This is the last painting by the artist, a summary of the long years he spent working on the painting Russia and creating numerous studies for it in central Russia. The Lake is a generalized image of the Russian nature – majestic, free, and warmed with the artist’s love. Excellent composition of the picture was taken directly from nature. Free, limitless, and artistically fine painting style enabled the artist to capture his fist impression from the view. The opposition between the vast spaces of water and sea is emphasized by bold colour selection.
An early death prevented the author from finishing his major work. However, this painting became one of his best creations.

Levitan Isaac

Levitan, Isaac Ilich (1860, Kibarty (Lithuania) - 1900, Moscow)
Painter, graphic artist, teacher. Studied under Alexei Savrasov and Vasily Polenov at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1873-1885). Academician of painting (1898). Member of the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions (1891) and the Munich Sezession (1897), Contributed to exhibitions (from 1880). Contributed to the exhibitions of the Society of Travelling Art Exhibitions (1884-1900), periodical exhibitions of the Moscow Society of Lovers of the Arts (1887-1900), Fellowship of South Russian Artists (1892), Moscow Fellowship of Artists (1893), Munich Sezession (1896, 1898, 1899), Exhibition of Russian and Finnish Artists (1898), World of Art (1899, 1900), Pan-Russian Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod (1896), International Exhibition in Munich (1898) and the World Exhibitions in Chicago (1893) and Paris (1900). Taught at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1898-1900).