In this landscape, Shishkin brings together his two traditional motifs: a field with a path running into the distance and powerful pine trees. On one of his studies for the painting, Shishkin left the following inscription, “Expanse, open space, land, rye, divine abundance, Russian wealth.” The critic V.V. Stasov compared the pine trees of this canvas with columns in ancient Russian temples. The viewer beholds a majestic panorama of Russian nature presented as a theatrical scene. Shishkin saw nature as a place to compare the universe with man. That is why the two tiny dots in the picture are so important – they are human figures that set scale for the image. Shishkin painted his studies not far from his native Yelabuga, on the shores of the Kama River. However, there is nothing haphazard in his paintings as he always thought out their composition.
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow