Russian landscape painter Ivan Shishkin was born in 1832 in Yelabuga into a merchant family. In 1852-1856 he was a student of the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, in 1857-1861 he continued his studies at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. In 1865 he was granted the title of Academician of Painting, in 1873 he became a professor, and in 1894-1895 he led his landscape workshop.
Shishkin is considered a major representative of the Dusseldorf School of Art - one of the most influential European painting schools. Among Russian landscape painters, he belongs to the place of one of the strongest artists. In his art, he established himself as a sophisticated connoisseur of nature: he reproduced it with scrupulous attention, carefully depicting both the general planes, and to the eye of a layman the barely noticeable traits of different species of shrubs, trees, grasses.
Being a vivid representative of the realistic landscape of the second half of the 19th century, Shishkin authentically portrayed the discreet beauty of nature in central Russia. He painted the Pine in the Sand in 1884 during the heyday of his creative career, when his painting became more general and softer, and the color, on the contrary, was finer and more complex. At this time, he created symbols of Russian nature, including the image of the Russian forest.
Sandy terrain is depicted in the foreground of this picture, in which patches of grass are visible in some places. The horizon is close to the viewer, its ratio with the foreground is almost equal – by doing so Shishkin emphasized the elevated foreground. At the border of the yellow-brown sandy terrain there passes a strip signifying the beginning of the forest, while only the upper part of the trees is visible.
The main accent of the composition is placed on the right side of the foreground, elevated above the surrounding landscape, a pine with a thick trunk is depicted. Its spreading and twisted branches are growing down, and the top is cut off by the edge of the picture. The mighty pine tree grows on a sandy hillside, where even stale grass hardly clings to barren soil.
Around the old tree, several young pines are painted - they symbolize a continuing life. The shadow from the pine falls on the road to its left, barely visible in the sand, three light clouds are depicted in the blue sky. Perhaps this work conveys the state of mind of Shishkin himself, who, during the creation of the picture, lost loved ones, but retained the firmness in accepting the circumstances and his love of life.
Shishkin is considered a major representative of the Dusseldorf School of Art - one of the most influential European painting schools. Among Russian landscape painters, he belongs to the place of one of the strongest artists. In his art, he established himself as a sophisticated connoisseur of nature: he reproduced it with scrupulous attention, carefully depicting both the general planes, and to the eye of a layman the barely noticeable traits of different species of shrubs, trees, grasses.
Being a vivid representative of the realistic landscape of the second half of the 19th century, Shishkin authentically portrayed the discreet beauty of nature in central Russia. He painted the Pine in the Sand in 1884 during the heyday of his creative career, when his painting became more general and softer, and the color, on the contrary, was finer and more complex. At this time, he created symbols of Russian nature, including the image of the Russian forest.
Sandy terrain is depicted in the foreground of this picture, in which patches of grass are visible in some places. The horizon is close to the viewer, its ratio with the foreground is almost equal – by doing so Shishkin emphasized the elevated foreground. At the border of the yellow-brown sandy terrain there passes a strip signifying the beginning of the forest, while only the upper part of the trees is visible.
The main accent of the composition is placed on the right side of the foreground, elevated above the surrounding landscape, a pine with a thick trunk is depicted. Its spreading and twisted branches are growing down, and the top is cut off by the edge of the picture. The mighty pine tree grows on a sandy hillside, where even stale grass hardly clings to barren soil.
Around the old tree, several young pines are painted - they symbolize a continuing life. The shadow from the pine falls on the road to its left, barely visible in the sand, three light clouds are depicted in the blue sky. Perhaps this work conveys the state of mind of Shishkin himself, who, during the creation of the picture, lost loved ones, but retained the firmness in accepting the circumstances and his love of life.
