Isaac Levitan - the best landscape painter you may never have heard of?

[@karlfuchs4036]

My favorite painter. no other makes you feel the cold wind, fresh air, immense space and distance, but also the intimacy of the small things. You can feel the mice in those grasses. His treatment is so subtle and free of "artistry" like "develop your own distinct trademark style". Yet I feel such strong artistic control and emotional awareness. He shows his innermost feelings and human nature, I feel I know him, know what was most important to him. His compositions are so bold, it's so hard to fill a canvas with so little. Each composition feels like an archetype, similar to a mozart motive where you wonder how nobody else came up with such simple and brilliant theme. And yet, despite these strong statements, it never feels like he wants to show off or prove some kind of "power". Instead his brushwork is soft, rounded and reduced, giving a feeling of vulnerability, humbleness and admiration for what he sees. I think he felt as a very small part of nature, not very important as an individual. His function on earth was to observe, record and communicate the reality to others so that they, with their less developed senses, can see as well. There is no other like him who paints so naturally and without his ego in the way.

[@pamhowell3716]

One of my favorite artists. I have a few books of his work and him also included in books of Russian art, but this video! Half of these paintings I have never seen, so thank you so very much. That man. What soul..

[@bandartdaniel7301]

Speechless...simply wonderful.

[@robhead22]

Incredible paintings! I’d never heard of him. And let me add, that this is the best artwork video I’ve seen! You did it exactly right! No distracting graphics or transitions. No music! And you left each image up long enough the study! Perfectly done!! Thank you so much!!

[@robinaart72]

thanks v much Robert . 'And let me add, that this is the best artwork video' comment I've seen!! :)

[@nbinghi]

I too appreciate the quiet, ability to absorb the painting without distracting noise/music, AND a decent amount of time allotted to study each one. Well done and thank you!

[@juancarlosrayo273]

These are very beautiful, serene, moody pictures that anyone can appreciate. Thanks for sharing them.

[@walterhill2792]

Never heard of this artist, his work is beautiful. It appears he can swing from realist, to impressionist very easy. Just Wonderful! Thanks!

[@robinaart72]

Totally agree!

[@waleezeart4295]

Thank you for making this available.

[@robinaart72]

no problem - there are a few other Levitan videos around, but I wanted to collate some of my favourites (so this is a very subjective collection:)

[@bonniefrench9884]

Wonderful video ! I had never heard of or seen his work. Some of his paintings look like photos touched up with a brush, some impressionist. Loved the light and atmosphere. He conveyed a sense of being there.

[@danthomas6587]

Wow. Incredible.

[@346UNCLEBOB]

Actually, I have known about Levitan's work for some time now and find it fascinating. Thank you so much for showing these. Splendid presentation, by the way. No distractions - Just ART. - Superb.

[@robinaart72]

Thanks Bob:)

[@TheFish0917]

Spectacular!!!!!

[@garygreenfield5969]

Always a joy to discover an artist that I hadn't known about a minute before. Some wonderful works here. As noted by several others, I appreciate the pacing and lack of (unnecessary) soundtrack. The work stands quite well on its own.

[@robinaart72]

thanks Gary

[@peterfrost5475]

Very dramatic strong plein air paintings well worth a look, thank you.

[@robinaart72]

totally agree - I love his approach - in many cases the scene could appear trivial or dull - yet he manages to convey something 'other' that adds a whole lot of meaning to the mundane. In searching for a 'style' for myself, I think I could do a lot worse than aspire to Levitan's work (I can dream can't I?:)

[@gianpierobertolone5612]

Levitan è uno dei più grandi pittori. dell'ottocento. Immenso artista, poco conosciuto fuori dalla Russia.

[@acertiger591]

₩0₩ complete sensory overload! Delightfully Trilled & Inspired beyond words. Aloha 🌊 from the P.Rim.

[@robinaart72]

yodelaeeio from the Austrian Alps 🏔

[@petroshingalana8556]

It's beautiful art, thank you for showing us, and how he saw what he want to painr

[@robinaart72]

happy to share my favourite paintings of his - I was so pleased to discover his work .

