Levitan: Three brilliant strokes of the brush that changed space and time. Levitan

One of the most interesting questions in cognitive science is what human genius is.

There are, for example, more or less generally accepted views on genius in the fields of mathematics, physics and other natural sciences.

But who is a painting genius? In our opinion, this is an artist who, with the help of images, symbols and signs, sometimes hidden, but easily captured by the collective unconscious, is able to have a profound impact on others.

This is what this small study is devoted to.

Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas

Publius Virgilius Maro

Hidden images and meanings of one of Levitan's most famous paintings

(Experiments in artistic investigation)

IN major museums peace, and Tretyakov Gallery is rightfully one of them; sometimes it is interesting to watch not so much the paintings as the visitors. More precisely, behind some patterns of their behavior when viewing exhibits. You can often notice how they, often in a hurry to see as many rooms as possible in one go, linger a little longer near this or that painting. This means that the picture “hooked” - sometimes at the level of the unconscious, which is often difficult to verbalize.

For example, in one of my favorite halls of the Tretyakov Gallery - the “Levitan Hall” - there are several such paintings. Paintings in which the amazing landscape artist managed to encrypt his message at the level of direct appeal to the collective archetypal unconscious - at the level of signs, images and symbols.

Let's look at one of his most famous paintings, “Above eternal peace».

Over eternal peace. 1894 Oil on canvas. 150 x 206. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

Here is how it is described on the Tretyakov Gallery website:

“The image of Russian nature, devoid of bright colors and contrasts, is endowed with heroic features in this landscape. The artist contemplates the world as if from a bird's eye view. A panorama of the natural elements unfolds majestically before his gaze...”

"Search large images. 1892-1894". The work of I. Levitan in the first half of the 1890s is distinguished by a variety of themes, motifs, synthetic images, and a rich arsenal artistic means. One of the central sections of the exhibition includes the generally recognized masterpieces of the master, the monumental paintings “At the Pool” (1892), “Vladimirka” (1892), “Above Eternal Peace” (1894, all - Tretyakov Gallery). They reveal a philosophical disposition and a dramatic inner world the artist, his reflections on the frailty of human existence in the face of eternity. (from materials for the exhibition “ISAAC LEVITAN. To the 150th anniversary of his birth”, 2010-2011, (http://www.tretyakovgallery.ru/ru/calendar/exhibitions/exhibitions2160/)

And perhaps the last quote:

“1892 - creates the famous gloomy trilogy - “Vladimirka”, “At the Pool”, “Above Eternal Peace.” (http://isaak-levitan.ru/hrono.php)

We are absolutely not ready to agree with the last statement. This may seem like a purely subjective opinion, but at least two paintings from this “trilogy” never made a “dark impression,” which we will try to show with the example of the painting “Eternal Peace.”

Let's start our little research together.

First, a few preliminary remarks that we will need later to confirm our conclusions (even the smallest details will be important here).

First: Water

It is worth recalling that, according to the prevailing opinion of art historians, the painting depicts an imaginary place, compiled from impressions of the Volga in the area of ​​​​the city of Plyos and Lake Udomlya. The Volga near Plyos is quite wide, and flows mainly from west to east (until Yuryevets, where it turns south). The width of the Volga in the Plyos area is more than half a kilometer. There are islands upstream on the river, and its width there is already more than one and a half kilometers.

It is believed that Levitan began working on Lake Udomlya, which is located not far from Vyshny Volochek. You can imagine what the lake was like at that time from the landscapes of the artist Vitold Kaetanovich Byalynitsky-Biruli:

An hour of silence. Lake Udomlya. 1911

Church on Lake Udomelsky. 1910

Modern view of the lake

Plyos

Second: Temple

It is also believed that Levitan depicted in the picture a different church from the one that actually stood on the shore of the lake (see above). He took as a model a church from the city of Plyos (the wooden Church of Peter and Paul of the 16th century, burned down in 1903):

Sketch “Wooden church in Plyos in the last rays of the sun”, 1988, private collection, Moscow (http://isaak-levitan.ru/good/18.php)

Currently, in the city of Plyos, on the so-called “Mount Levitan”, instead of a burnt church, there is a very similar wooden Church of the Resurrection. It is also ancient, and was moved from the village of Bilyukova in the same Ivanovo region. The church, in addition to its official name, received a second, also almost “official” name among the people - “Above Eternal Peace” - for reasons that are quite understandable and worthy of respect (http://stage1.10russia.ru/sights/1/2297, http://www.volga-ples.ru/attractions/9.php). True, the church once had its own bell tower.

