Elk Island in Sokolniki 2. 1869 Alexey Kondratievich Savrasov (1830-1897)

Description of Alexei Savrasov’s painting "Elk Island in Sokolniki".

Savrasov is true to himself. His landscapes are most beautiful and authentic. Who would have thought that in Sokolniki, here in this mud, there would ever be high-rise buildings and paved roads? Here in front of us are the Sokolniki that used to be. And the same Elk Island, which is still inhabited by moose, and not, as now, in name only.

And here the painter did not play with the light. The sky is clearly stormy, the clouds are such that it can’t wait to thunder and rain.

Cows may be happy to wash under the sky water, but shepherds don’t want to get wet and it is obvious that the herd is standing tight and not scattered. But the most beautiful thing is that it is the herd that is still blessed by the sun, and the forest is gradually covered by dark twilight. In the foreground, by the way, we can see the bridges over the ditch. It seems they will soon be drowned in the storm water, too. And there will be more mud, of course...

Not everyone manages to convey the mood before the thunderstorm or such a state that something is about to happen. But Savrasov managed to create in this canvas just the mood of thunderstorm, a sense of the inevitable vagaries of nature. And most importantly, it seems that the pressurization of the sky presses, presses not only our perception, but also the same pine forest, which is already half-dark from the clouds. But still light makes its way to the trees and tries to shine there, it’s not for long - see what clouds are running across the sky. The main thing for the herdsmen is not to hesitate and at least to have time to hide cows in the forest, otherwise anything may happen.

After all, it is not in vain that Savrasov is considered the founder of the Russian landscape. It was he who taught Korovin and Levitan, it was he who created the most famous painting "The Rooks have Arrived", which is ready to buy for unprecedentedly large money, and which brought international fame to the artist.