Russian artist Isaac Levitan was born on August 30, 150 years ago.
Russian artist Isaac Levitan was born on August 30, 150 years ago. Photo: Haystacks. Twilight. 1899. Isaac Levitan
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Levitan is known for his spirited and lyrical landscapes, which combine nature with personal feeling. Photo: Lilies. 1895. Isaac Levitan.
Levitan painted his first work - Autumn Day, Sokolniki Park (1879) - when he was around 20. The woman in the foreground was painted by artist Nikolai Chekhov, brother of writer Anton Chekhov.
The painting, After Rain. Ples, the first in Levitan’s famous ‘sky poetry’ collection was painted in 1889 during one of his trips down the Volga.
Levitan completed around 200 paintings in the three summers he spend in Ples, a small town on the Volga. These paintings made Levitan famous. Photo: Evening.The Golden Reach.1889. Isaac Levitan.
Levitan painted Above the Eternal Peace, 1894 while listening to the Funeral march from Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony. In a letter about the painting to Arts Patron Pavel Tretyakov, Levitan wrote “I′m putting everything into it. My whole spirit, all that I have…”
Levitan’s By the Deep Waters (1892) was inspired by a deep pool in Zatishye, Tver Region. The painting’s dusk light is imbued with a mystical and contemplative mood.
“Levitan was one of few Russian artists who relished his brush and paints and was able to paint not only correctly, but also beautifully. All his art works are picturesque, making them difficult to talk about, but easy to admire,” Alexander Benua wrote about the artist. Photo: Golden Autumn. 1895. Isaac Levitan.
Levitan’s March (1895), which depicts a winter landscape, was a milestone for Russian art. No one before had painted snow, the blue shadows of trees and the bright blue sky in such a picturesque and bright way. After this painting, these features became common themes of Russian art.
Lake. Russia. 1900 is one of Levitan’s best works. It is also his last painting and remains incomplete. But finished or not, the painting is a real masterpiece with fresh, impressionist colors that create an exact impression of a bright autumn day.
