Morning in the forest Shishkin. The real story of the creation of the painting "Morning in a pine forest" (from the cycle "Vyatka - the birthplace of elephants")

"Three Bears" - a picture called so in the common people, it has official name- "Morning in pine forest". The canvas was painted in oil in 1889, its dimensions are 139 x 213 (rather large), it is stored in the State Tretyakov Gallery. The signature under the picture is only Ivan Shishkin.

Most replicated picture

The official name is more consistent with the painting itself, since there are four bears on the canvas, not three. But there is no person on the territory of the CIS who would not know this work, and precisely under the name "Three Bears". The painting is incredibly popular, it can be argued that by saying modern language, this is the most hyped picture. This was facilitated by wrappers of the most purchased and delicious sweets in Soviet times, tablecloths, bedspreads and wall rugs repeating the plot. And it is the bears depicted in the foreground that are famous among the general population, and the beautifully depicted morning forest serves as a backdrop.

Not a very good collaboration

And the bears were painted by another artist - Savitsky Konstantin Apollonovich (1844 - 1905), genre painter, academician, friend of Shishkin. Savitsky convinced Shishkin that the picture lacked dynamics, and the animals in the foreground would make up for the lack. Art historians write that Shishkin did not succeed in bears, but Savitsky - on the contrary. And, indeed, the clubfoot turned out so well that, with mutual agreement, friends under the picture put their signatures. But Tretyakov and Savitsky at that time had some friction, and when buying a painting for his gallery, he demanded that Savitsky's signature be removed. Obviously, the collector's desire was the law, and only Shishkin's signature remained, and he received the fee alone and, probably, did not share it with the co-author, because they ceased to be friends.

Island covered with pines

This is the "wrong side" of the canvas "Three Bears". The picture is so beautiful, calm, blissful. Of course, Tretyakov was a connoisseur and connoisseur of painting, and the forest, depicted by an unsurpassed master, represented for the buyer true value and the bears didn't even like it. Yes, and experts are delighted with the landscape that Shishkin spied on Gorodomlya Island (Lake Seliger), brilliantly transferred to the canvas.

Popularly known as the "Three Bears", the picture really does a wonderful job of conveying the state of nature. At first glance, it is clear that this is the morning. The mist pierced by the rays of the rising sun is amazingly depicted.

landscape queen

The brilliant landscape painter, in love with Shishkin, often painted pine trees. Different, at any time of the year, lit by the sun and covered with snow, they are beautiful.

The smallest needles are visible on his canvases, the roughness of the bark is felt, it seems that the smell of pine comes from the paintings of Ivan Ivanovich. "Three Bears" - depicting the wilderness of the forest. It seems that you can hear the crackling of the trunks of centuries-old pines, but how you feel the depth of the cliff located behind the right bear cub. And the infinity of the forest is depicted ingeniously. And the fog, still blue at the edges, in the center already illuminated by the sun. And the teddy bear, drawn on the right, seems to have admired the beautiful morning. And nature has not yet fully woken up, and breathes in the morning coolness. work of genius, masterpiece. Maybe he didn't need dynamics.

The result is complete harmony.

In fairness, it must be said that the bears do not spoil the canvas in any way, they fit into it very well. The painting "Three Bears", the description of which was given above, is very organic, and it is impossible to imagine it without these good-natured representatives. wildlife. Perhaps the complacency emanating from a mother bear with three cubs is explained by the absence of a person near. And this peace of animals also emphasizes the depth of the thicket of the forest. “... And fresh moss is crushed under the paws, dry branches crack under the weight ...” - the poet’s wonderful words about the picture. Morning, silence, harmony in the plant and animal world, in nature in general - the picture has a very calming effect: “... and just look at this beauty, and I know that it will Save, Warm!”

Ivan Shishkin. Morning in a pine forest. 1889 Tretyakov Gallery

"Morning in a pine forest" - the most famous picture Ivan Shishkin. No, take it higher. This is the most popular painting in Russia.

But this fact, it seems to me, is of little use to the masterpiece itself. Even hurt him.

When a picture is too popular, it flashes everywhere. in every textbook. On candy wrappers (with which the frenzied popularity of the picture began 100 years ago).

As a result, the viewer loses interest in the picture. We skim over it with a quick glance with the thought "Ah, it's her again ...". And we pass by.

