Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin (1832 � 1898) was a Russian landscape painter closely associated with the Peredvizhniki movement. Peredvizhniki, often called The Wanderers or The Itinerants in English, were a group of Russian realist artists who in protest at academic restrictions formed an artists' cooperative; it evolved into the Society for Travelling Art Exhibitions in 1870.
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| The Peredvizhniki with Shiskin in the centre |
Shishkin was born in Yelabuga of Vyatka Governorate (today Republic of Tatarstan), and graduated from the Kazan gymnasium. Then he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture for four years, attended the Saint Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts from 1856 to 1860, from which he graduated with the highest honours and a gold medal. He received the Imperial scholarship for his further studies in Europe. Five years later Shishkin became a member of the Imperial Academy in St. Petersburg and was professor of painting from 1873 to 1898. At the same time, Shishkin headed the landscape painting class at the Highest Art School in St. Petersburg.
For some time, Shishkin lived and worked in Switzerland and Germany on scholarship from the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Arts. On his return to Saint Petersburg, he became a member of the Circle of the Itinerants and of the Society of Russian Watercolorists. He also took part in exhibitions at the Academy of Arts, the All Russian Exhibition in Moscow (1882), the Nizhniy Novgorod (1896), and the World Fairs (Paris, 1867 and 1878, and Vienna, 1873). Shishkin's painting method was based on analytical studies of nature. He became famous for his forest landscapes, and was also an outstanding draftsman and a printmaker.
Ivan Shishkin owned a dacha in Vyra, 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. He died in 1898, in St. Petersburg, Russia, while working on his new painting.
A minor planet, 3558 Shishkin, discovered by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Zhuravlyova in 1978 is named after him.
This is part 1 of a 5-part post on the works of Ivan Shishkin. Parts 1-4 will feature his paintings, part 5 his drawings. Unfortunately I couldn't find the medium or sizes for many of these works, though I believe they are all oil on canvas:
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| 1856 Little House in Dusseldorf |
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| 1858 View of Valaam Island |
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| 1858-60 Stones in the Forest, Valaam |
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| 1859-60 View of Valaam Island, Kukko oil on canvas 69 x 87 cm |
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| 1860 View of Valaam Island, Kukko oil on canvas 104.5 x 141 cm |
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| 1861 Hovel |
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| 1861 Landscape |
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| 1863 Beech Forest in Switzerland |
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| 1863 Beech Forest in Switzerland |
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| 1864 Herd in the Forest |
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| 1864 Herd Beneath Trees |
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| 1864-65 In the Vicinity of Du�sseldorf |
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| 1865 In the Grove oil on canvas |
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| 1865 Oak |
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| 1865 The Teutoburg Forest oil on canvas |
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| 1865 View near Du�sseldorf oil on canvas |
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| 1866 Noon, Suburbs of Moscow, Bratsevo |
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| 1866 Old Oak |
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| 1866 Swiss Landscape |
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| 1867 At the Church Fence, Valaam |
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| 1867 Covert |
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| 1867 Study for the painting "Chopping Wood" |
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| 1868-69 Wood in the Evening |
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| 1869 A Walk in a Forest oil on canvas 34 x 43 cm |
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| 1869 In a Grove oil on canvas 36 x 54 cm |
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| 1869 Landscape with Walkers oil on canvas 32 x 42 cm |
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| 1869 Oak Forest |
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| 1870 Forest Landscape with Herons oil on canvas |
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| 1870 Gathering Mushrooms oil on canvas |
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| 1870 Near the Monastery |
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| 1871 Evening |
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| 1872 Backwoods oil on canvas 164 x 112.8 cm |
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| 1872 Forest before a Thunderstorm oil on canvas 48 x 59 cm |
