Isaak Ilyich Levitan

1860 – 1900

Russian painter of Lithuanian birth. He studied under Savrassov and Polenov at the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in Moscow between 1873 and 1885. As a Jew, he was from time to time refused entry to the city. He finally received a silver medal but was only given a diploma as a teacher of calligraphy. In the 1890s he traveled to France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Finland and Germany. He largely painted landscapes (including pastel sketches), which are noted for their emotive or symbolic resonance. His 'landscapes of mood' had a profound influence on Russian landscape painting, to which he introduced a sense of the unity of humankind and nature, and of the spiritual power of the Russian countryside.

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