Dmitri Grigorievich Levitsky

The paintings of the Russian painter Dmitry Grigorievich Levitsky are recognizable by the special softness and saturation of the colours, by the sunny gold tones famous among connoisseurs, by the unique motifs. The portraits are beautiful because of a very own inner light, which the artist gave to his works.

Levitsky came from the common people. His father was the Ukrainian priest Hryhoriy Nos, who later changed his name to Levitsky. Dmitri's creative ambitions manifested themselves in his earliest childhood - his painterly talents had been encouraged by his father to the best of his ability - not least because the priest was also an illustrator of religious themes and a master engraver of various portraits. Hryhoriy Levitsky produced his works mostly by order of the Kyiv Theological Academy. The young, artistically extremely talented Dmitri Grigorievich did not only benefit from the support of his father. The renowned St. Petersburg painter Alexei Petrovich Antropov was also one of his instructors. On this sound basis, Dmitri Grigorievich Levitsky, together with his father and Andropov, produced the first significant works in the restoration of the walls of St. Andrew's Cathedral in Kiev.

Levitsky developed a friendship with his teacher and trainer Alexei Petrovich Antropov, which was marked by deep admiration for Andropov's works. This becomes visible in some of his chamber portraits, such as the portrait of Maria Alekseevna Dyakova in 1778. During this period of the late Rococo he developed, in addition to portrait painting, valuable skills and abilities in the field of landscape depictions, in the determination of motifs and pictorial compositions, in the production of engravings and in icon painting. Even after the portrait painter Levitzky, who by now had become a specialist, joined the Russian Imperial Academy of Arts, he continued to take lessons from Andropov. Dmitri Grigorievich Levitsky also supported Andropov's advice when he was involved in the preparations for the coronation of Catherine II as artistic advisor. Levitsky's portraits of members of the imperial family were also painted here.

Since 1769 Dmitri Grigorievich Levitsky lived in the metropolis of St. Petersburg. His reputation as a portrait artist grew with each of his paintings. It did not matter whether they were portraits of simple farmers or of famous personalities of the time. Common to all his works was the desire for honesty and vitality - often also taking social aspects into account. The naturalness and individuality of each character depicted was particularly important to the artist. Levitsky, who had been appointed an art academy professor in the meantime, taught himself from 1771, including Orest Adamovich Kiprensky. Between 1786 and 1788 and then again from 1807 he was a member of the council of the Academy of Arts.

In the 1790-ies Levitsky joined the Masonic Lodge, famous Russian free spirits were among his circle of friends. During these years the artist painted portraits of influential people of the 18th century - the motifs ranged from the Russian Vice-Chancellor Count Voronzow and his family to the Empress herself. In the last years of his life the artist hardly painted or drew at all. He had to suffer from an eye disease that was getting worse and worse. In 1822 Dmitri Grigorievich Levitsky died. He was buried at the Smolensk Orthodox Cemetery in Saint Petersburg.

Dmitri Grigorievich Levitsky

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Wikipedia: Dmitri Grigorievich Levitsky

Artworks by Dmitri Grigorievich Levitsky

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61 artworks found