“A school of man”, “a milestone in the development of Russian landscape” - this is how contemporaries wrote about Shishkin. On this day, I propose to remember our, without a doubt, national treasure, look at the paintings again, read about this person and look through old photographs.
Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin was born on January 25 (13th old style) 1832 in Yelabuga (Vyatka province) into a poor merchant family. His father, Ivan Vasilyevich, rented a mill and traded grain, but besides this, he was passionate about history and archeology, developed and implemented a water supply system in Yelabuga, wrote manuals and books, and used his own money to restore the ancient tower of the city.
Shishkin's father, Ivan Vasilievich. Portrait of V.P. Vereshchagina
It was the father who encouraged the development of a creative streak in his son - he praised him for his success in drawing, studied wood carving with him, and eventually sent him to study at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where young Ivan got into the professor's class portrait painting A.N. Mokritsky, who noticed young man talent as a landscape painter, and helped him develop in the right direction, which Shishkin later recalled with gratitude.
I.I. Shishkin, self-portrait, 1854
While studying at the school, Shishkin was interested in the question of why Italian or Swiss landscapes (including those performed by our artists) are so captivating with their color and richness; is it not possible to achieve the same by painting native spaces. And this “nationality” turned out to be as appropriate as possible “here and now”: at the same time, other artists increasingly began to turn to everything Russian, and writers did not lag behind. And realism began to be valued and enjoyed success.
View on the island of Valaam, 1858
Shishkin worked on his paintings with such diligence that sometimes it seems that every blade of grass and every leaf was not left unattended by him, and often with such precision that it could be used as an illustration in a botanical atlas.
Young walnut shoots, 1870s
Burdocks, 1878
Of course, there were and are those who say that emotions are lost behind such thoroughness, they called him a “photographer” and a “copyist,” but time puts everything in its place: how many people in our vast expanses do not know the name of Shishkin, even if they are completely far from art? Are there many people who don’t know the author of “that picture with the bears” or “that field with rye”? Shishkin's landscapes have long ceased to be just a phenomenon in art; they are inextricably linked with Russian nature, they are as if it itself.
Before the Storm, 1884
Hut, 1861
Autumn forest, 1876
Landscape with a lake, 1886
In the wild north..., 1891
Foggy morning, 1885
Kama near Yelabuga, 1895
Road in the Rye, 1866
Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin is deservedly called an excellent draftsman. He did not part with a pencil, and everywhere he made sketches of everything that seemed interesting to him, be it a broken tree branch, clouds or a dried leaf.
Landscape with carts, early 1870s
Stream in the forest
Summer in the field (Shepherd with his flock), early 1860s
Forest river, 1893
Trees in the field. Bratsevo, 1866
Village, 1874
Letter from Shishkin to his parents with a sketch, 1858
By the way, he received his first awards precisely for drawing, while being a student at the Imperial Academy of Arts, where he entered after graduating from college. His successes were repeatedly noted with medals, and upon completion, along with the Big Gold Medal, Shishkin was awarded a three-year trip abroad. True, he left only 2 years later; he was much more occupied with his native place, and he spent time hugging a travel album, making sketches from life.
View of Elabuga, 1861
Abroad, he worked in Germany, the Czech Republic and Switzerland.
I.I. Shishkin in Dusseldorf, photograph, 1864/65
Despite all the European beauties, he was drawn home; he wanted to paint Russian nature. Although, it should be noted, on this trip he created the painting “View in the vicinity of Dusseldorf”, for which he was awarded the title of academician.
View in the vicinity of Dusseldorf, 1865
Dresden. Bridge of Augustus, 1862
Beech forest in Switzerland, 1863
Swiss landscape, 1866
Upon his return, he travels around Russia and becomes a member of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions along with Repin, Kramskoy, Vasnetsov, Surikov and others. At this time, Shishkin was finally forming recognizable style, in which there is no place for romanticization, but there is the beauty of nature in itself, and in the late 60s he wrote one of his most famous works- “Noon in the vicinity of Moscow.”
