The most favorite genre of painting among artists and viewers is the landscape genre. Creators of works of art convey their own mood through their works. Paintings about winter by Russian artists reflect all the beauty and fabulous serenity of our nature at this amazing time of year.
Landscape by Nikifor Krylov
It is decorated with a work depicting a rural landscape called “Russian Winter”. Its author, Nikifor Krylov, comes from the city of Kalyazin, which is located on the Volga. In your picture talented artist depicted the outskirts of a village, behind which stands a forest of wondrous beauty. The foreground is represented by slowly walking women, towards whom a peasant walking, leading his horse, walks. The feeling of spaciousness and lightness is emphasized by the serene winter clouds floating across the sky.
Painting by I. Shishkin
The famous Russian landscape artist, when creating his works, gave preference to summer theme. However, he strived for variety in his work, painting paintings depicting other seasons as well. One of these creations is the canvas “Winter”. The painting is impressive as it reveals the torpor of winter Centrally is Pinery, covered deep fluffy snow. The silence of a frosty day is conveyed by the grandeur of a clear sky and mighty century-old pines, covered with a fluffy white blanket. Thanks to the bluish coloring, the work reveals the languid beauty of the sleeping forest. I. Shishkin proves that paintings about winter by Russian artists can inspire and amaze the imagination with their colors and shades, gradually revealing the meaning to the viewer.
Work by B. Kustodiev
The winter landscapes of Russian artists amaze with their splendor. The most beloved folk holiday in Rus' - Maslenitsa - is depicted in the painting of the same name by B. Kustodiev. The work conveys the mood of a mischievous and cheerful farewell to winter and welcome to spring. The main attributes of Maslenitsa are pancakes and folk festival. It’s hard to believe that this cheerful picture was created when he was seriously ill and confined to a wheelchair.
March winter day in a painting by K. Yuon
Winter in the paintings of Russian artists seems mysterious and wary. The opposite mood is the painting by K. Yuon “ March sun" Clear piercing blue sky, sparkling snow, bright spots convey the freshness of a frosty day. The temperamental artist depicted two horsemen moving on their horses along a narrow path. A beautiful horse catches up with them, with a dog running leisurely next to it. The triumphant joyful colors gave the picture fame and love from the audience.
Night as depicted by A. Kuidzhi
Paintings about winter by Russian artists convey a feeling of a fantastic atmosphere. As if proving this, A. Kuidzhi’s work “Moonlight Spots in the Forest. Winter” depicts the space of a small forest clearing surrounded by trees and bushes in the snow. Moonlight illuminates stationary objects, turning the entire clearing into a mysterious space. The light areas froze in a daze. From different sides, thick shadows creep up on them in dark spots, which smoothly turn into the tops of the trees.
Thus, paintings about winter by Russian artists are filled with a contrast of mystery and harmony. They convey to the viewer not only all the splendor and beauty of Russian nature, but also deep meaning, mood, creator. Winter in the paintings of Russian artists is presented in all its grandeur. All this together contributes to the creation of a special atmosphere in the viewer’s mind, allowing one to feel like a participant in the animated landscape and “touch” its details.
Fluffy white flakes. A cozy creaking sound underfoot. Sparkling snow reflects the sun's ray. A perfect winter is the grace of nature. And if he doesn’t become generous, art won’t let you down. Russian artists have been painting winter for centuries. Without knowing it - for future use. Looking at winter landscapes with Natalia Letnikova.
The winter mood is a little childish. While in the village of Ladeiki near Krasnoyarsk, Vasily Surikov decided to convey all the Siberian daring that comes through even in winter fun. “I wrote what I myself have seen many times.” The painter looked for images every market day. The organization of nature - a snowy town and a mounted Cossack on an “assault” - is the merit of the artist’s brother. Alexander Surikov himself took a place in the picture in “ auditorium" - on a sleigh covered with a bright carpet.
Taking the snowy town. 1891. State Russian Museum
Landscapes by a marine painter. A real rarity. Aivazovsky wrote for his creative life about six thousand paintings. And almost every job involves the sea. But the painter of the Main Naval Staff also used silver in his palette, painting not wave crests... but a snow-covered forest. The source of inspiration is not only southern Feodosia, but also northern St. Petersburg, where the gifted young man Hovhannes Ayvazyan grew into the artist Ivan Aivazovsky.
