Isaak Iliich Levitan was born in August of Исправлено: in august of 1860 in Lithuania region, which was a part of the Russian Empire. His father was an interpreter and a teacher of foreign languages. Later, chasing after better Исправлено: chasing for better conditions of life, the Levitans moved to Moscow, where Isaak’s father sent his two sons to an art institute. In 1875 Isaak’s mother and father died and he had to begin to earn money Исправлено: to begin earn money and feed his younger brothers and sisters. He painted for one rich man, who paid him very little and signed by himself all Levitan’s pictures.

He lived very poor life, he didn’t even have money to pay for the institute. But his friends helped him, being acknowledged of his talent. Moreover, the Jews were sent away from Moscow and he settled in Saltykovka village. There he lived all alone, enjoying landscapes and painting. Once, walking by the railway station, he caught the beautiful view of the oncoming train. The platform was wet from the rain and the lights of the train reflected in the puddles. The picture “The evening after the rain” was sold for forty rubles and gave him an opportunity to rent a small room in Moscow.

Levitan was used to hard working and his efforts were noticed by Savrasov, who suggested him joining Исправлено: suggested him to join his art workshop, together with Korovin and other talented landscape artists. The acquaintance with Savrasov’s style influenced Levitan a lot, so his early works “Sunny day. Spring” and “Evening” give the same poetic impression that is familiar from Savrasov’s pictures.

Anyway, Levitan had his own incomparable and unique style. He didn’t try to paint nature in all details. He gave the entire atmosphere of the particular conditions of the weather, described the mood of the season. The fame had come Исправлено: The fame has come to him through his work “Autumn day. Sokolniki” where the motives of a dull grey Moscow fall was multiplied by the image of the black figure of a woman. The picture was bought by Tretiakov for his gallery.

When Polenov took Savrasov’s place in the art workshop, Levitan’s works became lighter and brighter as in Polenov’s “Moscow garden”. He learned from his teacher Исправлено: He studied from his teacher to choose appropriate colors, to paint sun rays playing in the green trees with blue and violet shades. Painting the Russian village he didn’t pay attention to its poorness, he wanted to show its beauty and purity. Such works were his “First leaves. May” and “Bridge” — warm and bathed in cheery sunlight.

Nevertheless, his works still lacked bright colors and they were a little dry. It seemed that Levitan was afraid to give a way to his feelings fully. Working on the decorations to the opera he managed to overcome these drawbacks. Making the decorations for different plays Исправлено: Making the decorations to different plays, he learned how to work with wide brush and paint mixing flashy colors. The result of this work was a possibility to go to the Crimea.

The artist was impressed by the nature of the peninsula. But the joy didn’t last for a long time. He began to miss a pale northern nature, and it became clear to him that nothing is better than home. Later, in search of new impressions, he moved to Ples, a small town on Volga. There he fell in love with the river and painted several epic works. The best picture of the Volga period is considered to be “The evening on Volga”, where the dreaming night river is covered with heavy grey clouds. The water is still and somewhere the slight movement produced by wind is mentioned by silver paths. The fishermen’s boats are taken to the shore and on the opposite side Исправлено: in the opposite side of the river warm evening lights can be seen.

“Eternal rest” is considered to be the deepest Levitan’s masterpiece. The picture shows the moment before the thunderstorm. Grey heavy clouds hang above a wide river. A small church in the foreground complements the atmosphere of loneliness and eternity. The entire picture makes audience reflect on the meaning of our life, suggests that our life is fleeting very fast.

The private life of the painter was unsettled. However, once in his life he made an attempt to get married. It was summer Исправлено: It was a summer and Levitan with his best friend – famous writer Anton Chechov spent time in the forests gathering mushrooms and berries. There he fell in love with Chechov’s sister. But their relationships didn’t become serious ones. He loved the Volga River very much. Flowers were also among his favorites. When in his later period of life he taught young artists he always insisted on special diligence while painting flowers. He wanted flowers to look vivid and realistic on the canvas.

Levitan had a sick heart. Doctors were not able to perform complex operations Исправлено: to make difficult operation on heart at those times Исправлено: that time so they didn’t manage to save his life. He died on the 4 of August 1900. Исправлено: on the 4 of august in 1900.