1898

Finishes the canvas Mast-tree Grove. Takes part in the twenty-sixth Itinerant exhibition. March 8 (20 N.S.): dies in St. Petersburg, brush in hand.

Ivan Shishkin was known in his lifetime as the "giant of the Russian forest". He is one of the most talented Russian landscape painters. No other artist could convey with such veracity the majestic beauty of a pine grove, the cool semi-darkness of a forest thicket, and the structure and texture of the trees themselves. His works Pine Forest in Viatka Province, Pine-trees Lit Up by the Sun, and Mast-tree Grove rank among the masterpieces of Russian art.

Besides his famous paintings, this volume contains the artist's numerous studies and sketches executed in various media, which clearly show his love for working from nature. The book also presents a selection of Shishkin's etchings, giving an indication of his wide-ranging creative interests. The works reproduced come from the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, the Russian Museum in Leningrad, the Kiev Museum of Russian Art and other Soviet museums, and also from private collections.

Shishkm's works are discussed in two introductory articles dealing with his paintings and graphic works. The book contains a detailed biographical outline illustrated with numerous documentary photographs.

236 illustrations,

including 107 full-colour plates

Aurora art publishers. Leningrad