The Burnt Forest 1881

"The Burnt Forest" (1881) by Vasily Polenov is a landscape painting depicting a forest devastated by fire. The painting's somber palette, dominated by browns and grays, highlights the charred remains of trees against a hazy sky. A lone figure, possibly a peasant woman, is depicted in the foreground, adding a sense of scale and human vulnerability to the scene. The painting evokes a sense of loss and the enduring power of nature, a recurring theme in Polenov's work. It is housed in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, Russia, a significant collection of Russian art.