"Vladimirka" - painting by Isaac Levitan

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Isaac Levitan is a master of Russian painting of the 19th century. We owe his talent the ability to enjoy a huge number of landscapes of Russian nature. One of the masterpieces of I. Levitan is the painting "Vladimirka", which will be discussed.

Painter of Russian nature: formation

The birthplace of the author of the painting "Vladimirka" Isaac Ilyich Levitan is a small Lithuanian town located near the border with Poland. The Levitan family was not very we althy, and when Isaac was about 13 years old, the need forced them to leave their hometown and move to Moscow in search of a better life.

The young talent, who from childhood showed interest and ability to draw, enters an art school. The years of study were both full of vivid impressions and new discoveries, and complicated by Jewish origin, as well as a passion for landscape painting, which at that time was not included in the list of serious painting genres. However, thanks to the special sensitivity and support of teachers, wonderful Russian artists Savrasov, Perov and Polenov,the teaching as a whole was fruitful.

The great writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov and the collector of Russian art Pavel Tretyakov, who was one of the first to appreciate the young talent and acquired several of his paintings for his gallery, had a special influence on the development of Levitan's talent.

However, Levitan was not assigned the status of an artist after graduating from college. He became just a calligraphy teacher. But he remained faithful to the beauty of Russian nature.

Painter of Russian nature: ascent

Poor he alth and constant nervous stress forced Isaac Ilyich to leave Moscow and go to the Crimea. It was in the Crimea that the artist painted the first landscapes, which were highly appreciated by critics. The next success was paintings on the theme of the Volga nature. These successes gave II Levitan financial independence. He was able to go to Europe, where he got acquainted with the work of the Impressionists, their vision of nature and the world as a whole.

Levitan's entry into the Wanderers society disrupted the established stability of life. He was exiled for a long time from Moscow. But this only gave additional impressions reflected in the artist's work. He painted landscapes glorifying the beauty of the Vladimir and Tver regions.

Painting "Vladimirka"

The canvas was written by I. I. Levitan during his exile in the Vladimir province. The artist got acquainted with the infamous Vladimirsky tract leading to hard labor in Siberia in 1892. It is this acquaintance that Levitan's painting "Vladimirka" is dedicated to.

Referring tobiography of the artist, we learn that the canvas was conceived not far from Gorodok (that was the name of the village) of the Vladimir province, which is near Boldino station, when Isaac Ilyich wandered along the road from hunting. The path of the "shackles" at that time was practically not used as a foot to hard labor. The development of the railway network in the second half of the 19th century made it possible to send convicts along the stage by echelon.

Nevertheless, the creative nature could not but respond to the historical memory contained in the tract. Levitan's masterpiece of painting reflects his feelings about the fate of the disenfranchised Russian people, about the suffering of convicts, the hardships of their lot.

Reflection of the theme of the road in Levitan's painting "Vladimirka"

Where does the road lead? Where did this symbol come from in the artist's work?

The image of a road going into the distance came to Levitan's work from the works of his teacher Vasily Perov.

In the description of Levitan's painting "Vladimirka" there is an interpretation of the infinity of such a path as the endless patience of the long-suffering Russian people "from century to century". The contrast between the diversity of landscapes and the monotony of a long, endless journey is an association born of life: the path of martyrdom is monotonous and long, hard, and it seems that it has no end. And life is bright and diverse, but it - so bright and beautiful - is inaccessible and passes by, leaving "on the sidelines" a person condemned to suffering. The pitting and unevenness of the road broken by carts and convict shoes,the difficulty of moving along this path, forgotten in the wilderness, is a symbol of the hardships of the path.

A lone traveler on the sidelines personifies the loneliness of a convict left alone with these hardships, his self-absorption, detachment from everything earthly. Others wandering in one bunch are the same - just a faceless mass accompanying them on the way. And only the church whitening in the distance and the blue sky with transparent white clouds is the only ray of light in the gray convict world, a small, almost illusory hope for deliverance and for the help of the Almighty.

A milestone is depicted by the road. In art, such pillars usually symbolize some kind of guiding milestones. In this case, it may be a place of rest for convicts on the way to a place determined for them. Perhaps this is a sign of some change in the difficult lot of the convict. Or maybe a symbol of a turn in the worldview, understanding one's life path.

The painting "Vladimirka" is painted in oil on canvas. It has small dimensions: 79 x 123 cm. Exhibited in Moscow, at the State Tretyakov Gallery.