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Author Archives: Serge Gregory
Levitan’s Last Visit to Yalta
Levitan arrived at Chekhov’s newly constructed “White Dacha” in Yalta on December 24, 1899 to celebrate Christmas and the dawn of a new century. One day during his visit, Levitan was sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace … Continue reading
Posted in Homes and Museums, Lika Mizinova, Maria Chekhova
Tagged Anton Chekhov, Isaac Levitan, Yalta
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Itinerant Painters Group Portrait 1899
While organizing my notes for the chapter covering 1899, I came across the following chronological listing: “March 6. Levitan was photographed in St. Petersburg in a group of 19 Itinerant painters.” I went online to find the photograph using the … Continue reading
Posted in Homes and Museums, Itinerant Society, Moscow School of Painting
Tagged Anton Chekhov, Isaac Levitan, Vasily Surikov
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Levitan: Professor of Art
While Levitan is not well known outside of Russia, there is a small group of people in the U.S. and abroad who have long been inspired by his work: plein air painters. Unfortunately it’s very rarely possible to see his … Continue reading
Sergei Morozov’s 2,000 Rubles
When Levitan found out in early May 1897 about Chekhov’s coughing up of blood and 15-day stay at a Moscow clinic, he himself was on his way to the brine baths of Bad Nauheim in Germany for treatment of his … Continue reading
Posted in Circle of Friends, Lika Mizinova
Tagged Anton Chekhov, Isaac Levitan, Sergei Morozov
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Maupassant’s “Fort comme la mort”
When Levitan sought out Maria Chekhova’s sympathy for the messy affair of having both Anna Turchaninova and her daughter Varvara fall in love with him in the summer of 1896, she shot back angrily that perhaps he had been reading … Continue reading
Levitan and Diaghilev
Sergei Diaghilev is most well-known as the impresario of the Ballets Russes based in Paris between 1909 and 1929. So it may come as a surprise to learn that in the late 1890’s he played an influential role in supporting … Continue reading
Posted in Circle of Friends, Impressionism, Uncategorized
Tagged Anton Chekhov, Isaac Levitan, Sergei Diaghilev
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Averil King’s “Isaak Levitan: Lyrical Landscape”
Until my book comes out in the fall of 2015, King’s book is the only readily available work in English on Levitan. It was first published in 2004, expanded in a beautiful new edition by the Antique Collectors’ Club in … Continue reading
Sophia Kuvshinnikova’s Diary
People had widely divergent opinions of Sophia Kuvshinnikova, who was Levitan’s mistress from sometime in the late 1880s until 1894. Chekhov found her to be a social gadfly and couldn’t forgive her for cuckolding her husband, a hard-working and unassuming … Continue reading
Status Report
Since I’ve been silent for a while, I thought now would be a good time to write about my progress. I’ve just finished writing the first draft of Chapter 8, which covers the very tumultuous yet creatively productive year 1895. … Continue reading
Origins of “The Seagull”
While Chekhov and Levitan were renewing their friendship in January 1895, Lika Mizinova sat alone and despondent in Paris caring for her two-month-old infant. Frustrated by Chekhov’s rejection of her love, she had started an affair with the writer Potapenko … Continue reading
Posted in Lika Mizinova, Maria Chekhova
Tagged Anton Chekhov, Lika Mizinova, Maria Chekhova, Potapenko
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Antosha and Levitasha 