Was there Shishkin? From the life of art scammers. Ivan shishkin interesting facts Interesting facts from the historian oleg shishkin

Marat Akhtyamov

Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin (1932 - 1898) is the brightest star in the galaxy of Russian landscape masters. No one showed greater skill in depicting Russian nature. All his work was subordinated to the idea of ​​reflecting the beauty of nature as accurately as possible.

Hundreds of works came out from under Shishkin's brush, pencil and engraving cutter. There are several hundred paintings alone. At the same time, it is very difficult to sort them by time of writing or by skill. Of course, at 60, he wrote differently than at 20. But there are no sharp differences in themes, technique or color schemes between Shishkin's paintings.

Such uniformity, coupled with outward simplicity, played a cruel joke with Shishkin's creative legacy. Many who are involved in painting, knowledge about painting, or bits of knowledge about painting, consider the painting of I.I. Shishkin to be simple, even primitive. This seeming simplicity was used by marketers, no matter how they were called in Russia during the change of the political regime. As a result, at one time Shishkin could be seen everywhere: on reproductions, rugs, sweets, etc. There was an attitude towards Shishkin as a manufacturer of something infinitely boring and stereotyped.

In fact, of course, Ivan Shishkin's work is diverse and multifaceted. You just need to be able to see this variety. But for this you need to know the language of painting, key events from the artist's biography and be able to make intellectual efforts to comprehend them.

1. Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin was born in Elabuga (now Tatarstan). His father Ivan Vasilyevich Shishkin was a gifted man, but completely unlucky in business. Having inherited the title of a merchant of the second guild, he traded so unsuccessfully that he first signed up to the third guild, and then completely signed out from the merchants in the bourgeoisie. But in Elabuga he had great authority as a scientist. He built a water supply system in the city, which was then a rarity in larger cities. Ivan Vasilievich knew about mills and even wrote a manual for their construction. In addition, Shishkin Sr. was fond of history and archeology. He opened an ancient Ananinsky burial ground near Yelabuga, for which he was elected a corresponding member of the Moscow Archaeological Society. For several years Ivan Vasilievich was the mayor.

Ivan Vasilievich Shishkin

2. Drawing was easy for Ivan and took almost all of his free time. After studying for four years at the First Kazan Gymnasium, one of the best in the country, he refused to continue his studies. Nor did he want to become a merchant or an official. For four long years, the family was fighting for the future of the youngest son, who wanted to study painting (“to become a painter” according to his mother). Only at the age of 20 did his parents agree to let him go to the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture.

Self-portrait in his youth

3. Despite the general unfavorable reviews about the political and cultural situation in Russia in the mid-19th century, the morals of the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture were completely free This school was an approximate analogue of Soviet pedagogical schools - the best graduates went to study further at the Academy of Arts, the rest could work as teachers drawing. In essence, they demanded one thing from the students - to work harder. Young Shishkin just needed it. One of his friends in a letter blamed him mildly, saying that Sokolniki had already redrawn everything. Yes, in those years Sokolniki and Sviblovo were dreams, where landscape painters went to sketches.

The building of the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture

4. At the school, Shishkin created his first etchings. He did not abandon graphics and prints further. On the basis of a small workshop of the Artists' Artel in 1871, the Society of Russian Aquafortists was created. Shishkin was one of the first in Russia who began to treat pictorial engraving as a separate genre of painting. The early experiments of engravers explored the possibility of replicating ready-made works of painting more. Shishkin, on the other hand, strove to create original engravings. He published five albums of etchings and gained the fame of the best engraver in Russia.

Engraving "Clouds over the Grove"

5. From his youth, Ivan Ivanovich turned very painfully to external evaluations of his works. However, no wonder - the family, due to their own constraint, helped him little, so the artist's well-being, from the moment he left for Moscow, almost entirely depended on his success. Much later, in adulthood, he would be sincerely upset when the Academy, having highly appreciated one of his works, awarded him the order, rather than conferring the title of professor. The order was honored, but did not give anything materially. In tsarist Russia, even military officers bought awards on their own. And the title of professor gave a stable permanent income.

