Volga is part of a series of joyous works depicting nature that Levitan made between 1895 and 1897, which also includes the paintings March (1895), Golden Autumn (1895), Spring.

Volga is part of a series of joyous works depicting nature that Levitan made between 1895 and 1897, which also include the paintings March (1895), Golden Autumn (1895), Spring.

[7] Levitan spent the summer and autumn of 1890 travelling along the Volga, visiting the towns of Plyos, Yuryevets and Kineshma.

[10][11][10][12] Levitan began working on the artwork in 1891, as evidenced by the half-erased original date "91" in the artist's signature, which was later replaced by "95", the year he completed it.

Morozov's widow Margarita Morozova transferred part of his collection, including Fresh Wind.

According to art critic Sofia Prorokova, the two flags represent the Volga River, which connects the East with Russia via the Caspian Sea.

Against the background of the water, a white steamer and a yellowish boat with a single rower wearing a pink shirt stand out.

According to Fedorov-Davydov, the sketches of the barges and their details are interesting because of how carefully Levitan studied nature and strove for the accuracy of reproducing the depicted objects.

[22][23] Art historian Vladimir Prytkov wrote in an introductory article to the album commemorating Levitan's 100th birthday that in Fresh Wind.

Prytkov notes that this artwork is "all fanned with the breath of the fresh Volga wind, which scattered clouds in the sky, raised strong ripples on the river, and blew the sail of the barge".

[24] According to Prytkov, the composition's dynamism, the colourful embroidery, the sparkling snow-white steamer, and white "creates a life-affirming, nationally characteristic image of the great Russian river, animated by human activity.

"[25] Aleksei Fedorov-Davydov, an art historian, wrote in a monograph on Levitan's work published in 1966 that Fresh Wind.

Volga is "an example of long-term gestation"; in contrast to the relatively quickly painted March, the artist worked on Fresh Wind.

[21] According to the historian, the fact that the artist depicts nature not only in relation to human life but also in its modern vivacity allows this canvas to be called the "'industrial landscape' of the Levitan era.

"[10] According to art critic Faina Maltseva, Levitan chose "a motif in which the mighty beauty of the Volga landscape was revealed in all its sparkling splendour" for Fresh Wind.

[12] Maltseva believed that the painting belonged to a later period of the artist's work rather than the series of Volga landscapes shown at the Traveling Art Exhibitions of 1890–1891.