In the country. 1895 Konstantin Alekseevich Korovin (1861-1939)

Description of Konstantin Korovin’s painting At the Dacha

Korovin, performing a painting in oil on canvas called "At the Dacha," managed to fulfill to the highest quality all his attitude to the world around him. The artist was very qualitatively able to convey to the viewer, through his painting, the unique everydayness of existence, he was able to convey, seemingly at first glance, a typical, everyday painting, which with one look speaks to the essence of the artist himself.

It is also worth noting that only a truly professional artist with outstanding skills of penetrating into the very essence, rather than simply transferring what he saw to the canvas, could cope with such a daunting task. It should also be added that the canvas has a great energy, and the master shows all the charm of Russian nature and puts it in the first stage of his art.

Thus, a perfectly ordinary and everyday motif, grows into something extraordinary. So the viewer sees a seemingly ordinary woman who washes her hands, on the threshold of her room in the cottage. But, the whole problem is that this is not the fixed center of the picture that the artist is trying to accentuate in front of the viewer.

The master places the accent precisely on the awakening of nature, after a night’s sleep, on the filling of the morning air, of the entire visible space, thanks to which all the plants in the garden, which he hides on the other side of the doorway, begin to awaken. The master’s use of silvery tones, at this moment, is particularly gentle and light.

Thanks to this shade, the artist also conveys the rays from the sun, which slowly penetrate into the room, filling and illuminating everything around, including the figure of the woman. In this way the artist seems to merge the woman and the green garden, making them equal and at the same time exalting them.