Shishkin is an artist and teacher. Masterpieces of Ivan Shishkin: The most famous paintings of the great Russian landscape painter

Artist Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin The greatest landscape painter, an amazing master of painting forest landscapes, and to this day he remains the undisputed leader in Russian landscape painting to create an incredible number of canvases with forest views. A true connoisseur of forest vegetation, the colorful shapes of tree trunks, velvety foliage, forest glades with bright grass illuminated by the sun's rays through the trees, picturesque stumps overgrown with moss and surrounded by various mushrooms. The artist Shishkin, like no one else, saw in the nature of the forest all the hidden beauties in wild overgrown places where the human foot has rarely set foot.

For the first time in Russian fine art, the artist was able to masterfully show all this unprecedented beauty in his works.

Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin - biography. The artist Shishkin was born in 1832 in small town on the banks of the Kama River in Elabuga, in the Vyatka province, in the family of a poor merchant. At the age of 12, he was accepted to study at the first Kazan gymnasium.

Studying at the gymnasium did not last long, feeling his calling to fine arts Ivan Shishkin, having not completed his studies at the gymnasium until the 5th grade, left it and entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in 1852. having studied there until 1856, young artist are admitted to the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, learning the necessary skills from Professor S. M. Vorobyov.

Of course, they didn’t really like Shishkin at the academy educational topics and a young artist in free time He was content with writing sketches from nature in the vicinity of St. Petersburg; sometimes he went to write sketches on the island of Valaam. All this greatly helped Shishkin develop the abilities of the young master, recognizing in pencil drawings the shapes of tree branches, bushes with foliage, which were later reproduced in sketches.

For pencil drawings in the vicinity of St. Petersburg he was awarded two small silver medals, and later in 1859 Ivan Shishkin deservedly received a small gold medal behind beautiful landscape in the vicinity of St. Petersburg. Inspired by his successes, Shishkin persistently worked a lot, revealing great knowledge in himself, fascinated by the places on Valaam and Kukko, he created works for which in 1860 he was awarded a large gold medal and deserved a retirement trip abroad.

In 1862, Shishkin went abroad for the first time, visiting Munich, Zurich, Geneva and Dusseldorf, where he painted a painting in the Outskirts of Dusseldorf, for which Shishkin was subsequently awarded honorary title academician

Also abroad, he skillfully draws drawings with a pen and deserves great attention from foreigners, who were very surprised and shocked by the unprecedented talent of the draftsman Shishkin. Some of these drawings were placed in the Düsseldorf Museum on the level with the works famous artists Europe. But Shishkin was homesick for his homeland and Russian places, he understood that it was impossible to paint a Russian landscape abroad, and in 1865 he returned to Russia.

In Russia, the artist again joins artistic circles, attends exhibitions and artels of artists. Working closely with drawings and sketches, by 1867 he created a magnificent work, the painting Felling Wood. Shishkin, accurately noticing the features of the Russian landscape, created a number of more works in 1869, the painting At Sunset, while living in the Bratsevo estate, he created a beautiful summer landscape Noon. Neighborhoods of Moscow.

1870 Ivan Shishkin joins the artel of Peredvizhniki artists under the leadership of I. Kramskoy. becoming a lifelong member of the founders of traveling exhibitions of artists who did not agree with the academic foundations of that time.

Shishkin, faithful to his work, continues to be creative, creating new canvases and traveling exhibition exhibits new paintings: Evening, Pinery, Birch Forest and the painting Wilderness, very well appreciated by contemporaries, many positive feedback Prakhov A. V. wrote for this painting. For this work, Ivan Shishkin was awarded the honorary title of professor in landscape painting. in 1878, the master again shocked everyone with his new landscape Rye, at the 6th traveling exhibition. The work had a lot of positive reviews.

In 1877, Ivan Shishkin married the artist Olga Antonova Lagoda, their beautiful house We are very visited by his colleagues and friends, where there were feasts and parties.

In 1883, Shishkin painted a painting with a large and luxurious oak tree in a valley, the painting was called Among the Flat Valleys.

In 1884, a very airy landscape with a vast panorama was called by the artist Forest Distances.

1887 painting Oak Grove in which Shishkin masterfully conveys the state of mighty oak trees with thick writhing branches, dynamic shadows and gentle rays of the sun.

