What paintings did Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin paint? Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin

The artist came from a rather ancient and wealthy merchant family, the Shishkins. Born in Elabuga in 1832 on January 13 (25). His father was a fairly well-known wealthy merchant in the city. He tried to give his son a good education.

Education

From the age of 12, Shishkin studied at the First Kazan Gymnasium, and at the age of 20 he entered the Moscow School of Painting. After graduating (in 1857), he continued his studies at the Imperial Academy of Arts as a student of Professor S. M. Vorobyov. Already at this time, Shishkin liked to paint landscapes. He traveled a lot around the outskirts of the Northern capital and visited Valaam. The beauty of the harsh northern nature will inspire him all his life.

In 1861, at the expense of the Academy, he went on a trip abroad and studied for some time in Munich, Zurich, Geneva, and Dusseldorf. There he became acquainted with the works of Benno, F. Adamov, F. Dide, A. Kalam. The trip continued until 1866. By this time, in his homeland, Shishkin had already received the title of academician for his work.

Return to homeland and career peak

Returning to his homeland, Shishkin continued to improve his landscape techniques. He traveled a lot around Russia, exhibited at the Academy, took part in the work of the Association of Traveling Exhibitions, drawing a lot with a pen (the artist mastered this technique while abroad). He also continued to work with engraving “royal vodka”, joining the circle of St. Petersburg aquafortists in 1870. His reputation was impeccable. He was considered the best landscape painter and engraver of his time. In 1873, he became a professor at the Academy of Arts (received the title for the painting “Wilderness”).

Family

In Shishkin’s biography it is said that the artist was married twice, with the first marriage to the artist’s sister F.A. Vasilyev, and the second marriage to his student, O.A. Lagoda. From two marriages he had 4 children, of whom only two daughters lived to adulthood: Lydia and Ksenia.

The artist died in 1898 (suddenly). At first he was buried at the Smolensk cemetery, but then the ashes and tombstone were transferred to the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Other biography options

• The year of birth of the artist is not known exactly. Biographers' data vary (from 1831 to 1835). But in official biographies it is customary to indicate the year 1832.
• The artist drew superbly with pencil and pen. His works, done with a pen, were very popular with the European public. Many of them are kept in the Art Gallery in Düsseldorf.
• Shishkin was an excellent naturalist. That is why his works are so realistic, spruce looks like spruce, and pine looks like pine. He knew Russian nature in general and the Russian forest in particular very well.
• The artist’s most famous work, “Morning in a Pine Forest,” was created in collaboration with K. Savitsky. A little earlier than this picture, another one was painted, “Fog in a Pine Forest,” which the authors liked so much that they decided to rewrite it, including a certain genre scene. The masters were inspired by a trip through the virgin Vologda forests.
• The largest collection of Shishkin's works is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery, a little less - in the Russian Museum. A large number of drawings and engravings made by the artist are in private collections. Interestingly, a collection of photographs of Shishkin’s engravings was released

Ivan Shishkin “lives” in almost every Russian house or apartment. Especially in Soviet times, the owners loved to decorate the walls with reproductions of the artist’s paintings, torn from magazines. Moreover, Russians have been familiar with the artist’s work since early childhood – bears in a pine forest decorated the wrapping of chocolates. Even during his lifetime, the talented master was called the “forest hero” and “king of the forest” as a sign of respect for his ability to glorify the beauty of nature.

Childhood and youth

The future painter was born into the family of merchant Ivan Vasilyevich Shishkin on January 25, 1832. The artist spent his childhood in Yelabuga (in tsarist times it was part of the Vyatka province, today it is the Republic of Tatarstan). The father was loved and respected in the small provincial town; Ivan Vasilyevich even occupied the chair of the head of the locality for several years. On the initiative of the merchant and with his own money, Elabuga acquired a wooden water supply system, which is still partially operational. Shishkin also presented his contemporaries with the first book about the history of his native land.

Being a versatile and pragmatic person, Ivan Vasilyevich tried to interest his son Vanya in natural sciences, mechanics, archeology, and when the boy grew up, he sent him to the First Kazan Gymnasium in the hope that his son would receive an excellent education. However, young Ivan Shishkin was more attracted to art from childhood. Therefore, he quickly became bored with the educational institution, and he left it, declaring that he did not want to turn into an official.

The son's return home upset the parents, especially since the son, as soon as he left the walls of the gymnasium, began to draw selflessly. Mom Daria Aleksandrovna was indignant at Ivan’s inability to study; it was also annoying that the teenager was completely unsuited to household chores, sitting and doing unnecessary “smudged paper.” The father supported his wife, although he secretly rejoiced at the awakening desire for beauty in his son. In order not to anger his parents, the artist practiced drawing at night - this was how his first steps into painting were marked.

Painting

For the time being, Ivan “dabbled” with a brush. But one day, artists who had been sent from the capital to paint the church iconostasis came to Yelabuga, and Shishkin for the first time seriously thought about the creative profession. Having learned from Muscovites about the existence of a school of painting and sculpture, the young man was inspired by the dream of becoming a student of this wonderful educational institution.

The father, with difficulty, nevertheless agreed to let his son go to distant lands - on the condition that his son did not give up his studies there, but preferably turned into a second one. The biography of the great Shishkin showed that he kept his word to his parents impeccably.

In 1852, the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture accepted Ivan Shishkin into its ranks, who came under the tutelage of the portrait artist Apollo Mokritsky. And the aspiring painter was attracted by landscapes, in which he selflessly practiced. Soon the whole school learned about the bright talent of the new star in the fine arts: teachers and fellow students noted his unique gift for drawing an ordinary field or river very realistically.

A college diploma was not enough for Shishkin, and in 1856 the young man entered the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts, where he also won the hearts of the teachers. Ivan Ivanovich studied diligently and surprised with his outstanding abilities in painting.

In the first year, the artist went for a summer internship on the island of Valaam, for the views of which he later received a large gold medal from the academy. During his studies, the painter's piggy bank was replenished with two small silver and small gold medals for paintings with St. Petersburg landscapes.

After graduating from the academy, Ivan Ivanovich had the opportunity to improve his skills abroad. The academy awarded a special pension to a talented graduate, and Shishkin, not burdened with the worries of earning a living, went to Munich, then to Zurich, Geneva and Dusseldorf.

Here the artist tried his hand at engraving with “regia vodka” and wrote a lot with a pen, from which the fateful painting “View in the vicinity of Düsseldorf” came out. The bright, airy work went home - for it Shishkin received the title of academician.

For six years he became acquainted with the nature of a foreign country, but longing for his homeland took over, Ivan Shishkin returned to his homeland. In the first years, the artist tirelessly traveled across the expanses of Russia in search of interesting places and unusual nature. When he appeared in St. Petersburg, he organized exhibitions and participated in the affairs of the artists’ artel. The painter was friends with Konstantin Savitsky, Arkhip Kuinzhdi and.

In the 70s, classes increased. Ivan Ivanovich founded, together with his colleagues, the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions, and at the same time joined the association of aquafortists. A new title awaited the man - for the painting “Wilderness” the Academy elevated him to the rank of professor.

In the second half of the 1870s, Ivan Shishkin almost lost the place he managed to occupy in artistic circles. Experiencing a personal tragedy (the death of his wife), the man started drinking and lost his friends and relatives. With difficulty I pulled myself together, immersing myself in my work. At that time, the masterpieces “Rye”, “First Snow”, “Pine Forest” came out from the master’s pen. Ivan Ivanovich described his own state as follows: “What interests me most now? Life and its manifestations, now as always.”

Shortly before his death, Ivan Shishkin was invited to teach at the Higher Art School at the Academy of Arts. The end of the 19th century was marked by the decline of the old school of artists; young people preferred to adhere to other aesthetic principles, however

Assessing the artist’s talent, biographers and admirers of Shishkin compare him to a biologist - in an effort to depict the unromanticized beauty of nature, Ivan Ivanovich carefully studied plants. Before starting work, I felt the moss, small leaves, and grass.

Gradually, his special style was formed, which showed experiments with combinations of different brushes, strokes, attempts to convey elusive colors and shades. Contemporaries called Ivan Shishkin a poet of nature, able to see the character of every corner.

The geography of the artist’s work is wide: Ivan Ivanovich was inspired by the landscapes of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the forest on Losiny Island, and the expanses of Sokolniki and Sestroretsk. The artist painted in Belovezhskaya Pushcha and, of course, in his native Yelabuga, where he came to visit.

It is curious that Shishkin did not always work alone. For example, animal painter and comrade Konstantin Savitsky helped paint the painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” - from the pen of this artist the bear cubs came to life on the canvas. The painting has two signatures.

Personal life

The personal life of the brilliant painter was tragic. Ivan Shishkin walked down the aisle for the first time late - only at 36 years old. In 1868, out of great love, he married the sister of the artist Fyodor Vasilyev, Evgenia. In this marriage, Ivan Ivanovich was very happy, could not stand long separations and was always in a hurry to return early from business trips around Russia.

