Описание картины

The painting "Ship Grove" is considered an artistic testament of Ivan Shishkin. He painted it in the year of his death, and this is the last serious work of the artist. In his work on this painting, Shishkin used plein-air sketches, sketches and sketches created in his native Yelabuga. The canvas got its name due to the image of ship pines, which were used for shipbuilding.

The foreground of the painting shows a small stream and the edge of the forest illuminated by the warm summer sun. The sandbank is lined with stones. The wooden perches beside the brook attract attention, dominated by shades of brown.

The majesty and power of nature is conveyed by the severity of the tall pine trees. All the viewer's attention is directed towards the details of the depicted mighty pines. What attracts attention is an old pine-tree, which is leaning slightly to the side. By its slant it is differentiated from the young, massive coniferous trees.

Some of the trees try to hide in the shade of the grove, but the sunlight illuminates their tops and crowns. The illuminated tree crowns are also reflected in the quiet smoothness of the stream.

You feel as if you are in the grove yourself. Above you there are coniferous trees striving upwards. You can hardly see their tops. The pink hues of the sunset shimmer in the sky. Dark green and violet-black strokes of deep shadows stand out against a backdrop of lighter colours.

The contrast of warm and cold shades on the painting conveys to the viewer the solemn and tranquil mood of nature.

Sometimes it seems that in the painting "Ship Grove" Shishkin talks about the relationship of generations: here old pines symbolize wisdom and experience, here a fallen branch with withered needles means decrepitude, and next to the young growth dazzles with greenery — low pine trees compete with each other, which of them is taller and slimmer. Soon they will take the place of their ancestors. Do you see how the water washes away the shore? The roots of an old pine tree were exposed. Not much time will pass, and the hurricane will knock down the mighty trunk, tearing it out by the roots from the soil weakened by water.

Ivan Shishkin lived and breathed Russian nature, identifying it with human life. That is why his paintings seem to come to life before the eyes of observers, they are so convex and relief. The artist's love for his native land manifested itself in the play of colors, the skill of the brush and the theme of Russian nature, to which the epic canvases of the great landscape painter are dedicated.