This small, yet monumental work demonstrates Arkhip Kuindzhi’s sense of dimension and love of the changing tones of nature. The study contains equal doses of Impressionism and Art Nouveau. The natural forms of the landscape evoke a sense of the hidden energy of life. Kuindzhi’s original quests in painting were an important influence on the general development of Impressionist tendencies in Russian art in the late nineteenth century.

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).