Dmitry Levitzky
{{Short description|Russian painter (1735–1822)}}
{{family name hatnote|Grigoryevich|Levitzky|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox artist
| native_name = {{nobold|Дмитрий Левицкий}}
| image = Levitzky self.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Self-portrait, {{circa|1783}}
| birth_date = May 1735
| birth_place = Kiev
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1822|04|04|1735|05|}}
| death_place = Saint Petersburg
| resting_place = Smolensky Cemetery, St. Petersburg
| known_for =
| style = Classicism
| movement =
| alma_mater = {{Imperial Academy of Arts|Alumni|1769}}
| elected = {{Imperial Academy of Arts|Member|1770}}
| awards =
}}
Dmitry Grigoryevich Levitzky or Levitsky ({{langx|ru|Дмитрий Григорьевич Левицкий}}; {{langx|uk|Дмитро Григорович Левицький}}; {{OldStyleDate|24 May|1735|13 May}} – {{OldStyleDate|16 April|1822|4 April}}) was a Russian{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dmitry-Grigoryevich-Levitsky|title=Dmitry Grigoryevich Levitsky|website=Encyclopedia Britannica}} portrait painter and academician.
Biography
He was born to {{ill|Левицкий, Григорий Кириллович|uk|Левицький Григорій Кирилович|ru|lt=Grigory Kirillovich Levitsky}}, 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, 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.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}} 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. The girls are depicted performing dances, music, and plays. His portrait of Denis Diderot is said to be the only one the philosopher liked.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
Though Levitzky had many commissions, they were, in most cases, poorly paid, and the painter died in poverty in 1822.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
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|Catherine II 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
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- {{Cite book |last=Diaghilev |first=Sergei P. |author-link=Sergei Diaghilev |url=https://viewer.rusneb.ru/ru/000203_000130_54 |title=Д. Г. Левицкий, 1735–1822 |date=1902 |publisher=Society for Printmaking |location=St. Petersburg |language=ru |oclc=29903849}}
- {{Cite book |last=Moleva |first=Nina M. |author-link=:ru:Молева, Нина Михайловна |title=Дмитрий Григорьевич Левицкий |date=1980 |publisher=Iskusstvo |series=Жизнь в искусстве |location=Moscow |language=ru |oclc=7276632}}
- [https://www.krugosvet.ru/enc/zhivopis-i-grafika/levickiy-dmitriy-grigorevich Dmitry Grigoryevich Levitsky] @ the Encyclopedia Krugosvet
- {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Dmitry Grigoryevich Levitsky |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dmitry-Grigoryevich-Levitsky |last=Sarabianov |first=Andrei D. |author-link=:ru:Сарабьянов, Андрей Дмитриевич}}
External links
{{commons category|Dmitry Grigorievich Levitzky}}
- [http://www.artnet.com/artists/dimitri-gregoriovitch-levitsky/ More works by Levitzky] @ ArtNet
- [http://www.abcgallery.com/L/levitzky/levitzky.html Levitsky in Olga's gallery]
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Category:18th-century painters from the Russian Empire
Category:Male painters from the Russian Empire
Category:19th-century painters from the Russian Empire
Category:Ukrainian people in the Russian Empire
Category:Portrait painters from the Russian Empire
Category:Kyiv-Mohyla Academy alumni