"Kostenka, tell me for God's sake, why do they refer to us as the Impressionists?!' Nikolai Clodt asked Konstantin Korovin. “Don't be bitter about it. If this is about the French, they are such damn good painters,” Korovin reassured his friend. Nikolai Clodt, and Korovin, too, were criticized for 'decadence and Impressionism.' Clodt did not particularly like large format paintings, but he made many sketches, in which he sought to capture his immediate impressions of nature. Russian nature really inspired the artist - he adored it. In the painting “The Overgrown Pond” Nikolai Clodt works with the colour green on a truly deep level. Look how he moves from cool to warm tones - this summer landscape with its trees rising upwards seems to emerge from this colouristic game. Then look at the water, with the lilies, leaves and grass on its muddy surface, made up of individual brushstrokes. This spinning green vortex hides real treasures – purple, yellow and pink flowers...