Essay plan:

  1. I.I. Shishkin is a landscape artist.
  2. Early summer morning.
  3. Foreground:
    • forest;
    • a tree broken by a storm;
    • funny teddy bears;
    • caring mother;
  4. Background (fog).
  5. My attitude to this picture.

Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin is an outstanding Russian landscape artist. He created many paintings in which he glorifies the beauty and poetry of his native lands. Endless forest expanses, birch and oak groves flooded with sunlight, mighty ship pines….

His canvases amazingly accurately and realistically depict a variety of vegetable world, which seems to come to life under the master’s brush, breathes, gives us freshness and coolness, evokes evening sadness or, conversely, awakens the bright joy of contemplating beauty. Painting "Morning in pine forest“Many of us have known and loved since childhood. No wonder it is considered one of the best works Shishkina.

The painting depicts a large family of bears. One early summer morning, three little bear cubs and their mother bear went out for a walk. The sun is just rising. It gently illuminates the tops of huge pines. Thick fog envelops the forest. It will soon dissipate from the sun's rays. In the small clearing where the bears had gathered, it had almost melted.

The animals wandered into a coniferous forest and accidentally discovered an old dried tree that had broken during a recent storm. Its trunk broke into two parts with a crash, and huge roots even turned up the ground.

The cubs depicted in the picture are brown in color. They are not quite big yet, mischievous, club-footed. Two of them have white collars around their necks. The bravest of them climbed almost to the very top of the trunk of a broken tree and hung on its very edge, clinging to the rough bark with his claws, in danger of falling into the ravine. And the second one has only reached the middle.

He probably also wants to climb higher, but he’s scared. Here he is, clumsy, and sat on a tree, helplessly looking at the mother bear, not knowing what to do next. The third, the most careful one, climbed onto the other half of the broken tree, which fell onto the slope of the ravine, but did not roll into it, but caught its branches on the trunk of a neighboring pine tree. The bear cub cautiously stood on its hind legs, slightly tilted its head and listened to the sounds of the waking forest, peering into the thick fog. There, in the fog, tall, green pines sway and rustle.

The bear is large, shaggy, brown in color. Like any mother, she worries about her mischievous cubs, who are playful and restless. She even growls and probably warns them that they might fall out of the tree and should be careful. Or maybe she noticed some danger and wants to warn her children about it. It's time to finish the morning walk and go deep into the forest. She rushes from one bear cub to another, the dark green grass beneath her is trampled.

The artist skillfully conveys the atmosphere of the early morning in the forest. Soft diffused light falls through the dense crowns of trees and seems golden. In the background, the fog stands like a veil, through which the slender trunks of pine trees can be discerned. Thanks to the slightly blurred background, the viewer's attention is focused on the bear family.

I really like this picture because it depicts a fun and lively subject, and the bear cubs are so cute and funny. I just want to play with them, stroke their soft brown fur!

Ivan Shishkin. Morning in a pine forest. 1889 Tretyakov Gallery

“Morning in a Pine Forest” is the most famous picture Ivan Shishkin. No, take it higher. This is the most popular painting in Russia.

But this fact, it seems to me, brings little benefit to the masterpiece itself. It even harms him.

When it's too popular, it flashes everywhere. In every textbook. On candy wrappers (where the wild popularity of the painting began 100 years ago).

As a result, the viewer loses interest in the picture. We glance at her quickly with the thought “Oh, it’s her again...”. And we pass by.

For the same reason I didn’t write about her. Although I’ve been writing articles about masterpieces for several years now. And one might be surprised how I passed by this blockbuster. But now you know why.

I'm correcting myself. Because I want to look at Shishkin’s masterpiece with you more closely.

Why “Morning in a Pine Forest” is a masterpiece

Shishkin was a realist to the core. He depicted the forest very realistically. Choosing colors carefully. Such realism easily draws the viewer into the picture.

Just look at the color schemes.

Pale emerald pine needles in the shade. Light green color of young grass in the rays of the morning sun. Dark ocher pine needles on a fallen tree.

The fog is also made from a combination of different shades. Greenish in the shade. Bluish in the light. And it turns yellow closer to the treetops.

Ivan Shishkin. Morning in a pine forest (fragment). 1889 Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

All this complexity creates the overall impression of being in this forest. You feel this forest. And don't just see it. The craftsmanship is incredible.

But Shishkin’s paintings, alas, are often compared to photographs. Considering the master deeply old-fashioned. Why such realism if there are photo images?