Resurrection Church in the village of Bilyukovo (pre-revolutionary photo)

Modern photographs of the Church “Above Eternal Peace”

Let's travel for a while to one of the most beautiful places in the world, located on the Mediterranean Sea. This is the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. There are two small islands in the bay - the island of St. George and the island of Gospa od Skrpela.

Island of St. George. Benedictine Abbey.

Island of Gospa od Skrpela. Orthodox church Mother of God on the Rock.

More detailed information can be found, for example, here:

Let's compare these two islands:

Here, as nowhere else in the world, we clearly see that the altars (and bell towers) of Catholic and Orthodox churches located exactly the opposite way in their East-West orientation).

Why did we need this? Here's why:

Buildings that are quite strictly oriented along the horizon include churches, mosques, and synagogues.

Altars and chapels of Christian and Lutheran churches face east, bell towers face west.

The altars of Catholic churches are located on the western side.

The lowered edge of the lower crossbar of the cross on the dome of the Orthodox Church faces the south, the raised edge faces the north.

Why? Here is one explanation:

“Why do temples always face the east with their altars? The Old Testament tabernacle faced its holy of holies to the west and the door leading to the sanctuary to the east, as a sign that the believers of the Old Testament were still awaiting the coming of the promised Messiah, like the east from above. We, Christians, confess that our Savior Jesus Christ has already come into the world, and therefore we turn our churches with our altar, and ourselves in our prayers, facing the east as the land of light, where the Sun of Truth, our Savior, resides. In the east, in the land of Judea, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom we should remember during worship, was born, and lived, and suffered for our salvation. There, in the east, was the blessed home of the first people.” (Priest I. Svyatoslavsky. “Notes for reading about the temple,” M., 1889. Quote from MDS 31-9.2003, volume 1, p. 55)

And here is a brief visual rule for installing crosses (including on graves):

Third: Thunderstorm

Levitan. Before the storm. 1890 Study. Oil on canvas. 26.2x35.8 cm. Smolensk Regional Museum of Fine and Fine Arts applied arts, Smolensk

Undoubtedly, Levitan was not just an outstanding, but a brilliant landscape painter. Therefore, as we see in this sketch, creating a feeling of anxiety when a formidable element approaches would not have been difficult for him.

However, if we go into the next room, we will see the following picture:

Dubovskoy N.N., It’s quiet. 1890

When we look at Levitan’s sketch and at the nearby painting by Dubovsky, we are born with a very definite internal state of anxiety and understanding that there will soon be a thunderstorm - real, strong and sweeping away everything in its path. Since we have all been caught in a thunderstorm, and more than once, it is impossible to make a mistake in this.

And lastly: Sketch

Levitan. Sketch for the painting “Above Eternal Peace”

As we can see, the original concept of the painting was somewhat different.

Now we have everything we need to begin our little investigation.

Hypothesis

First of all, we would immediately like to put forward a hypothesis, which we are going to further prove.

Hypothesis: Levitan’s painting “Above Eternal Peace” is unfair to call the “dark” period of the creative work of the brilliant Russian artist. In fact, the picture is more than optimistic.

This is confirmed, among other things, by the fact that, as we will show below, while working on the painting, he radically revised its concept and symbolism, changing them to the opposite.

However, this also applies to the painting “At the Pool”, in which there is even more symbolism and hidden images.

Study of the picture and proof of the hypothesis

A short introduction. The author of this work was once a national champion in sports trips, in which he served as a navigator who constantly worked with maps. In addition, he was also a professional military man, and therefore, purely automatically, out of habit, he immediately tied himself to the terrain to determine his location.

This is precisely what explains the fact that, not being an art critic and not belonging to the world of artists, he, nevertheless, took it upon himself to interpret from a not entirely unusual point of view to everyone famous painting(sometimes from the outside you can see small details missed by specialists who (quite naturally) pay more attention to the artistic aspects of the paintings and the features of the creativity/biographies of their authors).

