The favorite river of Russian artists (PICS)

The favorite river of Russian artists (PICS) Fresh Wind. Volga, 1895.
Isaac Levitan/The State Tretyakov Gallery
Russia is naturally a country of many, great rivers. But one of them is loved with particular fondness.

There are countless large and small rivers in Russia. And the beauty of many of them has been captured on canvases by artists. But no river has received as much attention from Russian painters as the Volga.

“The Volga, like an endless mirror, covered in transparent mist, softly reflects the charming pale beauty of the night and the sleepy, precipitous shore…” wrote Taras Shevchenko, the famous Russian-Ukrainian poet of the 19th century.

‘Mother Volga’, as it is endearingly dubbed, has long been one of the main symbols of Russia. It has served and continues to serve as a source of inspiration for poets, writers, filmmakers and, of course, painters.

The popular Soviet poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko wrote of the river thus: 

“And I’ll be youthful and hell-raising,

and always flourish, make a din,

as long as Volga flows amazing,

as long as I’m of Russian kin.”

The favorite river of Russian artists (PICS) Isaac Levitan. An Evening on the Volga, 1888.
Isaac Levitan/The State Tretyakov Gallery
The favorite river of Russian artists (PICS) Barge Haulers on the Volga, 1872-1873.
Ilya Repin/The Russian State Museum
The favorite river of Russian artists (PICS) Evening. Zolotoy Plyos, 1889.
Isaac Levitan/The State Tretyakov Gallery
The favorite river of Russian artists (PICS) Song of the Volga, 1906.
Vasily Kandinsky/The Centre Pompidou
The favorite river of Russian artists (PICS) Fishermen on the Volga River, 1872.
Alexei Savrasov
The favorite river of Russian artists (PICS) On the Volga, 1922.
Boris Kustodiev
The favorite river of Russian artists (PICS) On the Volga, 1887-1888.
Isaac Levitan
The favorite river of Russian artists (PICS) Fresh Wind. Volga, 1895.
Isaac Levitan/The State Tretyakov Gallery
The favorite river of Russian artists (PICS) On the Volga. 1892.
Nikolai Dubovsky
The favorite river of Russian artists (PICS) On the Volga River, 1889.
Abram Arkhipov/The Russian State Museum
The favorite river of Russian artists (PICS) The Volga River, 1887.
Ivan Aivazovsky/The Aivazovsky National Art Gallery
The favorite river of Russian artists (PICS) After the rain. Plyos, 1889.
Isaac Levitan/The State Tretyakov Gallery
The favorite river of Russian artists (PICS) The Volga near the Zhigulyov mountains, 1887.
Ivan Aivazovsky/National Museum «Kyiv Picture Gallery»
The favorite river of Russian artists (PICS) Volga. Quiet Day, 1895.
Isaak Levitan
The favorite river of Russian artists (PICS) The Volga near Simbirsk, 1881.
Mikhail Klodt
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