I do not agree with this position. It is important what angle the artist chooses, what kind of lighting, what kind of fog and even moss. All this together reveals to us a piece of the forest from a special side. In a way we wouldn't see him. But we see through the eyes of an artist.

And through his gaze we experience pleasant emotions: delight, inspiration, nostalgia. And this is the point: to provoke the viewer to a spiritual response.

Savitsky – assistant or co-author of the masterpiece?

The story of Konstantin Savitsky’s co-authorship seems strange to me. In all sources you will read that Savitsky was an animal painter, which is why he volunteered to help his friend Shishkin. Like, such realistic bears are his merit.

But if you look at Savitsky’s works, you will immediately understand that animal painting is NOT his main genre.

He was typical. He often wrote about the poor. Helped with the help of paintings for the disadvantaged. Here is one of his outstanding works, “Meeting of an Icon.”

Konstantin Savitsky. Meeting the icon. 1878 Tretyakov Gallery.

Yes, in addition to the crowd, there are also horses. Savitsky really knew how to portray them very realistically.

But Shishkin also easily coped with a similar task, if you look at his animalistic works. In my opinion, he did no worse than Savitsky.

Ivan Shishkin. Goby. 1863 Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Therefore, it is not entirely clear why Shishkin commissioned Savitsky to write the bears. I'm sure he could handle it himself. They were friends. Perhaps this was an attempt to help a friend financially? Shishkin was more successful. He received serious money for his paintings.

For the bears, Savitsky received 1/4 of the fee from Shishkin - as much as 1000 rubles (with our money, this is about 0.5 million rubles!) It is unlikely that Savitsky could have received such an amount for his own entire work.

Formally, Tretyakov was right. After all, Shishkin thought through the entire composition. Even the poses and positions of the bears. This is obvious if you look at the sketches.

Co-authorship as a phenomenon in Russian painting

Moreover, this is not the first such case in Russian painting. I immediately remembered Aivazovsky’s painting “Pushkin’s Farewell to the Sea.” Pushkin in the painting of the great marine painter was painted by... Ilya Repin.

But his name is not in the picture. Although these are not bears. But still a great poet. Which needs to not only be depicted realistically. But to be expressive. So that the same farewell to the sea can be read in the eyes.

In my opinion, this is a more difficult task than depicting bears. Nevertheless, Repin did not insist on co-authorship. On the contrary, I was incredibly happy to work together with the great Aivazovsky.

Savitsky was prouder. I was offended by Tretyakov. But he continued to be friends with Shishkin.

But we cannot deny that without the bears this painting would not have become the artist's most recognizable painting. This would be another masterpiece of Shishkin. Majestic and breathtaking landscape.

But he wouldn't be so popular. It was the bears who played their role. This means that Savitsky should not be completely discounted.

How to rediscover “Morning in a Pine Forest”

And in conclusion, I would like to return again to the problem of overdose of the image of a masterpiece. How can you look at it with fresh eyes?

I think it's possible. To do this, look at the little-known sketch for the painting.

Ivan Shishkin. Sketch for the painting “Morning in a Pine Forest.” 1889 Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

It is done with quick strokes. The figures of the bears are only outlined and painted by Shishkin himself. Particularly impressive is the light in the form of golden vertical strokes.

Now look again at the painting “Morning in a Pine Forest.” And you will be able to “read” it with fresh eyes. See something you haven't noticed before.

"The Nun" by Ilya Repin

Ilya Repin. Nun. 1878. State Tretyakov Gallery / Portrait under an X-ray


A young girl in strict monastic clothes looks thoughtfully at the viewer from the portrait. The image is classic and familiar - it probably would not have aroused interest among art critics if not for the memoirs of Lyudmila Alekseevna Shevtsova-Spore, the niece of Repin’s wife. They revealed an interesting story.

Sofia Repina, née Shevtsova, posed for Ilya Repina for The Nun. The girl was the artist’s sister-in-law - and at one time Repin himself was seriously infatuated with her, but he married her younger sister Vera. Sophia became the wife of Repin’s brother Vasily, an orchestra member of the Mariinsky Theater.

This did not stop the artist from repeatedly painting portraits of Sophia. For one of them, the girl posed in a formal ball gown: a light elegant dress, lace sleeves, and a high hairstyle. While working on the painting, Repin had a serious quarrel with the model. As you know, anyone can offend an artist, but few can take revenge as creatively as Repin did. The offended artist “dressed” Sophia in the portrait in monastic clothes.

The story, similar to an anecdote, was confirmed by an x-ray. The researchers were lucky: Repin did not remove the original paint layer, which allowed them to examine the heroine’s original outfit in detail.

