Isaac Ilich Levitan

Sotheby's New York, Important 19th Century European Paintings, 27 May 1982, lot 160A

Moscow, 6th Exhibition of the Moscow Society of Art Lovers, 1886-7, no.79
St. Petersburg, Society of St.Yevgeniya, Exhibition of Russian Artists, 1913, no.114

A.Fedorov-Davydov, I.I. Levitan, 1966, p.82, no. 108
S.Grabar and I.Grabar, Isaak Il'ich Levitan, Zhizn' i tvorchestvo, Moscow:  I.Knebel, 2nd edition, p.100, listed under 1886, VI Periodicheskaya vystavka: Vid pod Yaltoi

The board appears sound. The paint surface is fairly clean, there are minor paint abrasions along the edges. UV light reveals no signs of retouching. Held in a modern gilt plaster frame and unexamined out of frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

When Levitan travelled to the Crimea in March 1886, he was a penniless young artist who could barely afford to eat; three months later he returned to Moscow with a body of work which earned him tremendous critical acclaim and "finally set him on his feet" (S.Glagol, I.I.Levitan, 1907). "Levitan is staying with me", writes Chekhov in a letter that July "and he has brought masses of sketches, fifty or so, which the experts consider superb". 31 of these works, including View near Yalta, were exhibited at the 6^th Exhibition of the Moscow Society of Art Lovers and, as Nesterov recalls in his memoirs, collectors immediately recognised their quality: "sketches were snapped up in the first few days of the exhibition... Levitan was seemingly the first to reveal the beauty of the southern shore of the Crimea."

Levitan clearly fell in love with the south and the opportunity to work en plein air. In a letter to Chekhov he describes his tears at the surrounding beauty: "Here is eternal beauty and it is here that man can feel his true insignificance... I feel marvellous, as I haven't felt for a long time, and my work is going well". Like Fedor Vasilev, Levitan was drawn by the stern and inhospitable mountainscapes rather than to the more obvious saccharine subjects of the shoreline. The heavy, geometric forms and play of light in the offered work display exactly the characteristics described by David Jackson : Levitan would often "concern himself with seemingly random, unimportant themes, in a sketch-like manner, affirming their independence as worthy subjects... where the effects of light and colour are the true subject of the work" (Russian Landscape, The National Gallery, 2004).

The sketches differed so significantly from his previous body of work that they could almost be by a different hand - a massive creative shift which marked a key moment in Levitan's artistic development and Russian depictions of the south. As Polenov wrote in 1887: "The more I walk around the suburbs of Yalta, the more I appreciate Levitan's sketches. Neither Aivazovsky, nor Lagorio, nor Shishkin nor Myasoedov managed to produce as truthful or characteristic paintings of the Crimea as Levitan."