Isaac Ilyich Levitan Painting Reproductions 1 of 6
1860-1900
Russian Peredvizhniki Painter
Isaac Ilyich Levitan (August 30, 1860 - July 22 August 4 new style, 1900) was a classical Russian landscape painter who advanced the genre of the mood landscape.
Youth
Isaac Levitan was born in a shtetl of Kybartai, Kaunas region, Lithuania, into a poor but educated Jewish family. His father Elyashiv Levitan was the son of a rabbi, completed a Yeshiva and was self-educated. He taught German and French in Kaunas and later worked as a translator at a railway bridge construction for a French building company. At the beginning of 1870 the Levitan family moved to Moscow.
In September 1873, Isaac Levitan entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture where his older brother Avel had already studied for two years. After a year in the copying class Isaac transferred into a naturalistic class, and soon thereafter into a landscape class. Levitan's teachers were the famous Savrasov, V.G. Perov and Vasiliy Polenov. For his successes at school, Levitan was awarded a box of paints and two dozen brushes.
In 1875, his mother died, and his father fell seriously ill and became unable to support four children; he died in 1879. The family slipped into abject poverty. As patronage for Levitan's talent and achievements and to keep him in the school, he was given a scholarship.
Early work
In 1877, Isaac Levitan's works were first publicly exhibited and earned favorable recognition from the press. After Alexander Soloviev's assassination attempt on Alexander II, in May 1879, mass deportations of Jews from big cities of the Russian Empire forced the family to move to the suburb of Saltykovka, but in the fall officials responded to pressure from art devotees, and Levitan was allowed to return. In 1880 his painting "Autumn day. Sokolniki" was bought by famous philanthropist and art collector Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov.
In the spring of 1884 Levitan participated in the mobile art exhibition by the group known as the Peredvizhniki and in 1891 became a member of the Peredvizhniki partnership. During his study in the Moscow School of painting, sculpturing and architecture, Levitan befriended Konstantin Korovin, Mikhail Nesterov, architect Fyodor Shekhtel, and the painter Nikolai Chekhov, whose famous brother Anton Chekhov became the artist's closest friend. Levitan often visited Chekhov and some think Levitan was in love with his sister, Maria Pavlovna Chekhova.
In the early 1880s Levitan collaborated with the Chekhov brothers on the illustrated magazine "Moscow" and illustrated the M. Fabritsius edition "Kremlin". Together with Korovin in 1885-1886 he painted scenery for performances of the Private Russian opera of S.I.Mamontov.
In the 1880s he participated in the drawing and watercolor gatherings at Polenov's house.
The landscape of mood
Levitan's work was a profound response to the lyrical charm of the Russian landscape. Levitan did not paint urban landscapes; with the exception of the View of Simonov Monastery (whereabouts unknown), mentioned by Nesterov, the city of Moscow appears only in the painting Illumination of the Kremlin. During the late 1870s he often worked in the vicinity of Moscow, and created the special variant of the "landscape of mood", in which the shape and condition of nature are spiritualized, and become carriers of conditions of the human soul (Autumn day. Sokolniki, 1879). During work in Ostankino, he painted fragments of the mansion's house and park, but he was most fond of poetic places in the forest or modest countryside. Characteristic of his work is a hushed and nearly melancholic reverie amidst pastoral landscapes largely devoid of human presence. Fine examples of these qualities include The Vladimirka Road, 1892 Evening Bells, 1892, and Eternal Rest, 1894, all in the Tretyakov Gallery. Though his late work displayed familiarity with Impressionism, his palette was generally muted, and his tendencies were more naturalistic and poetic than optical or scientific.
Late life
In the summer of 1890 Levitan went to Yuryevets and among numerous landscapes and etudes he painted The View of Krivooserski monastery. So the plan of one of his best pictures, The Silent Monastery, was born. The image of a silent monastery and planked bridges over the river, connecting it with the outside world, expressed the artist's spiritual reflections. It is known that this picture made a strong impression on Chekhov.
In 1897, already world-famous, he was elected to the Imperial Academy of Arts and in 1898 he was named the head of the Landscape Studio at his alma mater.
Levitan spent the last year of his life at Chekhov's home in Crimea. In spite of the effects of a terminal illness, his last works are increasingly filled with light. They reflect tranquility and the eternal beauty of Russian nature.
He was buried in Dorogomilovo Jewish cemetery. In April 1941 Levitan's remains were moved to the Novodevichy Cemetery, next to Chekhov's necropolis. Levitan did not have a family or children.
Isaac Levitan's hugely influential art heritage consists of more than a thousand paintings, among them watercolors, pastels, graphics, and illustrations.
