A moose island in Sokolniki, Alexey Kondratyevich Savrasov 
- Posted by Alexey Kondratievich Savrasov
- Museum: Tretyakov Gallery
- Year: 1869
Overview of the painting :
The moose island in Sokolniki is Savrasov. 1869. Oil on canvas. 62×215; 88 cm
One of the most famous works of Savrasov (of course, after the “Grachy”) is the landscape “Losin Island in Sokolniki”. The painting experienced three renaming in its time: in 1870, the canvas first appeared in front of the audience called “The View of the Pine Grove” and won the first prize, in 1871 the signature “Sokolniki” was already under it, and after several years, at the first exhibition of the mobile phones, the canvas was called “Lose Island”.
The painting was created in the late 1860s and coincided with a new period in the artist’s work – he moved from the romantic hobbies of his youth to realism enriched with some symbolism and magical metaphysics.
The main character of the picture is a pine forest. Slender trees are tall and straight, as if upturned to the sky, give the picture monumentality. In front of the forest, a meadow is spread, on which a herd of cows is measured. The cloudy sky, coupled with the puddles in the foreground, give some gloom and anxiety, however, the master does not “break into” ultimate philosophism, but resorts to detailing the plot – all vegetation is written out very carefully and accurately.
Having first appeared before the public, the picture received a positive assessment, and it was not even the first prize, but that the Tretyakov, a subtle connoisseur and an expert on art, immediately acquired the canvas. It was the most talking score.