Winter landscape. 1876. Private collection
“In the wild north...” Poetic lines by Mikhail Lermontov and the title of the painting by Ivan Shishkin. Half a century since the death of the poet... Russian artists painted pictures based on his poems. Shishkin chose the theme of loneliness and saw his pine tree in the town of Kemi in distant Finland, where the painter’s daughter had moved. Night, twilight, silence, solitude - not a sentence, but a wonderful winter dream. “...In that region where the sun rises, / Alone and sad on a burning cliff / A beautiful palm tree grows.”
“In the wild north...” 1891. Kyiv Museum of Russian Art
Fairy tale, opera, painting. And it's all about her. The Snow Maiden was invented by playwright Alexander Ostrovsky, endowed with a coloratura soprano by composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and brought to the edge of the forest by artist Viktor Vasnetsov. A touching girl, whose prototype was Sashenka, the daughter of Savva Mamontov, takes a step into Big world. Snow-white edge and gray haze in the distance. Anxiety in the girls' eyes and... the feeling of a fairy tale, even with a sad ending.
Many, and maybe all, outstanding artists I admired that time of year when nature rests and gains strength under a fluffy white cover. And they, inspired, created amazing winter landscapes, several of which we will admire today.
Winter landscapes by outstanding artists. Julius Klever “Winter landscape with a hut”, 1899
Yuliy Klever - Russian artist German origin, academician and professor of the Imperial Academy of Arts. Born in 1850 in the city of Dorpat (now Tartu in Estonia). The artist was in love with fairy tales, which is clearly visible in each of his works - even if there are no fairy tale characters, then their spirit is felt in forest, swamp and river landscapes.
Julius Klever, painting “Winter Landscape with a Hut”, 1899
Winter landscapes by outstanding artists. Igor Grabar, “Luxurious frost”, 1941
Igor Grabar is a Russian artist, art critic, restorer, teacher. Born in Budapest in 1871, he traveled a lot. In the 1930s, he “settled” in the artists’ holiday village in Abramtsevo. The local nature became an inexhaustible source of inspiration for Grabar the landscape painter. The main object of observation and work for him was frost. An example of this is the painting “Luxurious Frost”.
Igor Grabar painting “Luxurious frost”, 1941
Winter landscapes by outstanding artists. Ivan Aivazovsky, “Ice Mountains in Antarctica”, 1870
This work by the world-famous marine artist I. Aivazovsky has three plot components: amazing sea power, the stunning beauty of eternal winter and the courage of the Russian navigators Bellingshausen and Lazarev, who discovered Antarctica during an expedition in 1820. The painting “Ice Mountains in Antarctica” is based on the memoirs of Admiral Lazarev.
Ivan Aivazovsky, painting “Ice Mountains in Antarctica”, 1870
Winter landscapes by outstanding artists. Arkhip Kuindzhi, “Sun spots on frost”, 1876-1890
Arkhip Kuindzhi is a famous Russian landscape painter, a student of Aivazovsky himself. Born in 1851. In his works, with the help of gradation in halftones, he sometimes achieved complete optical illusion. Unfortunately, due to the change in colors over time, Kuindzhi’s paintings lose much of their former richness. Therefore, we hasten to admire what has been preserved.
Arkhip Kuindzhi, painting “Sun spots on frost”, 1876-1890
Winter landscapes by outstanding artists. Isaac Levitan, “Forest in Winter”, 1885
Levitan - Russian artist Jewish origin, master of “mood landscape”. Levitan's works prove that the forest element is beautiful at any time of the year - be it lush spring, hot summer, rainy autumn or magical snowy winter. We, pampered city dwellers, enjoy seeing beauty winter forest falls out extremely rarely. And you can look at her with the brilliant eyes of Levitan at any moment.
Isaac Levitan, painting “Forest in Winter”, 1885
Winter landscapes by outstanding artists. Viktor Vasnetsov “Winter Dream” (“Winter”), 1908-1914
Viktor Vasnetsov is another adept of Russian landscape, as well as a master of historical and folklore painting. Most of his work " Winter dream"occupies the edge of the forest. The snow has enveloped the trees in a fluffy blanket, everything seems to have frozen, silence and peace reign all around. And only light traces of the sleigh, leading to a village barely visible in the distance, are visible on the left side of the picture. Somewhere there is the warmth of the hearth, but here, in the foreground, severe frost reigns.