6. Having entered the Academy of Arts, Shishkin spent several summer academic seasons - as the Academy called what would later be called industrial practice - spent on Valaam. The nature of the island, located in the north of Lake Ladoga, fascinated the artist. Every time he left Balaam, he began to think about returning. On Valaam, he learned to make large pen drawings, which even professionals sometimes mistook for engravings. For Valaam works, Shishkin was awarded several Academy awards, including the Great Gold Medal with the inscription "Worthy".

One of the sketches from Valaam

7. Ivan Ivanovich loved his homeland not only as a nature for landscapes. With the Big Gold Medal, he simultaneously received the right to a long-term paid creative business trip abroad. Taking into account the artist's income, this could be the first and last chance in life. But Shishkin asked the leadership of the Academy to replace his overseas voyage with a trip along the Kama and Volga to the Caspian Sea. It was not only the authorities who were shocked. Even close friends in chorus urged the artist to join the fruits of European enlightenment. In the end, Shishkin gave up. By and large, nothing sensible came of the trip. The European masters did not surprise him. The artist tried to paint animals and city landscapes, but willingly or unwillingly, he chose a nature, at least somewhat similar to his beloved Balaam. The only delight was the delight of European colleagues and a picture painted under the advance payment taken in St. Petersburg, depicting a herd of cows in the forest. Shishkin christened Paris "perfect Babylon", but did not even go to Italy: "it hurts too sweet." From abroad, Shishkin fled early, using the last paid months to stay and work in Yelabuga.

The notorious herd of cows

8. The return to St. Petersburg was a triumph for the artist. While he was sitting in Yelabuga, his European works made a splash. On September 12, 1865, he became an academician. His painting "View in the vicinity of Dusseldorf" was asked for a while from the owner Nikolai Bykov to be exhibited at the World Exhibition in Paris. There Shishkin's canvas coexisted with paintings by Aivazovsky and Bogolyubov.

View in the vicinity of Dusseldorf

9. The aforementioned Nikolai Bykov not only partially paid for Shishkin's trip to Europe. In fact, his influence on the members of the Academy became decisive in the question of attributing the artist to the title of academician. As soon as he received "View in the Environs of Dusseldorf" by mail, he rushed to show the picture to the eminent artists. And Bykov's word had considerable weight in artistic circles. He graduated from the Academy himself, but wrote practically nothing. Known for his self-portrait and a copy of the portrait of Zhukovsky by Karl Bryullov (it was this copy that was played in the lottery to redeem Taras Shevchenko from the serfs). But Bykov had the gift of foresight in relation to young artists. He bought paintings from young Levitsky, Borovikovsky, Kiprensky and, of course, Shishkin, eventually collecting an extensive collection.

Nikolay Bykov

10. In the summer of 1868, Shishkin, who was then taking care of the young artist Fyodor Vasiliev, met his sister Evgenia Alexandrovna. Already in the fall, they played a wedding. The couple loved each other, but the marriage did not bring them happiness. The black streak began in 1872 - the father of Ivan Ivanovich died. A year later, a two-year-old son died of typhus (the artist himself was also seriously ill). Fyodor Vasiliev died after him. In March 1874, Shishkin lost his wife, and a year later another little son died.

Evgenia Alexandrovna, the artist's first wife

11. If II Shishkin had not been an outstanding artist, he could well have become a scientist-botanist. The desire to realistically convey wildlife forced him to meticulously study plants. He did this both during his first trip to Europe and during his retirement (i.e. undertaken at the expense of the Academy) voyage to the Czech Republic. He always had plant guides and a microscope at hand, which was a rarity for landscape painters. But the naturalism of some of the artist's works looks very documentary.

