7 beloved women by Pablo Picasso
“If he had not become an artist, he would have become Don Juan,” once said a friend of Pablo Picasso, the French playwright Jacques Cocteau. And it’s hard to disagree…

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Secret meanings of Brueghel's visual “Flemish proverbs: Reflection of the essence of man and being
Northern Renaissance Master Brueghel the Elder is a Dutch Renaissance artist and engraver known for landscapes and peasant scenes. He was sometimes called the "peasant Brueghel." He portrayed his incredible…

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Symbolism of the most mysterious stone: Women with pearls in the paintings of famous artists
The dual nature of pearls has inspired artists at all times: pearls have been used for centuries as attributes of vanity, purity, innocence and even generosity. According to the National…

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examination

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What riddles Claude Monet left in his painting “Poppies”

Claude Monet is an artist whose name is inseparable from impressionism. He painted landscapes, water lilies, poplars, ladies in the garden, women with umbrellas, the London parliament, boats, the Normandy coast and … poppies. He captured these delightful red meadow treasures with a single brush stroke of bright red against a background of endless green fields. The painting Poppy Field was painted in the vicinity of Argenteuil (northwestern suburb of Paris), where Monet lived between 1871 and 1878. A beautifully depicted summer day is captured in all its glory with bright poppies complementing thin clouds in a clear blue sky.

Shapes and objects Continue reading

What is the secret of the paintings of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, which inspired Dali and other surrealists of the XX century

Fantastic talent and eccentric portraits made Giuseppe Arcimboldo, one of the strangest Renaissance artists, world famous. His compositions of portraits of flowers, fruits, leaves, fish and books are unique in their kind. The amazing canvases of Arcimboldo show wit and irony. It was thanks to his figurative representations that Archimboldo became one of the inspirers for the surrealists of the 20th century.

The Spanish artist Salvador Dali (1904-1989) is one of those who appreciated the works of the Milanese master most of all for their unusual metaphorical and fantastic character. He interpreted several of the motives of the Renaissance master in his own works. When Dali paints objects that are stretched, laid out or transformed, he supports the tradition begun by Arcimboldo. Continue reading

Secrets of “Ladies with an Ermine”: What does the cute animal in the painting of Leonardo da Vinci hide

“The Lady with the Ermine” (1489-1490) is one of the most important works of all Western art, the subject of the greatest rarity of the genius Leonardo da Vinci and one of the four famous female portraits of the master. Modern art critics are sure – the white animal in the picture appeared for a reason.

Transformation of the picture
To date, only a small part of the picture has remained genuine, the rest has been repeatedly retouched: the entire background was darkened, the dress was changed, and the transparent veil worn by the woman was repainted in combination with hair color. Another adjustment of the unknown restorer was the addition of dark shadows between the fingers of her right hand (upon careful examination of the two lower fingers it is noticeable that they are significantly inferior to the others). However, the most important discovery of the picture was that the Italian artist did not write the work in one stage, but in three clearly distinguishable stages. Continue reading

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Ciphers, signs and self-portraits: How artists of the past signed their paintings
Not every masterpiece of painting contains the signature of the artist. There were reasons for this, both at the dawn of the Renaissance and in the modern era; they are…

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Paintings of an artist who has loved one woman and one city for 60 years
It is not often that fate favors artists with benefits at the same time in all areas of life. Few people manage to walk a life and career on a…

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The tragedy of the author of the most famous portrait of Chekhov: How he lost his family and paintings, and why he got to Solovki Osip Braz
Over several centuries of development, Russian culture has presented the world with a galaxy of brilliant painters, whose works are included in the world treasury of fine art. Among them…

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