In 1889, Ivan Shishkin creates one of his brightest paintings, this painting

Morning in a pine forest, the picture is saturated with morning forest air, there is a feeling of virgin forest wilderness, the picture is popular to this day and probably this Shishkin masterpiece has no equal.

In the 90s, the artist created a number of paintings, some of them beautifully depicting the wilderness of the forest in the vicinity of Oranienbaum In the forest of Countess Mordvinova. Peterhof.

Shishkin accurately conveyed the state of rainy weather in the painting Rain in an Oak Forest, based on a poem by M. Lermontov unusual picture In the wild north, commissioned by P.P. Konchalovsky, a lonely snow-covered pine tree stands towering against the backdrop of a moonlit night.

In 1898, the artist painted his new work, Ship Grove, one might say this is the final work of the master, which demonstrates all the talent and skill of the great artist accumulated throughout his life. Shishkin, like his colleague Kramskoy, died as an artist, right at the easel while painting his new another painting this happened in March 1898, he left his descendants his very rich heritage.

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Many of his paintings gained enormous popularity not only among his contemporaries, these paintings are still known today big circle admirers of his works.

No one before Shishkin had told the viewer with such stunning frankness about his love for his native Russian nature. The works of I. I. Shishkin became classics of national Russian landscape painting and gained enormous popularity. Today, images of his landscapes can be seen in many places on various reproductions, gift wrapping, souvenir boxes and even candies with famous bears, all this speaks of Great love

people to his great creativity. Many landscape artists study from Shishkin’s paintings; many people are always fascinated by his works. Every child knows reproductions of his famous landscapes. Of course, the matter cannot do without critics and some critical contemporary artists

clearly opposing the photorealism of the artist, but this is all from the evil one or comes from ignorance of the work of the great master and not the inability to create anything close to that. Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin

The father figure was very significant for Ivan Shishkin. The father himself was a merchant, not at all rich, selling grain from a rented mill. In addition, he was interested in archeology and history. He wrote the book “History of the City of Yelabuga”, developed and implemented a local water supply system. Using his own funds, Ivan Vasilyevich Shishkin restored an ancient tower located in the suburbs. It is also known about his participation in the excavations of the famous Ananyevsky burial ground. He taught all this knowledge to his son and developed his interest in nature. Ivan with early childhood He did not part with coal and chalk, diligently decorating walls and doors with intricate figures, and carved wood, like his father.

Shishkin studied at the Kazan gymnasium for several years, but failed to complete his studies, returned home, and began drawing and reading again. He was very attracted to the forest; Shishkin could walk for a long time through the forest, in its vicinity, studying its features. So about 4 years passed, Shishkin, having received his father’s permission, left for Moscow.

Since 1852, Shishkin became a student at the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture. Immediately he gets to the exhibition of Caucasian mountain views by L.F. Lagorio and the marine species of I.K. Aivazovsky, among which was the famous “The Ninth Wave”. This exhibition only strengthened Shishkin’s interest in landscape.

At that time, the principles of Venetsianov’s pedagogical system with a focus on careful study of nature were widely used in teaching. Shishkin, being quiet and shy, ended up in the professor's class portrait painting A.N. Mokritsky, a fan of K. Bryullov. Having identified Shishkin's great abilities, Mokritsky managed to guide him through the right way, encouraged his interest in nature and passion for landscapes.

Shishkin draws a lot from life in Moscow and the Moscow region, copying Western European masters.

After graduating from college in 1856, Shishkin entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. Here he also entered the circle of democratically minded youth. Art was recognized not only as a means of understanding the world, but also as a serious factor in its reconstruction. Shishkin's worldview was formed under the influence of these ideas. Subsequently, the artist was able to clearly express them in his work.

Shishkin’s main teacher has always been nature. In his sketches (“Stones in the Forest. Valaam”), he lovingly and surprisingly skillfully for a novice artist conveys ancient boulders overgrown with moss and fern leaves.

Shishkin was a born draftsman, drawn to the line, to the open stroke. Drawing became for him from the very beginning the most important means nature studies. Success in drawing brought Shishkin one of the first academic awards in 1857 - the Silver Medal. His works were performed with such professional skill that the academic council decided to make them a model for students.

