Russian painting is rightfully distinguished from the world artistic arts. The fact is that until the seventeenth century, domestic painting was associated exclusively with a religious theme. The situation changed with the coming to power of the reforming tsar, Peter the Great. Thanks to his reforms, Russian masters began to engage in secular painting, there was a separation of icon painting as a separate direction. The seventeenth century is the time of such artists as Simon Ushakov and Joseph Vladimirov. Then, in Russian art world portrait was born and quickly became popular. In the eighteenth century, the first artists appeared, moving from portrait painting to landscape. The artists’ pronounced sympathy for winter panoramas is noticeable. The eighteenth century was also remembered for the emergence of everyday painting. In the nineteenth century, three movements gained popularity in Russia: romanticism, realism and classicism. As before, Russian artists continued to turn to the portrait genre. It was then that the world-famous portraits and self-portraits of O. Kiprensky and V. Tropinin appeared. In the second half of the nineteenth century, artists increasingly depicted the common Russian people in their oppressed state. Realism becomes the central movement of painting of this period. It was then that the Itinerant artists appeared, depicting only real, real life. Well, the twentieth century is, of course, the avant-garde. The artists of that time significantly influenced both their followers in Russia and throughout the world. Their paintings became the forerunners of abstract art. Russian painting is a huge amazing world talented artists who glorified Russia with their creations
Since time immemorial, people have always admired nature. They expressed their love by depicting it in all kinds of mosaics, bas-reliefs and paintings. Many great artists devoted their creativity to painting landscapes. The paintings depicting forests, sea, mountains, rivers, fields are truly mesmerizing. And we need to respect the great masters who so detailed, colorful and emotional conveyed in their works all the beauty and power of the world around us. It is landscape artists and their biographies that will be discussed in this article. Today we will talk about the work of great painters of different times.
Famous landscape painters of the 17th century
In the 17th century there lived many talented people who preferred to depict the beauty of nature. Some of the most famous are Claude Lorrain and Jacob Isaac van Ruisdael. We will begin our story with them.
Claude Lorrain
The French artist is considered the founder of landscape painting during the classical period. His canvases are distinguished by incredible harmony and ideal composition. Distinctive feature K. Lorrain’s technique was the ability to flawlessly convey sunlight, its rays, reflection in water, etc.
Despite the fact that the maestro was born in France, he spent most of his life in Italy, where he left when he was only 13 years old. He returned to his homeland only once, and then for two years.
The most famous works K. Lorrain's paintings are “View of the Roman Forum” and “View of the port with the Capitol”. Nowadays they can be seen in the Louvre.
Jacob Isaac van Ruisdael
Jacob van Ruisdael, a representative of realism, was born in Holland. During his travels in the Netherlands and Germany, the artist painted many remarkable works, which are characterized by sharp contrasts of tones, dramatic colors and coldness. One of the striking examples of such paintings can be considered “European Cemetery”.
However, the artist’s creativity was not limited to gloomy canvases - he also depicted rural landscapes. The most famous works are considered to be “View of the Village of Egmond” and “Landscape with a Watermill”.
XVIII century
For painting XVIII centuries are characteristically many interesting features, during this period the beginning of new directions in the mentioned art form was laid. Venetian landscape painters, for example, worked in such directions as landscape landscape (another name is leading) and architectural (or urban). And the leading landscape, in turn, was divided into accurate and fantastic. A prominent representative of the fantastic vedata is Francesco Guardi. Even modern landscape artists can envy his imagination and technique.
Francesco Guardi
Without exception, all of his works are distinguished by impeccably accurate perspective and wonderful rendition of colors. Landscapes have a certain magical appeal; it is simply impossible to take your eyes off them.
His most delightful works include the paintings “The Doge’s Festive Ship “Bucintoro”, “Gondola in the Lagoon”, “Venetian Courtyard” and “Rio dei Mendicanti”. All his paintings depict views of Venice.
William Turner
This artist is a representative of romanticism.
A distinctive feature of his paintings is the use of many shades of yellow. It was the yellow palette that became the main one in his works. The master explained this by the fact that he associated such shades with the sun and the purity that he wanted to see in his paintings.
Turner's most beautiful and mesmerizing work is the "Garden of the Hesperides" - a fantastic landscape.
Ivan Aivazovsky and Ivan Shishkin
These two men are truly the greatest and most famous landscape painters in Russia. The first - Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky - depicted the majestic sea in his paintings. A riot of elements, rising waves, splashes of foam crashing against the side of a tilting ship, or a quiet, serene surface illuminated by the setting sun - seascapes delight and amaze with their naturalness and beauty. By the way, such landscape painters are called marine painters. The second, Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin, loved to depict the forest.
