“Autumn”, Stanislav Yulianovich Zhukovsky – overview of the painting 
- Author: Stanislav Julianovich Zhukovsky
- Museum: Private collection
- Year: 1930
Overview of the painting :
Autumn – Stanislav Julianovich Zhukovsky. Oil on canvas. 53 x 65 cm
The painting “Autumn” was written by a wonderful Russian painter of Polish descent Stanislav Zhukovsky. He was one of the best lyrical landscape painters, a student of Polenov and Levitan.
The influence of impressionism is clearly visible in his works, but they are extremely realistic, fresh and perfectly perceived even by a modern viewer, do not seem outdated.
“Autumn” is one of the best landscapes in the many works of the master. It depicts the bend of the river overlooking a very picturesque autumn forest. A canvas is written from the high bank of the river, this can be judged by the opened wide panorama and by the steep slope in the foreground of the picture. It still has fresh green grass, but a low shrub descending to the river has already been decorated with a scattering of colored leaves and ripe berries.
A mixed forest lying on the other side of the river is a real explosion of autumn paints. If in the distance you can still see a few more dark green trees, obviously coniferous, then the whole bulk of the forest is decorated with flashes of yellow, red and orange.
In total mass, thin white trunks of birch trees are easily visible. This not only emphasizes the geographical affiliation of the forest, but also makes the image more dynamic. Vertical lines visually facilitate the very saturated, dense colors used in the canvas.
Light colors of the sky contribute to this. It has a shade typical of golden autumn – pale blue, as if faded, but not so lead gray that is characteristic of later and winter time. The sky in the picture even sets a slightly greenish touch, which connects it with the total tonality of the canvas.
The dynamics of the static image is given by current water. The river bends steeply, and its turn is closed by a steep slope. But on a more straight section, small waves are clearly visible, in which the image of the forest broken into fragments is reflected. And the part that is hiding behind the green tuber is covered with white “barashki”, which suggests shallow water and the presence of stones at the bottom of the river. Rough water and white paint are made the image more lively, beautiful and realistic.
The picturesque landscapes of the master are characterized by high skill and an amazingly harmonious sense of color, despite the fact that for his work he used very bright and saturated colors. This is not just a work of art, but the achievement of human genius, not inferior to the best landscapes of great artists.