Shishkin graduated from the Academy in 1860 with the highest award - the Great Gold Medal and the right to travel abroad for three years. But the artist is in no hurry to travel, but goes to his native Yelabuga, and only in April 1862 does he go abroad. Even there, Ivan Shishkin did not forget about home country. Letters from friends reporting on the events that were taking place increased the desire to return; moreover, the works performed in Germany and Switzerland did not satisfy the author. His landscapes, marked by externally romantic features - figures of villagers, herds in pastures - bore clear traces of the academic school. It was possible to create a national landscape only in Russia, where Shishkin returned in 1865. He was already famous. Pen drawings, masterfully executed with the smallest, beaded strokes, with filigree finishing of details, amazed the audience. Two such drawings were acquired by the Düsseldorf Museum, and the painting “View in the vicinity of Düsseldorf” brought the artist the title of academician.

Upon his arrival to his homeland, Shishkin seemed to be infused with new strength. He became close to members of the Artel, around which representatives of the progressive creative intelligentsia were grouped, and participated in meetings about the role of art and the rights of the artist. Ivan Shishkin was always surrounded by the attention of his comrades. I.E. Repin spoke about him like this: " The voice of I.I. Shishkin was heard loudest of all: like a green mighty forest, he amazed everyone with his health, good appetite and truthful Russian speech... The public used to gasp behind his back when he used his mighty crowbar paws and gnarled calluses from work with his fingers he begins to distort and erase his brilliant drawing, and the drawing, as if by miracle or magic, from such rough treatment by the author comes out more and more elegant and brilliant."

Shishkin's works, created in the late 60s, mark new stage in the master's work.

Achieving the utmost resemblance to nature, the artist carefully writes out every detail at first, and this interferes with the integrity of the image. An example of such works is the painting "Cutting Wood". In the 60s, Shishkin finally overcomes the abstraction of landscape characteristic of the academic school. Best work these years - "Noon. In the vicinity of Moscow." The advantage of this painting, light in color and filled with a joyful and peaceful mood, is not only in the skill of conveying space, but above all in the fact that the landscape created by Shishkin is truly Russian in character.

In 1870, Shishkin joined the founders of the largest association of craftsmen realistic direction- Mobile Associations art exhibitions. Until the end of his life, Shishkin remained one of the most active and loyal members of the Partnership.

For the second traveling exhibition, Shishkin presented the painting “Pine Forest” (1872), which was a new step in creative development masters The artist managed to create the image of a mighty, majestic Russian forest.

The work of Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin was a step on the path of knowledge and reflection of the surrounding world, according to apt expression Kramskoy, was a “living school” of working with nature.

In the 70s, most of Shishkin’s works were devoted to coniferous forests: “Forest Wilderness”, “Black Forest”, “ Spruce forest"Shishkin is attracted by vast forests. The best landscapes of that time are filled with majestic solemnity.

In the 70s the artist strives for greater generalization of forms and integrity of color solutions. At the same time, he becomes quite close to Kramskoy. Friendship with this man, the ideological leader of the partnership, theorist and subtle critic of art, played a special role in Shishkin’s creative development. There was no other person who would so vigilantly notice his mistakes and help him overcome them. They often lived together at the dacha, where they worked fruitfully.

Ivan Shishkin attached great importance to sketches. For him, the creation of the sketch was authentic creative process based on long-term observation and reflection. He assigned a large role to drawing and almost never parted with his pencil. Admiring the keen observation and confidence with which Shishkin wrote sketches, Kramskoy said: “... When he is in front of nature, he is definitely in his element: here he is both brave and dexterous, without thinking."

The main form of expression of Shishkin’s plans always remained the painting; in it he revealed the ideas that inspired him most fully. An example of this is the work "Rye".

At this time, Shishkin was at the zenith of his fame, but new wonderful achievements awaited him. 80-90s - a period of heightened flowering of the landscape painter's talent. The canvases “Wilds”, “Pine Forest”, “Windfall” are close in character to the works of the previous decade, but are interpreted with greater pictorial freedom.

In the 80s Shishkin enthusiastically continues to work on landscapes that glorify the open spaces native land. “Among the Flat Valley” - one of his best paintings - is built on the opposition of a vast plain and a lonely mighty oak tree, as if hovering above it.

IN last decade In his life, the artist perceives nature more soulfully, subtly, and the role of light in his paintings increases. In the 90s Two exhibitions of the artist’s works were organized. The first in 1891 was retrospective in nature: over five hundred sketches revealed creative laboratory the artist, his search. At another exhibition in 1893, works made during last summer. They testified to the diversity of ideas, the exceptional vigilance of the eye and the high skill of the sixty-year-old landscape painter.

