Landscape with Fisherman 1810

Orest Kiprensky made this pencil drawing titled Landscape with Fisherman sometime in the early 19th century. Here we see a solitary figure, a fisherman, casting his line into the water. In the background, a suggestion of a building sits atop a hill. Consider this image in the context of early 19th century Russia, a society still largely agrarian and deeply hierarchical. Kiprensky, though a serf by birth, gained freedom through his artistic talent, attending the Imperial Academy of Arts. The Academy played a vital role in shaping artistic styles and promoting certain values, such as the idealization of nature and the glorification of the state. What does the artwork tell us about the social realities of its time? Perhaps this scene represents a nostalgic view of rural life, at a time when urban centers were beginning to grow. To fully appreciate the nuances of this work, it's important to examine the broader social, political and institutional landscape in which Kiprensky operated, consulting archival materials from the Academy and contemporary social histories.