Composition
Shishkin’s work features many of the classic “rules” of composition-S-shapes, simplified masses, quiet and active areas, etc.
In Misty Morning, the river creates an S-shape that leads you into and around the painting. Also, notice the use of simplification to depict the misty background.
Ivan Shishkin, Misty Morning, 1897
Here is another S-shape used to depict the path. The tops of the trees on the left form an implied line. There is a sense of balance between the small trees on the left and the dominant tree on the right.
Ivan Shishkin, Rye, 1878
Shishkin was a master of painting vast numbers, like the snow-capped forest in Winter. Whilst he did not simplify in terms of detail, he did simplify the composition. Notice how the painting can be broken into four distinct areas (refer to my draw-over below the painting).
Ivan Shishkin, Winter, 1890
Shishkin did mix it up from time to time, painting unusual compositions like The Tops of the Pines or Felled Birch.
Ivan Shishkin, The Tops of the Pines, 1890
Ivan Shishkin, Felled Birch, 1864
Other Works
Here are some other personal favorites, starting with Pine Trees Illuminated by the Sun. A beautiful demonstration of color variance. Look at the way he painted the ground: greens, yellows, reds with varied brushwork. Effortless realism.
Ivan Shishkin, Pine Trees Illuminated by the Sun, 1886
A View of the Beach is a relaxed painting, perhaps one of his studies. Simple, charming, and a strong composition. It is also interesting to see him venture outside of “detail” mode.
Ivan Shishkin, A View of the Beach
The unfinished work below provides insight into his painting process. If I had to guess, I would say he was methodical in his approach; painting one area to near completion then moving onto the next.
Ivan Shishkin, Pine Forest. Unfinished Sketch, c.1894
Rain in an Oak Forest-a moody painting. You can see Shishkin’s propensity for detail in the background. No amount of mist and rain could stop him from rendering each tree.
The reason I selected this painting is the way he painted the grass, of all things. Subtle changes in color saturation, varied brushwork, and small patches of detail.
Ivan Shishkin, Rain in an Oak Forest
Here is a close-up to give you a better look:
The Rocky Landscape demonstrates how to capture depth and atmosphere. Notice the reduction in color and detail as things recede into the distance.
Ivan Shishkin, The Rocky Landscape
Teutoburg Forest-perhaps my favorite. Vivid orange and yellow highlights, a glaring background, and deep shadows. Beautiful.
Ivan Shishkin, Teutoburg Forest, 1865
Here is one of Shishkin’s early works and a rare step outside of landscape painting.
Ivan Shishkin, Workshop on the Island of Valaam, 1860
Pine on the Sand-a simple but strong composition with interesting colors, particularly the turquoise sky.
Ivan Shishkin, Pine on the Sand, 1884
The grayscale below reveals a powerful 2-value design.
Finally, a stunning example of realistic clouds. Notice the subtle color changes and edge variance.
Ivan Shishkin, Noon, The Surroundings of Moscow, Brattsevo, 1866
Color and Light
Shishkin’s use of color was naturalistic (he painted what he saw). Unlike, say, Claude Monet who painted in a high-key, or Vincent van Gogh who painted how he felt.
A typical theme of his work is sunlight bursting through a dense tree canopy, scattering over the forest floor. Refer to A Coniferous Forest. Sunny Day below. Some key observations:
- The strong light in the distance helps pull you through the painting.
- The shadowed foreground reiterates the dense nature (light struggles to get through).
- Warm lights contrast against cool shadows.
Ivan Shishkin, A Coniferous Forest. Sunny Day, 1895
Below is another example. Notice how the lights are a touch warmer than the darks. The greens, in particular, are much closer to yellow; whilst the greens in shadow are closer to blue.
Ivan Shishkin, Beach Forest in Switzerland, 1863
As you would expect from the “Czar of the Forest”, Shishkin mastered the use of green. Refer to Deadwood and Goutweed Grass below. Few artists can get away with using such intense greens without it appearing jarring and gnash.
Ivan Shishkin, Deadwood, 1893
Ivan Shishkin, Goutweed Grass, 1885
Here is one of Shishkin’s lighter paintings and a great demonstration of dappled light.
