“Autumn. The road in the village ”, Isaac Ilyich Levitan – overview of the painting
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- Posted by Isaac Ilyich Levitan
- Museum: Tretyakov Gallery
- Year: 1877
Overview of the painting :
Autumn. The road in the village is Isaac Ilyich Levitan. 1877. Oil on canvas. 66 x 44 cm
The painting of 17-year-old Isaac Ilyich Levitan is dedicated to autumn and a simple village road. The most common landscape. But this is also a feature of a wonderful Russian painter – to see beauty in the ordinary, to sing it, to ennobble, to open stories wiped off from everyday life and to attract the attention of the viewer to them.
A black, blurry road from rains visually divides the picture in half, leading the winding tape to look to the horizon. On both sides of the narrow road are dark village huts with sharp roofs. People are not visible – slushy weather does not have for walking.
Autumn is in the yard and it is emphasized in every element. We see absolutely naked trees, yellow dented, wet grass, low heavy clouds. However, the most remarkable detail is a puddle, which has almost spilled over the softened road. This is a frequent reception of artists, use water surface as a mirror, but usually we are talking about rivers, lakes – Levitan has enough puddle. It so clearly displays the sky, the bare trunks of trees, it is so filigree and subtle that it is impossible not to admire this uneven dirty puddle.
It is difficult to say what mood is dominant in this work, most likely it depends on the viewer himself. Some will feel the impending loneliness, some light sadness caused by autumn wilting, while others will be trimmed into nostalgic memories, while others will only admire the sharp eye and subtle mental organization of the author of the canvas.
Of course, the following paintings of Levitan will be more filled with various elements, distinguished by compositional finds, an interesting palette, but even from this very early work, huge potential, talent of young and incredibly poor Isaac at that time are visible. A wonderful Russian painter here is just starting his journey … and he begins it with an autumn village road.