For the same reason, I did not write about it. Although for several years I have been writing articles about masterpieces. And one would wonder how I missed this blockbuster. But now you know why.

I am correcting myself. For I want to take a closer look at Shishkin's masterpiece with you.

Why "Morning in a Pine Forest" is a masterpiece

Shishkin was a realist to the core. He depicted the forest very believably. Carefully choosing colors. Such realism easily pulls the viewer into the picture.

Look at least color solutions.

Pale emerald needles in the shade. Light green color of young grass in the rays of the morning sun. Dark ocher needles on a fallen tree.

The fog is also tailored from the combination different shades. Greenish in shade. Blueish in the light. And it turns into yellowness closer to the tops of the trees.

All this complexity creates the general impression of being in this forest. You feel this forest. Don't just see it. The craftsmanship is incredible.

But Shishkin's paintings, alas, are often compared with photographs. Considering the master deeply old-fashioned. Why such realism, if there are photo-images?

I do not agree with this position. It is important what angle the artist chooses, what lighting, what fog and even moss. All this together reveals to us a piece of the forest from a special side. Like we wouldn't see it. But we see - through the eyes of the artist.

And through his eyes we experience pleasant emotions: delight, inspiration, nostalgia. And this is the point: to encourage the viewer to a spiritual response.

Savitsky - assistant or co-author of a masterpiece?

The story with the co-authorship of Konstantin Savitsky seems strange to me. In all sources, you will read that Savitsky was an animal painter, which is why he volunteered to help his friend Shishkin. Like, such realistic bears are his merit.

But if you look at Savitsky's works, you will immediately understand that animalistics is NOT his main genre.

He was typical. He often wrote to the poor. Radel with the help of paintings for the disadvantaged. Here is one of his outstanding works, "Meeting the Icon."

Yes, on it, in addition to the crowd, there are also horses. Savitsky really knew how to portray them very realistically.

But Shishkin also easily coped with a similar task, if you look at his animalistic works. In my opinion, he did not worse than Savitsky.

Therefore, it is not entirely clear why Shishkin instructed Savitsky to write the bears. I'm sure he could handle it himself. They were friends. Perhaps it was an attempt to help a friend financially? Shishkin was more successful. He received serious money for his paintings.

For the bears, Savitsky received 1/4 of the fee from Shishkin - as much as 1000 rubles (with our money, this is about 0.5 million rubles!) It is unlikely that Savitsky could have received such an amount for his own work.

Formally, Tretyakov was right. After all, the whole composition was thought out by Shishkin. Even the posture and location of the bears. This is obvious when looking at the sketches.

Co-authorship as a phenomenon in Russian painting

In addition, this is not the first such case in Russian painting. I immediately remembered Aivazovsky's painting "Pushkin's Farewell to the Sea." Pushkin in the picture of the great marine painter was painted by ... Ilya Repin.

But his name is not in the picture. It's not a bear though. And yet great poet. Which you need not just realistically portray. But to be expressive. So that the same farewell to the sea is read in the eyes.

In my opinion, this is a more difficult task than the image of bears. Nevertheless, Repin did not insist on co-authorship. On the contrary, he was incredibly happy joint work with the great Aivazovsky.

Savitsky was more proud. Offended by Tretyakov. But he continued to be friends with Shishkin.

But we cannot deny that without the bears, this painting would not have become the artist's most recognizable painting. It would be another masterpiece of Shishkin. Majestic and breathtaking scenery.

But he wouldn't be that popular. It was the bears who played their part. This means that Savitsky should not be completely discounted.

How to rediscover "Morning in a Pine Forest"

And in conclusion, I want to return to the problem of overdose with the image of a masterpiece. How can you look at it with fresh eyes?

I think it's possible. To do this, look at a little-known sketch for the painting.

It is done in quick strokes. The figures of the bears are only outlined and painted by Shishkin himself. Particularly impressive is the light in the form of golden vertical strokes.

To start: As you know, many epoch-making events in world history are inextricably linked with the city of Vyatka (in some versions - Kirov (who is Sergei Mironych)). What is the reason for this - the stars may have stood up like that, maybe the air or alumina is somehow especially healing there, maybe the collager has influenced, but the fact remains: no matter what happens in the world is especially significant, the "hand of Vyatka" can be traced in almost everything. However, so far no one has taken responsibility and the hard work of systematizing all the significant phenomena that are directly linked to the history of Vyatka. In this situation, a group of young promising historians (in my person) undertook to make this attempt. As a result, a cycle of highly artistic scientific and historical essays on documented historical facts under the heading "Vyatka - the birthplace of elephants". Which I plan to post on this resource from time to time. So, let's begin.

