Rain in the oak forest description. In general order

"Rain in the Oak Forest" the artist wrote during his creative heyday in 1891.
It is, as always, in its genre: all the details and nuances are drawn with high clarity and precision.
All paintings, and this one is no exception, are filled with life and convey nature as it is.
Here, for example, is an oak forest washed by summer rain.
From the rain, puddles appeared on the forest road, and evaporation comes from the ground, forming a kind of haze.
Because of her, and because of the rain, the distance seems blurry and unclear, as it should be on a warm summer day.

For some, this rain is salvation, it gives freshness and a feeling of purity.
Someone will say this weather is only mud and dampness.
Well, to each his own.
So are the people depicted in the landscape.
In the foreground, a couple is shown sheltering from the rain under an umbrella.
The woman lifts the hem of her cloak so as not to stain it.
They walk slowly, enjoying the oak forest and the freshness of the rain.
Ahead of them is a man who puts his head in his shoulders and walks straight through the puddles with a quick gait.
This weather is unpleasant for him, he wants to be in a cozy warm house as soon as possible and take off his wet clothes.
On the same forest road there were such different people.

Oaks stand motionless, they revel in life-giving moisture and expose their beautiful carved leaves to the rain.
They stretch up to the sky, as if there, in the height, there is even more freshness and spaciousness.
How many people they have seen in their lives on this forest path that goes into the distance.
Just like oaks, grass and flowers rejoice in the rain and try to get enough of it.
Only thanks to the rain the grass turns green and pleases the eye, and the flowers bloom their fragrant buds.
Shishkin always uses a technique to enliven his paintings.
He draws objects in the foreground most clearly, and those that are further away are more blurry.
Thus, it creates the feeling that you yourself are among the oaks and look into the depths of the forest.

Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin is not just an outstanding artist, but, above all, a great master of landscape painting. Most of all, the artist liked to create forest landscapes, depicting beech, pine, and oak forests. Shishkin loved and admired nature, the beauty and power of trees, valleys, rivers. Groves, forest distances became the favorite images of Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin. Even creating several landscapes of a pine forest, the artist tried to convey his own special state in each of them.

The landscape "Rain in the Oak Forest" was written in 1891, at the end of the nineteenth century. This beautiful landscape, a magnificent example of easel painting, is part of the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery.

The plot of the landscape "Rain in the Oak Forest" is filled with lyrical motifs. The canvas is very poetic, subtle, contemplative. The picture shows three travelers. Two of them are wandering through the damp oak forest slowly, barely sheltering from the rain under an umbrella. Another, solitary traveler, not trying to hide from the rain, hurriedly moves away into the depths of the canvas, further and further into the thick damp fog and the forest thicket.

“Rain in an oak forest” is a landscape that is designed to convey all the beauty of humid forest air, the smell of grass, oak leaves, the ghostly glow of light after rain, the state of fog that fills everything around with peace and quiet.

The oak forest is very beautiful, dotted with sun glare, which is reflected in the moisture-filled forest air. The landscape sparkles, flows with warmth, everything around soars, breathes, lives.

The depth of the forest is filled with dense milky fog. The outlines of trees in the distance seem to be dissolved in this foggy dope. The image of fog gives the canvas mystery and light mystery. Against the background of a whitish wall of fog, images of trees look more distinct. Abundant foliage of oaks sparkles, through light gives the landscape a state of quiet serenity and bliss. The sun in some places glides over the powerful trunks of trees, coloring them and somewhat scattering and softening the too thick fog.

The foreground of the picture is full of detail, detailed drawing of various blades of grass, stones, moss. At the same time, the artist uses a diverse palette, all this makes reflexes and halftones more expressive and noticeable. The air is felt as a separate phenomenon, alive, trembling, unsteady, ready to melt, disappear along with this foggy haze that has spread through the forest.

In general, the landscape is very soft, fragile, compositionally multifaceted. Chiaroscuro emphasizes the atmospheric state of nature that changes before our eyes, emphasizes the unsteady balance between the picture plans and the colorful layers of the landscape.

Shishkin's landscape pulsates and lives in our minds not only as an image, but also as a smell, like the singing of forest birds, like forest air, like the rustle of rain in the forest, familiar from childhood.

