Dmitry Grigoryevich Levitzky or Levitsky (; ; – ) was a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

painter and academician.

Biography

He was born to , a priest, who was also an amateur painter and engraver and served as his first art teacher. In 1758, he moved to Saint Petersburg to become a pupil of the Russian artist

Aleksey Antropov Aleksey Petrovich Antropov (; – ) was a Russian painter active primarily in St. Petersburg, where he was born and died. He also worked in Moscow and frescoed churches in Kiev. His preferred medium was oil, but he also painted miniatures an ...

, who had been in Kiev to create decorative paintings at the Cathedral of St Andrew. He also studied with

Giuseppe Valeriani Giuseppe Valeriani (Russian: Джузеппе Валериани; before 1708, Rome April 18, 1762, Saint Petersburg) was an Italian artist who primarily painted murals and stage scenery. Biography Giuseppe Valeriani was born in Rome. Several ...

. In 1764, he established himself as a free-lance artist. In 1770, Levitzky became famous after the exhibition of six of his portraits in the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Imperial Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov, the founder of the Imperial Moscow University, under the name ''Academy of th ...

; notably for a portrait of the architect Alexander Kokorinov. As a result, he was named an

Academician An academician is a full member of an artistic, literary, engineering, or scientific academy. In many countries, it is an honorific title used to denote a full member of an academy that has a strong influence on national scientific life. Accor ...

and appointed Professor of the portrait painting class at the Academy. He remained in this position until 1788, when he resigned, citing an eye disease, although it may have been for political reasons. In 1807, he was invited back to the Academy by Tsar

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon from 495 to 454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Alexander I Theopator Euergetes, surnamed Balas, ruler of the Seleucid Empire 150-145 BC * Pope Alex ...

. One of his best known students was

Vladimir Borovikovsky Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky ( – ) was a Russian artist of Ukrainian Cossack origin. He served at the court of Catherine the Great and dominated portraiture in Russia at the turn of the 19th century. Biography Vladimir Borovikovsky was born i ...

. In 1772–1776 Levitzky worked on a series of portraits of the pupils of the privileged women's establishment, the Smolny Institute for Young Ladies, in St. Petersburg. They were commissioned by

Catherine II Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III ...

. The girls are depicted performing dances, music, and plays. His portrait of

Denis Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during th ...

is said to be the only one the philosopher liked. Though Levitzky had many commissions, they were, in most cases, poorly paid, and the painter died in poverty in 1822.

Works

File:Dmitry Levitzky А.I.Vorontsov.jpg, Count Artemiy Vorontsov (late 1780s) File:Levitsky kokrinov.jpg, Architect Alexander Kokorinov, Director and First Rector of the

(1769) File:Levitzky Demidov.jpg, Prokofiy Demidov (1773) File:Levitzky Khruscheva Khovanskaya.jpg, E. N. Khruschova and Princess E. N. Khovanskaya (1773) File:Ekaterina Ivanovna Nelidova by Dmitry Levitzky 001.jpg, Ekaterina Nelidova (1773) File:Levitsky Lanskoy.jpg,

Alexander Lanskoy Alexander Dmitrievich Lanskoy, also called ''Sashin'ka''Alexander, p. 216. or ''Sasha'',Rounding, p. 351. ( – ) was a Russian general, favourite and lover of Catherine the Great between 1780 and 1784. It has been said that " look at ercorres ...

, Aide-de-camp to the

Empress The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

(1782) File:Catherine II the Legislatress by D.Levitskiy (1783, Novosibirsk musem).jpg,

as Legislator in the Temple of the Goddess of Justice (1783) File:E. Vorontsova-Dashkova by Dm. Levitsky (1784, Hillwood).jpg,

Yekaterina Romanovna Vorontsova-Dashkova Princess Yekaterina Romanovna Dashkova (born Countess Vorontsova; ; 28 March 1743 – 15 January 1810) This source reports that Prince Dashkov died in 1761. was an influential noblewoman, a major figure of the Russian Enlightenment and a close f ...

(1784) File:Levitsky Igelstrom.jpg, Portrait of General Iosif Igelström (1790) File:Dmitry_Grigorievich_Levitzky_-_Portrait_of_Nikolai_Novikov_-_WGA12915.jpg,

Nikolay Novikov Nikolay Ivanovich Novikov (; , Moscow Governorate – Moscow Governorate) was a Russian writer and philanthropy, philanthropist most representative of his country's Russian Enlightenment, Enlightenment. Frequently considered to be the first Russ ...

(1797)

References

External links

More works by Levitzky
@ ArtNet

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levitzky, Dmitry 1735 births 1822 deaths 18th-century painters from the Russian Empire Male painters from the Russian Empire 19th-century painters from the Russian Empire Ukrainian people in the Russian Empire Portrait painters from the Russian Empire Artists from Kyiv Kyiv-Mohyla Academy alumni 19th-century male artists from the Russian Empire Burials at Smolensky Cemetery

Biography

Works

References

Further reading

External links