Autumn day. Sokolniki - Isaac Ilyich Levitan. 1879. Oil on canvas. 63.5 x 50 cm
Painting “Autumn day. Sokolniki" can be called one of the most important works in the life of Isaac Levitan, because it is from it that the painter’s fame began.
It all started with how I lured mine into the full-scale class young artist Isaac from . Under the leadership of Savrasov, Levitan's complete transformation took place. The complex, miserable life of the aspiring painter did not turn into accusatory stories, but, on the contrary, transformed Isaac Ilyich into a subtle lyricist, feeling and contemplative. This is exactly what Savrasov demanded of him: “...write, study, but most importantly, feel!” And young Isaac studied...and felt, of course.
Already in 1879, a wonderful painting appeared dedicated to Sokolniki Park on one of the gloomy autumn days. The nineteen-year-old student at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture immediately attracted the attention of the public, and most importantly, Pavel Tretyakov. The keen eye of this outstanding Russian philanthropist did not miss a single significant work, especially when it showed not only technique, but also poetry of color, plot, truthfulness, soul, finally. “Autumn day. Sokolniki" met all these parameters, so it is not surprising that he bought the work directly from a student exhibition, which immediately attracted close public attention to its author.
What do we see in the picture? A deserted alley of the park, strewn with yellow fallen leaves. The grass is still green, but the color is not as bright as in summer, but on the contrary, withered like autumn. Young trees grow along the road. They were planted quite recently, which is why they are so thin, with sparse crumbling foliage, and in some places it is completely absent. As a contrast to this young growth, the edges of the picture were “surrounded” by the old trees of the park. Tall, powerful, dark green and slightly gloomy. And above this entire poetic landscape clouds float, gray and gloomy, creating the feeling of a damp, cloudy day.
The central element of the picture is the heroine, but her presence does not “steal” from nature main role. Rather, it acts as a kind of tuning fork for the mood created by this park and the autumn day. Just as he had nothing to do with bears since his most famous work, Levitan is not the author of this remarkable, lonely figure. The girl in a dark dress walking straight from the canvas towards the viewer was painted by Nikolai Chekhov, a Russian artist and brother famous writer Anton Pavlovich.
The general mood of the canvas is sad and nostalgic, and there is an explanation for this. It was during this period that Levitan was subjected to the first eviction from, according to a decree prohibiting the residence of Jews in the city. Living in Saltykovka, Levitan recalled his favorite landscapes, lovingly transferring them to canvas.
A close examination of the painting reveals a broad brushwork style – both the road and the crowns are painted with sweeping strokes. However, taking a couple of steps from the frame, all these wide movements of the brush merge into an iridescent surface, and the blurriness of the palette adds airiness to the landscape.
Another amazing property of the canvas is sound imaging. It seems that you can quite clearly hear the gusty but short movements of the autumn wind, the creaking of tall pines, lonely rustling steps along the path, the rustling of leaves.
Everything in this picture is surprising and atmospheric. The gaze stubbornly clings to individual elements, which are built into a coherent, laconic, but emotional image. And the last detail is a quick look at the name, catchy and capacious. Like Blok’s sacramental “Night. Street. Flashlight. Pharmacy”, Levitan’s is no less exhaustive – “Autumn Day. Sokolniki".
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The most beautiful painting “Autumn day. Sokolniki" was created by the great master of the brush - I.I. Levitan.
The viewer is shown a beautiful time of year - autumn. We see a long alley, which is lined with maple trees on both sides. I think this road is located in the park and residents of the town often walk along it. IN at the moment A lonely woman walks along it. She is wearing a dark dress. Her gait is quiet and calm. I think she is enjoying the surrounding beauty, the bright yellow maple leaves that have slowly begun to crumble to the ground.
The tall trees in the background of the picture are still completely green, which indicates that autumn has recently come into its own.
The artist depicted the sky in gray colors. Fluffy clouds float across it. Most likely, it will start to rain soon and everything in the park will become wet and tatty.
Peering at the picture more closely, I see that the wind is blowing in the park. He develops a dark women's dress. The heroine of the picture seems to be resisting at some moments strong impulses wind. The trees bend down and quickly say goodbye to their bright autumn outfits. Walking in this weather is not particularly pleasant. After all, the body is completely penetrated by the cold wind and you want to quickly hide in a cozy and warm apartment. But the woman is not afraid of such inconspicuous weather. She walks alone with her thoughts. Most likely, she has something to think about and reflect on.
