Essay based on the painting by I.I. Shishkin “Ship Grove. Description of the painting by Shishkin ship grove

We continue the project “The History of One Painting”. In it we talk about the most famous paintings from St. Petersburg museums. Today we are talking about last job the great Russian landscape painter, in which he depicted a view familiar from childhood pine forest near Yelabuga.

1. « Ship Grove" - this is in in a certain sense the artist’s will, because it became his last painting. Despite the apparent similarity with other landscapes created by Shishkin (for example, “Morning in a Pine Forest”), this work seems to summarize his entire creative experience. Here, numerous motifs scattered throughout the master’s previous works are woven into one knot. And one more nuance: the size of the canvas exceeds all others created by the painter.

2. Shishkin became famous primarily as a landscape painter. His element was nature, and not only Central Russian, but also nature Northern Europe. The artist was interested in calm, dim beauty. Contrary to popular belief, Ivan Ivanovich did not create exclusively Russian landscapes. After graduating from the Academy of Arts, he traveled and worked a lot, including in Germany and Finland. By the way, his eldest daughter from her first marriage, Lydia moved to Suomi after her marriage.

3. As for “Ship Grove,” it appeared under the impression that Shishkin knew from childhood. The canvas depicts the nature of the native places of the artist, a native of the Vyatka province. The landscape is based on life studies, made by Ivan Ivanovich in his native Kama forests. In the drawing for the painting he wrote the inscription: “Athanasophical Ship Grove near Yelabuga.”

4. It was not difficult for researchers to find out that the canvas depicts a pine forest adjacent to Yelabuga from the northwest. Here, in Bolshoi and Nizhny Afanasovo, mast pines have been harvested since the 18th century. Actually, this is where the name came from - “Ship Grove”. Centenary trees up to forty meters high and about half a meter in diameter have been used for the construction of ships for a long time. High light the trunk went to the masts of ships.

5. Work on the painting continued for three years. The first sketches date back to 1895. The plot is quite simple. The artist, as always, gave great value details, he carefully outlined almost every stem and every blade of grass. In front of the viewer is a clearing filled with sun. And then gradually the canvas becomes increasingly absorbed by darkness.

6. Experts note that in this picture the Shishkinsky forest seems to be bathed in sunlight and a variety of colors and shades, uncharacteristic of the earlier Shishkin. Despite the usual dullness, the palette of the canvas is very diverse. Many even find traces of the influence of the Impressionists here.

7. This work is often compared and even confused with “Sosnovy Bor”, without noticing an important nuance. “Pine Forest” is an image of trees that merge with the sky, and the composition of “Ship Grove” is completely different. Instead of bushes and trees in the left corner of the picture, there are trunks located in the very center. The pines seem to grow more evenly, there is no contrast between near and distant objects. Shishkin replaced detailing with another method of attracting attention - he contrasted several groups that carry different semantic loads.

8. The canvas was first shown at the 26th exhibition of the Itinerants, held in St. Petersburg from February 22 to March 29, 1898. The work immediately received numerous enthusiastic reviews both from ordinary visitors and from colleagues in the workshop. For example, the artist Savitsky could not contain his emotions and wrote a letter to the author with the words: “The picture started playing, the note is strong, wonderful - congratulations, I’m not the only one, everyone is delighted, bravo... The exhibition smelled of pine! The sun, the light has arrived!..”

9. The exhibition had not yet ended when on March 8 (March 20, new style), 1898, the landscape painter died in his studio at the easel, on which stood a new, just begun canvas, “Forest Kingdom.” D. Uspensky wrote about this in the newspaper Nedelya: “ Traveling exhibition in mourning: shortly after its opening, Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin died at the age of 67. It was wonderful person", in appearance he is stern, but in reality he is kind-hearted, in appearance he is a volost foreman, in reality he is a very fine artist."

10. Until now, the painting “Ship Grove” is considered one of the most popular in Shishkin’s work and, by the way, widely reproduced. She can be found on postcards and stamps, on T-shirts, carpets and even (attention!) photo wallpapers.

SPECIFICALLY

Ivan Ivanovich SHISHKIN (1832-1898).

In 1852 he moved to Moscow and entered the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. After completing the course, four years later, the talented student was advised to continue his education at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts.