Vyatka - the birthplace of elephants

Vyatka bear - main character paintings "Morning in pine forest»

Art critics have long proven that Shishkin painted the painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” from nature, and not from the wrapper of the candy “Clumsy Bear”. The history of writing a masterpiece is quite interesting.

In 1885, Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin decided to paint a canvas that would reflect the deep strength and immense power of the Russian pine forest. The artist chose the Bryansk forests as the place for writing the canvas. For three months, Shishkin lived in a hut, seeking unity with nature. The result of the action was the landscape “Pine Forest. Morning". However, the wife of Ivan Ivanovich Sofya Karlovna, who served as the main expert and critic of the paintings of the great painter, considered that the canvas lacked dynamics. On family council it was decided to supplement the landscape with forest living creatures. Initially, it was planned to "let the hares along the canvas", however, their small dimensions would hardly have been able to convey the power and strength of the Russian forest. I had to choose from three textured representatives of the fauna: a bear, a wild boar and an elk. The selection was made by the cut-off method. The boar fell away immediately - Sofya Karlovna did not like pork. Sukhaty also did not pass the competition, as an elk climbing a tree would look unnatural. In search of a suitable bear that won the tender, Shishkin was again resettled in the Bryansk forests. However, this time he was disappointed. All the Bryansk bears seemed to the painter to be skinny and unsympathetic. Shishkin continued his search in other provinces. For 4 years the artist wandered through the forests of the Oryol, Ryazan and Pskov regions, but did not find an exhibit worthy of a masterpiece. “Today the bear, which is not purebred, has gone, maybe a wild boar will do?” Shishkin wrote to his wife from the hut. Sofya Karlovna helped her husband here too - in Brem's encyclopedia "Animal Life" she read that the bears living in the Vyatka province have the best exterior. The biologist described brown bear Vyatka line as "a strongly built animal with a correct bite and well-standing ears". Shishkin went to Vyatka, to the Omutninsky district, in search of the ideal animal. On the sixth day of his stay in the forest, not far from his cozy dugout, the artist discovered a lair of magnificent representatives of the brown breed of bears. The bears also discovered Shishkin and Ivan Ivanovich added them from memory. In 1889, the great canvas was completed, certified by Sofia Karlovna and placed in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Unfortunately, few people remember the significant contribution of Vyatka nature to the painting “Morning in a Pine Forest”. But in vain. And to this day, the bear in these parts is found powerful and thoroughbred. It is a well-known fact that Gromyk the bear from the Zonikha fur farm posed for the emblem of the 1980 Olympics.

Vyacheslav Sykchin,
independent historian,
chairman of the cell of medvedologists
Vyatka Society of Darwinists.

Ivan Shishkin glorified not only his hometown(Elabuga) to the whole country, but also to the entire vast territory of Russia to the whole world. His most famous painting is Morning in a Pine Forest. Why is she so famous and why is she considered practically the standard of painting? Let's try to understand this issue.

Shishkin and landscapes

Ivan Shishkin - renowned landscape painter. His unique style work originates from the Düsseldorf school of drawing. But, unlike most of his colleagues, the artist passed the main techniques through himself, which allowed him to create a unique style that is not inherent in anyone else.

Shishkin admired nature all his life, she inspired him to create numerous masterpieces from a million colors and shades. The artist has always tried to depict the flora as he sees it, without any exaggerations and decorations.

He tried to choose landscapes untouched by human hand. Virgin, like the forests of the taiga. combine realism with a poetic view of nature. Ivan Ivanovich saw poetry in the play of light and shadow, in the power of Mother Earth, in the fragility of one Christmas tree standing in the wind.

The versatility of the artist

It's hard to imagine such brilliant artist mayor or school teacher. But Shishkin combined many talents. Coming from a merchant family, he had to follow in the footsteps of his parent. In addition, Shishkin's good nature quickly attracted people all over the city to him. He was elected to the post of manager and helped to develop his native Yelabuga as best he could. Naturally, this manifested itself in the writing of paintings. Peru Shishkin owns the "History of the city of Yelabuga".

