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Isaac
Levitan

Russia • 1860−1900

Let them say: friends and biographers of Levitan about his unusual amorousness, eastern importance and Velazquez appearance

... and also about what Levitan’s landscapes smell like, how his hunting dog learned to count, and who was the only woman whom the artist proposed.
... This is truly a person who leads you for a walk, sometimes in galoshes, sometimes under the scorching sun, but always in places where it smells wonderful of fresh air, snow, dry leaves and a blossoming birch. Usually, landscape painters paint landscapes, and they smell like oil.
Alexander Benois, artist, art historian, critic

MalyavinI was persuaded to quit painting landscapes: “How can you not understand that after Levitan it’s impossible to paint landscapes already?” Levitan rewrote everything and wrote in such a way that he would never write to you or to anyone else. The landscape, my friend, the cover. You just do stupid things. Look, what kind of landscapes are on display right now? Only bad fakes under Levitan.
Igor Grabar, artist, art critic

Women found him beautiful, he knew this and flirted in front of them strongly. Levitan was irresistible to women, and he himself was unusually amorous. His hobbies proceeded violently, in plain sight, with various stupidities, up to and including shots. From the first glance at the woman he was interested in, he threw everything and rushed after her in pursuit, although she left Moscow at all. It cost him nothing to kneel before the lady, wherever he met her, whether in the park alley or in a house with people. Some women liked it in him, while others, fearing to be compromised, were wary of him, although secretly, as far as I know, they sympathized with him. Thanks to one of his courtship, he was summoned to a duel at a symphony meeting, right at the concert, and immediately in the intermission he asked me with excitement to be his second.
Mikhail Chekhov, Anton Chekhov's younger brother, writer, theater critic

Once Anton, Kolya (we are talking about the Chekhov brothers - ed.), Levitan and another student artist bought oranges from the shopkeeper and started selling them on the street so cheaply that the shopkeeper called the police and the students were taken to the station.
Donald Rayfield, literary critic, historian, in the book "The Life of Chekhov"
Isaac Levitan. Cornflowers
Cornflowers
1884, 62.3×47 cm
Levitan ... was fascinated by the beauties of southern nature by the sea, flowering almonds. The elegance motifs of ancient Tauris with its opal sea, brooding cypress trees, with a soft outline of mountains corresponded to the tender, melancholic nature of the artist. Returning to Moscow, Levitan put his Crimean studies at the Periodic Exhibition, at that time the most popular after the Mobile. Sketches were sold out in the very first days ...
Mikhail Nesterov, artist, friend

The more I walk around the outskirts of Yalta, the more I appreciate the outline of Levitan. Neither Aivazovsky, nor Lagorio, nor Shishkin, nor MyasoedovThey did not give such true and characteristic images of the Crimea as Levitan.
Vasily Polenov, artist, teacher Levitan
Levitan was one of those rare people who do not have enemies - I do not remember anyone speaking negatively about him. Polenov literally adored him, and he was adopted by him as his own person, as his own.
Alexander Golovin, artist, classmate Levitan and student Polenov

The more I saw and talked with the surprisingly sincere, simple, thoughtfully kind Levitan, the more I looked at his deeply poetic landscapes, the more I began to understand and appreciate the great feeling and poetry in art ... I realized that I did not need to copy objects and diligently painting them to make them seem as spectacular as possible is not art ...
Fedor Chaliapin, artist

Levitan was an unrestrained, frenzied hunter ... Isaac Ilyich almost skoppidomno denied himself the most necessary expenses, he did not dine and drink tea every day, he was still paid cheaply for art ... He gave the last to his hunting dog - she was never hungry. Levitan the artist and Levitan the hunter are inseparable. The hunt gave the artist new rich reserves of artistic impressions. When they were not updated for a long time, they became scanty, a tired artist took a gun, a dog wagged his tail, ran ahead of the owner along the settlement, a welcomed wind from the flood meadows, spicy and sweet smell of hayloft in the backyards, a kite swimming in the blue over the forest, looking for a victim . It was pleasant, earned, suffered idleness - rest. The farther from the settlement, the faster the hunter walked. He almost ran, not taking his eyes off the humble and intelligent dog. She knew the score to ten. Isaac Ilyich asked: - Vesta, five, eight, three ... And the dog barked as many times as it should. Levitan talked with Vesta, as with a person close to him.
Ivan Evdokimov, biographer
Isaac Levitan on the hunt, with the dog Vesta.

... Levitan put down his fishing rod and began to recite something from Tyutchev, Apukhtin, Nikitin or Alexei Tolstoy. These were his favorite poets, and he knew by heart many beautiful verses.
Maria Chekhova, sister of the writer

Levitan somehow loved nature. It was not even love, but some kind of love ... Did Levitan love his art? There can be no doubt about this, of course. If he loved anything in life with all the fibers of his being, then it is art.
Maria Chekhova

Levitan undertook to teach Masha (Maria Chekhova, sister of the writer - ed.) painting, and from her brush began to come out pretty good watercolor landscapes and portraits. Levitan, who had hundreds of connections with hundreds of women, decided to make a marriage proposal only once. Here is how 92-year-old Maria Pavlovna Chekhova recalled this 70 years later: “Suddenly Levitan bang in front of me on my knees and ... declaration of love ... I did not find anything better than to turn and run away. The whole day I was upset, sitting in my room and crying, buried in a pillow. By dinner, as always, Levitan came. I did not go out ... Anton Pavlovich got up from the table and came to me. “What are you roaring?” I told him what had happened and admitted that I did not know how and what to say now to Levitan. My brother answered me like this: “Of course, if you want, you can marry him, but keep in mind that he needs women of Balzac age, and not like you.”.
Donald Rayfield, in the book "Chekhov's Life"

