Oaks. Arhip Kuindzhi (Kuindschi) (1842-1910)

Description of Arkhip Kuindzhi’s painting "The Oaks" (1900 1905)

The painting "The Oaks" reflects true Russian nature. It is striking in its details of outlines and configurations. In the foreground of the canvas is a group of powerful trees, distinguished by their dense crowns and burdened with lush impenetrable foliage. They merge into a single bush, forming a weighty imposing outline. In front of them lies a dense shade. Across the radiant skyline, weightless translucent clouds occasionally float by.

There is an undeniably romantic worldview of nature on the canvas.

The artist, with his characteristic discernment and fidelity of vision, notices the subtle differences in its shades and presents them amazingly skillfully. This can be seen in the reproduction of weightless transparent sky, and in the radiant glow that fills the clearing, and in the fresh murava, halftones that change from light to dark green hues. Compositional juxtaposition with the work of Shishkin "Oaks. The Herd. But if in his brainchild Shishkin focuses on the details of the landscape, Kuindzhi, on the contrary, synthesizes forms, creating a skilful artistic metaphor.

Kuindzhi aspired in his works to the utmost generalizations, to identify the main thing, to convey the mood of the landscape. He was looking for a collective type of tree, and this selection led him to a kind of bulky, original image of a huge oak. In this way the artist seems to combine real earthly natural objects with celestial, unearthly ones. The foliage on the tops of the trees, reminiscent of the cloud, looks grand and majestic. This creates the impression of the luxury of stunning nature, saturated with life-giving drinks and embodied in the imagination of the painter into something divine, unearthly and important.

Powerful trees as if they expressed the spirituality of Russia. They are as long-lived, glorious in their simplicity, beauty and strength. Blue sky, green fields, small trees and bushes, slightly yellowed grass serve as real details, pointing to summer. The landscape combines reality and allegory.