Isaac Levitan, whose biography is of interest to all connoisseurs of art, is a famous Russian artist. He was considered a master of "mood landscape". Known as an academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts.
Origin of the artist
Levitan was born in October 1860. The artist's biography says that this event happened in the small town of Kibarty, Augustow province. Today it is the territory of Poland. His parents were impoverished but educated Jews.
Father, Ilya Abramovich Levitan, came from a family of rabbis. Independently mastered German and French. Subsequently, he taught them at the gymnasium, and also worked as a translator on the construction of a railway bridge by a French company.
Youth Levitan
Levitan's parents sought to improve their financial situation and give their children a decent education. To do this, in the early 70s of the XIX century, they moved to Moscow.
In 1871, the elder brother of the hero of our article, Abel, entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Two years later, young Isaac, who was 13 years old, began to study there.
The artist Isaac Ilyich Levitan, whose biography is described in detail in this article, studied with such venerable painters as Alexei Savrasov, Vasily Perov, Vasily Polenov.
In 1875, serious changes took place in the Levitan family. The mother dies and the father falls seriously ill. Due to illness, he has to quit the railway company, and income from tutoring does not allow him to support four children.
As a result, even the school itself provides financial assistance to the brothers. In 1876, they are completely exempted from tuition fees as they are in a difficult financial situation and demonstrate success in studies and art.
In 1877 their father dies of typhus.
First earnings
The artist, his brothers and sisters lived in dire need. At that time, Levitan studied with Perov. The artist's biography says that his life changed dramatically when he was transferred to the class of Alexei Savrasov. Here he managed to concentrate on landscapes.
Then the first successes came to him. In 1877, two paintings by the artist were noted at the exhibition. He received a small silver medal and the first serious earnings - 220 rubles. At that time he was only 16 years old.
Very soon, new difficulties entered his life. This time, Levitan suffered from the royal decree. The artist's biography takes us beyond the capital. The fact is that after the assassination attempt of the revolutionary Solovyov on Alexander II, all Jews were forbidden to live in the original Russian capital, that is, in Moscow. This is despite the fact that Solovyov himself, according to most modern historians, was not a Jew.
At the age of 18, Isaac Ilyich Levitan, whose work was already familiar to many by that time, leaves Moscow. Together with his brothers and sisters, he begins to live in a small dacha in the Balashikha region. Here he spends two years.
Later, when the ban was weakened, he returned to the capital, rented a furnished room on Bolshaya Lubyanka. He managed to earn money for the painting "Evening after the rain".
He graduated from college only in 1885 Levitan. The artist's biography contains information that the brush master was awarded the title of calligraphy teacher.
Levitan at work
After graduating from college, Levitan moved to the Moscow region, to the remote village of Babkino, since he had no money to live in the capital. However, there are amusing neighbors here too - these are the Chekhovs. It was there that Isaac Ilyich Levitan met the writer, friendship and confrontation with whom would continue throughout his life.
By the mid-80s of the XIX century, Isaac Ilyich was already becoming a fairly well-known painter, thanks to this, his financial situation was also improving. However, a hungry childhood and penniless youth have a negative impact on his health. The artist begins to develop heart disease.
In 1886 he went to the Crimea to recuperate. It is worth noting that the trip had a positive effect on him. The painter's health improved markedly. Returning from the peninsula, Isaac Ilyich Levitan presents 50 new landscapes at once at a solo exhibition.
Another fruitful trip was a cruise on the Volga, which he went on in 1887. His teacher, Savrasov, also liked to depict the great Russian river. Levitan decided not to lag behind.
In 1888, during the second trip along the Volga, Levitan discovers the small town of Ples. Here he spends the next three summer seasons. And very productive.
Over the years, he wrote about 200 works, which brought the master of painting all-Russian popularity.
"Over Eternal Peace"
The artist Isaac Levitan, whose paintings appeared at all the major exhibitions, according to many, painted the most Russian painting. This is how critics speak of his creation "Above Eternal Peace", created in 1894.
The artist began to work on this canvas under Vyshny Volochok, and continued in Plyos.
Its plot is well known to any connoisseur of painting. Heavy lead clouds hang over the earth. In the center of the composition is a wide lake, which looks just as gloomy and harsh.
The artist himself admitted that when he looks at this picture, he feels lonely in front of a huge expanse of water.
The sky and water on this canvas awaken in a person thoughts about his insignificance and transience of life. The only building in the picture is a wooden church, next to which is an old cemetery with rickety abandoned graves.
The harsh grandeur of nature in the picture is opposed only by a single light that shines in the church.
Second expulsion from Moscow
But not everything goes perfectly in the life of an artist. In 1892, Levitan was again forced to leave Moscow. A short biography of the painter notes that he was evicted as an "unbaptized Jew". He was given one day to leave Moscow.
After that, Levitan lives in the Vladimir and Tver provinces. Only a few years later he is allowed to return. His numerous friends are fussing about this, who manage to lobby this issue in high offices.
During this period, he wrote another of his famous paintings - "Vladimirka". It depicts the road along which the convicts were driven to Siberia.
Relationships with women
The relationship between the great writer and the great artist was not easy. The first shadow ran when Chekhov covered in his story "The Jumper" the events that took place between Levitan, his student Sofya Kuvshinnikova and her husband.
In 1894, Levitan spent the summer at the Ostrovno estate with the Ushakovs. A brief biography of the artist notes that Sofia Kuvshinnikova was with him. At that time, another love drama played out here.
The Turchaninov family comes to the estate next door. Levitan begins an affair with Anna Nikolaevna, wife of the deputy mayor of St. Petersburg. Kuvshinnikova returns to Moscow and never sees the painter again.
At the same time, Levitan himself is in a state of severe depression. In the summer of 1895, he wanted to commit suicide. The artist tried to shoot himself. After that, Chekhov visited him, who made sure that nothing threatened his friend's life. And the attempt itself was only an imitation of suicide.
Having left Levitan, Chekhov wrote the story "A House with a Mezzanine" and the play "The Seagull", in which Levitan again recognizes himself, which he is very offended by.
Death of an artist
In 1896, Levitan suffered typhus for the second time. He is 36 years old, and the symptoms of a heart aneurysm are only getting worse. The disease becomes severe and chronic.
He spends 1899 in Yalta, next to Chekhov again. But this time there is no closeness between old friends. Levitan can walk only leaning on a stick, his heart hurts continuously.
A trip to a spa doesn't help. Returning to Moscow, he practically does not leave the house. In May 1900, Chekhov visited him.
July 22, 1900 Isaac Levitan dies. He was only 39 years old. About 40 unfinished paintings and at least 300 sketches remained in his creative workshop, work on which was planned only in the future.
His last painting, The Lake, remained unfinished. Today it is in the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.
Levitan was buried in the northern capital at the old Jewish cemetery.
I. I. Levitan, whose paintings are well known to everyone since childhood, created more than a thousand paintings, drawings and sketches in his short life. He gave all his gift to people, leaving himself the incomparable happiness of the creator.
Childhood and youth of the future artist
The future singer was born on August 30, 1860 in a small town near Kybarta, located on the territory of present-day Lithuania. The father of the future artist was and tried to help his children, Isaac and his brother Abel, gain knowledge. The brothers received their primary education at home under his guidance. Life away from the cultural centers of the country did not promise any prospects, and the Levitan family moved to Moscow. From an early age, Isaac Ilyich showed a talent for drawing, and, despite extreme poverty, he managed to enter the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture.
The years of study were unusually difficult for a young student. One by one, the parents died, and Isaac had to take care of the piece of bread himself. But there was also a lot of joy. Talent, multiplied by perseverance, helped him immediately become one of the best students of the school. His works took first place in competitions and brought awards. Fate sent him wonderful teachers, V. G. Perov, A. K. Savrasov and V. I. Surikov. It was these people who helped to fully reveal the talent of the young painter. But most importantly, they introduced him to the circle of the famous society of itinerant artists.
First real success
In March 1877, Moscow welcomed the fifth traveling art exhibition. For the first time, Leitan demonstrated his works in the same halls with recognized masters of the brush. The success was unexpected and noisy. His painting "Autumn" was especially noted. Levitan was overwhelmed with happiness. In those years, the highest appreciation of the work of each artist was the purchase of his canvas by Tretyakov for his famous gallery. Very soon Levitan's paintings appeared in his halls.
After some time, another important event occurred in the life of Levitan. A well-known philanthropist and creator of a private opera company, Savva Morozov, recruited a group of artists to design his productions. I. I. Levitan was also invited. His paintings were well known to Morozov. Work in the theater not only helped in the development of the artist's talent, but also strengthened him financially. He goes on a trip to the Volga.
A trip to the Volga and abroad
The great Russian river was known to him mainly from Nekrasov's poems and Repin's paintings. Levitan brought a whole series of paintings from the trip. Widely known of them are such as "Evening on the Volga", "Golden Reach", and many others. And again his canvases in the Tretyakov Gallery. It's not just a success, it's a triumph.
I. I. Levitan, whose paintings are so popular in Russia, goes abroad. In Paris, Berlin and Rome, he visits the world's largest museums and studies the works of old masters. Of course, this is beneficial, but he cannot stay away from Russia for a long time. In his letters to friends, the artist talks about how he is drawn home to his native Russian landscapes.
Creation of the painting "Evening bells"
Ahead was one of his most famous works. Levitan's painting "Evening Bells" cannot leave anyone indifferent. This canvas, so familiar to everyone, is filled with extraordinary lyricism and warmth. The idea for the painting came from Levitan in Slobodka near Zvenigorod. There he happened to observe the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery in the rays of the setting sun.
The artist was struck by the beauty of what he saw. But he began work on the painting in Yuryevets, where the Krivozersky Monastery is located on the shore of the lake. So inspired by two monasteries. Many researchers of the artist's work believe that Savrasov taught him to feel the poetry of old temples.
The last years of the artist's life
In 1897, another canvas was presented to the general public, which became a masterpiece of Russian landscape painting. It is comparatively modest in size, it is large-scale in content. The spring revival of life, the awakening of new forces and hopes are its main motives.
I. I. Levitan, whose paintings were included in the golden fund of national culture, lived a short life. He died on August 4, 1900, as if summing up the development of painting in the 19th century.
On August 18, 1860, a second son was born in an intelligent Jewish family living on the western outskirts of Russia, near the border checkpoint Verzhbolovo, whose parents named Isaac. The father of the future artist had an education in a rabbinical school, but he could not succeed in this field and served in various minor positions in the Russian railway. Trying to get a better job, the family wandered around the railway stations all the time, which did not bring any positive result.
Poverty and loss
As the artist himself recalled, every year, with every new place, life became harder and harder. Trying to correct the plight of the family, the father was engaged in self-education and in the time remaining from work he studied French and German. In such conditions, retraining took years of painstaking work.
Ilya Levitan found the application of his new knowledge when, by order of the Russian government, a French construction company began laying a railway bridge across the Neman River in the town of Kovio. The father of the Levitan family got a job as a translator at this construction site. However, this did not bring him much money. Even though he tried to give private foreign language lessons to the children of wealthy parents, Ilya did not have the means to send his two children to elementary school. He had to train them on his own.
The Levitan family had two eldest sons and two daughters. The constant semi-beggarly existence and the father's attempts to bring his sons into people forced them to move to Moscow in the late 1860s.
However, even here Ilya Levitan failed to find any permanent position. He survived with private lessons in foreign languages, while the whole family huddled in a cramped little apartment on the edge of the city.
The cold and squalid housing, located under the very roof of the building on the fourth floor, had one advantage - from its high windows a stunning view of the city opened. Here the sunrise was earlier, and the sunset burned longer. This was the only outlet for the poetic and contemplative nature of the future artist in his dull and half-starved life.
The ability to draw early manifested itself in both sons of Levitan. The boys always drew and sculpted together with great joy and excitement. The father of the family treated their joint hobby with condescension and in 1870 sent his eldest son Abel to the Moscow School of Painting and Architecture. From that moment on, Isaac became his brother's constant companion, he always accompanied him to the open air.
When the age approached, Isaac Levitan himself entered the same educational institution.
At that time, children of the poor, peasants and artisans prevailed among students at MUZHVIZ. But even here, where it was difficult to surprise someone with poverty, the Levitan family became a separate topic of ridicule. This was facilitated by the shyness and secrecy of the young men, which further provoked the students. Moreover, the situation of the boys only worsened, after the death of their mother in 1875, it seemed that it became almost impossible to live.
