“On the Island of Valaam” - a painting by Russian artist Arkhip Kuindzhi (1841 / 1842-1910), painted in 1873. The painting is part of the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery (inv. 873). The size of the picture is 76 × 130 cm [1] [2] [3] .
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| Arkhip Kuindzhi | ||
| On the island of Valaam . 1873 | ||
| Oil on canvas . 76 × 130 cm | ||
| State Tretyakov Gallery , Moscow | ||
Content
History and Description
The painting was painted during one of Kuindzhi’s trips to the island of Valaam , located on Lake Ladoga . In 1873, the painting "On the Valaam Island" was exhibited at an academic exhibition. Although it was dated 1873, it is assumed that it was mainly written in 1872, during Kuindzhi’s second summer trip to Valaam [4] . The painting “On the Valaame Island” was included in the artist’s trilogy on northern nature, which also includes the paintings “ Lake Ladoga ” (1873) and “ North ” (1879) [5] .
The artist Ilya Repin reported on Kuindzhi's new work: “Everyone loves her terribly, and not even further than Kramskoy came to see me today - he is delighted with her.” As a result, the painting “On the Valaam Island” became the first Kuindzhi painting purchased by Pavel Tretyakov [4] , which acquired it directly from the 1873 exhibition. In 1878, for this canvas, along with the paintings Chumatsky Highway in Mariupol (1875, State Tretyakov Gallery ), Ukrainian Night (1876, State Tretyakov Gallery ) and Steppe (1875, YaM ), Kuindzhi was awarded the title of Class Artist of the 1st degrees [1] .
The painting depicts the wild coast of the island in silver pre-storm lighting. In the foreground are two trees, a pine and a birch, sprouted through cracked granite and standing at a river flowing into the lake, overgrown with sedge. In the background is a dark forest and the edge of the lake [6] .
Reviews
In an article on the work of Arkhip Kuindzhi, art critic Vitaly Manin noted [4] :
| “On the Valaam Island” is Kuindzhi’s latest work, where the direct perception of nature, marked by acute psychological tension, is not obscured by a piercing sense of social disorder. The painting “On the Island of Valaam” showed that Kuindzhi’s skill was equal to the picturesque painting of the leading landscape painters of his time. Kuindzhi became a famous artist. |
The art critic Vladimir Petrov wrote this in an article dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Kuindzhi [6] :
| The nature of Balaam turned out to be a powerful, elemental nature of Kuindzhi, and he created a number of landscapes there, already fully revealing the originality of his talent. First of all, it is Lake Ladoga (1871, State Russian Museum ) and On the Valaam Island (1873, State Tretyakov Gallery ). Perhaps the last picture is especially expressive, where the artist in a beautiful silver tone captured the wild coast of the island illuminated by an alarming lightning storm, above which clouds are gathering. Cracked granite, pine and birch in the foreground, a gloomy forest in the distance, a sedge swaying in the dark clear water and a lonely bird flying - everything here depicts Kuindzhi with a special "density" of a sense of life and caused a high praise by contemporaries, including F.M. Dostoevsky , who wrote: "The darkness ... dampness seems to permeate you all ... What's so special? .. But meanwhile, how good it is!" |
See also
- List of paintings by Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 State Tretyakov Gallery - collection catalog / Y. V. Brook , L. I. Iovleva . - Moscow: Red Square, 2001. - T. 4: Painting of the second half of the 19th century, book 1, A — M. - S. 326—327. - 528 s. - ISBN 5-900743-56-X .
- ↑ Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi. Gallery of paintings by the artist - On the island of Valaam. 1873 (HTML). www.kuinje.ru. Date of treatment July 13, 2012. Archived on September 28, 2012.
- ↑ Kuindzhi Arkhip Ivanovich - On the island of Valaam, 1873 (HTML). www.art-catalog.ru. Date of treatment July 13, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Vitaly Manin. On the work of Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi (part 3) (HTML). www.kuinje.ru. Date of treatment July 12, 2012. Archived on September 28, 2012.
- ↑ Kuindzhi - On the Island of Valaam (1873) (HTML). www.artprojekt.ru. Date of treatment July 13, 2012. Archived on September 28, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 Vladimir Petrov. An article on the 150th anniversary of Kuindzhi (part 2) (HTML). www.kuinje.ru. Date of treatment July 13, 2012. Archived on September 28, 2012.