"Park Alley" by Isaac Brodsky


Isaac Brodsky. Park alley. 1930. Private collection / Isaac Brodsky. Alley of the park in Rome. 1911

No less interesting riddle left for researchers by Repin's student, Isaac Brodsky. The Tretyakov Gallery houses his painting “Park Alley,” which at first glance is unremarkable: Brodsky had many works on “park” themes. However, the further you go into the park, the more colorful layers there are.

One of the researchers noticed that the composition of the painting was suspiciously reminiscent of another work by the artist - “Park Alley in Rome” (Brodsky was stingy with original titles). This painting was considered lost for a long time, and its reproduction was published only in a rather rare edition in 1929. With the help of x-rays, the Roman alley that had mysteriously disappeared was found - right under the Soviet one. The artist did not clean up the already finished image and simply made a number of simple changes to it: he dressed the passers-by according to the fashion of the 30s of the 20th century, “took away” the children’s clothes, removed the marble statues and slightly modified the trees. So, with a couple of light movements of the hand, the sunny Italian park turned into an exemplary Soviet one.

When asked why Brodsky decided to hide his Roman alley, they did not find an answer. But it can be assumed that the depiction of the “modest charm of the bourgeoisie” in 1930 was no longer inappropriate from an ideological point of view. Nevertheless, of all Brodsky’s post-revolutionary landscape works, “Park Alley” is the most interesting: despite the changes, the picture retained the charming grace of Art Nouveau, which, alas, no longer existed in Soviet realism.

“Morning in a Pine Forest” by Ivan Shishkin


Ivan Shishkin and Konstantin Savitsky. Morning in a pine forest. 1889. State Tretyakov Gallery

A forest landscape with bear cubs playing on a fallen tree is perhaps the most famous work artist. But the idea for the landscape was suggested to Ivan Shishkin by another artist, Konstantin Savitsky. He also painted a bear with three cubs: the forest expert Shishkin had no luck with bears.

Shishkin had an impeccable understanding of forest flora; he noticed the slightest mistakes in the drawings of his students - either the birch bark was depicted incorrectly, or the pine looked like a fake one. However, people and animals have always been rare in his works. This is where Savitsky came to the rescue. By the way, he left several preparatory drawings and sketches with bear cubs - he was looking for suitable poses. “Morning in a Pine Forest” was not originally “Morning”: the painting was called “Bear Family in the Forest,” and there were only two bears in it. As a co-author, Savitsky also put his signature on the canvas.

When the canvas was delivered to the merchant Pavel Tretyakov, he was indignant: he paid for Shishkin (ordered an original work), but received Shishkin and Savitsky. Shishkin, as an honest person, did not attribute authorship to himself. But Tretyakov followed the principle and blasphemously erased Savitsky’s signature from the painting with turpentine. Savitsky later nobly renounced copyright, and the bears were attributed to Shishkin for a long time.

“Portrait of a Chorus Girl” by Konstantin Korovin

Konstantin Korovin. Portrait of a chorus girl. 1887. State Tretyakov Gallery / Reverse side of the portrait

On the back of the canvas, researchers found a message from Konstantin Korovin on cardboard, which turned out to be almost more interesting than the painting itself:

“In 1883 in Kharkov, a portrait of a chorus girl. Written on a balcony in a commercial public garden. Repin said when S.I. Mamontov showed him this sketch that he, Korovin, was writing and looking for something else, but what is it for - this is painting for painting’s sake only. Serov had not yet painted portraits at this time. And the painting of this sketch was found incomprehensible??!! So Polenov asked me to remove this sketch from the exhibition, since neither the artists nor the members - Mr. Mosolov and some others - liked it. The model was not a beautiful woman, even somewhat ugly.”

Konstantin Korovin

The “Letter” was disarming with its directness and daring challenge to the entire artistic community: “Serov had not yet painted portraits at that time,” but he, Konstantin Korovin, painted them. And he was allegedly the first to use techniques characteristic of the style that would later be called Russian impressionism. But all this turned out to be a myth that the artist created intentionally.

The harmonious theory “Korovin is the forerunner of Russian impressionism” was mercilessly destroyed by objective technical and technological research. On the front side of the portrait they found the artist’s signature in paint, and just below in ink: “1883, Kharkov.” The artist worked in Kharkov in May - June 1887: he painted scenery for performances of the Mamontov Russian Private Opera. In addition, art historians have found that the “Portrait of a Chorus Girl” was painted in a certain artistic manner - a la prima. This technique oil painting allowed me to paint a picture in one session. Korovin began to use this technique only in the late 1880s.

