“Waking up one morning and looking out the window, I was surprised to see that snow had fallen: the whole garden was covered in snow, the column terrace was covered with snow. The sight of snow with bright yellow foliage was so unexpected and at the same time beautiful that I immediately settled down on the terrace … “
Within three days, the painting “September Snow” was painted – the work of a mature artist convinced of his aesthetic concept. Grabar used the figurative combination of architecture and landscape he had found earlier. The calm rectangular format of the canvas opens up a strong movement. The row of columns on the right, the “tongue” of the plank floor and the row of windows on the left, the ceiling boards at the top – everything is directed into the depths of the picture. The railings blocking the eye only emphasize this movement.
In the harmony and spectacularity of the composition, a reasonable proportion of impressionism is combined with a clear division of volumes, in which the look of Grabar the architect is felt. The powerful body of wooden columns looks amazingly alive – their strong, stable form, it turns out, is solved by translucent trembling strokes of pearl-gray tones – the red crowns of trees are truly impressionistic – in fact, what makes you remember September, when winter seems to be in the foreground of the picture … This September fire is so precisely matched with the silver color of the tree and the whiteness of the fluffy snow that the picture could not fail to become an artistic event, not to arouse the approval of the audience and critics. The beauty of the composition and color is combined with the beauty of the brushstroke texture, gently conveying the material properties of the depicted objects.
“After graduating from it, I clearly felt that I had made some significant step forward compared to Nara’s sketches, that the material is better conveyed here, but at the same time there is more poetry, without which the landscape is only a protocol”. “September Snow” prepared the appearance of Grabar’s remarkable paintings in the next year, 1904, and in general in the next decade.
Year of painting: 1903.
Dimensions of the painting: 79 x 89 cm.
Material: canvas.
Writing technique: oil.
Genre: landscape.
Style: impressionism.
Gallery: State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.