Autumn. Farmstead. 1894 Isaac Ilyich Levitan (1860-1900)

Description of Isaac Levitan’s painting "Autumn. Homestead."

In the nineties of the 19th century Levitan lived for some time with friends, in Tver province, not far from the village of Ostrovno, which still exists today. There was an estate Gorka, owned by privy councilor Turchaninov. The main building of the estate - a wooden house with two floors with a mezzanine, painted yellow. This house Levitan portrayed in two paintings - "March" and "Autumn. Homestead.

In the picture - late autumn, the artist’s favorite time of year. Gloomy day, typical for this time. The leaves have already fallen, and cover the ground almost completely. The first snow has not yet fallen, and you can feel that rustling underfoot. Some of the trees still have yellowed leaves hanging on them, but the remaining leaves will soon be blown away by the wind. In the background is the famous main house of the Gorka Manor, that two-story building with a mezzanine. A path (probably a road) leads to it, barely discernible under the fallen leaves.

Here you can see a striking contrast to the springtime March landscape painted a few months later. In the painting "March" you can see that the house (the part that the artist depicted) is painted yellow.

In the painting "Autumn. Manor House" the colors of the house are almost indistinguishable. They seem to have faded in anticipation of winter, lost against the background of flying leaves.

Judging by the care with which the smallest details are painted, this place has made a huge impression on Levitan. There are no people or animals in the painting. The artist leaves the viewer alone with the fall and the two-story house nearby. Despite the seeming desolation, it is not abandoned, there are almost always people here - Turchaninov’s wife and children and their friends, such as Levitan.

Levitan’s autumnal paintings had a huge influence on many artists. This theme was present in the work of most Russian landscape painters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.