[14] Art historian Aleksei Fedorov-Davydov considered the painting Lake to be 'a remarkable creation by Levitan' and wrote that it 'immediately makes a great and strong impression on the viewer, as a powerful and beautiful image of Russian nature.

'[15] According to art historian Mikhail Alpatov, in the painting Lake Levitan managed to give 'a collective image of his homeland' – in it you can see 'the past of Russia, its present, nature, and man', in this work 'both the personal experiences of the artist, and the very festive beauty of the world merged.

[17][18] In 1894, Levitan completed the painting Over Eternal Peace (oil on canvas, 150 × 206 cm, State Tretyakov Gallery),[19] which depicted a wide expanse of water.

[17][23] During the summer of 1898, Levitan resided in the Bogorodskoye estate, situated in Klinsky Uyezd, Moscow Governorate, in close proximity to the Podsolnechnaya railway station (now within the city limits of Solnechnogorsk), on the shores of Senezh Lake.

[29][30] Art historian Aleksei Fedorov-Davydov recognised the complex and synthetic nature of the image presented by Levitan on the canvas Lake, and the composition of the landscape depicted on it.

'[31] Levitan began teaching at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (MUZHVZ) in September 1898, where he led the landscape class.

'[33][34] In the same year, in preparation for the student exhibition, Levitan showed Lipkin a large sketch made for the painting Lake, noting that it related to the same theme for which he had given the assignment.

According to Lipkin's recollections, Levitan told him: 'I've been working on this subject for a long time, I wanted to call this thing 'Rus', but maybe it's a bit pretentious, it's better to keep it simple somehow.

[37][38] In 1889, entrepreneur and patron of the arts Sergei Morozov allocated Levitan a house workshop in Bolshoy Trisvyatitelsky Lane in Moscow, where he worked on the final version of the painting Lake.

[39] In early February 1900, the natural scientist Kliment Timiryazev, accompanied by his wife and son, visited the artist's studio.

[46] The painting was exhibited during the 150th anniversary of Levitan's birth at the Benois Building of the State Russian Museum (April–July 2010)[48] and the New Tretyakov Gallery on Krymsky Val (October 2010 – March 2011).

[50] According to Levitan's contemporaries, ten years after the artist's death, the painting Lake had 'darkened, withered in some places, and lost much of its original luminosity and brightness.

[53][54] The painting Lake is currently exhibited in Room 40 of the Rossi wing alongside other works by Isaac Levitan, such as Golden Autumn.

Finally, the third and farthest background shows elevated shores with fields, arable land, groves, and villages, including houses and churches.

According to Aleksei Fedorov-Davydov, 'the theme of clouds with their movement, shadows and reflections begins to occupy an essential, if not equal, place in the general structure of the landscape, along with the image of the shores and surface of the lake covered with fields and enlivened by buildings;' this theme is an important part of the landscape image and 'a means of its expressiveness.

'[57] The clouds and other objects in the foreground (reeds and reflections in the water), which act as 'frames', are fragmented and cut off by the edge of the canvas: 'This impressionistic technique gives the impression of a continuation of the painting outside the frame.

The artist aimed to use bright and pure colours, even painting white clouds in different tones – yellowish in illuminated areas and violet in shaded ones.

In certain areas, particularly in the depiction of reeds, the texture was confused due to repeated scribing on the relief hull layer without prior stripping.

Furthermore, the later prescriptions did not bond sufficiently with the lower layers, resulting in craquelures and crumbling of the repeated inscriptions, which required restoration work.

[64] The State Tretyakov Gallery possesses three studies for the painting Lake: Windy Day (paper on canvas, oil, 1898–1899, 14 × 18 cm, Inventory No.

The catalogue of Levitan's jubilee exhibition in 1960 listed two additional studies among the preparatory works for the painting Lake, dated 1898–1899: Autumn.

[14] The art historian Aleksei Fedorov-Davydov called the painting Lake one of the 'remarkable creations of Levitan' and wrote that this canvas 'immediately makes a great and strong impression on the viewer, as a powerful and beautiful image of Russian nature.'

According to Alpatov, in the canvas Lake Levitan managed to give 'a collective image of his homeland' – in it you can see 'the past of Russia, its present, nature, and man,' in this work 'both the personal experiences of the artist, and the very festive beauty of the world merged.

'[16] Art historian Vladimir Petrov called the canvas Lake the main work of the late Levitan, noting that the artist achieved 'monumental lyricism of the image,' trying to combine 'almost impressionistic immediacy of freshness and brightness of a sunny day' with a decorative and monumental approach that links this picture to the traditions of ancient fresco painting.

[51][78] Agreeing with Alpatov, Petrov wrote that Lake could be considered an 'antinomic pair' in relation to the painting Over Eternal Peace, because in it one hears not mournful but 'triumphantly major music of nature.

'[51] In the early 2000s, art historian Faina Maltseva wrote that in the century since Lake was painted, it had not lost 'its high artistry and aesthetic effectiveness.'

According to Maltseva, 'the presence of a work with such a major mood in Levitan's oeuvre is natural,' as 'it organically blends with many of his landscapes from the last period.

[81] According to the art historian Vladimir Kruglov, Lake is characterised by 'the search for an epic beginning with an almost impressionistic freshness of perception of nature and execution.'