Ivan Ivanovich managed to paint pictures and participate in fascinating archaeological excavations. For some time he lived abroad, and even became an academician in Düsseldorf.

Shishkin was an active member of the Wanderers, where he met with other famous Russian artists. He was considered a real authority among other painters. They tried to inherit the style of the master, and the paintings inspired both writers and painters.

After himself, he left a memory of numerous landscapes that have become decorations of museums and private collections around the globe.

After Shishkin, few people managed to depict the whole versatility of Russia's nature so realistically and so beautifully. Whatever happened in the artist's personal life, he did not let his troubles be reflected on the canvases.

background

The artist treated the forest nature with great trepidation, she literally captivated him with her countless colors, variety of shades, the rays of the sun breaking through the thick pine branches.

The painting "Morning in a Pine Forest" became the embodiment of Shishkin's love for the forest. It gained popularity very quickly, and was soon used in pop culture, on stamps, and even on candy wrappers. To this day, it is carefully kept in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Description: "Morning in a pine forest"

Ivan Shishkin managed to capture one moment from a whole forest life. He conveyed with the help of a drawing the moment of the beginning of the day, when the sun had just begun to rise. An amazing moment of the birth of a new life. The painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” depicts an awakening forest and still sleepy bear cubs who are getting out of a secluded dwelling.

In this picture, as in many others, the artist wanted to emphasize the immensity of nature. To do this, he cut off the tops of the pines at the top of the canvas.

If you look closely, you can see that the roots of the tree on which the cubs frolic have been torn out. Shishkin seemed to emphasize that this forest is so unsociable and deaf that only animals can live in it, and the trees fall by themselves, from old age.

In the morning in a pine forest, Shishkin indicated with the help of the fog that we see between the trees. Thanks to this artistic move, the time of day becomes obvious.

co-authorship

Shishkin was an excellent landscape painter, but rarely took on the images of animals in his works. The painting "Morning in a Pine Forest" was no exception. He created the landscape, but the four cubs were painted by another artist, an animal specialist, Konstantin Savitsky. They say that it was he who suggested the very idea for this picture. Drawing morning in a pine forest, Shishkin took Savitsky as a co-author, and the picture was originally signed by the two of them. However, after the canvas was transferred to the gallery, Tretyakov considered Shishkin's work to be more extensive and erased the name of the second artist.

Story

Shishkin and Savitsky went to nature. This is how the story began. The morning in the pine forest seemed so beautiful to them that it was impossible not to immortalize it on canvas. To search for a prototype, they went to Gordomlya Island, which stands on Lake Seliger. They found this landscape and new inspiration for the painting.

The island, all covered with forests, kept the remains of virgin nature. For many centuries it stood untouched. This could not leave artists indifferent.

Claims

The painting was born in 1889. Although initially Savitsky complained to Tretyakov that he erased his name, he soon changed his mind and abandoned this masterpiece in favor of Shishkin.

He substantiated his decision by the fact that the style of the painting fully corresponds to what Ivan Ivanovich did, and even the sketches of the bears originally belonged to him.

Facts and misconceptions

Like any famous painting, the painting "Morning in a Pine Forest" is of great interest. Consequently, she has a number of interpretations, she is mentioned in literature and in the cinema. This masterpiece is spoken about both in high society and on the streets.

Over time, some facts have been changed, and general misconceptions are firmly rooted in society:

• One of the common mistakes is the opinion that Vasnetsov created Morning in a Pine Forest together with Shishkin. Viktor Mikhailovich, of course, was familiar with Ivan Ivanovich, since they were together in the club of the Wanderers. However, Vasnetsov could not be the author of such a landscape. If you pay attention to his style, he is not at all like Shishkin, they belong to different art schools. These names are still mentioned together from time to time. Vasnetsov is not that artist. "Morning in a pine forest", without any doubt, drew Shishkin.
• The name of the painting sounds like "Morning in a pine forest." Bor is just a second name that people seemed to find more appropriate and mysterious.
• Unofficially, some Russians still call the painting "Three Bears", which is a gross mistake. The animals in the picture are not three, but four. It is likely that the canvas began to be called that because of the popular Soviet time sweets called "Bear clubfoot". The wrapper depicted a reproduction of Shishkin's "Morning in a Pine Forest". The people gave the candy the name "Three Bears".
• The picture has its "first version". Shishkin painted another canvas of the same theme. He called it "Fog in the pine forest." Not many people know about this picture. She is rarely remembered. Cloth not available Russian Federation. To this day it is kept in private collection in Poland.
• Initially, there were only two bear cubs in the picture. Shishkin later decided that four clubfoot must be present in the image. Thanks to the addition of two more bears, the genre of the picture has changed. She began to be on the "borderline", as some elements of the game scene appeared on the landscape.

