Feodor Vasiliev was born in Gatchina, son of a post official, in 1850. He was educated at the School of Drawing of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists, at the same time working as a restorer of paintings in one of the workshops of the Academy of Arts. After completing his studies, Vasiliev travelled to the isle of Valaam, to the Ukraine, and down the Volga on a steamboat.

On the invitation of Count Pavel Stroganov, the artist visited the provinces of Tambov and Kharkov. He was looking for landscapes to paint and made a lot of sketches for further work. In 1867–1869, on one of Count Stroganov’s estates, Vasiliev painted “Birch Tree Grove at the End of Day”.

he painting represents an old park on the estate. Several birch trees are bathed in sunlight while the rest of the grove is in the shade. A small pinkish cloud is visible in the sky on the left. The secluded recesses under the canopy of the trees feel cool and dusky: it is almost the hour of sunset.

The palette of the canvas is a combination of warm and cool greens and blues. Vasiliev has an amazing way of painting tree tops catching the light of the setting sun. He employs a whole range of tints and techniques, from thick dark green strokes to a transparent wash of light green and russet gold in the lighter areas.

The meticulous composition of the scene makes the landscape particularly poetic and soulful. Vasiliev liked to paint nature poised for a change in its condition, as this birch tree grove becalmed before the hour of sunset.

Vasiliev’s fame as an artist came during his lifetime. His 1870s painting Thaw was displayed at the London World Fair. The contemporary public believed that the artist was producing his canvasses effortlessly, in an easy flowing manner. However, he wrote: ‘Every one of my pictures is painted not with oils, but with my own sweat and blood’.

While working on Thaw, the artist caught a cold, and doctors soon diagnosed him with tuberculosis. Vasiliev died at the age of twenty-three. In 1874, the Society for the Encouragement of Artists organized his posthumous exhibition, and Birch Tree Grove at the End of Day was purchased by Alexei Bogolubov. In 1885, the latter donated the canvas to the Radishchev Museum.