Mountain stream in Kashmir. 1875 Vasily Vereshchagin (1842-1904)

Description of Vasily Vereshchagin’s painting "Mountain Stream in Kashmir

Vasily Vereshchagin was one of the most famous Russian painters describing the hardships of war. Many of his works were never exhibited in Russia because of the realistic nature of the scenes.

After the Russo-Turkish War, Vereshchagin lived and worked in Munich, painting a large number of works on military subjects. They all had a common motif of presenting the charms of peace and depicting the horrors of war. This included several scenes of British imperial rule in India, and his The Procession of the Prince of Wales in Jaipur is considered one of the largest paintings in the world. When he returned to India, he produced several paintings depicting the suppression of the Indian rebellion by the British authorities, causing controversy on the border of art and politics.

Russia also banned Vereshchagin’s exhibitions as well as prohibiting their use as illustrations in books and periodicals. The main reason for the bans was accusations of defamation of the Russian army. The artist has not easily endured the unjust accusations, and even burned three of his paintings.

The painting "Mountain Stream in Kashmir" stands out from the general series of "Indian" works by Vereshchagin. It was painted during the artist’s first trip to the Himalayas, India and Tibet in 1874-1876. He admired the nature of mountainous Kashmir, its cliffs and cliffs that had seen many empires, from the Mughals to the British colonizers. The peaceful serenity of the painting is not accidental--there have been bloody battles between the Indians and the unruly highlanders of Kashmir.