Днепр утром Arhip Kuindzhi (Kuindschi) (1842-1910)

Description of Arkhip Kuindzhi’s painting "Dnieper in the Morning".

The painting was the last that the artist agreed to exhibit in public. In just a few months he would give up exhibiting and his work would be out of the viewer’s reach for several decades.

The main feature of the canvas is considered to be its modesty.

The lack of bright colors and play with light makes the landscape peaceful. The effect of transparency is created: the river is lost in the pre-dawn mist. The foreground with juicy green river changes to calm white color of transparent Dnieper water and sky.

Predominance of white, soft pink and yellow colors allows us to state about impressionist features present in the picture. But the main task was to create an impression of immensity of space.

Despite the small piece of steppe in the foreground and the small bend of the river in this picture you feel the vastness and expanse.

Rejection of light effects does not impoverish the painting; here everything is said in its simplicity. Sun-burnt steppe grasses and a lonely burdock bush on a hillock - it’s simple to the point of impossibility. But you can feel the spaciousness only if you don’t dwell on separate bright details. That is why the artist has removed them from here.

The silence of the steppe oozes through the painted on the canvas. It is full of strength and freedom, of hope for the new beginning and serenity of the steppe, untouched by anyone yet. Isn’t that what every man craves for in his life: fullness of sensations and peace.

Giving up the game with light, Kuindzhi concentrated on creating an airy environment. White colors and pink hues give the air the effect of glow, as if it absorbs the silence of the river, drinking from it to spread peace over the entire steppe.

The artist’s thirst for peace is palpable in his latest works, which include this landscape. The rejection of the bright colors of the sunset and the moon tracks on the water indicates a new perception of the world, a summing up and the ability to see the beauty even in the simple.