Description of the painting by Shishkin in the forest. The real story of the creation of the painting "Morning in a pine forest" (from the cycle "Vyatka - the birthplace of elephants")
Composition plan:
- I.I. Shishkin is a landscape painter.
- Early summer morning.
- Foreground:
- forest;
- a tree broken by a storm;
- funny bear cubs;
- caring mother;
- Background (fog).
- My take on this picture.
Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin is an outstanding Russian landscape painter. He created many paintings in which he sings of the beauty and poetry of his native expanses. Endless forest distances, birch and oak groves flooded with sunlight, mighty ship pines ....
On his canvases, a diverse plant world is amazingly accurately and realistically depicted, which seems to come to life under the brush of the master, breathes, gives us freshness and coolness, evokes evening sadness or, on the contrary, awakens bright joy from the contemplation of beauty. The painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” has been known and loved by many of us since childhood. No wonder it is considered one of the best works of Shishkin.
The picture shows a large family of bears. In the early summer morning, three little bear cubs and their mother bear went out for a walk. The sun is just rising. It gently illuminates the tops of huge pines. Thick fog shrouds the forest. It will soon dissipate from the sun's rays. In a small clearing where the bears gathered, he had almost melted.
The animals wandered into a coniferous forest and accidentally discovered an old withered tree that had broken during a recent storm. Its trunk broke into two with a crack, and its huge roots even turned the earth upside down.
The cubs depicted in the picture are brown in color. They are not yet quite big, mischievous, clubfoot. Two of them have little white collars around their necks. The bravest of them climbed almost to the very top of the trunk of a broken tree and hung on its very edge, clung to the rough bark with his claws, look that he would fall into the ravine. And the second got only so far to the middle.
He probably also wants to climb higher, but it's scary. Here he is, clumsy, and sat on a tree, looking helplessly at the mother bear, not knowing what to do next. The third, the most cautious, climbed onto the other half of the broken tree, which fell onto the slope of the ravine, but did not roll into it, but caught on the branches of a neighboring pine tree. The little bear cautiously stood up on its hind legs, tilted its head slightly and listened to the sounds of the awakening forest, peering into the thick fog. There, in the fog, tall, green pines sway and rustle.
The bear is large, shaggy, brown. Like any mother, she worries about her mischievous cubs, who are playful and restless. She even growls and probably warns them that they might fall out of the tree and should be careful. Or maybe she noticed some kind of danger and wants to warn her kids about it. It's time to finish the morning walk and go deep into the forest. She rushes from one bear cub to another, the dark green grass trampled under her.
The artist skillfully conveys the atmosphere of early morning in the forest. Soft diffused light falls through the dense crowns of trees and seems golden. In the background, the fog is a veil, through which slender trunks of pines are guessed. Thanks to a slightly blurred background, all the attention of the audience is focused on the bear family.
I really like this picture, because it depicts a fun and lively story, and the cubs are so cute and funny. I just want to play with them, stroke their soft brown fur!
“Morning in a Pine Forest” is perhaps one of the most famous paintings by Ivan Shishkin. The first thing that attracts and touches the audience looking at the masterpiece is the bears. Without animals, the picture would hardly have turned out so attractive. Meanwhile, few people know that it was not Shishkin who painted the animals, but another artist named Savitsky.
Bear Master
Konstantin Apollonovich Savitsky is no longer as famous as Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin, whose name is known, probably, even by a child. Nevertheless, Savitsky is also one of the most talented domestic painters. At one time he was an academician and a member of the Imperial Academy of Arts. It is clear that it was on the basis of art that Savitsky met Shishkin.
Both of them loved Russian nature and selflessly depicted it on their canvases. That's just Ivan Ivanovich preferred more landscapes in which people or animals, if they appeared, then only in the role of secondary characters. Savitsky, on the contrary, actively portrayed both of them. Apparently, thanks to the skill of a friend, Shishkin established himself in the idea that the figures of living beings were not very successful for him.
Help a friend
In the late 1880s, Ivan Shishkin completed another landscape, in which he depicted morning in a pine forest with unusual picturesqueness. However, according to the artist, the picture lacked some kind of accent, for which he planned to draw 2 bears. Shishkin even made sketches for future characters, but was dissatisfied with his work. It was then that he turned to Konstantin Savitsky with a request to help him with the animals. A friend of Shishkin did not refuse and gladly set to work. The bears turned out to be envious. In addition, the number of clubfoot has doubled.
In fairness, it should be noted that Shishkin himself was not going to cheat at all, and when the picture was ready, he indicated not only his last name, but also Savitsky. Both friends were satisfied with the joint work. But everything was spoiled by the founder of the world-famous gallery, Pavel Tretyakov.
Stubborn Tretyakov
It was Tretyakov who purchased Morning in a Pine Forest from Shishkin. However, the philanthropist did not like 2 signatures in the picture. And since after the purchase of this or that work of art, Tretyakov considered himself the sole and full owner of it, he took and erased the name of Savitsky. Shishkin began to object, but Pavel Mikhailovich remained adamant. He said that the manner of writing, including with regard to bears, corresponds to the manner of Shishkin, and Savitsky is clearly superfluous here.
