Known as a landscapist, Isaak Levitan painted very few portraits and only one watercolour self-portrait, painted circa 1880 and now in the Tret'iakov Gallery is mentionned in the Catalogue Raisonné by A. Feodorov-Davidov Isaak Il'ich Levitan, Moscow, 1966, n. 845. An early photograph of the present painting shows a Russian inscription in the lower right corner by the artist's brother Adolphe Levitan 'Self-portrait of my brother', this has since been removed.

It is not uncommon to come across unsigned works by Levitan authenticated by his brother after his death.