Painting: 1889
Canvas, oil.
Size: 139 × 213 cm
Description of the painting “Three Bears” by I. Shishkin
Artist: Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin, Konstantin Apollonovich Savitsky
Title of the painting: “Morning in pine forest»
Painting: 1889
Canvas, oil.
Size: 139 × 213 cm
In our country, you will not find a second such “hit” canvas, the plot of which is present on a rare grandmother’s bedspread, an embroidered little thought, a tablecloth, plates and even on wrappers with cute clubtoes. Memories of parents, chocolates and the moves of PR people - this is what does not allow us to forget about I. Shishkin’s painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” or, in common parlance, “Three Bears”.
But only Shishkin? The bears were painted on canvas by K. Savitsky, who at first depicted two clubfooted bears, and then raised their number to four. Previously, it was believed that Shishkin, despite his rather significant successes in animal painting, was unable to depict bears, so he simply exploited poor Savitsky and did not even allow him to sign the picture. In fact, the artists were friends, and the bears appeared after the latter said that the canvas was not dynamic. Shishkin could draw anyone, but not bears, so he gave Savitsky the opportunity to revive the picture and put a signature. The collector P. Tretyakov was not so loyal: he bought the painting from Shishkin, which means that the authorship is his, so there can be no Savitskys here. In general, the inscription was erased and “Morning in a Pine Forest” began to be considered one of the key paintings in the work of one of the most outstanding Russian landscape painters.
The “Teddy Bear” candies with Shishkin’s reproduction on the candy wrapper gave the name to the painting “Three Bears”. The delicacy that appeared was filled with almonds and cocoa beans, it was expensive, but it was so tasty that even the agitator of everyone and everything, V. Mayakovsky, could not resist and wrote that if you want “Bears,” then put a certain amount of money into a savings book. This is how “Teddy Bear” became “Three Bears” (and there are four of them in the picture), candy became one of the signs of the USSR, and I. Shishkin became a people’s artist.
True, he was a singer of nature native land and before the Bears. The artist wanted and knew how to surprise, first of all, with landscapes, which he painted so brilliantly that he earned the reputation of a master of detail. Only here you will see a haze of fog, as if floating among the branches of hundred-year-old pines, soft and cozy moss on the boulders, clear water stream, morning or evening coolness, midday heat of summer. What’s interesting is that all the artist’s paintings are partly epic, but always monumental. At the same time, Shishkin is not pretentious, he is simply the person who sincerely admires majestic nature native land and knows how to portray it.
“Morning in a Pine Forest” pacifies with the balance of its composition. Three bear cubs look very harmonious with their mother bear, and I just want to apply them to the two halves of a fallen pine tree. divine proportion. This picture is like a random shot on an old camera that a tourist managed to take after searching for true virgin nature for so long.
And if you look at the coloring of the picture, it’s as if the artist is trying to capture all the richness of the colors of the dawn time. We see air, but it is not the usual shade of blue, but rather blue-green, a little cloudy and foggy. The predominant colors that surrounded the clubfooted inhabitants of the forest are green, blue and sunny yellow, reflecting the mood of awakened nature. The bright flickering of golden rays in the background seems to hint at the sun that is about to illuminate the earth. It is these highlights that give the picture solemnity; it is they that speak of the realism of the fog above the ground. “Morning in a Pine Forest” is another confirmation of the tactility of Shishkin’s paintings, because you can even feel the cool air.
Look closely at the forest. Its appearance is conveyed so realistically that it becomes clear: this is not a forest clearing, but a deep thicket - a true concentration of living nature. The sun had just risen above her, the rays of which had already managed to make their way to the top of the tree crowns, splashing them with gold and again hiding in the thicket. The damp fog, which has not yet cleared, seems to have awakened the inhabitants of the ancient forest.
The cubs and the mother bear woke up, developing their vigorous activity. Satisfied and well-fed bears will learn in the morning the world, exploring a nearby fallen pine tree, and the mother bear watches the babies, who are touchingly clumsily climbing the tree. Moreover, the mother bear watches not only the cubs, but also tries to catch the slightest sounds that could disturb their idyll. It’s simply amazing how these animals, painted by another artist, could come to life compositional solution paintings: a fallen pine tree seemed to have been created for this bear family, busy with their important affairs against the backdrop of a remote and wild corner of Russian nature.
The painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” reveals mastery realistic image and its quality, which is in many ways superior to modern digital technology. Every blade of grass, every ray of sun, every pine needle was written by Shishkin lovingly and reverently. If the foreground of the canvas depicts a fallen pine tree with bears climbing on it, then in the background there is an ancient forest. Bear cubs and the rest of nature evoke a calming feeling in every person. positive emotions. Animals, like toy animals, fill the beginning of a new day with kindness and set the mood for positive thinking. Looking at these cute animals, it’s hard to believe that they are predators by nature and cannot be capable of cruelty. But that’s not even the main thing. Shishkin focuses the viewer’s attention on the harmony of sunlight that comes from the background of the painting with bear cubs on foreground. Visually draw a line through them - and you will certainly notice that these are the brightest objects in the picture, and everything else, including irregular shape The pine trees are just complementary touches.
It seems that “Morning in a Pine Forest” depicts real, living bears in some kind of fantastic landscape. The Vyatka forest, from which nature is copied, says researchers, is very different from the Shishkin forest. I just wonder if bears exist there now, because the picture has been nurturing the aesthetic and moral taste of people for a century, asking us to take care of the surrounding nature.
Perhaps the most famous picture the outstanding Russian landscape painter I. I. Shishkin - “Morning in a pine forest.” The painting was painted in 1889.
It is believed that the idea for the painting was suggested to Shishkin famous artist Savitsky K.A. By the way, the bear and the playing cubs were painted by the hand of this artist. However, Tretyakov, who acquired the painting, decided to assign Shishkin’s authorship to it, since he believed that the main work was done by him.
Perhaps it is entertaining story The painting contributed to its popularity, but the real value of the canvas is determined by the accurately conveyed state of nature. Before us is not just a pine forest, but a deep thicket that begins to awaken in the early morning. The sun is just rising. Its bold rays have already gilded the tops of huge trees and penetrated deep into the thicket, but the damp fog has not yet cleared over the deep ravine.
The inhabitants of the thicket woke up - three bear cubs and a she-bear. It looks like the kids are full and happy. They carelessly and clumsily fumble on the broken trunk of a fallen pine tree, and the bear carefully watches their play, sensitively reacting to the rustling of the awakening forest. A mighty pine tree, which a hurricane once uprooted, and a family of bears frolicking on it - all this gives us a feeling of deafness and remoteness of this corner wildlife.
The painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” shows how skillfully Shishkin solves the problem of the interaction of color and light in painting. The color of the background of the canvas is transparent, indefinite, and the foreground is deep, colorful, well-developed. The painting, which is deservedly considered a model of landscape for many generations, fully conveys the artist’s admiration for the beauty and richness of pristine nature.
In addition to the description of the painting by I. I. Shishkin “Morning in a Pine Forest”, our website contains many other descriptions of paintings by various artists, which can be used both in preparation for writing an essay on the painting, and simply for a more complete acquaintance with the work of famous masters of the past.
|
To start: As you know, many epochal events in world history are inextricably linked with the city of Vyatka (in some versions - Kirov (which is Sergei Mironych)). What is the reason for this - the stars may have risen this way, maybe the air or alumina there is particularly healing, maybe the collahedron influenced, but the fact remains: no matter what particularly significant happens in the world, “Vyatka’s hand” can be traced in almost everything. However, until now no one has taken upon themselves the responsibility and hard work of systematizing all significant phenomena that are directly related to the history of Vyatka. In this situation, a group of young promising historians (in my person) undertook to carry out this attempt. As a result, a series of highly artistic scientific and historical essays about documented historical facts under the heading "Vyatka - the birthplace of elephants." Which is what I plan to post on this resource from time to time. So, let's begin.
Vyatka - the birthplace of elephants
Vyatka bear - main character paintings "Morning in pine forest»
Art historians have long proven that Shishkin painted the painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” from life, and not from the wrapper of the “Teddy Bear” candy. The history of writing the masterpiece is quite interesting.