Noon in the vicinity of Moscow, 1869
The artist is madly in love with the forest, regularly going into the wilds from the very early morning, and working tirelessly on sketches and sketches. It should be noted that in his paintings the forest is always majestic, and even solemn.
Forest guardhouse, 1892
Sosnovy Bor, 1895
Winter in the Forest (Rime), 1877
Birch Grove, 1878
Oak Grove, 1887
Meadow at the edge of the forest. Siverskaya, 1887
Edge of a deciduous forest, 1895
I.I. Shishkin with peasants, photograph, 1890
Often in Shishkin’s paintings nature has truly epic power, and people or animals do not appear too often. It is also a well-known fact that the bears on the canvas “Morning in a Pine Forest” (1889) were painted not by Shishkin, but by his friend, the artist Konstantin Savitsky, whose signature from the painting was removed by its acquirer Pavel Tretyakov.
Morning in a pine forest, 1889
Shishkin also has a lot of works in which he focuses not on the scale, space, power of nature, but, on the contrary, on something small, on its individual components - weeds, ferns, tops of pine trees, etc.
Tops of pine trees, 1890s
Flowers by the fence, mid-1880s
Snitch-grass. Pargolovo, 1884
Herbs, 1892
In 1873, having painted his next painting, “Forest Wilderness,” at the age of 41, Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin received the title of professor at the Academy of Arts.
Forest wilderness, 1872
Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin was a very fruitful artist; they say about such people that he “worked tirelessly.”
I.I. Shishkin at work on the painting “Mordvinov Oaks”, photograph, 1891
Ivan Kramskoy. Portrait of I. I. Shishkin. 1873
In one sketch, Shishkin wrote: “Expansion, space, land, rye, God’s grace, Russian wealth.” And, probably, something similar flashes through the minds of most people when looking at his famous painting “Rye” (1878).
Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin was married twice. His first wife was Evgenia Aleksandrovna Vasilyeva, the sister of another talented Russian landscape painter Fyodor Vasilyev, through whom he met her, immediately falling in love with the girl. Three children were born in this marriage, but both sons died at a young age, and their mother survived them for a short time. Shishkin took the loss hard, and only 7 years later he married for the second time. His second wife was the artist Olga Antonovna Lagoda, who died a month and a half after the birth of their daughter. Until the end of Shishkin’s life, Olga’s sister Victoria took care of his two daughters and himself.
Among Russian landscape painters, Shishkin undoubtedly holds the place of the most powerful artist. In all his works, he is an amazing connoisseur of plant forms, reproducing them with a subtle understanding of how general, and the smallest distinctive features any species of trees, bushes and grasses. Whether he took on the image of a pine or spruce forest, individual pines and spruces, just like their totality, received from him their true physiognomy, without any embellishment or understatement - that appearance and with those particulars that are fully explained and determined the soil and climate where the artist made them grow. Whether he depicted oaks or birches, they took on completely truthful forms in his foliage, branches, trunks, roots and in all details. The very area under the trees - stones, sand or clay, uneven soil overgrown with ferns and other forest herbs, dry leaves, brushwood, dead wood, etc. - received the appearance of perfect reality in Shishkin's paintings and drawings.
“But this realism often harmed his landscapes: in many of them it obscured the general mood, giving them the character not of paintings conceived not with the aim of arousing this or that feeling in the viewer, but of random, albeit excellent sketches. It should also be noted that with Shishkin what happens with almost every particularly strong artist was repeated: the science of forms was given to him to the detriment of color, which, while not being weak and inharmonious for him, still does not stand on the same level with masterful drawing. Therefore, Shishkin’s talent is sometimes expressed much more clearly in one-color drawings and etchings than in such works in which he used many colors,” some critics say. His paintings and drawings are so numerous that indicating even the most important of them would take up too much space; Especially many of them were sold among art lovers after a retrospective exhibition of the artist’s works over forty years of his activity was organized in 1891 and the sale after his death of what remained in his studio. It will be enough to mention Shishkin’s works in public collections. The Moscow Tretyakov Gallery is richest in them. It contains paintings: “Forest cutting”, “Afternoon in the vicinity of Moscow”, “Pine forest”, “Burnt forest”, “Rye”, “Wilds”, “Apiary”, “Spruce forest” and “Morning in a pine forest” and, in addition, seventeen masterful drawings. The Russian Museum owns the paintings: “Ship Grove”, “Meadow with Pines”, “Forest Wilderness” and “Glade”, five sketches and two drawings. According to the will of K. Soldatenkov, the Moscow Public Museum received the painting “View in the vicinity of Moscow” and one drawing.
Among all the artist’s works, the most popular painting is “Morning in a Pine Forest”. Its plot may have been suggested to Shishkin by K. A. Savitsky. There is another version that the impetus for the appearance of this canvas was the landscape “Fog in a Pine Forest” (1888), painted, in all likelihood, like “Windfall,” under the impression of a trip to the Vologda forests. “Fog in a Pine Forest,” which was a success at a traveling exhibition in Moscow (now in a private collection), could have aroused Shishkin and Savitsky’s desire to paint a canvas repeating the motif of the famous painting, but with the inclusion of a genre scene.
Shishkin Ivan Ivanovich is the founder of the Russian epic landscape, which gives a broad, generalized idea of the majestic and free Russian nature. What is captivating in Shishkin’s paintings is the strict truthfulness of the image, the calm breadth and majesty of the images, their natural, unobtrusive simplicity. The poetry of Shishkin's landscapes is similar to a smooth melody folk song, with the flow of a wide, deep river.
Shishkin was born in 1832 in the city of Elabuga, 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 place and went to Moscow, to the School of Painting and Sculpture. He directed all his artistic thoughts towards depicting nature, for this he constantly went to Sokolniki Park to sketch and studied nature. Shishkin's biographer wrote that before him no one had painted nature so beautifully: "... just a field, a forest, a river - and he makes them 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 it throughout his life: “The imitation of nature alone can satisfy a landscape painter, and the main task of a landscape painter is the diligent study of nature... Nature must be sought in all its simplicity... "
Thus, all his life he followed the task of reproducing what existed 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. All of him 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 “the photographer of Russian nature” - some with delight, others, innovators, with slight contempt, but in fact they still evoke excitement and admiration among viewers. No one passes by his paintings indifferent.
The winter forest in this picture is frozen, as if 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 the impenetrable thicket of the forest darkens. Everything around is immersed in winter sleep. Only a rare ray of cold sun penetrates the kingdom of snow and casts light golden spots on the branches of pine trees, on a forest clearing in the distance. Nothing disturbs the silence of this amazingly beautiful winter day.
A rich palette of shades of white, brown and gold conveys the state of winter nature and its beauty. Shown here collective image 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 wrapped, all bound in a light chain of down...
(F. Tyutchev)
The painting was painted in the year of the artist’s death; it was as if he had once again resurrected motifs close to his heart, associated with the forest and pine trees. The landscape was exhibited at the 26th Traveling Exhibition and met with a warm reception from the progressive public.
The artist depicted a pine mast forest illuminated by the sun. The trunks of pine trees, their needles, the bank of a forest stream with a rocky bottom are bathed in slightly pinkish rays, the state of peace is emphasized by a transparent stream sliding over clean stones.
The lyricism of evening lighting is combined in the picture with the epic characters of the giant pine forest. Huge tree trunks with several girths and their calm rhythm give the entire canvas a special monumentality.
"Ship Grove" is the artist's swan song. In it he sang of his homeland with its mighty slender forests, clear waters, resinous air, blue sky, with the gentle sun. In it, he conveyed that feeling of love and pride for the beauty of the mother earth, which did not leave him throughout his entire creative life.
Noon summer day. It just rained. Puddles glisten on the country road. The moisture of warm rain is felt both on the gold of the grain field and on the emerald green grass with bright wildflowers. The purity of the rain-washed earth is made even more convincing by the sky brightening after the rain. Its blue is deep and pure. The last pearly-silver clouds run towards the horizon, giving way to the midday sun.
