Lake Rus is Russian master Issac Levitan's last large canvas, who is proficient at the landscape of mood, a very emotional interpretation of the Russian landscape. This monumental work is an unfinished painting due to the painter's death. Isaac Levitan was buried at the Novodevichiye cemetery in Moscow in 1900.
What the artist wanted to present to viewers in this painting is a typical beautiful Russian landscape in a sunny day: water and grass land with broad expanse, white silhouettes of houses, miles of white walking clouds hanging in sky, and swaying reeds in the wind, all of which are shrouded in golden sunlight, delivering an atmosphere of delight and joy, quiet and piece. The blue sky and white clouds are reflected in this vast crystal clear lake with sparkling ripples. On the right side of the lake there are green rustle reeds shining in the sun. We can see that Levitan employed bright and warm color to paint this painting, depicting the landscape vividly.
Lake Rus
Levitan had devoted himself to showing vividness and richness of the beauty of Russian landscape by studying the different techniques. Just as Fyodor Shalyapin, a famous Russian opera singer and a friend of Levitan, spoke of the art of Levitan: "It has brought me to realization that the most important thing in art is this feeling, this spirit, this prophetic word that sets people's hearts on fire. And this prophetic word can be expressed not only in speech and gesture but also in line and color."
