1895
oil on canvas
60 х 75

March is Levitan's most upbeat work. The landscape is a reflection of singular features of Russian impressionism. Nature is transformed with bright oils, all the colours are imbued with light. Sonorous and joyful are the sounds of contrasted yellow and blue shades. Everything is still covered in snow, but each detail of the landscape is full of spring exultation. Heated by the sun, the wall of the house radiates yellow light, which explodes everywhere in golden reflexes, warming up cold colours. The picture's foreground is full of movement: applied in relief, the brushstrokes convey the play of sunlight and the looseness of melting snow alike. Nature seems to be undergoing a "set change". The trunks of the trees groping towards the sun are arranged symmetrically, like side-scenes. Moved far into the background are the colours of a pine forest, faded over the winter. The eye is lost in the abundance of impressions, but the viewer's attention is caught by a horse, dosing under the warming sun. The impressionist mobility of landscape expresses the variety of rhythms of awakening Nature.

at 10, Lavrushinsky Lane, Hall 37