Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin (; – ) was a Russian

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

painter and graphic artist, one of the most famous landscape painters of the post-reform era, and the creator of the iconic painting '' Morning in a Pine Forest''. He was an academician (since 1865), professor (since 1873), and full member (since 1893, under the new charter) of the Imperial Academy of Arts, as well as a professor and head of the landscape workshop at the Higher Art School (1894–1895). He was also one of the founding members of the Peredvizhniki movement (since 1870).

Biography

Shishkin was born in Yelabuga, Vyatka Governorate (today Republic of

Tatarstan Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is a part of the Volga Federal District; and its capital city, capital and largest city i ...

). He came from a family of Yelabuga merchants and was the son of grain merchant Ivan Vasilyevich Shishkin (1792–1872). The artist’s grandfather, Vasily Afanasyevich Shishkin-Serebryakov (1764–1827), was a palace peasant who registered as a third- guild merchant in Yelabuga in 1792.

Artistic training

At the age of 12, Shishkin was enrolled in the First Kazan Boys' Gymnasium, but after five years of study, he returned home to Yelabuga, where he lived for four years. In 1852, he entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, where he studied for four years until 1856. After completing his course, he continued his education at the

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Imperial Academy of Arts from 1857 to 1860, where he became a student of the landscape painter Professor Sokrat Vorobyov. At the Academy, Shishkin formed a close friendship with his classmates and like-minded artists Aleksander Gine and Jogin Pavel. In 1857, they worked together in Dubki, a small settlement on the shore of the

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near Sestroretsk. In the following years, they traveled together to Valaam Island on

Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake located entirely in Europe, the second largest lake in Russia after Lake ...

, home to its famous monastery. These trips helped Shishkin refine his skills in depicting nature, allowing him to accurately render landscapes with both brush and pencil. During his first year at the Academy, Shishkin was awarded two small silver medals: one for his painting ''View in the Vicinity of St. Petersburg'' (1856) and another for drawings completed during the summer in Dubki. In 1858, he received a large silver medal for his study ''Pine on Valaam''. In 1859, he was awarded a small gold medal for his landscape ''Gorge on Valaam'', and finally, in 1860, he earned the large gold medal for two paintings of the same title, ''View on Valaam Island. Kukko Area''.

Travel abroad

In 1860, Shishkin, Gine, and Jogin submitted a request to the Council of the Academy of Arts for financial assistance to publish their studies through

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

. The Council decided "''to issue a monetary reward in the amount of 150 silver

rubles The ruble or rouble (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is a currency unit. Currently, currencies named ''ruble'' in circulation include the Russian ruble (RUB, ₽) in Russia and the Belarusian ruble (BYN, Rbl) in Belarus. These currencies are su ...

for all three of them for the work they have undertaken on lithography experiments and to declare the gratitude of the Council to them, and to thank Mr. Professor Vorobyov for the successes of his students''." Along with this final award, Shishkin earned the right to travel abroad on a scholarship from the St Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts. In 1861, he went to

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, where he visited the studios of the famous artists Benno Adam and Franz Adam, who were highly regarded as animal painters. In 1863, Shishkin moved to

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, where, under the guidance of Professor Rudolf Koller—then considered one of the best animal painters—he sketched and painted animals from life. While in Zurich, he also experimented for the first time with etching using ''

aqua regia Aqua regia (; from Latin, "regal water" or "royal water") is a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid, optimally in a molar concentration, molar ratio of 1:3. Aqua regia is a fuming liquid. Freshly prepared aqua regia is colorless, but i ...

''. From Zurich, Shishkin traveled to

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to study the works of François Diday and Alexandre Calame. In 1864–1865, he relocated to Düsseldorf, where he attended the Düsseldorf Art Academy. While there, he painted ''View in the Vicinity of Düsseldorf'' on commission for the collector N. Bykov. This painting earned him the title of academician from the Imperial Academy of Arts. During his time abroad, in addition to painting, Shishkin extensively worked on pen drawings, which greatly impressed foreign audiences. Some of his drawings were displayed in the Düsseldorf Museum alongside works by renowned European masters such as Andreas Achenbach and Karl Friedrich Lessing.

Return to Russia

Feeling homesick, Ivan Shishkin returned to St. Petersburg in 1866 before the end of his scholarship term. That same year, his painting ''Air'' and six drawings were exhibited in Moscow. From then on, he frequently traveled across Russia for artistic purposes and exhibited his works at the Academy almost annually. In 1868, the Academy of Arts awarded Shishkin the title of professor for his paintings ''Pine Forest'' and ''Instead of Crossing the Bridge, Let’s Find a Ford'', but Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, the Academy’s president, instead awarded him the

Order of Saint Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus (, ), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It remained under the Congress Poland, Kingdom of Pola ...

, 3rd class. At the Exposition Universelle (1867), Shishkin exhibited several drawings and his painting ''View in the Vicinity of Düsseldorf''. With the establishment of the ''Peredvizhniki'' (The Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions), Shishkin began exhibiting his pen drawings at their exhibitions. Upon returning to Saint Petersburg in 1870, he became a member of the Circle of the Itinerants and Society of Russian Etchers in St. Petersburg and resumed working with ''

'' etching, a technique he continued practicing for the rest of his life, dedicating almost as much time to it as to painting. These works further solidified his reputation as one of Russia’s finest landscape painters and an unmatched master of etching. He also took part in

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibiti ...

s at the Academy of Arts, the All-Russian Exhibition in Moscow (1882), the Nizhniy Novgorod (1896) and the World Fairs (Paris, 1867 and

1878 Events January * January 5 – Russo-Turkish War: Battle of Shipka Pass IV – Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire. * January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy. * January 17 – Russo-Turkish War: ...

