Ivan Shishkin short biography famous Russian artist is presented in this article.
Ivan Shishkin biography briefly
Famous paintings by Shishkin:“Autumn”, “Rye”, “Morning in a Pine Forest”, “Before the Storm” and others.
Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin was born on January 13 (25), 1832 in Elabuga, a small town, in the family of a poor merchant.
From childhood I was fond of drawing. His parents tried to attract him to trade, but to no avail.
In 1852 he went to Moscow to enter the School of Painting and Sculpture, and here for the first time he attended a serious school of drawing and painting. Shishkin read and thought a lot about art and came to the conclusion that an artist needs to study nature and follow it.
In Moscow he studied under the guidance of Professor A. A. Mokritsky. In 1856–60 continues his studies at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts with the landscape painter S. M. Vorobyov. Its development is proceeding rapidly. He worked with other young landscape painters on the island of Valaam. For his successes, Shishkin receives all possible awards.
In 1860 he was awarded the Great Gold Medal for the landscape “View on the Island of Valaam”. Receiving the Big Gold Medal upon graduating from the Academy in 1860 gave Shishkin the right to travel abroad, but first he went to Kazan and further to the Kama. I wanted to visit my native land. Only in the spring of 1862 did he go abroad.
For 3 years he lived in Germany and Switzerland. He studied in the workshop of the painter and engraver K. Roller. Even before his trip he was known as a brilliant draftsman. In 1865, for the painting “View of the Neighborhood of Dusseldorf” he received the title of academician. Since 1873 he became a professor of art.
I. I. Shishkin was the first of the second Russian landscape painters half of the 19th century century, who attached great importance to sketches from life. Theme of solemn and clear beauty native land was the main one for him.
Shishkin was engaged not only in drawing, but also in 1894 began teaching at the Higher art school at the Academy of Arts, knew how to appreciate talent.
The artist came from a rather ancient and wealthy merchant family, the Shishkins. Born in Elabuga in 1832 on January 13 (25). His father was a fairly well-known wealthy merchant in the city. He tried to give his son a good education.
Education
From the age of 12, Shishkin studied at the First Kazan Gymnasium, and at the age of 20 he entered the Moscow School of Painting. After graduation (in 1857), he continued his studies at Imperial Academy arts as a student of Professor S. M. Vorobyov. Already at this time, Shishkin liked to paint landscapes. He traveled a lot around the outskirts of the Northern capital and visited Valaam. The beauty of the harsh northern nature will inspire him all his life.
In 1861, at the expense of the Academy, he went on a trip abroad and studied for some time in Munich, Zurich, Geneva, and Dusseldorf. There he became acquainted with the works of Benno, F. Adamov, F. Dide, A. Kalam. The trip continued until 1866. By this time, in his homeland, Shishkin had already received the title of academician for his work.
Return to homeland and career peak
Returning to his homeland, Shishkin continued to improve his landscape techniques. He traveled a lot around Russia, exhibited at the Academy, took part in the work of the Partnership traveling exhibitions, drawing a lot with a pen (the artist mastered this technique while abroad). He also continued to work with engraving “royal vodka”, joining the circle of St. Petersburg aquafortists in 1870. His reputation was impeccable. He was considered the best landscape painter and engraver of his time. In 1873, he became a professor at the Academy of Arts (received the title for the painting “Wilderness”).
Family
In Shishkin’s biography it is said that the artist was married twice, with the first marriage to the artist’s sister F.A. Vasilyev, and the second marriage to his student, O.A. Lagoda. From two marriages he had 4 children, of whom only two daughters lived to adulthood: Lydia and Ksenia.
The artist died in 1898 (suddenly). At first he was buried at the Smolensk cemetery, but then the ashes and tombstone were transferred to the cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Other biography options
- The year of birth of the artist is not known exactly. Biographers' data vary (from 1831 to 1835). But in official biographies It is customary to indicate 1832.
- The artist drew superbly with pencil and pen. His works, done with a pen, were very popular with the European public. Many of them are stored in Art gallery in Dusseldorf.
- Shishkin was an excellent naturalist. That is why his works are so realistic, spruce looks like spruce, and pine looks like pine. He knew Russian nature in general and the Russian forest in particular very well.
- The most famous work The artist’s “Morning in a Pine Forest” was created in collaboration with K. Savitsky. A little earlier than this picture, another one was painted, “Fog in a Pine Forest,” which the authors liked so much that they decided to rewrite it, including some genre scene. The masters were inspired by a trip through the virgin Vologda forests.
