Gloomy day. 1895 Isaac Ilyich Levitan (1860-1900)

Description of Isaac Levitan’s painting A Gloomy Day

This work by the famous Russian painter, Isaac Ilyich Levitan, is nothing more than a simple pastel sketch from a series of sketches by the artist. How, however, we are struck by the naturalness, dynamism, and, most importantly, the completeness of this painting! The composition of the painting is very successful, a small strip of land, separating the two raging elements - water and heaven.

The sky takes up two thirds of the page, so the whole emphasis is on it, its dynamics and scale. The surface of the water is restless and rippling, big thunderstorm clouds bend low over the ground, they are slightly dissolved, which creates the illusion of movement: the clouds seem to be rushing with incredible speed, being driven by a strong, gusty wind.

You can see glimmers of sunlight somewhere: a yellowish patch of land, the front of a cloud, this dilutes the landscape, gives it liveliness, a sense of variability, of what is happening right this very second. Somewhere a blue and clear sky peeks through, but the clouds are so dense that a storm seems inevitable. Anxiety pervades the whole picture, a sense of the impending storm.

Torrential rain is about to fall! The ripple of water is very authentic and the sky is very accurately reflected in it. In the left corner of the painting, you can see a small, lonely willow branch swaying as it struggles to resist the onslaught of the wind. The colors of the painting emphasize its drama, giving it depth.

Rich blue and bluish tones of water and sky, dark green, almost black forest in the distance, and light gray storm clouds blocking the sunlight. All this creates a very emotional and expressive look for Levitan’s simple sketch and shows his amazing skill in capturing and conveying the changing state of nature!