Among all the works performed by Vasiliev in the Crimea, the “Abandoned Mill” stands alone and seems to be surrounded by mystery, since in none of his letters do we find any mention of it.
Outwardly also unfinished in some way, this picture in reality goes far beyond its content beyond the limits of a concrete plot and expresses rather the impressions experienced by Vasiliev from the nature of Ukraine with its special “poetic soul”.
The picture is made in greenish and silvery-gray shades, the color of the green seems to have changed its natural color. Thanks to the still cold, obscure light, softened by the fog of mist, he became more uncertain and acquired silvery hues. All the colors entered in the picture form in their combination a surprisingly true found common coloristic system, characteristic for the hour of dawn.
Passed by the attention of contemporaries at the posthumous exhibition of Vasilyev in 1874, she is now perceived as one of his highest achievements, expressing the main goal of aspirations – to be able to “guess” and disclose in the picture what can be seen by the artist only as an internal eye. This, probably, explains the long and complex way of its creation, reflected in some measure in the compositions executed by him.
(2 votes, average: 3.50 out of 5)