Composition based on the painting: I. I. Shishkin "Rain in an oak forest".
At the last lesson, the Russian language teacher brought us to class a very interesting album with reproductions of outstanding Russian landscape painters of the 19th century. She offered to choose one of the most liked works and write an essay on it. The painting by I. I. Shishkin "Rain in an Oak Forest" made the strongest impression on me. A good knowledge of nature, the ability to see and hear the beauty in every moment of life and the skill of the painter helped Shishkin paint this wonderful picture.
Looking at the landscape, with every cell you feel the freshness and spaciousness of the oak forest. Mighty tall oaks stretch their branches up towards the sky and the sun. They are not crowded at all: there is enough space around each tree to make both colorful forest flowers and very young teenage oaks feel good.
There is a light summer rain. A bright haze-mist rises from the earth heated during the day, which makes the forest mysterious and enigmatic. In the distance, the trees melt in a white airy shroud, as if in milk. Therefore, an indomitable desire arises to find out: what is there next, around the bend of the forest road, which, like a thrifty housewife, collects raindrops into wide shiny puddles, where oaks, the sky, and people walking along the road are reflected. We see people from the back - probably, the rain caught them during a walk, and they turned back. Closer to us - a man and a woman. They are well dressed and protected from the rain by a wide black umbrella. However, these people do not seem to be eager to get out of the forest as soon as possible, they are calm, leisurely choosing dry places on the road where they can pass. Of course, it is unpleasant that the legs and the bottom of the cloak got wet, but there is such beauty around! It seems that the hushed and refreshed forest is watching them, rejoicing in their calmness.
A completely different impression is produced by a person walking in front. He does not have an umbrella, and he walks straight through the puddles, putting his hands in his pockets and putting his head on his shoulders. He stoops, the dampness is unpleasant to him, he is probably completely wet. Well, not everyone likes freshness and coolness.
Despite the rain, the forest is bright and festive. The oaks seem to be the strings of some fantastic instrument, on which the rain-musician plays gentle melodies. Shishkin wrote that "a picture from nature should be without fantasy" and that "nature should be painted in all its simplicity." And he knew how to present this “simplicity” in such a way that it became self-sufficient, integral: there is not a single detail in the picture, and all the individual parts are in close interaction.
As if alive, the forest in the picture stands in front of us. The artist took us more than a century and a half ago, but you don’t notice it right away. And I really want to find a similar road among the oaks in the summer and walk along it, meet people caught in the rain, and ask them not to run away, not to hurry, but to look around and appreciate the splendor of Russian nature in all its states: joy, sadness, anger. ..

Description of the painting by I. I. Shishkin "Rain in an oak forest".
The painting "Rain in the Oak Forest" was painted by I. I. Shishkin in 1891. It was the time of his creative flowering. The canvases of this period of the artist's life are distinguished by the versatility of images and a variety of motives. "Rain in the Oak Forest" is one of the most perfect works of the artist, striking in the careful thoughtfulness of the plot and brilliant execution technique.
In the painting "Rain in the Oak Forest" Shishkin appears as a master of easel painting. In full, the artist was able to show with what virtuosity he owns a brush and is able to convey all shades of color, the play of light and shadow.
In front of us is an oak grove during a warm summer rain. The damp air of the forest is fresh and cool. The artist is true to himself - he is still accurate and objective in depicting every nuance, every detail. With great skill, the artist conveys the depth of space. It is immersed in a rainy haze, and if in the foreground the trees are clearly visible, then in the background only their blurred contours appear. The refined greenish-silvery gamut of the canvas is painted in the most subtle shades. Through the translucent veil, through the clouds, a ray of the sun penetrates into the grove. Rapidly passing through damp branches and foliage, it stains oak trunks with gold and breaks into a million rays in puddles. Several passers-by, succumbing to the charm of bad weather, slowly wander through the puddles. And isn't the author himself striding ahead, turning up the collar of his light coat and putting his hands in his pockets?
It should be noted that the canvas "Rain in an oak forest" falls out of the series of paintings by the artist, written in the last years of his life - epic and even somewhat harsh in nature. This is a picture in which Shishkin seems to have forgotten about the hardships and hardships, and with the help of talent and inspiration, he simply showed the wondrous charm of the world around him.