Ivan Shishkin, Near the Cottages, 1894
Творчество
Нет никаких сомнений в том, что среди русских рисовальщиков Шишкину принадлежит место самого сильного. В каждом произведении прослеживается тот факт, что Иван Иванович — удивительный знаток растительных форм. Он воспроизводит их все с огромным, но в то же время тонким пониманием. Ему подвластны не только общий характер, но и все мелочи, все мельчайшие подробности и отличительные черты любого дерева, куста, любой травинки
Неважно, за что он брался: будь то сосновый лес или еловый, рисовал он отдельное дерево или их совокупность – все это было нарисовано так, как оно действительно существует. Нет в картинах Шишкина ни прикрас, ни приуменьшений
Все у него сочитается в картинах, все обусловлено логикой и климатом. Если он пытался изобразить березы и дубы, то они у него принимали самые правдивые формы и в кореньях, и в стволах, и в листве, и в ветвях. Местность же в картинах Ивана Ивановича, независимо от того, был ли это песок, глина или камни, также выглядела донельзя реалистично, со всеми неровностями, которые поросли лесными травами, папоротником, и рельефом. К сожалению, эта восхитительная реалистичность довольно часто шла не в пользу, а во вред картинам великого мастера, поскольку она во многих случаях собой скрывала общее настроение картин. Реалистичность сообщала картинам совсем другой характер, а не тот, что задумывался с самого начала. Не лишним будет отметить то факт, что с Иваном Ивановичем произошло то же самое, что и со многими другими сильными рисовальщиками: наука о формах нанесла ущерб колориту, который даже не являясь у него негармоничным или слабым, все же не стал на одну ступень с рисунком мастера. Именно в силу этой причины иногда одноцветные работы Шишкина выглядят намного лучше, чем картины, при написании которых он пользовался целым спектром разных по цвету красок. Иваном Ивановичем было написано настолько много картин, что даже если описывать наиболее важные, то понадобится все равно очень много места. Очень много его произведений разошлось на ретроспективной выставке работ живописца.
Больше всего работ Шишкина находится, конечно же, в Третьяковской галерее. Там есть такие произведения как: “Горелый лес”, “Рубка леса”, “Еловый лес”, “Сосновый лес”, “Полдень в окрестностях Москвы”, “Пасека”, “Дебри”, “Рожь”, “Поляна с соснами”, “Лесная глушь”, “Корабельная роща”. Кроме того, наш музей владеет еще 5 этюдами Шишкина. Д. Ровинский насчитывал около ста исполненных живописцем произведений. Помимо этого он указал на 68 литографий и 15 цинкографических опытов Ивана Ивановича. В 1885 году А. Беггров издал сборник, включавший в себя 24 фототипических снимка угольных рисунков, которые были исполнены специально для Беггрова Шишкиным. Сам же Иван Иванович в 1886 году выпустил альбом, содержащий 25 избранных им гравюр. Заглядывая вперед, можно сказать следующее: оттиски с досок, которые служили для выпущенного альбома, были переделаны и подправлены и изданы Марксом в качестве нового альбома. Много картин Иван Иванович издал в 1880–е годы. Сюжет остается преимущественно все тем же: жизнь русских лесов, лугов, полей. Затрагивает Шишкин и балтийское побережье. Особенности его произведений присутствуют и здесь, однако Иван Иванович не останавливается на достигнутом и ищет новые творческие позиции. Его работы в это время близки по характеру к тем, что были им написаны в прошлом десятилетии. Однако есть одна особенность: теперь картины написаны с большей свободой со стороны живописи. Все больше ощущается желание самого Шишкина передать состояние природы.
Семья
У Ивана Иванович было две жены:- Васильевна Евгения АлександровнаОт нее у Шишкина было 3 детей: Владимир, Константин и Лидия.- Лагода Ольга АнтоновнаОт нее у Шишкина была дочь Ксения.
Отдельные статьи:
| Картина Ивана Шишкина «У берегов Финского залива» |
| Картина Ивана Шишкина «Дубки» |
| Картина Ивана Шишкина «Папоротники в лесу» |
| Иван Иванович Шишкин — царь русского пейзажа |
Key Takeaways
- Find something you enjoy doing and pursue it with vigor, as Shishkin did with landscape painting.
- Listen to the opinions of others, but do not let them dictate you. Shishkin’s parents were initially dismissive of his artistic dreams and his teachers urged him to paint something other than the landscape. What a loss it would have been had he listened.
