The shore of Nicholas island

Taras Shevchenko. The shore of the Nicholas island. Watercolour (13,8 × 22,9 cm). [12 – 21.IX 1848, 22 – 30. VIII 1849]. Taras Shevchenko National Museum, inv. g – 741.

Lower left – watercolor inscription (hand Shevchenko): O. N., that means Ostrov [=island] Nicholas.

On the album sheet, below picture pasted on it, ink inscription (possibly hand O. M. Butakova): Shore of Aral Sea – (work Shevchenko). On the back of the album's sheet on the left – pencil inscription and signature (hand S. Glazenap): From album A.I. Butakov S. Glazenap.

It is possible that this figure depicts exactly the lake, which A. I. Butakov mentions in his diary: "inside it… [Nicholas Island] several salt lakes, surrounded by reeds" ["Day notes of navigation A. I. Butakov on the Aral Sea in 1848 – 1849 years", Tashkent, 1953, p. 29].

Mentioned in the literature under the name "Reed on the beach" ["Images Shevchenko," no. II, SPb., 1914, Table. XIV, № 2].

Other views of Nicholas island see number 26, 28 – 31, 165 – 172.

Storage areas: property of Butakov, Glazenap, Kyiv City Museum, Ukrainian historical museum (Kyiv), Gallery of pictures Shevchenko, Kharkiv.

L. I. Vnuchkova

After publication: Taras Shevchenko Complete Works in 10 volumes. – Kyiv: ed. Academy of sciences of UkrSSR, 1962, vol. 8, № 27 (image), p. 18 (notes).