The work The Start of Spring is one of Ivan Endogurov''s best paintings, a worthy successor of the lyrical tradition of Russian landscapes of the last quarter of the 19th century. His contemporaries remarked on its "intimate character" and "the breadth, lightness and mood" of this canvas, which was one of the top 50 images for the French publication Treasures of Russian Painting (Paris, 1910). The artistic merit of the artist, who passed away at a young age, was confirmed by the establish¬ment of the Brothers Ivan and Sergei Endogurov Prize in 1899 by the Imperial Academy of Arts.