For Aleksey Savrasov, the landscape was the main element of any painting. The artist had a great influence on the development of landscape painting and celebrated Russian nature. He managed to appreciate and demonstrate the beauty in ordinary things such as tall forests, crooked churches, muddy spring roads, fertile fields, and emptying villages. In his paintings, he depicted the views of the Moscow region, the vicinities of Saint Petersburg, the Volga region, central Russia, and the northern governorates.

Aleksey Savrasov was born into a modest merchant family in Moscow. He started painting from an early age and enrolled at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture where he was called “the hope of Russian painting”. He became a member of the Academy after presenting his final project “View in the Neighbourhood of Oranienbaum”, a painting that was purchased by Pavel Tretyakov for his gallery. In the 1870s, Aleksey Savrasov participated in numerous exhibitions in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Europe and taught at an art school.

The artist’s formative years correspond to the period of transition from Romanticism to Realism. In the early 19th century, painters sought new romantic ideals and believed the peasant lifestyle to be a subject unworthy of their art. While exploring the traditions of Romanticism, Aleksey Savrasov, on the contrary, strived to achieve authenticity, depict the pristine nature, and show the truth.

The Voronezh Regional Art Museum houses the painting “Winter. Hoarfrost” which is one of Savrasov’s later works. It is characterized by an elegant color palette. The sky is densely covered with winter clouds which are reflected in the ice-bound water. The white strip of snow and the frosty trees create a bright and sharp contrast. In this seemingly monotonous space, the artist created the atmosphere of a shiny winter morning.