Description
Book SynopsisThrough meticulous scholarship and fine writerly craft, Gregory offers a riveting story of two creative geniuses at work.? Slavonic and East European Journal
Accessible and engaging, Antosha and Levitasha will appeal to scholars and general readers interested in art history, late nineteenth-century Russian culture, and biographies.
Antosha and Levitasha is the first book in English devoted to the complex relationship between Anton Chekhov and Isaac Levitan, one of Russia''s greatest landscape painters. Outside of Russia, a general lack of familiarity with Levitan''s life and art has undermined an appreciation of the cultural significance of his friendship with Chekhov. Serge Gregory''s highly readable study attempts to fill that gap for Western readers by examining a friendship that may have vacillated between periods of affection and animosity, but always reflected an unwavering shared aesthetic.
In Russia, where enti
Trade Review
This meticulously researched and readable book is a chronological account of the contacts, friendship, common pursuits, rivalries, and professional work of Anton Chekhov and Isaac Levitan-two pivotal figures in Russian literature and art.... The book gives us abundant information about various aspects of the two artists' friendship and the backgrounds to their compositions.
* The Russian Review *
There is rich material in this study. Gregory was right to unpick this relationship. From the point of view of Chekhov studies, Levitan is too often neglected. From the point of view of Levitan studies, this is an artist whose position astride the two most significant movements in Russian painting of the late nineteenth century, 'The Itinerants' and the World of Art, is ripe for investigation and appreciation.
* Slavonic and East European Review *
Very compelling... The book is laid out wonderfully, and Gregory's chronological tags never fail to reinforce understanding of when we are. Gregory's focus throughout is masterful.
* Inside Higher Ed *
The breadth of Antosha and Levitasha is astonishing, and the biographical details brought to light by Gregory's meticulous research will prove invaluable for scholars of both Levitan and Chekhov, and their respective artistic productions. As a whole, Serge Gregory's Antosha and Levitasha stands as a rich testimony of their relationship and late nineteenth-century Russia.
* H-Net Reviews *
Through meticulous scholarship and fine writerly craft, Gregory offers a riveting story of two creative geniuses at work.
* Slavonic and East European Journal *
