The motif of a conifer forest, to which Shishkin turns in this painting, is typical of his art. Evergreen pines and spruces emphasise the sense of grandeur and eternity of nature. Moreover, the artist’s paintings often feature a compositional technique when treetops are cut off by the edge of the canvas, and it seems that the huge powerful trees do not fit even in a fairly large painting. It gives rise to some kind of a landscape interior. It seems to viewers that they have ended up in an impassable thicket that is quite cozy for the bears which are making themselves comfortable on a broken pine tree. The bears were depicted by K.A. Savitsky, who told his relatives: “The painting was sold for 4 thousand of which I get a quarter”. Then Savitsky reported that he had to put his signature on the painting, however, he later removed it, thereby giving up his author’s right.
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow