Ivan Shishkin
Morning in a Pine Forest
1889
Painted in 1889, Ivan Shishkin's 'Morning in a Pine Forest' is one of the most reproduced images in all of Russian culture. In a mist-filled primeval forest, three cubs and their mother frolic on a fallen pine trunk. Shishkin painted the meticulously realist landscape; the bears themselves were added by his friend, the animal painter Konstantin Savitsky. From the 1890s onward the composition has been endlessly reprinted on chocolate wrappers, postcards, stamps, and poster walls across Russia, becoming a virtual emblem of 'Russianness'. It is one of the most visited works in Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery.
Exhibition Venue
Related Stories
Image source: Wikimedia Commons