Birch Grove

In the 1870s, Arkhip Kuinji passed through a period of interest in Impressionism, especially the questions of light and recording rare states of nature. However, this particular canvas, which depicts the white trunks of birch trees on either side of a stream, against a dark-green forest, is stylistically closer to works of Art Nouveau.

Kuinji’s painting influenced the further development of Impressionist tendencies in Russian art. The artist’s students and a group of Symbolists – Nicholas Roerich, Konstantin Bogayevsky and Ferdinand Ruschitz – consequently worked in the Impressionist styles of Arkady Rylov and Nikolaos Chimonas.

Modello: Birch Grove (1879, Russian Museum, St Petersburg)