Description of the painting by Isaac Levitan “On the lake”

Description of the painting by Isaac Levitan On the lake

The picture was painted in oil on canvas in 1893, when Levitan was in Tver. Currently, it is stored in the Moscow Tretyakov Gallery. It was at this time that Levitan begins to get involved in the pastel technique of writing pictures, with which he manages to express the entire color gamut of most shades of light, giving depth and airiness to objects in the image. This plot Levitan was interested in the beginning of 1890, this is not the most successful of his works. But in this picture the mood itself is vividly manifested – peace and quiet, the bliss of nature, which are visible in the lake and in the sky covered with clouds.

Sunset is approaching and in its rays everything becomes a little pink. On the steep bank are Christmas trees, which, as it were, abut their tops in the sky. Next to them are wooden dwellings, this is a small fishing village with its own identity and charters, a calm and measured life. People most likely have returned with a catch and are resting, as the nets are hung and rinse in the wind to dry.

Inverted boats doze off, buried in their pointed noses in the grass. One silence and peace, in which, it seems, even the wind crouched, and only a lone cane rustles its leaves. The blue of the sky in the clouds is reflected on the surface of the lake. The air is clear, clean and fresh. The picture provides the viewer with positive and serene emotions, which immediately becomes calm and kindly to the soul.

The slope is in the shadows, which foretells the evening and the onset of darkness. The shade covers spruces and bushes growing along the coast. The entire picture shows the majestic and calm beauty of nature. The predominance of a colder and more relaxed tone of colors conveys to the viewer all the freshness of a cold evening.


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Description of the painting by Isaac Levitan “On the lake”