It is especially valuable that the artist was able to soulfully convey nature renewed after the rain, the breath of refreshed earth and grass, the trembling of running clouds.
Life's truthfulness and poetic spirituality make the painting "Midday" 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 tree. The endless expanses of the valley. In the distance, the ribbon of the river glimmers slightly, a white church is barely visible, and further towards the horizon everything is drowned in a foggy blue. There are no boundaries to this majestic valley.
A country road winds through fields and disappears into the distance. Along the roadside there are flowers - daisies sparkle in the sun, unpretentious hawthorn blossoms, thin stalks of panicles bend low. Fragile and delicate, they emphasize the strength and grandeur of the mighty oak tree, proudly rising above the plain. A deep pre-storm silence reigns in nature. Gloomy shadows from the clouds ran across the plain in dark waves. A terrible thunderstorm is approaching. The curly greenery of the giant oak is motionless. He, like a proud hero, awaits 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 calm peace. The artist was well able to convey the character of the pine forest, majestic and calm, enveloped in silence. The sun softly illuminates the hillock near the stream, the tops of centuries-old trees, leaving the wilderness immersed in shadow. Snatching the trunks of individual pines from the forest darkness, the golden light of the sun reveals their slenderness and height, the wide span of their branches. The pines are not only depicted correctly, not only similar, but beautiful and expressive.
Notes of subtle folk humor are introduced by the amusing figures of bears gazing 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 full of damp air. Blackened oak tree trunks are literally shrouded in moisture, streams of water flow along the roads, raindrops bubble in puddles. But the cloudy sky is already starting to brighten. Penetrating the net of fine rain hanging above oak grove, silver light pours from the sky, it is reflected with steel-gray reflections on wet leaves, the surface of a black wet umbrella turns silver, wet stones, reflecting the light, acquire an ashy hue. The artist makes the viewer admire the subtle combination of dark silhouettes of trunks, a milky gray veil of rain and silvery muted gray shades of greenery.
In this painting, more than in any other painting by Shishkin, the nationality of his perception of nature was revealed. In it, the artist created an image of great epic power and truly monumental sound.
A wide plain stretching to the very horizon (the artist deliberately places the landscape along the elongated canvas). And everywhere you look, ripened grains are earing. The oncoming gusts of wind sway the rye in waves - this makes it even more acute to feel how tall, plump and thick it is. The waving field of ripe rye seems to be filled with gold, casting a dull shine. The road, turning, crashes into the thicket of grain, and they immediately hide it. But the movement continues with tall pines lined up along the road. It seems as if giants are walking across the steppe with heavy, measured steps. Mighty nature, full of heroic forces, a rich, free region.
A hot summer day foreshadows a thunderstorm. Due to the long-lasting heat, the sky became discolored and lost its ringing blue. The first thunderclouds are already creeping over the horizon. WITH great love and the foreground of the picture is painted with skill: the road covered with light dust, with swallows flying over it, and fat ripe ears of corn, and the white heads of daisies, and cornflowers turning blue in the gold of rye.
The painting "Rye" is a generalized image of the homeland. It victoriously sounds a solemn hymn to the abundance, fertility, and majestic beauty of the Russian land. Great faith in the power and wealth of nature, with which it rewards human labor, is the main idea that guided the artist in creating this work.
The artist perfectly captured in the sketch the sunlight, the gaps of the bright blue sky in contrast with the greenery of the oak crown, the transparent and tremulous shadows on the trunks of old oak trees.
The painting is based on the poem of the same name by M. Yu Lermontov.
The film contains a theme of loneliness. On an inaccessible 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 kingdom of cold there is nothing alive, everything around is frozen. numb. But on the very edge of the cliff, desperately clinging to life, a lonely pine tree stands proudly. Heavy flakes of sparkling snow bound its branches and pulled them down to the ground. But the pine tree bears its loneliness with dignity; the power of the bitter cold is unable to break it.