Evgenia Alexandrovna gave birth to two sons and a daughter, and Shishkin reveled in fatherhood. Also at this time, he was known as a hospitable host who gladly received guests in his house. But in 1874, the wife died, and soon after her little son left.

Having difficulty recovering from grief, Shishkin married his own student, artist Olga Ladoga. A year after the wedding, the woman died, leaving Ivan Ivanovich with his daughter in his arms.

Biographers note one feature of Ivan Shishkin’s character. During his years at the school, he bore the nickname Monk - he was so nicknamed for his gloominess and isolation. However, those who managed to become friends with him were later surprised at how talkative and humorous the man was around his loved ones.

Death

Ivan Ivanovich left this world, as befits masters, to work on another masterpiece. On a sunny spring day in 1898, the artist sat down at his easel in the morning. In addition to him, an assistant worked in the workshop, who told the details of the teacher’s death.

Shishkin feigned something like a yawn, then his head simply dropped to his chest. The doctor diagnosed a heart rupture. The painting “Forest Kingdom” remained unfinished, and the painter’s last completed work was “Ship Grove,” which today delights visitors to the “Russian Museum.”

Ivan Shishkin was first buried at the Smolensk Orthodox Cemetery (St. Petersburg), and in the mid-20th century the artist’s ashes were transported to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Paintings

• 1870 - “The Lodge in the Forest”
• 1871 - “Birch Forest”
• 1878 - “Birch Grove”
• 1878 - “Rye”
• 1882 - “At the edge of a pine forest”
• 1882 - “Edge of the Forest”
• 1882 - "Evening"
• 1883 - “A stream in a birch forest”
• 1884 - “Forest distances”
• 1884 - “Pine on the Sand”
• 1884 - “Polesie”
• 1885 - “Foggy Morning”
• 1887 - “Oak Grove”
• 1889 - “Morning in a Pine Forest”
• 1891 - “Rain in the Oak Forest”
• 1891 - “In the wild north...”
• 1891 - “After the Storm at Mary Hovey”
• 1895 - "Forest"
• 1898 - “Ship Grove”

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 of the 19th century is associated with his name. The works of the outstanding master, the best of which have become classics of 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 his native land, for 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 a new painting.

Paintings by Ivan Shishkin

It seemed that in the middle of the 19th century it could have been more familiar and ordinary for anyone
for a resident of central Russia than the sight of a pine forest or a field 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 valer”: the artist was completely subject to the highest sign of easel painting - valer, the ability to paint a picture using the finest nuances of light, shadow, 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.

Shishkin’s entire creative path appears before us as a great feat of a Russian man, who in his works glorified his homeland, which he dearly and dearly loved. 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.

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 the smooth melody of a 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 all 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. His entire 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 cause 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. Here is a collective image of a 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, and 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.

Midday of a 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 a net of fine rain hanging over an oak grove, silvery light pours from the sky, it is reflected in 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. The foreground of the picture was painted with great love and 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 fettered 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.

Shishkin Ivan Ivanovich (1832-1898)

Kramskoy I.N. - Portrait of the artist Shishkin 1880, 115x188
Russian Museum

Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin is not only one of the largest, but also perhaps the most popular among Russian landscape painters. Shishkin knew Russian nature “scientifically” (I.N. Kramskoy) and loved it with all the strength of his powerful nature. From this knowledge and this love, 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 could be compared to “an old strong pine tree overgrown with moss”, but, rather, he is like a lonely oak tree from his famous painting, despite many fans , disciples and imitators.

“In the midst of a flat valley...”
1883
Oil on canvas 136.5 x 203.5

Kyiv

Ivan Shishkin was born on January 25, 1832 in Elabuga (Vyatka province, now Tatarstan). His father was a merchant of the second guild - Ivan Vasilyevich Shishkin.
His father quickly noticed his son’s passion for art and sent him to study at the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture. A. Mokritsky, a very sensitive and attentive teacher, became the young artist’s mentor. He helped Shishkin find himself in art.
In 1856, the young man entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts under S. Vorobyov.

The successes of the young artist, marked by gold and silver medals, confirm the review of his former mentor Mokritsky, in connection with Shishkin’s admission to the Academy: “We have lost an excellent and gifted student, but we hope to see him as an excellent artist over time, if he will be with the same love study at the Academy.” Its development is proceeding rapidly. For his successes, Shishkin consistently receives all possible awards. The steadiness of his hand is astonishing: to many, his carefully crafted, complex pen-and-ink landscape drawings appear to be engravings. He experiments in lithography, studies various printing methods, and looks closely at etching, which was not very common in Russia at that time. Strives for “fidelity, similarity, portraiture of the depicted nature” already in his early works.

