Description of the painting by Konstantin Kryzhitsky “Breath of spring” (1910)

Description of the painting by Konstantin Kryzhitsky Breath of spring (1910)

In landscape painting, as in poetry, spring scenes are highly in demand for their specificity – images of the elements, sunlight, and trees. They convey the uniqueness of the changing nature and the emotional state of human renewal. Such a work was the big picture of the artist Kryzhitsky “Breath of spring”, first presented at the London exhibition of Russian painting in 1910. It was not in vain that the author’s pride was caused.

The painter thoughtfully wrote out every stroke, every nuance of the canvas: he added snow looseness, a shadow that lay down on the ravines, a reflection of the snow glitter, traveled to nature to see all the details again. The picture earned the applause of the jury, it was immediately decided to purchase it for the museum. The subtle poetic nature of the landscape painter gave him the opportunity to notice and display in his canvas the beauty of nature of a higher order, naturally

combining in it the features of Peredvizhnicheskogo realism and salon academism.

With his color finds, the artist was at the top of the modern trends in landscape painting and reverently conveyed in the picture the everlasting value of Russian nature. There is a sense of sincere love for the native nature and its attentive study. This is a real national landscape, in which the emotional state is faithfully conveyed through a palette of colors – bright and harmonious. Natural lighting gives it vitality, and the manner of writing fills with expression.

But this picture brought the artist grief. A massive double tree, which occupies the entire close-up of the canvas, was seen by Kryzhitsky in the photograph. From the same picture, another landscape painter wrote his work. Envious people accused Kryzhitsky of plagiarism, although the pictures didn’t look like anything except wood. The authors’ skill could not even be compared: the level of execution was different. But a sensitive artist could not resist.


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Description of the painting by Konstantin Kryzhitsky “Breath of spring” (1910)