An unsurpassed master of landscape painting, an outstanding artist who glorified Russian art, Ivan Shishkin was of merchant origin. His hometown was Yelabuga, where he was born in early 1832. Already in childhood, Ivan Shishkin was a gifted child and showed a penchant for drawing.
At the Imperial Academy of Arts of St. Petersburg, his talent was fully demonstrated. The years spent in Europe gave the painter the opportunity to develop his Creative skills. But he was always inspired native nature- forest, field, meadow, so he hurried to return to Russia.
Shishkin raised many students. For my creative life Ivan Ivanovich created hundreds of works, many of which are recognized as masterpieces and decorate today best museums Russia and Europe.
Leaving the gymnasium
The most talented Russian landscape painter in adolescence was an underachieving high school student. Arithmetic was not easy at all; having received unsatisfactory grades, Ivan Shishkin was forced to leave the gymnasium in Kazan after four years of study. And Shishkin himself did not want to study there, he dreamed of painting.
Receiving a big gold medal
Ivan Shishkin received a wonderful art education. He first studied at the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in Moscow, and then brilliantly graduated from the Imperial Academy of Arts in the Russian capital.
He studied so well that already in his first year of study he won two small silver medals. His landscapes, depicting nature in the vicinity of the capital, brought him success. Subsequently, Shishkin received first a large silver medal, and then a small gold one. A year later, he was awarded a large gold medal from the academy for his landscapes painted on Valaam, and it was accompanied by a pension for a trip to Europe for several years.
Incident in Germany
The artist sincerely loved Russian nature, his work eloquently testifies to this. In Europe, he longed for Russia, and out of longing he often drank wine. One day, in a Munich beer hall, he heard a group of tipsy Germans speak insultingly about the Russians.
Shishkin immediately dealt with the offenders using his fists and even a metal rod that came to hand. A huge scandal broke out. The artist was put on trial. But, to the surprise of many, the court acquitted him. According to eyewitnesses, after the acquittal, friends carried Shishkin out of the courtroom in their arms.
Co-writing a famous painting
Shishkin's contemporaries spoke of him as a good connoisseur of nature, having scientific knowledge about it. This is what many explained such scrupulous accuracy in the image in all his landscapes.
However, the artist created one of his most famous works, “Morning in a Pine Forest,” in 1889 in collaboration with his friend, the artist Konstantin Savitsky, who depicted a family of bears on Shishkin’s canvas.
Shishkin, as a decent person, signed the work with two names. But at the request of the owner art gallery Pavel Tretyakov, who acquired the painting, the name of the co-author was removed.
Title of academician and professor
Shishkin quickly gained recognition as an outstanding landscape painter. He was still in Europe on a retirement trip, when the Academy of Arts in 1865 awarded him the title of academician for the painting “View in the vicinity of Dusseldorf”; this painting arrived in the Russian capital before him.
Shishkin's works made a stunning impression. Ivan Ivanovich annually presented his works at the exhibition of the Peredvizhniki, for one of these paintings, the canvas “Forest Wilderness”, in 1873 he was awarded the title of professor at the capital’s Academy of Arts. Since 1892, the artist began to direct the educational landscape workshop at the Academy, in addition, he always had many students.
Aquafort Society
It is generally accepted that Ivan Shishkin was one of the best painters of his time. Not everyone knows that on a par with landscape painting he was passionate about engraving. In the 70th year of the 19th century, the artist became an active participant in the capital’s circle of aquafortists, artists who engraved with strong vodka on metal; Shishkin never abandoned this activity, alternating it with landscape painting, and was considered one of the best engravers in St. Petersburg.
Death at the easel
The magnificent artist Ivan Shishkin was absorbed in creativity until last minutes own life. Suffice it to say that he is the author 800 paintings, not counting drawings and engravings. He died suddenly at the age of 66 in March 1898, while he was working on the painting “The Forest Kingdom.” Near outstanding master at that moment there was his student, who witnessed the death of his mentor literally at the easel. Doctors concluded that the artist’s heart had failed, apparently it was a heart attack.