12. The first work of Shishkin, bought by the famous philanthropist Pavel Tretyakov, was the painting “Noon. In the vicinity of Moscow ". The artist was flattered by the attention of the famous collector, and even bailed out 300 rubles for the canvas. Later, Tretyakov bought many of Shishkin's paintings, and their prices were constantly rising. For example, for the painting “Pine Forest. Mast timber in the Vyatka province ”Tretyakov has already paid 1,500 rubles.

Noon. In the vicinity of Moscow

13. Shishkin took an active part in the creation and work of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions. In fact, his entire creative life since 1871 was associated with the Itinerants. The same "Pine Forest ..." was first seen by the public at the first traveling exhibition. In the company of the Itinerants, Shishkin met Ivan Kramskoy, who highly appreciated the painting of Ivan Ivanovich. The artists became friends and spent a lot of time with their families on field sketches. Kramskoy considered Shishkin an artist of the European level. In one of his letters from Paris, he wrote to Ivan Ivanovich that if any of his paintings were brought to the Salon, the audience would sit on their hind legs.

The Wanderers. When Shishkin spoke, his bass interrupted everyone

14. In early 1873 Shishkin became a professor of landscape painting. This title was awarded by the Academy based on the results of a competition to which all comers submitted their works. Shishkin became a professor for the painting "Wilderness". He earned the title of professor, which allowed him to officially recruit students, for a long time. Kramskoy wrote that Shishkin can recruit 5 - 6 people for sketches, and he will teach all sensible ones, while at the age of 10 he leaves the Academy alone, and even that one is crippled. Shishkin married one of his students, Olga Pagoda, in 1880. This marriage, unfortunately, was even shorter than the first - Olga Alexandrovna died, barely having time to give birth to a daughter, in 1881. In 1887, the artist published an album of his deceased wife's drawings. Shishkin's official pedagogical activity was just as short. Unable to choose students, he resigned one year after his appointment.

15. The artist kept up with the times. When the process of photographing and taking pictures became more or less accessible to the general public, he purchased a camera and the necessary accessories and began to actively use photography in his work. Recognizing the imperfection of photography at that time, Shishkin appreciated the fact that it made it possible to work in winter, when there was no way to paint landscapes from nature.

16. Unlike most representatives of creative professions, II Shishkin treated work as a service. He sincerely did not understand people waiting for inspiration to come. Work and inspiration will come. And colleagues, in turn, were surprised at Shishkin's efficiency. Everyone mentions this in letters and memoirs. Kramskoy, for example, was amazed at the heap of drawings brought by Shishkin from a short trip to Crimea. Even Ivan Ivanovich's friend assumed that landscapes, unlike what his friend wrote, would take some time to get used to. And Shishkin went out into nature and painted the Crimean mountains. This capacity for work helped him get rid of alcohol addiction during difficult periods of his life (there was such a sin).

17. The famous painting "Morning in a Pine Forest" was painted by II Shishkin in collaboration with Konstantin Savitsky. Savitsky showed his colleague a genre sketch with two cubs. Shishkin mentally surrounded the figures of bears with a landscape and invited Savitsky to paint a picture together. We agreed that Savitsky would receive a quarter of the sale price, and Shishkin would receive the rest. During the work, the number of cubs increased to four. Savitsky painted their figures. The painting was painted in 1889 and was a great success. Pavel Tretyakov bought it for 4,000 rubles, 1,000 of which were received by Shishkin's co-author. Later Tretyakov, for some unknown reason, erased Savitsky's signature from the canvas.

Everyone has seen this picture

18. In the 1890s, Shishkin maintained close friendship with his colleague Arkhip Kuindzhi. According to Shishkin's niece, who lived in his house, Kuindzhi came to Shishkin's almost daily. Both artists quarreled with some of the Itinerants on the issue of participating in the reform of the Academy of Arts: Shishki and Kuindzhi were in favor of participating, and even worked on a draft of a new charter, and some of the Itinerants were categorically opposed. And Kuindzhi can be considered the co-author of Shishkin's painting "In the Wild North" - Komarova recalls that Arkhip Ivanovich put a small dot on the finished canvas, depicting a distant light.

