“One of the few among Russian artists, Levitan knew how to enjoy the brush and paint, he knew how to paint not only correctly, but also beautifully. All his paintings are themselves phenomena of a purely pictorial nature. That is why it is so difficult to talk about them, but it is so easy to admire them, to surrender to their inexplicable charm... He felt in nature that he was living and praising the Creator; I heard with my sensitive ear how the heart of nature itself beats” (Benoit).

Revealing the “hidden secret” in nature, its great spiritual content, was Levitan’s constant desire throughout his short creative life.

Starting from , Levitan created many paintings dedicated to Russian autumn, which together form a unique “autumn suite” extremely rich in emotional shades. For autumn it is presented in all its diverse splendor. According to researchers, the artist’s creative heritage includes about a hundred “autumn” paintings, not counting etudes, sketches, numerous drawings and sketches. But perhaps the most popular among these works is the painting “Golden Autumn”.

In the mid-1890s, still living with his beloved Sofia Petrovna Kuvshinnikova in one of the picturesque provincial manorial estates, Levitan suddenly fell in love with Anna Nikolaevna Turchaninova, who was vacationing at the dacha next door. And even Sofia Petrovna’s suicide attempt out of jealousy did not cool the artist’s ardor. He began a stormy and passionate affair with Anna Nikolaevna, in which her eldest daughter Varvara was also involved. During this period, the artist creates a number of paintings that are in tune with his then state of mind.

Levitan was a frequent guest at the Chekhovs' house in Melikhovo. However, Anton Pavlovich, and especially his sister Maria, did not share their friend’s new ardent hobbies. The writer was also skeptical about the appearance of “bravura” in his latest films.

In particular, “Golden Autumn” is far from those elegiac and sad images of autumn nature that were characteristic of Levitan. In the bright and highly decorative work one can feel excitement and tense anticipation of happiness, which in no way fits with the painter’s own worldview and, therefore, according to Chekhov, should not be present in his work.

However, it is precisely this expectation of happiness that makes the painting a true masterpiece of a mood landscape. Doesn't it speak of that hidden power of life, which, in spite of everything, was still inherent in the artist? This power of life did not manifest itself often, and it fell on the canvases with an unearthly light.

Everything seems to breathe transparent bliss. The birches in the foreground are reverently pure and innocent. The artist’s brushstroke, a harbinger of impressionism, flows easily and naturally, enlivening the landscape with the play of light and the breath of a light breeze.

Golden autumn is, first of all, farewell beauty and “lush decay of nature” (Pushkin). Many artists convey all this on their canvases. But subtle lyricism and light sadness are characteristic only of Levitan. They run throughout the master’s work and illuminate his autumn works with a special power of mystical feeling.

In the story about Levitan, the writer Konstantin Paustovsky gave a very capacious, but surprisingly imaginative assessment of his autumn paintings:

“None of the artists before Levitan conveyed with such sad force the immeasurable expanse of Russian bad weather. It is so calm and solemn that it feels like greatness.

Autumn removed the rich colors from the forests, from the fields, from all over nature, and washed away the greenery with the rains. The groves were made through. The dark colors of summer gave way to timid gold, purple and silver.

Levitan, like Pushkin and Tyutchev and many others, waited for autumn as the most precious and fleeting time of the year.

Autumn in Levitan's paintings is very diverse. It is impossible to list all the autumn days he painted on the canvas. Levitan left about a hundred “autumn” paintings, not counting sketches.

They depicted things familiar from childhood: ...lonely golden birches, not yet blown by the wind; a sky like thin ice; shaggy rains over forest clearings. But in all these landscapes, no matter what they depict, the sadness of farewell days, falling leaves, rotting grass, the quiet hum of bees before the cold and the pre-winter sun, barely noticeably warming the earth, is best conveyed.”

The beauty of Russian nature has always attracted the attention of poets, writers, composers and artists. Therefore, many masters of the painting brush turned to this topic. One of these unsurpassed masters of painting is I.I. Levitan. His paintings clearly and clearly show love and admiration for his native nature.

One of his paintings is called “Golden Autumn”. This landscape reproduction was created by a wonderful artist in 1895 and, despite the fact that so much time has passed, it still evokes feelings of admiration for the masterpiece created by Levitan. After all, its autumn landscape is bright and sunny. He cannot leave a single person indifferent.

Therefore, one can rightfully call I. Levitan an artist of mood, as his contemporaries often called him. He could skillfully convey the beauty of his native land, show it in such a way that it would be impossible not to love it. Penetrating into the heart of everyone, it teaches not only to see beauty, but also shows how to appreciate it.