Ivan Shishkin shared the fee received from Tretyakov with a friend. However, he gave Savitsky only the 4th part of the money, explaining that he did the sketches for "Morning" without the help of Konstantin Apollonovich.
Surely, Savitsky was offended by such an appeal. In any case, he did not write a single canvas in tandem with Shishkin. And Savitsky's bears, in any case, really became the decoration of the picture: without them, "Morning in a Pine Forest" would hardly have received such recognition.
Ivan Shishkin is not only "Morning in a Pine Forest", but this picture has its own interesting story. To start with - who actually drew these bears?
In the Tretyakov Gallery they are called "notebooks". Because they are small and shabby, with signatures - a student of Shishkin or simply "Sha". They don’t flip through once again - even such plain-looking ones have no price. Of the seven, one is empty - half a century ago, the former owner sold it to private hands. Tearing off a leaf. This turned out to be more expensive. Inside are sketches of future masterpieces and ... refutation of idle gossip - try to prove now that Shishkin wrote only the forest ...
Nina Markova, senior researcher at the Tretyakov Gallery: "The talk that Shishkin could not draw animals, human figures is a myth! Let's start with the fact that Shishkin studied with an animal painter, so cows, lambs, all this worked out great for him."
This animal theme during the life of the artist became a burning issue for art lovers. Feel the difference, they said - a pine forest and two bears. Barely distinguishable. This is Shishkin's hand. And here is another pine forest and two signatures at the bottom. One is almost worn out.
This is the only case of so-called co-authorship, art critics say - morning in a pine forest. These funny bears inside the picture were not painted by Shishkin, but by his friend and colleague, the artist Savitsky. Yes, it's so wonderful that I decided to sign the work together with Ivan Shishkin. However, the Tretyakov collector ordered Savitsky's signature to be removed - the main characters of the painting by the artist Shishkin are by no means bears, he considered.
They really often worked together. And only the bearish quartet is literally a product of discord in the long-term friendship of artists. The relatives of Konstantin Savitsky have an alternative version of the disappearance of the signature - allegedly Shishkin received the entire fee for Savitsky's plan.
Evelina Polishchuk, senior researcher at the Tretyakov Gallery, relative of Konstantin Savitsky: "There was such an insult and he erased his signature and said" I don't need anything, "although he had 7 children."
"If I weren't an artist, I would become a botanist" - the artist repeated many times, whom the students already called so. He urged them to examine the object through a magnifying glass or take a picture to remember - he did it himself, here are his devices. And only then, with an accuracy of a pine needle, transferred to paper.
Galina Churak, head of the Department of the Tretyakov Gallery: "The main work was in the summer and spring on location, and he brought hundreds of etude sketches to St. Petersburg, where he worked on large canvases in autumn and winter."
He scolded his friend - Repin for his rafts in the paintings, he said, he didn’t understand what kind of logs they were made of. Whether business - Shishkin wood - "oaks" or "pine". But according to Lermontov's motives - in the wild north. Each picture has its own face - rye - this is Rus', wide, grain-growing. Pine forest - our wild denseness. He has no repetition. These landscapes are like different people. For all his life, almost eight hundred portraits of nature.
It's amazing how the life of a work of art that came out from under the brush of a master can turn out. The canvas by I. Shishkin “Morning in a Pine Forest” is known to everyone and mainly as a painting “Three Bears”. The paradox also lies in the fact that four bears are depicted on the canvas, which were completed by the excellent genre painter K. A. Savitsky.
A bit from the biography of I. Shishkin
The future artist was born in Yelabuga in 1832, on January 13, in the family of a poor merchant who was fascinated by local history and archeology. He enthusiastically passed on his knowledge to his son. The boy stopped attending the Kazan gymnasium after the fifth grade, and spent all his free time drawing from nature. Then he graduated not only from the School of Painting in Moscow, but also from the Academy in St. Petersburg. His talent as a landscape painter was quite determined by this time. The young artist, after a short trip abroad, left for his native places, where he painted nature untouched by the hand of man. He exhibited his new works at exhibitions of the Wanderers, amazing and delighting the audience with the almost photographic veracity of his canvases. But the painting “Three Bears”, written in 1889, became the most famous.
Friend and co-author Konstantin Apollonovich Savitsky
K.A. Savitsky was born in Taganrog in the family of a military doctor in 1844. He graduated from the Academy in St. Petersburg and continued to improve his skills in Paris. When he returned, P. M. Tretyakov bought his first work for his collection. Since the 70s of the XIX century, the artist exhibited his most interesting genre works at exhibitions of the Wanderers. K. A. Savitsky quickly gained popularity among the general public. The author especially likes his canvas “Knows the Unclean”, which can now be seen in the State Tretyakov Gallery. Shishkin and Savitsky became friends so tightly that Ivan Ivanovich asked his friend to become the godfather of his son. On the mountain, both the boy died at the age of three. And then other tragedies swept over them. Both buried their wives. Shishkin, submitting to the will of the Creator, believed that troubles open an artistic gift in him. He also appreciated great talent from his friend. Therefore, it is not surprising that K.A. Savitsky became a co-author of the painting "Three Bears". Although Ivan Ivanovich himself was perfectly able to write animals.