Municipal budgetary institution additional education
Center for Children's Technical Creativity No. 1 in Ulyanovsk
Report on the topic: “Creativity of I. I. Shishkin”
Developed by:
additional education teacher
Nazarova Yulia Evgenevna
Ulyanovsk,
2017
Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin (1832-1898) - Russian landscape artist, painter, draftsman and engraver. Representative of the Dusseldorf Art School. Academician (1865), professor (1873), head of the landscape workshop (1894-1895) of the Academy of Arts. Founding member of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions.
Biography of Ivan Shishkin
Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin is a famous Russian artist (landscape artist, painter, engraver) and academician.
Ivan was born in the city of Elabuga in 1832 into a merchant family. The artist received his first education at the Kazan gymnasium. After studying there for four years, Shishkin entered one of the Moscow painting schools.
After graduating from this school in 1856, he continued his education at the Academy of Arts of St. Petersburg. Within the walls of this institution, Shishkin received knowledge until 1865. In addition to academic drawing, the artist also honed his skills outside the Academy, in various picturesque places in the suburbs of St. Petersburg. Now the paintings of Ivan Shishkin are valued more highly than ever.
In 1860, Shishkin received an important award - gold medal Academy. The artist is heading to Munich. Then - to Zurich. Everywhere he works in the workshops of the most famous artists of that time. For the painting “View in the vicinity of Dusseldorf” he soon received the title of academician.
In 1866, Ivan Shishkin returned to St. Petersburg. Shishkin, traveling around Russia, then presented his paintings at various exhibitions. He painted a lot of paintings of a pine forest, among the most famous are “A Stream in the Forest”, “Morning in a Pine Forest”, “Pine Forest”, “Fog in a Pine Forest”, “Reserve. Sosnovy Bor." The artist also showed his paintings at the Association of Traveling Exhibitions. Shishkin was a member of the aquafortist circle. In 1873, the artist received the title of professor at the Academy of Arts, and after some time he was the head of a training workshop.
Works of Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin
For early works masters (“View on the island of Valaam”, 1858, Kiev Museum of Russian Art; “Forest cutting”, 1867, Tretyakov Gallery) some fragmentation of forms is characteristic; adhering to the “scene” structure of the picture, traditional for romanticism, clearly marking the plans, he still does not achieve a convincing unity of the image.
In such films as “Noon. In the vicinity of Moscow" (1869, ibid.), this unity appears as an obvious reality, primarily due to the subtle compositional and light-air-coloristic coordination of the zones of sky and earth, soil (Shishkin felt the latter especially soulfully, in this regard not having equal in Russian landscape art).
Noon. In the vicinity of Moscow
View on the island of Valaam
Wood cutting
In the 1870s. Ivan Shishkin was entering a time of unconditional creative maturity, as evidenced by the paintings “Sosnovy Bor. Mast forest in the Vyatka province" (1872) and "Rye" (1878; both - Tretyakov Gallery).
Usually avoiding the unstable, transitional states of nature, the artist Ivan Shishkin captures its highest summer flowering, achieving impressive tonal unity precisely due to the bright, midday, summer light that determines the entire color scale. The monumental romantic image of Nature with a capital “N” is invariably present in the paintings. New, realistic trends appear in the soulful attention with which the signs of a specific piece of land, a corner of a forest or field, or a specific tree are written down.
Ivan Shishkin is a remarkable poet not only of the soil, but also of the tree, with a keen sense of the character of each species [in his most typical entries he usually mentions not just a “forest”, but a forest of “sedge, elms and partly oaks” (diary of 1861) or “forest spruce, pine, aspen, birch, linden” (from a letter to I.V. Volkovsky, 1888)].
Rye
Sosnovy Bor
Among the flat valleys
With particular desire, the artist paints the most powerful and strong species, such as oaks and pines - in the stages of maturity, old age and, finally, death in the windfall. Classic works Ivan Ivanovich - such as “Rye” or “Among the Flat Valley...” (the painting is named after the song by A.F. Merzlyakov; 1883, Kiev Museum of Russian Art), “Forest Distances” (1884, Tretyakov Gallery) - are perceived as generalized, epic images Russia.