This painting by Levitan made such a huge impression on I. Tretyakov, who immediately purchased it for her art collection. In the modern art world, this painting can be seen in the Tretyakov Gallery. In it, she is considered a real asset.

Levitan’s painting “Golden Autumn” depicts an autumn birch grove, which is changeable and unique in its attire. The foreground of the picture attracts attention, where two small aspen trees are comfortably located, on which almost all the leaves have already fallen. And here are the birches that flash their golden tops. In the picture they are located slightly to the side from the main landscape. But all attention, of course, is drawn to the wonderful birch grove, which surprises with its extraordinary golden decoration.

The trunks of the birches are snow-white, and the trees themselves are depicted as if they are dressed in bright outfits, which have an unusual yellow-orange hue. If you look closely at the picture, you will notice that the birch leaves are depicted by the artist as if they are fluttering in the wind. Illuminated by the rays of the sun, they shimmer and shine brightly. This creates the image of golden decorations on girl trees.

One of these beautiful birches stands on the right bank of the river, far from its friends. That's why she seems so lonely. But the river water is still and cold. The artist placed the river in his painting on the right so that the birch grove could be reflected in the mirror surface. But what else is reflected in the river? This is the sky, huge, bright, blue, across which huge white clouds float.

Reflected in the mirror-clear river water are the branches of the bush that has grown on the river bank and, under the rays of the sun, now shimmers with reddish colors and shades. But it was this delicate and amazing bush that allowed the artist to steal and diversify the left bank of the river.

The calm and peaceful surface of the river allowed the artist Levitan to complement the landscape, which he was able to convey so accurately and so amazingly. The author of the artistic canvas was able to show all the beauty and charm of the autumn landscape with several color schemes. To the right of the water there are beautiful willows, their branches hanging low to the river. They have not yet lost their former beauty and now, despite the fact that everything is gold, they still stand, as before, green. They create a charming contrast between autumn, which has already arrived, and summer, which has already passed.

But summer leaves and says goodbye, and autumn only conquers new territories more and more. An invisible battle takes place between the seasons and this, of course, is reflected in nature, which transforms and changes its outfit. Levitan shows how autumn gradually wins over summer: the greenery has become less bright and rich, it is no longer juicy, and is very different from the state it was in just recently, in the summer.

The whole earth is covered with grass, but it too has submitted to autumn and turned yellow. But still, here and there a strand of green grass still flickers, like a small reminder of summer. And now new elements are woven into this wonderful and extraordinary grass carpet - fallen leaves that are crimson and yellow. The artist chose rich and bright colors to depict the grass, and here and there you can see dark spots on the grass that appeared like shadows from the trees.

It is worth paying attention to the background of Levitan’s painting. Here you can see not only forests and fields that were sown with winter crops, but distant and almost invisible houses. The fields seem as if spring has arrived, as greenery is visible everywhere, lush and rich. But then the artist makes a sharp contrast and switches to yellow and brown colors, which return to reality and show that, after all, autumn has already arrived in nature.

An interesting and charming painting by the famous and magnificent artist I.I. Levitan creates a wonderful lyrical mood. The colors of the canvas “Golden Autumn” please with its unusually bright shades that make autumn nature so pleasing. It is this picturesque landscape that helps the magical brush of the master of painting awaken sincere love for his native land. How amazing and beautiful this picture is! It is impossible to take your eyes off the beauty of nature depicted by Levitan.

It’s simply amazing how nature was able to create such a miracle, and now it delights everyone and forces us to be more attentive to what surrounds us. It is Levitan who shows with his painting that it is worth paying attention not only to the general landscape, but also to consider small details and details that help create a special and even poetic mood.

That’s why autumn helped, and sometimes even awakened in the hearts of many poets and writers the desire to create. Among them we can name such famous and great people as Mikhail Prishvin, Alexander Pushkin, Konstantin Paustovsky and others. They all have beautiful works dedicated to the autumn season and its natural and unusual beauty, which is impossible not to love.

The painting “Golden Autumn” encourages people not to pass by the beautiful, to pay attention to nature, to see its fabulous and unearthly beauty. The artist urges people to take care of the most valuable things that have been created by nature and what needs to be preserved for new future generations.

Golden Autumn - Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov. 1893. Oil on canvas. 77x124 cm

A born landscape painter, Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov, made a huge contribution to the development and evolution of this genre. The wonderful painting “Golden Autumn” belongs to the second period of the painter’s landscape creativity. The thing is that critics divide all of Polenov’s landscape works into two stages - before the mid-1880s and after.

