Alexei Savrasov

In the Russian art the 1860s were marked by the affirmation of the national characteristics of the Russian landscape. More and more often artists turned to primarily rural area of Russia, seeking to give an authentic impression of the beauty of their native land. Among the landscapes of the time Savrasov’s Rooks Have Come stand out due to as Kramskoi said “having soul”. The picture appeared at the First Peredvizhniki Exhibition and was given a rapturous reception. The subdued, delicate colouring, compromising gentle shades of grey, brown, white and blue conveys the iridescent softness of colours in spring. In the north the awakening of nature after long winter is slow. The snow lies long in the fields, the trees stand frozen in the wind, and suddenly it all fills with a light tremor of life, with the
joyful sound of birds. What simplicity! But behind this simplicity one can feel the good and gentle soul. No one had ever expressed the beauty and lyricism of the Russian landscape so profoundly and poetically. Alexei Savrasov’s painting was widely quoted and interpreted in the Russian Art. For instance, Pyotr Belov made a tragic allusion to the famous painting.