The theme of the Russian landscape in art XIX century includes two directions, two attitudes of artists to the image native nature. The first direction is a lyrical landscape, such as Alexei Savrasov's, “The Rooks Have Arrived”. The grey, unsightly appearance is tinged with personal feeling and spiritual delight. The master, by his attitude, transforms the ordinary into something important, meaningful.

The second path chosen by landscape painters at the end of the century is the so-called Shishkin variant. It is an epic, analytical landscape. , whose work we have already talked about, creates collective image nature. It is known that artists like to joke on themselves. For fun, they listed a set of features by which the Russian landscape should be defined. Here they are - 1. the road going into the distance; 2. rye field or pine forest; 3. bear or working woman 🙂. The above attributes must certainly be present in the landscapes of Russian artists. 90% of these components can be found in paintings.

The most famous canvas of the master is “Morning in a pine forest”. Bears are replicated in a multitude - on porcelain plates, on candy wrappers, on boxes and on many reproductions - high-quality and not very good. And although, undoubtedly, he was a brilliant landscape painter, but he was a useless animal painter, instead of a bear, he got an animal of an unknown breed. But trees, vegetation, he wrote brilliantly. The artist studied in Germany, hence his meticulous attention to detail, drawing plants. The details in the foreground of his landscapes seem to have been taken from the pages of a botany textbook. And at the same time, in many of his works, a Russian scope is felt, Russian expanse- forest, field, rye.

K.A.Savitsky - co-author of the painting "Morning in a pine forest"

Returning to the painting “Morning in a Pine Forest”, which everyone attributes to Shishkin, one should not forget that the canvas had two authors. All adorable bears were painted by Konstantin Savitsky. Disagreements among the authors arose on the basis of remuneration for the picture. When it came to the fee, Savitsky counted on half the amount. Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov had in mind to pay Shishkin's co-author only a quarter. Tretyakov bought this landscape from Shishkin's studio. Having come to Ivan Shishkin for the amount due to him, Savitsky heard about a quarter of the fee.

Savitsky decided to go in from the other side. He went with Tretyakov demanding fair payment. Then Pavel Mikhailovich told the petitioner that he knew only one author of “Morning in a Pine Forest” and that author was Ivan Shishkin. Konstantin, who always fought to the end, brought the patron an indisputable proof of his co-authorship - his own signature next to Shishkin's autograph. To which Tretyakov reacted immediately. “Turpentine!” he said loudly. And with his own hand, with a rag soaked in turpentine, he erased Savitsky's signature from the canvas in front of the astonished author. (The picture shows a fragment of a painting with an enlarged signature in the lower left corner).

P.M. Tretyakov and K.A. Savitsky

By the way, Tretyakov did not like Konstantin Savitsky, considering him too selfish. The philanthropist and the artist constantly had disagreements about money. Pavel Mikhailovich believed that an artist who sells a painting in folk gallery, should consider this alone the highest award and honor. Savitsky, on the other hand, cut himself for every penny, believed that everything had to be paid in full, so he bargained to death with Tretyakov. It should be noted that the merchant nature never betrayed Pavel Tretyakov. He was a very tight-fisted man and often underpaid artists.

That is why everyone forgot about K. Savitsky as a co-author of the famous canvas. And as proof of the veracity of the story, we present a dirty spot under the signature of Shishkin - at this place there was once a stroke of K. Savitsky. (In the photo - an enlarged fragment)

But if you leave all the behind-the-scenes intrigues of the masters and just look at the picture, then it is really charming. The authors looked into the holy of holies for a second. The curtain parted and the bears entered the stage. The head of the family, a big bear, took her offspring for a walk. Every winter bears bring one or two cubs. The older bear cub, which was born the previous winter, does not take much interest in the parent. He is already big, knows a lot and can do it. not without reason knowledgeable hunters his name is a tutor - a teacher with younger cubs. Her main focus is on the little ones that were born this year. The she-bear watches them closely, ready to help or punish.