Dmitry Levitzky

Dmitry Grigoryevich Levitzky or Levitsky (Дмитрий Григорьевич Левицкий; Дмитро Григорович Левицький; 24 May 1735 – 16 April 1822) was a Russian portrait painter and academician.

Biography
He was born to Левицкий, Григорий Кириллович, 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. 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.

Though Levitzky had many commissions, they were, in most cases, poorly paid, and the painter died in poverty in 1822.