Moving the grave of Ivan Shishkin
Not everyone knows that Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin was originally buried at the Orthodox Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg. When in the 30s of the 20th century it was decided to create a necropolis of artists on the territory of the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, burials were moved here from various St. Petersburg cemeteries outstanding artists, composers and artists. Shishkin’s grave was also moved here. This happened in 1950. However, the monument from his grave, which stood at the Smolensk cemetery, was lost, and a new one was installed in its place. It is surprising that the painter’s date of birth was incorrectly indicated on this new monument, making him two decades older. Why the error was not corrected remains a mystery.
Interesting Facts from life famous artist, as well as about his paintings, you will learn in this article.
Ivan Shishkin interesting facts
Ivan Shishkin's parents were enlightened and wealthy merchants.
He had been drawn to brushes since childhood, so his parents called him “muddy”. Shishkin in at a young age dropped out of high school and devoted himself to drawing.
By the time he graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, Shishkin was already well known and appreciated abroad.
Painting "Morning in pine forest" Shishkin co-wrote with his friend, famous animal painter Konstantin Savitsky. The figures of the bear cubs belong to his brushes. The painting was bought by the famous art collector Pavel Tretyakov. However, Tretyakov and Savitsky had difficult relationship, and he ordered the second signature to be washed away.
Although the artist was nicknamed "monk" for his secluded lifestyle and gloomy appearance, in fact he loved entertainment, beautiful women and good wines. But only close friends knew about this.
The artist suffered many sorrows in his life: he was married twice, and both his beloved wives died early from serious illnesses. His second wife, Olga Antonovna Lagoda, was a talented artist and died a year after the wedding, shortly after the birth of her daughter.
“Forest hero-artist”, “king of the forest” - this is what contemporaries called Ivan Shishkin. He traveled a lot around Russia, glorifying the majestic beauty of its nature in his paintings, which are known to everyone today.
“There has never been an artist in the Shishkin family!”
Ivan Shishkin was born into a merchant family in small town Yelabuga, Vyatka province (in the territory of modern Tatarstan). The artist’s father, Ivan Vasilyevich, was a highly respected person in the city: he was elected mayor for several years in a row, installed a wooden water supply system in Yelabuga at his own expense, and even created the first book about the history of the city.
Being a man of varied hobbies, he dreamed of giving his son a good education and at the age of 12 he sent him to the First Kazan Gymnasium. However, young Shishkin was already more interested in art than in exact sciences. He was bored at the gymnasium and, without finishing his studies, he returned to parents' house saying that he doesn’t want to become an official. At the same time, his views on art and the vocation of an artist began to take shape, which he retained throughout his life.
Shishkin's mother, Daria Alexandrovna, was upset by her son's inability to study and do household chores. She did not approve of his hobby of drawing and called this activity “smearing paper.” Although his father sympathized with Ivan’s passion for beauty, he also did not share his detachment from life problems. Shishkin had to hide from his family and paint by candlelight at night.
Shishkin first thought seriously about the profession of an artist when Moscow painters came to Yelabuga to paint the iconostasis of the local church. They told him about the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture - and then Ivan Ivanovich firmly decided to follow his dream. With difficulty, but he persuaded his father to let him leave, and he sent the artist to Moscow, hoping that his son would one day grow into a second Karl Bryullov.
“The depiction of everything that has life is the main difficulty of art”
In 1852 Shishkin entered the Moscow school painting and sculpture, where he studied under the guidance of portrait artist Apollo Mokritsky. Then, in his still weak works, he dreamed of getting as close to nature as possible, and constantly sketched views and details of the landscape that were interesting to him. The whole school gradually learned about his drawings. Fellow students and even teachers noted that “Shishkin paints views that no one has ever painted before: just a field, a forest, a river - and he makes them look as beautiful as Swiss views.” By the end of the training, it became clear: the artist had an undoubted - and truly one-of-a-kind - talent.
Not stopping there, in 1856 Shishkin entered the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg, where he quickly established himself as a brilliant student with outstanding abilities. Became a true school for the artist Balaam, where he went for summer work on location. He began to gain own style and attitude towards nature. With the attention of a biologist, he examined and felt tree trunks, grasses, mosses, and the smallest leaves. His sketch “Pine on Valaam” brought the author a silver medal and recorded Shishkin’s desire to convey the simple, unromanticized beauty of nature.
