In 2018 the oil on canvas called “Reflecions 1” (70x80 cm) was made by the Ukrainian painter Svyatoslav Ryabkin. Its aim was arousing deep reflections from the observation of a landscape with autumn colours, probably inspired by the territories near Zhitomir, the town where he was born.


The burnt shades of brown on the mountain peaks and the green hair turning to ocher and orange warm up the muffled atmosphere. The cloudy sky is a blue-gray dome that frames the bright subject arousing primal feelings.


The accurate repetition in the water mirror of the aligned dark trunks, the pompous foliage and the mountains caress our soul. We perceive the evanescence and mobility of this second inverted view in which the mountains appear soft, the sky liquid and the trees even more vibrant on the surface of the lake. The mind begins a journey between these branches and between the walls of the mountains, we imagine the animals of the forest reigning blissfully in the smell of chestnuts.


The colours of the entire landscape are crossed by long and thin lines, one of the characteristic techniques of Ryabkin's painting. It remains undefined what the exact moment of the day is: it could be mid-morning or early afternoon but the sound of falling leaves and cool weather are evident.


When time seems to stand still, thoughts return with nostalgia to our loved ones who are no longer in this world for various reasons (Covid-19, disease or war). Their memory will live forever in us and here the trees (of life), a subject much loved by the painter, take on an important meaning of hope. The birch trunks are an emblem of strength. Ryabkin painted them several times in his paintings, such as in the beautiful “Birch Grove” (2011). In “Reflections 1” is how the natural elements (trees and rocks) are vigorous and centuries-old, if not millenary, even in their reflection on the water. So they too enjoy firmness and stability like their real fellow things. They represent our feeling that from fluid and uncertain, combined with that of other people, makes us feel less alone and this strengthens our spirit to face tomorrow with greater courage.


When summer ends a new cycle begins: the fallen leaves sanction a new rebirth and the painter Ryabkin wants to offer us two other interpretations of autumn with the colourful paintings entitled “Indian Summer” and “Shadows”, both painted in 2019. And boths of them were, along with others artists, at the 4th Edition of the MiniQuadro Fair at the Elle Art Gallery in Preganziol (Treviso, in Italy) presented by Mr. Giorgio Gregorio Grasso.


The picture "Reflections 1" was exhibited in 2019 in the Villa Simion Gallery in Spinea (Venice) and at the welcoming Osteria Arman’s in Treviso (in Italy).


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