Some more general phrases, characterising a picture

1. This delightful picture reveals… - Эта восхитительная картина раскрывает…

2. The magnificent setting in the background enhances the beauty of this priceless work – Величественный фон на заднем плане усиливает красоту этой бесценной работы

3. The scene crackles with energy – энергия бьет ключом в этой картине

4. The whole picture is permeated with the subtle charm - Картина пронизана тонким очарованием

5. It proves the painter’s perfect mastery – Она доказывает совершенное мастерство художника

6. The picture is executed with infinite skill - Картина выполнена с отменным мастерством.

7. It’s an exquisite gem of the Renaissance – Это изысканная жемчужина Ренессанса (gem – драгоценный камень, жемчужина)

8. The background could also be a piece of genre painting - Задний план также может быть образцом жанровой живописи

9. The picture belongs to the artist’s maturity style and is considered as one of his best works. – Эта картина принадлежит к зрелому периоду творчества художника и считается одной из его лучших картин.

10. It is ranked among the masterpieces of world painting - Oна считается одним из мировых шедевров живописи.

Task 3. Read this description of I. Shishkin’s famous landscape “Rye”. Say whether you share this impression and in what way it can be enriched. Continue this description.

“Rye” is one of this artist’s best canvasses. By embellishing it, Shishkin transfigured the actual landscape that inspired the painting. Nevertheless, the painter remained faithful to reality and accurately depicted the details of the landscape: the flowers, trees and grain. The proportionate enlargement of details and the combination of various subjects - of the field and the forest, which in reality rarely coexist - create an epic image of an abundant Russian nature. There is rarely a place for man in epic landscapes; in this painting, the travellers walking along the road are barely visible in the ripe rye, which is in fact taller than it would be in reality. The powerful pines with dark green branches extend broadly like legendary heroes with mythic strength, uniting the blue of the sky and the gold of the rye to create a majestic portrait of Russian nature.

Ivan Shishkin in his works glorified the heroic spirit of the Russian land. He liked to emphasize the might and grandeur of Russian nature. Depicting mostly fields and forests, he was given an artistic name of "singer of fields and forests." His selfless love of nature made him not only an artist, but a botanist as well. He refused to be inaccurate depicting tree or blade. Numerous studies and sketches that survived till today offer testimony concerning his great care in studying nature.

Although Ivan Shishkin was often criticized for his naturalism and his unreasonable standards in his representation of nature, the careful work at the details of his paintings can't be called "naturalism." Naturalism in painting means blind imitation of a natural view without a well thought-out composition and without the correlation of common details and a particular selection of the items painted. At first sight, Shishkin's landscapes look so trustworthy that one can get the wrong impression of the artist's work. The artist desires the viewer to believe in the reality of such an existing view.

In this connection, his painting, “Rye”, is very typical. The artist selected the typical natural motives of a central Russian landscape: the field of rye, the road, and mighty oaks. Next he thought about the composition, trying to get the right correlation between the sky and the earth, the fore and background, as well as the right light combination. All these details create mighty images that affect the feelings of the viewer. In this painting the artist truly glorifies the true beauty and grandeur of Russian nature.

Notes

the might - мощь, могущество

abundant - изобильный, богатый

trustworthy - заслуживающий доверия, зд. достоверный, правдивый

grandeur – величие, великолепие, пышность

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14