Water and stones under Palazzuolo, near Florence by Ivanov A

Almost all the landscapes of Alexander Andreevich Ivanov are related to the work on the painting “The Appearance of Christ to the People.” The search for her plastic-shaped solution led to the creation of many sketches made from nature. Most of them, for example, “Water and stones under Palazzuolo”, are devoted to the study of nature.

Nature perceived Ivanov in a philosophical and historical aspect, and this distinguishes his landscape sketches from the works of contemporary compatriots. But the philosophy of Ivanovo landscapes is not abstract, and this makes them, in turn, dissimilar to the works of European masters, for example, German.

Ivanov was characterized by a thoughtful “view of nature.” In September 1836, he wrote to his father that “portrait landscapes work much easier than perfect.” Along with the spatial landscapes, where the earth was perceived as a kind of integral image, Ivanov had sketches with the image of the “earth’s crust” – stones, soil, roots of trees. Here, the painter seemed to appeal to the “flesh of the earth” and artistically saw in it those traces that left centuries: in the rock debris, in the rocky pressing of the soil, which grew through the powerful roots of ancient trees, he guessed with. materialized time.

These small sketches, entirely written from life, are characterized by clear plasticity and weight of forms, sharp contours, intense sonority and completeness of color combinations, active effectiveness of light. The land depicted by Ivanov is beautiful, and its lively beauty is filled with profound meaning.