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Isaac Ilyich Levitan
About museum
Isaac Ilyich Levitan was a Russian painter and draftsman of Jewish origin, one of the most famous landscape painters of the post-reform era, and an academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts. It is generally believed that Isaac Ilyich Levitan was born in the Lithuanian town of Kybartai into the family of railway employee Elyash Abramovich Levitan. But there is a version according to which Isaac may have been the son of Elyash's younger brother — Khatskel Leibovich Levitan — and thus Elyash's nephew. Elyash was an educated man, knew German and French, and supplemented the family income with translation work and tutoring. Besides Isaac, three other children were raised in the family. In the early 1870s the family moved to Moscow.
Levitan received his education at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. He studied under Perov, Savrasov, and Polenov. Alexei Savrasov played a key role in Levitan's development. During his studies the painter repeatedly faced financial hardships and antisemitic prejudice, so upon graduating he received a diploma as a penmanship teacher.
In 1879, due to persecutions of Jews, he moved to Saltykovka, where he painted one of his most famous works, "Autumn Day. Sokolniki." Despite the vicissitudes of fate, Levitan gained recognition, became a member of the Peredvizhniki (Itinerants) society, and was able to travel abroad. His friendship with the writer Anton Chekhov had a special influence on his life. In 1898 Levitan was awarded the title of academician and took a teaching position at his alma mater. The most productive period of Levitan's work were the seasons in Plyos: the painter created about two hundred canvases there. The best-known paintings of that period are "Evening. Golden Plyos", "After the Rain. Plyos", "Church in Plyos."
Years of extreme poverty, poor living conditions, strenuous work, and an episode of typhus negatively affected Levitan's health. The artist died at the age of 39 from a heart aneurysm.
Date of birth
30 August 1860
Date of death
04 August 1900
Occupation
Artist