Shishkin began to become interested in landscapes while still in school. And in his first year at the academy, he was awarded a small silver medal for “View in the vicinity of St. Petersburg.” In 1858, the artist received a large silver medal for the painting “View on the Island of Valaam”.

The successes achieved allowed the artist to travel abroad as a fellow of the Academy. He visited Munich, Zurich, Prague and Düsseldorf.

In 1865, Ivan Ivanovich was awarded the title of academician. In subsequent years, they were created famous masterpieces: “Cutting wood” (1867), “Pines illuminated by the sun” (1886), “Morning in a pine forest” (1889, with the bears written by K. A. Savitsky).

“Shishkin simply amazes us with his knowledge,
he skates two or three etudes a day, and how difficult they are,
and completely ends. And when he is in front of nature...
then exactly in his element, here he is both brave and dexterous,
doesn’t think twice, here he knows everything...”

(From Kramskoy’s letter to F. Vasiliev)

Many artists were inspired by the natural beauties of Rus' - Kuindzhi, Savrasov, Levitan. Among the masters of landscape painting, the paintings of Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin occupy a special place, for whom forests and meadows were more than nature. This was his life. And that’s why his paintings are so realistic and a little mysterious. After all, Mother Nature is not ready to reveal her secrets to everyone. But the landscape painter Shishkin became one of those who comprehended her secrets.

Why is Ivan Shishkin called the singer of the Russian forest? In the artist’s gallery we see many paintings dedicated to the theme of the forest epic. This is for everyone famous painting“Morning in a Pine Forest”, and one of the first paintings “Cutting Wood”, and of course epic work“Ship Grove” is the final landscape that marks the end of the work of the famous landscape painter.

You can stand in front of the “Ship Grove” canvas endlessly, and every second your eyes will find new details. This is the highlight of Ivan Shishkin’s style: he meticulously wrote out tiny elements, giving importance to every little thing. Every pebble on the bank of the stream, every blade of grass is drawn with photographic precision. I just want to sit down on a huge boulder, touch it with my palm and feel the warmth of the stone heated by the hot July sun.

The picture literally comes to life: the water in the stream runs, ringing, the light rustle of the wind sweeps through the tops of the hundred-year-old pines. Their mossy trunks seem to exude the smell of amber resin. The trunk of a birch tree, cut down by someone, lies lonely in the stream. Probably the village men had prepared brooms for the bathhouse. The rays of the sun were lost in the crowns of centuries-old trees. Only a small clearing was able to illuminate the summer sun, and the sunlight was unable to penetrate into the depths of the forest.

Sometimes it seems that in the painting “Ship Grove” Shishkin talks about the relationship between generations: old pines symbolize wisdom and experience, a fallen branch with withered needles means decrepitude, and nearby young growth blinds with greenery - short pines compete with each other to see which of them taller and slimmer. Soon they will take the place of their ancestors. Do you see how the water washes away the shore? The roots of the old pine tree were exposed. Not much time will pass, and a hurricane will knock down the mighty trunk, uprooting it from the soil weakened by water.

Ivan Shishkin lived and breathed Russian nature, identifying it with human life. That is why his paintings seem to come to life before the eyes of observers, they are so convex and relief. The artist's love for native land manifested itself in the play of colors, mastery of the brush and the theme of Russian nature, to which the epic canvases of the great landscape painter are dedicated.

The great landscape artist Ivan Shishkin ranks special place among Russian artists. No one painted nature so uncompromisingly beautifully and with realism, capable of rivaling any romantic painting in terms of the abundance of love and soul in the work.

Almost all of his many years of experience in depicting his native land are embodied in the canvas “Ship Grove”. Shishkin managed to convey the bright calm of a summer forest thanks to a rich palette of shades.

Landscape in Russian painting

Landscapes began to appear in Russian painting at the end of the 18th century; Among the pioneers of the genre were A. Venetsianov. The main characteristics of the first Russian landscapes were classicism and realism of the depicted nature.

In the 19th century, landscape acquired extraordinary popularity among Russian artists and, accordingly, among the public. This period saw many outstanding landscape painters, such as Levitan, Lagorio, Aivazovsky, Vasiliev and other Itinerant artists. However, a special place in Russian landscape painting, as in the hearts of the public, Ivan Shishkin occupies. First public acceptance the artist received for views of the suburbs of St. Petersburg, and Shishkin completed his creative career with the painting “Ship Grove”.