In his memoirs, the artist said that often he simply had nowhere to go after classes. He tried to hide in the classroom from the night watchman behind easels or curtains in order to spend the night warm. But much more often Levitan was put out on the street, and he had to freeze on a bench or wandered around a deserted city all night.
After two years of such a homeless life, the young man, along with his father, ended up in the hospital. Both had a terrible diagnosis - typhoid fever. Youth helped Isaac survive and even return to school, but Ilya Levitan died in a hospital bed. After the death of the father, the children will finally lose any means of subsistence. They no longer had any opportunity to pay even the meager fee that was established in the school.
And here, for the first time in his life, Isaac was lucky - he came across excellent teachers. From the very beginning of his studies, the boy ended up in a full-scale class, in which Vasily Grigorievich Perov taught. The well-known "wanderer" openly declared himself the voice of all the destitute, offended and suffering. And when he practically headed the school, all talented Moscow youth burst into this building on Myasnitskaya, famous for its Masonic past.
young talent
But, it must be admitted that the young Levitan took his teachers not only with pity. The Board of Trustees saved him from having to pay tuition fees and even recommended him to receive a scholarship from Prince Dolgorukov, Governor-General of Moscow, not at all out of philanthropy, but because the industriousness, observation and poetry of the nature of the young artist interested the head of the landscape workshop, artist Alexei Kondratievich Savrasov. Impressed by the young man's landscapes, he practically lured him into his class.
Having survived all the pain and suffering in the niche of a hungry life and the death of his parents, Isaac was able to maintain spiritual purity and sensitivity. Once in Savrasov's class, he wholeheartedly accepted the most important instruction of his beloved teacher: "... write, study, but most importantly - feel!".
This rare ability to feel nature brought the first fruits to the painter quite early. At the student exhibition, his work “Autumn Day. Sokolniki (1879, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow) was not only noticed and appreciated by the audience, but also interested Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov himself, a famous art connoisseur and collector who considered the main thing in painting not so much beauty as poetry, the truth of the soul.
The alley of the deserted park strewn with fallen leaves and a female figure dressed in black evoke a sad feeling of autumn withering, regret for the past and loneliness. Bright yellow young trees dotted along the gently curving alley contrast sharply with the gloomy coniferous forest. The clouds floating across the overcast sky are beautifully painted, which create an atmosphere of damp cold weather, and the multi-colored autumn foliage is written out perfectly.
Written in 1880, the painting “Autumn. Hunter ”(Tver Regional Art Gallery), similar in mood to the previous one. Thanks to a similar compositional construction with a sharp perspective reduction, both works have depth and space. Only the path chaotically strewn with fallen yellow leaves, along which a hunter walks in the distance, accompanied by a dog, gives this picture a slightly more major sound.
Levitan's paintings, which are characterized by a calm narrative character, are read like literary works. Two of his student works were able to express this rare feature, which became a distinctive feature of all subsequent landscapes of the painter.
Soon, Levitan began a period of new difficulties. His more or less stabilized position was again violated. The college's council of professors unexpectedly dismissed Isaac's favorite teacher, Savrasov, and the young landscape painters were left without a master.
It was in 1882, when the young artist had already finished one of his best works - "Spring in the Forest" (State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow). The canvas with surprising ease conveys the state of timid awakening of nature from hibernation. The first green grass near a calm stream and the leaves that have just appeared on the branches of trees create a poetic and peaceful atmosphere. Thin stems and branches of trees, leaning on both sides above the water, form a shady space, surprisingly accurately betraying the breath of the forest.
A little time passed and the students were introduced to their new teacher. A talented artist Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov came to MUZHVIZ, who not only brought his vision of nature here, but also inspired enthusiasm and optimism in students. Polenov's wife was a relative of a wealthy industrialist and well-known philanthropist Savva Ivanovich Mamontov. Sometimes Vasily Dmitrievich, heading to his estate Abramtsevo, where the entire artistic elite of Moscow dreamed of visiting, took his most talented students with him.
Once, they turned out to be Konstantin Korovin and Isaac Levitan. The cheerful creative atmosphere of the rich estate and the benevolent attitude towards talents amazed the young artists. Mamontov, who was a great singer and a passionate admirer of opera, staged grandiose home performances. His dream was to create his own musical theatre.
It was friendly relations with Savva the Magnificent that later gave Levitan the opportunity to try himself in the field of a theater decorator. Acquaintances acquired by the young artist in the patron's house strengthened his position in the artistic environment. Unfortunately, the wonderful period of relative financial and emotional freedom ended very quickly. Vasily Perov died, and squabbles and intrigues began in the democratically minded MUZHVIZ.
period of disappointment
Already at the beginning of 1884, despite the successful passing of exams, Isaac Levitan was expelled from the school for systematic non-attendance at classes. The board of trustees offered the young artist a "not cool" diploma, which gives the only opportunity - to become a drawing teacher. Levitan was in despair. In a fit of feelings, he leaves Moscow and leaves for Savvinskaya Sloboda near Zvenigorod, the magnificent nature of which was praised by his school comrades. In this wonderful place, he creates beautiful landscapes “Savvinskaya Sloboda near Zvenigorod” and “Bridge. Savvinskaya Sloboda "(both - 1884, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow).
The canvases are completely different in condition, but possessing a breath of freshness and surprisingly poetic. Under a cold, almost transparent sky, from under the snow that has just fallen, the first sprouts of greenery make their way here and there, and in the background, still bare trees are visible, beginning to be covered with delicate leaves. Under the bright sun, a narrow river gleams cheerfully, with a wooden bridge thrown over it. The state of waiting for spring gives rise to hope for a better future.
In the life of Levitan, as almost always, a difficult time has come. The artist suffered from loneliness, having neither housing nor permanent work. Relations with his brother Abel already in his student years were built on the principle of "every man for himself." As a result, closed, feeling like a loser, against the background of his classmates, Isaac maintained warm relations only with Nikolai Chekhov, who was also expelled from MUZHVIZ and had the same unbalanced character as Levitan himself. The young artist settled not far from the Chekhovs' dacha. True, now, he got along with the brother of his fellow student - Anton and his sister Maria.
