Crimea. Landscape with a river. 1868

This is Volodymyr Orlovsky's "Crimea. Landscape with a river," an idyllic scene created sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. As an artist born in Ukraine but educated in Russia, Orlovsky straddled multiple identities in a period of intense nationalism and imperial expansion. Here we see a Crimean landscape, then part of the Russian Empire. The depiction of the Crimean landscape isn’t just about geographical beauty; it’s about power, ownership, and identity. Note how the local figures, rendered with a certain romanticism, exist within a landscape under imperial control. This painting engages with the aesthetic and cultural project of defining and celebrating the Russian Empire's territorial reach. Yet, as we gaze at the gentle river and the distant mountains, we might also ponder the human stories interwoven with this landscape. The figures on the path remind us of the diverse peoples whose lives are part of this complex history.