Description of the painting March snow. Visit to the Museum House

24.01.2015

Description of the painting by Igor Grabar “March Snow”

“March Snow” was painted by Igor Grabar in 1904, when he was visiting the artist N.V. Meshcherin, his friend, in the village of Churilkovo. Painting snow is an entire art, so Grabar’s words that in “March Snow” he simply “threw paints onto the canvas”, as nature sometimes does, sending them from the sky, resonate here in a special way. The picture was almost finished when, on the thawed path, Grabar saw a girl hurrying to fetch water with a rocker and two buckets. Ten minutes later, her figure in a pink skirt and blue jacket was already decorating the picture. Speaking about the style of execution, we can say that this work of the artist was made in the style of divisionism - the decomposition of color, characteristic of impressionism. The snow and even the dirt on the melted path are made with strokes of pure color, merging into one in the viewer’s eyes and becoming white.

A March day in the village is approaching evening, which is why the shadows from the trees are so long, stretching almost across the entire picture. The tree itself is not visible; it seems to be behind the viewer’s back. The crisp, loose snow under the rays of the spring sun becomes increasingly darker, saturated with water, and heavy. This is exactly how Grabar conveyed it, who found a real symphony of colors in the snowy tones under the rays of the sun. But his snow is not only in blue and light blue tones. Here you can find a lot of pink and yellowish colors. There was no longer any snow left on the roofs of the village huts visible in the distance and on the trees. Everything indicates that spring is on the threshold, waiting in the wings. Russian nature, continuing to delight Igor Grabar, helped him create another portrait of its simplicity and perfection. It’s not for nothing that the painting “March Snow” is called a “symphony of colors” - the music of our unique and beloved Fatherland can really be heard in it.

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Text content of presentation slides: A trip to the “Museum House” Today we will look at a reproduction of the painting “March Snow” by the famous Russian artist Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar, which is currently on display at the State Tretyakov Gallery, like a harbinger of spring. The painting was painted in 1904. Grabar Igor Emmanuilovich. E. Grabar is an outstanding Russian artist and cultural figure, the author of many famous paintings. He was born in 1871 and died in 1960. Grabar lived a long life and managed to do a lot for people, bring a lot of joy to people. Questions for students What time of year is shown in the picture? (Spring.) What month? (The first days of March.) What mood does the picture convey? (With joy from the onset of warmth and abundance of sunshine.) Where is the snow still bright white and untouched? (Where people don’t walk.) Where - with a lot of traces, darkened by the thaw? (On the road.) Where is the one that has melted and turned red from the earth? (On the paths.) Is it possible, looking at the snow, to come to the conclusion that the sun is shining brightly outside? (Yes, shadows from trees are visible in the foreground; the objects depicted in the picture are lit differently.) Using what technique does the artist help us see this? (Using contrast.) What trees (coniferous or deciduous) does the villager walk past to get water? What age is the villager: is she a young girl or an elderly woman? (She is young, as she is about to fetch two buckets of water, she walks quickly, and she has the figure of a young girl.) What can you say about the village woman’s gait: does she walk slowly, sedately, or quickly, impetuously? (She walks quickly and swiftly.) Do you think the buckets are empty or full? (They are still empty, since the young lady is walking quickly.) Do the pictured buckets help you see that the day is dazzlingly bright and sunny? (Yes, there are bright reflections of the sun on them.) Description of the painting In the painting by I.E. Grabar depicts a March day. This is a rural landscape. In the foreground, a young girl is hurrying to fetch water, carrying a rocker with two buckets on one shoulder. Despite the fact that it is March, winter is in no hurry to give up its position - the girl is dressed quite warmly: a padded jacket, a floor-length skirt, and a scarf on her head. It’s not for nothing that people say that when March comes, you need to put on two trousers. After all, even though it’s getting warmer, especially in the sun, it’s still damp outside. And this is especially felt in the evening. You can tell it’s getting evening by the blue shadows of the trees on the melting snow. Such a shadow can only be obtained in the red rays of the sunset. The snow has already melted on the paths. The path goes somewhere into the distance, and the girl, in order to get fresh water, needs to go a long way to the well. Several wooden huts are visible. On the right are the trees, they have already thrown off their warm snow caps and are waiting for warmth. Only the earth is in no hurry to throw off the duvet of snow. We see in the picture all this snowy thickness, which will not soon surrender to the rays of the ever-growing March sun. But the snow has already become spongy, with icy lumps melted by the sun on top. But even this aged snow seems to the artist to be something marvelous. Grabar caught that elusive blue of the snow, which can only be seen at a certain time of the day, more precisely, when the day is about to give way to twilight. There is peace on the street, so quiet and calm, and you can only hear the girl stepping, breaking the thin ice crust that has formed on the path. Only this crunch is heard in the silence. The air already smells of spring, and to show this, the picture is painted softly and lightly. The viewer is attracted by the simplicity of the plot, the harmony and beauty of rural life. The artist depicted the ordinary everyday life of the village residents. But he saw inimitable beauty in them. Grabar admires the awakening nature, admires the coming spring, trying to show the still hidden power of melt water, which is about to burst into streams into the village landscape.