Biography of the artist

Shishkin is considered a truly Russian artist, not only because a landscape painter, like no other, knew how to depict, but also because he loved her more than anything else in the world. Ironically, Shishkin’s creation “View of the Outskirts of Dusseldorf” brought him the title of academician.

Shishkin was born in the town of Yelabuga and grew up in a merchant family. Having dropped out of high school, young Ivan Shishkin entered the Moscow School of Painting and, having graduated with honors, continued his studies at the Imperial Academy of Arts. For his merits and distinctions during his studies, Shishkin received the right to travel abroad at the expense of the Academy.

He spent several years in Munich, Zurich, Geneva and then in Düsseldorf, where he studied the intricacies of things that defied him and wrote a work for the title of academician. Shishkin spent 5 years abroad, from 1861 to 1866, and, yearning for native land, returned to Russia before the end of his scholarship and after that rarely traveled outside the empire.

Shishkin was one of the Itinerants and during the exhibitions held by the partnership he became interested in engraving. In 1973 Imperial Academy awarded Ivan Shishkin the title of professor for the painting “Forest Wilderness”, and a short time the artist ran a landscape workshop within the walls of the academy. The last completed painting of the great landscape painter was “Ship Grove”. Shishkin died in his studio, at an easel on which stood a blank canvas.

Landscapes of Shishkin

Despite romantic character landscapes painted by Shishkin, in his work there are no attempts to “embellish” nature, on the contrary - the author writes it as it is, and loves it exactly as it is. It is this love, curiosity and admiration that is transferred to the finished works and gives them the spirit of romanticism.

Even in the most early works one senses a subtle knowledge of plant forms, their characteristic features and differences. Shishkin's works look extremely real and are executed with uniquely high imaging techniques and precision of reproduction. Even with the advent of landscapes by Levitan and Serov, Shishkin always remained an authority for Russian landscape painters.

History of the painting

Among the most complex work Shishkin’s painting “Ship Grove” stands out especially - the artist’s last, almost dying painting. Many critics and art historians call it the “combed” “Sosnovy Bor” not only because the pine trees in the picture are straight, but more because in their last picture Shishkin made excellent use of his 40 years of experience as a draftsman and connoisseur of vegetation.

Shishkin painted the painting “Ship Grove” in the year of his death, and it represents the final stage of his creative path. On a large canvas, the artist decided to depict his beloved Pine forest- the plot, which in each of his paintings is revealed in a new way, plays with fresh colors and never ceases to amaze.

Ivan Shishkin, “Ship Grove”: description of the painting

The canvas depicts a grove near Yelabuga - native place artist. The author’s note to the painting states that this is the “Afanasyevskaya ship grove near Yelabuga.” This forest was familiar to Shishkin from childhood, and it seems symbolic that it was the author who depicted it in his last painting.

The simple plot of the picture allows the viewer to delve into the ideal and general atmosphere of a summer forest, undisturbed by wind and rain. Continuous forty years of study showed itself in every tree and every blade of grass depicted in the picture.

Painting palette

The forest bathes in sunlight and is buried in a variety of colors and shades, uncharacteristic of the earlier Shishkin. The palette of this canvas, upon closer examination, would have amazed impressionist artists with its richness and variety. However, Shishkin, with his characteristic sense of proportion, does not allow the palette to violate natural beauty landscape, but on the contrary, uses colors to emphasize it.

The blue of the sky mixes on the canvas with the pinkish hues of the sunset, the dark green of the forest and the purple-black strokes of deep shadows. Blue or explicit in places blue colors the trunks of tall pines speak of the moss-covered nature of ancient giants, and the sun-scorched greenery of the edge reminds of the artist’s aesthetic preferences - Shishkin always preferred the discreet, almost dull beauty of the summer forest of northwestern Russia.

Detailed analysis

A characteristic feature of the artist in landscape painting was the ability to always keep the forest in the main focus of the viewer, while bringing it into the background. Shishkin’s painting “Ship Grove” only confirms the rule.

In the foreground, the viewer sees a sunny edge and a stream with water brownish from the abundance of iron, behind the edge there are young pine trees, behind which rise giant pines, warmed by the rays of the summer sun, whose crowns leave only a few centimeters for the summer sky.