In addition, it also helped that at Levitan’s anniversary exhibition in 2011 in the new building of the Tretyakov Gallery on Krymsky Val, both the painting itself and a sketch from the private collection “Wooden Church in Plyos in the Last Rays of the Sun” were nearby. A lucky coincidence.

It could be determined, for example, by the flow of the river and by the Coriolis forces in the northern hemisphere (by the difference in the steepness of the left and right banks). However, in this case we see that the artist depicted both banks as gentle. Let’s compare, for example, with the banks in another painting by Levitan:

Evening. Golden Ples, 1889

But this is unlikely to succeed also because even if this is the Volga in the Plyos area, then, as we mentioned earlier, it flows there from west to east.

Note: However, the picture gives a purely subjective feeling water movement , which does not happen on the lake. At the same time, the movement is directed towards the viewer, which is again characteristic of the flow of the Volga just in the Plyos area.

However, we see that the banks will not help us here. We need to look for another clue.

And she is. Church.

The location of the church will help us - or rather, the location of its altar and cross on the dome.

Let's look a little closer.

First stroke of the brush: Temple

And here we are faced with the first riddle, even a secret.

The lower crossbar of the cross on the dome faces the right end upward, that is, to the North. Therefore, we stand from the East and look to the West.

But if you look closely, you can see how the artist rewrote the cross, which is visible even to the naked eye.

Having become interested in this, I had to take a closer look at the sketch. Let's do this too:

As we can see, in the sketch Levitan did not pay much attention to the accurate depiction of the cross. Moreover, he is not spelled out carefully, and one can even assume that he is looking in the other direction (if the sun is on the right, and not its reflections).

But if we look carefully, we will see the entrance door to the temple facing us. That is, on the reverse side there is an altar facing the East.

And the church in the main picture is turned in the other direction. Moreover, it was deployed later, and we will see this right now.

How? We see a path that can only lead to the entrance to the church:

Second stroke of the brush: Road

And since we already know what we should look for, it won’t be too difficult. If the artist changed the concept of the painting, then he had to change the direction of the path, which in the first version should have turned to the left earlier. Let's take a closer look:

Exactly. We guessed right. It can be seen that earlier the path (yellow color) went to the left much earlier, and traces of this remained in the picture - the remains of yellow paint are visible on the left:

But then the artist painted over the first path (but not completely, as if leaving us a hint) - directing it with a few light strokes of this same yellow paint further, to the opposite side of the temple..

And finally,

Third stroke of the brush: Light

And now Levitan, without specially drawing the altar window (as can be seen in the photographs above), “cuts through” it with red-yellow light coming from inside the altar:

That is, there is a living person in the altar, and this person (priest? monk?) serves the evening service. And, most likely, one, because the path is clearly little traveled.

What remains for the artist to “finish”? Block the altar area with thickets (in the sketch, as we saw, the trees were located on both sides of the church).

And draw an abandoned cemetery:

Where, as we see, three six-pointed crosses are located similar to the cross on the dome, and the other three are located in the opposite direction, as if another hint from the artist. Moreover, one of these last crosses is written as if “casually”, and the remaining two (the ones on the far right near the trees) are written quite thoroughly and clearly.

Brief conclusions

Levitan seems to constantly give us clues about exactly how he changed the concept of his painting. What he wanted to do and what happened in the end.

It should be remembered that the artist had a deep knowledge of Orthodoxy, its ritual part and dogma. Therefore, he could not be mistaken about the location (orientation) of the church, even if it was in a place he himself invented.

It turns out that when the original plan was made, the temple looked in a completely different direction, and then it was morning before the storm . Then the clouds really should have been thunderous (compare with the sketch by Levitan himself described above and the neighboring painting by Dubovsky).

But in the process of work, Levitan decided to change everything exactly the opposite. That is, he depicted it in the final version of the painting evening . And now this is a common situation for the second half of the day, when against the background of the setting sun in the west, the clouds become darker, and the wind rises near the water, characteristic of the time of sunrise and sunset.

Note: the exact time can be determined from the picture, but we don’t really need this in this particular case.

We deliberately did not analyze other strong archetypal images here. For example, very briefly we can only mention the triad “Earth-Man-Sky”, which Levitan introduces into his picture by indicating the presence of a person in it (light in the altar). As a true landscape painter, he cannot depict people, but with an ingenious simple stroke of red paint, he makes us literally physically see a Man present right in the middle between Earth and Heaven. The symbol of triadity is a symbol of unification, while dualism is always opposition. And thanks to this seemingly insignificant detail, the picture is transformed. Let's try to mentally block out this light, and everything will instantly go out. We return the light - and nature becomes spiritualized, because at this late hour a person is present in this world and prays for it.

