The Forest Fire

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

Lesnoi Pozhar (Forest Fire) ca. 1900 A. K. Denisov-Uralsky

While putting together a collection of images of paintings depicting fire and smoke for an upcoming article, we came across a fascinating piece from the archives of the Forest History Society. It’s the story of a painting that traveled much farther than the artist who created it and that, although massive in size, has been lost more than once.

The painting was created by Alexey Kuzmich Denisov-Uralsky (1863-1926), a Russian artist who was known for his work in stone, jewelry and painting. He spent much of his life in St. Petersburg, ultimately moving to a Finnish village very near to the Russian border. Of his work, the greatest contributions may have been his paintings dedicated to the Ural Mountains. It is believed that upon his death, he left 400 paintings along with his large collection of minerals and stone works to Sverdlovsk (in the Ural Federal District of Russia). Much of the work can no longer be …