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POLENOV, VASILY 1844-1927 Boat on the River signed and dated 1879, also numbered 'N117' on the reverse Oil on canvas, 67 by 116 cm.
Provenance: Private collection, Switzerland.

Authenticity has been confirmed by Vladimir Petrov.

Exhibited: Possibly exhibited in the Itinerant Exhibition, 1879, listed as River.

Literature: Listed by V. Polenov in the catalogue of his works, as '117. Boat on the River (in our northern lands)'.

Vasily Polenov painted Boat on the River in 1879 at his belovedcountry estate Imochentsy in Northern Russia. The canvas is inscribed with the number 117 on the reverse, which allows us toidentify the painting in the list of works compiled by the artisthimself. Under number 117, Polenov wrote: "Boat on the River(in our northern lands), 1879, IV".

The banks of this shallow river are overgrown, and a boat is tiedto an old wooden landing. It is probably the Oyat river thatPolenov painted here, or one of its northern tributaries, flowingfrom the cold lakes of the Olonets region. In 1855 Polenov's father had inherited a plot of land and built a spacious house onthe high banks of the Oyat. Here, surrounded by the untouchednature of the north, the artists had spent his childhood. Later,while a student in Petrozavodsk, Polenov would spend his summers here. Already then Polenov was captivated by the picturesque banks of the Oyat and Svir rivers. With the brush andpalette in his hand, the artist would wander around Imochentsy.He had very fond memories of the summers spent at his parent'scountry estate. Later, he wrote that from the lovely banks of theOyat river he took with him so much artistic, physical and mentalstrength. These northern landscapes would have a long lasting influence on Polenov's work. Not only his early work, but also someof his later masterpieces depict the lands around Imochentsy,such as Winter. Imochentsy (1880), Oyat (1880 and 1886), andCrossing of the River Oyat.

In the summer of 1873, while at Imochentsy, he wrote to SavvaMamontov: "Now I am in the countryside, enjoying the fresh air.How wonderful is our pure air smelling of pine compared tostuffy and stinking Italy! The Italians don't even suspect that suchair exists." And later, full of affection, he wrote about these placesin letters to relatives and friends: "Today Ivan Sergeyevich[Turgenev] paid me a visit. He complimented some studies andOyat in the Rain, a small picture I've painted in my free time".

Polenov spent the summers of 1879 and 1880 at Imochentsy.This would prove to be a very fruitful period in his life. He wroteto his sister: "The second half of summer and the first part ofautumn were incredibly beautiful, warm, clear, clean, and drywith many fires. In short, I don't remember such a season. I started painting the Oyat from different vantage points. I intend tomake two paintings".

The painting presented here for auction is part of these views ofthe Oyat so cherished by Polenov. Painted in the same year as hisfamous Overgrown Pond, it contains all the typical elements ofPolenov's Russian landscapes. The river winds between undulating banks, and the horizon is covered with trees. However, unlikethe landscape painted by his contemporaries, and most of theviews of the Oyat painted by Polenov in those years, the artist renounced the epical manner and painted an intimate image of theriver from his childhood.

But behind this simplicity of a subject seemingly lacking strikingbeauty, one senses Polenov's particular sensitivity to nature andhis desire to understand the mysterious and alluring splendour ofthe Russian landscape, to capture its elusive changing states.These were defining features of Polenov's work, prompting manycontemporary critics to use the term "mood landscape" for thefirst time in Russia, associating it with the achievements ofPolenov's painting and its effect on viewers. His contemporarieswere amazed to see genuine plein air painting, full of light and air,in the artist's works. Polenov's works became the classic model forRussian landscape painting of the late XIX century.

Boat on the River was possibly included in the VII Itinerant ArtExhibition of 1879. In any case, the exhibitions catalogue listsa River by Polenov, the whereabouts of which is unknown.