Description of the painting by Isaac Levitan “Spring. White Lilac “

Description of the painting by Isaac Levitan Spring. White Lilac

Another work by an outstanding Russian landscape painter, Isaac Levitan, from a series of sketches, made in pastel technique. Pastel, as it is known, is a very soft crumbly material, by means of which it is possible to create aerial, vague, gentle works, and without going into detail, transfer a lot.

The painting White Lilac is one of a series of numerous studies by the artist, showing us his magnificent talent in quick and amazing sketches. It depicts a gentle staircase leading to the terrace of a manor house.

Lush bushes of blossoming snow-white lilac, spread out on both sides of the path, as if inviting us to enter the house. In the evening mysterious twilight light, clusters seem sky blue, their whiteness is so bright, they seem to glow, absorbing the glow of the passing May day. Smooth, delicate, almost transparent shadows give a special mystery.

The house has not yet lit the light – it is not dark enough to sit with the light, but it is also not so light to sit without it. We see in the black windows the reflection of a still burning blue-gray paint, a fading sky. It becomes wet, it blows cool. The air cools, dew appears. Above the grass begins to haze mist (blue spot in the lower left of the picture, behind the lilac), the colors thicken.

It is impossible not to notice how subtly the artist has managed to show the evening air, how exactly he conveys the state of twilight. It is quite difficult to depict twilight, because as an artist, when he writes a work, he suffers from a lack of light and paint can fail and deceive him; besides, twilight lasts minutes, it gets dark very quickly. Therefore, it can be said with accuracy that this study was completed quickly, no more than within a quarter of an hour!


1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (2 votes, average: 3.50 out of 5)

Description of the painting by Isaac Levitan “Spring. White Lilac “