March snow

“March Snow” - painting by I.E. Grabar, which depicts a young girl with a rocker against the backdrop of a village landscape. The author created his creation according to all the rules of impressionism.

In the painting, Grabar depicted a spring village landscape. The girl goes for water and carries a rocker with two buckets on her shoulder. “March has come, put on seven trousers” - this popular proverb is very relevant, because in Russia the month of March is quite cool and damp. So the girl in the picture is dressed in a March style: she is wearing a padded jacket, a long skirt, and a scarf made of warm material on her head.

It's getting dark. The shadows of trees are visible in the snow. The snow is slowly melting. There is a well nearby, to which a path leads. The girl heads to the well to fill the buckets with fresh water.

Village huts are visible. The trees have shed the snow from their branches and are looking forward to the arrival of warm spring days. The earth is still covered with a snow-white blanket and has not yet thought of parting with it. Despite the fact that it is calendar spring, winter is still not going to give up its powers of power. However, the breath of spring can already be felt and the snow layer is gradually giving way under the onslaught of the March sun, the rays of which are warming more and more.

Looking at the picture, one feels the beauty of nature, as well as peace and tranquility. It is very quiet around, and only the girl’s steps can be heard: she is walking on a melted crust of snow, which crunches under her feet. The painting conveys the beauty and harmony of the rural landscape. The author depicts the life of ordinary village residents of the Russian outback.

The picture evokes only positive emotions in the viewer, since it is painted easily, uncomplicatedly, and sincerely. It is clear that the author loves nature very much and, through his talent, conveys to the viewer all the charm and beauty of the countryside.

The painting “March Snow” was painted in 1904. Today it is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery. The March day depicted by the author against the backdrop of a rural landscape leaves an extremely pleasant impression on the viewer. Looking at Grabar’s work, the viewer seems to feel nature being reborn from hibernation and enjoying the harmony of nature.

Description of the painting March Snow

The author of the painting “March Snow” I. E. Grabar chose a simple plot from village life for his canvas. A familiar rural landscape, complemented by wooden houses and a girl with a rocker. The artistic style in this canvas is unusual, creating an expressive, snowy texture. Confident, generous steps of the brush, painting multi-colored shadows and bright highlights, immediately make it clear to the viewer who the main character is here.

March snow surrounded the entire space with its luxurious, bright mood. The cold, winter whiteness has already receded. The timid spring sun colors the fragile carpet in many expressive shades. A beautiful village woman in bright clothes walks along a dark, melted path. The daily bustle has consumed her, she cannot stop and admire the beautiful March snow.

All landscape elements that make up the plot of the painting are directed beyond the perimeter of the canvas. A small part of a tree is visible in the foreground, the shadows of which create an interesting pattern on the relief snow area. Dark paths lurk behind the scenes. And it seems that the girl is about to leave the picture to leave the viewer alone with this beautiful “March Snow”.

