everything else, including the irregularly shaped pine tree, is just complementary touches.

It seems that “Morning in a Pine Forest” depicts real, living bears in some kind of fantastic landscape. Vyatka forest, from which nature is copied, researchers say, is very different from Shishkin’s. I’m just wondering if bears exist there now, because the picture has been nurturing people’s aesthetic and moral taste for a century, asking them to take care of the surrounding nature.

This painting is known to everyone, young and old, because the work of the great landscape painter Ivan Shishkin itself is the most notable pictorial masterpiece in creative heritage artist.

We all know that this artist loved the forest and its nature very much, admired every bush and blade of grass, moldy tree trunks decorated with branches sagging from the weight of foliage and pine needles. Shishkin reflected all this love on an ordinary linen canvas, so that later the whole world could see the unsurpassed skill of the great Russian master.

At the first acquaintance in the Tretyakov Hall with the painting Morning in pine forest, the indelible impression of the viewer’s presence is felt, the human mind is completely immersed in the atmosphere of the forest with marvelous and mighty giant pine trees, which reek of pine aroma. I want to breathe deeper in this air, its freshness mixed with the morning forest fog covering the surrounding forest.

The visible tops of centuries-old pines, bending from the weight of their branches, are affectionately illuminated morning rays sun. As we understand, all this beauty was preceded by a terrible hurricane, the mighty wind of which uprooted and felled the pine tree, breaking it in two. All this contributed to what we see. Bear cubs frolic on the ruins of a tree and their mischievous play is guarded by the mother bear. This plot can be said to have very clearly enlivened the picture, adding atmosphere to the whole composition. Everyday life forest nature.

Despite the fact that Shishkin rarely wrote animals in his works, still giving preference to the beauties of earthly vegetation. Of course, he painted sheep and cows in some of his works, but apparently this bothered him somewhat. IN this story The bears were written by his colleague Savitsky K.A., who from time to time was engaged in creativity together with Shishkin. Perhaps he suggested working together.

Upon completion of the work, Savitsky also signed the painting, so there were two signatures. Everything would be fine, everyone really liked the picture, including famous philanthropist Tretyakov, who decided to buy the canvas for his collection, however, demanded that Savitsky’s signature be removed, citing the fact that the bulk of the work was executed by Shishkin, who was more familiar to him, who had to fulfill the collector’s demand. As a result, a quarrel arose in this co-authorship, because the entire fee was paid to the main performer of the film. Certainly accurate information In this regard, practically no, historians shrug their shoulders. One can, of course, only guess how this fee was divided and what unpleasant feelings there were among the artists’ colleagues.

The subject of the painting Morning in a Pine Forest became widely known among contemporaries; there was a lot of talk and speculation regarding the state of nature depicted by the artist. The fog is shown very colorfully, decorating the airiness of the morning forest with a soft blue haze. As we remember, the artist had already painted the painting “Fog in a Pine Forest” and this airiness technique came in handy in this work as well.

Today the picture is very common, as written above, it is known even to children who love candy and souvenirs, often it is even called the Three Bears, perhaps because three bear cubs catch the eye and the bear is as if in the shadows and is not entirely noticeable, in the second case in The USSR was the name for candy, where this reproduction was printed on candy wrappers.

Also today modern masters they draw copies, decorating various offices and representative social halls, and of course our apartments with the beauties of our Russian nature. This masterpiece can be seen in the original by visiting the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, which is not often visited by many.