Maria Chekhova became Levitan's first love, but he failed to earn her reciprocity. In addition, Anton himself did not advise his sister to connect her life with a person whose future is unclear. Isaac suffered greatly and was in a state of depression. Probably only a frequent stay in the Chekhovs' house, in which he could see his beloved girl and be distracted from his own thoughts, saved the artist from suicide attempts. It's good that Anton helped the artist cope with gloomy moods and fight serious illnesses that haunted Levitan.
After two years of his stay in Savvinskaya Sloboda, in the spring of 1886, having recovered from his illnesses and received good money for creating the scenery for Mamontov's Private Opera, Isaac decides to leave for the Crimea. The artist spent more than two months on the peninsula, and when he returned, he amazed his friends with the number of works created there.
First success
All Crimean canvases by Levitan presented at Moscow exhibitions were sold out very quickly. Pavel Tretyakov acquired two paintings, including “Saklya in Alupka” (State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow), for his collection.
For the first time in the entire work of the artist, instead of cold translucent clouds, a bright blue sky appeared on his works, under which stands an unusual dilapidated adobe Tatar dwelling, contrasting with the grayish-white rock in the background. Despite the fact that the whole composition seems to be penetrated by the sun's rays, filled with ringing color spots, so characteristic of southern landscapes, Levitan perfectly managed to convey the feeling of heat and hot sand. In such works of the painter, the main quality of his creations is manifested: they have a rare emotional sensitivity to all movements of color and light. Even the most unpretentious landscape motif Levitan was able to convey with a special mood, creating a feeling of some kind of hidden nerve.
These canvases include "Overgrown Pond" (1887, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg). Here the artist managed to convey the subtle state of hidden sadness, appearing through the state of thoughtfulness. Black tree trunks reflected in the water mysteriously disappear under a layer of duckweed, giving the impression of hopelessness.
The color scheme of the canvas, built on countless shades of green, is impressive. This technique allowed the painter to achieve absolute realism in depicting branches of trees and shrubs leaning towards the grass, the dark surface of a pond covered with duckweed and the prospect of a distant meadow against a cloudy sky, which is also solved in a transparent greenish-bluish palette. Obviously, the artist was captivated by such an opportunity, first with the eye, and then with the brush, to trace and convey the tonality of the summer greenery, which the sun had time to dry, and the pond filled with moisture.
The success of the Crimean landscapes allowed Levitan to slightly improve his life. Now he could rent housing in Moscow and afford to be in the homes of various interesting people. Many noble Moscow houses of that time arranged lavish evenings, where famous writers, artists and musicians were invited. At one of these dinner parties, Isaac was introduced to Sofya Petrovna Kuvshinnikova and her wife.
Artists of the Maly Theater Lensky and Yermolova, the poet and writer Gilyarovsky, and Anton Chekhov liked to visit the Kuvshinnikovs' house. Sofya Petrovna, who was very interested in painting, asked Levitan to give her a few lessons, after which, their friendly relations became something more. An extravagant woman who was much older than the painter, in addition to art, highly valued personal freedom and had a penchant for shocking. Sofya Petrovna obviously fell in love with this sad and unbalanced person. She surrounded her young lover with attention and care, supporting him in every possible way. This period of creativity includes the work of Levitan "Birch Grove" (1885, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow).
In this canvas, the painter managed to wonderfully convey the play of light and shadow in a dense green grove flooded with sun. This painting is often called a model of Russian impressionism. Levitan vividly and reliably reproduced the momentary mood of the summer changeable nature of our homeland, permeated with warmth and light.
The work traces the influence of the work of Levitan's favorite artist - Camille Corot, who called the "landscape a state of mind" of the author.
"Volga" works
Soon, Isaac made a journey along the great Russian river - the Volga. This was in 1887 and 1888. On the trip, the artist was accompanied by Kuvshinnikova. In the work of many Russian artists, the Volga has traditionally been an important milestone; it inspired Alexei Savrasov, Ilya Repin, Fyodor Vasiliev.
True, the first impressions of the great river disappointed the artist, but on the second trip from the steamer he managed to make out a small picturesque town on the shore, which stretched between two bends of the river. It was Plyos, the surroundings of which the painter subsequently captured in his paintings.
Canvas "Evening. Golden Reach” (1889, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow) breathes with a feeling of quiet happiness, appearing through the vibrating humid evening air. The view of the church with a chapel, next to which stands a small house with a red roof, in which the artist rented a floor together with Sofya Petrovna, was captured from the Peter and Paul Mountain.
A gentle, golden-pinkish fog in the setting sun envelops Plyos, the bluish-white walls of the bell tower against the background of a soft pinkish sky, the lush greenery of a gentle slope - the whole canvas is filled with a sense of the harmony of nature and human existence. Considering the scale of the work, the painter depicted the great river not at all solemnly and pretentiously, as can be seen in the works of most Russian masters, but surprisingly warm and peaceful.
It is the feeling of spiritual warmth that fills all the details of the picture, even the white dog, barely visible among the tall grass in the foreground, and it looks extraordinarily touching.
In 1889, Levitan painted another canvas dedicated to the Volga impressions - “After the Rain. Plyos (State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow). The picture, as if saturated with moisture, strikes with a masterful transfer of atmosphere and amazing expressiveness. Looking at it, you immediately feel this unusually calm state of nature after a storm. The grass is still shining from the rain, the wind drives soft silvery ripples across the surface of the Volga, the atmosphere of cold does not drown out the timid hope for warmth, conveyed by the artist through the slanting rays of the sun, peeping through torn clouds.
As a result, the Volga open spaces fell in love with the painter. Subsequently, he often returned to them. But even the same motives, with Levitan, were always conveyed in a new way, filled with different emotions and sensations. Trying to bring something more into his paintings, Levitan gradually moves from lyricism to philosophy, more and more reflecting on human destinies.
The work "Golden Autumn. Slobodka” (1889, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg) is still filled with a more lyrical, contemplative mood. Autumn trees dazzlingly "burn" under the still warm autumn sun. This bonfire of natural beauty is the only decoration of dull, rickety grey-brown village houses. Nevertheless, even here one can feel the harmony of rural life, born of its inseparable connection with nature.
The indefatigable Sofia Petrovna once persuaded Levitan, who was brought up in the traditions of Judaism, to visit an Orthodox church on the day of the Holy Trinity. There the artist was struck by the simplicity and sincerity of the festive prayer. He even shed a tear, explaining that this was not “Orthodox, but some kind of world prayer”!