In 1895, Shishkin published his fourth album of etchings. This was a real event in artistic life countries. The album included 60 sheets - all the best works.

The brilliant result of the artist’s almost half-century journey in Russian art was the painting “Ship Grove” (1898). It can be considered classic in its completeness, completeness of artistic image, and monumental sound. The work is based on sketches made in Yelabuga. The role of Ivan Shishkin in Russian art remained just as significant in those years when many magnificent works by I. Levitan, V. Serov, K. Korovin appeared in landscape painting.

Death came unexpectedly to the artist. Ivan Ivanovich died at his easel on March 8 (20), 1898, while working on the painting “Forest Kingdom.” He left behind a huge artistic legacy.

How truly great are the artists, whose inexhaustible supply of spiritual strength and life observations is poured into an extremely clear, simple form, accessible to the widest audience. The whole philosophy of their paintings is a hymn to living nature, the beauty of nature. Their work resembles 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. Their compatriots are proud of their paintings as national treasures, so great is the generalized sense of citizenship and sense of the Motherland in these realistic works.

In the second half of the 19th century, the Russian national landscape was unconditionally established. That is why Shishkin’s work marks important stage in the development of this genre. Among outstanding artists Shishkin Ivan Ivanovich(1832-1896) represents with his art an exceptional phenomenon that was not known in the field of landscape painting in previous eras. Like many Russian artists, he naturally possessed enormous natural talent. Nemirovich-Danchenko spoke of his work this way: “A poet of nature, precisely a poet who thinks in its images, discerning its beauty where a mere mortal would pass by indifferently.” Shishkin's creativity imbued with the pathos of life and the affirmation of the beauty and strength of nature of the 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 and a cultured man. His 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 to the landscape genre - a sketch approach to the subject of the image, natural exploration of nature. One of the works of the academic period “VIEW ON THE ISLAND OF VALAAME” (Kukko area) (1858, Kiev Museum of Russian Art). The future artist admired meadows and forests, grasses and flowers, stumps and stones, bushes and mosses, in which the idea of ​​living life and the eternal growth of nature was manifested. Shishkin was attracted by a thirst for artistic exploration of nature. He carefully examined, probed, studied every stem, tree trunk, trembling foliage on the branches, erect herbs and mosses. For this painting, Shishkin received a large gold medal and the right to improve his creativity abroad after graduating from the Academy.

For two years, the artist gained knowledge in Switzerland and Germany. From where he returned as a highly professional, he became a professor (the head of a landscape class) and a member of the Association of Itinerants. Here he nurtured his view of creativity and determined the themes of future works. Life in a foreign land sharpened his sense of his homeland.

Another painting by the artist “SESTROETSKY BOR” (1887) has the opposite plot. Here is not a thicket, but sunlight, breaking through the pines and warming the earth. And again the main ones characters in Shishkin's landscapes there are trees. In the spirit of his time, the artist poetizes them, calling them from the opening lines of the poem: “Among the flat valley...”, “In the wild north...”.

“AMID THE FLAT VALLEY...” (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 developed a visually compelling painting, filled with the smells of the plain and the coolness of the fading day. Shishkin spent his whole life depicting forests, but here there is only one tree in the entire vast space. The picture is addressed to a person’s well-being in a vast world. Shishkin's man is attached to the ground. Nature expresses music human soul. Through its states, a person reflects on life. Thus, the artist’s landscape expresses the state of nature and the feelings of man responding to this state. It is very difficult to say which of the artist’s works is the most remarkable. All of Shishkin’s works show how his creative goals expanded, and how a true landscape painter wanted to express the best folk ideals and aspirations in the images of Russian nature.

IN paintings by Shishkin as it sounds “the spirit and image of the great, mighty space” called Russia. In the artist’s images the era lives, a mighty, unhurried people is imagined, a huge endless country is seen, which has no end and which keeps moving away and moving away into endless horizons. Shishkin conquered the most with his works wide circles society. After all, he created a real epic of the Russian forest, capturing not only the appearance of the 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 forest man”, he was compared to an old strong pine tree, but he was most likely similar to the lonely oak tree from his famous painting. After all, the artist had a difficult fate. Twice he married for love, and twice death took away his beloved women. His sons died. But Shishkin never allowed himself to endure his own serious condition on 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 master’s creativity is alive, in which “the spirit and image of the great, powerful space” called Russia sounds.

biography and creativity

The birthplace of one of the most famous, even cult artists of Russia is the city Yelabuga. He was born in this provincial town on January 13, 1832. In the future, he became known as a landscape painter, conveying with photographic accuracy the smallest details nature of the native land.

