Description of the picture:
Autumn – Savrasov. 1871. Oil on canvas
The withering of nature, its autumn peace and tranquility, have always interested the author. In this work, the loneliness of the master is acutely felt, his attempt to comprehend and analyze this feeling.
The colors of the work are muffled and devoid of any cheerfulness. The plot itself – a small windmill and a log hut under the canopy of several trees – is bewildering. The place for the mill was chosen inconvenient. This can only mean that it has been standing here for a very long time, when the trees still did not block the path to the wind, which drives the blades of the mill.
Smoke blows over the hut – it has become so cold that the owners have flooded the stove. Against the background of an inexpressive and cloudy sky, a flying flock of birds creates a dreary mood.
The contrast between large, powerful trees and small, fragile buildings reveals the sensations of the author himself, keenly feeling emptiness in his personal space.
On the other хэнд, the loneliness and emptiness with which the picture is saturated are not transmitted to the viewer. The master, therefore, builds his picture that the viewer, first of all, pays attention to the picturesqueness and the restrained, solemn beauty of the autumn wilting.
Numerous shades of brown and dark green color work to reveal the author’s ideas, creating an atmosphere of work.
The viewer has the feeling that the light in the picture is inevitably leaving, it’s more and more difficult to discern individual details. It seems that very soon the light will leave completely, to return only with spring. Light for the artist is actually the source of life itself."