From the perspective of Inga Filippova, candidate of art history, the First Snow is one of Plastov's most poetic works, synthesizing the fragile balance of landscape and genre painting.
Arkady Plastov's canvas has been repeatedly recommended by Soviet and modern Russian teachers and methodologists for use in lessons and extracurricular activities in primary and secondary schools.
[5] Soviet and Russian art popularizer Alexander Berezin wrote that the landscape has a lyrical character: "the artist subtly and penetratingly conveys the feeling of a fresh winter day, when dazzling fluffy snowflakes rush through the air".
He is dressed for winter... And she jumped out for a minute, stuck her bare feet into her big felt boots, and threw a white shawl over her head, which she supports with both hands.
[14][15] The hut with a porch depicted in the painting can no longer be found, and the fates of the village boy and girl who posed for the artist remain unknown.
He described his impressions in the book The Work and Thoughts of the Artist, which was published posthumously in 1984:[16]The first snow is falling in big, soft flakes —white, pure, and festive.
The foreground of the canvas depicted numerous tracks from carts and horses, and according to art historian Vladimir Kostin, the tone of the greenery was intrusive and more suited to spring than fall.
In contrast, contemporary art historian Tatiana Plastova, who only had access to a black-and-white magazine reproduction, found the composition original and argued that the artist did not err in his use of color.
[20] Soviet art historian and painter, member of the Union of Artists of the USSR, Vladimir Kostin, in a book dedicated to Plastov and published in 1956, noted the lyricism of the images and the expressiveness of the color in the painting.
In it, the viewer, according to the art historian, easily reads the experiences that he himself had in his childhood years, waiting for winter, and with it — skating on skids, sled, the festive Christmas tree, and cozy evenings in heated dwellings.
The highest praise in this article was deserved by the canvas for how it "happily combined touching figures of children, with discreet, but to the pain in the heart, heartfelt Russian landscape".
According to Filippova, the artist enjoys the opportunity to listen "to nature frozen in anticipation of magic or to that which is underlyingly maturing in his own soul and so in tune with what is happening around him".
Filippova noted that the color scheme of the painting is unusually laconic for Plastov's work in general:"It is based on the juxtaposition of dark and light spots within the gray-blue, white, and black, in combination with ochre.
The plasticity of the line—the characteristic bends of birch branches, the emphasized strictness of the log cabin wall's drawing, the piket fence at the porch—plays a major role here.
[24][26]Marina Udaltsova, an art historian and researcher at the Tsaritsyno Museum, notes "Levitan's mood" in the painting, describing "the achromatic range of colors, silence, serenity, and harmony reigning in the world".
[28] Tatyana Plastova, Candidate of Philological Sciences and Head of the Department of Humanities at the Moscow Surikov State Academic Institute of Fine Arts, attributed the First Snow to the paintings by the artist (Spring, Noon, Youth, etc.)
[29] Arkady Plastov's canvas has been repeatedly recommended by Soviet and contemporary Russian educators and methodologists for use in primary and secondary school lessons.
[32] Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences Galina Bakulina has compiled an example of a lesson outline for working on an essay about the painting the First Snow in the 4th grade.
[33] In November 2020, the Orenburg Regional Polyethnic Children's Library prepared a short video dedicated to Arkady Plastov's painting the First Snow as part of the YouTube series The History of One Masterpiece.
[34] Oral work on Arkady Plastov's painting, based on questions formulated in the manual, is intended for use in primary school lessons in the book Literary Reading.