Composition based on the painting by I. I. Shishkin "Rain in an oak forest".
Shishkin painted the picture in 1891. It is believed that during this period the artist had a creative flowering. In the works of the author of this time, one can see multifaceted images, as well as a wide variety of motifs. The work of the master "Rain in the oak forest" is recognized as one of the best. The picture has a carefully thought-out plot and is executed by the author in a brilliant technique. Therefore, Shishkin in this work opens before us as a master of easel painting.
The author of the work of art showed how masterfully a brush can work in his hands and how skillfully you can convey the color scheme, as well as light and shadow. The viewer, looking at the canvas, sees an oak grove, which is washed by a warm summer rain. Rain makes the air fresh and cool. In this picture, the master, as before, accurately and objectively shows all the nuances and details. The depth of the composition is very skillfully conveyed. All space was dissolved in a rainy haze. You can clearly see the trees protruding from the front. However, in the background, the viewer recognizes only their faint outlines. Shishkin displayed the grove with subtle shades of silver-green. A ray of sunlight breaks through the cloud, passing through a barely visible veil. It passes through damp branches, foliage, and the bark of trees beneath it gives off gold. At the end, the light beam breaks up into millions of small rays in puddles. Slowly, several passers-by, fascinated by bad weather, are walking through the puddles. Is it by chance that we can see not Shishkin in the image of one of them, who raised the collar of his coat with his hands in his pockets?
It must be said that the painting "Rain in an Oak Forest" does not belong to a number of epic and harsh works that the author wrote in his recent time. In this work, Shishkin seems to forget about the bustle of life and, using his talent with inspiration, shows the amazing beauty of the world that surrounds us.

Ivan Shishkin. Rain in the oak forest.
1891. Oil on canvas.
Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

When we say Shishkin, images full of epic power rise before our eyes: the royal forests of Russia, pierced by the sun and fanned with poetry, deaf forest tracts with mighty trunks warped by windbreak, the tops of gigantic pines gilded by the setting sun, giant oaks, timber, ship groves ...

When we say Shishkin, we see both quiet forest edges turning green under the high sun, and transparent streams lost in dense thickets, reflecting coastal birches, and the blue expanse of the sky above the expanse! yellowing rye... We breathe freer and deeper, as if we were really wafted with the resinous aroma of pine, fresh forest dampness, last year's foliage...

Who hasn’t reproached Shishkin for the monotony of plots, for the “photographic” images allegedly inherent in his works, for “indifferent copying of nature”!

Now it seems surprising that such a reputation as an indifferent and cold-blooded copyist of nature could have developed with an inspired artist who was one of the first in Russian art who managed to reveal to his contemporaries the beauty and poetry of his native landscape in all its majestic simplicity.

“In artistic activity, in the study of nature, you can never put an end to it, you can’t say that you have learned it completely, thoroughly, and that you don’t need to study anymore; studied well only for the time being, and after the impression they turn pale, and, not constantly coping with nature, the artist himself will not notice how he will leave the truth, ”wrote Shishkin.

In the second half of the 1880s. Shishkin’s painting is somewhat (but not radically) changing: “he sensed the tone” (I.N. Kramskoy), that is, he began to pay more attention to the general atmospheric state that unites objects in the light-air environment, but, in contrast to the trends of the era, he retained the clarity and integrity of the vision of the subject forms: Pines illuminated by the sun (1886), Oaks (1887), Mordvin oaks (1891), Autumn (1892), etc.

V.V. Vereshchagin, looking at the sketch “Pine trees illuminated by the sun. Sestroretsk”, said: “Yes, this is painting! Looking at the canvas, I, for example, quite clearly feel the warmth, sunlight and, to the illusion, I feel the aroma of pine.

Rain in an Oak Forest (1891) is both a magnificent image of nature in terms of beauty and fidelity in conveying the atmospheric state, and a clear illustration of such a balance between the object and the environment, between the general and the individual.

Here is an excerpt from the memoirs of a contemporary who presents us with an enthusiastic, restless, inspired artist:
“- I remember once I was caught in the forest by a thunderstorm. At first I tried to hide under the fir trees, but in vain. Soon cold streams ran down my back. The storm had passed, and the rain was pouring with the same force. I had to go home in the rain. I turned down the path to Shishkin's dacha to shorten the path. In the distance, above the forest, a bright sun shines through a thick net of rain.
I stopped. And then on the road, near the dacha, I saw Ivan Ivanovich. He was standing in a puddle, barefoot, with simple hair, soaked blouse and trousers stuck to his body.
- Ivan Ivanovich! Did you get caught in the rain too?
No, I went out into the rain! The storm caught me at home ... I saw this miracle through the window and jumped out to have a look. What an extraordinary picture! This rain, this sun, these strokes of falling drops... And the dark forest in the distance! I want to remember the light, and the color, and the lines...
So - in love with every flower, every bush, every tree, our Russian forest and field plains - I always remember Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin.
He worked every day, carefully. He returned to work at certain hours so that there was the same lighting. I knew that at 2-3 o’clock in the afternoon he would definitely paint oaks in the meadow, that in the evening, when the gray fog was already enveloping the distance, he was sitting by the pond, writing willows, and that in the morning, at dawn, he could be found at the turn road to the village of Zheltsy, where waves of eared rye roll, where dewdrops on the roadside grass light up and go out.