That is why this picture unconsciously does not at all produce the gloomy impression that we are told about. It is quite bright, optimistic, full of symbols, signs and hidden clues.

We will never know whether Levitan did this on purpose or not. Given his talent, he could well have unconsciously broken through to such a high level of creativity. This makes the impact of the painting on the viewer even stronger.

Easily, as if playfully, the genius of the Russian landscape changed Space and, thereby, Time in his painting. A few strokes of the brush.

P.S. Many thanks to the caretakers of the Tretyakov Gallery, who allowed us to photograph Levitan’s paintings at the exhibition in exchange for a promise to write and publish an article. I am keeping my promise.

Above eternal peace - Levitan. 1894. Oil on canvas. 150x206

The author himself believed that this was his most successful work, revealing his worldview, his attitude. Lead clouds hung heavily over the steep bank. There is a church on a small cliff, next to it there is a forgotten cemetery, a graveyard, the last refuge... Fragile trees bend under the strong wind, a thin, intermittent path leading to the church is a symbol of oblivion, abandonment, wear and tear.

The elements surrounding the cliff breathe with power. It seems that in one more moment the graveyard will disappear, the church will scatter across the world... Destruction seems inevitable.

It is known that the artist wrote this work while listening to music. The solemn and sad sounds of Beethoven's funeral march inspired the author and forced him to create a gloomy and almost tragic atmosphere of this work. The viewer hears the howling of the wind, feels the piercing cold, dampness, and hears the rumble of distant thunder.

In the distance you can see a deserted island, which is rapidly “swimming away” from the cliff. It seems that the island takes with it the souls of the dead, so that eternity absorbs the remnant of the human spirit, the very memories of the departed people.

Human life is insignificant, fleeting and meaningless... The huge space covered by the artist’s gaze presses on the viewer. Sharp feeling The viewer experiences loneliness and defenselessness before this eternal peace, which people are afraid to even think about. The eternal question is what is there, beyond the threshold of eternity, tormenting the author, but he does not find an answer, leaving this search to the viewer.

The author created several sketches before starting the main work. These sketches are of undoubted value, as individual works. On the other hand, they allow us to understand the path that the author took from the intended work to the embodiment of his idea. As a result of this path, the master somewhat softened the tragedy of the landscape, while adding the power of the natural elements.

The light in the work is evenly distributed, there are practically no shadows. Using muted tones, the master managed to masterfully convey the very essence of bad weather. His attention to small details makes the work unusually realistic and deep in content.

In an amazing way, the small dome of the church resists the full power of the elements. It is directed strictly upward, and its color, merging with the metallic tones of the sky, creates a feeling of unshakability and strength. The master, even in this work, did not do without optimistic hints. Only firm Faith can help a person find peace and confidence in his goals and the meaning of his life. However, this optimistic statement is “encrypted” in the picture. Only the most inquisitive viewers are able to discern in this small detail the very essence of this iconic work of the artist.

The painting was released at the moment of greatest flowering of the artist’s talent. That's why his idea philosophical depth, the honed skill with which this canvas was painted so amazed his contemporaries and amazes his descendants. The content of this picture will be relevant for all generations.

In terms of its size, the work is quite attributable to the author’s monumental works. And in its essence it is his spiritual testament, his creative program and the most complete philosophical attitude of the artist to the world and people. Russian poets and musicians admired the work. It served as an impetus for the creation of many musical and poetic works. And writers, both of the early 20th century and modern ones, often include a description of this particular work to reveal the characters of their heroes, as well as to give the plot of their works depth and content.

Over eternal peace. 1894

Those above us
as in ancient times, the heavens -
And they pour to us the same way
the blessings of their streams...

V.G. Benediktov "And now..."

Painting "Above Eternal Peace"(1894, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow) - the third most large-scale painting of Levitan’s “dramatic cycle”. In a letter to Tretyakov, he even admitted that in this picture he was “whole, with all his psyche, with all his content.” Depicting a cape with a dilapidated wooden chapel and a cemetery against the backdrop of the matte lead waters of a lake extending into the deserted distance, above which heavy clouds swirl in the gloomy sky dark clouds, Levitan very expressively conveyed the feeling of discomfort of this harsh space.