In 1858 - 1859, Shishkin often visited Valaam, the harsh, majestic nature of which was associated by the young man with the nature of his native Urals.
In 1860, for two Valaam landscapes, Shishkin received a Big Gold Medal and the right to travel abroad.

View on the island of Valaam1858

View on the island of Valaam. Cucco area1858-60

Landscape with a hunter. Valaam Island 1867

However, he is in no hurry to go abroad and in the spring of 1861 he goes to Yelabuga, where he writes a lot in nature, “which can only be of significant benefit to a landscape painter.”

"Shalash"
1861
Oil on canvas 36.5 x 47.5
State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan
Kazan

Shishkin went abroad only in 1862. Berlin and Dresden did not make much of an impression on him: homesickness also affected him.
In 1865, Shishkin returned to Russia and received the title of academician for the painting “View in the vicinity of Dusseldorf” (1865).

"View around Düsseldorf"
1865
Oil on canvas 106 x 151

Saint Petersburg

Now he writes with pleasure “Russian expanse with golden rye, rivers, groves and Russian distance”, which he dreamed of in Europe. One of his first masterpieces can be called a song of joy - “Noon. In the vicinity of Moscow” (1869).

"Noon. In the vicinity of Moscow"
1869
Oil on canvas 111.2 x 80.4

Moscow

"Pinery. Mast forest in Vyatka province"
1872
Oil on canvas 117 x 165
State Tretyakov Gallery
Moscow
For Shishkin, as for his contemporaries, Russian nature is inseparable from the idea of ​​Russia, the people, their destiny. In the painting “Pine Forest” the artist defines his main theme - the mighty, majestic Russian forest. The master creates a theatrical stage, offering a kind of “performance”. It is no coincidence that the time of day was chosen - noon as an image of Russia, full of dormant internal forces. Art critic V.V. Stasov called Shishkin’s paintings “landscapes for heroes.” At the same time, the artist strives for the most reliable, “scientific” approach to the image. This was noted by his friend the artist I.N. Kramskoy: “There is a dense forest and a stream with ferruginous, dark yellow water, in which you can see the entire bottom, strewn with stones...” They said about Shishkin: “He is a convinced realist, a realist to the core, deeply feeling and passionately loving nature..."

Kramskoy, who highly appreciated Shishkin’s art, helped him, even to the point of lending his workshop to work on the competition painting “Mast Forest in the Vyatka Province” (1872, this painting is now called “Pine Forest”), wrote about Shishkin’s merits: “Shishkin He simply amazes us with his knowledge... And when he is in front of nature, he is definitely in his element, here he is bold and does not think about how, what and why... here he knows everything, I think that he is the only one among us a person who knows nature in a scientific way... Shishkin -: this is a man-school.”

"Forest distances"
1884
Oil on canvas 112.8 x 164
State Tretyakov Gallery
Moscow

The painting is dedicated to the nature of the Urals. The artist chooses a high point of view, trying to depict not so much a specific place, but to create an image of the country as a whole. The space is built with clear plans, drawing the viewer’s gaze deeper into the silver lake in the center of the composition. Forest areas shimmer and flow into each other, like sea waves. For Shishkin, the forest is the same primary element of the universe as the sea and sky, but at the same time it is a national symbol of Russia. One of the critics wrote about the painting: “The distant perspective of forests covered with a light haze, the water surface protruding in the distance, the sky, the air, in a word, the whole panorama of Russian nature, with its beauties that do not strike the eye, is depicted on canvas with amazing skill.” The painting was painted at a time when the artist began to be interested in the problems of plein air. While maintaining the epic nature of the image, Shishkin’s painting becomes softer and freer.

These works outlined the direction that was subsequently developed by the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions. Together with I. N. Kramskoy, V. G. Perov, G. G. Myasoedov, A. K. Savrasov, N. N. Ge and others in 1870, he became a founding member of the Partnership.
In 1894-1895 he headed the landscape workshop of the Higher Art School at the Imperial Academy of Arts.

"Morning in a pine forest"
1889
Oil on canvas 139 x 213
State Tretyakov Gallery
Moscow

The motif of a coniferous forest, which Shishkin refers to in this painting, is typical of his work. Evergreen pines and spruces emphasize the sense of grandeur and eternity of the natural world. Often found in the artist’s paintings is a compositional technique when the tops of trees are cut off by the edge of the canvas, and huge powerful trees seem to not fit even into a fairly large canvas. A unique landscape interior appears. The viewer gets the impression that he is inside an impenetrable thicket, where bears sit comfortably on a broken pine tree. They were portrayed by K.A. Savitsky, who told his family: “The painting was sold for 4 thousand, and I am a participant in the 4th share.” Savitsky further reported that he had to put his signature under the painting, but then he removed it, thereby renouncing copyright.