Portrait of I.I. Shishkin by I.N. Kramskoy

Family and study

On the formation of views and creative style Shishkina big influence had a father. A poor merchant who was fond of archeology and wrote “The History of the City of Yelabuga” was the man who managed to pass on all his knowledge to his son. Shishkin Sr. sold grain, and at his own expense he restored the ancient buildings of Yelabuga and developed a local water supply system.

The path of the future artist was predetermined from childhood. He entered the 1st Kazan gymnasium, but did not finish educational institution. In the fifth grade, Shishkin left school, returned home and devoted all his attention to drawing from life. For four years he painted the forests of Yelabuga, and in 1852 he entered the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture.

Self-portrait

Fateful for Ivan Shishkin was the exhibition of Caucasian mountain views by L. Lagorio and marine paintings by I. Aivazovsky. There he saw a painting that fascinates and inspires many. It was “The Ninth Wave” by Aivazovsky. Another factor that determined the artist’s further work was studying in the class of Mokritsky, who admired the work of K. Bryullov. The teacher was able to discern talent in the quiet, even shy student and in every possible way encouraged him to take up landscape painting.

In 1856, Shishkin graduated from college and entered the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. In his first year of study he was awarded a silver medal. He received the award for pencil drawing and a view of St. Petersburg, made with a brush. The artist became one of best students Academy, and in 1860 he graduated from it with a Great Gold Medal. Such a high award gave the right to travel abroad for three years to improve creative skills. But Shishkin preferred the place where he spent his childhood and adolescence - Yelabuga.

Foreign vicissitudes

The artist left Russia only in 1862. He visited Zurich, Munich, Geneva and Dusseldorf. Got acquainted with the works famous painters and studied with R. Koller himself. During the same period, by order of N. Bykov, he wrote

"View around Düsseldorf"

for her he received the title of academician.

Shishkin constantly improved his skills, developed own style. Just look at the pen drawings, which meticulously convey the details of the surrounding objects! Two such works are still among the exhibits of the Düsseldorf Museum.

In 1865, Shishkin returned to Russia. He is already a recognized and recognizable artist, capable of creative achievements. In the works of the early 1860s. Attempts to achieve maximum resemblance to nature can be traced. This is as can be seen from the picture

"Forest cutting"

somewhat disrupts the integrity of the landscape. Working long and hard, the artist overcomes the academic postulates of an abstract landscape and creates a series of paintings. An example of a “reborn” master is the canvas

"Noon. In the vicinity of Moscow."

The painting is filled with light, it exudes peace and tranquility, it can create a joyful, even blissful mood.

The place of the forest in Shishkin’s work

In 1870, he became one of the founders of the Partnership of Itinerants and presented a painting at the second exhibition of the society

"Pinery".

The work still amazes today with the integrity of its color scheme, photographic rendering of nature and incredible combination of colors.

Other paintings that recreate majestic forests are “Black Forest”, “Forest Wilderness”, “Spruce Forest”, “Reserve. Pine Forest”, “Forest (Shmetsk near Narva)”, “Corner of an overgrown forest. Snitch-grass”, “In a pine forest” and others. The painter depicts plant forms with amazing precision, carefully depicting every twig, every blade of grass. The paintings resemble beautiful, but still accidentally taken photographs. This trend is typical only for works that use a large color palette. Canvases depicting a forest, made in a single color scheme, fully reveal the artist’s talent.

Creative techniques

The most famous painting by the master is

"Morning in a pine forest",

presented at the exhibition of the Itinerants in 1889. The popularity of the work is that it is filled with serenity, the expectation of something beautiful and is a symbol of the homeland. And even though the bears were written by K. Savitsky, each of us associates these animals with small children.

The result of Shishkin’s entire creative path is the canvas

“Ship Grove” (1898).

It is completed according to all the laws of classicism, fully reveals artistic image. The painting has one more property - incredible monumentality.

I. I. Shishkin died in his workshop on March 8 (20), 1898. He never completed the painting “The Forest Kingdom,” but the legacy that remains is still capable of touching the soul of our contemporaries to this day.

