Dmitry Grigoryevich Levitzky orLevitsky (Russian:Дмитрий Григорьевич Левицкий;Ukrainian:Дмитро Григорович Левицький; 24 May [O.S. 13 May] 1735 – 16 April [O.S. 4 April] 1822) was aRussian^[1]portrait painter and academician.

Dmitry Levitzky
Дмитрий Левицкий
Self-portrait,c. 1783
Born	May 1735 Kiev
Died	4 April 1822(1822-04-04) (aged 86) Saint Petersburg
Resting place	Smolensky Cemetery, St. Petersburg
Alma mater	Imperial Academy of Arts (1769)
Style	Classicism
Elected	Member Academy of Arts (1770)

He was born toGrigory Kirillovich Levitsky [uk;ru], 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 artistAleksey Antropov, who had been in Kiev to create decorative paintings at theCathedral of St Andrew. He also studied withGiuseppe 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 theImperial Academy of Arts; notably for a portrait of the architectAlexander Kokorinov. As a result, he was named anAcademician 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]} In 1807, he was invited back to the Academy by TsarAlexander I. One of his best known students wasVladimir Borovikovsky.

In 1772–1776 Levitzky worked on a series of portraits of the pupils of the privileged women's establishment, theSmolny Institute for Young Ladies, in St. Petersburg. They were commissioned byCatherine II. The girls are depicted performing dances, music, and plays. His portrait ofDenis Diderot is said to be the only one the philosopher liked.^{[citation needed]}

Though Levitzky had many commissions, they were, in most cases, poorly paid, and the painter died in poverty in 1822.^{[citation needed]}

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  CountArtemiy Vorontsov (late 1780s)
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  ArchitectAlexander Kokorinov, Director and First Rector of theImperial Academy of Arts (1769)
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  Prokofiy Demidov (1773)
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  E. N. Khruschova and Princess E. N. Khovanskaya (1773)
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  Ekaterina Nelidova (1773)
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  Alexander Lanskoy, Aide-de-camp to theEmpress (1782)
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  Catherine II as Legislator in the Temple of the Goddess of Justice (1783)
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  Yekaterina Romanovna Vorontsova-Dashkova (1784)
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  Portrait of GeneralIosif Igelström (1790)
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  Nikolay Novikov (1797)

• Diaghilev, Sergei P. (1902).Д. Г. Левицкий, 1735–1822 (in Russian). St. Petersburg: Society for Printmaking.OCLC 29903849.
• Moleva, Nina M.[in Russian] (1980).Дмитрий Григорьевич Левицкий. Жизнь в искусстве (in Russian). Moscow: Iskusstvo.OCLC 7276632.
• Dmitry Grigoryevich Levitsky @ the EncyclopediaKrugosvet
• Sarabianov, Andrei D.[in Russian]."Dmitry Grigoryevich Levitsky".Encyclopædia Britannica.

• More works by Levitzky @ ArtNet
• Levitsky in Olga's gallery