A Birch Grove is a landscape by the Russian artist Arkhip Kuindzhi (1842–1910), completed in 1879. It is kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery (inventory 882). The size of the painting is 97×181 cm.Государственная Третьяковская галерея — каталог собрания / Я. В. Брук, Л. И. Иовлева. — М.: Красная площадь, 2001. — V. 4: Живопись второй половины XIX века, книга 1, А—М. — 528 p. —P. 330. — .Куинджи Архип Иванович — Берёзовая роща (HTML). Государственная Третьяковская галерея, www.tretyakovgallery.ru. Дата обращения: 8 June 2020. Archive: 18 September 2020. The canvas depicts birch trees growing in a sunny forest clearing. The unusual combinations of light and color and sharp contrast of sun and shadow create the impression of very bright sunlight. The upper part of the birches is not shown; only the trunks and small branches are visible, which stand out in light green against the background of the dark green forest. The composition is divided into two parts by a stream running through the middle.
Together with two other paintings by the artist (After the Rain and North), A Birch Grove was presented at the 7th Exhibition of the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions ("Peredvizhniki"), which opened in St. Petersburg in February 1879.Товарищество передвижных художественных выставок. Письма, документы. 1869—1899 / В. В. Андреева, М. В. Астафьева, С. Н. Гольдштейн, Н. Л. Приймак. — М.: Искусство, 1987. — 668 p. — pp. 177–184. The artist Ivan Kramskoy reported that Kuindzhi's works were enthusiastically received by the public.Товарищество передвижных художественных выставок. Письма, документы. 1869—1899 / В. В. Андреева, М. В. Астафьева, С. Н. Гольдштейн, Н. Л. Приймак. — М.: Искусство, 1987. — 668 p. — P. 186. In particular, the visitors to the exhibition noted the "extraordinary nature" of A Birch Grove. Immediately after the exhibition, all three paintings were purchased by Pavel Tretyakov for 6,500 rubles.Летопись жизни и творчества Архипа Ивановича Куинджи // Архип Куинджи / Т. Л. Карпова, О. Д. Атрощенко, А. А. Ефимова. — М.: Государственная Третьяковская галерея, 2018. — pp. 318–347. — 360 сp. — P. 325. — .
Art critic Vladimir Stasov noted that A Birch Grove is a painting "with wonderfully illuminated trees and grass", and that in this work Kuindzhi "takes notes of strong spectacular lighting, which no one has tried before". Art historian Faina Maltseva wrote that A Birch Grove is an "innovative work" that is one of the best examples of realistic landscapes of the 1870s. According to the art historian Vitaly Manin, "there was no picture in Russian landscape painting where a bright sunny day was captured so joyfully and enlightened, where the artist's peaceful feeling was so fully expressed, where a bright sense of peace, uplifted mood received such a perfect embodiment".
History Previous events
From 1866 Arkhip Kuindzhi lived in St. Petersburg. He worked in a photo studio as a retoucher, then began attending classes at the Academy of Arts, and in 1868 received the title of non-class artist.М. Ф. Киселёв. Куинджи Архип Иванович (HTML). Большая российская энциклопедия — bigenc.ru. Дата обращения: 8 June 2020. Archive: 7 May 2020.Летопись жизни и творчества Архипа Ивановича Куинджи // Архип Куинджи / Т. Л. Карпова, О. Д. Атрощенко, А. А. Ефимова. — М.: Государственная Третьяковская галерея, 2018. — pp. 318–347. — 360 p. — pp. 318–319. — . From 1868, Kuindzhi exhibited his works at the Annual Exhibitions of the Academy of Arts, as well as at the exhibitions of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists.Летопись жизни и творчества Архипа Ивановича Куинджи // Архип Куинджи / Т. Л. Карпова, О. Д. Атрощенко, А. А. Ефимова. — М.: Государственная Третьяковская галерея, 2018. — pp. 318–347. — 360 p. — pp. 319–321. — . In 1872, he was awarded the title of artist of the 3rd class.