English level: middle
While Kuindzhi was still working on Moonlight Night on the Dniepr, rumours spread across St Petersburg regarding the painting's exceptional beauty and lyrical expression. The public's enthusiasm was so great that Kuindzhi arranged Sunday two-hour studio visits. The famous Ivan Turgenev, Ivan Kramskoy, and Dmitrii Mendeleev were among the first guests. Before the artwork was completed, the Great Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich paid a huge sum of money to purchase it during his visit to the studio.
His work evoked a great response from viewers. The focused source of light made the painting look like a window to a real landscape; the greenish light of the moon looked surreal, but realistic at the same time. People were mesmerised.
Some sceptics couldn’t believe the light of the moon in the painting could be so bright, even shining, so they tried to find a lamp behind the painting. There was no lamp. Kuindzhi was known to experiment and pursue perfection in his colour and light implementation–this can be seen in his other pieces too. His distinctive style and mastered techniques made the painting a unique masterpiece.
words to learn:
rumour (noun) - an unofficial interesting story or piece of news that might be true or invented, and quickly spreads from person to person
to arrange - to plan, prepare for, or organize something
to evoke - to make someone remember something or feel an emotion
to mesmerise - to have someone's attention completely so that they cannot think of anything else
to pursue - if you pursue a plan, activity, or situation, you try to do it or achieve it, usually over a long period of time
distinctive (adj) - something that is distinctive is easy to recognize because it is different from other things