"Three Bears": a description of the painting
Art critics honestly admit that they do not know the history of the painting. Her idea, the very idea of the canvas, apparently arose while searching for nature on one of the large islands of Seliger Gorodomlya. Night recedes. Dawn breaks. The first rays of the sun make their way through the thick tree trunks and the fog rising from the lake. One powerful pine tree is uprooted from the ground and half broken and occupies the central part of the composition. Its fragment with a dried crown falls into the ravine on the right. It is not written, but its presence is felt. And what a wealth of colors the landscape painter used! The cool morning air is blue-green, slightly hazy and hazy. The mood of awakening nature is conveyed by green, blue and sunny yellow colors. In the background, golden rays shimmer brightly in high crowns. In all the work one can feel the hand of I. Shishkin.
Meeting of two friends
Ivan Ivanovich wanted to show his new work to his friend. Savitsky came to the workshop. This is where the questions come in. Either Shishkin suggested that Konstantin Apollonovich add three bears to the picture, or Savitsky himself looked at it with a fresh look and made a proposal to introduce an animalistic element into it. This, of course, was to enliven the desert landscape. And so it was done. Savitsky very successfully, very organically inscribed four animals on a fallen tree. Well-fed funny bear cubs turned out like little children who frolic and explore the world under the supervision of a strict mother. He, like Ivan Ivanovich, signed on canvas. But when Shishkin's painting "Three Bears" came to P.M. Tretyakov, he, having paid the money, demanded that Savitsky's signature be washed off, since the main work was done by Ivan Ivanovich, and his style was undeniable. This can complete the description of Shishkin's painting "Three Bears". But this story has a "sweet" continuation.
confectionery factory
In the 70s of the 19th century, the enterprising Germans Einem and Geis built a confectionery factory in Moscow, which produced very high-quality sweets, cookies and other similar products. To increase sales, an advertising offer was invented: print reproductions of Russian paintings on wrappers, and brief information about the painting on the back. It turned out both tasty and informative. Now it is not known when P. Tretyakov's permission was received to apply reproductions of paintings from his collection on sweets, but on one of the candy wrappers, which depicts the painting "Three Bears" by Shishkin, there is a year - 1896.
After the revolution, the factory expanded, and V. Mayakovsky was inspired and composed an advertisement, which is printed on the side of the candy wrapper. She urged to save money in the savings bank in order to buy delicious, but expensive sweets. And to this day, in any chain store you can buy "Clumsy Bear", which is remembered by all sweet tooth as "Three Bears". The same name was assigned to the painting by I. Shishkin.
It just so happened that a century ago, designers chose a painting by Shishkin and Savitsky for the packaging of sweets "Mishka kosolapy" and their analogues. And if Shishkin is known for forest landscapes, then Savitsky was remembered by a wide audience exclusively for bears.With rare exceptions, the plot of Shishkin's paintings (if you look at this issue broadly) is one - nature. Ivan Ivanovich is an enthusiastic, enamored contemplator. And the viewer becomes an eyewitness of the artist's meeting with his native spaces.
Shishkin was an extraordinary connoisseur of the forest. He knew everything about trees of different species and noticed mistakes in the drawing. In the open air, the artist’s students were literally ready to hide in the bushes, just not to hear the dressing in the spirit of “There can’t be such a birch” or “these fake pines”.
As for people and animals, they occasionally appeared in Ivan Ivanovich's paintings, but they were more of a background than an object of attention. “Morning in a Pine Forest” is perhaps the only canvas where bears compete with the forest. For this, thanks to one of Shishkin's best friends - the artist Konstantin Savitsky.
The idea for the painting was suggested to Shishkin by Savitsky, who later acted as a co-author and depicted the figures of cubs. These bears, with some differences in posture and number (at first there were two of them), appear in preparatory drawings and sketches. The animals turned out so well for Savitsky that he even signed the painting together with Shishkin. Savitsky himself told his relatives: "The painting was sold for 4 thousand, and I am a participant in the 4th share."
“Morning in a Pine Forest” is a painting by Russian artists Ivan Shishkin and Konstantin Savitsky. Savitsky painted the bears, but the collector Pavel Tretyakov erased his signature, so Shishkin alone is often credited as the painting's author.
The picture conveys in detail the state of nature seen by the artist on the island of Gorodomlya. It is not a dense dense forest that is shown, but sunlight breaking through the columns of tall trees. You can feel the depth of the ravines, the power of centuries-old trees, the sunlight, as it were, timidly looks into this dense forest. The frolicking bear cubs feel the approach of morning.
Portrait of Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin (1832-1898) by I. N. Kramskoy. 1880
Konstantin Apollonovich Savitsky
(1844 - 1905)
Photo.