- The most large collection Shishkin's works are stored in Tretyakov Gallery, a little less - in the Russian Museum. Large quantity Drawings and engravings made by the artist are in private collections. Interestingly, a collection of photographs of Shishkin’s engravings was released
Ivan Shishkin was born on January 13, 1832 in the family of a merchant. From an early age, the boy showed a strong interest in nature and very often walked in the forest, which was located not far from his home. Even then one could notice his love for art and drawing, in particular. The boy's father hoped that his son would follow in his footsteps and connect his life with trade. At the age of 12, Ivan was sent to the 1st Kazan gymnasium. Studying was such a burden for the boy that after 5th grade he transferred to the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. After a change of scenery and entering a creative environment, the young man seemed to come to life. He worked hard both during classes at the academy and during plein airs. For Shishkin there was no better pastime than a walk in the forest or in a field with an easel and paints.
Success in creative endeavors
Until 1859, he was repeatedly awarded a small silver medal for successful services, and in 1859 he was awarded a large gold medal. After receiving such a prestigious award, he had the opportunity to go abroad to improve his skills. The city he chose to visit was Munich. Here the artist became acquainted with the works of many famous artists animal and landscape painters who have already achieved worldwide recognition. After some time, he visited Geneva, and then Dusseldorf, where he painted the canvas “View in the vicinity of Dusseldorf”. This work brought the artist considerable fame and was exhibited in the Düsseldorf Museum on equal terms with paintings by other more famous European masters. In Shishkin’s homeland this painting was appreciated so highly that he was awarded the title of academician.
I.I.Shishkin - View in the vicinity of Dusseldorf
Unbridled love for one's native land
Despite the fact that the draftsman was abroad, his heart was always looking for pieces of his native land in foreign lands. Many of his landscape works were executed with homesickness and were very reminiscent of Russian views. Sometimes it happened that the artist could spend hours looking for suitable places that at least slightly resembled the wild forests of Russia. This state of affairs led to the fact that in 1866 Shishkin returned to St. Petersburg. Here he began to work hard to create many masterpieces, which were shown at an exhibition held at the academy. After the Association of Traveling Exhibitions was created, he mostly exhibited his sketches with a pen. Here he met the community of aquafortists and returned to his old hobby of engraving with “regia vodka”, which he did not abandon until the end of his days. His estate was located not far from a beautiful wild forest, in which Shishkin spent almost all his time. One day he disappeared for several days and returned with the painting “Wilderness,” for which he was awarded the title of professor.
The Afternoon Artist
His passion and love for the world of flora and fauna was so strong that he studied every plant that could grow in the area where he worked. What was important to the artist was the accuracy and quality of the image, the reliability of facts that could fully reproduce the palette of colors and emotions that the painter experienced. Shishkin did not look for easy ways, so he chose the midday time of day as his main plot. This made it difficult to convey chiaroscuro, because the sun was at its peak and this increased the brightness of the colors and reduced semi-shadow effects to a minimum. But the artist seemed to feel the nature with which he collaborated while painting the canvas. In this collection of works there are not many paintings that were painted in the morning or at dusk. But there are still such people; the famous work “Morning in a Pine Forest” was written during dawn. The artist perfectly managed to convey the humidity and coolness of the forest that had not yet woken up from the cold night. It is noteworthy that this painting was created not only by Shishkin, the main characters of the picture are three bear cubs and a bear are the creation of the animal painter Konstantin Savitsky. However, the customer did not want anyone else’s name other than the master Shishkin to be indicated on the painting and erased Savitsky’s signature.
I.I. Shishkin - Morning in a pine forest
Unique precision of execution
At one of the exhibitions that took place in the 80s, Shishkin was recognized as the best landscape painter. The artist created hundreds of charcoal sketches, which he later used to create engravings. Although Ivan Ivanovich is considered a draftsman who loves exclusively natural motifs, he also painted portraits. The painting “Lady with a Dog” is shrouded in mystery, and only recently have collectors been able to determine that this painting was painted by the great artist Shishkin. It was never possible to fully unravel the identity of the lady depicted on the canvas. In addition to forest landscapes, the artist often depicted steppe or coastal motifs. Vivid examples are "Rye", "Swamp" and "Noon". "Rye" was painted after the artist visited his hometown, which inspired him with its calmness and moderation of colors. The golden field and a few lonely pine trees were depicted with incredible detail and the overall picture looks like a photograph.