3rd grade. 5th grade.

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March is quite a fickle month. It gives a little warmth, gives rise to hope that soon there will be no trace of winter left. But the first month of spring cannot ensure the complete expulsion of cold weather. In his work, Grabar depicted snow, whose days are already numbered. The author skillfully noted all the details to create the proper atmosphere.

Coloring of the picture

A woman catches your eye. She carries water on a yoke, making her way along a narrow path. It feels like the buckets are full. They do not sway in different directions, but pull an arc downward. The woman's figure itself is tense. She wants to quickly throw this burden off her shoulders.

The picture skillfully emphasizes the color of the Russian village. You can notice practical and warm clothes on a woman. The young lady is wearing a padded jacket and a long skirt. In the distance you can see small village houses and wide, vast spaces. The path along which the villager moves is narrow, but well trodden. It can be assumed that the woman’s house is very close. It is not easy to live if the water source is located far away. A small number of families agreed to put up with this. A large amount of liquid is required for housekeeping. The nature depicted indicates that the water lies at a shallow depth.

Artist's skill

The grayness of winter days contrasts well with the first warmth of spring. The author has a good command of the play of light. His skill can be seen in the foreground. A large bare tree casts a shadow on the light, causing conflicting feelings. On the one hand, it becomes clear that it is a sunny day outside, but at the same time frost and cold are practically physically felt.

You need to look at the picture holistically. The canvas contains winter coolness and spring atmosphere at the same time. The snow has not yet melted, even though it is March. The first days of spring awaken special feelings in us. At this time, you want to enjoy life. The air is permeated with special freshness, and the sun gently envelops everything around.

Did you like the essay describing the painting by I. E. Grabar “March Snow”, if so, then you can also read other essays, for example these

Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar is a famous name in the history of Russian culture of the 20th century.
Nature endowed I. E. Grabar with many talents, which, to the considerable surprise of those around him, he was able to realize. He became a significant artist, art historian, art critic, restorer, teacher, museum worker, wonderful organizer, even an architect. At the same time, for almost sixty years, thanks to his frantic temperament, he was one of the most active participants and leaders of the country's artistic life.

Self-portrait with palette, 1934

In 1876, Grabar’s parents, who were among the supporters of the Slavic liberation movement, settled in Russia. After graduating from high school, Grabar studied at the Moscow Lyceum (1882-89). He dreamed of painting, tried to be closer to artistic circles, visited all exhibitions, studied the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery and other collections in Moscow.

In the autumn of 1889, at the age of eighteen, almost penniless in his pocket, Grabar went to St. Petersburg. He enters the university, studies there for four years in two faculties at once - law and history and philology - and persistently prepares to enter the Academy of Arts. During this time, he earned his living by writing humorous stories and illustrating for magazines. Grabar passed through the stages of admission to the Academy of Arts (1894) and the beginning of his studies there brilliantly and rapidly. Already in 1895, he found himself in the workshop of I. E. Repin, who was very revered by him.

In the summer of 1895, during the holidays, Grabar traveled to Berlin, Paris, Venice, Florence, Rome, and Naples. In Italy he was so shocked by the works of the Renaissance masters, and in Paris by the works of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, that Grabar during the years 1896-1900. travels around Europe "for the purpose of detailed and in-depth study of world art and obtaining an architectural education."

Lady at the Piano, 1899

golden leaves
1901
H., m., 78.5x88
Ufa

In 1900, Grabar returned to Russia, and here, according to the artist, his most “creative period” began. After a long separation, he again falls in love with Russian nature, is stunned by the beauty of the Russian winter, and endlessly writes “a supernatural tree, a fairy tale tree” - a birch. His most famous works were created in the Moscow region: "September Snow" (1903), "White Winter. Rooks' Nests", "February Blue", "March Snow" (all 1904), "Chrysanthemums" (1905), "Untidy Table" ( 1907) and others. Grabar writes in the open air, taking into account the achievements of the French impressionists, but, not wanting to blindly imitate them, he writes in Russian, loving “materiality and reality.”

