Essay based on Kuindzhi's painting Birch Grove (description). Kuindzhi Arkhip Ivanovich Artist Kuindzhi the history of the creation of the painting birch grove

Kuindzhi Arkhip Ivanovich. "Birch Grove" 1879

"Birch Grove"
1879
Canvas, oil. 97 x 181 cm
State Tretyakov Gallery

The picture attracts and delights with its simplicity and national identity. The plot of the composition from the first moments becomes familiar, homely. The artist depicted a small green meadow flooded with sunlight. The clearing is cut through by a stream, in places covered with duckweed. On one of its banks there are sleepy birch trees, illuminated by the sun and contrasting with the dark outlines of the forest in the background.
The painting fascinates with its lightness and certain decorativeness: there are almost no details or accents. Everything is very airy. Only a few branches of birch trees attract attention, which the author of the picture draws with great love and realism.
Critics are quite right in finding a certain Levitan style in the composition: Kuindzhi, creating “Birch Grove,” relies on the imagination of his viewer, gives him only a general composition, the viewer thinks out the details himself.
It should also be noted the contrast of the combinations: the snow-white birch trunks, washed by light, are shaded by the dark, in places almost black forest, which is depicted in the background.
Kuidzhi is rightfully considered an “artist of light”: the painting “Birch Grove” is the best proof of this. A subtle combination of light and shadow, sunbeams jumping along tree trunks and darkened water that delights in depth - all this conveys the freedom of a corner of the grove, the radiance of a summer day.
Numerous sketches were made in advance. All of them are united by the presence of birch trees on a dark background

“Master of Light” was the nickname other artists gave Kuindzhi. Since for them it always remained a secret of his unusual talent to depict light so realistically that it seemed as if it was not a painting, but a photograph. Until now, many artists look at paintings in confusion and do not understand how and with what they can convey the light of the moon or the sun’s rays, so that they can squint when looking at them.
The work “Birch Grove” was written in 1879. The canvas depicts a bright, radiant day sparkling with the sun's rays. Everything around is calm and quiet, a certain indescribable joy and delight settles in my soul.
A corner of a birch forest, absorbed in the play of “bunnies,” is so masterfully depicted that you involuntarily become a witness to an unusual performance - the sun’s rays intertwine with the hanging branches of birch trees and “ride” on them, blown by a light summer breeze. And it seems that if you listen closely, you can hear the rustling of leaves and the singing of birds, the chirping of grasshoppers in the tall and soft grass. Filled with the contrast of green color and its shades, you can more closely perceive the full depth and splendor of the birch forest.
Next we are transported to a stream, which with its fresh and cool stream takes us into the depths of the canvas, to where it can no longer be seen. However, the feeling of freshness and purity creates a sharp contrast between the summer heat and the saving coolness of the clean waters of the stream.
To give the forest density and depth, the artist draws dark silhouettes in the distant background of the picture, but does not give them a specific form, which suggests that the most important thing here, before the eyes, is spread out in full view.
Kuindzhi achieves such subtlety of lighting effects with the help of a correctly selected composition of color and contrast. After all, you can so subtly feel the light while being in the darkness. Therefore, the author prefers to combine dark tones with light ones, so that one stands out from the others with its depth and purity. The dark forest gives us the opportunity to more clearly perceive the blue sky and the almost luminous trunks of birch trees.
The artist is in admiration of Russian landscapes, because it is the Russian forest that is full of thoughts and hopes, desires and prayers, which are very clearly felt when you find yourself in this wondrous nature.

Http://gallerix.ru In 1879, at the seventh exhibition of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions, Kuindzhi showed the “Birch Grove” that later became famous. The reaction of artists and spectators was unanimous: Kuindzhi surprised everyone with the unusual nature of the painting. He continued the traditions of Russian romantic landscape.
In “Birch Grove” the artist achieved a decorative effect and, with this technique still unknown in Russian landscape, created the image of a sublime, sparkling, radiant world. The joyful and painful sunny day is captured in the picture in pure, sonorous colors, the brilliance of which is achieved by the contrasting juxtaposition of colors.