Last years of life
In addition to sunny summer landscapes, Shishkin depicted a cold winter night. The canvas “In the Wild North” shows how high the artist’s skill was. He managed to perfectly convey not only the warmth of the sun, but also the mystical coolness of the moon. A lonely pine tree on the edge of a cliff carries a certain symbolism and loneliness. Perhaps the artist unwittingly depicted such a symbolic reference due to his constant loneliness. Despite the fact that Shishkin was married twice and had four children, he was haunted by loneliness all his life. Both of his wives died before him, and the children, as they grew older, were not interested in communicating with their father. Like this in all alone great master died on March 20, 1898 in his workshop working on another brilliant creation.
I. I. Shishkin - In the wild north
- When Shishkin saw Repin’s painting of timber rafting, he began asking his colleague what types of wood the rafts were made of. When Ilya Repin could not really answer him, he criticized his work for not being realistic, saying that some logs swell and can sink.
- The artist was so fascinated by his native landscapes that even when he became a famous master, he looked only for those views to depict on canvas that would resemble those to which he was accustomed.
- Ivan Shishkin was called the “midday artist”: he has practically no sunsets and sunrises, bright day reigns everywhere, shines sunlight. This is a difficult subject for a painter, since there are no shadows. But Shishkin brilliantly coped with the task he set for himself: his landscapes are so true that they can be compared with photographs. The summer heat, the breeze, the frost in the winter forest. Every stem and leaf is lovingly painted.
- An interesting fact is that to depict the bears, Shishkin hired the famous animal painter Konstantin Savitsky, who did an excellent job. Shishkin fairly assessed his companion’s contribution, so he asked him to put his signature under the painting next to his own. It was in this form that the painting “Morning in a Pine Forest” was brought to Pavel Tretyakov, who managed to buy the painting from the artist during the work process. Seeing the signatures, Tretyakov was indignant: they say he ordered the painting from Shishkin, and not from a tandem of artists. Well, he ordered the second signature to be washed away. So they put up a painting with the signature of one Shishkin.
Awards:
- Imperial and Royal Order of St. Stanislaus
Painted paintings in various genres. He was an equally good landscape painter, painter and aquatic engraver. Here is such a versatile artist.
Ivan Ivanovich was born in merchant family Ivan Vasilievich Shishkin. This significant event for Russian and world art took place on January 25, 1832. The family lived in the city of Elabuga, Vyatka province.
When Ivan was 12 years old, he entered the first Kazan gymnasium. After studying there until the fifth grade, he entered Moscow school painting.
After completing a course in science at the Moscow Art School, he continued his studies at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. Ivan Ivanovich was not very pleased with the educational process that took place within the walls of the art academy.
In his free time, Shishkin worked with great diligence to improve his skills, and painted landscapes. Shishkin painted landscapes from the beauty of St. Petersburg, fortunately beautiful places There were plenty of things in the city to inspire the artist.
During his first year of study at the academy, he achieved great success and was awarded two small silver medals.
In 1858, the artist received a large silver medal for the first time. He received this honor for a painting describing the beauty of Valaam. A year later he was awarded a gold medal for St. Petersburg landscapes.
Shishkin, thanks to his diligent study and his amazing creativity, won the right from the academy to travel abroad. The trip, of course, was free. In 1861 he went to Munich, where he visited the workshops of such master artists as Beno Adamov and his brother Franz.
Further his path lay in Switzerland, in Zurich. In Switzerland, he worked under the supervision of Professor Koller, who perfected Shishkin's skills. Having then visited Geneva, he completed a painting, depicting in it a view of the Geneva surroundings. The painting was done very professionally and, thanks to this masterpiece, Ivan Ivanovich received the title of academician.
On a trip to Europe, he not only painted, but also practiced pen drawing. Shishkin’s drawing, made in this genre, shocked foreigners. Many of his works were placed in the Düsseldorf Museum, next to the drawings of great masters.
In 1866, Ivan Ivanovich returned to. Now he travels only across the expanses of his Fatherland, and he does this constantly. The artist looked for inspiration in the beauties of the Russian land, and naturally found it, displaying the beauties of Russia on canvas. His works were constantly exhibited at various exhibitions, including traveling ones.
Ivan Ivanovich had a great hobby - aquafortics. In 1870, a circle of aquafortists was formed in St. Petersburg, of which he became a member. In 1873, for the painting “Forest Wilderness,” Ivan Shishkin became a professor.
