Country romance: Pictures of Russian classic artists, after which you want to leave the city

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

For centuries, Russian painters have glorified the nature of their native places with the help of a colorful palette, splashing it out on their canvases. And rarely any of the artists, living in large cities, did not "run away" for the summer time out of town for solitude from the bustle of the world, to be filled with inspiration and relax. And therefore, the artistic heritage of the painters is very rich in canvases depicting lovely wooden country houses and large estates.

In the concept of a Russian person, a dacha was something more than a simple country house with an orchard and garden beds. Dacha is, first of all, summer heat, romantic evenings, a peaceful mood. And of course, a measured morning accompanied by the trills of birds, a leisurely day with a walk in the forest or on the river, the evening dawn and the bright reflections of the fires.

And all this, from the moment of the first creak of the gate and the smell of young grass in blooming spring, to the padlock on the door of the country house and the farewell rustle of autumn leaves underfoot.

"Near the dacha". (1894). Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin

Ivan Shishkin was a brilliant landscape painter and loved nature very much. All his landscapes are written so realistically and harmoniously that every leaf on the tree and every blade of grass underfoot is "heard" as "rustling". The canvas "Near the dacha" is no exception. The work is, as it were, permeated with light and air. And the girl, sitting on a bench in the back of the composition, put down her book and, in thought, listens to the noise of ancient trees and the singing of birds. Soft sunshine and the absence of dark spots make the foliage feel cool on a hot afternoon.

"On the Terrace" (1906). Boris Kustodiev

The painting "On the Terrace" can be regarded as a family portrait in a dacha interior and one of the most pacified works of Boris Kustodiev. The color scheme of the picture is light and soft, like the warm evening itself, and its special delicate sensuality and harmony expresses love for her family, for her home. The canvas depicts the artist's wife, children, a sister with her husband and a nanny drinking tea in the courtyard of the estate.

The painter called the wooden house with a workshop on the Volga "Terem" and spent every summer here with his household.

"At the tea table". (1888). Konstantin Korovin

And Konstantin Korovin, once looking for tea at the estate of the Polenovs, with whom he was friends, wrote the painting "At the Tea Table." Vasily Polenov was a hospitable host and loved to receive guests at the dacha. In Korovin's painting, we see a tea table on the terrace and a large copper samovar, at which Nesterov, Serov, Ostroukhov gathered at different times.

“At the Academic Dacha. 1898). Ilya Repin

For two centuries, students of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts painted sketches with forest and swamp landscapes in the meadows in the vicinity of Vyshny Volochok, where the academic dacha was located. …

In the painting by Ilya Repin, we see easels lined up in a row, behind which students work. For a long time, Kuindzhi and Vereshchagin were teachers at this dacha.

"Window at the dacha". (1915). Chagall Mark Zakharovich

In the summer of 1915, after getting married, Marc Chagall and Bella Rosenfeld lived in a dacha near Vitebsk. This time was the happiest for the newlyweds. Under the impression, the artist will write a simple, but such a warm canvas "Window in the Country House", where we see a window with a curtain pulled back overlooking a birch grove. And in front of him - sitting themselves and Bella.

Admiring the evening landscape from the window, the couple in love is, as it were, a link between the viewer and the world outside the window. In the whole picture of Chagall, one can feel warmth, harmony and love.

"Puppet show at dachas." Vladimir Makovsky

It is also worth noting how interesting the social life at the dachas was. With home theaters, with mass festivities at sunset along the still warm alleys, with fishing, swimming, samovars, pies, fresh milk. In the painting by Vladimir Makovsky "Puppet show at the dachas" we see how the dacha population was having fun at their leisure.

"At the dacha at dusk." (1890s). Isaac Levitan

Isaac Levitan's canvas, which unites all summer residents. The feeling of dusk in dachas is incomparable with anything, when the estates are plunged into darkness and only in the windows or on the terraces warm lights or fires light up, and from everywhere you can hear the quiet conversations chirping of cicadas, a slight rustle of the breeze. In a word, the whole air is saturated with country romance and pacifying silence. Apparently, therefore, people travel from century to century to dachas to listen to the silence and enjoy the unity with nature.

"Dacha" is an ancient Russian word derived from the verb "give" ("dati"). It was also used in the meaning of "gift", "gift", "award". In the 17th century, the word "dacha" is found in historical documents as a designation of a land plot received from the state.

In the second half of the 18th century, the word "dacha" is used to refer to a country house or a small estate located in the suburbs. And what is interesting is that "dacha" is a typical Russian word that is not literally translated into other languages and has become a cult these days.

Now the "dacha idea" has embraced almost all strata of the urban population. Gardens and vegetable gardens are laid out on personal plots, where a little of everything is grown. And this is done mainly for pure pleasure, to dig in the ground, and eat your first cucumbers and strawberries.

The Russian soul has always strived for unity with nature, therefore the brush masters at all times turned with reverent love to spring motives, where they depicted the mystery of the awakening of all living things.