On the edge of a pine forest in 1882 Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin (1832-1898)

Description of Ivan Shishkin’s painting "On the edge of a pine forest".

Ivan Shishkin is a famous master of landscapes, his paintings of Russian forests and groves have long gained wide popularity not only in Russia, but also far beyond its borders. This artist is generally recognized experts in the depiction of forest flora.

In 1882, the author finished his work "At the edge of a pine forest. The famous landscape is presented in the traditional for Shishkin style of realism. The picture is painted on canvas with oil paints.

The canvas depicts a tall forest inhabited by huge trees. On the background of the mighty forest one can see a small female figure emerging from behind the pine trunks.

Almost the entire picture is painted in different shades of green, and only the small human figure is dressed in white. A small white dot on the background of the green forest emphasizes how small man is compared to the eternity and permanence of nature.

The same idea is confirmed by the size of a miniature human figure on the background of huge pine trees, whose trunk exceeds even the volume of the human body.

Symbolism is also in the very subject of the work. The girl emerges from the forest thicket into the world of people. The young person represents the entire human race, reminding us that we are all children of nature.

The hundred-year-old pines remind us of the age-old wisdom of nature, and the fragile young girl symbolizes the transience of human existence. How many such people have passed by these pines and how many more will pass by, many years will pass, and these pine crowns will still be drowned in the golden sunset rays.

Calm, peacefulness, the wisdom of centuries, which absorbed the mighty trees and purest pristine, which nature has not lost for thousands of years.

Ivan Ivanovich painted "On the Edge of the Pine Forest" at a mature age. That is why the work is imbued with profound symbolism and is a message to all mankind.

Today the painting "On the Edge of a Pine Forest" is exhibited in the Lviv Gallery of Art.