Shishkin is the most famous and powerful Russian landscape painter. In our history there was no master capable of properly competing with him. The artist’s work amazes with his amazing knowledge of plant forms. Each component of his paintings was individual, had its own “physiognomy”.
Everything that Shishkin painted had very truthful and realistic forms. The secret of this phenomenon of the Russian artist is simple, he painted what he saw, without embellishing or belittling. Experts note that in many of his works, the accuracy of the landscape forms came at the expense of the color of the paintings. It is also noted that paintings with many flowers came out worse from the bright master of Russian landscape than those paintings where color palette was poorer.
Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin is a true master of landscape. The author of many stunning paintings, many of which are kept in the collection. His work is a unique heritage that our people were lucky enough to own, and which will forever remain in our hearts and memories. Ivan Ivanovich died on March 8 (20), 1898 while working on another painting.
Video about Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin
Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin born on January 13 (25), 1832 in Elabuga, a small provincial town located on the banks of the Kama. Here the future painter spent his childhood and teenage years.
The father figure was very significant for Ivan Shishkin. The father himself was a merchant, not at all rich, selling grain from a rented mill. In addition, he was interested in archeology and history. He wrote the book “History of the City of Yelabuga”, developed and implemented a local water supply system. On own funds Ivan Vasilyevich Shishkin restored an ancient tower located in the suburbs. It is also known about his participation in the excavations of the famous Ananyevsky burial ground. He taught all this knowledge to his son and developed his interest in nature. Ivan with early childhood He did not part with coal and chalk, diligently decorating walls and doors with intricate figures, and carved wood, like his father.
Shishkin studied at the Kazan gymnasium for several years, but failed to complete his studies, returned home, and began drawing and reading again. He was very attracted to the forest; Shishkin could walk for a long time through the forest, in its vicinity, studying its features. So about 4 years passed, Shishkin, having received his father’s permission, left for Moscow.
Since 1852, Shishkin became a student at the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture. Immediately he gets to the exhibition of Caucasian mountain views by L.F. Lagorio and the marine species of I.K. Aivazovsky, among which was the famous “The Ninth Wave”. This exhibition only strengthened Shishkin's interest in landscape.
At that time, the principles of Venetsianov’s pedagogical system with a focus on careful study of nature were widely used in teaching. Shishkin, being quiet and shy, ended up in the professor's class portrait painting A.N. Mokritsky, a fan of K. Bryullov. Having identified Shishkin's great abilities, Mokritsky managed to guide him through the right way, encouraged his interest in nature and passion for landscapes.
Shishkin draws a lot from life in Moscow and the Moscow region, copying Western European masters.
After graduating from college in 1856, Shishkin entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. Here he also entered the circle of democratically minded youth. Art was recognized not only as a means of understanding the world, but also as a serious factor in its reconstruction. Shishkin's worldview was formed under the influence of these ideas. Subsequently, the artist was able to clearly express them in his work.
Shishkin’s main teacher has always been nature. In his sketches (“Stones in the Forest. Valaam”), he lovingly and surprisingly skillfully for a novice artist conveys ancient boulders overgrown with moss and fern leaves.
Shishkin was a born draftsman, drawn to the line, to the open stroke. From the very beginning, drawing became for him the most important means of studying nature. Success in drawing brought Shishkin one of the first academic awards in 1857 - the Silver Medal. His works were performed with such professional skill that the academic council decided to make them a model for students.
Shishkin graduated from the Academy in 1860 with the highest award - the Great Gold Medal and the right to travel abroad for three years. But the artist is in no hurry to travel, but goes to his native Yelabuga, and only in April 1862 does he go abroad. Even there, Ivan Shishkin did not forget about home country. Letters from friends reporting on the events that were taking place increased the desire to return; moreover, the works performed in Germany and Switzerland did not satisfy the author. His landscapes, marked by externally romantic features - figures of villagers, herds in pastures - bore clear traces of the academic school. It was possible to create a national landscape only in Russia, where Shishkin returned in 1865. He was already famous. Pen drawings, masterfully executed with the smallest, beaded strokes, with filigree finishing of details, amazed the audience. Two such drawings were acquired by the Düsseldorf Museum, and the painting “View in the vicinity of Düsseldorf” brought the artist the title of academician.