In 1885, Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin decided to paint a canvas that would reflect the deep strength and immense power of the Russian pine forest. The artist chose the Bryansk forests as the place to paint the canvas. For three months Shishkin lived in a hut, seeking unity with nature. The result of the action was the landscape “Sosnovy Bor. Morning". However, Ivan Ivanovich’s wife Sofya Karlovna, who served as the main expert and critic of the great painter’s paintings, felt that the canvas lacked dynamics. At the family council, it was decided to add forest life to the landscape. Initially, it was planned to “launch” hares along the canvas, however, their small dimensions would hardly have been able to convey power and strength Russian forest. We had to choose from three textured representatives of the fauna: bear, wild boar and elk. The selection was made using the cut-off method. The boar disappeared immediately - Sofya Karlovna did not like pork. Sokhaty also did not qualify for the competition, since a moose climbing a tree would have looked unnatural. In search of a suitable bear that won the tender, Shishkin was again resettled in the Bryansk forests. However, this time he was disappointed. All Bryansk bears seemed skinny and unattractive to the painter. Shishkin continued his search in other provinces. For 4 years the artist wandered through the forests of the Oryol, Ryazan and Pskov regions, but never found an exhibit worthy of a masterpiece. “The bear is not purebred today, maybe a wild boar will do after all?” Shishkin wrote to his wife from the hut. Sofya Karlovna helped her husband here too - in Brem’s encyclopedia “Animal Life” she read that the bears living in the Vyatka province have the best exterior. A biologist described the brown bear of the Vyatka line as “a well-built animal with a correct bite and well-standing ears.” Shishkin went to Vyatka, Omutninsky district, in search of the ideal animal. On the sixth day of living in the forest, not far from his cozy dugout, the artist discovered a den of magnificent representatives of the brown bear breed. The bears also discovered Shishkin and Ivan Ivanovich completed them from memory. In 1889, the great canvas was ready, certified by Sofia Karlovna and placed in Tretyakov Gallery.
Unfortunately, about the significant contribution Vyatka nature Few people now remember the painting “Morning in a Pine Forest”. But in vain. To this day, there are powerful and purebred bears in these parts. It is a well-known fact that the Gromyk bear from the Zonikha animal farm posed for the emblem of the 1980 Olympics.
Vyacheslav Sykchin,
independent historian,
chairman of the bearologists' cell
Vyatka Darwinist Society.
“Three Bears” is a painting so called by the common people; it has the official title - “Morning in a Pine Forest”. The canvas was painted in oil in 1889, its dimensions are 139 x 213 (quite large), it is stored in the State Tretyakov Gallery. The signature under the picture is only Ivan Shishkin.
The most replicated painting
The official title is more consistent with the painting itself, since there are four bears on the canvas, not three. But there is no person on the territory of the CIS who does not know this work, and precisely under the name “Three Bears”. The picture is incredibly popular, it can be argued that, speaking modern language, this is the most promoted picture. This was facilitated by the most popular and delicious candy wrappers in Soviet times sweets, tablecloths, bedspreads and wall rugs that repeat the plot. And it is the bears depicted in the foreground that enjoy fame among wide sections of the population, and the beautifully depicted morning forest serves as a backdrop.
Not a very successful collaboration
And the bears were painted by another artist - Konstantin Apollonovich Savitsky (1844 - 1905), genre painter, academician, friend of Shishkin. Savitsky convinced Shishkin that the picture lacked dynamics, and the animals in the foreground would fill the gap. Art critics write that Shishkin was not successful with bears, but Savitsky, on the contrary. And, indeed, the clubfoot turned out so well that, by mutual consent, the friends put their signatures under the picture. But Tretyakov and Savitsky had some friction at that time, and when buying a painting for his gallery, he demanded that Savitsky’s signature be removed. Obviously, the collector’s desire was the law, and only Shishkin’s signature remained, and he received the fee alone and probably did not share it with the co-author, because they stopped being friends.
Island covered with pine trees
This is the “wrong side” of the “Three Bears” canvas. The picture is so beautiful, calm, blissful. Of course, Tretyakov was a connoisseur and fine connoisseur of painting, and the forest depicted consummate master, represented for the buyer true value, and I didn’t even like the bears. And experts are delighted with the landscape spied by Shishkin on the island of Gorodomlya (Lake Seliger), brilliantly transferred to the canvas.