Balustrade,
1901
Oil on canvas, 54x97
Nizhny Tagil

September snow
1903
Oil on canvas, 79x89.

Corner of the estate (Ray of the sun),
1901
Hm. 72x53
Smolensk

Ray of sunshine
1901
H., m., 42.5x79
State Tretyakov Gallery

Winter evening
1903
Hm. 54.3x74

1904 February blue. Oil on canvas 90x72 Minsk

"February Azure"
1904
Canvas, oil. 141 x 83 cm
State Tretyakov Gallery

"February Azure" is a majestic "portrait" of a birch tree. We look at it from the bottom up, from a deep trench in the snow, which the author dug and in which he worked, despite the severe frosts, overwhelmed with joy from “the chimes and calls of all the colors of the rainbow, united by the blue enamel of the sky.” The landscape is painted in pure colors, the strokes are laid in a dense layer.

"March Snow"
1904
Canvas, oil. 80 x 62 cm
State Tretyakov Gallery

“March Snow” - “a brightly impressionistic piece in concept and texture” - the artist also painted in the open air “with such passion and excitement that he threw paints onto the canvas, as if in a frenzy, without too much thinking and weighing, trying only to convey the dazzling impression of this cheerful major fanfare." In these works, Grabar managed to create another, new (after the Russian landscape painters of the 19th century), generalized image of Russian nature.

Afternoon tea
1904
H., m., 79x101,
Ivanovo

Behind the samovar
1905
Hm. 80x80,
State Tretyakov Gallery

The painting “Behind the Samovar” (1905) was painted at the hour when daylight turns into blue twilight. This pre-evening lighting gave a special life to the picturesque effects - the smoldering light of the samovar, the shine of its metal surface, the play of blue reflexes in the crystal glass. And the girl sitting with a cup by the samovar is included in this picturesque element - the last ray of light gilded her hair and cheek. Here we see for the first time the artist’s future wife and the heroine of many of his portraits, the artist Mikhail Mikeshin’s eldest daughter Valya.

"White winter. Rooks' nests"
1904
Canvas, oil. 102 x 48 cm
State Tretyakov Gallery

Snowdrifts
1904
Canvas, oil. 71x80
Lviv.

"Pavilion in Kuzminki"
1904
Canvas, oil. 80.5 x 103 cm
Saratov State Art Museum named after. A.N. Radishcheva

Spring flow
1904
Hm. 70x89
State Russian Museum

Flowers and fruits on the piano
1904
Hm. 79x101
State Russian Museum

Jar of jam and apples
1904
Hm. 48x49
Uzhgorod

Among the first successful still lifes was the sketch “Jar of Jam and Apples” (1904), which captures the artist’s peculiar manner and his attitude towards what is called “dead nature”. Objects are standing and lying on the table, huddled close to each other. Their close group, with all the still-life immobility, seems to be rushing in a whirlwind of unidirectional brushstrokes. The unity of objects and the lack of space between them enhance the impression of movement. At the head of this family of objects is a jar of jam; it concentrates the light in the painting thanks to the transparency of the glass and the magical color of its contents. Picturesque reflexes, as if shadows were running from object to object, paper wrapping swirling around apples, the edges of paper lids flying up as if in a breeze - everything is subordinated to the idea and form of the impressionistic “stream of life”, which benefits even more from the contrast of meanings: “dead nature” appears more alive than is usually seen and portrayed.