- Great drawing is the foundation of great painting.
- There is no substitute for rigorous practice.
- Shishkin had a deep appreciation for nature, and it shows through his work.
- There is more to art than creating pretty drawings and paintings. I have no doubt art helped Shishkin endure the many tragedies he faced.
Ivan Shishkin, Ferns in the Forest. Siverskiy, 1883
Key Facts and Ideas
Here are some key facts and ideas I found interesting. Refer to the resources linked at the end of this post if you want to dive deeper:
- He was a man of many nicknames: “Czar of the Forest”, “The Bear”, “Titan of the Russian Forest”, “Old Pine Tree”, and “Lonely Oak”.
- Shishkin’s art journey began at an early age with a pencil in hand. Below is one of his early self-portraits.
Ivan Shishkin, Self-Portrait, 1854
- He attended the First Kazan gymnasium-a prestigious school for academics. I assume his parents planned for him to graduate and join his father’s grain trade business. But Shishkin had his sight set on becoming an artist.
- At first, his parents dismissed his artistic aspirations, so he drew alone at night, under candlelight (Russian Art Gallery). Eventually, his parents relaxed their grasp.
- His formal art training began in 1852, enrolling in the Moscow School of Painting and subsequently the Imperial Academy of Arts. He graduated from the Imperial Academy with a gold medal for View of Valaam Island (below) and a scholarship to paint in Europe.
Ivan Shishkin, View of Valaam Island, 1860
He was a member of Peredvizhniki, a group of Russian realist artists who rejected the Imperial Academy’s rigid approach and sought to make art more accessible to the public. The group included Isaac Levitan, Ilya Repin, Alexei Savrasov, Valentin Serov, and Emily Shanks. The group is pictured below, with Shishkin circled.
He married Evgenia Vassilyev in 1868 (featured in the painting below). Her brother Fyodor was also a remarkable landscape painter and trained under Shishkin.
Ivan Shishkin, In Front of the Mirror. Reading the Letter, 1870
- 1874 marked the start of a long string of tragic events. His father, his wife, his student Fyodor, and his two sons all died over a short period (I was unable to find specifics). Shishkin later remarried one of his students, Olga Lagoda, who died after the birth of their daughter. Life can be cruel…
- Despite the tragedies, he continued to paint and improve. His Morning in a Pine Forest made Shishkin a household name in Russia. But credit where credit’s due: it was Konstantin Savitsky who came up with the idea and added the four bears to the painting. Without such an addition, this would have been just another-albeit stunning-Shishkin landscape.
Ivan Shishkin, Morning in a Pine Forest, 1889
Below is Shishkin’s study for the painting. A charming work of art in its own right.
Ivan Shishkin, Morning in a Pine Forest. Sketch, 1889
- His success was not without criticism. His contemporaries deemed him to be more of a craftsman than a “real” artist.
- His final painting was Mast-Tree Grove (below). It exhibited at the Imperial Russian Museum’s grand opening in March 1898. Shishkin could not attend due to illness. He died the morning after at his easel, in the hands of a student (Russian Art Gallery). A fitting way for an artist to go. He was 66.
Ivan Shishkin, Mast-Tree Grove, 1898
Drawing, Brushwork, and Technique
Much of Shishkin’s success can be attributed to his formal training and rigorous drawing practice. As Joaquín Sorolla put it:
Below are some of his drawings:
Ivan Shishkin, Self-Portrait, 1886
Ivan Shishkin, Part of the Trunk of a Pine, 1890
Shishkin also mastered the art of etching. Below are two examples: a detailed forest and an album cover.
Ivan Shishkin, Etching, Vacation in the Woods, 1865
Ivan Shishkin, Etching, Album Cover, 1886
For the most part, he avoided the “plastic” appearance that often comes with such refined realism. You can see what I am referring to in his early work, like View of Valaam Island. It looks realistic, but not natural.
Ivan Shishkin, View of Valaam Island, 1858
His later work is more sophisticated. Refer to Off the Coast of the Gulf of Finland. Much more controlled with his use of color and detail. It reminds me of Sir Author Streeton’s work, though Streeton was more of an Impressionist.
Ivan Shishkin, Off the Coast of the Gulf of Finland (Adrias Near Narva), 1889