Both Shishkin and Aivazovsky were landscape artists of the 19th century. Let us dwell on the biography of these individuals in more detail.
In 1817, one of the most famous marine painters in the world, Ivan Aivazovsky, was born.
He was born into a wealthy family, his father was an Armenian businessman. It is not surprising that the future maestro had a weakness for sea elements. After all, the birthplace of this artist was Feodosia, a beautiful port city.
In 1839, Ivan graduated from where he studied for six years. The artist’s style was greatly influenced by the work of the French marine painters C. Vernet and C. Lorrain, who painted their canvases according to the canons of Baroque-classicism. Most famous work The painting “The Ninth Wave”, completed in 1850, is considered to be by I.K. Aivazovsky.
Except seascapes, great artist worked on the image battle scenes (shining example- painting “Chesma Battle”, 1848), and also devoted many of his canvases to themes Armenian history(“J. G. Byron’s visit to the Mekhitarist monastery near Venice,” 1880).
Aivazovsky was lucky to achieve incredible fame during his lifetime. Many landscape painters who became famous in the future admired his work and took their cue from him. The great creator passed away in 1990.
Shishkin Ivan Ivanovich was born in January 1832 in the city of Elabug. The family in which Vanya was brought up was not very wealthy (his father was a poor merchant). In 1852, Shishkin began his studies at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, from which he would graduate four years later, in 1856. Even the most early works Ivan Ivanovich are distinguished by their extraordinary beauty and unsurpassed technique. Therefore, it is not surprising that in 1865 I. I. Shishkin was given the title of academician for the canvas “View in the vicinity of Dusseldorf”. And after eight years he received the title of professor.
Like many others, he painted from life, spending a long time in nature, in places where no one could disturb him.
Most famous paintings great painter are “Wilderness” and “Morning in pine forest", written in 1872, and more early painting"Noon. In the vicinity of Moscow" (1869)
The life of a talented man was interrupted in the spring of 1898.
Many Russian landscape artists use a large number of details and colorful color rendering when painting their canvases. The same can be said about these two representatives of Russian painting.
Alexey Savrasov
Alexey Kondratievich Savrasov is a world-famous landscape artist. It is he who is considered the founder of Russian lyrical landscape.
This outstanding man was born in Moscow in 1830. In 1844, Alexey began his studies at the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture. Already from his youth, he was distinguished by his special talent and ability to depict landscapes. However, despite this, according to family circumstances the young man was forced to interrupt his studies and resume it only four years later.
Savrasov’s most famous and beloved work is, of course, the painting “The Rooks Have Arrived.” It was presented at Traveling exhibition in 1971. No less interesting are the paintings by I. K. Savrasov “Rye”, “Thaw”, “Winter”, “Country Road”, “Rainbow”, “ Losiny Island" However, according to critics, none of the artist’s works compared with his masterpiece “The Rooks Have Arrived.”
Despite the fact that Savrasov painted many beautiful canvases and was already known as the author of wonderful paintings, he is soon forgotten for a long time. And in 1897 he died in poverty, driven to despair by family troubles, the death of children and alcohol addiction.
But great landscape painters cannot be forgotten. They live in their paintings, the beauty of which is breathtaking, and which we can still admire to this day.
Second half of the 19th century
This period is characterized by the prevalence in Russian painting of such a direction as everyday landscape. Many Russian landscape artists worked in this vein, including Vladimir Egorovich Makovsky. No less famous masters of those times are Arseny Meshchersky, as well as the previously described Aivazovsky and Shishkin, whose work occurred in the mid-second half of the 19th century.
Arseny Meshchersky
This one was born famous artist in 1834 in the Tver province. He received his education at Imperial Academy arts, where he studied for three years. The main themes of the author’s paintings were forests and the Artist loved to depict in his paintings the magnificent views of the Crimea and the Caucasus with their majestic mountains. In 1876 he received the title of professor landscape painting.
His most successful and famous paintings can be considered the paintings “Winter. Icebreaker", "View of Geneva", "Storm in the Alps", "At the Forest Lake", "Southern Landscape", "View in Crimea".
In addition, Meshchersky also conveyed the beauty of Switzerland. In this country, he gained experience for some time from the master of landscape painting Kalam.
The master was also fond of sepia and engraving. He also created many wonderful works using these techniques.
Many paintings by the artist in question were shown at exhibitions both in Russia and in other countries of the world. Therefore, many people managed to appreciate the talent and originality of this creative person. The paintings of Arseny Meshchersky continue to delight many people who are interested in art to this day.
Makovsky Vladimir Egorovich
Makovsky V. E. was born in Moscow in 1846. His father was a famous artist. Vladimir decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and received an art education at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, after which he left for St. Petersburg.
His most successful paintings were “Waiting. At the Jail", "Bank Collapse", "Explanation", "The Lodging House" and "Spring Bacchanalia". The works mainly depict ordinary people and everyday scenes.
In addition to everyday landscapes, of which he was a master, Makovsky also painted portraits and various illustrations.
Autumn appears quite often in the paintings of Russian artists. This is not surprising, because the beauty of autumn nature is very picturesque, combining many bright colors and has a special mood.
Isaac Brodsky - Golden autumn
As mentioned above, autumn nature, which begins to transform and turn into shades of yellow and red, looks very picturesque. It would be truly strange if the greatest Russian landscape painters did not pay attention to the transformation of autumn nature. Fortunately for us, artists try to convey in their work all the faces of nature - snow-white winter, green spring, hot summer and colorful autumn. It is also worth noting that the famous artists, whose paintings you can see here, became so famous not only due to the fact that they could quite accurately and realistically convey landscapes on their canvases, but also due to the fact that in their works they could display the nature of the weather and even mood.
Efim Efimovich Volkov - Autumn Autumn, as you know, is a time of happy sadness, a peaceful mood, when the summer warmth gives way to coolness and rain, when the trees begin to change colors, and to the brightest colors, when the leaves begin to fall to the ground, the pleasant smell of fallen leaves fills the air, when there is feeling of the coming cold, but there is still time to enjoy the last warm days.
Grigory Myasoedov - Autumn morning The paintings of great artists who turned their attention to autumn nature show, in particular, the emotional state in the midst of autumn. The viewer can feel familiar sensations, whether it is autumn or another time of year outside the window. There is skill and high art Russian painters. Next you can see 15 paintings, which today are considered a real treasure of Russian and world art.
Paintings by great Russian artists about autumn
Vasily Polenov – Golden Autumn 
Alexey Savrasov – Autumn 
Apollinary Vasnetsov - Autumn. 1910s 
Arkhip Kuindzhi - Autumn thaw 
Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin – Autumn 
Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin – Early autumn 
Ilya Ostroukhov - Golden Autumn 
Isaac Brodsky - Fallen Leaves 
Isaac Levitan - Golden Autumn 
Mikhail Nesterov — Autumn landscape 
Fyodor Vasiliev - Swamp in the forest. Autumn 
Stanislav Zhukovsky - Autumn. Veranda
Born in Yoshkar-Ola in 1964. He graduated from the Kazan Aviation Institute, while studying there he continued to be interested in painting - a favorite pastime since childhood.
Without official diplomas art education, Sergey polished his skills on his own. Now Basov’s works are welcome guests in the famous capital’s Valentin Ryabov Gallery, and indispensable participants in International art salons in Central House Artist and Art Manege. The artist continues the tradition of Russian classical landscape painting paintings of the 19th century century. Art critics call Sergei Basov one of the best representatives of modern Russian realism, noting his impeccable taste, amazing poetic perception of the world and perfect painting technique. He is a member of the International Art Foundation and the Professional Union of Artists.There is no impressionistic transience or avant-garde delights in his works. There is only one charming simplicity, understandable and valuable at all times. Critics consider Basov one of the best representatives of modern Russian realism.
His landscapes are called “picturesque elegies.” In the most ordinary and simplest subjects - a lake lost in the forests, a nameless river, a grove on the edge of a field - he is able to open up to the viewer a whole world, rich in emotions and sensory sensations. Sergei Basov, at the same time, has long established himself as a mature painter, possessing an individual, original style of painting and an attentive, interested look at the world, observations of which he generously shares with others.
“...One of the best representatives of modern Russian realism, Sergei Basov has been actively working since the early 90s of the last century. Perfectly mastering painting technique, possessing impeccable taste and sense of style, he creates amazingly poetic works that invariably find a heartfelt response in the hearts of grateful viewers - people of very different tastes and views, very different from each other in their worldview and character. The pictorial world that the artist creates and in which he lives is, first of all, the nature that surrounds us. Ingenuous and even ordinary motifs chosen by the artist, such as forest lakes and streams, ravines, forest paths and country roads, are transformed into very subtle, reverent works, a kind of picturesque elegies. At numerous art exhibitions in capital and provincial cities you can see beautiful works in a realistic, academic manner. And, of course, there is deep internal relationship between positive phenomena in modern Russian art and the revival of the country. Artist Sergei Basov makes his worthy contribution to this noble cause. The master's landscapes are valuable exhibits many private and corporate collections in Russia and abroad...” Many of our compatriots, going abroad for a long time, take away a piece of Russia captured in Basov’s landscapes as a gift to foreign friends or simply as a souvenir. The inexplicable beauty of the corners of Russian nature middle zone the artist conveys on his canvases in a subtle, lyrical manner, with amazing warmth and love.
The fates of artists at all times, for the most part, have always been filled with difficulties and suffering, unfavorability and rejection. But only true creators were able to overcome all the vicissitudes of life and achieve success. So long years our contemporary had to go through thorns to world recognition, self-taught artist Sergei Basov.
What could be closer and dearer to a person than charming corners of nature? native land. And wherever we are, on a subconscious level we strive for them with all our souls. Apparently this is why landscapes in the works of painters touch the heartstrings of almost every viewer so much. And that’s why the works of Sergei Basov, who passed through artistic vision, who inspired and imbued every square centimeter of his creation with lyrics.
A little about the artist
Sergey Basov (born 1964) comes from the city of Yoshkar-Ola. As a child, he was a very enthusiastic and inquisitive child who dreamed of becoming a pilot and was excellent at drawing, and not only airplanes. And when he grew up, he made a choice in favor of aviation - he graduated from the Kazan Aviation Institute. But it was not Sergei’s destiny to fly - his health had let him down, and the medical board categorically vetoed it.
And then Basov had to agree to the position of aviation engineer. And in free time began to take painting seriously. But despite his excellent natural talent, the future artist was slightly lacking in academic knowledge and professional skills in craftsmanship.
And one day he decided to radically change his destiny: Sergei ended his career as an engineer and submitted documents to the Cheboksary “hudgraf”. However, representatives admissions committee, although they recognized the extraordinary artistic gift of the applicant Basov, his documents were not accepted. The argument put forward was very compelling for those times: “We accept only graduates art schools» . And the aspiring artist had no choice but to independently master both the basics of painting and its academic part, and learn the secrets of painting through the works of the great geniuses of the 19th century.
So it happened in life that he remained self-taught, as they said in the old days - a “nugget”, having an artistic gift truly from God. And to be honest, such masters have had a difficult time in Rus' throughout the centuries. So Sergei was not very spoiled by fate. Thus, throughout the 90s, Basov had to collaborate only with galleries in Kazan, since Moscow did not want to deal with a master who had no education and an illustrious name.
But, as they say, water wears away stones, and little by little the capital also submitted to the talented painter. Since 1998, Sergei’s paintings began to appear in international Moscow salons. And orders from foreign art lovers and connoisseurs were not long in coming. And then fame came to the artist and world recognition.
Lyricism and hyperrealism in the work of a self-taught artist
Few people are left indifferent by the majestic native Russian corners of nature, frozen in time on the artist’s canvases. And in the basis of each work, Basov lays the foundation of the traditional classics of landscape painting of the 19th century. And he adds more sunlight and a harmonious combination of colors in the air space, as well as the quiet joy that arises from contemplation and perception of the extraordinary beauty of the majestic Russian nature.
Over the past twenty years, Sergei Basov has been a participant in numerous collective and personal exhibitions. He is a member of the International Art Fund and the Professional Union of Artists. And no one reproaches the master for the fact that he is self-taught and an artist without a famous name.
Many viewers associate the master's work with the works famous landscape painter Ivan Shishkin. Sergei himself, talking about himself, says: “I am a Mari, born in Yoshkar-Ola, and spent my childhood with my grandmother in the village. There are many lakes with steep banks, 30-50 meters deep. You can write about our lakes at any time of the day, and they will always be new. It’s always like this in nature: it is both constant and instantly changeable. I like both something subtle and something epic about her...”
The painter seemed to spiritualize each of his canvases and glorify in it the extraordinary power of the natural elements. By carefully looking at the image and listening to your feelings, you can even notice how the leaves are shaking in the wind, hear the whistle of a cricket and the chirping of a grasshopper, the splash of a river, and with your sense of smell catch the subtlest coniferous smell of a pine forest.
His painting can be fully called poetic, where the artist inspired and with great love imbued every tree, every blade of grass with subtle lyricism, subordinating the entire picture to a harmonious sound.
But most of all I admire the artist’s hyper-realistic style of painting. The meticulously detailed details delight even the most experienced viewer. And the artist in his paintings masterfully reflects all seasons and all times of day, noting all the nuances associated with changes in natural cyclical time.