[@robinaart72]

In my eyes, I think he may be the best landscape painter I've ever come across ...just love his work on so many levels.

[@claygreen4723]

What about Arthur Streeton?

[@robinaart72]

@@claygreen4723 amazing artist too, yes

[@beccagee5905]

I love Isaacs Levitan's landscapes too, I was drawn to them the first moment I ever saw them. His; ponds, puddles, ditches, creeks, and streams are amazing, and his close up trees are so real you can almost feel the bark.

[@aroshiya4512]

Please watch @Michael James Smith KZbin channel. He is the best landscape artist ever..💯💯💯

[@aroshiya4512]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/o6rdpK19i8-efbs

[@FlipSideCT]

I am a ultra beginner, have not even started painting, and just going thru KZbin to learn what I can by others (I do realize I need to start and just make mistakes to learn). but I am a total analyst thinker and learner. I have to understand colors and tools first. Thanks for sharing this!

[@robinaart72]

no problem - one thing I did was to do some charcoal drawings first, before I got into colour (I'd not done art for a couple of decades, so took a while to get back into it) - just doing charcoals is a great way to think about light and shadow etc - maybe having one special highlight to the picture - a single place where the white is brightest, and then keep the rest of the picture toned down from that - if you look at these paintings - often there's just one very small area that has the brightest part - and if you look in the shadows - even though there's colour differences - the light (or shade) intensity is always constant - this would be my other tip - don't put flecks of brightness etc in areas they shouldn't be. good luck:)

[@FlipSideCT]

@@robinaart72 thank you for the comments and sharing your thoughts Robin. Look forward to your future videos.

[@vapoureyes]

They are fantastic, surprised I haven’t heard of him .

[@rabiray162]

so nice so beuatful.

[@locustslacker6614]

Savvinskaya sloboda near Zvenigorod (1884) my favorite

[@KateEmeryProductions]

He sure knows his values!!!

[@smasica]

He seemed to use a muted palette for most of his works. Great compositions and a masterful control of values in his paintings. Much of his value shifts were done with subtle color temperature changes. His work struck me as conveying a sense of isolation and loneliness.

[@JERRYSHONDA]

oh the power of place we gaze and gaze as one right word after another never comes

[@michaelbonanno7476]

Thank you for not adding music or zooming in and out of the picture frame! It’s rare that KZbin has a good viewing of an artist’s work. Well done Robin! :)

[@robinaart72]

we're in agreement:) - I feel silence brings out the intensity of the art.

[@robinaart72]

having said that, I just remembered I added sheep sound effects to a Welsh artist video I recently put up...but in my defence, I feel that's close to what he may have heard:)

[@michaelbonanno7476]

@@robinaart72 “heard” hey great pun for sheep :)

[@robinaart72]

@@michaelbonanno7476 well....usually I don't give a 'flock' about sheep puns...but I'll make an exception...:)

[@michaelbonanno7476]

@@robinaart72 Oooooh I’m surprised KZbin allows for that kind of language! Better watch out… they may pun-ish you for these comments!

[@trentriver]

I have heard of him and he is was incredible painted - sadly he died from heart disease at only 35 years old.

[@thomasbroderick6388]

Levitan was pure genius. Sadly he died at the young age of 40 from a life long heart condition. Who knows how many great works he may have done.

[@this6969]

Issac levitan unmatched, incomparable, unparalleled Maestro 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 highest level titan

[@aroshiya4512]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/o6rdpK19i8-efbs

[@bearbait7405]

Thank you.

[@donnadiesburg7451]

WOW!

[@vernonsaayman9741]

Agree! Like photo,s.

[@lahure]

Il est bien au dessus de ce qui est beau....❤

[@pabitramohangayan1482]

I think I am watching the best ever paintings now. They are awesome . it's rightly said that an artist is second God.. next to God. Jay Shree Jagannath 🙏🙏🙏

[@robinaart72]

thanks for your comment - they are indeed awesome:)

[@francescadelogu5969]

One of my favourites. Unfortunately he died too young...

