Autumn. Sunny Day

Autumn. Sunny Day, painted in 1897 on cardboard and now in the National Gallery of Armenia, is one of several smaller-format autumnal studies from Levitan's late career when he increasingly worked on cardboard for rapid outdoor studies. The support was economical and allowed for faster, more spontaneous application than primed canvas, making it ideal for capturing fleeting weather effects. By 1897 Levitan's tuberculosis was advancing, and he was working with the urgency of a man who sensed his time was limited. Despite the intimate format, Sunny Day shows his full command of autumn light — the particular brightness of October sun striking yellow birch foliage against a clear blue sky, a combination that was his most celebrated seasonal image. The painting's presence in Yerevan reflects the dispersal of Russian art works through the Soviet period into the republic museums.

The cardboard support gives the surface a slightly matte quality compared to primed canvas, absorbing some of the oil and producing a dry, direct touch. Levitan exploited this characteristic to apply quick, decisive strokes without worrying about blending. The yellow foliage is applied thickly in short dabs, while the blue sky is comparatively smooth. The scale of marks relative to the support size shows strong confidence.