Isaac Levitan
1860–1900
Isaac Levitan studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, including with Alexei Savrasov. His landscapes range from a spring courtyard to a broad lake beneath storm clouds. Restrained tonal relationships coexist with vivid combinations such as those in Golden Autumn.
Titles and the history of places can substantially alter the meaning of his paintings. Vladimir Highway recalls a route of exile, while Above Eternal Peace approaches human time through a church and cemetery. Levitan selected relationships between land, water, sky and buildings that sustained attention even within an outwardly simple setting.