The picture allows you to understand what the artist felt at the moments when he was overtaken by attacks of mortal melancholy and loneliness. At the same time, the feeling of loneliness and powerlessness in Levitan’s film is not overwhelming. Together with him in her figurative structure live other experiences of the artist, which gave the large canvas, in comparison with the sketch, a more transpersonal, philosophically calm and courageous emotional and figurative meaning. The composition of the canvas is strict and clear: a high and majestic, wonderfully painted sky, to which a chapel with a glowing light at the end raises its head, bringing into the picture, along with the feeling of loneliness and peace of the graves, the artist’s “heartfelt thought” “about the light that darkness cannot embrace,” about the eternal thirst for warmth, faith, hope, the flame of which people light again and again, from century to century, “like a candle from a candle” (L.N. Tolstoy).

Vladimir Petrov

Levitan began working on this painting near Vyshny Volochok, near Lake Udomlya, where he lived with Kuvshinnikova in 1893. The painting obviously ended in Moscow in December 1893 and at the very beginning of 1894, which is indicated by the author in the painting. The painting “Above Eternal Peace” completed the cycle of works of 1892-1894, in which Levitan sought to express large and deep thoughts about the relationship of human existence to the eternal life of nature.

Kuvshinnikova testified in her memoirs that in the painting “Above Eternal Peace” “the area and in general the entire motif was taken entirely from life... Only the church was different in nature, ugly, and Levitan replaced it with a cozy little church from Plyos.” The sketch of this Plyos church has been preserved and is known to us.

The fact that the landscape “Above Eternal Peace” is basically a natural view of Lake Udomlya was also testified in his memoirs by V.K. Byalynitsky-Birulya, whose estate “Chaika” was located nearby . According to him, in the foreground is the cape of that oval island from which Levitan “was carried away by the large expanse of water” and from which “after a stormy stormy day he saw those dark clouds piling up in the sky over the water of Udomli , which sound so unique, a tension-filled chord in his painting.” But unlike Kuvshinnikova, he claims that the landscape was “supplemented by the motif of a church and cemetery observed on Lake Ostrovenskoye.” Be that as it may, the artist combined the two types not by chance; in this way he tried to express a certain philosophical idea. The artist himself claimed that in this picture he is “all of me, with all my psyche, with all my content.”

The idea of ​​comparing human life with the majestic, grandiose element of nature, living its own life, its own existence, which first arose in the painting “Evening on the Volga” (1887-1888), unfolded here with all its strength and breadth, in all the maturity of Levitan’s mastery.

In this landscape, the grandiose expanse of water of the lake and the even more majestic expanse of sky with swirling clouds colliding with each other are combined with a fragile cape on which an old church and a poor rural cemetery are nestled. On this Yura the winds whistle at them; they are alone among the vast expanses. From this juxtaposition of nature and the traces of human existence in it, a landscape filled with sublime sorrow and tragic heroism is formed.

A fragile cape with a church and a cemetery, whistling by the wind of the elements, seems like the bow of some ship moving into an unknown distance. We see a light in the church window, a witness to human life, its indestructibility and quiet submission. The warmth of human existence and the homelessness of the vastness of nature simultaneously oppose each other and are combined in this picture. It seems to combine both of Levitan’s attitudes towards nature: showing its habitability by man and contrasting man with nature - just like in Chekhov’s landscapes. And what unites these two seemingly mutually exclusive relationships to nature is what was called “mood,” that is, the transmission in the state of nature of a person’s experiences, and through them, his thoughts.

The composition, quite static both in the initial drawings and in the oil sketch, acquires a dynamic, asymmetrical character in the painting. The viewer's gaze is directed into the distance by the line of the coast, and the cape with its trees bending in the wind, and, finally, by the fact that the shore on the right has been removed and instead the water there begins right from the front edge. Work on the painting proceeded along the line of increasingly revealing the gloomy and alarming state of the landscape during a thunderstorm, expressing its tragic sound, conveying the wind blowing over the water, wrinkled its surface, bending the trees, the movement of clouds, deepening and expanding space. And it was precisely in this work that it became necessary to include a church with its graveyard in the landscape.