Victor Vasnetsov, painting “Winter Dream”, 1908-1914
Winter landscapes by outstanding artists. Boris Kustodiev, “Skiers”, 1919
Boris Kustodiev - Russian and Soviet painter, landscape painter, graphic artist, illustrator and theater artist. The canvas “Skiers” is an amazing example of white on white. Frost-covered trees stand out against the backdrop of an endless snow-covered plain. Plumes of dull white smoke released by the locomotive obscure the snowy road from view. And all this pastoral splendor is watched by two skiers - a girl and a boy.
Boris Kustodiev, painting “Skiers”, 1919
Winter landscapes by outstanding artists. Pieter Bruegel the Elder, "Winter Landscape with Skaters and a Bird Trap", 1565
Pieter Bruegel the Elder is a Dutch painter and graphic artist, the most famous of those who bore the surname “Bruelel”. At first glance, in his “Winter Landscape with Skaters and a Bird Trap,” you can only see how carefree people frolic on the ice. The bird trap in the heavy door on the right side of the picture is barely visible. And where is your catcher? It’s not for nothing that Bruegel the Elder is considered a joker...
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Winter Landscape with Skaters and a Bird Trap, 1565
Winter landscapes by outstanding artists. Hendrik Averkamp, "Winter Landscape with Skaters", 1609
Another Dutch painter, Hendrik Averkamp, like Bruegel, loved to paint small, realistic winter landscapes. One of them is this “Winter Landscape”, also with an upwardly shifted horizon and a trap door (direct quote from Bruegel). By the way, try to find her.
Greetings, my beloved readers. It's winter outside, that's why today's theme is winter. I propose once again to help our schoolchildren with their studies and prepare material for children about paintings by Russian artists about winter. I am sure that in the very near future it may come in handy in Russian language and literature classes.
Lesson plan:
Why is winter attractive to an artist?
Russian winter is not only ours business card for any foreigner who shudders from the cold just at the mention of it. This is also a real find for landscape painters. Where else, if not in Rus', can you see fluffy snow flakes and snow sparkling under the rays of winter in such splendor?
How, if not with an artistic brush famous authors, accurately convey that cozy creaking underfoot down to the slightest rustle? Who, if not Russian artists, can envelop us with their artistic canvas the serene splendor of nature sleeping in winter, wrapped in a snow-white blanket?
In a word, “...frost and sun, a wonderful day...”. Inspired by beautiful poetic words famous masters literature about the Russian winter, masters of painting created beauty on canvas, and the beauty was often joyful, sunny and full of bright colors.
Let's quickly get acquainted with the descriptions of some paintings by famous Russian authors and immerse ourselves, together with their work, in the bewitching winter world of nature.
The playful winter of Vasily Surikov
Let's start with, perhaps, the most interesting stories for children - about naughty games, because often winter mood somewhat reminiscent of childishness.
This is exactly what Vasily Surikov wants to tell us from his canvas “The Capture of a Snowy Town”. His work is considered one of the most optimistic paintings, and in the collection of Surikov’s works it is the only one where there is neither a tragic nor a conflicting note, which the author was inclined to do.
Appeared piece of art painting was born during the author’s stay in his small Siberian homeland of Krasnoyarsk. The artist with Cossack roots liked local fun since childhood. He often watched such games from the window of his house, and he himself participated in them. Snow towns have always appeared as part of Maslenitsa festivities, for which they prepared for several days.
All the youthful enthusiasm was embodied on canvas, where the main characters are Siberians with ruddy and joyful faces. The admiring glances of the peasants in sheepskin coats and short fur coats are directed at the rider who took the snow fortress.
The crowd of winners laughs joyfully, smiling at us from the canvas. The special flavor and celebration in the painting are created by the holiday effects applied by Surikov - painted sleds, bright details clothes. The artist’s usual technique is also observed - there are always many characters, each with their own facial expression and in a certain pose, each endowed with their own character, as if the author breathed a soul into them.
Surikov’s canvas is like the frosty freshness of a winter afternoon, full of bright contrasts, come to life, full of movement.