At the Second Exhibition of the Itinerants, Shishkin presented the painting “In the Wilderness of the Forest,” for which in 1873 he received the title of professor. With the help of a shaded foreground and spatial construction of the composition (somewhere in the depths, among the stunted trees, a faint ray of sunlight is visible), the artist makes it possible to feel the dampness of the air, the humidity of mosses and dead wood, to be imbued with this atmosphere, as if leaving the viewer alone with the oppressive wilderness. And like a real forest, this landscape does not immediately appear to the viewer. Full of details, it is designed to be looked at for a long time: suddenly you suddenly notice a fox and a duck flying away from her.

"Backwoods"
1872
Oil on canvas 209 x 161
State Russian Museum
Saint Petersburg

And, on the contrary, his famous painting “Rye” (1878) is full of freedom, sun, light, air. The picture is epic: it seems to synthesize the features of the national character of Russian nature, the dear, significant that Shishkin saw in it: “Expansion. Space. Land, rye. God's grace. Russian wealth...”

"Rye"
1878
Oil on canvas 187 x 107
State Tretyakov Gallery
Moscow

The landscape combines two traditional motifs for the artist: fields with a road running into the distance and mighty pine trees. The inscription made by Shishkin on one of the sketches for the painting says: “Expansion, space, land, rye, the grace of God, Russian wealth.” Critic V.V. Stasov compared the pine trees on the canvas with the columns of ancient Russian churches. Before the viewer is a majestic panorama of Russian nature, presented as a theatrical spectacle. Shishkin understands nature as the universe correlated with man. That's why two tiny dots are so important - human figures that set the scale of the image. Shishkin wrote his sketches near his native Elabuga, located on the banks of the Kama River, but his paintings are always composed, there is nothing accidental in them.

Shishkin was often reproached for illusory details. Many artists found his painting non-picturesque and called his paintings a painted drawing. Nevertheless, his paintings, with all their detail, always give a holistic image. And this is an image of the world that Shishkin cannot “lubricate” with the arbitrary movements of his own soul. In this sense, it is far from what was emerging in the 1880s. in Russian painting “landscape mood”. Even the smallest thing in the world contains a particle of the big, therefore its individual appearance is no less important than the image of an entire forest or field (“Travki”, 1892
That is why small things are never lost in his programmatic paintings. It comes to the fore, as if under our feet, with every blade of grass, flower, butterfly. Then we move our gaze further, and it gets lost among the vast expanses that have absorbed everything.

"Herbs"
Etude.

“Snow-grass. Pargolovo"
Etude.
1884
Canvas on cardboard, oil. 35 x 58.5 cm
State Russian Museum

The sketch "Drowning Grass. Pargolovo" is one of the many "exercises" of the great master of landscape. In front of us is a neglected corner of a country garden, overgrown with weeds. The very name “snot-grass” can tell a lot. After all, the word “snyt” is nothing more than a modified Russian word “sned” (food, food). This plant really served as food for our ancestors in ancient times...

Sunlight, picturesque thickets of grass, a country fence - that’s all the simple content of the picture. Why is it difficult to take your eyes off this work by Shishkin? The answer is simple: left to human attention, this small corner is beautiful in its simplicity and naturalness. There, behind the fence, is another world, changed by man to suit his needs, and here nature is accidentally granted the right to be itself... This is the magic of the work, its ingenious simplicity.

“In the midst of a flat valley...”
1883
Oil on canvas 136.5 x 203.5
State Museum of Russian Art
Kyiv

The canvas “Among the Flat Valley” (1883) is imbued with a poetic feeling; it combines grandeur and soulful lyricism. The title of the painting was lines from a poem by A.F. Merzlyakov, known as a folk song. But the picture is not an illustration of poetry. The feeling of Russian expanse gives rise to the figurative structure of the canvas itself. There is something joyful and at the same time pensive in the wide-open steppe (this is exactly the feeling evoked by the free, open composition of the picture), in the alternation of illuminated and darkened spaces, in the dried stems, as if creeping under the feet of a traveler, in the majestic oak towering among the plains .

The painting “Among the Flat Valley...” was painted by Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin a year after the sudden death of his beloved wife. He was deeply affected by the loss. But the native nature, which always attracted the artist to itself, did not allow him to dissolve in his grief.

One day, walking along the valley, Shishkin accidentally came across this majestic oak tree, which towered lonely above the surrounding expanses. This oak reminded the artist of himself, just as lonely, but not broken by storms and adversity. This is how this painting was born.