The clouds in the sky, their movement, transitions of light and color are worked out most subtly and in detail in order to best convey the majestic and tragic action taking place in the sky. On the contrary, the expanse of water and long-range plans of green fields and blue distances are interpreted in a very general way. The cape, completely covered with trees and crosses in the sketch, is exposed, which is why individual trees and crosses, lying down or silhouetted against the background of water, benefit in their expressiveness. Reducing the picture to a few, clearly and immediately perceived parts, Levitan, within these plot-important parts, gives a subtle elaboration of the details to which he wants to draw the viewer’s attention. Thus, if a triangular island in the distance is given in the form of a generalized mass, and the water is only enlivened by ripples, then the mass of the cape in front is developed internally. Thus, Levitan depicts a barely visible path, subtly depicts the church and crosses. Before us is an already familiar technique, in which the landscape seems to be immediately captured at one glance, and then gradually reveals itself in its details.

Ultimately, the picture is built on large generalized masses, such as the sky as a whole, the cape in front, the water, the island, the stripes of the far shore. The sky itself is quite clearly divided into a cloudy part at the bottom and a light part at the top. This construction on large generalized masses is due to the fact that Levitan, creating a monumental-epic harsh landscape, solves it compositionally not only asymmetrically, but also very dynamically. Comparing the painting with the sketch reveals the fragmentary composition of the painting. By cutting off the right side from the shore and bringing the water to the lower edge, Levitan gave the landscape the character of a kind of “cutout” from nature. This seemingly random fragmentation of the landscape gives it spontaneity. A landscape that is strictly constructed and symbolic in nature is perceived as a natural view.

The picture as a whole is a wonderful combination of moments of living spontaneity and strict picturesqueness. If the “floating” cape and the flowing water that reaches below the picture frame draw us into the picture space, then the clouds floating parallel to the picture plane and the strong horizon line expand the space on the plane. If the details on the cape in front, like a luminous window, seem to introduce us into the landscape, then overall it opens up before us as a grandiose panorama, as a majestic spectacle.

If, while working on the painting “By the Pool,” Levitan made the landscape more gloomy than in the sketch and darkened its color range, then in working on the painting “Above Eternal Peace,” he, on the contrary, brightened and enriched it. The sketch is written in a rather monotonous dark palette. The greenery of the shore is almost black, the church is dark gray, the water is leaden; leaden dark tones dominate the sky, although the yellow tones of the sunset and pinkish ones in the clouds already appear here. This dark color scheme is very expressive. But it expresses only one experience, only one “mood” of gloomy sinisterness. The sketch is more integral and more collected in color, written more energetically than the painting, but the latter is richer in color. And this richness of colors contributes to greater breadth, complexity and versatility of its content. It can no longer, as in a sketch, be reduced to one feeling, to one emotional note or thought. On the contrary, it is a whole symphony of experiences and - accordingly - a variety of colors and their shades. They sound especially subtly in the sky, where the gloomy, heavy leadenness of the sky at the horizon, completely overshadowed by clouds, is different from the also leaden, but different, sometimes lighter, sometimes darker, shades of the clouds above it. And how complex are the transitions of yellow and pinkish tones in the gaps of the sunset sky and in the color of a sharp zigzag cloud cutting through the swirling clouds. The color of the greenery on the cape, on the island and in the strip of the far shore is also different. Levitan uses a kind of “color flow” technique. So, on the dark grass of the cape we see yellowish tones in front, which are associated with the color of the roof of the church and then with yellow tones in the distance to the right and with yellow shades of a thin zigzag cloud.

But still, large color planes predominate in the picture. This is especially noticeable in the blue stripes of the distances beyond the river. And if on the cape this general green spot of color is broken up by the detailed rendering of architecture, trees, paths, and the introduction of yellow strokes into the green color zones, then the color of the water is much more monotonous. Levitan sought to break its monotony with the image of ripples. It is conveyed partly by gray and white strokes, but more by varying texture rather than color. Levitan, in addition to variously directed strokes, then scratched the water “on the damp layer of paint,” apparently with a comb. The sky and clouds are also painted with great textural variety: from liquid paint, through which the canvas is visible, to a very dense layer of brushwork in dark swirling clouds. But the most densely painted part of the picture is the “earthly” part - both the cape in front and especially the water.

