Auction announcements
20th June2016
Lot 31: The certificate by Ljubov Zakharenkova dates from 31st of May 2016 and accompanies the painting.

Oil over pencil on cardboard
Russia, 1896
Isaak Il‘ich Levitan (1860-1900) – Important Russian painter and representative of Realism
A typographic label by the auction house Alfa Art, Moscow, verso on the backing cardboard of the frame
With a certificate by Ljubov Ivanovna Zakharenkova (on the base of photographs), Moscow, dated June 2016 and available in copy
Dimensions: 17 x 11.5 cm
Frame: 38 x 32 cm
Good condition
Provenance: Collection A. P. Langovoj, Moscow; Collection E. V. Gel’cer, Moscow; Private collection, Belgium
A rare landscape study by Isaak Levitan; there are only few studies of the artist’s Finland trip known to specialists, manifesting its great artistic value and attractiveness for collectors and museums   

A painter mostly active in Central Russia, Levitan organized a trip to Finland in 1896, aiming at finding new impulses for his art, as derived from a letter to A. P. Chekhov. Levitan produced a number of studies, which he used as the basis for the following works, created in the same year: ‘In the North’ and ‘Relics of the past. Twilight. Finland’ (see Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow). A number of studies are recorded with titles, including ‘Fortress. Finland’, ‘Sea. Finland’ and ‘Punkaharju. Finland’.

The offered work is exceptionally interesting. It is a study of nature, documenting the peculiarities of the Finnish landscape. It is recognized that Levitan invested a lot of time in his studio, reworking his compositions and always honing necessary details. His studies and sketches therefore played a key role in his working practice. Levitan’s nature studies may therefore be considered as small paintings, in which the artist unveiled the compositional and spatial arrangements of his landscape impressions.

Despite its small size, the study reveals the characteristics of the rough Finish nature and the incomparable beauty of its lakes, the rocky landscape and the delicate light of the sun. The work was painted with great talent and virtuosity, with multifaceted layers of paint and transparent areas, exposing the preliminary sketch. The finely rendered colors of the water and the sky provide the special preparation of the surfaces.

The work has been examined by the expert and art historian Lyubov Ivanovna Zakharenkova. The stylistic analysis of the painting, the comparison with authentic works by the artist and the research of different sources and art historical literature has shown that the study is an authentic work by Levitan. The study was part of the collection of the Moscow doctor P. A. Langovoj who had treated the artist. After that, the work belonged to the collection of the well-known Moscow ballerina E. V. Gel'cer. In 1938 the study was presented in a solo exhibition in Moscow, documented under no. 239 in the catalogue.

Literature:
A. A. Fedorov-Davidov: Isaak Il’ich Levitan. Dokumente. Materialien. Bibliographie, Moscow 1966, No. 484.

Condition:
The study is in good condition, consistent with age and wear. There are small marks along the edges. The lower left corner is minimally creased and shows a tiny loss of paint. The cardboard measures 17 x 11.5 cm. The gilt frame is also in good condition with light traces of age and wear. It is glazed and there is a typographic label attached to the lower center, reading the title and the date of the work. The framed overall dimensions are 38 x 32 cm.

Isaak Il‘ich Levitan (1860-1900)
In 1873 Isaac Il'ich Levitan attended the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture where his brother also studied. First, a student in the copying class, he soon devoted himself to naturalism and finally landscape painting. He was a pupil of Vasily Perov and Vasily Polenov as well as Alexei Sawrassow, who probably influenced his work most significantly. In 1877, Levitan’s first works were shown in an exhibition and very well received. In 1880 his painting ‘Autumn’ was purchased by the art collector and patron Pavel Tretyakov. Since 1884 Levitan was a member of the ‘Peredvizhniki’ with whom he regularly exhibited. In addition, he also worked as an illustrator, e.g. for the magazine Moskva. In his paintings he captured the vastness and quiet beauty of the Russian landscape. With these poetic compositions he met the taste of the late 19th century and was represented in exhibitions in Russia and abroad, including in the Munich Secession. In 1897 he became a member of the Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg where he started teaching. (cbo)    

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