Isaac Levitan. Quiet abode

Levitan Isaac Ilyich is a famous Russian landscape painter. The church landscape plays a significant role in his work. One of the most famous works This genre is his work “Quiet Abode”.

This picture is simple and at the same time beautiful. Beautiful summer morning. The calm surface of the river silently reflects the beauty of nature. The weather is calm and windless. In a bright sky, where small clouds float by nowhere. There is a wooden bridge across the river. On the other bank, among densely planted green tree trunks, one can see the domes of a church and the bell tower of a small monastery. There is a feeling of silence and tranquility in the whole picture. The author admired and enjoyed such a beautiful view. He so lovingly transferred the beauty he saw onto the canvas. This can be felt in the small path that leads to the bridge, and then continues to the monastery itself. In the color of the trees. They are such a dark green color, like the guards of the shrine are standing on all sides. Small white flowers can be seen very beautifully against the green background of grass. They shimmer like pearls in the morning sun. The whole landscape is somehow fabulous, not even real. These play of colors of white and gold temples, pink and blue sky, greenish-purple forest. It's incredible that they live in such a wonderful place. simple people. That they see such beauty every morning. If only I could get there for a minute...

The whole picture is filled with freshness, purity, and peace. Looking at the picture, as if opening a window, you feel the fragrant air of a summer morning. I just want to walk across that bridge, collect white flowers and take them to the holy church. Seeing the landscape in the picture lifts your spirits and gives you more vigor and strength. A quiet and wonderful corner of heaven on earth.

Thirty-year-old Isaac Levitan’s “Quiet Abode” gained great fame. It was after her that people started talking about Levitan not just as an accomplished artist, but as a master and exponent of the national spirit.

A quiet, blissful evening falls on the river and the copse, hiding a small monastery in its greenery. The colors are transparent and clean - you can even mistakenly think for a minute that it is early morning. There are rickety wooden walkways across the river. It seems that if you cross them, you will find yourself under the shadow of an ancient monastery - and all the misfortunes and sorrows, everything sinful and vain will be left far behind. In the troubled decades of faithlessness, the “Quiet Abode” was perceived as a rare symbol of “Russian grace.”

Arthive collected documents and Interesting Facts about one of the most famous paintings Levitan.

“Fresh air” versus “skin coats and greased boots”

To find out what kind of works made such a painful impression on Benoit (and, more seriously, to evaluate the context in which “The Quiet Abode” first appeared to the public), we looked at the catalog of the 19th exhibition of the TPHV and, indeed, both sheepskin coats and sheepskin coats were found there in abundance. "greased boots" For example, in the same year as “The Quiet Abode” the genres of Vasily Maksimov “After Mass” and “At Your Lane” were exhibited, the painting “The Cranes Are Flying” by Levitan’s friend Alexei Stepanov with a horde of peasant children in bast shoes and zipuns, “The Capture of a Snowy Town in Siberia” Vasily Surikov, “Village Icon Painter” by Abram Arkhipov, “Waiting for the Best Man” by Illarion Pryanishnikov, now forgotten peasant paintings young Bogdanov-Belsky and many other descriptive paintings of everyday life. These works, varying in quality, were united by the socially accusatory tendency characteristic of the Itinerants, so that the world artist Benoit had reason to wince with disgust. Levitan's painting, like them, referring to typical Russian realities, on the contrary, gave a feeling of the harmony of the world order.

How did the public receive “The Quiet Abode”?

An epistolary certificate has also been preserved - a letter from Anton Chekhov to his sister Masha dated March 16, 1891: “I was at the Mobile Exhibition. Levitan celebrates the name day of his magnificent muse. His picture creates a sensation. Grigorovich talked to me about the exhibition, explaining the advantages and disadvantages of each picture; He is delighted with Levitan’s landscape. Polonsky finds that the bridge is too long; Pleshcheev sees a discord between the title of the picture and its content: “For mercy, he calls this a quiet abode, but here everything is cheerful”... etc. In any case, Levitan’s success is not ordinary.”.

How did the melancholic Levitan manage to achieve extreme peace in “The Quiet Abode”?

Levitan's friend Sofya Kuvshinnikova told how in the second half of the 1880s she and Levitan came to sketch near Zvenigorod, in Savvina Sloboda - an area with marvelous views of the bends of the Moscow River, a kind of "Russian Barbizon" - but here the artist was overtaken by another an attack of his characteristic painful melancholy.

