Chirkala-Tau 1851

Taras Shevchenko created this watercolor landscape titled ‘Chirkala-Tau’ in 1851. Look closely at the image. The dramatic rock formations loom large, dwarfing the figures in the foreground. It is hard to separate the artwork from the biography of its maker. Made while Shevchenko was in exile as punishment for his political activities, the location depicted is most likely in Kazakhstan, where Shevchenko was stationed as a soldier in the Russian army. Note the way the artist uses light and shadow to create a sense of depth and texture in the landscape. The desaturated palette creates a somber mood. Is it possible to see this image as a metaphor for the artist's own sense of isolation and confinement? To understand Shevchenko's vision more fully, we might examine records from the military archive to find out more about the penal system of Tsarist Russia at this time. The role of the historian is to recreate the context in which art is made so we can better understand its meaning.