1858 -1860 · Rocks, pines and the birth of a gaze

On the Valaam archipelago, Ivan Shishkin learned to read the forest stone by stone: granite, root and pine became the foundations of his monumental realism.

Ivan Shishkin discovered the Valaam archipelago during his years at the Imperial Academy in Saint Petersburg. Located on Lake Ladoga, the islands offer exceptional terrain: outcropping granite, pines clinging to the slopes, undergrowth and vast openings onto the water. The young painter works directly from nature, multiplying drawings and studies in order to understand the species of the tree, the fracture of the rock and the depth of the ground. View of the island of Valaam. Kukko, presented in the academic context, contributed to establishing his reputation and earned him important distinctions. Stones in the forest. Kukko, presented in the academic context, contributed to establishing his reputation and earned him important distinctions. Stones in the forest. Kukko, presented in the academic context, contributed to establishing his reputation and earned him important distinctions. Stones in the forest. Kukko, presented in the academic context, contributed to establishing his reputation and earned him important distinctions. Stones in the forest. Kukko, presented in the academic context, contributed to establishing his reputation and earned him important distinctions. Stones in the forest. Kukko, presented in the academic context, contributed to establishing his reputation and earned him important distinctions. Stones in the forest. Kukko, trunks are enough to build a geological and plant world. Landscape with a Hunter introduces a tiny figure that measures the scale of the place without becoming its hero. A scene showing Chichkine and his friend Alexandre Gine in their workshop also recalls the collective dimension of these study campaigns. Valaam is therefore not a picturesque episode, but a real laboratory. The precision developed on the island will then nourish the mature forests, the Viatka pines and the large canvases of the Ambulants movement. The "Valaam at Ivan Shishkin" selection will then nourish the mature forests, the Viatka pines and the large canvases of the Ambulants movement. The "Valaam at Ivan Shishkin" selection will then feed the mature forests, the Viatka pines and the large canvases of the Ambulants movement. The "Valaam at Ivan Shishkin" selection will then feed the mature forests, the Viatka pines and the large canvases of the Ambulants movement. The "Valaam at Ivan Shishkin" selection will then feed the mature forests, the Viatka pines and the large canvases of the Ambulants movement. The "Valaam at Ivan Shishkin"

In Valaam, Shishkin is not yet looking for the ideal forest: he learns how a root holds to granite and how this truth can become monumental.