“Levitan suffered greatly from the inability to express on canvas everything that was wandering vaguely in his soul,– says Kuvshinnikova. – One day he was in a particularly difficult mood, stopped working completely, said that everything was over for him and that he had nothing left to live for, if he had still been deceived in himself and in vain imagined himself as an artist... The future seemed bleak to him, and all my attempts to dispel these heavy thoughts were in vain. Finally, I convinced Levitan to leave home, and we walked along the shore of the pond, along the monastery mountain. It was getting dark (...) Shadows ran along the mountainside and covered the monastery wall, and the bell towers lit up in the colors of the sunset with such beauty that Levitan was also captured with involuntary delight. Enchanted, he stood and watched as the heads of the monastery churches slowly turned more and more pink in these rays, and I happily noticed in Levitan’s eyes a familiar spark of passion. There was definitely some kind of turning point in Levitan, and when we returned to our place, he was already a different person. Once again he turned to the monastery, which was pale in the twilight, and said thoughtfully:
“Yes, I believe that this will give me a bigger picture someday.”.

So, does this mean that “Quiet Abode” is a picturesque cast of the Moscow region?

Having received the first strong impulse for a painting in the Moscow region, Levitan never painted the picture he had in mind - he only remembered the feeling of peace that overwhelmed him, which replaced depression, and the premonition of happiness. But for the “Quiet Abode” to come into being, it took several more years, Levitan’s journey with Sofia Kuvshinnikova along the Volga, life in the picturesque Volga city of Plyos, expeditionary forays into other Volga settlements, until one day, not far from the town of Yuryevets, Levitan saw the Krivoozersky Monastery and did not finally find the motive he needed.

“The Quiet Abode” thus synthesized impressions from Zvenigorod near Moscow and the Volga region Plyos and Yuryevets.

"Controversial" bell tower

Often the success of a landscape can be determined by the heated debate about what kind of terrain and realities the artist reflected in it.

Is the literary description of Chekhov’s “Quiet Abode” a step towards reconciliation with Levitan?

And two years later, in 1894, in Chekhov’s story “Three Years” there will be a fragment telling how the heroine, Yulia Lapteva, at the whim of her unloved husband, a lover of bad painting, ends up on art exhibition. It seems to Lapteva that all the paintings here are the same and that they do not awaken any feelings in her, when suddenly...

“Julia stopped in front of a small landscape and looked at it indifferently. In the foreground there is a river, a log bridge across it, on the other side there is a path disappearing into the dark grass, a field, then on the right is a piece of forest, near it there is a fire: they must be guarding it at night. And in the distance it's burning down evening dawn. Yulia imagined how she herself walked along the bridge, then along the path, further and further, and all around was quiet, sleepy twitchers were screaming, a fire was blinking in the distance. And for some reason, it suddenly began to seem to her that she had seen these very clouds that stretched across the red part of the sky, and the forest, and the field many times a long time ago, she felt lonely, and she wanted to walk, walk and walk along the path; and where the evening dawn was, rested the reflection of something unearthly, eternal. - How well it is written! “- she said, surprised that the picture suddenly became clear to her.”.

Levitan's name is not mentioned in Chekhov's text, but many literary scholars are convinced that the text is talking specifically about “The Quiet Abode.” In 1895, Levitan and Chekhov restored relations.

“The Quiet Abode” has a “remake” - “Evening Bells”

Description of Levitan’s painting “Quiet Abode”

Levitan Isaac Ilyich is a famous Russian landscape painter.
The church landscape plays a significant role in his work.
One of the most famous works of this genre is his work “The Quiet Abode”.

This picture is simple and at the same time beautiful.
Beautiful summer morning.
The calm surface of the river silently reflects the beauty of nature.
The weather is calm and windless.
In a bright sky, where small clouds float by nowhere.
There is a wooden bridge across the river.
On the other bank, among densely planted green tree trunks, one can see the domes of a church and the bell tower of a small monastery.
There is a feeling of silence and tranquility in the whole picture.
The author admired and enjoyed such a beautiful view.
He so lovingly transferred the beauty he saw onto the canvas.
This can be felt in the small path that leads to the bridge, and then continues to the monastery itself.
In the color of the trees.
They are such a dark green color, like the guards of the shrine are standing on all sides.
Small white flowers can be seen very beautifully against the green background of grass.
They shimmer like pearls in the morning sun.
The whole landscape is somehow fabulous, not even real.
These play of colors of white and gold temples, pink and blue sky, greenish-purple forest.
It’s incredible that ordinary people live in such a wonderful place.
That they see such beauty every morning.
If only I could get there for a minute...