The oak tree occupies the central place in the picture. It rises above the valley like a giant, spreading its mighty branches. The sky serves as the background. It is covered with clouds, a thunderstorm has already gathered in the distance. But she is not afraid of the giant. No thunderstorms, no storms can break him. It stands firmly on the ground, serving as a shelter for the traveler in both heat and bad weather. The oak is so strong and strong, so powerful, that the clouds approaching in the distance seem insignificant, not even capable of touching the giant.

The well-trodden path runs straight down to a giant oak tree, which is ready to cover you with its branches. The crown of the tree is so thick that it resembles a tent; a dark shadow spreads under the tree. The oak itself is brightly illuminated by the rays of the sun, which has not yet been covered by thunderclouds.

Standing by the mighty tree, Shishkin remembered the words of the old Russian song “Among the Flat Valley...”, which sings about a lonely oak tree, about the grief of a man who has lost a “tender friend.” The artist seemed to come to life after this meeting. He began to create again, walking through life alone, but standing firmly on his native land, like that oak tree in his painting.

Despite Shishkin's successes in landscape painting, close friends persistently advised him to pay attention to expressive means, in particular, to the transfer of a light-air environment. And life itself demanded this. It is enough to recall the coloristic merits of the works of Repin and Surikov, known by that time. Therefore, in Shishkin’s paintings “Foggy Morning” (1885) and “Pines Illuminated by the Sun” (1886), what attracts attention is not so much the linear composition as the harmony of chiaroscuro and color. This is both an image of nature, magnificent in 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.

Foggy morning
1885. Oil on canvas, 108x144.5

I. I. Shishkin’s painting “Foggy Morning,” like many of the works of the great master of landscape, conveys a surprisingly calm and peaceful atmosphere.
The artist focuses on a quiet, foggy morning on the river bank. The gentle bank in the foreground, the water surface of the river, in which movement is barely discernible, the hilly opposite bank in the haze of the morning fog.
Dawn seems to have awakened the river, and, sleepy, lazy, it is only gaining strength to run deeper into the picture... Three elements - sky, earth and water - harmoniously complement each other, revealing, it seems, the very essence of each of them. They cannot exist without each other. The pale blue sky, saturated with color, turns into the tops of the hills covered with a cap of fog, then turns into the greenery of trees and grass. Water, reflecting all this splendor, without any distortion, emphasizes and refreshes the morning.
The presence of a person is barely discernible in the picture: a narrow path in the grass, a protruding post for tying a boat - these are all the signs of human presence. The artist thereby only emphasizes the greatness of nature and the great harmony of God's world.
The light source in the painting is located directly opposite the viewer. Another second and the sunlight will cover this entire corner of Russian nature... The morning will fully come into its own, the fog will dissipate... That’s why this moment before dawn is so attractive.

"Pines illuminated by the sun"
Etude.
1886
Canvas, oil. 102 x 70.2 cm
State Tretyakov Gallery

In the picture, the main component of the plot is sunlight. Everything else is just decoration, background...

Pines confidently standing on the forest edge resist the flow of sunlight, however, they lose to it, merge, are swept away by it... Only the ineradicable shadows lying on the side opposite from the pines create the volume of the picture, giving it depth. The light lost not only to the trunks, but also got entangled in the tree crowns, unable to cope with the winding thin branches strewn with pine needles.

The summer forest appears before us in all its fragrant splendor. Following the light, the viewer's gaze penetrates deep into the thicket of the forest, as if taking a leisurely walk. The forest seems to surround the viewer, hugging him and not letting go.

Endless combinations of yellow and green colors so realistically convey all the shades of the color of pine needles, layered and thin pine bark, sand and grass, convey the warmth of the sun, the coolness of the shadows, that the illusion of the presence, smells and sounds of the forest is easily born in the imagination. He is open, friendly and devoid of any mystery or mystery. The forest is ready to greet you on this clear and warm day.

"Oak trees"
1887
Canvas, oil. 147 x 108 cm
State Russian Museum

“Golden Autumn” (1888),

"Mordvinov Oaks"
1891
Canvas, oil. 84 x 111 cm
State Russian Museum

"Autumn"
1892
Canvas, oil. 107 x 81 cm
State Russian Museum

"Rain in the Oak Forest"
1891
Oil on canvas 204 x 124
State Tretyakov Gallery
Moscow

In 1891, Shishkin’s personal exhibition (more than 600 sketches, drawings and engravings) was held at the Academy of Arts. The artist masterfully mastered the art of drawing and engraving. His drawing has undergone the same evolution as painting. The drawings of the 80s, which the artist made with charcoal and chalk, are much more picturesque than the pen drawings dating back to the 60s. In 1894, the album “60 etchings by I. I. Shishkin. 1870 - 1892.” At that time he had no equal in this technique and also experimented with it. For some period he taught at the Academy of Arts. In the learning process, as in his work, he used photography to better study natural forms.