"Chrysanthemums"
1905
Canvas, oil. 98 x 98 cm
State Tretyakov Gallery

As in the landscapes of this time, Grabar’s still lifes embody “pure-blooded” impressionism - these are “Lilacs and Forget-Me-Nots”, “Chrysanthemums” (both 1905). About the painting “Lilacs and Forget-Me-Nots” Grabar wrote: “I saw a basket on the piano, ... densely filled with forget-me-nots, which looked like some kind of plush, marvelous turquoise-colored material. Nearby stood a bouquet of white and purple lilacs in a white jug. I threw another branch of lilac on the piano nearby and began to write...” The still life was a huge success with everyone who saw it.

Lilacs and forget-me-nots
1905
H., m., 80x80
Yaroslavl

Apples
1905
H., m., 71x89
Saratov

May evening, 1905

Frosty morning. Pink rays
1906
H., m. 106.7x98.2
Private meeting

"Winter morning"
1907
Canvas, oil. 80 x 80.5 cm
Sevastopol Art Museum named after. P.M. Kroshitsky

Blue tablecloth
1907
H., m., 81x80

"Into icy conditions"
1908
Canvas, oil. 107 x 108 cm

The greatest stimulus in painting was the artist’s love for winter. He himself admitted that with the end of winter the landscape became less attractive to him and paintings of nature successfully replaced still life. In 1905-1908, the winter theme acquired a certain stable line - its leading motif was the image of frost. The Januarys of 1906 and 1907 passed “under the sign” of frost. Why did this very local winter motif acquire such significance in Grabar’s work? In his own words, working on the frost awakened his “painterly enthusiasm.” “There are few moments in the world as stunning in their colorful polyphony as a sunny frosty day, where the color scheme, changing every minute, turns into the most fantastic shades for which there are not enough colors on the palette.” One of the main tasks in developing this motif was to combine graphic and pictorial effects, expressing one through the other - this is what creates the most impressive feature of frost, difficult to convey in art. Grabar wrote frost “in all sorts of ways” - its various types, in the morning and evening hours, in the sun and on a sunless day. This was done in the form of small colored sketches, since the paint quickly hardened in the cold. Grabar had accumulated about a hundred such sketches - “there was no frost effect during the day that I would not have recorded in this collection.” In the workshop, the sketches began to turn into compositions that made up the suite of paintings “The Day of Frost” (1907-1908).

"Frost"
1905
Canvas, oil. 122.4 x 160.3 cm
Yaroslavl Art Museum

Luxurious frost

1904 Frost
Kirov

Frost
1907-1908
Hm. 102.5x102.5
Kyiv MRI

A tale of frost and the rising sun. 1908
Located at the Russian Embassy in Great Britain, London
Canvas, oil. 85 x 125 cm
Private collection

Frost. 1918
Cardboard, oil. 48 x 60 cm
Astrakhan State Art Gallery named after. P.M.Dogadina

Winter evening
1903
Hm. 54.3x74
State Russian Museum

"The Last Snow"
Canvas, oil. 95 x 78.5 cm
State Museum of Fine Arts of Kyrgyzstan

"Untidy table"
1907
Canvas, oil. 100 x 96 cm
State Tretyakov Gallery

"Delphinium"
1908

1910-23 The artist called it a period of departure from painting and a passion for architecture, art history, museum activities, and monument protection. He conceived and carried out the publication of the first “History of Russian Art” in six volumes (1909-16), wrote the most important sections for it, and published monographs about V. A. Serov and I. I. Levitan.

Pears on a blue tablecloth, 1915

"Pock"
1915
Canvas, oil. 50 x 73 cm
State Tretyakov Gallery

"Morning Tea (In the Alley)"
1917
Canvas, oil. 77 x 87 cm
State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan

Red apples on a blue tablecloth
1920
Hm. 82x82
Private collection

"Radiant morning"
1922
Canvas, oil. 73 x 104 cm
State Historical, Artistic and Literary Museum-Reserve "Abramtsevo"

"Oaks"
1923
Canvas, oil. 100 x 134 cm
Far Eastern Art Museum

For twelve years (1913-25) Grabar headed the Tretyakov Gallery, significantly changing the principles of museum work. After the revolution, he did a lot to protect cultural monuments from destruction. In 1918, on the initiative of Grabar, the Central Restoration Workshops were created, with which he would be associated throughout his life and which now bear his name. Many works of ancient Russian art were discovered and saved here.

