Secrets of self-portraits of famous artists: Reflection in the mirror, portrait-bacon and other oddities
Self-portrait in most cases is an instrument of narcissism, an attempt to leave your image in eternity. But if a genius takes up the matter, his image on canvas can…

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“Love Letter” by Jan Vermeer: Why the lute is central to the picture
At the first glance at Jan Vermeer's famous painting “Love Letter”, the name seems far-fetched, because the letter itself is hardly noticeable. But the lute in the hands of a…

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Monet is a spot, Manet is a people: How to distinguish two masters of impressionism
Their acquaintance began with a big conflict, but later they became great friends. Monet — Manet is a story of long-standing friendship based on great respect and mutual assistance. When…

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Monet is a spot, Manet is a people: How to distinguish two masters of impressionism

Their acquaintance began with a big conflict, but later they became great friends. Monet — Manet is a story of long-standing friendship based on great respect and mutual assistance. When Monet was in financial difficulties, he wrote to Mane for help. Manet not only never refused to help his colleague, but after he found out about the illness of Camille, Monet’s first wife, he wrote off all Claude’s debts. Due to Monet’s influence, Manet more often painted in the open air and brightened his palette. These were not just real people, but also great talents with big hearts.

Eduard Manet was one of the first modernist artists of the 19th century to turn to the objects of modern life; he became a key figure in the transition from realism to impressionism. In addition, he was a key figure in the transition from realism to impressionism and one of the first in this era to portray modern life. Continue reading

Was there a boy, or what they argue about for many years, looking at Chardin’s picture “Prayer before dinner”

He was called the “artist of animals and fruits.” He had a significant influence on Henri Matisse and Paul Cezanne. In art, this artist sought naturalness and humanity as opposed to the official Rococo style. All this is about Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin and his picture “Prayer before dinner.” What is the main debate of art critics about this picture?

The 18th century French artist Jean Simeon Baptiste Chardin was known for his still lifes and genre paintings. His refined and realistic style had a significant impact on a number of the greatest artists of the XIX-XX centuries, including Henri Matisse (1869 – 1954) and Paul Cezanne (1839 – 1906). Chardin’s canvases were simple, but workshops performed. The Chardin world is a world with feeling (and not gallantry), with humility (and not vanity), with simplicity (and not covetousness). For the bourgeois establishment, the works of Chardin represented a salutary contrast with the “decadent aristocratic fragility” of many of the artist’s colleagues (including Watteau). Continue reading

Creativity for the Mentally Ill: A Book That Changed History

Sometimes you can hear such a statement that in order to create a masterpiece, you must be either a genius or a madman. Tarragon – the hero of the play “Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Becket, said that “we are all born crazy. And some of them remain … “Yes, and where is the line that separates genius from madness? In 1922, a German psychiatrist published a book in which he showed the work of the mentally ill, and this book made a splash among both the psychiatric society and artists.

The fact that some very talented, and even brilliant people suffered from various mental disorders is not news. So, it is known that Gogol suffered from manic-depressive psychosis, and Leo Tolstoy often had bouts of depression that alternated with numerous phobias. Maxim Gorky was prone to vagrancy and pyromania, and some experts insist that Lermontov suffered from a form of schizophrenia that he inherited from his mother.

Mental suffering – whether they are caused by objective life difficulties or real mental disorders, really somehow affect people’s creativity. And the German psychiatrist Hans Prinzhorn undertook to investigate this influence. Continue reading

The riddle and curse of the “Crying Boy”: Why Amadio was called the devil painter
The Italian painter Bruno Amadio, who worked under the pseudonym Giovanni Bragolin, is considered to be the most dramatic and sinister artist in the history of art of the 20th…

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Vincent Laurence van der Winne and his still lifes vanitas: where did the artist hide his portrait?
Vincent Laurence van der Winne (1628–1702) is a Dutch artist and writer. Initially, van der Winne was engaged in weaving, but then, sensing a craving for fine art, he decided…

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Did Leonardo da Vinci have a second Mona Lisa: The Riddles of the “Iselworth Mona Lisa”
For many decades, there has been debate about whether the Iselworth Mona Lisa is a genuine, earlier version of Leonardo da Vinci's most famous work, which attracts millions of visitors…

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