Stuffy Kashcheevo kingdom. Scenery sketch for I. Stravinsky’s ballet The Fire Bird Alexander Golovin (1863-1930)

The composition presents a densely populated landscape dominated by architectural structures that defy conventional categorization. Here we observe a cluster of buildings, seemingly constructed from organic materials – wood, stone, and what appears to be woven vegetation – arranged in a haphazard yet deliberate fashion. The forms are rounded, bulbous, and often asymmetrical, suggesting a realm governed by whimsical logic rather than Euclidean principles.
The color palette is intensely saturated, with ochres, yellows, greens, and browns predominating. These hues contribute to an overall impression of warmth and fecundity, but also possess a certain oppressiveness due to their density and lack of clear tonal variation. The artist employed a pointillist technique, creating a surface that vibrates with texture and visual complexity. This granular application of paint obscures sharp lines and contours, further blurring the distinction between architecture and nature.
A winding path leads toward the central cluster of buildings, drawing the viewer’s eye into the scenes depths. The vegetation flanking this pathway appears almost parasitic, clinging to and enveloping the structures it surrounds. The foliage is not rendered realistically; instead, it functions as an integral part of the architectural design, blurring the boundaries between built environment and natural world.
A sense of enclosure pervades the work. The buildings seem to press in on one another, creating a claustrophobic atmosphere that suggests both prosperity and confinement. This feeling is amplified by the lack of visible sky or horizon; the viewer’s perspective appears to be limited to this immediate, self-contained world.
Subtly embedded within the composition are hints of human presence – a suggestion of figures near the entranceway, though their forms are indistinct and integrated into the surrounding foliage. This ambiguity reinforces the impression that the realm is both inhabited and somehow detached from conventional human society. The overall effect suggests a place steeped in folklore, where the boundaries between reality and fantasy are fluid and permeable, evoking an atmosphere of uncanny familiarity.