Isaac Levitan studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture; his tutors were the famous artists: Alexei Savrasov and Vasily Polenov. These years were not easy for him.

The artist was in need, he mourned the death of his mother and father, and in 1879, he was expelled from Moscow due to mass deportations of the Jews. Nevertheless, Levitan continued painting and became known as a promising and gifted artist at a very young age. In 1877, two works by the 16-year-old Levitan were presented at the exhibition of the Wanderers (the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions) and mentioned in the news. The artists received a small silver medal and 200 rubles for those works.

Autumn was Isaac Levitan’s favorite season. He portrayed it in about a hundred of his paintings and several studies. Autumn landscapes attracted him not only by the richness of colors, but also by the variety of moods. The mood of the painting was what Levitan particularly cared to render. The artist had a rare gift to convey human feelings and experiences in his landscapes.

In the 1890s, Levitan wanted to create an epic canvas, where he would be able to make a full- scale portrayal of the Russian scenery and the power of nature. In “Lake”, the artist achieves this aim by using a rich color palette. The combination of colors includes pale blue for the autumn sky, cold green for the shady areas of the forest and deep green for the sunlit parts, gold and ocher for the trees on the far shore. This blend of the lyrical and the spectacular earned him the nickname “the Poet of the Russian landscape”.

The painting is full of calm and peace. The water surface and the high sky above it create an experience of serenity. The artist conveyed a slight tension through a small detail — there is a dark shadow near and a bit on the shore.
The trunks of the pine trees are smooth and high, the green tops do not let the sunlight through. Thus, they create shadow in the canvas, while seemingly receding into the background.

Levitan’s paintings entered the collection of Pavel Tretyakov; they were included in the exhibitions of the Wanderers and the World Exhibition in Paris. At the age of 38, the artist received the title of academician in landscape painting and began to teach at the very School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture that he had stopped attending as a student. While instructing young painters, Levitan said: