Tuesday, 5 August 2008

Ivans Siskins


- Russian painter associated with the Peredvizhniki Movement
- born 1832 in Republic of Tatarstan
- studied at Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture and St Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts and later taught there after receiving honors and a gold medal
-Highly accomplished landscape painter, draftsman and printmaker, exhibiting around the World
-died 1898 in Russia
-had a minor planet 3558 Shishkin named after him in 1978 by astronomer Lyudmila Zhuravlyova

Painting shown entitled 'Forest 1883' viewed in Latvian Museum of Art
- What strikes you when you come across this painting in the gallery is how it demands your attention despite being fairly small in size and amongst a lot of other work. 
- The intricacy and detail is highly skilled, even when viewed at close range. As you move further away from the painting you appreciate the sense of depth more, and you eye really does follow into the darkness, wondering what would be hidden in amongst the trees. 
-The contrast of natural light and darkness is shown in this piece, giving a true representation of how everything would look if you were really there.
- I can't express how good it was to find this painting, it really does provide a little bit of excitement in amongst a lot of very dank, depressive artwork.

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