Ivan Shishkin. Stones in the forest. Balaam. 1858-1860. State Russian Museum
Ivan Shishkin. Pine on Valaam. 1858. Perm State Art Gallery
Ivan Shishkin. Landscape with a hunter. Balaam. 1867. State Russian Museum
In 1860, Shishkin graduated from the academy with a large gold medal, which he also received for views of Valaam, and went abroad. He visited Munich, Zurich and Geneva, wrote a lot with a pen, and for the first time tried to engrave with “royal vodka”. In 1864, the artist moved to Düsseldorf, where he began work on “View in the vicinity of Düsseldorf.” This landscape, filled with air and light, brought Ivan Ivanovich the title of academician.
After six years of traveling abroad, Shishkin returned to Russia. At first he lived in St. Petersburg, where he met with old comrades from the academy, who by that time had organized the St. Petersburg Artel of Artists (later - Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions). According to the memoirs of Alexandra Komarova, the painter’s niece, he himself was never a member of the artel, but he constantly attended the creative Fridays of his friends and took a very active part in their affairs.
In 1868, Shishkin married for the first time. His wife was the sister of his friend, landscape painter Fyodor Vasilyev, Evgenia Aleksandrovna. The artist loved her and the children born in the marriage; he could not leave them for a long time, as he believed that without him at home something terrible would definitely happen. Shishkin turned into a tender father, a sensitive husband and a hospitable host, in whose house friends constantly visited.
“The genius of art requires that the artist’s entire life be devoted to it”
In the 1870s, Shishkin became even closer to the Peredvizhniki, becoming one of the founders of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions. His friends were Konstantin Savitsky, Arkhip Kuinzhdi And Ivan Kramskoy. They had a particularly warm relationship with Kramskoy. The artists traveled together around Russia in search of a new nature, Kramskoy observed the successes of Shishkin and admired how attentive his friend and colleague was to nature in its most varied states, how accurately and subtly he conveyed color. Shishkin’s talent was once again noted by the Academy, elevating him to the rank of professor for the painting “Wilderness”.
“He [Shishkin] is still immeasurably higher than everyone else taken together so far... Shishkin is a milestone in the development of Russian landscape, he is a man - a school, but a living school.”
Ivan Kramskoy
However, the second half of this decade became a difficult time in Shishkin's life. In 1874, his wife died, causing him to become withdrawn; his character - and performance - began to deteriorate due to frequent binges. Due to constant quarrels, many relatives and friends stopped communicating with him. Apparently, his habit of work saved him: because of his pride, Shishkin could not afford to miss the place that he already firmly occupied in artistic circles, and continued to paint paintings, which became more and more popular thanks to traveling exhibitions. It was during this period that “First Snow”, “Road in a Pine Forest”, “ Pinery", "Rye" and others famous paintings masters
Ivan Shishkin. Pinery. Mast forest in Vyatka province. 1872. State Tretyakov Gallery
Ivan Shishkin. First snow. 1875. Kyiv National Museum Russian art, Kyiv, Ukraine
Ivan Shishkin. Rye. 1878. State Tretyakov Gallery
And in the 1880s, Shishkin married the beautiful Olga Lagoda, his student. His second wife also died, literally a year after the wedding - and the artist again threw himself headlong into work, which allowed him to forget. He was attracted by the variability of the states of nature, he sought to catch and capture the elusive nature. He experimented with combinations different brushes and strokes, honed the construction of forms, the rendering of the most delicate color shades. This painstaking work especially noticeable in the works of the late 1880s, for example in the landscapes “Pines illuminated by the sun”, “Oaks. Evening”, “Morning in a pine forest” and “Off the coast of the Gulf of Finland”. Contemporaries of Shishkin's paintings were amazed by how easily and freely he experimented, while achieving stunning realism.
“What interests me most now? Life and its manifestations, now, as always"
IN late XIX century, a difficult period began for the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions - more and more generational differences arose among the artists. Shishkin was attentive to young authors, because he tried to introduce something new into his work and understood that the cessation of development means decline even for an eminent master.
"IN artistic activity, in the study of nature, you can never put an end to it, you cannot say that you have learned it completely, thoroughly, and that there is no need to study more; what has been studied is good only for the time being, and after that the impressions fade, and, without constantly coping with nature, the artist himself will not notice how he is moving away from the truth.”