The artist Ivan Shishkin is equally successful in both distant views and forest “interiors” (“Pines illuminated by the sun”, 1886; “Morning in a pine forest” where bears were painted by K. A. Savitsky, 1889; both in the same place). His drawings and sketches, which represent a detailed diary of natural life, have independent value.
Interesting facts from the life of Ivan Shishkin
Did you know that Ivan Shishkin did not write his masterpiece dedicated to bears in the forest alone?
Interesting fact is that to depict the bears, Shishkin attracted the famous animal painter Konstantin Savitsky, who coped with the task excellently. Shishkin fairly assessed his companion’s contribution, so he asked him to put his signature under the painting next to his own. It was in this form that the painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” was brought to Pavel Tretyakov, who managed to buy the painting from the artist during the work process.
Seeing the signatures, Tretyakov was indignant: they say he ordered the painting from Shishkin, and not from a tandem of artists. Well, he ordered the second signature to be washed away. So they put up a painting with the signature of one Shishkin.
Under the influence of the priest
There was another one from Yelabuga amazing person- Kapiton Ivanovich Nevostroev. He was a priest, served in Simbirsk. Noticing his passion for science, the rector of the Moscow Theological Academy invited Nevostroev to move to Moscow and begin to describe the Slavic manuscripts stored in the Synodal library. They started together, and then Kapiton Ivanovich continued alone and gave scientific description all historical documents.
So, it was Kapiton Ivanovich Nevostroev who had the strongest influence on Shishkin (like Elabuga residents, they kept in touch in Moscow). He said: “The beauty that surrounds us is the beauty of divine thought diffused in nature, and the artist’s task is to convey this thought as accurately as possible on his canvas.” This is why Shishkin is so meticulous in his landscapes. You won't confuse him with anyone.
Tell me as an artist to an artist...
– Forget the word “photographic” and never associate it with the name Shishkin! – Lev Mikhailovich was indignant when I asked about the stunning accuracy of Shishkin’s landscapes.
– A camera is a mechanical device that simply captures a forest or field in given time under this lighting. Photography is soulless. And in every stroke of the artist there is a feeling that he experiences for the surrounding nature.
So what is the secret of a great painter? After all, looking at his “Stream in a Birch Forest”, we clearly hear the murmur and splash of water, and admiring “Rye”, we literally feel the blow of the wind on our skin
– Shishkin knew nature like no one else,” the writer shares. “He knew plant life very well; to some extent he was even a botanist. One day Ivan Ivanovich came to Repin’s workshop and, looking at him new picture, which depicted rafting on a river, asked what kind of wood they were made of. "Who cares?!" – Repin was surprised. And then Shishkin began to explain that the difference is great: if you build a raft from one tree, the logs can swell, if from another, they will sink, but from a third, you will get a serviceable floating craft! His knowledge of nature was phenomenal!
You don't have to be hungry
“An artist must be hungry,” says a well-known aphorism.
– Indeed, the conviction that an artist should be far from everything material and engage exclusively in creativity is firmly entrenched in our minds, says Lev Anisov. – For example, Alexander Ivanov, who wrote “The Appearance of Christ to the People,” was so passionate about his work that he sometimes drew water from the fountain and was content with a crust of bread! But still, this condition is far from necessary, and it certainly did not apply to Shishkin.
While creating his masterpieces, Ivan Ivanovich, nevertheless, lived life to the fullest and did not experience great financial difficulties. He was married twice, loved and appreciated comfort. And he was loved and appreciated beautiful women. And this despite the fact that to people who didn’t know him well, the artist gave the impression of an extremely reserved and even gloomy subject (at school, for this reason, he was even nicknamed “the monk”).
In fact, Shishkin was a bright, deep, versatile personality. But only in a narrow company of close people did it manifest itself true essence: the artist became himself and turned out to be talkative and humorous.
Fame came very early
By the time it ends St. Petersburg Academy Shishkin's art was well known abroad, and when the young artist studied in Germany, his works were already being sold and bought well! There is a known case when the owner of a Munich shop did not agree to part with several of Shishkin’s drawings and etchings that decorated his shop for any money. Fame and recognition came to the landscape painter very early.
