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

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. 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; notably for a portrait of the architect Alexander Kokorinov. As a result, he was named an Academician 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. One of his best known students was Vladimir Borovikovsky. 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 Imperial Academy of Arts (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, Aide-de-camp to the Empress (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 (1784) File:Levitsky Igelstrom.jpg, Portrait of General Iosif Igelström (1790) File:Dmitry_Grigorievich_Levitzky_-_Portrait_of_Nikolai_Novikov_-_WGA12915.jpg, Nikolay Novikov (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