In comparison with the local landscape painters, Levitan is the king.
Anton Chekhov, writer, doctor, friend - after visiting the French Salon of 1891

Ah, if I had money, I would have bought his “Village” from Levitan, grayish, pathetic, lost, ugly, but it blows with such indescribable charm that you can’t tear yourself away: you would all look at it and look. To such amazing simplicity and clarity of motive, which Levitan has reached recently, no one has reached him, and I don’t know if anyone will reach after that either.
Anton Chekhov
Isaac Levitan. Russian village
Russian village
1880-th , 45×76 cm
Something bad is going on with the poor fellow. Some kind of psychosis begins. I wanted to go to the Saint with him in the Vladimir province, to aerate it (he also knocked me out), and I come to him on the day appointed for departure, they tell me that he went to the Caucasus ... At the end of April he returned from somewhere, but not from The Caucasus ... I wanted to hang myself ... I took it with me to the cottage and now I am skipping it. As if it became easier.
Anton Chekhov

Levitan can not live on the Volga. She puts gloom on the soul.
Anton Chekhov

How little they value, how little they value Levitan’s things. It’s a shame. This is such a huge, original, original talent. This is something so fresh and strong that a coup would have been done. Yes, early, early, Levitan died.
Anton Chekhov
The character of Levitan was not an easy one. The transitions from joy to grief, from peace to anxiety, from inspiration to decline were characteristic of him from his youth.
Sofya Prorokova, biographer

It happened that Levitan will unsuccessfully joke and tell the girl platitudes. Everyone laughs, and the girl laughs. Levitan suddenly darkens and hides. How many times have the Bookbinders seen a comrade sob after that, buried in a pillow.
Sophia Prorokova

Melancholy is the main character of his work. Sadness shines through even in his most joyful paintings, in those that depict spring, the resumption of life. Levitan could not rejoice noisily and strongly, as completely healthy people rejoice. Even while admiring the beauty of life at heart, he always has a hidden sadness, as is the case with a weak person. Such people, if they are talented and cute, are very cute, have a sophisticated mind and moral character. Levitan was one of them. His paintings were not only liked, but excited the sympathy and disposition of the public to the talent of their author.
Nikolai Ge, son of the artistNicholas Ge

S.P. (Sofya Petrovna Kuvshinnikova - ed.) was close to the artist Levitan. Levitan at that time was about thirty years old. A very interesting dull pale face, completely from a Velasquez portrait, slightly curly dark hair, a high forehead, “velvet eyes”, a pointed beard: the Semitic type in its most noble expression - Arabic-Spanish. No wonder the family of the writer Chekhov, when he and Anton Pavlovich staged impromptu performances, he liked to dress up as a “Bedouin”, “do a prayer”, etc. In his velvet work jackets with an open collar, he was very handsome and knew this, knew that his appearance was noteworthy, and innocently cared for her: he tied a wide white tie with some special bow, etc. That's who had the typical “make-up” for the artist, as readers of novels usually imagine him.
Tatyana Schepkina-Kupernik, writer, translator, playwright, friend Levitan
Levitan was given everything easily, nevertheless, he worked hard, with great endurance. Once he came to our full-class class and wrote a sketch of a naked body, which was not obligatory for landscape painters, wrote in his own way in two or three days, although a month relied on it. In general, Levitan worked quickly, soon assimilating what others spent a lot of effort on.
Mikhail Nesterov

... who knows our native, especially northern Great Russian, meek, joyless, with a nagging note of melancholy and sad landscape, that melancholy that is so dear to us and inherent in us; who knows and loves our birch groves, small forests or miserable villages with shaved wooden huts, which gently gilded the last ray of sunset; or our northern moonlit nights, or the same birch grove, but already in the last golden fall of autumn ... and who knows how subtly - poetically, widely, and most importantly - in his own way, with a special mood - Levitan conveyed, he will understand and will appreciate what a huge artist Russian art lost in him, and the Russian landscape in particular.
Leonid Pasternak, artist, father of the poet Boris Pasternak

Great worker, great master, he improved every day - he always thought that he could do better, he was worried and tormented ...
Konstantin Yuon, painter

Levitan is the truth, that which is needed, that which you love, that which is most dear in the world.
Alexander Benois
Levitan had a direct African look: olive skin color, and a thick black beard, and black hair, and a sad expression of black eyes - everything spoke of the south ... With all his nature, his calm, noble gestures, the way he sat down, how he got up and walked, finally, with the taste with which he dressed, he immediately gave the impression of "a man of a better society." This impression of secularism was promoted by his somewhat dull voice, and his light “burr”, remotely resembling a Jewish dialect. For all that, if Levitan couldn’t be considered a “beech,” he’s still less than Serov, was disposed to outpourings, to intimate contact, he more definitely removed people from himself, "kept them at a distance." It contained a certain importance, which, however, was not lacking in grace (also of an oriental type), and they told me that he did not leave it even in communication with close friends in the most frank conversations. It was said that it was precisely this feature that “drove the women crazy”, and even more drove them crazy that everyone knew about his many victories. And in recent years, his long romance with one secular Moscow lady was not a secret to anyone, causing him much torment and leading him to an attempt to commit suicide. In general, a sweet and cordial man, Levitan bore the stamp of something fatal ...
Alexander Benois
1. Young Levitan, 1870
2. Isaac Levitan, 1889

Levitan was dying.
- Close the windows! He asked.
- The sun is shining, - answered him, - why close the windows ?!
- Close! And the sun is a hoax! ..
These were his last words.
Konstantin Korovin, artist, friend
Title photo: Isaac Levitan in a hat, 1890

Collected: Anna Yesterday