Nikolai Golovanov’s collection contained a few works by Isaac Levitan. One of them, called “Autumn Landscape”, is currently displayed in the conductor’s office in the museum’s memorial section.

“Autumn Landscape” was created in the late 1870s, when the artist studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Despite it being one of the early works, it already has recognizable traits of Levitan’s painting. Another outstanding artist and contemporary of Levitan Mikhail Nesterov wrote, “Levitan was a ‘realist’ in the deep, unfading sense of the word: a realist not only when it comes to the form and color but also the true subject matter that often remains unseen. He may have had the gift that only the great poets, Renaissance artists, our painters Ivanov and Surikov, and very few others had.”

After a while, the artist gave the study to Anna Turchaninova, in whose estate he created his other paintings — “March” and “Golden Autumn”. It was Turchaninova who would later take care of the terminally ill artist and try very hard to save his life.

Golovanov’s collection also contained Levitan’s masterpiece created in his mature years — “The Silent Monastery”, and every art lover knows about the version of that painting, which is called “Evening Bells”. The conductor was especially proud of this acquisition and marked its name in his catalog of paintings with the Latin word “unicum” to emphasize its excellence. However, in 1969, when the museum was being established in Golovanov’s apartment, the USSR Ministry of Culture allocated a significant part of the conductor’s collection to other museums across the country, including the Tretyakov Gallery, where Isaac Levitan’s “The Silent Monastery” is currently housed.