These impressions resulted in the landscape “Quiet Abode”, amazing in beauty and sound (1890, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow). The work hides the deep philosophical reasoning of the painter about life. In the picture we see a church, partly hidden in a dense forest, which is illuminated by the rays of the evening sun. Golden domes gently shine against the background of a soft golden-blue sky reflected in the clear water of the river. A light sandy path leads to an old, in some places destroyed and roughly patched up wooden bridge, thrown across the river. The composition of the canvas seems to invite the viewer to go and plunge into the purity and tranquility of being a holy monastery. The picture gives rise to hope for the possibility of a person finding quiet happiness and harmony with himself.
A few years later, the painter repeated this motif in his other canvas “Evening Ringing” (1892, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow). The painting depicts an Orthodox monastery, standing out against a lavender sky, and illuminated by the rays of the setting sun. Its white stone walls are reflected in the water with a light haze. The soft bend of the river goes around the monastery, smoothly leaving into the distance, and it seems as if the crimson chime of the bells of the bell tower towering over the autumn forest is flying over the water. In the foreground, a slightly overgrown path leads to the water, but there is no wooden bridge leading to the monastery on this canvas. All that remains of it is an old rickety pier, next to which are dark fishing boats, and a boat full of idle people floats along the walls of the monastery itself. For all the poetry of the image and a certain solemnity of sound, the picture does not give us hope for the possibility of achieving a cathartic sensation, suggesting only to dream about it with sadness, being, as it were, aloof from what is happening.
At first, all the works of Levitan, dedicated to his "Volga" impressions, which he presented at various Moscow exhibitions, were surrounded by some downright conspiratorial silence. Only Pavel Tretyakov, who for many years followed the work of the former student of the Moscow school in the most attentive way, acquired several of his paintings. But at some point a turning point came, and Levitan's work began to be heatedly discussed, the artist's works received the widest response, they constantly argued about him in all the art salons of the capital.
The painter himself, stayed for a long time in the estates of the Tver province, together with Sofya Petrovna Kuvshinnikova. Tirelessly looking for new images, the artist wandered endlessly through the swampy forests. At first, the gloomy nature of the region and its inclement weather suppressed Levitan, but soon he pulled himself together and created his next work, which all of Moscow immediately started talking about.
Life ups and downs
The painting “At the Pool” (1892, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow), which has a very impressive size, evokes an indescribable mystical feeling when viewed. This is the first work of the artist, where he not only admires nature, but emphasizes and seems to state the fact of its original hidden power.
In the foreground of the canvas, the viewer sees a narrow, dark and seemingly calm river. On the site of a dam washed out by the waters of the river, several old boards and slippery-looking logs are thrown over. The opposite bank of the river, as it were, calls to itself a bright path, but when you look where it leads, a feeling of vague fear is born, but is it worth going into the thickening gloomy deciduous-coniferous forest, standing under a gloomy and restless evening sky. Levitan masterfully conveyed the sensations of the ominous twilight of nature, giving rise to uncertainty and doubts, do we really need to look into the abyss, go to this mysterious and dead place?
The picture caused conflicting opinions in the Moscow artistic environment, someone admired her, someone did not consider her worthy of the master's brush. But a faithful admirer of Levitan's work and a very perspicacious person, Pavel Tretyakov, immediately bought it for his collection.
In the same period, subject to a sharp change of mood, the artist paints another canvas, distinguished by extraordinary lyricism, which has nothing to do with the ghost of mortal anguish cast by the previous picture. The canvas “Autumn” (1890s, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow) again shows us the artist’s favorite melancholy, but bright motif of nature, purifying itself in a bright celebration of colors.
Nevertheless, according to the surviving evidence, in the 1990s, the master's depression became more and more intensified. A new deterioration in Levitan's state of mind was facilitated by Anton Chekhov's story "The Jumper", published in 1892. Immediately, the entire Moscow intelligentsia, including those who were not personally acquainted with Sofya Petrovna Kuvshinnikova, identified her in the image of the main character of the writer's ironic work. And although the artist at first did not attach importance to the fact that he himself was the victim of his friend's biting humor, soon, under the influence of his Sofya Petrovna, he quarreled with Chekhov. The break with a friend was not easy for the painter, especially since he still treated his sister Maria, who never married, with kindness and attentiveness.
Resting with Kuvshinnikova in the Vladimir province in the summer of that year, Levitan once, during one of his long walks through the forest, accidentally came across the old Vladimir road. The route was notorious for the fact that it was along it that convicts were sent to Siberia. This place made such a strong impression on the already depressed artist that he began to actively create sketches for his new work.
The work with political overtones “Vladimirka” (1892, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow) shows us a deserted dirt road that goes into the distance, which is driven by the wheels of carriages in the center, and along the edges is trampled by a million bare feet shackled. A gloomy picture leaves a persistent feeling of hopelessness.
Levitan, for whom this painting had a special civil meaning, did not wait for public discussions, but immediately presented the painting to Tretyakov. Still on hostile terms with Anton Chekhov, the artist sent one of the sketches for Vladimirka to his older brother Alexander, who was graduating from the law faculty of Moscow State University. The gift had an inscription on the reverse side, which read: "To the future prosecutor." This gesture deeply offended the young man.
But the painter had the right not to like officials and authorities. Immediately after finishing work on the painting, Levitan was among the Jews subject to forcible expulsion from Moscow.
This is not the first time the artist has experienced acts of such anti-Semitic persecution regularly organized by the tsarist authorities. Even a close acquaintance with many representatives of the capital's nobility did not save him from them.
Thus, in 1893, Isaac Levitan again leaves for the Tver province, where, in spite of everything, he creates a surprisingly optimistic and bright in his mood canvas “On the Lake (Tver Province)” (Saratov Art Museum named after A. N. Radishchev ). The landscape tells about the unpretentious life of a small village, located on the shores of a huge lake. The bright pre-sunset sun illuminates its strong wooden huts, standing against the backdrop of a spruce forest and overturned fishing boats with nets hung nearby on a palisade. The prosaic view of the village creates, however, the impression of joy and even some fabulousness of being.
A year later, in 1893, the artist began work on one of his largest paintings, Above Eternal Peace (1894, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow). In this work, as in no other, in addition to the poetic beauty of eternal nature, the master's philosophical attitude to the frailty of human existence is felt.