The greatest difference in the degree of thickness of the paint layer corresponds to the same richness of shades and color transitions in the rendering of clouds, contrasts of thunderclouds with the sunset sky. This once again proves that the motif of a thunderstorm, the motif of the majestic and menacing breath of the elements, interested Levitan most of all in the picture.

The small number of “objects” depicted in the painting, their general laconicism, relatively large color spots, to one degree or another developed inside - all this corresponds well with both the size of the canvas and the monumental heroism of the image of nature.

In this picture, the asymmetry of the parts is balanced by the counter-directional movement of each of these parts that make up the picture - a cape, an island, water, clouds, etc.

Levitan creates poetry of the grandiose, majestic, here we have a symphony. And just as in a musical symphony there is no need for a verbal retelling of its musical content, so here the complexity and richness of feelings and thoughts can hardly and should be reduced to any one thought or idea. This is a complex interweaving of grief and admiration, an interweaving that makes this picture epoch-making. Levitan in this picture managed to convey his time and its “philosophy” using purely landscape, emotional and lyrical means.

Criticism after the next traveling exhibition, completely failing to understand the deep meaning of Levitan’s painting - the opposition of the eternal and powerful forces of nature to weak and short-term human life, the desire to answer the question about the relationship between man and nature, about the meaning of life - instead of showing the contradictions of life, critics naively saw as if there were two contents, “thanks to this, the picture does not make a harmonious and strict impression at all.”

But still, even those who were perplexed sometimes admitted that “the concept of this picture is so new and interesting that it deserves mention” and analysis, and that, although in “an attempt to paint a huge space one cannot see perfection, it shows that the artist is looking for a new path and, judging by his other, smaller works, he will probably find this path.” Only V.V. Chuiko, finding the picture unsuccessful and artistically unsatisfactory, admitted that “despite, however, all these very large technical shortcomings, there is nevertheless a mood in the picture: Mr. Levitan was able to express the impression of some dead peace, reminiscent of the idea of ​​death, it’s just a pity that this idea is expressed so strangely.”

But if there were still some disagreements in assessing the ideological concept and content of the painting, its title, then everyone agreed in admitting that it was picturesquely bad and weak. Critics believed that the clouds were written in too ink, that they were “stone”, that “the river will pour out of the frame, and will not go under it”, that it was written in “absolutely white paint”, that “there is no movement in the water”, that “ the distant plan is heavily painted with vat paint” and “is not brought into any correspondence with the foreground triangle,” etc. etc. New character painting, the painting with its decorative features was mistaken for strange eccentricity, for unfinishedness, “vague daub,” passed off as a special “manner.” New techniques of painting, a new interpretation with its decorative features, with the construction of images on large planes, seemed artificial.

Against the backdrop of all this harsh criticism, the positive reviews of V.I. were lonely, but all the more significant. Sizov and V.M. Mikheev, who highly appreciated and correctly understood Levitan’s painting. Sizov called it “well thought out and strongly felt”, distinguished by “undoubted artistic merits”. But V. Mikheev, who gave a detailed analysis of it, interpreted the painting especially correctly. He sensitively grasped the deep psychological nature of the canvas and called it a genuine landscape painting, although not without certain technical and pictorial shortcomings, but remarkable for its content and “mood.” Mikheev correctly felt its peculiar “musicality”, saying that “this picture is a symphony, strange at first, but subtly embracing the soul, you just have to trust its impression...”. And, having trusted him, he understood what remained hidden to other critics. He understood it as “a picture of a strong, deeply taken mood”, felt its drama: “It’s almost not even a landscape: it’s a picture of the human soul in the images of nature...”. Mikheev here is close to the understanding of the picture that Levitan himself expressed in the aforementioned letter to Tretyakov, believing that in it he expressed all of himself, his entire psyche.

Mikheev’s article appeared in the same month when Tretyakov decided to purchase the painting, obviously having also seen and understood what great personal and social content, experience, and philosophy were contained in this painting. Here again, Tretyakov’s remarkable flair, his attention to expressing great, epoch-making ideas and moods in painting, was revealed once again.

A.A. Fedorov-Davydov

Essay based on a painting by 6A student Maria Lozinskaya

I liked this landscape so much that I even wanted to go up to this hill, to this small but interesting church, and calmly look at this vast expanse all day and evening. It seems to me that I. I. Levitan deliberately created this picture in slightly dark colors in order to make nature even more significant.