Azure Winter by Igor Grabar
Igor Grabar, who loved winter landscapes with all his soul, always found pure, seemingly white winter colors, different shades. His paintings are far from a boring white blanket covering all living things. The author believed that to write winter, you need a huge amount different shades. That is why his winter on his canvases is azure, in bright blue-blue colors, the impeccability of which sometimes dazzles the eyes.
The artist’s “Winter Morning” is a clear confirmation of this. Although if you look closely, you can see a different palette of colors in the work, which does not stand out from the general azure tone. A snow-covered edge and trees shrouded in morning frost occupy a central place on the canvas.
A special mood is created by the branches breaking through Sun rays, which with their soft yellow light make everything around sparkle, creating a feeling of morning frost.
Igor Grabar did not try to draw every detail. On the contrary, everything on the canvas is written in small, thick strokes and slightly merges into a single landscape, creating an enthusiastic mood like a fairy tale.
The mysterious winter of Ivan Shishkin
I. Shishkin’s painting entitled “Winter” is a real secret. There are only dense trees and White snow. On the canvas there are only a lot of trunks and huge branches covered with large white snowdrifts. And nothing more. And the artist didn’t need anything else to convey to us all the mystery of the dense winter forest.
Not a single trace indicating the presence of a living soul, only fallen trunks and silence bound by frost. Everything suggests that nature really is sleeping.
The author's work is in some ways even similar to modern photography, he managed to convey the landscape so naturally. You look through the mighty trees and it seems that a hero from a fairy tale is about to emerge from behind them. Maybe a clubfoot is hiding behind the trees, or maybe Morozko is sneaking through the branches with a magic staff?
There are only two colors - white and black, but how skillfully the landscape painter Shishkin was able to convey to us the winter tranquility of a forest clearing and a bright “window” stretching into the distance. But if we take a closer look, we will see shades of yellow in the snow, and the trees are far from sadly black, but painted in soft brown tones.
And life is present on the canvas, it turns out! Take a closer look: on a branch in this deserted winter fairy tale world a bird sits. And this also adds mystery and mysticism to Shishkin’s work.
Country winter by Isaac Levitan
Painting with the title “Village. “Winter” Levitan wrote when he was only 18 years old, and these were his first, but quite successful steps in the field of painting.
The simplicity of the plot consists of ruffled faces, as if frozen with winter nature village houses located on the sides of a well-worn path. Thick blankets of snow covered their poised silhouettes lined up in orderly rows.
It seems that everything froze when winter came to the village. The only thing that speaks about the glimmering life in the village is the figure of a man, which is not so easy to see in a landscape with a deserted street and bare trees in the background.
City winter by Konstantin Yuon
Winter is good not only in the forest, it is beautiful not only in the village landscape. She is also extraordinarily amazing in urban scenes. U famous painter Yuon’s favorite topic was the depiction of the Trinity Lavra on canvas. He was most successful in winter landscapes with an architectural monument.
His painting “Trinity Lavra in Winter” is imbued with the author’s love and carries hope and faith. The central place on the canvas is occupied by the temple, stretching its domes into the sky. And all the fuss freezes in this place, as if...
A long line of people walks in an endless ribbon along the trade route past the temple, and a flock of birds echoes them in the sky, like a reflection. The author was able to convey freshness and tranquility to us with the help of a snow-white bedspread. Complete winter calm.
This is how the winter five turned out today. And this is just a small fraction among the many paintings about winter by famous Russian artists. Maybe you have your own favorites? Share your impressions. Tell us about them in the comments)
And we talked about spring-themed paintings. We generally talk about a lot of things, so it’s better to subscribe to the blog news to keep abreast of school events.
Have a wonderful winter!
Pieter Bruegel is considered the last Dutch Renaissance artist. He had the opportunity to travel a lot around Europe. Rome awakened a special feeling of delight in him.
Pieter Bruegel never painted to order - he was a free artist. The master of the brush loved to depict people of the lower classes in his paintings, for which he was nicknamed “The Peasant.”
One of his most famous paintings– “Hunters in the Snow” from the “Twelve Months” series. Only five paintings from this cycle have survived (it is believed that there were originally six). “Hunters in the Snow” corresponds to December and January. In this winter picture there are people with their way of life, who represent a generalized image of the whole world.