Painting “Autumn day. Sokolniki" has its own peculiarity. It turns out that I.I. Levitan never painted people on his canvases. Where did the image of a woman come from? Not surprisingly, it was completed by Chekhov’s brother A.P. It turns out that this painting was created by two artists. And it seems to me that without female image, the picture would be less realistic and exciting. It is the female person, painted in dark colors, that attracts the viewer’s attention, making the picture bewitching and mysterious.
Isaac Ilyich Levitan’s painting “Autumn Day in Sokolniki” from 1879 is one of a kind and happy for the artist!
The fact is that in this picture the first and last time in Levitan's artistic life a man was depicted at work. The lonely, fragile figure of a woman was not painted by Isaac Ilyich himself. His friend, brother of the writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Nikolai Pavlovich Chekhov, helped him in this.
The history of this particular painting is wonderfully described in Konstantin Paustovsky’s essay “Isaac Levitan.”
Levitan did not graduate from the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. He had no diploma, no money. In addition, according to the royal decree, Jews were forbidden to live in the capital, and he was evicted to Saltykovka, located near Moscow. There, for the first time, Isaac Ilyich, who was eighteen years old at that moment, began to paint in the air, learning, on the advice of Alexei Kondratyevich Savrasov, to convey “air” in a painting.
Since the artist had no income, he was extremely poor and did not consider it possible to communicate with the circle of summer residents who were in the village at that moment.
The young man spent the entire summer in the reeds, on a boat with a sketchbook, trying to convey the summer state of the rural landscape.
Laughter, children running by and a young voice singing romances excited the young man. One day he saw his neighbor at the end of summer briskly walking past his abode. She carried a small umbrella in her hands, and the sleeves of her elegant dress were trimmed with black lace, emphasizing the whiteness of her hands. The melancholy inspired by the words of the romance, the beauty of the Moscow region gave the artist a reason to write autumn landscape. High cloudy bright sky almost meets the horizon with a path strewn with fallen leaves. The forest is still dark and the grass is still green, but the young maples planted along the droshky are already shining with the autumn flames of yellow, orange and red leaves.
Memories of a mysterious neighbor forced Levitan to turn to his fellow student Nikolai Chekhov, who entered the sad silhouette into the landscape.
The fragile female figure seems so lonely, so small in this endless air space framed by the mysterious dark wall of the forest. The woman is dressed in black, as if she is mourning for the summer.
This painting was the first one purchased from Levitan by Tretyakov for his collection.
All the life of the artist Isaac Ilyich Levitan was under close attention Tretyakov, who often bought works from him.
Levitan's creativity is marked by a special ability to “talk” with nature and show the beauty and charm of completely simple, inconspicuous corners of his country.
Description of Levitan’s painting “Autumn Day. Sokolniki"
One cannot help but recall the famous painting by Isaac Ilyich Levitan “Autumn Day. Sokolniki".
He painted it in 1879 and to this day it remains in a place of honor in the Tretyakov Gallery.
What makes this painting famous and exclusive are two aspects: the fact that this is the only landscape in which the artist depicted a human figure, and the fact that this lonely lady walking in the park was painted not by the author himself, but by his friend, brother famous writer, Nikolai Pavlovich Chekhov.
The time of painting was very difficult for our author.
After the decree banning the presence of Jews in Moscow, Levitan was forced to move to Saltykovka.
All his landscapes from that period are sad and nostalgic.
In the picture we see dark tall pine trees.
They evoke some kind of melancholy and worries.
Small trees grow along the path.
Yellow leaves barely stay on small branches through the raging wind.
The same wind knocked a shock of leaves to the edges of the path, as if clearing the way for the mysterious lady.
And who is this woman? Maybe this is just a random passer-by walking through the park on an autumn day.
Or perhaps this is not a random woman.
Maybe it meant something to the author.
Looking at the picture, you can understand the mood of the author.
These dull colors, the overcast sky fluttering from strong wind the trees and the dark figure of a woman speak of his melancholy.
And the very fact that the woman was not drawn by the artist himself gives her even more mystery and enigma.
Probably the greatest achievement for Levitan was the recognition of his painting and its place in the Tretyakov Gallery.
And although many more of the author’s works have found their home there, it is the dark figure of a woman that will always be the first.
Many people call all his landscapes musical, lyrical, poetic.
So is the painting “Autumn Day.
Sokolniki" became an inspiration for many poets and musicians.