Having become fascinated by the landscape in , in the creative expedition that Polenov conducted together with, the master already in his first works demonstrated an individual approach to this genre - the widest plein air, freshness, saturation of colors, naturalness, clear clear drawing and precise composition. Later, the author abandoned the deliberate task, creating poetic masterpieces full of love for nature and admiration for the world around him. This is the painting “Golden Autumn”, painted in 1893.

Why is this painting so attractive even more than a hundred years after its creation? Perhaps the answer to this question lies in the personal preferences of the author. As you know, Polenov’s favorite time of year was autumn, and the author had a special relationship with the Oka, which is depicted in the picture - the author lived on the banks of this river for more than twenty years, never ceasing to admire and admire it. Back in 1890, the artist moved to the Borok estate in the village of Bekhovo, and three years later this painting appeared.

The composition of the painting is subordinated to a geometric line - the space is organized using an arc. This arched image of the river is a characteristic Polenovsky technique that forms the composition. The author abandoned his usual comparison of two plans, distant and foreground, leaving only a wide open space. The viewer imagines himself standing on the top of some hill, and from this point a magnificent colorful September landscape helpfully stretches out in front of him. Moreover, local residents easily recognized this place - the master depicted everything truthfully and realistically. The view of the Oka opens from the opposite side of the Ochkovye Mountains, and in the upper right corner you can see a white bell tower glistening in the sun.

A wide panoramic spread does not immediately “reveal” all the cards - rather, our gaze follows the river, rushing further and further, deeper into the picture. Submitting to the intricate trajectory set by the author, the viewer gradually comprehends all the delights of the opening view, which shows us the riot and variety of autumn colors.

For all its richness and diversity, the color of the picture is surprisingly harmonious. The “colorful” autumn itself finds a talented poetic interpretation within the framework of the canvas, thanks to the author’s ingenious flair. The general color is yellow in all its tonal variations: from soft ocher to solemn gold. Yellow birch trees surround the river in orderly rows, but through their thick, showy attire one can see the dark green foliage of some other tree with spreading branches. Most likely, this is an oak tree that has not yet been touched, has not yet been painted in autumn, and it still carries the echo of an irrevocably passing summer. The ocher color is also diluted by green young fir trees, planted unevenly in an open meadow along a well-trodden path, and a gentle sandy bank on the opposite side of the river.

The noble juxtaposition of yellow and green is brightened by blue coloring. It is in the bend of the Oka, and in the sky, covered with small islands of lush clouds, and in the thin smoky line of the horizon, giving the picture airiness and weightlessness.

The sky in this work deserves special attention and detailed analysis. The artist managed to “catch” all the shades here and convey their flickering - from the gray tones of the clouds to the light blue of the sky and pink lines born from the reflections of the sun. All this is subject to its own rhythm, and it seems that the sky is devoid of static, and the eyes are about to begin to notice smooth movement.

The image of the surface of the river is also interesting. The mirror ribbed surface was able to absorb all the colors of the canvas. Here is the noble blue of the river itself, and the reflection of the yellow leaves of the trees, and the duplication of the sky, which thereby “loops” the composition.

Polenov was known as the creator of the “intimate” landscape, in the concept that all the natural beauty revealed in his paintings is somehow close to the heart, dear and understandable. It seems that any viewer, peering at Polenov’s work, will remember his own story - everyone, for sure, in their life had their own favorite sloping bank, a birch grove, a dusty path trampled by riders, a yellowed meadow, a village church, such a sun-drenched day that We carefully store it in our souls.

It is this warm feeling, born from contemplating Polenov’s landscapes, that makes his work so attractive and even hypnotizing. And also the unconditional genius of Polenov the painter and his sincere boundless love for the Russian land.

The famous Russian landscape painter had a special love for autumn. Probably because autumn resonated with his melancholic feelings better than any other season. In total, Levitan painted more than a hundred autumn landscapes. In autumn, especially in September, as many artists note, the air is crystal clear. It is no coincidence that amateur astronomers most like to observe stars in early autumn.

Painting " Golden autumn"captured just the brightest, most transparent and elegant stage of autumn. In nature, we can already feel the approach of cold weather, but the weather is still warm, and the morning frosts have not yet spoiled the bright colors of the yellowing leaves. The bottomless blue of the sky contrasts with the golden and crimson shades of autumn leaf fall. After two or three weeks, the foliage will wither and acquire a brown tint, the sky will become cloudy and hang heavily over the ground with gray clouds; rain will turn magical forest paths into impassable mud, a calm river will become cloudy.

