The article addresses the story behind the creation and design evolution of one of the most renowned paintings by A. A. Plastov, “Spring” (1954). Portrayal of nudity constituted an important part of the master’s creative endeavors, as evidenced by both drawings and graphic compositions, as well easel paintings: “Bathing the Horses”, “Tractor Drivers”, “Saturday”, “Spring” and others. The experience of studying the representation of a naked body in world art - from Rubens and Watto to Renoir and Cezanne - played an indispensable role in shaping the artist’s original corporeal language. By exploring the creation of “Spring” and examining the preparatory material for the painting, the author concludes that the depiction of the figure’s movements and posture derived not from a full-scale pictorial study of a live model, but rather built upon the famous type of sculptural composition “Crouching Venus”, or “Aphrodite Bathing”. Among works regarded as preeminent examples of the discussed tradition one can find “Lely Venus” (the British Museum), “Vénus Accroupie” (Louvre). In search of an aesthetically justified solution, the artist abandoned the traditional approach to the construction of perspectives by using two types of perspective reduction - one for the upper part of the landscape, while another for the lower part of the painting. The choice to place the horizon line at a low point was related to the task of overcoming naturalistic body deformation perceived from a close distance, which would usually occur 30 in sketches made from live models. In order to avoid the aforementioned distortion it was essential to utilize photo studies, which allowed to “simulate” a low horizon and determine the most suitable perspective. The artist strived to discover the “ideal” formula for the portrayal of a body. The analysis of the preparatory material testifies to the change of the initial idea behind the painting from a slice of life to a metaphor, to the poetics of the “eventless” genre. “Spring” and other “poetic” artworks created by Plastov in the 1950s (“Tractor Driver’s Supper”, “The Spring” (1952), “Youth”, “Summer”) marked a new stage not just for the artist’s oeuvre, but for all Russian art of the latter half of the 20th century.

The article maps out the basics of the author’s original methodology elaborated with the purpose of teaching open-air painting, one of the most complex courses studied in art schools. The technique allows one to successfully master the art of coloristic landscape, which hinges upon the reproduction of states of nature by accurately conveying tone and color relations of all the compositional elements. The concept of “travel sketching” is introduced into artistic pedagogy: picturesque sketches of landscape motifs conducted by students from the window of a moving vehicle (car, electric train, motor ship) facilitate the mobilization of attention and visual memory, as well as develop the ability to rapidly analyze color and tone features of the observed landscape. The author of the methodology brings the classical technique of applying a limited palette to a new level. He achieves it by utilizing three primary colors (red, blue, yellow) with the addition of black (tone modulator) as paints necessary and sufficient for precise color depiction of natural conditions and acquisition of the professional culture of working with color and tone. The article describes the selection of most appropriate art materials and delineates the method of travel sketching, distinguished by its high velocity, improvisational character and use of a wide range of professional painting techniques. The author also pays attention to the essential principles of landscape composition. The paper contains a never published before step-by-step photo guide to travel sketching (six winter and three spring motifs) accompanied by brief commentary. The discussed methodology for teaching open-air painting is distinctive in its novelty; it contributes to prompt and effective mastering of the portrayal of various states of nature, develops observation skills, helps to devise individual creative techniques, shapes students’ ability to reproduce the landscape from memory.