“Snow Peaks”, Archip Ivanovich Quinji – overview of the painting 
- Posted by Arkhip Ivanovich Quinji
- Museum: Chuvash Art Museum, Cheboksary
- Year: 1890-1895
Overview of the painting :
Snow peaks – Arkhip Ivanovich Quinji. 1890-1895. Paper oil. 19 x 26.5 cm
For this great landscape master, nature was the main inspiring factor. All its canvases are striking not only by the amazing skill of the image, but also by the masterly knowledge of light and color. The artist has a lot of work, where incredible lighting effects were used, which are so characteristic of some natural phenomena, as well as the times of the day. The master was very fond of sunrises and sunsets, moonlight and sunlight, as well as the special effects that so generous the nature of the mountains.
The specific light and incredible sense of spaciousness, so characteristic of the mountains, are reflected in many paintings of the master dedicated to the Caucasus Mountains. One of them is a small picture written in an unusual technique – oil paints on a piece of paper.
Despite the fact that the dimensions of the canvas are very modest, it depicts the majestic Mount Elbrus, the legendary snow peaks of which attracted many different people. For Quinja, the image of the mountains had a special attractive and attractive power. They impressed him with their magnificent views and incredibly beautiful color and light variations.
In this picture, the master used saturated, almost open colors that surprisingly accurately convey cold space and a special air ringing from purity. Blue distances and saturated blue colors perfectly demonstrate cool mountain shadows. At the same time, the areas illuminated by oblique, sunlight look fresh, green and warm.
The handsome Elbrus lies in the distance, occupying all the space on the horizon. At its foot a green fertile valley spread, along which a river is curled with a thin, blue snake. With the total cold range of the canvas, the rock ledge, flooded with warm sunlight in the foreground, contrasts sharply. Unlike the rest of the image, made with large, sweeping brush strokes with a wide brush, this small area is carefully worked out. It is made with a large number of different shades. You can literally physically feel the meager, but green grass, desperately clinginging to skinny soil in the cracks of the rocks.
It was from this sublime site that the artist wrote his immortal picture. Only this small fragment seems warm and cozy, the rest of the image, located in the distance, looks very clean, uninhabited and very sublime, as if in the mountains you are actually becoming much closer to heaven and god.