Arkhip Kuindzhi’s work sums up the development of the motif of the road and landscape in the age of Critical Realism. A large portion of the canvas was traditionally occupied by the sky, covered in clouds. The tracks from the cart and the travellers in the foreground are painted with naturalistic authenticity. The low horizon and the virtually indiscernible contours of the wooden huts are lost in the haze. This particular subject conveys notes of sorrow and alarm.

Kuindzhi Arkhip

Kuindzhi, Arkhip Ivanovich (1842, Mariupole - 1910, St Petersburg)
Painter, landscapist. Studied at Hovhannes Aivazovsky's studio in Theodosia (1855). Worked as a retoucher in Mariupole, Odessa and St Petersburg (late 1850s-1860s). First-class artist (1878). Travelled across Russia and the Ukraine, Caucasus and Crimea. Visited France, Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland and Austria (1874-1875). Member of the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions (1875-1880). Professor (1892). Full member of the Imperial Academy of Arts (1893). Headed the landscape painting studio at the Imperial Academy of Arts (1894-1897).