The artist began working on the painting in the fall of 1895. At that time he lived in the Gorki estate (Tver province). Sketches and sketches were made from life, and he completed his famous landscape in the winter, after returning to Moscow. And although the picture gives the impression of being painted directly from life, while working on it the artist relied mainly on his visual memory. The following year, “Golden Autumn” was exhibited in St. Petersburg and Moscow, where it was purchased by philanthropist and collector Pavel Tretyakov. It should be noted that Levitan never liked the fact that his painting appeared in catalogs under the name “Autumn”; he insisted on the name “Golden Autumn”, since simply “Autumn” seemed to him a rude and inappropriate name. Currently, the canvas measuring 82 cm by 126 cm is in the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery. The landscape is painted in an energetic, expressive manner, the influence of impressionism is felt in it; many details are written conventionally, with voluminous and relief strokes (birch foliage). In general, “Golden Autumn” is not the most typical work - it is a bright, sunny, joyful picture. Instead of the sadness and melancholy typical of Isaac Levitan, there is only a slight longing for the past summer (and, perhaps, regret for what passed with it). Most likely, this landscape reflected the author’s elevated romantic feelings - it is known that before starting work on the landscape he had an affair with Anna Turchaninova.

It is curious that Isaac Levitan painted another painting with the same name, “Golden Autumn”, it was completed in 1896 and is also in the State Tretyakov Gallery. About half the size of its famous namesake, this painting depicts a different, vibrant autumn landscape and is painted in a simpler, stylized manner.

Painting “Golden Autumn” by Isaac Levitan

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Just as Pushkin in literature was a recognized singer of Russian autumn, so Isaac Levitan in painting never tired of glorifying this amazing time of year. Hundreds of canvases, large and small, captured various corners of the artist’s native land, forever preserving wonderful landscapes for the eyes of posterity. Autumn appears so unique and so recognizable in them! The bright holiday of Indian summer, the rainy blues of the first bad weather and the mournful slush on the eve of winter - everything is dear and close to the virtuoso of brushes and paints; in any weather he finds his joy and charm, “the charm of the eyes.”

History of the creation of the work

So, Levitan, “Golden Autumn”. You can start with a little biographical information. The work was created by the artist in 1895, at the very end of the 19th century, a troubled time and not very understandable for the Russian intelligentsia. At the same time, this is the flowering of creativity, its skill, a productive surge of talent. On a very small canvas (82 by 126 cm) he painted a surprisingly bright, cheerful landscape. Looking at it, it becomes completely clear why Levitan called his work “Golden Autumn”. The description of the autumn picture is made in the most saturated, major colors. But they are very rare in the artist, unusual for him. The master was a supporter of calmer, pastel shades, colors of moderate saturation, soft and delicate. But, apparently, the painter was so touched and delighted by the splendor of nature that he deviated from his characteristic manner of painting. And Levitan was not mistaken! “Golden Autumn” is a description of a picture of nature, or rather an image of it in the vicinity of the Syezha River, which flows near the village of Ostrovno. In those places, the artist lived in an estate with the interesting name Gorka (formerly Tver province, now a region). This happened precisely in 1895; under the impression of being in such beautiful places, he set to work.

Analysis of the picture

The first painting that comes to mind when hearing the name Levitan is “Golden Autumn”. The description of the picture should begin from the foreground. On it we see a birch grove stretching along both banks of a narrow but deep river. Its banks are steep and high, overgrown with grass and bushes. Reddish-brown earth peeks through them, visible among withered blades of grass and half-naked branches with yellow and reddish leaves. Higher up the slope grow the white-trunked beauties themselves, golden, sparkling in the bright rays of the already cool sun. It seems that gold - yellow and red - is spilled in the very air.

After all, several blazing scarlet aspen trees add richness to the overall color. By the way, it is worth emphasizing how attentive Levitan is. “Golden Autumn” is a description of a not monochromatic landscape! In yellowness itself, as the most commonly encountered paint, it notices and reflects so many shades that you are amazed! However, he also pays attention to other colors. Greenish-gray, as if faded, washed-out trees stand on the right bank of the river. In the background, in the distance, you can see a village and peasant huts. Further fields stretch, and a lemon-ocher forest stretches along the horizon.

Mood of the picture

A celebration of existence, delight in the fragile, short-lived beauty of nature - this is what Levitan’s painting “Golden Autumn” conveys. Schoolchildren are happy to write essays on it during speech development classes. After all, true beauty attracts, ennobles, touches, educates and teaches careful handling. Beauty is always defenseless. Everyone should remember this.

No wonder they say that it is beauty that will save our world from lack of spirituality!