Youth
Isaac Levitan was born in a shtetl of Kybartai, Kaunas region, Lithuania, into a poor but educated Jewish family. His father Elyashiv Levitan was the son of a rabbi, completed a Yeshiva and was self-educated. He taught German and French in Kaunas and later worked as a translator at a railway bridge construction for a French building company. At the beginning of 1870 the Levitan family moved to Moscow.
In September 1873, Isaac Levitan entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture where his older brother Avel had already studied for two years. After a year in the copying class Isaac transferred into a naturalistic class, and soon thereafter into a landscape class. Levitan's teachers were the famous Savrasov, V.G. Perov and Vasiliy Polenov. For his successes at school, Levitan was awarded a box of paints and two dozen brushes.
In 1875, his mother died, and his father fell seriously ill and became unable to support four children; he died in 1879. The family slipped into abject poverty. As patronage for Levitan's talent and achievements and to keep him in the school, he was given a scholarship.
Early work
In 1877, Isaac Levitan's works were first publicly exhibited and earned favorable recognition from the press. After Alexander Soloviev's assassination attempt on Alexander II, in May 1879, mass deportations of Jews from big cities of the Russian Empire forced the family to move to the suburb of Saltykovka, but in the fall officials responded to pressure from art devotees, and Levitan was allowed to return. In 1880 his painting "Autumn day. Sokolniki" was bought by famous philanthropist and art collector Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov.
In the spring of 1884 Levitan participated in the mobile art exhibition by the group known as the Peredvizhniki and in 1891 became a member of the Peredvizhniki partnership. During his study in the Moscow School of painting, sculpturing and architecture, Levitan befriended Konstantin Korovin, Mikhail Nesterov, architect Fyodor Shekhtel, and the painter Nikolai Chekhov, whose famous brother Anton Chekhov became the artist's closest friend. Levitan often visited Chekhov and some think Levitan was in love with his sister, Maria Pavlovna Chekhova.
In the early 1880s Levitan collaborated with the Chekhov brothers on the illustrated magazine "Moscow" and illustrated the M. Fabritsius edition "Kremlin". Together with Korovin in 1885-1886 he painted scenery for performances of the Private Russian opera of S.I.Mamontov.
In the 1880s he participated in the drawing and watercolor gatherings at Polenov's house.
The landscape of mood
Levitan's work was a profound response to the lyrical charm of the Russian landscape. Levitan did not paint urban landscapes; with the exception of the View of Simonov Monastery (whereabouts unknown), mentioned by Nesterov, the city of Moscow appears only in the painting Illumination of the Kremlin. During the late 1870s he often worked in the vicinity of Moscow, and created the special variant of the "landscape of mood", in which the shape and condition of nature are spiritualized, and become carriers of conditions of the human soul (Autumn day. Sokolniki, 1879). During work in Ostankino, he painted fragments of the mansion's house and park, but he was most fond of poetic places in the forest or modest countryside. Characteristic of his work is a hushed and nearly melancholic reverie amidst pastoral landscapes largely devoid of human presence. Fine examples of these qualities include The Vladimirka Road, 1892 Evening Bells, 1892, and Eternal Rest, 1894, all in the Tretyakov Gallery. Though his late work displayed familiarity with Impressionism, his palette was generally muted, and his tendencies were more naturalistic and poetic than optical or scientific.
Late life
In the summer of 1890 Levitan went to Yuryevets and among numerous landscapes and etudes he painted The View of Krivooserski monastery. So the plan of one of his best pictures, The Silent Monastery, was born. The image of a silent monastery and planked bridges over the river, connecting it with the outside world, expressed the artist's spiritual reflections. It is known that this picture made a strong impression on Chekhov.
In 1897, already world-famous, he was elected to the Imperial Academy of Arts and in 1898 he was named the head of the Landscape Studio at his alma mater.
Levitan spent the last year of his life at Chekhov's home in Crimea. In spite of the effects of a terminal illness, his last works are increasingly filled with light. They reflect tranquility and the eternal beauty of Russian nature.
He was buried in Dorogomilovo Jewish cemetery. In April 1941 Levitan's remains were moved to the Novodevichy Cemetery, next to Chekhov's necropolis. Levitan did not have a family or children.
Isaac Levitan's hugely influential art heritage consists of more than a thousand paintings, among them watercolors, pastels, graphics, and illustrations.