In the picture we see a dilapidated wooden church, standing on a steep and deserted bank of a wide river that stretches to the horizon. Lead-purple clouds swirl over the church, and behind it a few trees cover the dreary churchyard with their branches bending under the sharp gusts of wind. Around the church it is completely deserted, only a dim light in its window gives an illusory hope for salvation. We observe the whole composition as if from behind and from above, this technique enhances the impression of loneliness, deep melancholy and impotence. The artist, as it were, directs the viewer into the distance and up, directly towards the cold sky. The painting was immediately bought by Pavel Tretyakov, which greatly pleased the painter.
The whole life of the artist was filled with sharp turns, both his mood and his fate. In the mid-1890s, one such turn of both occurred. Levitan, who still lived with Kuvshinnikova, rested on one of the provincial manor estates, located in a picturesque corner. Here he met Anna Nikolaevna Turchaninova, who was vacationing at a dacha in the neighborhood, and immediately fell in love with her. Sofya Petrovna, in despair, even tried to commit suicide, but this did not stop the artist. He began a passionate and stormy romance with this woman, which was filled with great happiness and pain and various problems, such as Turchaninova's eldest daughter Varvara, who fell in love with the painter.
After some time, Levitan again converges with his friend and becomes a frequent guest at the Chekhovs' dacha in Melikhovo. This did not stop the fact that both Anton Pavlovich and his sister Maria were in no hurry to share the joy of their friend's new passionate hobby. The writer was extremely skeptical about the appearance of "bravura" in the new works of Isaac.
The painting "Golden Autumn" (1895, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow), for example, is very far from those melancholic and sad images of autumn nature, so characteristic of Levitan's early work. In a very bright, emphatically decorative work of the artist, one feels a tense and exciting feeling of happiness, which, it would seem, does not at all fit with the author's worldview.
In the same 1895, Levitan painted another “Volga” painting “Fresh Wind. Volga (State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow). The picture is also solved in an unusual color palette for the artist, it seems to be pierced by the sun. Under dazzling white clouds, hovering in a bright blue sky, arguing with its purity with the waters of the river, painted sailing yachts sway, and behind them in the distance one can see a white steamer heading for the shore. The whole plot is permeated with a very cheerful major mood. Seagulls hovering low over the river add even more white spots to this timbre scale of upbeat emotions.
The picture, as never before, does not reflect any internal conflicts or philosophical reflections of the author, only love of life and delight. Even despite the fact that the optimistic mood of the painter was sometimes replaced by bouts of severe depression and a desire to commit suicide, it is obvious that during this period of his life Levitan was full of hope and believed that he still had a lot of good ahead of him.
The atmosphere of the painting "March" (1895, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow) is saturated with faith in the good. Soft loose snow is just beginning to melt under the rays of the spring sun, there is still no hint of the first foliage on the grayish tree trunks, thanks to which the birdhouse is clearly visible.
The canvas is filled with the expectation of summer, which portends long walks through the forest and meetings with loved ones. And now, they came to visit only for a couple of hours, and near the entrance, a horse excited by running, harnessed to a modest sleigh, dutifully awaits them. In this landscape there is so much joy of life and hope for the best, as there will never be in any other painting by the artist. Levitan continued to visit the Chekhovs with great pleasure. In their house in Melikhovo, he creates a wonderfully moody landscape "Blossoming Apple Trees" (1896, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow). The picture also refers to those few of his works that leave the viewer with a bright, major impression.
Resounding success
Around 1896, real recognition finally came to Levitan. His works were successfully exhibited at the international exhibition in Zurich. The Europeans were shocked by the amazing state of the landscapes of the Russian master.
Many friends advised the artist to visit the Russian North in order to capture its harsh cold images. The painter had the opportunity to go on such a long journey thanks to the funds he received from the sale of his latest works to Tretyakov. Levitan decides to go. But then, at the very last moment, unexpectedly for everyone, he leaves not for Siberia but for Finland.
Despite the fact that Finland is also a northern country with its exceptional nature, this journey did not please the artist. True, he brought home a few paintings.
For example, the canvas “In the North” (1896, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow), which depicts a cold and sad landscape. Centuries-old fir trees stand alone under the arch of the autumn cloudy sky. The picture gives the impression of alienation and coldness, which the artist probably experienced in a foreign country.
At this time, the artist shows the first signs of his illness. Chekhov, having examined his friend in 1896, writes in his diary that Levitan has a clear enlargement of the aorta.
However, the artist did not stop his work. In his canvases, as never before, there was a thirst for life. Painting «Spring. Big Water ”(1897, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow) became the pinnacle of Levitan’s spring lyrics. The thin trunks of young trees, immersed in clear water, stretch towards the light blue sky, as if washed by rain and reflected together with the trees in the waters of the overflowing river.
The onset of spring entails the awakening of nature, but now in its manifestations there is not so much hope for joy and warmth as hidden sadness and thoughts about the transience of life: before you have time to look back, summer will fly by, autumn will come, and after it winter.
Poor health forced the painter to take up his treatment. On the advice of Chekhov, he decides to go abroad again for treatment. The artist was attracted by the views of Mont Blanc, the peaks of the Apennines, but the doctors strictly forbade the painter to climb even the stairs. Trips to sketches in the mountains were under the strictest ban, but this did not stop Levitan. Unfortunately, violation of the recommendations of doctors led to another complication of his condition.
The artist soon returned to Russia, as he could not live long away from his native places. Ordinary, but infinitely native forests and rivers were more to the liking of the painter than beautiful and unprecedented European landscapes. The work "The last rays of the sun. Aspen Forest” (1897, private collection) became the master’s most amazing landscape in terms of color. The blue sky still peeps through the green foliage, but the sunset is already playing on the tree trunks with crimson flashes. A thick and damp grassy carpet gently covers the ground. The rays of the setting sun illuminated the forest in an unusually whimsical way, creating a light and upbeat mood, conveying the joy of being and fresh air, coupled with a pleasant evening fatigue. True, if the viewer carefully looks at the central part of the picture, then it suddenly seems that the reflections of the sunset are burning with painful burns on the bark of tired trees. Perhaps it was during this period that Levitan clearly began to realize the irreversibility of his state of health, which, in the end, led him to death.
