The Rooks Have Returned

The Rooks Have Returned[1] (Russian: Грачи прилетели) is a 1871 painting by Alexei Savrasov. It is kept in the State Tretyakov Gallery.[2] The painting is considered Savrasov's most famous work,[3][4] and its appearance is regarded as "an important stage in the development of Russian landscape painting."[5]

The Rooks Have Returned
Artist	Alexei Savrasov
Year	1871
Dimensions	62 cm × 48.5 cm (24 in × 19.1 in)
Location	Tretyakov Gallery

Savrasov began working on The Rooks in March 1871. The studies for the future painting were done by the artist during his trip to the Kostroma Governorate, when he was in the village of Molvitino (now the village of Susanino, Kostroma Oblast).[6][7][8] The prototype of the church depicted in the painting is the Church of the Resurrection, built in the late 17th century.[9] The place where the artist worked is confirmed by his inscription made in the lower left corner of the canvas: "1871. S. Molvitino. A. Savrasov."[2] Some researchers of Savrasov's work believe that the very first drawings and studies for the painting could have been performed by the artist in Yaroslavl or its environs, shortly before his trip to the Kostroma Governorate.[10][11] After returning from Molvitino, Savrasov worked on the painting in Yaroslavl[12] and then completed it in Moscow,[13] where he returned in early May. The painting was named by the artist The Rooks Have Returned. In the summer of 1871, the painting was purchased from Savrasov by Pavel Tretyakov.[14][15]

In the autumn of 1871, the painting was exhibited at the Moscow Society of Art Lovers,[16] and at the end of the same year, the painting, already under its current name (in the catalogue it was listed with an exclamation mark at the end of the name), was presented at the 1st exhibition of Peredvizhniki,[2] which opened on 28 November in St. Petersburg.[17][18] The Rooks received good reviews: artist Ivan Kramskoi wrote that this painting "is the best, and it is truly beautiful,"[19][20] and art critic Vladimir Stasov noted that it is "probably the best and most original painting by Savrasov."[21]

Painter Isaac Levitan considered The Rooks Have Returned to be one of Savrasov's best paintings. Noting the apparent unpretentiousness of the plot, he wrote that "behind this simplicity you feel the soft, good soul of the artist, to whom all this is dear and close to his heart".[22] Art critic Alexei Fedorov-Davydov called the painting an outstanding work of art and noted that "it has not only artistic, but also general cultural significance."[5][12] Critic and musicologist Boris Asafiev wrote that the painting became "a symbol of the artistic renewal of the sphere of the Russian landscape on "far ahead ", and that with this work Savrasov discovered "a new feeling of spring."[23]