“Ship Grove”, Shishkin: what trees are depicted on the canvas?

The artist painted views of this particular forest more than once. Afanasyevskaya ship grove was also the subject of another image famous painting- “Pine Forest”, which Shishkin previously wrote. “Ship Grove”, the description of the painting and its analysis turn out to be extremely similar to the description of “Pine Forest”.

It’s not for nothing that the painting is called “The Ship Grove” - the pines depicted in it are not ordinary ones, but ship trees - from 80 to 100 years old, tall and light, up to half a meter in diameter. Boards from these pine trees were used to build ships, and the log trunks served well as ship masts.

The simplicity of the plot of the picture is more than made up for small details, the accuracy of reproduction of each element of the flora, as well as the depth and richness of shades - everything that made Ivan Shishkin fall in love with the viewer. “The Ship Grove” is rightfully considered the pinnacle of the work of the great landscape artist.

The amazingly beautiful landscape “Ship Grove” was painted by Shishkin in 1898. This painting can be considered a true masterpiece. The artist loved to paint Russian nature and presented it as it is. Only he could so accurately show all the beauty of our native nature. His landscapes are alive and real; looking at them, you get the impression that you yourself are in the place depicted on the canvas. You literally inhale the smell of a pine forest or the freshness of spring rain.

The painting shows a forest with tall pine trees. It is impossible to grasp their trunks with your hands; they are long-livers of this forest and have seen a lot in their lives. The tops of the pine trees reach up to the amazingly clear blue sky. You can breathe more freely there and the air is cleaner and fresher. There are many trees here and their fluffy crowns do not let in the sun's rays, although they still manage to break through the needles. Therefore, sunspots can be seen on the ground deep in the forest.

On the right you can barely see a path leading into a wonderful forest. Near this forest there are young trees that will eventually turn into the same mighty giants. In the background there is a stream going deep into the forest. Judging by the fact that there are stones sticking out of it and the bottom is visible, it is not deep at all. Perhaps the water in it comes from an underwater spring, so it’s cool. In an open area under the sun's rays, the water in the stream heats up and you can walk along it barefoot. There is some kind of fence made of twigs across the stream. It is clear that there is a person here.

Looking at the picture, there is a feeling of being in this forest. You hear the murmur of a stream, the rustle of trees that the wind makes move, the singing of birds and the knock of a woodpecker. You feel the smell of pine needles, the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the water in the stream. I.I. Shishkin helps us plunge into the world of beautiful Russian nature thanks to his subtle sense of nature. Only he alone can so accurately convey all the beauty and uniqueness of our forest.

The amazingly beautiful landscape “Ship Grove” was painted by Shishkin in 1898.
This painting can be considered a true masterpiece.
The artist loved to paint Russian nature and presented it as it is.
Only he could so accurately show all the beauty of our native nature.
His landscapes are alive and real; looking at them, you get the impression that you yourself are in the place depicted on the canvas.
You literally inhale the smell of a pine forest or the freshness of spring rain.

The painting shows a forest with tall pine trees.
It is impossible to grasp their trunks with your hands; they are long-livers of this forest and have seen a lot in their lives.
The tops of the pine trees reach up to the amazingly clear blue sky.
You can breathe more freely there and the air is cleaner and fresher.
There are many trees here and their fluffy crowns do not let in the sun's rays, although they still manage to break through the needles.
Therefore, sunspots can be seen on the ground deep in the forest.

On the right you can barely see a path leading into a wonderful forest.
Near this forest there are young trees that will eventually turn into the same mighty giants.
In the background there is a stream going deep into the forest.
Judging by the fact that there are stones sticking out of it and the bottom is visible, it is not deep at all.
Perhaps the water in it comes from an underwater spring, so it’s cool.
In an open area under the sun's rays, the water in the stream heats up and you can walk along it barefoot.
There is some kind of fence made of twigs across the stream.
It is clear that there is a person here.

Looking at the picture, there is a feeling of being in this forest.
You hear the murmur of a stream, the rustle of trees that the wind makes move, the singing of birds and the knock of a woodpecker.
You feel the smell of pine needles, the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the water in the stream.
Shishkin helps us plunge into the world of beautiful Russian nature thanks to his subtle sense of nature.
Only he alone can so accurately convey all the beauty and uniqueness of our forest.