Hunters in the snow
Claude Monet "Magpie"
Before that, the winter landscape genre was introduced by Gustave Coubret. In his painting there were people, horses, dogs, and only then . Claude Monet moved away from this and depicted just one, barely noticeable magpie. The painter called it a “lonely note.” This showed the lightness and beauty of the winter landscape. Playing with light and shadow helps the artist create a special sensual atmosphere on a cold day.
Interestingly, the jury of the Paris Salon (one of the most prestigious art exhibitions in France) rejected this painting. And this is understandable, because she was very bold, the novelty of Monet’s manner made the painting different from the classic images of a winter day of that time.
Magpie
Vincent Van Gogh "Landscape with Snow"
Vincent Van Gogh decided to become a painter at the age of twenty-seven. When Vincent arrived in Paris to visit his brother Theo, he quickly became disillusioned with the capital's artistic society. He left the winter capital and moved to sunny Arles.
At this time there was frosty weather unusual for those places. Getting off the train, the painter felt himself in the kingdom of snow; he was not accustomed to heavy snowfalls and huge snowdrifts. True, a thaw soon set in and most of the snow melted. The artist hastened to capture what was left of the snow in the fields.
Landscape with snow
Paul Gauguin "Breton Village in the Snow"
Paul Gauguin - famous French artist. During his lifetime, his paintings were not in demand, so Gauguin was very poor. Fame came to him, like to his friend Van Gogh, only a few years after his death.
Recently, Paul Gauguin’s painting “When is the wedding?” was sold for $300 million. Now this is the most expensive painting ever sold! The masterpiece was bought by the Qatar Museums organization, the seller is the famous Swiss collector Rudolf Staehelin.
When Paul Gauguin moved to northwestern France, he began painting “Breton Village in the Snow.” It was found on an easel without a signature or date in the studio of Paul Gauguin at the time of his death on May 8, 1903.
The artist created the heavy contours of snow-covered thatched roofs , church spire and trees suddenly appearing in this desert landscape. The high horizon line, the distant smoking chimneys - everything evokes a feeling of drama and frost in a barren winter.
Breton village in the snow
Hendrik Averkamp "Winter Landscape with Skaters"
Hendrik Averkamp is a Dutch painter. He was the first to work in the style of realistic landscape painting: the nature in his paintings was as it really was.
Averkamp was deaf and mute from birth. His early work consisted exclusively of urban winter landscapes. It was they who made the artist widely known.
Since Averkamp could not perceive this world with the help of hearing, his vision perfectly captured the sense of color, and his ability to notice the smallest elements in multi-figure compositions became more acute. No one could compare with him in conveying changing lighting.
The famous painting by Hendrik Averkamp is “Winter Landscape with Skaters”. Pay attention to the bird trap made of a door and a stick in the lower left corner of the picture - this is a direct allusion to Pieter Bruegel’s painting “Winter Landscape with a Bird Trap” (here it is in the lower right corner ).
Winter landscape with skaters
Winter landscape with bird trap
Winter landscapes by contemporary artists
Robert Duncan is a contemporary American artist born in Utah. There were 10 children in his family. Robert started drawing at the age of 5.
He loved to visit his grandparents at the ranch in the summer. It was his grandmother, when the boy was 11 years old, who gave him a set of paints and paid for 3 oil painting lessons.
Duncan’s winter paintings exude warmth and homeliness, despite the fact that they are still “winter”!
Kevin Walsh is an artist whose paintings we have to assemble from a thousand pieces. Why? Because his works can be found on puzzles, postcards and even on clothes as prints.
Kevin Walsh's work is noted for its attention to technical and historical detail. The highlight of his work is his special sensitivity to gamma, palette and color rendering. Here is a selection of his winter-themed works.
Richard de Wolfe is a professional Canadian artist and blogger. He is a self-taught artist. The first exhibition of Richard de Wolfe's work was presented when he was 18 years old. Here are some of his works.
Judy Gibson is a contemporary American artist. Her paintings contain spontaneity and warmth. on her winter drawings– a forest house to which she invites your imagination. You need to imagine how cozy it is there, sitting by the fireplace with a cup of hot food. .
Stuart Sherwood is a self-taught artist. He painted portraits of many famous people: Pope John Paul II, John F. Kennedy and others. He is the only person to have been awarded the prestigious Canadian Award four times. They say that he even painted paintings for the President of France.
Would you like to draw winter?