The whole picture is filled with freshness, purity, and peace.
Looking at the picture, as if opening a window, you feel the fragrant air of a summer morning.
I just want to walk across that bridge, collect white flowers and take them to the holy church.
Seeing the landscape in the picture lifts your spirits and gives you more vigor and strength.
A quiet and wonderful corner of heaven on earth.

Isaac Ilyich Levitan is a Russian artist, master of “mood landscape”. His painting “The Quiet Abode” is very interesting for art lovers, and for all people too. It is filled with fresh colors and unusual technique execution gives it a special shape.

The landscape is painted in green and blue tones. Here there is a clear distinction between sky and earth, green and blue colors.

In the foreground we see a bridge that stretches along a small greenish river. In the water you can see the reflection of trees and a church that stands near the shore. The interesting thing is that the picture is executed oil paints and, thanks to this, the artist managed to achieve the effect of relief on the canvas. In front of us we see voluminous clouds that seem to be about to jump out of the picture onto us. The sky is made in a rather unusual color scheme, since purple clouds are a unique interpretation of the author. Thanks to the vagueness of what was depicted, Isaac Ilyich managed to achieve a realistic transition of water into earth and vice versa.

In the background we see a huge abundance of trees, perhaps this is some kind of forestry or forest. Among the trees, a small church shines with its golden domes, as if reaching out to the heavenly light. A little further there is another temple, which, due to all this amount of vegetation, is practically invisible, only the tips of the domes peek out from behind the treetops, trying to look around.

In general, we can talk about this picture for a long time. There is no doubt that Levitan is one of the outstanding landscape painters. And his canvas “Quiet Abode” is a wonderful embodiment of the calm and tranquility of nature. Looking at this picture, you can rest your soul, get enough of the calmness and steadfastness that this canvas carries.

Essay on the painting “Quiet Abode” by Levitan

One of the most famous paintings by Isaac Ilyich Levitan is the painting “Quiet Abode”. This painting belongs to the so-called church landscape. It brought deafening fame to the author at the exhibition of the Itinerants.

As in all the author’s paintings, so here it is revealed to our gaze beautiful view to the vast nature. Large powerful trees with their lushness and dense greenery create the appearance of an impenetrable forest. A small quiet river divided its banks cold water. And now they are connected only by a wooden bridge located from one well-trodden path to another. Judging by the trodden paths and the bridge itself, they have been here for a long time. The greenery no longer even tries to break through the trampled ground, and the wooden parts of the bridge are slowly losing their power.

The surface of the water, as if in a huge mirror, reflects the light blue sky with fluffy clouds, dark green trees and bushes of the banks, the domes of the church and some buildings. Judging by the shimmer of colors on the water, it is clear that it is already evening. Silence and peace fill the circle. Only soon the ringing of the bell tower will break the silence, inviting everyone to the evening service, and will fall silent again, handing over the domain to the evening twilight.

No matter how simple the picture may seem to us, it contains a very important inner world. And for each viewer it has its own notes and sounds. This is her peculiarity and insight. The canvas is worthy of the highest praise.

Essay describing the painting “Quiet Abode”

I. I. Levitan is one of the most famous Russian landscape painters, and his “Quiet Abode” is one of the most famous canvases with a church image. It was this that brought enormous fame to the artist at the exhibition of the Itinerants.

A beautiful and simple picture depicting a summer morning, a calm river with the reflection of small clouds, a bright and clear sky. You can see an old, battered bridge that leads to the other side. A small path leads from the river into the thicket of trees. From behind a tall grove of mighty trees you can see the domes of a church and a small monastery, it seems that the bells are about to ring.

Levitan both in 1890 and later, finding himself in the West and speaking highly of European culture and the comforts of everyday life, he soon began to yearn for his beloved Russian nature. So, in the spring of 1894, he wrote to Apollinary Vasnetsov from Nice: “I can imagine how wonderful it is now in Rus' - the rivers have overflowed, everything is coming to life. No better country than Russia... Only in Russia can there be a real landscape painter."

