Wilds Yuly Klever (1850-1924)

Description of Julius Clover’s painting "The Forest"

Clover’s painting "The Forest" impresses the viewer with its realism. Looking at it, it feels like looking at a photograph. The painting depicts a thicket of forest. One hardly ever sets foot here - the thicket seems to be too impenetrable and gloomy.

A misty haze hangs over the land. You can see neither sky, nor horizon, nor faraway trees. Only the tops of old firs can be seen, towering above the mist and dissolving in it.

In the foreground is a small part of the forest marsh. It is overgrown with grass and sedge, almost invisible in the woods, and therefore a great danger to the casual traveler. Behind the swamp lies a fallen birch tree. The roots of this tree rise up on the surface of the swamp water. You can see that the ground on the roots of the tree is quite wet - apparently, the tree fell not so long ago. The roots of the tree are reflected in the standing water. Who knows, maybe there was a hurricane here not so long ago.

Farther away, on the edge of the forest, another fallen tree, most likely a pine, is visible between the trees. A few forest birds fly over it. Perhaps someone has spooked them. The forest in the picture is mixed, which is more characteristic of the middle belt of Russia. The reader can see pines, spruces and birches. The forest is dense, shrouded with bushes.

The color scheme of the landscape suggests the time of year. You can already see yellow grass and leaves, it’s the end of summer or the beginning of fall.

The landscape is full of apprehension. Despite the fact that it is painted in light colors, the impression from viewing it is quite gloomy. It would not be easy for someone who wandered into that thicket at that hour. The obscurity of the distant plan is frightening - behind the fog one cannot see whether there is a way out of the thicket, or whether more and more dense thickets of trees await the traveler.