The sketch “Autumn twilight” dates to early Mstyora period in Vladimir Yakovlevich Yukin’s creativity and reveals outstanding characteristics of works of Vladimir painting school founders by the end of 1940s– in early to mid-1950s. That was a period of laying of a foundation. Afterwards, fundamentals of the art phenomenon which is widely recognized now were built.

Young painters drew on the old traditions of Russian realistic painting derived from their teachers. Kim Britov acquired his first artistic skills at the art studio of Sergey Mikhailovich Chesnokov (1890—1965), a leading teacher and a painter of Kovrov. Then he studied in Vladimir under supervision of the professor, artist, restorer, fine art expert Sychev Nikolai Petrovich (1883—1964). Vladimir Yakovlevich Yukin studied at the specialized school in Ivanovo before the war. Michael Semyonovich Pyrin who was not only a teacher but also a painter (1874—1943) was among his teachers there.

Mstyora period in V. Ya.Yukin’s creativity was immensely productive. He worked as a teacher at Mstyora art vocational school, ran an art studio. Also, he liked plein-air painting and taught his students to do that. He worked with his students in the workshops too. Meanwhile for the first time the artist took part in the regional art exhibition. He featured two works in the exhibition.

His landscapes were selected for a national exhibition in Moscow. Yukin’s picture “Spring” featured in the exhibition was conferred the Certificate of the Art Affairs Committee of the Cabinet Council of the RSFSR. That first reward provided inspiration for the artist’s future creative successes and was best remembered as an important benchmark of his achievement acknowledgment.

V. Ya.Yukin resorted to classic realistic rendering of light and air environment and space in the sketch “Autumn twilight”. The faraway ground with the sketchy tree shapes is plunging softly further into the depth of the landscape. That is emphasized with the help of composition of the painting. There is a road which is going to the horizon in the picture. The sketch coloration is created on related hues and complex shades.

Sober color palette of the evening state of nature, brooding clouds and small light almost near the horizon convey the author’s lyrical feeling and remind sketches of Russian landscape classicists of the latter half of the 19^thcentury- the first half of the 20^thcentury. The whole galaxy of high-level masters work on Vladimir land. The work “Autumn twilight” is of the same high level, on the other side, it meets requirements of the socialist realism.