Ivan Shishkin
In March 1898, Shishkin died. He died at his easel while working on a new painting. The artist was buried at the Smolensk Orthodox Cemetery in St. Petersburg, but in 1950 his ashes were transferred along with the monument to the Tikhvin cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
In January 2012, a very undeservedly quiet significant date– 180th anniversary of the birth of our fellow countryman - a native of Yelabuga, a truly great painter, whose masterpieces adorn Tretyakov Gallery and many other Russian and world museums, - Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin.
He is famous, he is famous, but how much, in essence, do we know about him?.. Tell about little known facts"Week" asked the writer-historian, author of the book "Shishkin", published in the series "Life" for a biography of the artist wonderful people", Lev Anisov.
Elabuga - “God’s backwater”
“In order to understand the artist, first of all, you need to turn to the study of the world that surrounded him in the first years of his life - family, nature, church,” says Lev Anisov. - A quiet, provincial town, a fatherly house, a church located nearby... One Elabuga woman told me about the local beauties - “God’s backwater.” More precisely, in my opinion, you cannot imagine. This is what shaped little Vanya.
The Shishkins are an old merchant family. All of these were honest people, craftsmen: some cast bells, some assembled watches... Shishkin’s grandfather was very fond of old books, his father was the mayor of the city, a well-read and enlightened man. Although he is a merchant, he is a very interesting personality, unlike modern “merchants”. Merchants in the 19th century were people who always remembered that they lived in Russia and for Russia. Of course, they “threw” an extra penny on their goods, but they did not forget to erect a temple or build a water supply system for their hometown.
On holidays, the Shishkins always welcomed the poor, fed them and gave them water, thus paying tribute to the deceased, because at that time it was believed that their souls came to the house with the poor. Shishkin's father was very interested in history, often brought Vanyusha books on art and was the first of the Elabuga residents to publish a book about hometown. Of course, he made a huge impression on little Vanya with his stories about Russian antiquity.
Need I say that little Ivan really fell in love with drawing? As a child, he was called “dauber”, because he even managed to paint the fence of his house! Wherever Ivan Ivanovich was subsequently - whether he studied at the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture, or attended the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts - he still missed his native Elabuga and looked for places similar to his native ones.
Under the influence of the priest
There was another one from Yelabuga amazing person- Kapiton Ivanovich Nevostroev. He was a priest, served in Simbirsk. Noticing his passion for science, the rector of the Moscow Theological Academy invited Nevostroev to move to Moscow and begin describing the Slavic manuscripts stored in the Synodal library. They started together, and then Kapiton Ivanovich continued alone and gave scientific description all historical documents.
So, it was Kapiton Ivanovich Nevostroev who had the strongest influence on Shishkin (like Elabuga residents, they kept in touch in Moscow). He said: “The beauty that surrounds us is the beauty of divine thought diffused in nature, and the artist’s task is to convey this thought as accurately as possible on his canvas.” This is why Shishkin is so meticulous in his landscapes. You won't confuse him with anyone.
Tell me as an artist to an artist...
– Forget the word “photographic” and never associate it with the name Shishkin! – Lev Mikhailovich was indignant when I asked about the stunning accuracy of Shishkin’s landscapes. – A camera is a mechanical device that simply captures a forest or field in given time under this lighting. Photography is soulless. And in every stroke of the artist there is a feeling that he experiences for the surrounding nature.
So what is the secret of a great painter? After all, looking at his “Stream in a Birch Forest,” we clearly hear the murmur and splash of water, and while admiring “Rye,” we literally feel the blow of the wind on our skin!
“Shishkin knew nature like no one else,” the writer shares. “He knew plant life very well, and to some extent was even a botanist. One day Ivan Ivanovich came to Repin’s workshop and, looking at him new picture, where rafts were depicted floating on a river, I asked what kind of wood they were made of. "Who cares?!" – Repin was surprised. And then Shishkin began to explain that the difference is great: if you build a raft from one tree, the logs can swell, if from another, they will sink, but from a third, you will get a serviceable floating craft! His knowledge of nature was phenomenal!
You don't have to be hungry
“An artist must be hungry,” says famous aphorism.
