Облако

1882–1901

Twenty years of seclusion

The reasons for the seclusion are unknown; he was probably tired of the fuss and of accusations of cheap effects. The public thought he had exhausted himself, but he worked tirelessly, searching for pigments and grounds resistant to the air, and created about five hundred sketches and finished works and about three hundred graphic works.

1888

To the Caucasus with Yaroshenko: the Brocken spectre

In 1888, at the invitation of Nikolai Yaroshenko, Kuindzhi visited the Caucasus, where they witnessed the very rare mountain phenomenon of the Brocken spectre. Inspired by the trip, he painted a series of mountain landscapes in which the Caucasus is a symbol of an ideal, unattainable land; some researchers think they inspired Roerich’s Himalayan landscapes.

1894–1897

Heads the landscape studio of the Higher Art School

From 1894 to 1897 Kuindzhi was professor-head of the landscape studio of the Higher Art School at the Academy of Arts.

1897

Dismissed for supporting his students’ protests

In 1897 Kuindzhi was dismissed from the Academy for supporting the students’ protests.

1901

Breaks his seclusion: four paintings

In 1901 Kuindzhi showed his students, and then some friends, four paintings: the finished “Evening in Ukraine”, “Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane”, the third version of “The Birch Grove” and the already known “The Dnieper in the Morning”. The viewers were enraptured, and people talked of the artist again.

November 1901

The last public exhibition

In November 1901 the last public exhibition of Kuindzhi’s work took place; after it nobody saw his new paintings until his death. Witnesses explained this by his fear of sceptical visitors, but the explanation satisfied few.