Ivan Shishkin

Ivan Shishkin was a Russian painter known as one of the greatest of all painters of the forest. Born in 1832, he became famous for majestic, highly detailed scenes of Russian woodlands, sunlit pine forests, fields of rye, and mighty oaks rendered with almost scientific precision. He knew trees and plants so well that his landscapes feel utterly convincing.

He belonged to a group of Russian realist artists who wanted art to reflect their own land and people. His grand forest scenes came to stand for the vastness and richness of the Russian countryside itself. Shishkin's monumental, loving portraits of the forest have made him one of the best known and best loved of all Russian landscape painters.