Train travel. 1890 Isaac Ilyich Levitan (1860-1900)

Description of Isaac Levitan’s painting "Train on the Road

Isaac Ilyich Levitan was born into a poor but educated Jewish family. His parents gave the child an initial home education; at the age of thirteen he entered the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Here his teacher was A.K. Savrasov, who has passed to the student a love of nature and the ability to see poetry in any, even the simplest landscapes. In addition, Levitan studied with VD Polenov - from this artist, he took the ability to convey light and air through the canvas and paint. Isaac Ilyich, like no one else, could sincerely convey emotionality of nature and subtle correspondence of weather conditions to the mood of the man. Simple landscapes performed by Levitan become truly philosophical works.

The painting "Train on the Road" depicts a freight train pulled by a steam locomotive. The train is moving from the depths of the picture to the viewer, this unusual angle creates a feeling of complete complicity with what is happening, the so-called "presence effect. The hill on which the train moves is covered with thick green grass and studded with small flowers, blue and white. A deep ravine under the embankment on which the rails run, and telegraph poles, following the curve of the road, give the work its finishing touch and a special rhythm.

The forest belt in the background darkens, separating the railroad from the field and the small village; the tall white bell tower of the local church rises above the forest and looms as a bright spot in the distance. In the blue sky float a few clouds tinged with pink - things are moving toward sunset. During this period of creativity for Levitan characterized by the rejection of small details in favor of generalization, monumentalism. The frozen nature on this canvas is diluted only with purposefully moving heavy train; the steam locomotive lets out a club of white smoke, the wheels are clattering, life goes on.