122 Isaac Levitan Paintings
Sunny Day. Spring 1877
Oil Painting
$459
$459
Canvas Print
$49.98
$49.98
SKU: LEV-957
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: unknown
Private Collection
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: unknown
Private Collection
Evening. The Golden Pool 1889
Oil Painting
$746
$746
Canvas Print
$73.96
$73.96
SKU: LEV-958
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 84.2 x 142 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 84.2 x 142 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Above the Eternal Peace 1894
Oil Painting
$673
$673
Canvas Print
$54.26
$54.26
SKU: LEV-959
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 150 x 206 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 150 x 206 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
The Lake. Russia 1895
Oil Painting
$704
$704
Canvas Print
$75.44
$75.44
SKU: LEV-960
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 149 x 208 cm
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 149 x 208 cm
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
March 1895
Oil Painting
$746
$746
Canvas Print
$61.70
$61.70
SKU: LEV-961
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 60 x 75 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 60 x 75 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Twilight. Haystacks 1899
Oil Painting
$569
$569
Canvas Print
$59.77
$59.77
SKU: LEV-962
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 59.8 x 74.6 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 59.8 x 74.6 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
The Quiet Abode 1890
Oil Painting
$675
$675
Canvas Print
$59.36
$59.36
SKU: LEV-963
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 88 x 108 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 88 x 108 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Birch Grove 1889
Oil Painting
$561
$561
Canvas Print
$49.98
$49.98
SKU: LEV-8009
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 28 x 50 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 28 x 50 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Spring, High Water 1897
Oil Painting
$652
$652
Canvas Print
$65.15
$65.15
SKU: LEV-8010
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 64.2 x 57.5 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 64.2 x 57.5 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Spring in Italy 1890
Oil Painting
$551
$551
Canvas Print
$49.98
$49.98
SKU: LEV-8011
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 19.5 x 32.5 cm
Private Collection
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 19.5 x 32.5 cm
Private Collection
Early Spring 1898
Oil Painting
$482
$482
Canvas Print
$49.98
$49.98
SKU: LEV-8012
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 41.5 x 66.3 cm
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 41.5 x 66.3 cm
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
The Evening Bell Tolls 1892
Oil Painting
$746
$746
Canvas Print
$59.36
$59.36
SKU: LEV-8013
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 87 x 108 cm
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 87 x 108 cm
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
Self Portrait c.1880/90
Oil Painting
$412
$412
Canvas Print
$56.64
$56.64
SKU: LEV-8014
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 58 x 39 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 58 x 39 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
The Twilight Moon 1899
Oil Painting
$537
$537
Canvas Print
$51.34
$51.34
SKU: LEV-8015
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 49.5 x 61.3 cm
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 49.5 x 61.3 cm
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
Spring in the Forest 1882
Oil Painting
$475
$475
Canvas Print
$49.98
$49.98
SKU: LEV-8016
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 43.4 x 35.7 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 43.4 x 35.7 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Golden Autumn 1895
Oil Painting
$727
$727
Canvas Print
$49.98
$49.98
SKU: LEV-8017
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 82 x 126 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 82 x 126 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
June. Summer c.1890/00
Oil Painting
$650
$650
Canvas Print
$58.41
$58.41
SKU: LEV-8018
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 43.5 x 61 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 43.5 x 61 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Water Lilies 1895
Oil Painting
$701
$701
Canvas Print
$54.67
$54.67
SKU: LEV-8019
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 92 x 128 cm
Astrakhan State Gallery B.M. Kustodiev, Astrakhan, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 92 x 128 cm
Astrakhan State Gallery B.M. Kustodiev, Astrakhan, Russia
On Lake (The Tver Province) 1893
Oil Painting
$768
$768
Canvas Print
$50.82
$50.82
SKU: LEV-8020
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 109 x 163 cm
The Saratov State Art Museum A. N. Radishchev, Saratov, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 109 x 163 cm
The Saratov State Art Museum A. N. Radishchev, Saratov, Russia
Early Spring c.1890
Oil Painting
$529
$529
Canvas Print
$49.98
$49.98
SKU: LEV-8021
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 49 x 72 cm
Art Gallery, Taganrog, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 49 x 72 cm
Art Gallery, Taganrog, Russia
Autumn. Hunter 1880
Oil Painting
$664
$664
Canvas Print
$49.98
$49.98
SKU: LEV-8022
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 93.8 x 68 cm
Regional Art Gallery, Tver, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 93.8 x 68 cm
Regional Art Gallery, Tver, Russia
After Rain in Ples 1889
Oil Painting
$727
$727
Canvas Print
$49.98
$49.98
SKU: LEV-8023
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 80 x 125 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 80 x 125 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Savvinskaya Sloboda near Zvenigorod 1884
Oil Painting
$623
$623
Canvas Print
$73.82
$73.82
SKU: LEV-8024
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 44 x 67 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 44 x 67 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Fresh Wind on the Volga 1895
Oil Painting
$716
$716
Canvas Print
$76.80
$76.80
SKU: LEV-8025
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 72 x 123 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Isaac Ilyich Levitan
Original Size: 72 x 123 cm
The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia