Place of future garden near Novopetrovsk fort
Taras Shevchenko. Place of future garden near Novopetrovsk fort. Stained paper and pencil (12.1 × 32.5 cm). [Novopetrovsk fort]. [Summer 1853]. Taras Shevchenko National Museum, inv. g – 548.
Above ink marked: Number 117 – 107.
In memoirs A. E. Uskova and N. I. Uskova mentioned that in the first year of their stay in Novopetrovsk fort (1853) H. A. Uskov started planting the garden [see "Kyiv antiquity", 1889, Vol. II, p. 299], for irrigation of which "had to dig two wells for watering and put two pumping machines" [L. Meyer, Kyrgyz steppes of Orenburg disposition, St. Petersburg, 1865, p. 121 – 122].
House of commandant and pumping machines were built in the summer, and the trees planted in the autumn of that year.
Images of mentioned pumping machines and house, built by Uskov, and lack of vegetation is the basis for dating the picture summer 1853. Watercolor drawing of garden Shevchenko performed in autumn 1853. There are already planted trees and a gazebo that is not provided on this figure (number 33).
In the literature is found under the title: "Buildings with flat roofs near the mountains" ["Catalogue of V. Tarnowski's museum of ukrainian antiquities", Vol. II, Chernigov, 1900, p. 184, № 313], "Near mountains building with flat roofs" [A. Novitsky, Taras Shevchenko as a painter, Lviv – Moscow, 1914, p. 59, № 285].
Images of garden Novopetrovsk fort see number 33, 39, 159, 160, 165.
Storage areas: V. Tarnowski's Chernihiv museum of ukrainian antiquities – № 313, Chernihiv Historical Museum, Institute of Taras Shevchenko, Kharkiv – Kyiv, Gallery of pictures Shevchenko, Kharkiv.
G. P. Palamarchuk
After publication: Taras Shevchenko Complete Works in 10 volumes. – Kyiv: ed. Academy of sciences of UkrSSR, 1964, Vol. 9, № 153 (image), p. 69 – 70 (note).