"Oak Grove"
1893
Etching. 51 x 40 cm

"Forest River"
1893
Etching. 50 x 40 cm
Regional Art Museum

"Oak Grove"
1887
Oil on canvas 125 x 193
State Museum of Russian Art
Kyiv

The painting "Oak Grove" depicts a bright sunny day in an oak forest. Powerful, spreading, silent witnesses of the change of centuries and generations amaze with their splendor. Carefully drawn details bring the picture so close to naturalness that sometimes you forget that this forest is painted in oil and you cannot enter it.

Playful sun spots on the grass, illuminated crowns and trunks of centuries-old oak trees seem to radiate warmth, awakening memories of a cheerful summer in the soul. Despite the fact that the oak trees depicted in the picture have already acquired withered branches, their trunks are bent, and the bark has peeled off in some places, their crowns are still green and lush. And you can’t help but think that these oaks will be able to stand for hundreds of years.

It is noteworthy that Shishkin’s journey from the idea of ​​painting the Oak Grove to the first brush strokes in the landscape took three decades! It took exactly this long for the artist to form a vision for this monumental canvas, and this time was not wasted. The painting oak grove is often called the best work of a brilliant artist.

"Before the storm"
1884
Canvas, oil. 110 x 150 cm
State Russian Museum

I. I. Shishkin’s painting “Before the Storm” is one of the master’s most colorful works. The artist perfectly managed to convey the atmosphere of thick stuffiness before a thunderstorm. A moment of complete silence before the rampant elements...
The horizon line divides the landscape into exactly two parts. The upper part is a pre-storm leaden sky, full of life-giving moisture. The lower one is the land yearning for this very moisture, the shallow river, the trees.
The abundance of shades of blue and green, the brilliant mastery of perspective, and the complex, heterogeneous light are striking.
The viewer feels the approach of a thunderstorm, but as if from the outside... He is only a spectator, and not a participant in the natural mystery. This allows him to calmly enjoy the details of the pre-storm landscape. Those details that always elude the human eye in nature. At the same time, there is absolutely nothing superfluous in the picture. Harmony.
It’s strange, but looking at the picture, the question arises: did the artist himself get caught in the rain or did he manage to take cover? The work itself is so realistic that the question of the authenticity of the landscape does not arise at all.

"Foggy morning"
1897
Canvas, oil. 82.5 x 110 cm
State Museum-Reserve "Rostov Kremlin"

"Amanitas"
1880-1890s,
Tretyakov Gallery

Shishkin's sketch "Amanitas" is a striking example of the talented sketch of the great Russian artist. The plot of the sketch is akin to a Russian fairy tale: fly agaric mushrooms are an indispensable attribute of evil spirits, magical rituals, riddles and transformations.

The viewer is presented with a family of bright mushrooms in the thicket of a virgin forest. Each of the seven depicted fly agaric mushrooms seems to have its own character, biography, and destiny. In the foreground are a couple of young, strong, handsome men guarding the elders of the family in the center of the composition. In the center, on the contrary, there are old mushrooms with traces of decay, withering... The artist schematically, blurry and unclearly depicts the forest around the main “characters” of the picture. Nothing should distract the viewer’s attention from the picturesque group of fly agarics. On the other hand, it is the green forest and brown leaves that favorably emphasize the brightness of the mushroom caps and the whiteness of the spots on the caps.

The deliberate unfinished nature of the work creates a feeling of fabulousness and unreality of the image. It’s as if we are seeing a vision inspired by insidious and poisonous mushrooms in a magical forest.

"Pine Forest", 1889
V. D. Polenov Museum-Reserve

In the picture we see a corner of a pine forest bathed in summer sun. Sandy paths bleached by sunlight indicate that the sea is most likely nearby. The whole picture is filled with the smell of pine, special pine cheerfulness and silence. Nothing disturbs the peace of the forest in the morning (shadows on the sand indicate that it is morning).

Apparently, this is one of the dacha suburbs of St. Petersburg, where the artist so often found subjects for his works. And now, walking through the forest on a summer morning, the intersection of sandy paths attracted the attention of the master. Dozens of shades of green, bluish mosses, dazzling sand slightly tinged with yellow... This entire palette of natural colors could not leave Shishkin indifferent. Looking at the picture, you begin to remember the pine spirit; you can barely hear the sound of the cool Baltic Sea in your ears. Quiet, warm, fragrant. Summer serenity...

