Landscape ‘The Old Mill’ [1906, oil on canvas, 62 x 80 cm, signed lower left: S. Zhukovsky 1906 (inscribed in Cyrillic in Russian), National Art Museum in Odessa, inv. no. Ż - 500, Odessa, Ukraine]
One of Żukowski’s favourite motifs was water and an old mill or a causeway. He was particularly fond of painting little bridges, fences, sheds, woodsheds and piles of firewood in a peasant’s yard. As a painter, he revelled in the colours of old wood, in shades of violet, silver, warm ochre, browns and reds, sometimes dark and unlit. In 1906, the artist painted the work ‘The Old Mill’, which, given its artistic value, can confidently be regarded as another gem in his body of work. The right-hand corner and centre of the painting are occupied by an old mill – a small wooden cottage – and a large wooden wheel from which water flows down. In the foreground, the water of a small river is bordered on both sides by wooden fences. Behind the mill, a small hill is visible, from behind which the deep blue silhouettes of cottages and trees emerge.
The artist has chosen the moment when dusk is falling, when the sky is filled with light, but blue and azure shadows already reign on the ground. In the background, light, translucent colours—light grey, blue and a hint of violet—still shimmer. In the foreground, however, the shadows of the building and its gabled roof are already falling, whilst the doorways and windows are shrouded in dark brown, dark navy blue and grey darkness. The upper part of the sky is still white, whilst the lower part is painted in shades of pale blue and pale pink. Against this backdrop, all the upper silhouettes and contours possess graphic clarity, whilst some of the objects at the bottom of the composition remain almost dissolved in the colour and ethereal quality of the falling dusk. The surface of the water in a small bend of the river is painted softly, delicately and smoothly, reminiscent of an old mirror that still reflects objects, light and shadows. This tranquillity is disturbed by light, silvery ripples arising from the water falling from the mill wheel, which gently spread across the smooth, calm surface. The ground and the planks of the building and fence have been painted with dynamic brushstrokes using the ‘impasto’ technique. The texture of these objects gives the impression that the painting has been sculpted. The old wood is rendered in a beautiful palette of silvery, violet, grey and brown hues. The last glimmers of the now-hidden sun fall across the roof slopes, the mill wheel and the water, lending the building a charming quality. The entire composition of the painting conveys the delightful atmosphere arising from the silence and tranquillity of the evening landscape. The air fills every part of the space. Its humidity softens the outlines and colours, lending the painting an air of mystery. What did the artist himself feel when he chose the motif of the abandoned mill? In this landscape, Zhukovsky achieved an emotional effect through the pure possibilities of plein air painting, stimulating the viewers’ visual thinking and imagination.