After analyzing these two inconsistencies, the Tretyakov Gallery staff came to the conclusion that the portrait was painted only in 1887, and Korovin added an earlier date to emphasize his own innovation.

“The Man and the Cradle” by Ivan Yakimov


Ivan Yakimov. Man and cradle.1770. State Tretyakov Gallery / Full version of the work


For a long time, Ivan Yakimov’s painting “Man and Cradle” puzzled art critics. And the point was not even that this kind of everyday sketches are absolutely uncharacteristic of 18th-century painting - the rocking horse in the lower right corner of the picture has a rope that is too unnaturally stretched, which logically should have been lying on the floor. And it was too early for a child to play with such toys from the cradle. Also, the fireplace did not even fit half onto the canvas, which looked very strange.

The situation was “clarified” - in the literal sense - by an x-ray. She showed that the canvas was cut on the right and top.

IN Tretyakov Gallery The painting arrived after the sale of the collection of Pavel Petrovich Tugoy-Svinin. He owned the so-called “Russian Museum” - a collection of paintings, sculptures and antiques. But in 1834, due to financial problems, the collection had to be sold - and the painting “Man and Cradle” ended up in the Tretyakov Gallery: not all of it, but only its left half. The right one, unfortunately, was lost, but you can still see the work in its entirety, thanks to another unique exhibit of the Tretyakov Gallery. The full version of Yakimov’s work was found in the album “Collection of Excellent Works Russian artists and curious domestic antiquities”, which contains drawings from most of the paintings that were part of Svinin’s collection.

In the picture famous artist I. I. Shishkin depicts an early morning in the forest. The pine forest is awakening from sleep, the sun has not yet fully come out and has not yet had time to warm up the clearing. Tall green pines are shrouded in thick fog.

The mother bear and three brown bear cubs had already woken up and went out to frolic in the forest clearing. The clubfooted bear cubs, still very small, climbed onto a huge fallen tree. It was uprooted from the ground, apparently after a recent hurricane.

One, the most agile bear cub, climbed to the very top of the broken trunk. He watches the second bear cub, who sat down in the middle of the trunk and looks at the bear. The third, apparently the smallest of them, stands on another broken part of a mighty tree, his gaze directed deep into the forest.

A large, brown bear closely monitors the mischievous cubs. She knows that the forest is fraught with many dangers and is ready to protect her children at any time.

When you look at a picture, it’s as if you are immersed in it. You feel the cool breath of the green forest, hear the forest rustles and sounds made by animals, birds and insects.

The plot of the film turned out to be lively and quite realistic. Wildlife delights, and funny little bear cubs touch you and make you want to be in a clearing and play with them.

Essay on the painting Morning in a Pine Forest by Shishkin

In front of me is a creation by I. Shishkin “Morning in a Pine Forest” (sometimes called “Morning in pine forest"). This painting can truly be called the most famous masterpiece, because everyone, both children and adults, undoubtedly knows this beautiful painting.

With unprecedented trepidation, care and tenderness, the artist masterfully painted every needle of the mighty pine trees, every root and twig. Inspired by the power and grandeur of nature, he breathed into his creation the unprecedented realism and magic of an ordinary forest morning.

The painting depicts the morning hours in a pine thicket. Nature is just waking up after a cool night, cold dew has fallen on the grass and trees, the air is clean and fresh. The air is still cold, but it’s about to warm up, and the smell of rotten grass and pine needles will spread throughout the forest. Surely the day will be hot, and therefore this cool morning is truly wonderful.

There is silence in the gloomy forest, only occasionally the cry of an early bird cuts through the wilderness.

Giant pine trees, majestically reaching into the sky, greet the first rays of sunshine sliding along the treetops with their bushy branches. Sunrise is the awakening and beginning of a new day. And all of nature is looking forward to his arrival.

Warm golden and yellow shades are mesmerizing, contrasting brightly with the dark palette of the gloomy forest, which creates the image of a mysterious mysterious forest, as if stepped out of the pages of Russian folk tales. Muted, calm tones do not irritate the eyes, but rather delight the eye.
In the center of the picture are the main characters, without whom the painting would lose its charm.
The she-bear and her three brave cubs, having woken up with the first rays of the sun, are already in full swing in the forest, prowling in search of food.

Mischievous kids started a game - they jump and climb on a fallen pine tree trunk, as if they were playing tag. The furry animals look completely defenseless, but under the supervision of their vigilant mother, they are safe. Huge fallen trees, like heroes defeated in battle, lie high with their gnarled thick roots reared up, showing with all their appearance their former strength and power.

