Many Russian artists have captured spring in their paintings, landscapes, still lifes, and portraits. We've gathered 14 paintings that illustrate the Russian spring in different ways.
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Konstantin Yon
Russia is a huge northern country where, for many people, winter never seems to go away. The first month of spring, March, in Russia is often as depicted in this painting: drifts and snow-covered houses with the sun peeking through the clouds for the first time after the long winter. //March Sun, 1915 Yuon
Konstantin Yuon
This could be a typical spring day in Russia — fewer snowdrifts, but kids are still sledding down the snowy hills. Early March is usually the time of Maslenitsa or Shrovetide, when winter is seen off, although it is in no hurry to depart. // Spring Sunny Day, 1910, Konstantin Yuon
Ivan Welz
Spring in St. Petersburg in the 19th century often arrived with floods. The city was built in a swampy area, on the Gulf of Finland, at the mouth of the Neva River. During its 300-year history, according to various sources, about 300 floods have been recorded in St. Petersburg. // Spring in the Vicinity of St. Petersburg,1896, Ivan Welz
Aleksei Savrasov
“The Rooks Have Arrived” ( 1871) is a famous painting by Russian artist Alexei Savrasov. He first sketched it at the village of Molvitino near Kostroma (340 km from Moscow). This picture of a typical early spring day is complemented by the image of the Church of the Resurrection, which survives to this day.
SERGEI VINOGRADOV
Artist Sergei Vinogradov painted mostly in a decorative plein-air manner. His forte was landscapes with natural light in natural conditions. // Spring Is Coming, 1911 Sergei Vinogradov
Isaak Levitan
Levitan often employed the motif of the awakening of nature. He especially loved the spring landscapes of northern Russia: bright sunshine and summer heat are yet to arrive, but the snow is melting away and the rivers are becoming free of ice. / Early Spring, 1899 Isaac Levitan
Nikolai Bogdanov-Belski
The life of artist Bogdanov-Belsky, the author of this picture, was full of contradictions. He was the son of a hired peasant worker, yet studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts of Ilya Repin, the famous Russian artist. Bogdanov-Belsky received an excellent education, but never lost touch with Russian nature and often turned to the peasantry, education for peasant children, and simple Russian rural landscapes for his themes. / Melted Water, 1933 Nikolai Bogdanov-Belsky
Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin
For Petrov-Vodkin, this represents an unusual vision of spring. The artist depicts a spring, already green landscape. In later years, he moved away from abstract painting and tried to express his thoughts through images of ordinary people, who are the heroes of his paintings. / Spring 1935, Kuzma Petrov-Vodkin
ISAAK LEVITAN
Another painting by Isaac Levitan dedicated to spring. In Russian, it is literally called “Spring — Big Water”, as it depicts the moment when a river swells over and floods everything around. / Spring High Waters, 1897 Isaac Levitan
Boris Kustodiev
In this painting by Kustodiev on the theme of spring, there is a feeling of lightness. He tries to convey a sense of freedom — the joy of moving and breathing when spring comes. / Spring, 1921 Boris Kustodiev
Aleksei Venetsianov
Venetsianov often depicted peasants and workers. In this picture, a Russian plow-woman and the entire surrounding landscape seem to be hailing the coming of spring. / In the Fields Spring, Alexei Venetsiantov
Konstantin Korovin
During the revolution of 1917, deprived of his studio, canvases, and paints, Konstantin Korovinin was in a state of distress. Having moved from Moscow to Ostrovno on the shores of Lake Udomlya in the Tver region (371 km from Moscow), the artist painted from memory, producing miniatures on cardboard. / Spring 1917, Konstantin Korovin
Stanislav Zhukovski
Stanislav Zhukovsky grew up on the family estate, which he lost on the death of his father due to unpaid debts. He moved to Moscow, but continued to paint the “nests of the gentry” (as family country estates passed from one generation to the next were known, used by Ivan Turgenev for the name of one of his novels). In this painting, spring is represented by the table laid out to celebrate Easter. / Early spring, 1902, Stanislav Zhukovsky
Ivan Kulikov
A portrait of an unknown girl painted by Ivan Kulikov in 1912. He had just graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and produced many portraits and landscapes at that time. On the eve of the First World War, the artist traveled around abandoned family estates and made copies of the paintings, sculptures, and archived documents that he found there. / Spring, 1912 Ivan Kulikov