“Indeed, the conviction that an artist should be far from everything material and engage exclusively in creativity is firmly entrenched in our consciousness,” says Lev Anisov. – For example, Alexander Ivanov, who wrote “The Appearance of Christ to the People,” was so passionate about his work that he sometimes drew water from the fountain and was content with a crust of bread! But still, this condition is far from necessary, and it certainly did not apply to Shishkin.
While creating his masterpieces, Ivan Ivanovich, nevertheless, lived life to the fullest and did not experience great financial difficulties. He was married twice, loved and appreciated comfort. And he was loved and appreciated beautiful women. And this despite the fact that to people who didn’t know him well, the artist gave the impression of an extremely reserved and even gloomy subject (at school, for this reason, he was even nicknamed “the monk”).
In fact, Shishkin was a bright, deep, versatile personality. But only in a narrow company of close people did his true essence emerge: the artist became himself and turned out to be talkative and humorous.
Fame came very early
Russian – yes, but not only Russian! – history knows many examples when great artists, writers, composers received recognition from the general public only after death. In the case of Shishkin, everything was different.
By the time he graduated from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, Shishkin was well known abroad, and when the young artist studied in Germany, his works were already being sold and bought well! There is a known case when the owner of a Munich shop did not agree to part with several of Shishkin’s drawings and etchings that decorated his shop for any money. Fame and recognition came to the landscape painter very early.
AFTERNOON ARTIST
Shishkin is an artist of the afternoon. Typically, artists love sunsets, sunrises, storms, fogs - all these phenomena are really interesting to paint. But to write midday, when the sun is at its zenith, when you don’t see shadows and everything merges, is aerobatics, the pinnacle artistic creativity! To do this you need to feel nature so subtly! In all of Russia, perhaps, there were five artists who could convey all the beauty of the midday landscape, and among them was Shishkin.
In any hut there is a reproduction of Shishkin
Living not far from the painter’s native place, we, of course, believe (or hope!) that he reflected exactly them in his canvases. However, our interlocutor was quick to disappoint. The geography of Shishkin's works is extremely wide. While studying at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, he painted Moscow landscapes - visited the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, worked a lot in the Losinoostrovsky forest, Sokolniki. While living in St. Petersburg, he traveled to Valaam and Sestroretsk. Having become a venerable artist, he visited Belarus - he painted in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. Shishkin also worked a lot abroad.
However, in last years During his life, Ivan Ivanovich often visited Yelabuga and also wrote local motifs. By the way, one of his most famous, textbook landscapes – “Rye” – was painted just somewhere not far from his native place.
“He saw nature through the eyes of his people and was loved by the people,” says Lev Mikhailovich. - In any village house in a prominent place one could find a reproduction of his works, “Among the Flat Valley...”, “In the Wild North...”, “Morning in a Pine Forest,” torn from a magazine.
Who painted the Toptygins?
By the way, about “Morning...”. The history of the creation of this masterpiece is interesting. The fact is that Shishkin was close friends with the artist Konstantin Savitsky, after whom he even named his son (and whom he entrusted to be the godfather of his children). Naturally, they visited each other's workshops. One day Savitsky shared an idea with Shishkin: he wanted to depict bears. The landscape painter was very excited by this idea, and, starting from it, he, in turn, decided to paint a pristine corner of nature, where no human had ever set foot. I wanted to convey the symphony, the music of this forest untouched by civilization to Shishkin. So a wonderful one appeared on the canvas, fairy forest. The bear family was “registered” in it thanks to Savitsky’s brush.
When the painting saw the light and was bought by the art collector Pyotr Tretyakov, Savitsky did not at all claim authorship, because he only helped his friend a little (at that time this was in the order of things: for example, the lady in Isaac Levitan’s painting “Autumn Day. Sokolniki” was painted by Nikolai Chekhov, and the sky is on famous painting Vasily Perov “Hunters at a halt” - Alexey Savrasov). Shishkin nevertheless indicated his last name. However, Tretyakov and Savitsky had friction at that time, and he stated: “I only bought Shishkin’s painting - I didn’t buy Savitsky!” And so it turned out that Shishkin turned out to be the sole author of perhaps the most famous landscape in Russia...