, and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, 1873). Shishkin's painting method was based on analytical studies of

nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

. He became famous for his detailed and poetic forest landscapes, which captured the beauty of Russia’s wilderness. His works often depicted the changing seasons, wild nature, animals, and birds. He was also an outstanding draftsman and

printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed technique ...

. Ivan Shishkin owned a

dacha A dacha (Belarusian, Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and rus, дача, p=ˈdatɕə, a=ru-dacha.ogg) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of former Soviet Union, post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage (, ...

in the village of (now part of the Gatchina District, Leningrad Oblast), south of St Petersburg. There he painted some of his finest landscapes. His works are notable for poetic depiction of seasons in the woods, wild nature, animals and birds.

Final years

In 1873, the Academy of Arts officially awarded Shishkin the title of professor after purchasing his painting ''Forest Wilderness''. In 1892 he was invited to become professor-director of the landscape painting workshop class in the Academy of Arts, but for various reasons, he held the position only briefly. In 1898 he completed his painting ''The Pine Grove'' and on March 20, 1898, Shishkin died suddenly of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in St. Petersburg, while sitting at his

easel An easel is an upright support used for displaying and/or fixing something resting upon it, at an angle of about 20° to the vertical. In particular, painters traditionally use an easel to support a painting while they work on it, normally stan ...

in front of a new painting. He was buried at the

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

Orthodox Cemetery. In 1950, his remains and tombstone were transferred to the Tikhvin Cemetery at the Necropolis of the Masters of Art. A

minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...

3558 Shishkin, discovered by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Zhuravlyova in 1978, was named in his honor.

Gallery

File:Ivan Shishkin - View on the Outskirts of St. Petersburg.JPG, ''View on the Outskirts of St. Petersburg'', 1856 File:Ivan Shishkin (1832-1898), View of Valaam Island. Kukko.jpg, ''View of Valaam Island. Kukko'', 1860 File:Дорога во ржи (Шишкин).jpg, ''In the Rye'', 1866 File:Swiss Landscape (Shishkin).jpg, ''Swiss Landscape'', 1866 File:Рубка леса (Шишкин).jpg, ''Lumbering'', 1867 File:Walk in the Forest (Shishkin).jpg, ''Walk in the Forest'', 1869 File:Shishkin Polden Okrestnosti Moskvy.jpg, ''Noon. Neighborhoods of

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

'', 1869 File:Сторожка в лесу.jpg, ''Watchtower in the Forest'', 1870 File:Берёзовый лес.jpg, ''Birch Forest'', 1871 File:1872 Schischkin Pinienwald anagoria.JPG, ''A Pine Forest. Mast-Timber forest in Viatka Province'', 1872 File:Шишкин И. И. (1872) Лесная глушь 02.jpg, ''Backwoods'', 1872 File:Хвойный лес (Шишкин) 02.jpg, ''Coniferous forest'', 1873 File:Первый снег (Шишкин).jpg, ''First snow'', 1875 File:Иван И. Шишкин - Темное дерево.jpg, ''The Dark Wood'', 1876 File:Ivan Shishkin - Рожь - Google Art Project.jpg, '' Rye'', 1878 File:ShishkinII OpushkaLesaPERM.jpg, ''Forest Edge'', 1878 File:Дебри (Шишкин).jpg, ''Wilds'', 1881 File:Iwan Iwanowitsch Schischkin 001.jpg, ''Brook in a Birch Forest'', 1883 File:ShishkinII SosnaNaPeskeRYB.jpg, ''Pine on Sand'', 1884 File:Iwan Iwanowitsch Schischkin 003.jpg, ''Forest Distance'', 1884 File:Polesye.jpg, '' Polesie Landscape'', 1884 File:Опушка леса (Шишкин, 1884).jpg, ''The Edge of the Forest'', 1884 File:Туманное утро. Шишкин И.И..jpg, ''Misty Morning'', 1885 File:Iwan Iwanowitsch Schischkin 002.jpg, ''Oak Grove'', 1887 File:Utro v sosnovom lesu.jpg, '' Morning in a Pine Forest'', 1889 File:1889 Shishkin Felsige Landschaft anagoria.JPG, ''The Rocky Landscape'', 1889 File:Иван И. Шишкин - Стога, Преображенское.jpg, ''Haystacks, Preobrazhenskoe'', 1890 File:Ivan Shishkin - Winter.JPG, ''Winter'', 1890 File:Шишкин И. И. (1891) На севере диком.jpg, ''In the Wild North'', 1891 File:Shishkin DozVDubLesu 114.jpg, ''Rain in an Oak Forest'', 1891 File:Иван Шишкин После шторма в Мери-Хови 1891.jpg, ''After the Storm in Meri Hovi'', 1891 File:1880er Ivan Shishkin Wald anagoria.JPG, ''Forest'', 1895 File:Вечерняя заря (Шишкин).jpg, ''Twilight'', 1896 File:'At the Edge of the Pine Forest' by Ivan Shishkin, 1898.jpg, ''At the Edge of the Pine Forest'', 1897

References

Literary sources

External links

Ivan Shishkin at Tanais Gallery
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Description of the picture.

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Ivan Shishkin Memorial House Museum, Russia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shishkin, Ivan 1832 births 1898 deaths People from Yelabuga 19th-century painters from the Russian Empire Male painters from the Russian Empire Painters from Saint Petersburg Landscape painters from the Russian Empire Peredvizhniki Burials at Tikhvin Cemetery 19th-century male artists from the Russian Empire Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture alumni