Probably, perhaps the most famous painting by the Russian painter is "Morning in a pine forest". This picture has been known and loved by many since childhood from the wrapping of no less beloved chocolates “Bear Clubfoot”. Only a few paintings by Russian artists can compete with the popularity of this work of art.
The idea for the painting was once suggested to the painter Shishkin by the artist Konstantin Savitsky, who acted as a co-author and depicted the figures of bears. As a result, Savitsky turned out the animals so well that he signed the painting together with Shishkin. But when Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov acquired the painting, he removed Savitsky’s signature, and the authorship remained only with Shishkin. Tretyakov believed that everything in the picture speaks of the painting style and creative method characteristic of Shishkin.
The canvas depicts a dense thicket of a pine forest with a fallen, broken tree on the edge of a ravine. The left side of the picture still retains the twilight of the cold night of the dense forest. Moss covers uprooted tree roots and fallen broken branches. Soft green grass creates a feeling of comfort and tranquility. But the rays of the rising sun have already gilded the tops of the centuries-old pines and made the morning haze glow. And although the sun is not yet able to completely dispel this night fog, hiding the entire depth of the pine forest from the viewer’s view, the cubs are already playing on the broken trunk of a fallen pine, and the mother bear is guarding them. One of the cubs, having climbed up the trunk closer to the ravine, stands on its hind legs and looks curiously into the distance at the light of the haze from the rising sun.
We see not just a monumental canvas about the greatness and beauty of Russian nature. Before us is not only a deep, dense frozen forest with its deep power, but a living picture of nature. Sunlight breaking through the haze and columns of tall trees makes you feel the depth of the ravine behind the fallen pine tree, the power of the centuries-old trees. The light of the morning sun still looks timidly into this pine forest. But the animals—the frolicking bear cubs and their mother—are already feeling the approach of the sunny morning. The picture is filled with movement and life thanks not only to these four bears loving solitude in the forest, but also to the transitional moment of the awakening early sunny morning after a cold night accurately depicted by the painter. The peaceful smile of the forest spreads: the day will be sunny. It begins to seem to the viewer that the birds have already begun to sing their morning songs. The beginning of a new day promises light and tranquility!
Essay plan:
- I.I. Shishkin is a landscape artist.
- Early summer morning.
- Foreground:
- forest;
- a tree broken by a storm;
- funny teddy bears;
- caring mother;
- Background (fog).
- My attitude to this picture.
Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin is an outstanding Russian landscape artist. He created many paintings in which he glorifies the beauty and poetry of his native lands. Endless forest expanses, birch and oak groves flooded with sunlight, mighty ship pines….
His canvases amazingly accurately and realistically depict a diverse plant world, which seems to come to life under the master’s brush, breathes, gives us freshness and coolness, evokes evening sadness or, conversely, awakens the bright joy of contemplating beauty. The painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” is known and loved by many of us since childhood. No wonder it is considered one of Shishkin’s best works.
The painting depicts a large family of bears. One early summer morning, three little bear cubs and their mother bear went out for a walk. The sun is just rising. It gently illuminates the tops of huge pines. Thick fog envelops the forest. It will soon dissipate from the sun's rays. In the small clearing where the bears had gathered, it had almost melted.
The animals wandered into a coniferous forest and accidentally discovered an old dried tree that had broken during a recent storm. Its trunk broke into two parts with a crash, and huge roots even turned up the ground.
The cubs depicted in the picture are brown in color. They are not quite big yet, mischievous, club-footed. Two of them have white collars around their necks. The bravest of them climbed almost to the very top of the trunk of a broken tree and hung on its very edge, clinging to the rough bark with his claws, in danger of falling into the ravine. And the second one has only reached the middle.
He probably also wants to climb higher, but he’s scared. Here he is, clumsy, and sat on a tree, helplessly looking at the mother bear, not knowing what to do next. The third, the most careful one, climbed onto the other half of the broken tree, which fell onto the slope of the ravine, but did not roll into it, but caught its branches on the trunk of a neighboring pine tree. The little bear cautiously stood on its hind legs, slightly tilted its head and listened to the sounds of the waking forest, peering into the thick fog. There, in the fog, tall, green pines sway and rustle.
