Description of the painting by Ivan Shishkin “Birch Grove”

Description of the painting by Ivan Shishkin Birch Grove

Shishkin completed work on the work “Birch Grove” in 1896. The canvas is exhibited in the halls of the Yaroslavl Art Museum. This Russian landscape master created a truly naturalistic image of his native landscape. Shishkin uses a complex technique of drawing, his paintings are very detailed. He prescribes every smallest detail in the thin petals of emerald grass, in the gray hard wood bark and rich birch leaves, abundantly flooded tree trunks. Everything here speaks of a fierce love for the earth and nature, as if the birch symbolize a bright fatherland.

The picture is written mostly green, blue, brown and white shades. It is full of sun and warmth of the summer forest. Looking at it, you seem to be immersed in the atmosphere of a hot day, around the intoxicating air filled with soft aromas of herbs and tree bark. Everything is permeated with a multitude of sounds made by birds, insects and forest animals that hid from you nearby. The picture is not frozen, it is in motion.

In light strokes on the canvas, the author writes life itself. This is read, above all, in its lower part, where small, wild white flowers are located. Their petals are detached from the inflorescences under the gusts of fresh wind and scatter across the canvas, gently illuminating it. This life is visible in the slope of the grasses that stretch towards the light in order to nourish their strength and grow to the very heavens.

Note that the surface of the earth is uneven, as if it rises to the left.

It seems as if a tired traveler on the way to the picturesque peak on the edge of the forest sat for a couple of minutes to relax with this thick birch grove. But, seeing all this magnificence, he froze in place. Now he can not move, because everything around him intoxicates him with his natural beauty and strength.


1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

Description of the painting by Ivan Shishkin “Birch Grove”