Another blow was the death of a teacher beloved from the time of the school. In 1897, Savrasov was buried in Moscow. Of the last strength, Levitan nevertheless came to the memorial service to pay tribute to the memory of a person who meant so much to him.
Meanwhile, the fame and public recognition of the artist reached its zenith. The following year, in 1898, the Academy of Arts awarded Isaac Levitan the honorary title of academician. Almost a quarter of a century has passed since he was expelled from MUZHVIZ, offering only an insulting diploma of a “not cool” artist. And so, he again entered the building on Myasnitskaya, where he was now offered to lead a landscape workshop. Polenov still worked here, highly appreciating the work of his former student, and for a year his good friend Valentin Serov had been teaching.
Levitan accepted the offer and, with his characteristic ingenuity and emotionality, took up a new business. The artist has transformed the workshop. By his order, several dozen trees were brought there, transplanted from the forest into tubs, shrubs, many spruce branches, grass and moss. Many eminent painters came to see the forest glade built by the painter inside the school. At first, the students of the master were perplexed, but gradually their new teacher passed on to them an amazing ability to see something subtly beautiful in an unremarkable routine.
Waiting for the end
Levitan continues to work, amazing landscapes come out from under his brush, but neither hope nor joy is felt in their atmosphere anymore. Many of the artist's latest works are filled with motives for leaving, the end of human life.
Among them, one can note the painting “Silence” (1898, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg), which produces a painful and dreary impression. In the dark firmament, through the heavy lead clouds, the waning moon barely peeps out, under them arable lands and meadows stretch out, on which a quiet river glistens. The landscape seems not just sleeping, but dead, and only a large bird in the distance makes its night flight. What caused such a painful mood of the author? It would seem, finally, in the life of Levitan there were no more worries, no resentment, no financial problems. He was loved and respected at the school by his colleagues and students. The Board of Trustees of MUZHVIZ was sympathetic to all his requirements. In his workshop, he set up not only a forest clearing, but also a chic greenhouse, which he himself created from dozens of flowers in pots.
The students of his class made great strides, the artist attracted all the talented youth who traveled with him to sketches. But the inconsolable sadness that haunted the painter almost all his life, although seasoned with an external touch of efficiency and purposefulness, found its way out in his works. For example, in the landscape "Twilight" (1899, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow), the viewer sees a summer day that has finally ended, the haystacks standing in the field speak of the intensity of hard work. After sunset, almost nothing is visible around, the whole plot is saturated with deadly fatigue.
After the death of Pavel Tretyakov, Levitan was included by the teaching staff of MUZHVIZ in a commission engaged in perpetuating the memory of the great collector and philanthropist, some of whose acquisitions strangely began to disappear and appear in completely strangers. Perhaps at that time the painter felt the end of a great era, when Russian painters had real connoisseurs of their work, for whom money was by no means important.
During his life, the artist suffered so much from poverty and humiliation that he always tried to help his students. He found simple painting orders for them or simply helped them with money from his own salary. Levitan did not get tired of working for young artists in front of the artistic council of exhibitions and was always worried about their work no less than for his own paintings.
Outwardly, Levatin continued an active life, he taught, met with friends, even visited the Chekhovs in Yalta in 1899, but it seems that subconsciously the artist had already separated himself from this world. He already felt the approach of his own death, he even spoke about this to Maria Pavlovna Chekhova during their long walks along the Crimean coast.
The canvas "Summer Evening" (1900, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow) conveys the mood of detachment with unusual sharpness. Here, over the outskirts, hung a piebald shadow. The sunlight that illuminates the autumn forest in the background of the picture is almost a stone's throw away, but the dirt road under the very outskirts will not lead there, it suddenly ends.
Despite premonitions, Levitan made plans. He agreed with Serov to spend the next summer with his relatives. He promised his students frequent trips to sketches in the spring. But neither one nor the other, he failed to carry out.
At the end of May 1900, the artist was bedridden by illness. Anna Nikolaevna Turchaninova immediately came to him, determined to put her beloved on his feet. She often sent letters to Chekhov, in which she described in detail the state of the artist's health, asked for advice, but she herself understood more and more clearly that all her efforts were powerless.
Isaac Ilyich Levitan died on July 22, 1900, just a few days before reaching the age of forty. According to an unconfirmed diagnosis, the cause of death was rheumatic myocarditis.
And at the World Exhibition in Paris at that time his works were successfully exhibited.
Isaac Ilyich Levitan left after his death about forty unfinished landscapes found by relatives in his workshop. Levitan's older brother Abel Ilyich, according to the will of the deceased, destroyed many of his sketches, sketches, almost all letters, notes and diaries.
Painting “Lake. Rus'” (State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg) was among the works that were considered unfinished by the master and were not shown to the public. Obviously, this landscape was conceived by Levitan back in the mid-1890s. This is evidenced by the coloring of the work - the bright blue sky, the lake shining in the sun, the red roofs of the settlements, the cultivated arable land on the other side and the church whitening in the distance - everything is filled with a spiritualized high spirits. And only small shadows from the clouds falling on the clear water and the hilly shore bring a bit of sad reflections into the joyful state of admiration for the native land.
The talented artist did not have time to complete this work, but even in its unfinished version it belongs to the most significant works of the master. With his work, Isaac Levitan had a huge impact not only on domestic, but also on European art of the 20th century. Having practically become the ancestor of the mood landscape genre, the painter enriched the national culture, and his high spiritual authority is invaluable for Russian landscape painting.
Tatiana Zhuravleva
Isaac Ilyich Levitan is an outstanding founder of landscape painting of the 19th century. Among many of his fellow landscape painters, Levitan stands out as a spiritual master creating a poetic image of nature, with its deep emotionality of color shades, which makes the viewer feel in the artist’s picture the wonderful state of Russian nature, in all its splendor and tranquility. His works were very enthusiastically appreciated by his contemporaries, who considered the artist's paintings mood landscapes with surprisingly truthful authenticity. For all the time of his creative biography, Levitan created thousands of paintings and sketches, and his work can be considered with full confidence the standard in landscape painting.
Artist Levitan biography and creativity, description of paintings Levitan was born in Lithuania, Kovno province) August 30, 1860 in a small town called Kibarty, in a poor, one might even say poor and large Jewish family, nevertheless, Isaac's parents were educated and decent people. Due to the difficult financial situation, the family decided to move to Moscow.
