Landscape with forest river

Isaac Levitan: 1860–1900

realismLithuaniaRussia

Other names (15)

I. I. Levitan, Isaac Iliitch Lévitan, Isaac Ilitch Levitan, Isaac Iljitsch Levitan, Isaac Ilyich Levitan, Isaac Ilyitch Levitan, Isaak Il'ich Levitan, Isaak Ilʹich Levitan, Isaak Il'ic Levitan, Isaak Iljitsch Lewitan, Isaak Ilyich Levitan, Isaak Levitan, Isaḳ Leṿiṭan, Levitan, Исаак Левитан

Biography

Isaac Ilyich Levitan (Russian: Исаа́к Ильи́ч Левита́н; 30 August [O.S. 18 August] 1860 – 4 August [O.S. 22 July] 1900) was a Russian landscape painter who advanced the genre of the "mood landscape".

Isaac Levitan was born in a shtetl of Kibarty, Augustów Governorate in Congress Poland, a part of the Russian Empire (present-day 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 Kowno 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 Alexei Savrasov, Vasily Perov and Vasily Polenov.

Wikipedia contributors. Opening excerpt, formatted for reading. CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision.

Influenced by

Arnold Böcklindocumented
Evidence
Böcklin’s work mediated Levitan’s engagement with European Symbolism. The cited museum text was read and supports this relationship.
- State Tretyakov Gallery; Galina Churak, 7 April 2023
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corotdocumented
Evidence
Corot is identified among Levitan’s favourite painters. The cited museum text was read and supports this relationship.
- State Tretyakov Gallery; Galina Churak, 7 April 2023
Alexei Savrasovdocumented
Evidence
Savrasov took Levitan into his landscape class. The cited museum text was read and supports this relationship. Teaching is recorded separately and does not itself establish artistic influence.
- State Tretyakov Gallery; Galina Churak, 7 April 2023
James Abbott McNeill Whistlerdocumented
Evidence
Whistler’s work mediated Levitan’s engagement with European Symbolism. The cited museum text was read and supports this relationship.
- State Tretyakov Gallery; Galina Churak, 7 April 2023
Théodore Rousseaudocumented
Evidence
Rousseau is identified among Levitan’s favourite painters. The cited museum text was read and supports this relationship.
- State Tretyakov Gallery; Galina Churak, 7 April 2023
Jean-François Milletdocumented
Evidence
Millet is identified among Levitan’s favourite painters. The cited museum text was read and supports this relationship.
- State Tretyakov Gallery; Galina Churak, 7 April 2023
Vasily Perovdocumented
Evidence
Levitan initially studied in Perov’s life class. The cited museum text was read and supports this relationship. Teaching is recorded separately and does not itself establish artistic influence.
- State Tretyakov Gallery; Galina Churak, 7 April 2023
Vasily Polenovdocumented
Evidence
Polenov is explicitly identified as Levitan’s teacher. The cited museum text was read and supports this relationship. Teaching is recorded separately and does not itself establish artistic influence.
- State Tretyakov Gallery; Galina Churak, 7 April 2023

Later influence

Vitold Byalynitsky-Birulyaeditorial inference
Evidence
Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified. Teaching is recorded separately and does not itself establish artistic influence.
- Wikidata (CC0)
Nikolay Bogdanov-Belskyeditorial inference
Evidence
Wikidata assertion retained for review; its references, if supplied, have not been independently verified.
- Wikidata (CC0)

Museums & collections

Documented holdings of works attributed to Isaac Levitan. Check the museum’s record for current display information.

State Russian Museum56 recorded works
Tretyakov Gallery18 recorded works
Omsk Regional Museum of Fine Arts (Vrubel Museum), Omsk, Russia3 recorded works
National Gallery of Armenia2 recorded works
Tatarstan Museum of Fine Arts, Kazan, Russia2 recorded works
Tula Oblast Art Museum2 recorded works
Ashmolean Museum1 recorded work
Chuvashian State Arts Museum1 recorded work
Dagestan Museum of Fine Arts, Makhachkala, Russia1 recorded work
Irkutsk Regional Museum of Fine Arts (Sukachev Museum), Irkutsk, Russia1 recorded work
Kirov Regional Museum of Fine Arts (Vasnetsov Museum), Kirov, Russia1 recorded work
Kursk State Art Gallery (Deyneka Museum), Kursk, Russia1 recorded work
Lviv National Art Gallery, Lviv, Ukraine1 recorded work
Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan1 recorded work
Mykolayiv Museum of Fine Arts (Vereshchagin Museum), Mykolayiv, Ukraine1 recorded work
National Museum in Warsaw1 recorded work
Novgorod State Museum Preserve, Novgorod, Russia1 recorded work
Perm State Art Gallery, Perm, Russia1 recorded work
State Museum of Fine Arts, Nizhny Tagil, Russia1 recorded work
Tver Regional Art Gallery, Tver, Russia1 recorded work

Sources 7