Upon his arrival to his homeland, Shishkin seemed to be infused with new strength. He became close to members of the Artel, around which representatives of the progressive creative intelligentsia were grouped, and participated in meetings about the role of art and the rights of the artist. Ivan Shishkin was always surrounded by the attention of his comrades. I.E. Repin spoke about him like this: " The voice of I.I. Shishkin was heard loudest of all: like a green mighty forest, he amazed everyone with his health, good appetite and truthful Russian speech... The public used to gasp behind his back when he used his mighty crowbar paws and gnarled calluses from work with his fingers he begins to distort and erase his brilliant drawing, and the drawing, as if by miracle or magic, from such rough treatment by the author comes out more and more elegant and brilliant."
Shishkin's works, created in the late 60s, mark new stage in the master's work. 
Achieving the utmost resemblance to nature, the artist carefully writes out every detail at first, and this interferes with the integrity of the image. An example of such works is the painting "Cutting Wood". In the 60s, Shishkin finally overcomes the abstraction of landscape characteristic of the academic school. Best work these years - "Noon. In the vicinity of Moscow." The advantage of this painting, light in color and filled with a joyful and peaceful mood, is not only in the skill of conveying space, but above all in the fact that the landscape created by Shishkin is truly Russian in character.
In 1870, Shishkin joined the founders of the largest association of masters of the realistic movement - the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions. Until the end of his life, Shishkin remained one of the most active and loyal members of the Partnership.
For the second traveling exhibition, Shishkin presented the painting “Pine Forest” (1872), which was a new step in the creative development of the master. The artist managed to create the image of a mighty, majestic Russian forest.
The work of Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin was a step on the path of understanding and reflecting the world around us; as Kramskoy aptly put it, it was a “living school” of working with nature.
In the 70s, most of Shishkin’s works were devoted to coniferous forests: “Forest Wilderness”, “Black Forest”, “ Spruce forest"Shishkin is attracted by vast forests. The best landscapes of that time are filled with majestic solemnity.
In the 70s the artist strives for greater generalization of forms and integrity of color solutions. At the same time, he becomes quite close to Kramskoy. Friendship with this man, the ideological leader of the partnership, theorist and subtle critic of art, played special role in the creative development of Shishkin. There was no other person who would so vigilantly notice his mistakes and help him overcome them. They often lived together at the dacha, where they worked fruitfully.
Ivan Shishkin attached great importance to sketches. For him, the creation of the sketch was authentic creative process based on long-term observation and reflection. He assigned a large role to drawing and almost never parted with his pencil. Admiring the keen observation and confidence with which Shishkin wrote sketches, Kramskoy said: “... When he is in front of nature, he is definitely in his element: here he is both brave and dexterous, without thinking."
The main form of expression of Shishkin’s plans always remained the painting; in it he revealed the ideas that inspired him most fully. An example of this is the work "Rye".
At this time, Shishkin was at the zenith of his fame, but new wonderful achievements awaited him. 80-90s - a period of heightened flowering of the landscape painter's talent. Canvases "Wilds" pine forest", "Windfall" are close in character to the works of the previous decade, but are interpreted with greater pictorial freedom.
In the 80s Shishkin enthusiastically continues to work on landscapes that glorify the expanses of his native land. “Among the Flat Valley” - one of his best paintings - is built on the opposition of a vast plain and a lonely mighty oak tree, as if hovering above it.
IN last decade In his life, the artist perceives nature more soulfully, subtly, and the role of light in his paintings increases. In the 90s Two exhibitions of the artist’s works were organized. The first in 1891 was retrospective in nature: over five hundred sketches revealed creative laboratory the artist, his search. At another exhibition in 1893, works made during last summer. They testified to the diversity of ideas, the exceptional vigilance of the eye and the high skill of the sixty-year-old landscape painter.
In 1895, Shishkin published his fourth album of etchings. This was a real event in artistic life countries. The album included 60 sheets - all the best works.
The brilliant result of almost half a century of the artist’s career in Russian art was the painting “Ship Grove” (1898). It can be considered classic in its completeness, completeness artistic image, monumentality of sound. The work is based on sketches made in Yelabuga. The role of Ivan Shishkin in Russian art remained just as significant in those years when many magnificent works I. Levitan, V. Serov, K. Korovin.
Death came unexpectedly to the artist. Ivan Ivanovich died at his easel on March 8 (20), 1898, while working on the painting “Forest Kingdom.” He left behind a huge artistic legacy.