Looking at the trees on the hill, we see that they are tilted to the side, which means the wind is blowing on them. But the waters of the Volga River, unlike the trees, seem very calm. The sky was enveloped and covered with dull, gray clouds. And I like it! I really love it when it gets evening and such an atmosphere is created!

When I look at nature, and especially like this, I immediately forget about everything and enjoy the beauty of nature. Levitan managed to convey the uniqueness, great beauty and charm of nature. I think he gave the picture the title “ Above eternal peace", because he, sitting on the hill and painting his work, really felt peace, and this peace is felt by everyone when they see the work, and therefore it is eternal.

Essay based on a painting by student 10A Yulia Vagina

Levitan’s student Kuvshinnikova recalled: “Levitan painted the painting “Above Eternal Peace” later, in the summer we spent near Vyshny Volochok, near Lake Udomlya. The terrain and, in general, the entire motif were taken from life during one of our rides on horseback. Only the church was different in nature, ugly, and Levitan replaced it with a cozy church from Plyos. Having made a small sketch from life, Levitan immediately began to work on the larger picture. He wrote it with great enthusiasm, always insisting that I play Beethoven for him and most often Marche funebre.” This picture is one of best works Levitan. The landscape captivates with its grandeur, makes a person feel his insignificance before nature and Time, which is the main character of the picture. Most of the canvas is occupied by the sky. Heavy lead clouds make a depressing impression. They are reflected in the endless pristine waters of the lake. And on a small island there is a wooden chapel, behind it are the rickety crosses of the cemetery. It’s as if the church, a creation of human hands, realizes its powerlessness before eternity. And she came to terms with it. The picture is imbued with philosophical calm and loneliness. Thanks to the mood with which it was written, it simply cannot leave the viewer indifferent and not touch a single heart string.

Isaac Levitan’s painting “Above Eternal Peace” is the artist’s third work in a dramatic trilogy, which also includes paintings “At the Pool” and. This painting is distinguished by the appearance of a philosophical component in it, which is no less important than admiring nature. The work is filled with loneliness and deep melancholy, which is emphasized by a carefully considered choice of perspective.

The work of the landscape artist amazed many with its emotionality. A grandiose panorama opens up before the audience: a high cape of the coast, the endless expanses of water of the lake and a huge sky with thunderclouds. The cape seems to be floating, but viewers involuntarily direct their gaze forward in the direction of its movement to the small island, to the blue distances on the horizon and then up to the sky. Three elements - earth, water and sky - are covered at once, in one glance, they are depicted in general, with large, clearly defined details. And it is precisely the generality of what is depicted that distinguishes this landscape from the previous ones - the artist creates a majestic, monumental image of nature.

Here, as in other Levitan canvases, nature lives. In this picture, the psychologism characteristic of all the author’s paintings acquires a new quality: nature lives here too, but own life proceeding against the will of man. She is spiritualized, just as nature is spiritualized in fairy tales and epics. The viewer here sees not just the surface of the water in which the surrounding is reflected, as is usual for us, he feels it as a single mass that sways in a huge bowl and glows with a single whitish-leaden color. The sky is also in motion, majestic actions are unfolding on it: randomly piling up, swirling, colliding with each other clouds, darker, leaden-violet, tones and lighter, heavier and lighter ones move. And only a small pink cloud emerging from the gap that appeared between the clouds, a cloud whose outline resembles an island in a lake, calmly floats past and will soon disappear.

Let us also note the earthly part of the picture - a cape with an old church nestled on it, trees swaying by the wind and crooked grave crosses. Earthly life is included in eternal life nature. This painting gives birth to thoughts about the meaning of life, about the life and death of man, about immortality, about the infinity of life. Levitan wrote in one of his letters: “Eternity, a terrible eternity, in which generations have drowned and will drown again... What horror, what fear!”

“The painting “Above Eternal Peace” makes you think about the meaning of life and its transience. “I am all in it, with all my psyche, with all my content,” the artist himself said about this picture.

Year of painting: 1894.

Dimensions of the painting: 150 x 206 cm.

Material: canvas.

Writing technique: oil.

Genre: landscape.

Style: realism.

Gallery: State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.