Calm Before the Storm

A large cloud hangs over dark water and a low shore. Dubovskoy painted several versions of Calm Before the Storm. This is the Zimmerli work, dated by the museum to 1889–90, distinct from paintings of the same title in Russian collections.

The light cloud occupies most of the upper area. Its rounded projections vary in tone, while its lower edge becomes dark and almost horizontal.

A strip of shore projects into the water. Two dark colours meet at its edge, distinguished by reflection and the shape of the land.

Small buildings stand on the low shore. They establish the cloud’s scale; without them it might seem closer and smaller.

A light reflection stretches across the water beneath the brightest part of the sky, breaking up towards the foreground.

A narrow band of brown-grey sky remains beneath the cloud, showing how low its dark edge has descended.

The Zimmerli collection allows versions of Russian landscapes to be compared beyond Russia. Here Dubovskoy brings the colours of shore and water close together, concentrating the main light contrasts in the sky and its reflection.