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Taras Shevchenko

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Poplar

Taras Shevchenko. Poplar

Taras Shevchenko. Poplar. [1839 – 1840. St. Petersburg].
Colored paper, italian pencil. 25,7 × 20 cm.
Taras Shevchenko National Museum, № g-277.

Above left is marked in black ink: Number 12; image below: RM. A picture caption in pencil: left – Ballad "Poplar" dedicated by Shevchenko to P.S. Petrovska; right – "Poplar". Drawing by Shevchenko on family legend. Both inscriptions made by Lubov Nikolaevna Ogloblina, daughter of Lavrov – Praskovja Stepanivna, nee Petrovska (1835 – 1902), and Nicholas A. (1820 – 1875), fellow and classmate of Shevchenko at the Art Academy. The back is marked unknown hand in pencil: 1839.

Figure "Poplar" on the grounds, close to the mood of folklore image of poplar and echoes the lines of ballads: "Grow, grow, poplar! All up and up, grow flexible and high, to the very clouds…" or "thin, thin and tall, till the clouds " (lines from variants).

In the "Kobzar" of 1840 before the text of the ballad placed sheet contains the dedication: To P.S. Petrovska. According to L.M. Ogloblina's memoirs, Shevchenko dedicated to P.S. Petrovska one of his best poems – "Poplar" and drew in her coherent album a poplar [Zhur P. Shevchenko's Petersburg. – K., 1972. – S. 86]. Nina Alekseyevna Zehzhda (great granddaughter of P.S. Petrovska) keeped L.M. Ogloblina's archive and maiden album of P.S. Petrovska. On its front side placed an inscription: "In memory of 1840". For texture and color of paper, numbered sheets revealed that Shevchenko sheet with pictures of that time was in this album [Zehzhda N. To whom is dedicated to Shevchenko's "Poplar"… // Literary Ukraine. – 1971. – 13 July].

Tentatively dated by the time of writing ballads "Poplar" taking into account the date on the back of the sheet.

First commented and reproduced in 1932 by O.P. Novitsky [T. Shevchenko Complete Works. – [Kharkiv, 1932. – T. 8]. – P. 29. – № 220. – Tab. 151].

Storage areas: ownership P.S. Petrovska, then – L.M. Ogloblina, G.A. Freiman; 1925 – The State Russian Museum (St. Petersburg); from 1929 – Taras Shevchenko Institute; from 1932 – Gallery of pictures by T.H. Shevchenko (Kharkiv); from 1948 – State Museum of T.H. Shevchenko (Kyiv).

L.D. Zinchuk

After publication: Taras Shevchenko Complete Works in 10 volumes. – K.: ed. of Acad. Sci. of UkrSSR, 1961, t. 7, bk. 2, № 237 (image); T.H. Shevchenko Complete Works in 12 volumes. – K.: Naukova Dumka, 2003, v. 7, p. 369 (notes).