The brown mother grumbles with displeasure, trying to pacify the naughty child, but the nimble little hooligans do not take their mother’s angry growls seriously.

Looking at the picture, it is as if you are inhaling the aroma of the forest, its pine freshness, you feel the shady coolness of the forest, you hear the rustle of the breeze, the cracking of branches under the strong paws of animals.

Together with the inspired creator, imbued with the beauty of Russian nature, the viewer will involuntarily hold his breath, amazed by the deep mystery of life and joy that radiates from the landscape.

This essay is assigned in grades 2, 5, 3, 7.

Essay “Morning in a pine forest” based on Shishkin’s painting, grade 5

You’ve probably been familiar with Shishkin’s painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” since childhood. Even if you are not deeply interested in art, almost everyone is familiar with this picture, thanks to its image on the candy. A mother bear with three cubs against the backdrop of a pine forest.

Shishkin’s idea was suggested to him by his friend, also an artist. And he even had a hand in adding bears to the landscape. They turned out so well that the artists both signed the painting. However, Tretyakov, who later acquired this painting, left only Shishkin’s signature and covered up the second signature. Considering that the main style of writing is still closer in spirit to Shishkin.

And, indeed, Shishkin very accurately conveyed the general atmosphere of the awakening forest. We can observe the rays of the rising morning sun, which just touches the treetops. In the depths of the picture, the forest is shrouded in morning fog. And its lightness and airiness conveys to the observer a freshness that is usually still present at this time of day.

In the foreground is a whole bear family. A mother bear and three little bear cubs frolicking on a large fallen tree. It can be assumed that they just crawled out of the den after a night's sleep. They are not yet so playful and sleepy, but the mother does not sleep and watches the area and her pets, growling a little at her careless offspring.

The picture is very positive both in its motif and colors. The artist very accurately conveyed the atmosphere of awakening nature.

2nd grade, 5th grade.

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“Morning in a Pine Forest” is a painting by Russian artists Ivan Shishkin and Konstantin Savitsky. Savitsky painted the bears, but the collector Pavel Tretyakov erased his signature, so that Shishkin alone is often indicated as the author of the painting.

The painting is popular due to the compositional inclusion of animalistic elements in the landscape canvas. The painting conveys in detail the state of nature seen by the artist on Gorodomlya Island. What is shown is not a dense dense forest, but sunlight breaking through the columns of tall trees. Feel the depth of the ravines, the power centuries-old trees, the sunlight seems to timidly peek into this dense forest. The frolicking cubs feel the approach of morning.

Presumably, the idea for the painting was suggested to Shishkin by Savitsky, who later acted as a co-author and depicted the figures of the bear cubs (based on Shishkin’s sketches). These bears, with some differences in poses and numbers (at first there were two of them), appear in preparatory drawings and sketches (for example, the State Russian Museum contains seven versions of Shishkin’s pencil sketches). Savitsky turned out the animals so well that he even signed the painting together with Shishkin. Savitsky himself told his family: “The painting was sold for 4 thousand, and I am a participant in the 4th share.”

Having acquired the painting, Tretyakov removed Savitsky’s signature, leaving the authorship behind Shishkin, because in the painting, Tretyakov said, “from the concept to the execution, everything speaks about the manner of painting, about the creative method that is peculiar to Shishkin.”

In the inventory of the gallery, initially (during the lives of the artists Shishkin and Savitsky), the painting was listed under the title “Bear Family in the Forest” (and without indicating Savitsky’s surname).

Russian prose writer and publicist V. M. Mikheev wrote the following words in 1894:
Look into this gray fog of the forest distance, into the “Bear Family in the Forest”... and you will understand what kind of forest expert, what a strong objective artist you are dealing with. And if something in his paintings interferes with the integrity of your impression, it won’t be the details of the forest, but, for example, the figures of bears, the interpretation of which makes you want a lot and spoils a lot big picture where the artist placed them. Obviously, the master forest specialist is not nearly as good at depicting animals.

Reproductions of “Morning in a Pine Forest” were widely circulated in the USSR. However, this began even before the revolution; in particular, since the 19th century, reproductions have been reproduced on the wrapper of the “Bear-Toed Bear” chocolates. Thanks to this, the picture is well known among the people, often under the name “Three Bears” (although there are four bears in the picture). Because of such candy-wrapped circulation, the picture began to be perceived in the Soviet and post-Soviet cultural space as an element of kitsch.