Летопись жизни и творчества Архипа Ивановича Куинджи // Архип Куинджи / Т. Л. Карпова, О. Д. Атрощенко, А. А. Ефимова. — М.: Государственная Третьяковская галерея, 2018. — pp. 318–347. — 360 p. — P. 320. — . Kuindzhi made his debut at the Peredvizhniki exhibitions in 1874, at the 3rd Society's of Travelling Art Exhibitions his landscape A Forgotten Village was exhibited. In 1875 he became a member of the society. Kuindzhi's canvas Ukrainian Night, presented at the 5th Travelling Exhibition (opened in March 1876),Летопись жизни и творчества Архипа Ивановича Куинджи // Архип Куинджи / Т. Л. Карпова, О. Д. Атрощенко, А. А. Ефимова. — М.: Государственная Третьяковская галерея, 2018. — pp. 318–347. — 360 p. — P. 323. — . and then successfully exhibited at the 1878 Exposition Universelle in Paris, attracted much attention. In 1878, the Council of the Academy of Arts awarded Kuindzhi the title of artist of the 1st class.Летопись жизни и творчества Архипа Ивановича Куинджи // Архип Куинджи / Т. Л. Карпова, О. Д. Атрощенко, А. А. Ефимова. — М.: Государственная Третьяковская галерея, 2018. — pp. 318–347. — 360 p. — pp. 324–325. — .
According to some information, Kuindzhi worked on sketches depicting birch trees from 1876. Researchers of the artist's work believe that one of the first studies directly related to the idea of the painting A Birch Grove, could be a landscape from 1878, Pine Forest with a River (canvas on cardboard, oil, 25.6 × 33.4 cm, 1878, State Russian Museum, inv. Zh-1114),Архип Куинджи из собрания Русского музея / И. Н. Шувалова. — СПб.: Palace Editions, 2015. — 180 p. — pp. 90–91. — . the composition of which is close to Ivan Shishkin's canvas A Ship Grove. While working on the future painting A Birch Grove, Kuindzhi did a number of sketches, most of which date back to 1879. At least five painting sketches are known to exist: three of them are kept in the State Russian Museum,Государственный Русский музей — каталог собрания / Г. Н. Голдовский, В. А. Леняшин. — СПб.: Palace Editions, 2016. — V. 6: Живопись второй половины XIX века (К—М). — 176 p. — P. 78. — .Государственный Русский музей — Живопись, XVIII — начало XX века (каталог). — Л.: Аврора и Искусство, 1980. — 448 p. Архип Куинджи из собрания Русского музея / И. Н. Шувалова. — СПб.: Palace Editions, 2015. — 180 p. — pp. 70–73. — . and one each in the State Tretyakov Gallery and the State Art Museum of Nizhny Novgorod.Куинджи Архип Иванович — «Берёзовая роща» (HTML). Государственный каталог Музейного фонда Российской Федерации — goskatalog.ru. Дата обращения: 14 May 2020. Archive: 22 June 2019. From 1876 Kuindzhi lived and worked in a house at the intersection of Maly Prospect and 16th Street of Vasilyevsky Island. It was there that he worked on the painting A Birch Grove, begun in 1878 and completed in early 1879.
The 7th Exhibition of the Association of Travelling Art Exhibitions
The canvas A Birch Grove was exhibited for the first time in 1879 at the 7th Exhibition of the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions ("Peredvizhniki"), together with two other paintings by the artist: After the Rain and North. The exhibition was opened on February 23, 1879 in St. Petersburg, where it lasted until March 25. The opening of the exhibition was delayed, mainly due to the unreadiness of Kuindzhi's landscapes. According to the artist Ivan Kramskoi, "the hall was being cleared, and Kuindzhi could not yet hang it, and it is too necessary to have it".Товарищество передвижных художественных выставок. Письма, документы. 1869—1899 / В. В. Андреева, М. В. Астафьева, С. Н. Гольдштейн, Н. Л. Приймак. — М.: Искусство, 1987. — 668 p. — P. 565. In a letter to Vasily Polenov dated February 18, Kramskoi reported, "Kuindzhi is delaying, and he has things that are too important to ignore".Товарищество передвижных художественных выставок. Письма, документы. 1869—1899 / В. В. Андреева, М. В. Астафьева, С. Н. Гольдштейн, Н. Л. Приймак. — М.: Искусство, 1987. — 668 p. — P. 176. The delay was a source of irritation for the organizers of the Moscow section of the touring exhibition — in a letter to Kramskoi on February 23, the artist Ilya Repin wrote: "Kuindzhi is not ready? Seven are not waiting for one; and it was very easy to add him after the opening". Kuindzhi's canvases appeared in the exhibition two days after its opening — on February 25. According to Kramsky, "Kuindzhi exhibited the paintings and did not spoil them, although he neither improved them".
The greatest impression was made by A Birch Grove — both artists and spectators who visited the exhibition noted "the extraordinary nature of the picture", which later became one of Kuindzhi's most famous works. Some of the artists' reviews of A Birch Grove are known from the words of contemporaries: Ivan Shishkin said: "This is not a painting, and from it you can write a picture...", and Vladimir Orlovsky admitted: "I never thought, never imagined that it was possible to bring the picture to such relief. It is not a picture, it is nature". In a letter to Pavel Tretyakov dated March 1, 1879, Ivan Kramskoi wrote about the reaction caused by the appearance of Kuindzhi's paintings at the exhibition: "The public received them enthusiastically, artists (that is, landscape artists) at the first moment dazed, they did not prepare, a long time were with open jaws and only now begin to gather their courage and then angrily, then secretly let various rumors and opinions, many reach a high comic in the denial of his paintings, so... cheers!" Some viewers suspected Kuindzhi of being a magician and believed the rumors that had spread that "the picture was painted on glass and illuminated from behind by a lamp".
On March 15, the newspaper Novoe Vremya (No. 1093, p. 4) published a detailed review by Vladimir Stasov entitled "Art Exhibitions of 1879", which praised Kuindzhi's "unusually poetic feeling and view" and also noted the originality of his paintings. Kuindzhi's popularity was also evidenced by Alexander Lebedev's friendly caricature "Kuindzhi. Yablochkov Candle", which was placed on the cover of the magazine Strekoza (No. 11, March 18, 1879) — the caricature depicted the artist standing next to A Birch Grove. Directly from the exhibition, all three of Kuindzhi's paintings, including A Birch Grove, were bought from the artist by Pavel Tretyakov for 6,500 rubles.
The Moscow part of the 7th Travelling Exhibition was opened on April 22, 1879. Shortly thereafter, the newspaper Molva (No. 112, April 25, 1879) published an article "Brief notes (on reviews of art exhibitions and on the paintings of Mr. Kuindzhi)" signed by the pseudonym "Lubitel".Товарищество передвижных художественных выставок. Письма, документы. 1869—1899 / В. В. Андреева, М. В. Астафьева, С. Н. Гольдштейн, Н. Л. Приймак. — М.: Искусство, 1987. — 668 p. — P. 567. "Lubitel" spoke negatively about Kuindzhi's work and sharply criticized his paintings exhibited at the exhibition. In particular, he wrote: "Anyone who has ever observed in nature the relations of tones that give sunlight, who has ever studied the laws of transitions of one tone into another with different light effects, will agree that the light effects in Kuindzhi's paintings are exaggerated and completely wrong". As for the A Birch Grove, "Lubitel" wrote that the trees in it do not grow, and "rastykana", they are "precisely cut out of cardboard, painted in a dirty-green shade and placed as a decoration".Товарищество передвижных художественных выставок. Письма, документы. 1869—1899 / В. В. Андреева, М. В. Астафьева, С. Н. Гольдштейн, Н. Л. Приймак. — М.: Искусство, 1987. — 668 p. — P. 568. In December 1879 it turned out that the author hiding behind the pseudonym "Lubitel" was one of the founding members of the organization of artist-pervizhniks, Mikhail Clodt.Архип Куинджи из собрания Русского музея / И. Н. Шувалова. — СПб.: Palace Editions, 2015. — 180 p. — pp. 12–13. — . Angered by this act, Kuindzhi decided to withdraw from the partnership, which was finalized in early 1880. Thus, the 1879 exhibition presenting A Birch Grove became the last traveling exhibition with his participation.