The she-bear is large, shaggy, brown in color. Like any mother, she worries about her mischievous cubs, who are playful and restless. She even growls and probably warns them that they might fall out of the tree and should be careful. Or maybe she noticed some danger and wants to warn her children about it. It’s time to finish the morning walk and go deep into the forest. She rushes from one bear cub to another, the dark green grass beneath her is trampled.
The artist skillfully conveys the atmosphere of the early morning in the forest. Soft diffused light falls through the dense crowns of trees and seems golden. In the background, the fog stands like a veil, through which the slender trunks of pine trees can be discerned. Thanks to the slightly blurred background, the viewer's attention is focused on the bear family.
I really like this picture because it depicts a fun and lively subject, and the bear cubs are so cute and funny. I just want to play with them, stroke their soft brown fur!
“Morning in a Pine Forest” is perhaps one of the most famous paintings by Ivan Shishkin. The first thing that attracts and touches the audience looking at the masterpiece is the bears. Without animals, the picture would hardly have turned out so attractive. Meanwhile, few people know that it was not Shishkin, another artist named Savitsky, who painted the animals.
Bear Master
Konstantin Apollonovich Savitsky is now not as famous as Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin, whose name probably even a child knows. Nevertheless, Savitsky is also one of the most talented Russian painters. At one time he was an academician and a member of the Imperial Academy of Arts. It is clear that it was on the basis of art that Savitsky met Shishkin.
Both of them loved Russian nature and selflessly depicted it on their canvases. But Ivan Ivanovich preferred landscapes in which people or animals, if they appeared, were only in the role of secondary characters. Savitsky, on the contrary, actively portrayed both. Apparently, thanks to his friend’s skill, Shishkin became convinced that he was not very successful with the figures of living beings.
Help from a friend
At the end of the 1880s, Ivan Shishkin completed another landscape, in which he depicted an unusually picturesque morning in a pine forest. However, according to the artist, the picture lacked some kind of accent, for which he planned to paint 2 bears. Shishkin even made sketches for future characters, but was dissatisfied with his work. It was then that he turned to Konstantin Savitsky with a request to help him with the animals. Shishkin’s friend did not refuse and happily got down to business. The bears turned out to be enviable. In addition, the number of clubfoot has doubled.
To be fair, it is worth noting that Shishkin himself had no intention of cheating at all, and when the picture was ready, he indicated not only his last name, but also Savitsky’s. Both friends were satisfied with their joint work. But everything was ruined by the founder of the world-famous gallery, Pavel Tretyakov.
Stubborn Tretyakov
It was Tretyakov who purchased “Morning in a Pine Forest” from Shishkin. However, the patron did not like the 2 signatures on the painting. And since, after purchasing this or that work of art, Tretyakov considered himself its sole and rightful owner, he went ahead and erased Savitsky’s name. Shishkin began to object, but Pavel Mikhailovich remained adamant. He said that the style of writing, including regarding bears, corresponds to the manner of Shishkin, and Savitsky is clearly superfluous here.
Ivan Shishkin shared the fee he received from Tretyakov with a friend. However, he gave Savitsky only the 4th part of the money, explaining this by the fact that he did the sketches for “Morning” without the help of Konstantin Apollonovich.
Surely Savitsky was offended by such treatment. In any case, he never painted another painting together with Shishkin. And Savitsky’s bears, in any case, really became the decoration of the picture: without them, “Morning in a Pine Forest” would hardly have received such recognition.
“Morning in a Pine Forest” is perhaps one of the most famous paintings by Ivan Shishkin. The first thing that attracts and touches the audience looking at the masterpiece is the bears. Without animals, the picture would hardly have turned out so attractive. Meanwhile, few people know that it was not Shishkin, another artist named Savitsky, who painted the animals.
Bear Master
Konstantin Apollonovich Savitsky is now not as famous as Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin, whose name probably even a child knows. Nevertheless, Savitsky is also one of the most talented Russian painters. At one time he was an academician and a member of the Imperial Academy of Arts. It is clear that it was on the basis of art that Savitsky met Shishkin.
Both of them loved Russian nature and selflessly depicted it on their canvases. But Ivan Ivanovich preferred landscapes in which people or animals, if they appeared, were only in the role of secondary characters. Savitsky, on the contrary, actively portrayed both. Apparently, thanks to his friend’s skill, Shishkin became convinced that he was not very successful with the figures of living beings.
