Oil on canvas
Russia, 1895-1899
Isaak Il'ich Levitan (1860-1900) – Important Russian realist painter
Signed in Cyrillic lower right ‘I. Levitan’, with a small old label on the verso of the canvas, described with number ‘259’
Scientific report: We thank Mrs. Ljubov Ivanovna Zakharenkova, Moscow for the scientific support and confirmation of authenticity. The painting is accompanied by a detailed scientific report from 4 November 2014.
Literature: S. Glagol und I. Grabar, Isaak Il'ich Levitan. Zhizn i tvorchestvo [Leben und Werk], Moskau 1913, pp. 107/110 (with ill.)
Dimensions: 76 x 108 cm
Very good condition
Provenance: After the artist’s death, the painting was bequeathed to his brother Adolf Levitan as part of the artistic estate of Isaac Levitan. The painting was shown in an exhibition circa 1913, mentioned by S. Glagol in his monograph. Thereafter acquired by the grandparents of the current owner, who worked at the Tsar's court in the beginning of the 20th century and came to Germany presumably in the 1920s; since then private collection, Berlin.

The painting ‘Twilight on the Water’ is of museum quality and a rarity on the art market since the whereabouts of the work were unknown since 1913. Isaac Levitan’s lyrical, almost spiritual landscape despictions are among the masterpieces of Russian art from the second half of the 19th century. The auction record for a painting by Levitan is currently set at over €2 million.

The painting with the original title ‘Sumerki nad vodoj’ (Twilight on the Water) can be dated to the period of 1895-1899. It is mentioned in one of the earliest monographs on Levitan's oeuvre from 1913 by S. Glagol. The latter writes that the work ‘Twilight on the Water’ was painted in 1895 and then shown at the XXIV exhibition of The Wanderers (Peredvizhniki) in 1896 in St. Petersburg. There it remained unsold and Levitan took it back to his studio, where he reworked it in 1899. It is an excellent example from Levitan’s late creative period, in which he begins to break away from realism and adopts a freer and looser brushwork, using light and color contrasts to great effect. With exquisite virtuosity, he succeeds in capturing the poetic mood of the twilight over the lake in a few powerful brush strokes. In 2010/2011, on the occasion of Isaac Levitan’s 150th birthday, his oeuvre was honored in a very successful exhibition at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

A detailed scientific report is enclosed and will be handed to the buyer.

The painting is signed in Cyrillic lower right ‘I. Levitan’. There is a small old adhesive label numbered ‘259’ on the back of the canvas. The work is in very good condition. The stretcher is framed by four thin wood battens. There is a little retouching to the sky and a few tiny scattered to the lower area. The signature is under the varnish. The frame shows some wear. The framed work measures 119 x 87.5 cm, the stretcher frame measures 76 x 108 cm.

Isaac 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.

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