Painting “Courtyard. Winter ”by Alexei Savrasov, written in the 1870s, is an original, expressive work with a mood inherent only in the works of Savrasov. This courtyard, by the way, is very interesting to compare with another picture of the artist – “Winter Road”. Both works have a similar color scheme and resonate with the gloomy Russian mood of that era and the sad mood of the author himself.
In Savrasov’s painting “The Courtyard. Winter ”- dark logs of the corner of the house, grayish background, not too detailed strokes. And in the work “Winter Road” – a gloomy sky, a lonely, deserted road, stunted vegetation … In the image of the courtyard, the artist freely uses perspective, placing the walls parallel and perpendicular to the plane of the picture. It turns out simple and at the same time expressive, and the small size of the courtyard is emphasized by the tree placed in the middle of the canvas. Living truth in the means of expression makes this composition very natural. In the courtyard viewed from above, instead of the horizon, the artist showed the edge of the neighbor’s roof. White snow is melting and will soon fall to the ground, and there is enough of it there – the winter was snowy. Geese, ducks, chickens, a doghouse in the corner – a pastoral picture …
Year of painting: 1870s.
Dimensions of the painting: 53 x 43 cm.
Material: canvas.
Writing technique: oil.
Genre: landscape.
Style: realism.
Gallery: State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russian Federation.