Sestroretsky Forest 1886

View on the island of Valaam. Cucco area1858-60

Birch Forest 1871

Oak. grove1887

Birch Grove

Birch and mountain ash 1878

Before the Storm 1884

Among the flat valley... 1883

View in the vicinity of St. Petersburg 1865

Winter in the forest, frost 1877

In the wild north

Above the embankment 1887

Coniferous forest 1873

Winter 1890

Coniferous forest. Sunny day 1895

Rye 1878

Pinery. Mast forest in Vyatka province

Evening 1871

Seaside view

Rain in an oak forest 1891

Autumn landscape. Park in Pavlovsk 1888

Forest 1897

Early autumn 1889

Autumn forest 1876

Mountain path. Crimea 1879

Golden Autumn 1888

Winter forest

Pine forest

Forest in Mordvinovo. 1891

Mushroom pickers

Stream in a birch forest 1883

Dali

Winter. Moscow region. Etude

Pines. sunlit

The Ligovka river in the village of Konstantinovka near St. Petersburg. 1869

Two female figures 1880s

Children in the forest

First snow 1875

A Walk in the Woods 1869

Oak trees 1886

In Crimea. Monastery of Kozma and Damian near Chatyrdag 1879

Pine on a rock. 1855

Forest in the evening 1868-1869

On the banks of the Kama River near Yelabuga

About creativity

In the treasury of Russian art, Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin has one of the most honorable places. The history of the Russian landscape of the second half is connected with his name. XIX century. Works by an outstanding master, the best of which have become classics national painting, have gained enormous popularity.

Among the masters of the older generation, I. I. Shishkin represented 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 possessed enormous natural talent. No one before Shishkin, with such stunning openness and such disarming intimacy, told the viewer about his love for native land, to the discreet charm of northern nature.

Biography of the master

Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin was born on January 13 (25), 1832 in Elabuga (Vyatka province) into a poor merchant family. Having not completed his studies at the Kazan gymnasium, Shishkin left it and continued his education at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1852-56), and then at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1856-65). Shishkin I.I. died suddenly on March 8 (20), 1898 in St. Petersburg, while working on new picture.

Paintings by Ivan Shishkin

It seemed that it could mid-19th century centuries to be more familiar and ordinary for anyone
resident middle zone Russia than the view pine forest or fields of ripe rye? Ivan Shishkin had to appear to create creations that are still unsurpassed works of landscape art, in which with amazing clarity it is as if you are seeing new protected places for the first time.

Before us appear lush coniferous thickets, rich fields, the boundless expanse of the Fatherland. No one before Shishkin, with such stunning openness and such disarming intimacy, told the viewer about his love for his native land, for the discreet charm of northern nature.

Ivan Shishkin - "King of the Forest"

Shishkin was called the “king of the forest”, this reveals his devotion to the theme of “Russian forest”. Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin was truly the “King of Valera”: the artist was completely subject to the highest sign easel painting- Valer, the ability to paint a picture using the finest nuances of light, shadow, and color. This technique requires the master to have excellent mastery of drawing, color painting and a jeweler’s sense of the light-air environment, the general tone of the picture, determined by a single state in time.

Such canvases seem to be sung in one breath, where there are no rough contours or false effects. There is only imitation of one great artist - nature. In each of his paintings, the artist shows himself to be a remarkable connoisseur of nature, every smallest part of it, be it a tree trunk or just sand covered with dead wood. For all their realism, Shishkin’s paintings are very harmonious and imbued with a poetic feeling of love for the homeland.

The meaning of the artist's creativity

Ivan Shishkin is an artist of enormous creative passion and determination. He amazed his contemporaries with his efficiency. Bogatyrsky stature, strong, healthy, always working - this is how his friends remembered him. He died sitting at an easel, working on a new painting. It was March 20, 1898.

The artist left a huge legacy: more than 500 paintings, about 2000 drawings and graphic works.

All creative path Shishkina appears before us as a great feat of a Russian man, who in his works glorified his homeland, dearly and dearly loved by him. This is the strength of his creativity. This is the guarantee that his paintings will live forever.

“Shishkin is a people’s artist,” wrote V.V. Stasov back in 1892. And our people secured this right to an honorary title for Shishkin.

You can download the full version of the finished abstract from the link below.