herd of horses in the Baraba steppe Vasily Ivanovich Surikov (1848-1916)
Vasily Ivanovich Surikov – herd of horses in the Baraba steppe
Edit attribution
Download full size: 1000×550 px (0,3 Mb)
Painter: Vasily Ivanovich Surikov
Album navigation:
Surikov is a truly Russian painter. The formal side turns out to be subordinate to the substantive. This is necessary in order to create an overall poetic impression on the viewers. He was able to completely disregard the beauty of forms, which were characteristic of academism. The artist was completely at the mercy of his inspiration. He was constantly in search of something special and totally new. The painter managed to find the charm that was inherent in the creations of the masters of antiquity.
ArtClub
Best Contemporary Atists
Description of Vasily Surikov’s painting A Herd of Horses in the Barabinsk Steppe
Surikov is a truly Russian painter. The formal side turns out to be subordinate to the substantive. This is necessary in order to create an overall poetic impression on the viewers. He was able to completely disregard the beauty of forms, which were characteristic of academism. The artist was completely at the mercy of his inspiration. He was constantly in search of something special and totally new.
The painter managed to find the charm that was inherent in the creations of the masters of antiquity. The most valuable thing in Surikov - the incredible depth of poetry mystical nature. His paintings are real dreams, filled with magic. The viewers are faced with visions that are so vivid and convex that they appear to be truly prophetic.
We see a vast steppe with grazing horses. It is so vast that it seems to merge with the sky. The figures of the horses are not so clearly depicted. They merge with the steppe grass. The painter uses his palette skilfully, creating masterful, smooth transitions of green and brown. No distinct borders between tones are discernible. Surikov tried to convey the vastness of the Russian steppe with the help of properly chosen colors.
Plains in the foreground give way to hills in the background. Light blue sky with cumulonimbus clouds almost merges with the steppe on the horizon.
Surikov was not just depicting nature. In his painting, he gives the audience a sense of his relationship to it. In a seemingly familiar and everyday picture lurks a deep meaning that not everyone can see. This is possible only for the true master, for whom all the details are meaningful.
Surikov purposely does not paint individual trees and horses. By that he underscores the homogeneity of this vast space. Everything here is significant as one vast whole. The steppe lives its own life. Looking at the picture of the great painter, the viewer feels it.
You cannot comment Why?
The artist employed a loose, impressionistic brushstroke throughout, softening edges and blending colors to convey atmospheric perspective. Individual horses are not sharply defined; instead, they appear as dark masses moving within the larger composition. Their forms merge with the terrain, suggesting their inherent connection to this environment. The overall effect is one of quiet observation rather than dramatic action.
The painting evokes a feeling of solitude and timelessness. The absence of human presence reinforces the sense that this is a scene untouched by civilization, a space governed by natural rhythms. The herd itself can be interpreted as symbolizing freedom, resilience, and the enduring power of nature.
Subtly, theres an underlying melancholy present in the subdued palette and the vastness of the landscape. It suggests a contemplation on the fragility of existence within such a boundless setting. The muted colors might also hint at the harsh realities of life in this environment – the challenges faced by both animals and humans who depend upon it.
The work’s strength lies not in its narrative content, but in its ability to convey an emotional response through the depiction of a specific place and its inhabitants. It is less about portraying individual horses than about capturing the essence of a landscape and the life that thrives within it.