Groups of birch trees are placed on the canvas with precise precision. The bases of the trunks are deliberately flattened, which creates some conventionality. The decorative effect is manifested in static quality - the foliage on the trees seems to have frozen, and the air is so transparent that it is obvious: there is not a single breath of wind in the clearing. The thicket in the depths of the picture is devoid of detail - it is a dark green wall, designed to highlight the color contrasts. Having cut off the birch tree crowns with the upper edge of the picture, Kuindzhi leaves in the center individual green branches that come into view. They are drawn in a light pattern against the background of the darker greenery of distant trees, thanks to which the feeling of bright sunlight is even more intensified. The green color gives the painting an unusual harmony, penetrating the blue of the sky, the whiteness of the birch trunks, and the blue of the stream. The stream “leads” deeper into the picture, into the forest (into its dark silhouette), lost in a mysterious haze, and gives a feeling of freshness and coolness. One can feel not only the beauty of the surrounding landscape, but also its powerful earthly force. The artist does not highlight the details of the forest; on the contrary, he generalizes the silhouettes into one heavy mass and thickens the color. The picture is painted in virtually one green color and is based on the sharp contrast of sunspots in the center and thick shadow in the depths. The symmetrical composition (a stream divides it almost in half), clearly fixed spatial plans give rise to the effect of a skillfully composed look: Kuindzhi worked from memory, without using sketches from nature. By forcing the black and white contrast, the artist achieves the impression of dazzlingly bright sunlight. Nature seems motionless. She seems to be enchanted by an unknown force.
Kuindzhi, with his decorativeness, simplification, and innovative use of the power of color, was in many ways ahead of his time, and therefore not everyone immediately accepted the work, although it was “Birch Grove” that was destined to become the artist’s “calling card.”
At the moment, the painting is in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

Russian artist A.I. Kuindzhi became known to the public thanks to his landscapes in the style of romanticism. But not a single one of his works gave him as much fame as his painting “Birch Grove,” created in 1879, brought him. This work fell in love with the audience so much that for a long time after its first appearance at the exhibition, all the critics talked only about this painting, and the flow of people wanting to look at “pure beauty,” as this work was called, did not dry up. The artist was touched by this attitude of strangers towards his work; at first he was embarrassed by the sudden fame that had come to him, but after that he was especially proud of this painting. So much so that I decided to write several versions of it so that everyone could see the painting. He also painted many similar paintings on this topic. Birch became an integral part of most of his paintings.

The author does not focus on detail; he does not try to highlight every leaf on the tree or flower on the ground. The main thing for the artist is to convey the contrast of light and shadow, a certain struggle between light and dark. It is contrast that creates the mood.

Most researchers note precisely the mood conveyed by the canvas. In art, this task is much more important than simply conveying features - a clear image of tree branches, branches, grass and every flower. The main thing is to be able to express the feeling that arises when examining the canvas.

In fact, Kuindzhi depicted only a small fragment of a birch grove, what he could see at one glance, without looking around, without raising his head. These are a few birch trunks. Even their crowns did not fit into the picture. For Kuindzhi they are not needed at all - he believes that the audience’s imagination will imagine them. Here it is important for the artist to be able to convey the victory of light, to depict how the rays of the bright sun change everything around.

The foreground shows dense vegetation over which a shadow falls. The grass literally becomes one with the water of the same shade from the swampy stream. The pond divides the canvas into two even parts.

The middle ground of the picture is created by thin and light birch tree trunks. Behind them lies a meadow heated by the rays of the heavenly body.

In the background is the grove of birch trees that gives the work its name. A piece of clear sky is visible above the trees.

The birches do not stand one by one, as is usually the case, but in small groups. It seems as if the girlfriends were scattered in pairs to gossip about the secret: they leaned towards each other to hear better, and whispered secrets.
Thanks to the clearly expressed lines in the picture, a certain geometric pattern is obtained. Indeed, decorativeness is one of the features of Kuindzhi’s work.

In addition, sometimes it seems that the author has gone too far with the amount of colors - this picture is so rich and colorful. In fact, the author used only shades of green and blue, as well as contrasting white and black colors. But the play of light and shadow allows our gaze to complete in our minds other shades that may appear before the gaze of a person who finds himself in a birch grove on a sunny summer day.

Looking at this picture, a person will certainly want to smile and begin to enjoy the bright sunny day, even if in reality there is a blizzard blowing and a blizzard howling outside the window.

Plan

1.What do I see in the painting “Birch Grove”.

2.Why do I like the painting “Birch Grove”.

In the painting “Birch Grove” the artist depicted a clear summer day. I see a green meadow illuminated by the sun and slender white-trunked birch trees.

The leaves on the birch trees are a soft emerald color. A cool, swampy stream flows between the trees. There is not a cloud in the pale blue sky. And in the distance you can see a dense green forest.

I really like the painting “Birch Grove”. She creates a joyful mood. I want to sit in the shade under a tree and listen to the murmur of a brook and the singing of birds.

Essay based on the painting by A.I. Kuindzhi Birch Grove, grade 5

Plan

2. Masterpiece of painting “Birch Grove”.

3.Why I like “Birch Grove”.

From early childhood, Arkhip Kuindzhi showed great talent for drawing. During his life, the master created a huge number of paintings, most of which are dedicated to nature. Kuindzhi is a recognized master of landscape. One of his most famous works is “Birch Grove”.

Arkhip Ivanovich was very fond of Russian birch and painted “Birch Grove” in several versions. In the foreground of the picture are white-trunked beauties illuminated by the sun. It was as if they had escaped from a dark forest, visible in the distance, into an emerald clearing and were now dancing around a cool stream. There is shade under the crowns of birch trees; it’s nice to hide there from the scorching summer heat.

The picture looks so real that when you look at it, it seems that a light breeze is about to touch your face. You want to look at “Birch Grove” and look at it, it attracts the eye. The sad mood immediately improves. I think that there is no person who would not like this work.

painting by A. Kuindzhi Birch Grove photo

Essay based on the painting by A.I. Kuindzhi Birch Grove, grade 6

Plan

1. A word about the artist.

2. Kuindzhevskaya “Birch Grove”.

3.Feelings evoked by “Birch Grove”.

The famous Russian landscape painter Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi was born in Russia in the city of Mariupol, but his nationality is Greek. Kuindzhi had a memorable appearance: he was a tall, muscular, very strong man with dark skin and magnificent curly hair. Since childhood, Arkhip Ivanovich loved to draw and did it wherever possible. Almost all of Kuindzhi’s works are devoted to the description of nature. He is considered a master of landscape painting.

The canvas “Birch Grove” is considered a masterpiece of landscape painting. In its center is a large forest clearing in which the main characters of the picture are located - birches. The clearing looks so real that it seems you can jump in there, hug a birch tree and smell its bark. The birches, like friends, gathered in groups of two or three and seemed to be keeping secrets about something.

The artist painted every branch of the trees with great love. At the same time, the forest in the background of the picture looks like a large green silhouette without drawing details. It seems to me that the painting depicts the beginning of summer, because the green of the grass and leaves is still a delicate emerald shade, which occurs only in June. Above the forest there is a very clear, almost transparent sky with a bluish tint. There is not a breeze in the forest. The clearing seems brightly lit by the sun, the sun is everywhere, although it is not in the picture. And this magical effect is present on many of his canvases. The painting gives me a feeling of joy, happiness and peace. It must be very nice to look at her when it’s winter and frost.

In Arkhip Ivanovich Kuindzhi. "Birch Grove"

The illusion of light was his god, and there was no artist equal to him in achieving this miracle of painting
— Ilya Efimovich Repin

“Birch Grove” by Kuindzhi, dated 1879, made a huge impression on his contemporaries and to this day is perhaps the artist’s most famous work. Of course, in line with the traditions of the Wanderers, the picture became innovative, breaking the canons of harsh realism in painting with its social background of plots and tragic colors.

Birch Grove 1879

“Birch Grove” is called a bright painting by Kuindzhi, permeated with light, glowing.
I think it is just as dramatic as the painter’s other works. Behind the birches in the foreground illuminated by the sun's rays rises a mysterious forest with gloomy interlacings of trunks with massive dark crowns, while the tops of the “front” birches, probably transparent, trembling, are not visible, only guessed. In the very foreground of the picture there are thick shadows. In general, there are a lot of condensed saturated colors in the picture, perhaps, however, less than in many other works of Kuindzhi. The jubilant afternoon, the enveloping warmth of the sun, concentrated in the center of the composition, attracts attention and gives “Birch Grove” some kind of melancholy - sadness that the day will soon give way to evening and the grove will be plunged into darkness.
The painting clearly shows the Art Nouveau style with its conventional decorativeness - in the clear, somewhat magical design of the birch trunks. However, the edge of the forest with its flowering plants and the pond covered with delicate duckweed, painted in slightly blurred colors, exudes the spirit of impressionism.

Another Birch Grove, created in 1901, seems even more impressionistic. It is a grove of smoky air and light pearlescent light, at once dreamy and majestic in its quiet peace. A charmingly soft, thoughtful, magnificent landscape that has also received fame and recognition.

Birch Grove 1901

The artist painted several more paintings and sketches called “Birch Grove”.
I like "Birch Grove" - ​​an autumn landscape and "Birch Grove. Spots of Sunlight" - sad, completely impressionistic works with an amazing harmony of golden light and ocher flowers of the grove, with shining midday greenery and shimmering sunlight in the summer grove with "Spots of Sunlight" ".
A talented contrast with the bizarre dense colors - ultramarine, purple and malachite - of a birch grove at night ("Forest"), written in a typical manner for Kuindzhi, in the spirit of ancient fairy tales and legends.

Birch Grove 1898-1908

Birch Grove 1880s

Birch Grove 1880s

Birch Grove 1879

Birch Grove Variant-sketch of the painting of the same name from 1879

Birch Grove (Forest) 1880s

Birch Grove. Spots of sunlight 1890-1895