view around Oranienbaum. 1854 Alexey Kondratievich Savrasov (1830-1897)

Description of Alexei Savrasov’s painting "View in the Surroundings of Oranienbaum".

Princess Maria Nikolaevna visited an art exhibition in Moscow, which was held in 1854. She was then attracted by some of the works of the young Alexei Savrasov. The princess then, as president of the Imperial Academy of Arts, declared an invitation to the artist to her residence.

The country residence was situated between Peterhof and Oranienbaum. It is in this picturesque place, on the border between Russia and Finland, that Alexei Kondratievich’s new unique canvases were born. Among them is the work "View in the vicinity of Oranienbaum".

The viewer is presented by a landscape. The corner of nature captured by the artist’s attention seems familiar, but still some mystery lurks in these outlines. Muted, even gloomy shades of the canvas create an atmosphere of mystery. It seems as if this is where ancient myths and fairy tale events originated. The Finnish nature is harsh, majestic and mysterious. The painter has accurately captured its unique atmosphere.

In the foreground are two huge age-old boulders. Over the centuries they were overgrown with moss and grass. Above the boulders stand the branches of a sprawling old oak. It is covered with thick light green foliage. On the left side of the picture is a big stump. One can only guess whether nature itself or man, ruling over it, has cut down the tree, which used to blossom in its place.

A woman’s figure can be seen in the center of the picture, in the clearing. Farther away, on the horizon, stretches the sea surface, with a white sailing ship whitewashed in its depths. The blue sky is almost entirely obscured by clouds and gray clouds. But the sunlight is still breaking through them, casting a warm light on the picture in front of the viewer.

The landscape of Oranienbaum was acquired by Tretyakov and placed in his Moscow gallery. This canvas gave Savrasov the title of academician.