Landscape depicting early spring, with a high sky line. In the foreground is a gentle, brown-ocher, rather high slope of a ravine that has got rid of snow under the rays of the spring sun, somewhere cut by deep steeps, in the lowlands of which lies the darkened snow left over from winter. Along the entire canvas, above the ravine and further above the field, flocks of birds with black plumage are depicted flying at different heights, some of them sit on the ground.

In the background on the right, there is a spreading lonely growing tree resembling a ball, with large branches, with foliage beginning to bloom, giving the impression of a greenish haze. In front of the tree not very tall, cone-shaped monument tapering upward is depicted, surrounded by a rare white fence. On the right, on the horizon, a black line is conditionally drawn, denoting a forest.

The entire upper part of the canvas is occupied by the image of the sky, from blue to sapphire in the upper right corner. Two large clouds are floating in the sky as well as translucent rare gray clouds, looking like haze.

Artists from different eras painted the sky. The portrayal of the changeable sky landscape has always required special skill. On the canvases of Dutch artists, the sky occupied almost two-thirds of the canvas and was painted out so that the season and time of day could be determined. Among the representatives of romanticism, the landscape was often mystical, and the sky served as a reflection of the hero’s spiritual quest. Ivan Aivazovsky depicted the ether as carefully as the waves of the sea.

The color of this spring landscape is warm, ocher-azure. The picture is distinguished by an unpretentious, simple plot that conveys the author’s genuine, quivering love for his native land.

Andrei Ilyich Kurnakov participated in the Great Patriotic War. In his works, you can often see lonely monuments on the vast expanses of fields, the monuments to the soldiers who, at the cost of their lives, saved the Russian land for future generations. Throughout his career, the artist has addressed this topic several times, making a connection between death and the awakening life.

A clear division of the composition into grounds, most of which is occupied by a powerful image of the earth awakening in spring, emphasizes the life-affirming beginning, masterfully conveyed by A.I. Kurnakov with the help of his recognizable brushwork.

In a small-sized painting, the painter’s manner is almost sketchy. The compositional solution was precisely found in a landscape that was simple in terms of the plot. The artist sees beauty in ordinary everyday life, excluding any artificiality and deliberation. This motive of naturalness, apparently, deeply touched the master. Or maybe an everyday plot - the Kurnakovs often went to a dacha located near the village of Znamenka - in the artist’s view developed into a landscape image, inspired by the dream of nature and man’s unity. In this picture, the painter achieves a high degree of generalization. There is a unique charm and touching tenderness of this landscape, tied in a combination of lyrical and epic principles.

“I do not need rich nature, magnificent composition, lighting effect, no miracles, give me at least a dirty puddle, but with the truth in it, poetry, and poetry can be in everything - this is the artist”s business, ” wrote the collector Pavel Tretyakov to the artist A.G. Goravsky in October 1861.

Andrei Ilyich Kurnakov introduces us into the space of the picture, following the road going deep into the depths. Steel towers for power lines, which set a certain rhythm, remind of the presence of a person in the spring landscape”s pristine purity. The foreground is of little interest to the artist this time. It is depicted fluently, decoratively, almost in direct color: road dirt, with separate strokes marking the prints of a passing tractor. But the puddles reflect the bright, clear blue joyful sky, and their mirror-like shine creates a sense of festivity. The sun is somewhere nearby, illuminates the landscape, makes it shine with special, bright colors. The air is filled with peace and tranquility.

This is the incoming of spring. The young greenery that has just appeared along the road is painted with small strokes. Wet plowing is waiting for its owner. And further, as far as the eye could see, stretches the fields and the road. The violet-lilac horizon and sky are painted in complex, large color spots. The jubilant endless sky shimmers with silvery gray, blue and aquamarine. Light clouds complete the revel of color in lilac and light purple.