Like any other work by Shishkin, the painting “Pine Forest” amazes with its authenticity, pedantic attitude to the smallest details, the reality of the plot and uncontrived beauty.

Lodge in the forest
1870s. Canvas, oil. 73x56
Donetsk Regional Art Museum

“The Lodge in the Forest” is an amazing masterpiece by I. Shishkin, which amazes with its simplicity and originality. It would seem like an ordinary plot: trees, a road, a small house. However, something beckons us to contemplate this picture for a long time, as if hoping to find an encrypted message in it. Well, such a masterpiece cannot be just a painting painted to suit the mood. What immediately catches your eye are the tall birch trees on both sides of the road. They stretch upward - closer to the sun.

The picture is dominated by dark green tones and only in the background do we see grass and tree foliage illuminated by the rays of the sun. A ray of sun also falls on the wooden gatehouse, thereby highlighting it in the picture. It is the main highlight of the masterpiece - the most striking detail. The picture is striking in its volume. When looking at it, there is a feeling of depth - it’s as if the viewer is surrounded by trees on all sides and beckoned forward.

The forest depicted by Shishkin seems dense. It is not so easy for sunlight to break through, but in the very center of the picture - where the guardhouse stands - we see a gap. The painting is imbued with admiration for nature and at the same time expresses the contrast between nature and man. What is this lodge compared to the mighty pine trunks and tall birch trees? Just a small speck in the middle of the forest.

"Swamp. Polesie"
1890
Oil on canvas 90 x 142
State Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus
Minsk

“In the forest of Countess Mordvinova. Peterhof"
1891
Oil on canvas 81 x 108
State Tretyakov Gallery
Moscow

"Summer day"
1891
Canvas, oil. 88.5 x 145 cm
State Tretyakov Gallery

"Summer"
Canvas, oil. 112 x 86 cm
State Central Museum of Musical Culture named after. M.I.Glinka

"Bridge in the Forest"
1895
Canvas, oil. 108 x 81 cm
Nizhny Novgorod Art Museum

"Kama near Yelabuga"
1895
Oil on canvas 106 x 177
Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum
Nizhny Novgorod

"Pinery"
1895
Canvas, oil. 128 x 195 cm
Far Eastern Art Museum

"In the park"
1897
Canvas, oil. 82.5 x 111 cm
State Tretyakov Gallery

"Birch Grove"
1896
Oil on canvas 105.8 x 69.8
Yaroslavl Art Museum
Yaroslavl

The world-famous painting “Birch Grove” was painted in oil by Shishkin in 1896. At the moment the painting is in the Yaroslavl Art Museum.
The painting is dominated by shades of green, brown and white. It would seem that the combination of colors is more than simple, but surprisingly successful: looking at the picture, you completely feel yourself among these trees, you feel the warmth of the sun's rays.
The sun-drenched birch grove itself seems to radiate some kind of special light, felt by everyone who sees the picture. By the way, Shishkin, being a patriot of his country, did not choose the birch tree as the heroine of this picture, because it has been considered the national symbol of Russia since ancient times.
The incredible clarity with which all the details are drawn is surprising: the grass seems amazingly silky, the birch bark is like real and every birch leaf makes you remember the aroma of a birch grove.
This landscape is painted so naturally that it is difficult to even call it a painting. The name reflection of reality would be more appropriate.

"Ship Grove"
1898
Canvas, oil. 165 x 252 cm
State Russian Museum

The painting “Ship Grove” is one of the last in the master’s work. The composition of the work is characterized by strict balance and clear precision of plans, but it does not have that composition of the landscape characteristic of painting of the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries.
Subtle observation and an unmistakable point of view allow you to successfully capture a piece of nature, turning it into a stage for living nature. Sensitivity of perception of nature, loving comprehension of its features and masterful transmission of its charm through the language of painting make Shishkin’s canvases tactile, giving the viewer the opportunity to feel the resinous smell of the forest, its morning coolness and the freshness of the air.

Shishkin’s personal life was tragic. Both of his wives died quite early. Behind them are both his sons. The deaths did not stop there - after the people dear to the heart, perhaps the closest person died - the father. Shishkin plunged headlong into his work, which remained his only joy. Shishkin died at work. This happened on March 20, new style, in 1898. The artist died suddenly. In the morning I painted in the studio, then visited my family and returned to the studio again. At some point the master simply fell from his chair. The assistant immediately noticed this, but when he ran up, he saw that he was no longer breathing.

"Self-Portrait"
1886
Etching. 24.2x17.5 cm.
State Russian Museum
Saint Petersburg