"In the wild north ..." Kuindzhi's fire is not visible, but it is

19. On November 26, 1891, a large exhibition of works by Ivan Shishkin was opened in the hall of the Academy. For the first time in the history of Russian painting, not only finished works were demonstrated at a personal exhibition, but also preparatory fragments: sketches, sketches, drawings, etc. The artist decided to show how a painting is born, to illustrate the process of its birth. Despite critical reviews from colleagues, he made such exhibitions traditional.

20. Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin died in his workshop on March 8, 1898. He worked together with his student Grigory Gurkin. Gurkin was sitting in the far corner of the workshop and heard a wheeze. He managed to run up, grab the teacher who was falling on his side and drag him onto the couch. Ivan Ivanovich was on it and died a few minutes later. They buried him at the Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg. In 1950, the burial place of I.I.Shishkin was transferred to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Interesting facts about the artist I. Shishkin

Did you know that Ivan Shishkin was not alone in writing his masterpiece dedicated to bears in the forest.

An interesting fact is that for the image of the bears, Shishkin attracted the famous animal painter Konstantin Savitsky, who coped with the task perfectly. Shishkin quite fairly appreciated the contribution of the companion, so he asked him to put his signature under the painting next to his own. In this form, the painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” was brought to Pavel Tretyakov, who managed to buy the painting from the artist in the process.

Seeing the signatures, Tretyakov was indignant: they say, he ordered the painting to Shishkin, and not a tandem of artists. Well, he ordered to wash off the second signature. So they put up a picture with the signature of one Shishkin. Autobiography Ivan Shishkin was born on January 13 (January 25 - in a new style) in 1832 in Yelabuga, Vyatka province (now the Republic of Tatarstan) in the family of Ivan Vasilyevich Shishkin, a merchant of the second guild. IV Shishkin was an outstanding personality. Thanks to his incorruptible honesty, he was respected by his fellow countrymen and for eight years was the mayor of Yelabuga, having worked hard for the good of the city. The wooden plumbing he built is still partially operational. Talent of the Artist It was the father who noticed his son's passion for art and began to subscribe to him special articles and biographies of famous artists.

It was he who, having decided his fate, released the young man in 1852 to Moscow to study at the School of Painting and Sculpture.

Shishkin thought early about the artistic "field". The four years spent in his father's house after the "escape" from Kazan (1848-52), he kept notes, in which, as it were, he guessed his future life. We quote: "An artist should be a supreme being, living in an ideal world of art and striving only for perfection. The artist's properties: sobriety, moderation in everything, love for art, modesty of character, conscientiousness and honesty."

From 1852 to 1856, Shishkin studied at the recently opened (in 1843) Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture. His mentor was A. Mokritsky, a thoughtful and attentive teacher who helped the novice painter to find himself. In 1856 Shishkin entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. At the Academy, Shishkin stood out for his talents; his successes were marked with medals; in 1860 he graduated from the Academy with the Big Gold Medal, received for two paintings "View on the island of Valaam. Cucco region" and gave the right to study abroad. But he was in no hurry to go abroad, instead in 1861 he went to Elabuga. In his native places, Shishkin worked tirelessly. Working abroad From 1862 to 1865, Shishkin lived abroad - mainly in Germany and Switzerland, visiting the Czech Republic, France, Belgium and Holland. In Dusseldorf, he wrote a lot in the Teutoburg Forest and was very popular among the locals. He himself ironically recalled: "Where and wherever you go, they show everywhere - this Russian went, even in stores they ask if you are the Russian Shishkin who draws so magnificently?"