Help from a friend
At the end of the 1880s, Ivan Shishkin completed another landscape, in which he depicted an unusually picturesque morning in a pine forest. However, according to the artist, the picture lacked some kind of accent, for which he planned to paint 2 bears. Shishkin even made sketches for future characters, but was dissatisfied with his work. It was then that he turned to Konstantin Savitsky with a request to help him with the animals. Shishkin’s friend did not refuse and happily got down to business. The bears turned out to be enviable. In addition, the number of clubfoot has doubled.
To be fair, it is worth noting that Shishkin himself had no intention of cheating at all, and when the picture was ready, he indicated not only his last name, but also Savitsky’s. Both friends were satisfied with their joint work. But everything was ruined by the founder of the world-famous gallery, Pavel Tretyakov.
Stubborn Tretyakov
It was Tretyakov who purchased “Morning in a Pine Forest” from Shishkin. However, the patron did not like the 2 signatures on the painting. And since, after purchasing this or that work of art, Tretyakov considered himself its sole and rightful owner, he went ahead and erased Savitsky’s name. Shishkin began to object, but Pavel Mikhailovich remained adamant. He said that the style of writing, including regarding bears, corresponds to the manner of Shishkin, and Savitsky is clearly superfluous here.
Ivan Shishkin shared the fee he received from Tretyakov with a friend. However, he gave Savitsky only the 4th part of the money, explaining this by the fact that he did the sketches for “Morning” without the help of Konstantin Apollonovich.
Surely Savitsky was offended by such treatment. In any case, he never painted another painting together with Shishkin. And Savitsky’s bears, in any case, really became the decoration of the picture: without them, “Morning in a Pine Forest” would hardly have received such recognition.
MOSCOW, January 25 - RIA Novosti, Victoria Salnikova. 185 years ago, on January 25, 1832, Ivan Shishkin was born, perhaps the most “folk” Russian artist.
In Soviet times, reproductions of his paintings hung in many apartments, and the famous bear cubs from the painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” migrated to candy wrappers.
Ivan Shishkin’s paintings still live their own life, far from the museum space. What role did Vladimir Mayakovsky play in their history and how Shishkin’s bears ended up on the wrappers of pre-revolutionary sweets - in the RIA Novosti material.
"Get a savings book!"
In Soviet times, the design of the candy wrapper did not change, but “Mishka” became the most expensive delicacy: in the 1920s, a kilogram of candy was sold for four rubles. The candy even had a slogan: “If you want to eat Mishka, get yourself a Savings Book!” This phrase from the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky even began to be printed on wrappers.
Despite the high price, the delicacy was in demand among buyers: the artist and graphic artist Alexander Rodchenko even captured it on the Mosselprom building in Moscow in 1925.
In the 1950s, the “Bear Bear” candy went to Brussels: the “Red October” factory participated in the World Exhibition and received the highest award.
Art in every home
But the story of “Mornings in a Pine Forest” was not limited to sweets. Another popular trend during Soviet times was reproductions of classical works of art.
© Photo: Public Domain Ivan Shishkin. "Rye". Canvas, oil. 1878
Unlike oil paintings, they were cheap and sold in any bookstore, so they were available to almost every family. “Morning in a Pine Forest” and “Rye,” another popular painting by Ivan Shishkin, adorned the walls of many Soviet apartments and dachas.
“Bears” also found their way onto tapestries—a favorite interior detail of Soviet people. Over the course of a century, “Morning in a Pine Forest” has become one of the most recognizable paintings in Russia. True, a casual viewer is unlikely to immediately remember its real name.
In exchange for drugs
The works of Ivan Shishkin are popular with robbers and scammers. On January 25, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus discovered a work of art stolen in Russia in the car of drug couriers. The painting "Forest. Spruce" from 1897 was stolen in 2013 from the Vyaznikovsky Historical and Art Museum in the Vladimir region. According to preliminary information, drug couriers brought the canvas to Belarus at the request of a potential buyer from Europe. The cost of the painting could reach two million dollars, but the attackers planned to sell it for 100 thousand euros and three kilograms of cocaine.
Last year, criminal investigation officers suspected a 57-year-old woman of stealing the painting “Preobrazhenskoe” from 1896. The woman received this work from a famous collector for sale, however, according to investigators, she appropriated it.
