Painting “Rain in an oak forest” by Ivan Shishkin – a landscape that makes you feel the humidity of the air and the aroma of wet grass
“Rain in the Oak Forest” is a painting written by Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin in 1891 and has become one of his best works. In this forest landscape, the author was able to convey both a virtuoso mastery of technique and a subtle emotional state.
Using delicate and muted shades, the artist very realistically depicted a trail in a wet oak grove, along which three people are leisurely strolling. Foggy haze, reflection in a puddle, soggy road – all these details seem to transfer the viewer to the shade of trees. Looking at the picture, we do not just see the landscape, but as if we hear the rustle of the fading rain, we feel the breath of fresh air.
Author: Shishkin Ivan Ivanovich (1832-1898).
Year of writing: 1891
Dimensions: 124 x 203 cm.
Style: Realism.
Genre: Landscape.
Technique: Oil.
Material: Canvas. Location: State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
Ivan Shishkin is an outstanding Russian landscape painter of the second half of the 19th century
He has invariably participated in exhibitions of the Itinerants. By the time of the creation of the painting “Rain in the Oak Forest”, his work had reached its peak. Another name for this work is “Rain in an oak grove.”
In the last decade of the 19th century, the previously reigning realism began to lose ground. Modernist artists reproached the Itinerants for the impossibility of offering something new.
Ivan Shishkin, like the French impressionists, decided to depict a fleeting and complex, from a technical point of view, state of nature – a quiet rain with all its nuances, shadows, highlights and reflections.
But the picture did not become a fixation of the moment, which the impressionists aspired to. “Rain in the Oak Forest” is a monumental image, the epic character of which is emphasized by the solid size of the canvas. The majestic oaks, painted by the author in the park of the Mordvinov estate, and the rain depicted with amazing skill, made a proper impression on the audience. Now the painting is exhibited at the Tretyakov Gallery, like many other masterpieces by Ivan Shishkin.