This sketch, made by an eyewitness pen, shows us the true Ivan Shishkin.

A unique moment: in the damp air of the forest, through a bluish transparent swirling veil, a sunbeam breaks through, as if it is rapidly pushing branches, leaves, broken by a thousand glare in puddles, suddenly paints tree trunks with bronze. As if bewitched, the artist saw the inexpressible beauty of the world around him. He forgot about himself, about his troubles. He dreamed...

Maybe at that moment the plot of the painting “Rain in the Oak Forest” was born. And is it not the author himself who wanders, with his hands in his pockets and turned up his collar, splashing through the puddles ... Shishkin in this canvas showed himself as a virtuoso of easel painting. The subtlest nuances of color, tone, light permeate the whole picture.

Truly, this canvas could decorate the best museums on the planet.

But this canvas was not the final, milestone creation of Ivan Shishkin.

Rather, "Rain" was only a tribute to the magnificent mastery of the palette, color, and in this sense the canvas somewhat falls out of the harsh, epic paintings of the master. "Rain in the oak forest" is the painter's smile, his compliment to the genre, but even in this canvas the temple of wildlife appears before us with wondrous beauty.

Canvas, oil. 124x204 cm.
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
Inv. number: 24794

Sensitivity to the state of the weather in this canvas is close to impressionistic, only in the picture there is no impressionistic intimacy. And not because the format of the picture is larger than the usual work of the French Impressionists, which gives it a certain monumentality - the very wide panoramic scope of the composition does not allow us to talk about the intimacy of the landscape. Shishkin, as usual, expresses himself not by the expressiveness of the stroke, not by the touch of the brush, not by the forcing of color, not by the spectacular composition, but by the fidelity of reproduction ...
From the monograph by V. Manin. 2001

The 1890s was a period of crisis for the Wanderers. At this time, artists who professed new ideas tried to "push" them into the background; among the Wanderers themselves, obvious disagreements emerged - many of them failed to understand the need for change and, in front of their eyes, turned from innovators into the most ossified conservatives standing in the way of the natural development of art. Shishkin knew how to change. Kramskoy, who died in 1887, had time to discern this before his death, saying that Shishkin had finally "felt the tone." The artist became interested in the depiction of atmospheric conditions and the transmission of the light-air environment, without changing his main creative principle of the integrity of the vision of the objective form. "Rain in the oak forest" is the best confirmation of this.

In this picture, the artist is still absolutely accurate and "objective". One of his acquaintances recalled how one day, running in a thunderstorm past his dacha, she was surprised to find Shishkin standing barefoot and in completely soaked clothes in the middle of a puddle. "Ivan Ivanovich!" she asked. "Did you also get caught in the rain?" “No, I went out into the rain!” the artist replied excitedly. “The storm caught me at home. I saw this miracle through the window and jumped out to look. What an extraordinary picture! This rain, this sun, these strokes of falling drops ... And a dark forest. I want remember the light, and the color, and the lines..." Was it then that he "peeped" this work of his?

Music in colors:
Artists rarely dare to depict the atmospheric state of rain; usually referring to the image of the world before or after a thunderstorm. Shishkin masterfully writes a fading downpour. A thin transparent haze, swaying in the space between the trees, unites the sky, earth and forest into one beautiful whole. Human figures are rare on the artist's canvases, he is more interested in "independent" nature. In this case, people, as if floating under their umbrellas, amplify the sound of that gentle music that permeates the whole picture. A deep puddle formed on a forest path, a kind of "echo" of a thunderstorm that has just thundered, emphasizes its strength. A brightening sky is reflected on its slightly rippling surface, promising the imminent sun.
"Art Gallery", No. 65. 2005