Five paintings by famous Russian 19th century artist Isaac Levitan with a total cost of over $2 million were reported stolen from his memorial house in Plyos earlier on Tuesday.
“Paintings called "The Halt," "Roses," "Ravine with Fence," "Water Margin (Pond)" and "Quiet Stream" were stolen.” – the local authorities reported, “Some of these pieces were given to the museum, others were acquired back in the 1980-ies.”
The paintings were insured for 13-20 million rubles each.
“This is not the first time someone tried to break into the museum,” head of the local culture department Svetlana Shmeleva said. About a year ago a similar attempt was prevented by the museum’s security system.
Isaac Levitan (1860 - 1900) was a classical Russian landscape artist. The majority of his paintings are exhibited at the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. His memorial house in Plyos first opened to visitors in 1972. Isaac Levitan came to Plyos in 1888 and created 23 paintings and over 200 studies and sketches while residing there.