Noon Artist
Shishkin is an artist of the afternoon. Usually artists love sunsets, sunrises, storms, fogs - all these phenomena are really interesting to paint. But to write midday, when the sun is at its zenith, when you don’t see shadows and everything merges, is aerobatics, the pinnacle artistic creativity! To do this you need to feel nature so subtly! In all of Russia, perhaps, there were five artists who could convey all the beauty of the midday landscape, and among them was Shishkin.
In any hut there is a reproduction of Shishkin
Living not far from the painter’s native place, we, of course, believe (or hope!) that he reflected exactly them in his canvases. However, our interlocutor was quick to disappoint. The geography of Shishkin's works is extremely wide. While studying at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, he painted Moscow landscapes - visited the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, worked a lot in the Losinoostrovsky forest, Sokolniki. While living in St. Petersburg, he traveled to Valaam and Sestroretsk. Having become a venerable artist, he visited Belarus and painted in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. Shishkin also worked a lot abroad.
However, in recent years During his life, Ivan Ivanovich often visited Yelabuga and also wrote local motifs. By the way, one of his most famous, textbook landscapes – “Rye” – was painted just somewhere not far from his native place.
– He saw nature through the eyes of his people and was loved by the people,” says Lev Mikhailovich. – In any village house, in a prominent place, one could find a reproduction of his works, “Among the Flat Valley...”, “In the Wild North...”, “Morning in a Pine Forest” torn from a magazine.
Literature:
F. Bulgakov, “Album of Russian painting. Paintings and drawings by I. I. Sh.” (SPb., 1892);
A. Palchikov, “List of printed sheets of I. I. Sh.” (SPb., 1885)
D. Rovinsky, “Detailed dictionary of Russian engravers of the 16th-19th centuries.” (vol. II, St. Petersburg, 1885).
I. I. Shishkin. "Correspondence. Diary. Contemporaries about the artist." L., Art, 1984. - 478 pp., 20 l. ill., portrait. - 50,000 copies.
V. Manin Ivan Shishkin. M.: White City, 2008, p.47 ISBN 5-7793-1060-2
I. Shuvalova. Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin. St. Petersburg: Artists of Russia, 1993
F. Maltseva. Masters of Russian landscape: Second half of the 19th century. M.: Art, 1999
Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin is rightfully considered a great landscape artist. He, like no one else, managed to convey through his canvases the beauty of the pristine forest, the endless expanses of fields, and the cold of a harsh region. When looking at his paintings, one often gets the impression that a breeze is about to blow or the cracking of branches is heard. Painting occupied all the artist’s thoughts so much that he even died with a brush in his hand, sitting at his easel.
Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin was born in the small provincial town of Elabuga, located off the banks of the Kama River. As a child, the future artist could wander through the forest for hours, admiring the beauty of pristine nature. In addition, the boy carefully painted the walls and doors of the house, surprising those around him. In the end, in 1852 the future artist entered the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture. There, teachers help Shishkin recognize exactly the direction in painting that he will follow throughout his life.
Landscapes became the basis of Ivan Shishkin’s work. The artist masterfully conveyed the species of trees, grasses, moss-covered boulders, and uneven soil. His paintings looked so realistic that it seemed as if the sound of a stream or the rustling of leaves could be heard somewhere.
Without a doubt, one of the most popular paintings by Ivan Shishkin is considered "Morning in a pine forest". The painting doesn't just depict pine forest. The presence of bears seems to indicate that somewhere far away, in the wilderness, there is its own unique life.
Unlike his other paintings, the artist did not paint this alone. The bears are by Konstantin Savitsky. Ivan Shishkin judged fairly, and both artists signed the painting. However, when the finished canvas was brought to the buyer Pavel Tretyakov, he became angry and ordered Savitsky’s name to be erased, explaining that he had ordered the painting only from Shishkin, and not from two artists.
The first meetings with Shishkin caused mixed feelings among those around him. He seemed to them a gloomy and taciturn person. At school they even called him a monk behind his back. In fact, the artist revealed himself only in the company of his friends. There he could argue and joke.