Once, under the influence of Kuvshinnikova, on the day of the Holy Trinity, Levitan, brought up in the traditions of Judaism, went with her for the first or second time to Orthodox church and there, hearing the words of the holiday prayer, he suddenly shed tears. The artist explained that this is not “Orthodox, but some kind of... world prayer”! This is how the landscape “Quiet Abode”, amazing in its beauty and major sound, was painted, fraught with deep philosophical reasoning about life.

The monastery is partly hidden in a dense forest, illuminated by the rays of the evening sun. The domes of her church shine gently against the golden blue sky that is reflected in clear water. An old wooden bridge, in some places destroyed and patched up, spans the river. A bright sandy path leads to it, and everything seems to invite you to go and plunge into the cleansing tranquility of the holy monastery. The mood of this picture leaves hope for the possibility of a person’s harmony with himself and his finding quiet happiness.

There is evidence that after the appearance of this painting at a traveling exhibition in 1891, Levitan’s name was “on the lips of all intelligent Moscow.” People came to the exhibition just to see once again a painting that spoke something very important to their hearts, and thanked the artist for the “blissful mood, sweet peace of mind that this quiet corner of the Russian land, isolated from the whole world and all hypocrites, evoked.” our affairs."

In the painting “Quiet Abode,” the stillness of the air and the peace of nature are captured in unusually subtle shades and color relationships. Realistic plasticity has reached perfection here. In this picture, Levitan's painting acquired an incomparable quality - accuracy of reproduction objective world, air environment, chiaroscuro, color. The shadows from the trees are placed impeccably correctly. They are not approximate. The accuracy of the conveyed illumination, tone, pattern, and color gives Levitan’s painting a fullness of artistic expression.

Not by chance, as I remembered Alexander Benois, to the first viewers of the picture “it seemed as if the shutters had been removed from the windows, opened wide, and a stream of fresh, fragrant air poured into the old exhibition hall.” Nikolai Rubtsov dedicated the following poem to this painting:

Contemporaries left many confessions that Levitan helped them see native land. Alexander Benois recalled that “only with the advent of Levitan’s paintings” did he believe in beauty, and not in the “beauties” of Russian nature: “... it turned out that the cold vault of its sky is beautiful, its twilight is beautiful, the scarlet glow of the setting sun and the brown spring river, all the relationships of its special colors are beautiful"

“Levitan understood, like no one else, the gentle, transparent beauty of Russian nature, its sad charm... His painting, which gives the impression of such simplicity and naturalness, is, in essence, unusually sophisticated. But this sophistication was not the fruit of some persistent efforts, and not there was no artifice in it. His sophistication arose by itself - it’s just how he was born. What “hells” of virtuosity he reached in his last works!.. His outskirts, piers, monasteries at sunset, touching in mood, were written with amazing skill. "(Golovin A.Ya.).

For the first time Levitan attracted attention at the Traveling Exhibition of 1891. He had exhibited before, and even for several years, but then he did not differ from our other landscape painters, from their general, gray and sluggish mass. The appearance of “The Quiet Abode” made, on the contrary, a surprisingly vivid impression. It seemed as if the shutters had been removed from the windows, as if they had been opened wide, and a stream of fresh, fragrant air poured into the stuffy exhibition hall, where there was such a disgusting smell from the excessive number of sheepskin coats and greased boots.

What could be simpler than this picture? Summer morning. The freezing, full river smoothly bends around a wooded headland. A thin bridge on poles is thrown across it. From behind the birches on the opposite bank, in the cold, pink rays, in a completely bright sky, the domes and bell tower of a small monastery glow. The motif is poetic, sweet, elegant, but, in essence, hackneyed. How many things were written before monasteries in the pink morning or evening light? Are there a lot of clear rivers and birch groves? However, it was clear that here Levitan said a new word, sang a new wonderful song, and this song about long-familiar things enchanted in such a new way that the things themselves seemed unprecedented, just discovered. They simply amazed me with their untouched, fresh poetry. And it immediately became clear that this was not an “accidentally successful sketch,” but a painting by a master, and that from now on this master should be one of the first among all.