Popularly known as “The Three Bears,” the painting truly wonderfully conveys the state of nature. At first glance it is clear that it is morning. The fog pierced by the rays of the rising sun is amazingly depicted.
Queen of Landscapes
The brilliant landscape painter, in love with Shishkin, very often painted pine trees. Different, at any time of the year, illuminated by the sun and covered with snow, they are beautiful.
The smallest needles are visible on his canvases, the roughness of the bark is felt, it seems that the pine smell comes from the paintings of Ivan Ivanovich. “Three Bears” - depicting the wilderness of the forest. It seems that you can hear the crackling of the trunks of centuries-old pines, and how you feel the depth of the cliff located behind the right bear cub. And the infinity of the forest is depicted brilliantly. And the fog, still blue at the edges, already illuminated by the sun in the center. And the bear cub drawn on the right seems to have fallen in love beautiful morning. And nature has not yet fully woken up, and the morning cool is blowing. A work of genius, masterpiece. Maybe he didn't need dynamics.
The result is complete harmony
To be fair, it must be said that the bears do not spoil the canvas in any way; they fit into it very well. The painting “Three Bears”, described above, is very organic, and it is impossible to imagine it without these good-natured representatives of wildlife. Perhaps the complacency emanating from a mother bear with three cubs is explained by the absence of a person nearby. And this peace of animals also emphasizes the depth of the forest. “...And the fresh moss is crushed under the paws, the dry branches are cracking under the weight...” - the poet’s wonderful words about the painting. Morning, silence, harmony in the plant and animal world, in nature in general - the picture has a very calming effect: “... and just look at this beauty, and I know that it will save, warm!”
“Morning in a Pine Forest” is a painting by Russian artists Ivan Shishkin and Konstantin Savitsky. Savitsky painted the bears, but the collector Pavel Tretyakov erased his signature, so that Shishkin alone is often indicated as the author of the painting.
The painting is popular due to the compositional inclusion of animalistic elements in the landscape canvas. The painting conveys in detail the state of nature seen by the artist on Gorodomlya Island. What is shown is not a dense dense forest, but sunlight, breaking through the columns of tall trees. You can feel the depth of the ravines, the power of centuries-old trees, the sunlight seems to timidly peek into this dense forest. The frolicking cubs feel the approach of morning.
Presumably, the idea for the painting was suggested to Shishkin by Savitsky, who later acted as a co-author and depicted the figures of the bear cubs (based on Shishkin’s sketches). These bears, with some differences in poses and numbers (at first there were two of them), appear in preparatory drawings and sketches (for example, the State Russian Museum contains seven versions of Shishkin’s pencil sketches). Savitsky turned out the animals so well that he even signed the painting together with Shishkin. Savitsky himself told his family: “The painting was sold for 4 thousand, and I am a participant in the 4th share.”
Having acquired the painting, Tretyakov removed Savitsky’s signature, leaving the authorship behind Shishkin, because in the painting, Tretyakov said, “from concept to execution, everything speaks about the manner of painting, about creative method, characteristic of Shishkin."
In the inventory of the gallery, initially (during the lives of the artists Shishkin and Savitsky), the painting was listed under the title “Bear Family in the Forest” (and without indicating Savitsky’s surname).
Russian prose writer and publicist V. M. Mikheev wrote the following words in 1894:
Look into this gray fog of the forest distance, into the “Bear Family in the Forest”... and you will understand what kind of forest expert, what a strong objective artist you are dealing with. And if something in his paintings interferes with the integrity of your impression, then it won’t be the details of the forest, but, for example, the figures of bears, the interpretation of which makes you want a lot and spoils a lot big picture where the artist placed them. Obviously, the master forest specialist is not nearly as good at depicting animals.
Reproductions of “Morning in a Pine Forest” were widely circulated in the USSR. However, this began even before the revolution; in particular, since the 19th century, reproductions have been reproduced on the wrapper of the “Bear-Toed Bear” chocolates. Thanks to this, the picture is well known among the people, often under the name “Three Bears” (although there are four bears in the picture). Because of such candy-wrapped circulation, the picture began to be perceived in the Soviet and post-Soviet cultural space as an element of kitsch.
