Description of the picture:
Apples and leaves – Ilya Efimovich Repin. 1879. Oil on canvas. Seven hundred fifty five x six hundred forty mm
This canvas in the spirit of Dutch still lifes depicts six ripe apples on the background of leaves of different plants. It would seem that nothing special, the usual picture, however, it speaks of the high skill of the artist.
Apples and leaves are depicted on a dense dark “dull” background, which smoothly passes into the brown base of the composition. Leaves of different shapes and shapes are scattered across it – small and large, with a solid and carved edge, single and triple. For them, a muted range of green shades is used, which creates an excellent background for bright and expressive apples.
They are the central element of composition. The master perfectly succeeded in conveying their volume and glossy, as if lacquered gloss. Yellowish-green and red apples are not depicted as ideal “wax” fruits, but as real, living fruits should look. It is felt that they have bumps and dents, small spots and traces of the weather. Perhaps, somewhere in the depths of the juicy pulp of apples, a small worm hid.
The combination of shiny and matte apples, soft and loose leaves gives the image volume, saturates it with air. It seems that we can even smell the greens and fresh ripe apples. For all its simplicity, it is a very bright and expressive canvas."