The article deals with poetics specifics and its meaning forming role in those picturesque scenes of the novel “The Life of Klim Samgin”, which were created by M. Gorky himself or his characters; it is examined how the image of the Silver Age is modulated. It is shown that the proto-impressionistic landscape in the literary system of the novel has the features of expressionism thanks to details that tell about destruction - clouds torn by the wind; a fragment of the moon broke through the clouds, etc. It is noted that by mentioning the names of I. Levitan, M. Nesterov, M. Vrubel and others, the writer thereby pointed out the dialogue field in his text, which includes not only himself with his approaches, but also introduces the novel's characters there. It is thought that a series of such scenes depicting modernity deepen its historical character over time, and therefore many canvases can be attributed to the historical genre.