Shishkin's creativity

In 1836, a group of young realist specialists, headed by I. Kramskoy, with great noise, refusing to paint a picture on a given topic, left the Academy. The "Rebels" founded the Artists' Artel. Shishkin became close to this Artel in the late 1860s.

From the Artel in 1870, the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions grew, which became a symbol of a new artistic era.

Personal life of the artist Shishkin's personal life was tragic. He was married twice for love: first, to the sister of the talented landscape painter F. Vasiliev, who died early (whom he took care of and taught the basics of skill), Elena; then - on the artist Olga Ladoga. They both died young: Elena Alexandrovna in 1874, and Olga Antonovna in 1881. Lost Shishkin and two sons. Deaths especially thickened around him by the mid-1870s (in 1872, his father also died); the artist, who fell into despair, stopped writing for some time and was carried away by libations. Devotion to art But powerful nature and dedication to art took their toll. Shishkin was one of those who could not help but work. He returned to his creative life, which in his last two decades coincided practically without gaps with his life in general. He lived only by painting, only by his native nature, which became his main theme.

He traveled a lot across Russia: he painted sketches in the Crimea, in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, on the Volga, on the Baltic coast, in Finland and present-day Karelia. He constantly exhibited - at personal, academic, traveling, trade and industrial exhibitions. The death of the artist Shishkin and died at work. On March 8 (March 20 - in a new style), 1898, he painted in the studio in the morning. Then I visited my relatives. Then, complaining of indisposition, he returned to the workshop. At some point, the assistant saw that the master was falling from the chair. Running up to him, he saw that Shishkin was no longer breathing.

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In January 2012, somehow undeservedly quietly came a very significant date - the 180th anniversary of the birth of our compatriot - a native of Yelabuga, a truly great painter, whose masterpieces adorn the Tretyakov Gallery and many other Russian and world museums - Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin.

He is well-known, but how much do we know about him, in fact? Anisova.

Elabuga - "God's backwater"

- In order to understand the artist, first of all, you need to turn to the study of the world that surrounded him in the first years of his life - family, nature, church, - says Lev Anisov. - A quiet, provincial town, a fatherly house, a church located nearby ... One Elabuga woman told me about the local beauties - "God's backwater". More precisely, in my opinion, you can’t imagine. This is what formed little Vanechka.

The Shishkins are an old merchant family. All of these were honest people, artisans: someone poured bells, someone collected watches ... Shishkin's grandfather was very fond of the old book, his father was the mayor of the city, a well-read and enlightened person. Even though he is a merchant, he is a very interesting personality, unlike modern “merchants”. Merchants in the 19th century were people who always remembered that they lived in Russia and for Russia. Of course, they "threw" an extra penny on their goods, but did not forget to build a temple or build a water supply system for their hometown.

On holidays, the Shishkins always welcomed the beggars, fed them and watered them, thus paying tribute to the deceased, because at that time it was believed that their souls came to the house with the poor. Shishkin's father was very fond of history, often brought Vanyusha books on art and was the first from Elabuga to publish a book about his hometown. Of course, he made a huge impression on little Vanya with stories about Russian antiquity.

Needless to say, little Ivan really fell in love with drawing? As a child, he was called a "dauber", because he even managed to paint the fence of his house! Wherever Ivan Ivanovich was subsequently - whether he studied at the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture, whether he attended the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts - he still missed his native Elabuga and looked for places similar to his relatives.

Under the influence of a priest

Another amazing person came from Yelabuga - Kapiton Ivanovich Nevostroev. He was a priest, served in Simbirsk. Noticing his craving for science, the rector of the Moscow Theological Academy suggested that Nevostroev move to Moscow and start describing Slavic manuscripts kept in the synodal library. They started together, and then Kapiton Ivanovich continued alone and gave a scientific description of all historical documents.