"Rowan berries"
1924
Canvas, oil. 91 x 75 cm
State Museum-Reserve "Rostov Kremlin"

From 1924 to the end of the 1940s. Grabar again paints a lot and is especially interested in portraits. He depicts his loved ones, paints portraits of scientists and musicians. The artist himself called “Portrait of a Mother” (1924), “Svetlana” (1933), “Portrait of a Daughter against the Background of a Winter Landscape” (1934), “Portrait of a Son” (1935), “Portrait of Academician S. A. Chaplygin” (1935) the best ). Two self-portraits of the artist are also widely known (“Self-portrait with a palette”, 1934; “Self-portrait in a fur coat”, 1947). He also turns to thematic paintings - “V.I. Lenin at the Direct Wire” (1933), “Peasant Walkers at a Reception with V.I. Lenin” (1938). Of course, he continues to paint landscapes, still preferring snow, sun and a smile to life: “The Last Snow” (1931), “Birch Alley” (1940), “Winter Landscape” (1954), a series of paintings on the theme “Rime Day” .

"On the Lake"
1926
Canvas, oil. 75.5 x 88 cm
State Russian Museum

"Clarified"
1928
Canvas, oil. 67 x 77 cm
State Russian Museum

"Moscow courtyard"
1930
Canvas, oil. 68 x 80 cm
State Russian Museum

Never ceasing to be an artist, Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar continued to love and bless his work in his declining years. He believed that “an artist is more sensitive and flexible than an art critic, his eyes are not so hopelessly closed with blinders, his brain is not so treacherously loaded with history, theory and all sorts of biases...” - and he, who combined these two hypostases, one could judge this better than anyone else. In a friendly cartoon by the Kukryniksy, made in 1951 for Grabar’s eightieth birthday, he is depicted at a desk that is also a palette, his brush connected to a pen, and his paints to ink.

And in the choice of landscape motifs, Grabar retained the same picturesque temperament. Again and again he turned to winter motifs, to the inexhaustible theme of frost - from year to year he writes “Luxurious Frost” and “Day of Frost” (both 1941), “Rime” (1952), “Rime at Sunrise” (1955) . In “Winter Landscape” (1954), the freshness of the embodiment of the natural motif still remains subject to the artist. He catches the subtlest echoes of the heavenly blue in the blue shadows on the snow. Grabar found the plastic “key” of the landscape motif in the juxtaposition of the dense, prickly greenery of young spruce trees and the transparent lightness of birch trees, as if growing from spruce thickets and dissolving with their pinkish crowns in the blue expanse. Along with the snow, he was still attracted by the sun - in one of Abramtsevo’s letters in 1956, Grabar wrote: “Unfortunately, rainy weather really interferes with my work, and my assignments, as luck would have it, are all sunny...” Grabar’s last work is “ Birch Alley" (1959), painted in Abramtsevo, became the old artist’s last tribute to the nature of the Moscow region, his favorite landscape image - the Russian birch.

“Abramtsevo. Wattle"
1944
Canvas, oil. 64 x 80 cm
Samara Art Museum

Delphiniums, 1944

"In the garden. Delphinium bed"
1947
Canvas, oil. 79.3 x 102 cm
Kursk State Art Gallery named after. A.A. Deineki

Grabar works in the traditions of Russian realistic painting of the late 19th century, remaining, as in other areas of his activity, a guardian of Russian culture. “The best rest is a change from work,” said the artist. When he was not painting, he was teaching, performing, preparing exhibitions, or doing art historical research. Death found him working on a new multi-volume edition of the History of Russian Art. “We should consider it a blessing for Russian art that such a person really existed,” S. V. Gerasimov said about him.

Portrait of Valentina Mikhailovna Grabar, the artist’s wife,
1931

Self-portrait