In the north. 1896 Isaac Ilyich Levitan (1860-1900)

Description of Isaac Levitan’s painting "In the North

When the plate indicating the canvas says that it is a work by Levitan, one can unmistakably determine that it will be a work of genius. No matter what this artist depicts, no matter what format the work is, it will always be incredibly talented. And so this painting is not that big, but very talented.

True, this time Levitan on the canvas depicted the harsh northern nature. This is not Central Russia, with its beauty of birches, oaks and other beauties of the Russian forest. Here the queen of the woods is the spruce. But there is a rival - pine. But do not think that oaks and other things do not grow in the north. There are many things there and of these many things there are the most useful for man. Berries, animals, medicinal plants - all this is in the north.

On the canvas we see the northern river and the sky. It’s stunningly beautiful. True, not so blue, but rather all gray, so curly because of the clouds. The clouds are reflected in the river, and up in the sky are spruce trees, smooth beauties. It’s not the kind of gorgeous and lush spruces that grow in the suburbs.

It is also different and because there is not much sun in the north, it is almost always overcast. And again, despite the bad weather, there are still many things that grow there. From berries, for example, blackberries, cloudberries, currants... There is another useful tree in the north - cedar. It gives us very tasty pine nuts. As for wildlife, there is enough of it in the north. Naturally, bears are big animals and bison. Of the smaller animals are hares, squirrels and ermines.

Other predators, such as tigers, bobcats, and cheetahs, may also inhabit the north. Of course, all this is not on the canvas, but there is almost all the variety of the northern flora. But the artist did not focus his attention on the carpet of grass on the shore, everything is somehow blurred and only the colors indicate that, apparently, on the canvas is autumn. And this northern autumn is not a little worse than other autumn landscapes of the painter.