So, it was Kapiton Ivanovich Nevostroev who had the strongest influence on Shishkin (like the Elabuga residents, they kept in touch in Moscow as well). 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." That is why Shishkin is so scrupulous in his landscapes. You can't confuse him with anyone.

Tell me as an artist to an artist ...

- Forget the word "photographic" and never relate it to the name of Shishkin! - Lev Mikhailovich was indignant at my question about the stunning accuracy of Shishkin's landscapes. - A camera is a mechanical device that simply captures a forest or field at a given time under a given lighting. Photography is soulless. And in every brushstroke of the artist there is a feeling that he feels 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 the "Rye", literally with our skin we feel the breath of wind!

- Shishkin knew nature like no one else, - the writer shares. - He perfectly knew the life of plants, to some extent he was even a botanist. Once Ivan Ivanovich came to Repin's workshop and, examining his new painting, which depicted rafts on the river, asked what kind of tree they were. "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 they go to the bottom from another, but from the third, you get a good 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 carried away by his work that sometimes he drew water from a fountain and was content with a crust of bread! But nevertheless, this condition is far from obligatory, and it certainly did not apply to Shishkin.

Creating his masterpieces, Ivan Ivanovich, nevertheless, lived a full life and did not experience great material difficulties. He was married twice, loved and appreciated comfort. And he was loved and appreciated by beautiful women. And this despite the fact that on people who did not know him well, the artist made the impression of an extremely withdrawn and even sullen subject (at the school for this reason he was even called a "monk").

In fact, Shishkin was a bright, deep, versatile personality. But only in a narrow company of close people was his true essence manifested: the artist became himself and turned out to be talkative and playful.

Glory overtook very early

Russian - yes, however, not only Russian! - history knows many examples when great artists, writers, composers received recognition from the general public only after their death. In the case of Shishkin, everything was different.

By the time he graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, Shishkin was well known abroad, and when the young artist studied in Germany, his works were already well sold and bought! There is a known case when the owner of a Munich shop did not agree for any money to part with several of Shishkin's drawings and etchings that adorned his shop. Fame and recognition came to the landscape painter very early.

Noon artist

Shishkin is a midday artist. Usually, artists love sunsets, sunrises, storms, fogs - all these phenomena are really interesting to write. But to write noon, when the sun is at its zenith, when you do not see the shadows and everything merges, is aerobatics, the pinnacle of 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 - a reproduction of Shishkin

Living not far from the painter's native places, we, of course, believe (or hope!) That he reflected precisely them on his canvases. However, our interlocutor hastened 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 - he visited the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, worked a lot in the Losinoostrovsky forest, Sokolniki. While living in St. Petersburg, he traveled to Valaam, to Sestroretsk. Having become a venerable artist, he visited Belarus - he painted in Belovezhskaya Pushcha... Shishkin also worked abroad.

However, in the last years of his life, Ivan Ivanovich often visited Yelabuga and also wrote local motives. 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 conspicuous 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.

Who drew the Toptygin?

By the way, about "Morning ...". The history of the creation of this masterpiece is curious. The fact is that Shishkin was close friends with the artist Konstantin Savitsky, after whom he even named his son (and whom he entrusted to be the godfather of his children). Naturally, they visited each other in the workshops. Once Savitsky shared an idea with Shishkin: he wanted to portray bears. This idea of ​​the landscape painter was very excited, and, pushing away from it, he, in turn, decided to paint a pristine corner of nature, where no man's foot had stepped. Shishkin wanted to convey the symphony, the music of this forest untouched by civilization. This is how a wonderful, fairy-tale forest appeared on the canvas. The family of bears was “registered” in it thanks to Savitsky's brush.

