Issac Levitan created this realism painting, Birch Grove in 1889. Birch is always one of Levitan’s favorite subject matter among those countryside elements, forest, sky, lake and so on. He attempted to explore and represent the serenity and peace of rural life while eschewed the hustle and bustle of “cityscape”. That’s why there are no traces of city scene in any of his paintings.

A first glimpse of this painting makes viewers feel they are walking into a paradise as a fairyland which you are unwilling to leave. The whole scene is bathed in golden shining sunshine, creating a bright and vigorous sight. Birch tree trunks stand erect in the grass land. The sunshine sifts through the sparse green leaves, pouring a sea of dappled sunlight on the grass land. The mottled shadow of sunlight on the grass makes this painting as a real scene, involving people in this gorgeous wonderland. The dense grass unfurls, bathed in a gentle light. Small white and purple flowers are dispersed here and there, decorating the grass and adding color and vigor to this landscape.

Levitan represented a beautiful scenary of Russia vividly by this painting. He owns the capability to strike a responsive chord in the hearts of not only Russian people but people from around the world by the means of landscape paintings that are kept faithful to simple poetic motifs of his native land. In their paintings, you’ll be immersed in the tranquility, meditation, hope for life and the beautiful landscape these paintings bring.