Isaac's older brother also had artistic inclinations and in Moscow he first entered the school of painting, sculpture and architecture in 1871, at the same time helping to develop Isaac's painting skills, who goes to sketches with him and gains some knowledge of working with paints and understanding beauty nature.
2 years after his brother entered the school, Isaac Levitan also entered the school, who was very lucky, his teachers were famous masters of painting - Savrasov, Perov and the artist Polenov, from whom the young artist received the necessary knowledge of painting techniques. But in 1875, unpleasant events occurred in Levitan's family, his mother dies, with difficulty bearing the loss of his wife, his father falls ill, who was no longer able to fully provide for his family financially, so looking at this situation at the school, they decided to partially help Levitan's family, freeing academically capable brothers from tuition fees.
But life's failures continued in 1877, his father dies from an illness, left without parents, he and his brother and sisters find themselves in a very difficult financial situation. Looking at the plight in which Levitan found himself with his family, the artist Savrasov offers him study in his landscape class and, under the supervision of Savrasov, the young artist works hard.
In the late 70s, Levitan makes friends with the writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, with whom they were friends in life and comradely helped each other, of course, as happens with friends, things could not do without rubbish.
Thanks to his studies with Savrasov, Levitan creates several wonderful paintings, 2 of which are exhibited at the exhibition, for which the young artist is awarded a small silver medal and a cash prize of 220 rubles, which, accordingly, was very useful. But the difficulties with this ended, as we remember, Isaac Levitan was a Jew and it would seem that everything was fine.
In 1879, a certain A. Solovyov made an attempt on the tsar himself, someone started a rumor. that he was a Jew, as it turned out later, this was not so, nevertheless, the tsar issued a formidable decree: All Jews are prohibited from permanent residence in Moscow. The Levitan family was forced to move to the Balashikha district of the Moscow region, where they settled in a small house in Saltykovka. In the same place, the artist is engaged in creativity and paints a picture Evening after the rain.
Later, a year later, with the money earned from the sale of paintings, the artist rents an apartment in Lubyanka. Inspired by some successes, he continues to work, paints a lot from nature, creates a picture in 1880 Oak Grove. Autumn, Oak, Half-station, Pines, Last snow. Savvinskaya Sloboda and others. In 1885, Isaac Levitan graduated from college, but either due to Jewish affairs of that time, he was denied the title of artist, instead he was awarded a teacher's diploma in calligraphy.
From all these troubles in life, the artist's health is shaken, he travels to the Crimea and creates a series of his works there, and upon his return arranges an exhibition.
In 1887, the artist visited the Volga, but the cloudy weather in the vicinity of the Volga at that time did not suit him. And only a year later he decided to visit the Volga again, together with his colleagues they chose a wonderful place for sketches, in the vicinity of the city of Ples.
Here they lingered for a long time from 1888 to 1890, during which time Levitan created a huge number of paintings that shocked the Russian public.
At this period of his biography, Levitan becomes a famous landscape painter, improving his financial situation, he travels abroad, visiting European countries such as France and Italy, where he gets acquainted with the art of European artists, visiting Impressionist galleries, he is convinced of the correctness of the chosen direction of painting.
In 1891, in the month of March, Isaac Levitan joins the ranks of the Wanderers, where he often demonstrates his work and meets the philanthropist Sergei Morozov. who had a passion for painting.
Morozov arranges for Levitan a good workshop in Trekhsvyatitelsky Lane, which, accordingly, was the dream of any artist.
In 1892, he paints paintings: Autumn, At the pool, Summer, October, Evening ringing, which were exhibited at the 20th traveling exhibition.
But again troubled times came for the artist, in 1892 there was an order to evict all Jews from Moscow within 24 hours. Levitan moves to the provinces and lives either in the Tver or Vladimir volosts.
Levitan's return to Moscow was facilitated by his many friends and patrons.
Returning again to Moscow with him from a temporary "exile" the artist brings a picture of Vladimirka.
In 1893, it was painted by his colleague, the portrait painter Serov.
In 1894, in the Tver province, Levitan painted a picture Above Eternal Peace. Despite the fact that Levitan was a Jew, the painting Over Eternal Peace was recognized as a truly Russian work among the works of other artists.
In 1895, at Turchanova's estate in Gorka, Levitan created the now-famous painting March and several works: Nenyufary, another masterpiece was the famous painting Golden Autumn and the painting Fresh Wind. Volga.
The artist often moves from one city to another in 1896 in Odessa, he arranges an exhibition with fellow artists, then visits Finland, where he paints a number of his works, paintings of the Fortress. Finland, Rocks, Finland, Remains of the past. Twilight. Finland and others
For all these times, Levitan has accumulated a lot of experience, he created a great number of works and in 1898 he was awarded the honorary title of academician for his services in landscape painting.
In 1899, there were health problems and Levitan was offered treatment in the city of Yalta, where he met his friend Chekhov.
But he did not stay in Yalta for long, as there was no improvement in his health and the artist walked with a stick and was choking with a cough.
Having never recovered in the Crimea, Levitan returned to Moscow in 1900, where the writer Chekhov again visited his patient. on August 3, 1900, the artist Levitan died.
Levitan painted this still life that summer, when he created other small studies depicting flowers. Most likely, it was intended as a gift for a lady, as evidenced by the French inscription in the corner of the painting: "Souvenir". […]
The picture depicts the Volga coast, overgrown with grass near the water, and on a hill covered with dense shrubs and trees, displayed in the water, which shimmers in the advancing twilight. The water recreates the rays of the setting […]
The drawing shows a view of the surroundings of Zvenigorod, sketches for which the artist made when he was in Savvinskaya Sloboda. The lithograph was published in the Rossiya magazine, illustrating an article about Zvenigorod, but it was published with […]
Isaac Ilyich Levitan painted the painting “Forest. Sunny day" in the period from 1883-1884. Exceptional nature is the only inspiration for Levitan. The picture has its own lyrical intonation. The artist subtly felt the image of nature for this [...]
Russian artist who was born in Lithuania, in a Jewish family. All this is about Isaac Levitan, the genius of Russian landscape painting. It was he who created the so-called mood landscape genre. Among their fellow painters who painted […]
The artist Isaac Levitan is known in our country as a landscape painter who depicts the nature of the middle lane in his paintings. Perhaps no one, like Levitan, managed to display the greatness of Russian nature and transfer […]