When the picture was published and was bought by the collector of painting Pyotr Tretyakov, Savitsky did not claim authorship at all, because he only helped a friend a little (then it was in the order of things: for example, the lady in Isaac Levitan's painting "Autumn Day. Sokolniki" was written by Nikolai Chekhov, and the sky on the famous painting by Vasily Perov "Hunters at Rest" - Alexey Savrasov). Shishkin nevertheless indicated his name. However, Tretyakov and Savitsky were at that time friction, and he said: "I bought only Shishkin's painting - Savitsky did not buy!" And so it happened that Shishkin turned out to be the sole author of, perhaps, the most famous landscape in Russia ...

Shishkin Ivan Ivanovich(1832-98), Russian painter and graphic artist. Itinerant. In epic images (Rye, 1878; Morning in a Pine Forest, 1889) he revealed the beauty, power and wealth of Russian nature (mainly forest). Master of lithography and etching.

Shishkin Ivan Ivanovich, Russian artist. An outstanding master of landscape, he organically combined features of romanticism and realism in his painting and graphics.

Born into a merchant family. The artist's father, IV Shishkin, was not only an entrepreneur, but also an engineer, archaeologist and local historian, the author of the “History of the city of Elabuga”. After graduating from the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in 1856, the future master studied at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1856-60). As a pensioner of the Academy, he lived in 1862-65 in Germany and Switzerland, attended the workshop of the Swiss landscape painter R. Koller. But the epic majestic landscapes of another Swiss, A. Calam, had an incomparably greater impact on him. He lived mainly in St. Petersburg. Of particular importance for Shishkin were natural impressions received in his native places (where he often visited), as well as on about. Valaam and in the vicinity of St. Petersburg and Moscow.

Early creativity

For the early works of the master ("View on the Valaam Island", 1858, Kiev Museum of Russian Art; "Cutting the Forest", 1867, Tretyakov Gallery), some fragmentation of forms is characteristic; adhering to the "backstage" construction of the picture, traditional for romanticism, clearly marking out 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 to be an obvious reality, first of all due to the subtle compositional and light-air-coloristic coordination of the zones of heaven and earth, soil (the latter Shishkin felt especially penetratingly, in this respect, equal in Russian landscape art).

In the 1870s. the master is entering the time of unconditional creative maturity, as evidenced by the paintings “Pine Forest. Mast forest in the Vyatka province "(1872) and" Rye "(1878; both - the Tretyakov gallery).

Morning in a pine forest

Usually avoiding the unsteady, transitional states of nature, the artist captures its highest summer flowering, achieving an impressive tonal unity precisely due to the bright, midday, summer light, which determines the entire coloristic scale. The monumental and romantic image of Nature with a capital letter is invariably present in the paintings. New, realistic trends emerge in that heartfelt attention with which the signs of a particular piece of land, a corner of a forest or field, a particular tree are written. Shishkin is a remarkable poet, not only of soil, but also of wood, who has a subtle sense of the character of each species [in his most typical notes, he usually mentions not just “forest”, but a forest of “poplar, elms and part of oaks” (diary of 1861) or “ spruce, pine, aspen, birch, linden forest ”(from a letter to IV Volkovsky, 1888)]. With special eagerness, the artist paints the most powerful and strongest types of oaks and pines - at the stage of maturity, old age and, finally, death in a windbreak. Shishkin's classic works - such as "Rye" or "Among the flat valley ..." as generalized, epic images of Russia. The artist is equally successful in 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 are in the same place). His drawings and sketches, which are a detailed diary of natural life, are of independent value.

He also worked fruitfully in the field of etching. By printing his subtly nuanced landscape etchings in various states, publishing them in the form of albums, Shishkin powerfully intensified interest in this art form. He was little involved in teaching (in particular, he directed the landscape workshop of the Academy of Arts in 1894-95), but he had such artists as F.A. and G.I. Choros-Gurkin among his students. His images, despite their "objectivity" and the fundamental lack of psychologism inherent in the "mood landscape" of the Savrasov-Levitanian type, have always had a great poetic resonance (it was not for nothing that Shishkin was one of A.A.'s favorite artists).

A house-museum of the artist was opened in Yelabuga.