[@bertmurillo1535]

It would be nice to have some expert take one artist of today like Robert A and compare it with the Grand Masters. Maybe thru a computer program?

[@robinaart72]

if you mean Robin A, then I think the computer program would say, 'don't waste my time with this amateur':)

[@MMA-gb6to]

Levitan and Shishkin, 2 most famous Russian landscape painters. Never have heard of? :(

[@robinaart72]

well, yeah....I hadn't! ...I even went to art college - just wasn't taught or shown his work (pre-internet)...if I had been a tutor, I'd have def talked about him:)

[@Buckhorntom]

Only thing missing to elevate art even more would be some human content re figures. Great art.

[@живописьирисунок.МаксимУстинов]

Гений пейзажа

[@robinaart72]

Я согласен :)

[@abelroy]

to paint nature well is not to take photos, but to understand its profound laws. and the only real genius in the matter remains camille corot

[@robinaart72]

yeah - I mean I guess the sign of a successful painting is if you can suspend the disbelief of the observer and conjure up for them some sort of emotion or imagined memory of a scene, whilst perhaps straying as far from reality as you can before the spell is broken...or something like that...room for 2 genieyes at least I reckon

[@abelroy]

@@robinaart72 if one wants to. but it is surely not for nothing that corot is MUCH more famous 😉

[@МояАнтарктида]

Levitan was very fond of Corot, studied his work

[@abelroy]

@@МояАнтарктида 👍

[@76tygfgug]

"THE ONLY REAL GENIUS" who you are for being that arrogant?)

[@SacredGeometryDecoded]

Cool but some of those photos a bit out of focus 😉

[@robinaart72]

you had me for a sec then...:)

[@rajendrapradhan3631]

Yes I have always admired him as the best landscape painter I have ever seenthrough the paintings nice light effect and feel of temperature with ambience .oh no just incredible

[@pauldow1648]

Classic compositions. Lots of reflected dismal light. Not much summer color. Thank you.

[@GaryYoung-eq1ph]

Great realism but same houses and no people . (A ghost town, no life.)

[@robinaart72]

And all the better for it imo:) - if you compare to lets say Ivan Shishkin, Rain in an Oak Forest, 1891, I know which I would choose - no offence to Shishkin, but for me this is a good example of how figures can dominate and steal the thunder so to speak. For me, the lack of humans allows the landscape to do the talking, and conjure up an imaginary feeling or emotion from some lost perhaps inherited memory of other times....or something..when I see people, it becomes 'their' story, not mine.

[@jimloth6091]

Love his work but I prefer Ivan Shishkin.

[@peterpole4330]

Ass good as Constable.

[@robinaart72]

'ass' good?🐴..just uploaded a Constable plein air vid actually

[@vincemazo341]

I've seen a lot of art over the last 50 years. He's no the best in my opinion. Not even close to the best, but he's good.

[@robinaart72]

well to me he's yes the best painter that I may never have heard of :)

[@76tygfgug]

And who is a better landscape artist than him? Constable? Sargent? They all are definitely on the same level of knowing their craft and everything else is just a matter of taste. And judging by your comment, you definitely have no taste even after 100 years of watching other people's works

[@joefulham]

He is good. Not quite as good as Peder Monsted. But then, nobody is.

[@robinaart72]

must be something wrong with me, as honestly, I'm not that into his work! - I mean - don't get me wrong - I recognise immense skill and talent- no question - but on an emotional/evocative basis, more often than not, I don't feel it compared to Levitan (there are exceptions though- I'm just generalising) - obviously totally subjective though of course.

[@joefulham]

@@robinaart72 Agreed. they're both incredible artists. Just grateful to yourself and others who post so they wont be forgotten

[@76tygfgug]

Not as good as a "photo copier"? Perhaps. But much better as an artist.

[@rafaelwillems3244]

Tsjechov's travelling companion! Beautiful, thanks for showing.