The picture of the outstanding master of landscape painting, A.K.Savrasov, was written in 1893 and belongs to the undoubted masterpieces of Russian fine art of the 19th century. A distinctive feature of the painter’s writing style was the desire for the utmost realism of the depicted.

His canvases amaze with their sincerity, reverent love for the world around them. Savrasov does not seek to “paint” the canvas in order to please the viewer, to delight with bright colors or an entertaining plot – he is dear and close to his homeland without embellishment.

Painting “Spring. Gardens ”fully corresponds to the artistic principles of the author.

A wattle that has fallen apart under the pressure of the snow, several frail trees and low bushes in the lowland are close to the viewer and form the foreground of the canvas. The snow has not yet melted in a small ravine, but the advancing heat has already formed small pools of melt water on the surface.

On a hill, the snow has completely melted, and the damp earth greedily exposes the drying fields to the first spring winds. Domestic animals rejoice at the approaching warming – several chickens are busily digging in the thawed earth on the slopes of a gentle ravine, intending to profit from the first spring prey.

In the central part of the canvas, in the distance, the artist depicted a peasant yard. From the house, lonely standing in the middle of an empty space, only the roof is visible. A thin smoke is coming out of the chimney – apparently, the supply of firewood is over and the inhabitants have to warm their dwellings than necessary. A forest belt can be seen near the dwelling – with this planting the peasants protected the crops from the winds.

In the distance you can see a small building, similar to a small church or a bell tower, of which in many were scattered over the vast Russian expanses.

In the upper part of the canvas, the sky is covered with thick gray clouds hanging tightly above the ground, but in the distance, along their edge, the first spring rays of the sun timidly break through. The coming renewal of all living things is already close, darkness and cold recede, nature is waking up from hibernation. The long-awaited warmth will come very soon and life will once again shine with bright colors.

Showing a large, uninhabited space with his landscape, Savrasov with his painting emphasized the immensity of the native Russian expanses, their free breadth and endlessness.

The original version can be seen in the State Art Gallery of Perm.

Year of painting: 1893.

Dimensions of the painting: 105 x 154 cm.

Material: canvas.

Writing technique: oil.

Genre: landscape.

Style: realism.

Gallery: Perm State Picture Gallery, Perm, Russia.