Page 11 - Maastricht 2022 Catalogue

Ivan Shishkin

EDGE OF THE FOREST, (SIVERSKAYA)

Referred to as the “Tsar of the Forest” during his lifetime, Ivan Painted in 1881, the setting of our woodland scene is Siverskaya,
Shishkin (1832-1898) is considered one of Russia’s greatest located 70 kilometers south of St. Petersburg. Shishkin had explored
landscape painters. To quote one of his contemporaries, “We know the region with fellow Peredvizhniki, Kramskoi and Savitsky in 1872;
no other artist who possesses such impeccable technique or who with the natural beauty of the terrain and the towering trees of the
so faithfully and with such deep affection for his native land and forest, Shishkin found his muse in Siverskaya, and it provided him
his art portrays the Russian nature that is so dear to us. In the with endless natural subjects for the rest of his career. Siverskya was
depiction of the Russian forest, Shishkin has no rivals.” (Victoria to Shishkin what Ville d’Avray had been to Jean-Baptiste-Camille
Charles and Irina Shuvalova, Ivan Shishkin, 2013, Kindle edition, p. Corot and Fontainebleau Forest had been to Théodore Rousseau; the
108). While the Russian forest provided Shishkin with an endless shared understanding of a force in nature so strong that it beckoned
source of inspiration, equally, his paintings defined Russia by always to be repeated over and over. Shishkin’s woodland subjects have
promoting a sense of pride in the native landscape. been referred to as “forest portraiture” and it is tempting to assign
attributes such as “close up” and “full length” when describing the
A turning point in Shishkin’s career came in 1870, when together trees with their sturdy trunks covered with crusted bark, twisting
with a group of Russia’s and Ukraine’s most talented artists, branches and feathery pine needles. Here we see a “close up” view of
including Ilya Repin (1844-1930), Vasily Surikov (1848-1916), Ivan the forest in light and shadow, a trademark Shishkin vantage point,
Kramskoi (1837-1887), Viktor Vasnetsov (1848-1926) and Konstantin where the towering pine trees – their trunks softly illuminated in
Savitsky (1844-1905), he founded the Society for Travelling Exhibitions sunshine, extend out of the picture and reach upwards beyond the
or Peredvizhniki. While a focus of the group was to feature realistic blue sky.
contemporary life in Russia (best exemplified by Ilya Repin’s Volga
Barge Haulers from 1870-73, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg),
there was also a keen interest in depicting the diverse beauty of the
Russian countryside, such as exemplified in Shishkin’s landscapes
and especially in his pine forests. The ideology of the Peredvizhniki
remained with Shishkin for the rest of his career and was a defining
characteristic of his landscapes from the 1880s, such as Siverskaya -
Edge of the Forest.

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