Beloved woman of Boris Kustodiev, in whose name he overcame hellish pain and created his best works
“Dear Yulik” - that’s what Boris Kustodiev called Yulia Proshinskaya, which was everything for the artist: a faithful and selfless wife, and the greatest love, and a devoted friend, and…

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How Peter Konchalovsky managed to avoid repression and why the artist was called the Soviet Cezanne
Not many painters who disobeyed the socialist regime in times of bloody repression managed to escape punishment. Today I would like to recall the name of one of them -…

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19th Century Girl Albums: Entertainment for Bored Aristocrats or a Separate Genre in Art?
The young ladies of the 19th century were not so different from the modern ones: they also needed attention, recognition, evidence of sympathy from friends and, of course, a cordial…

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expectantly

What is encrypted in the paintings of the most mysterious artist of the Golden Age: Alphabet of painting by Jan Vermeer

One of the most famous artists of the Golden Age of Holland. His refined painting technique, experiments with optics and perspective, the unique way of transmitting light and the poetic nature of his images remain unsurpassed in their originality and power of influence on the viewer. This is the talented gifted Jan Vermeer (1632–1675).

In the 1600s, many people could not read or write. In this regard, the work of artists was very helpful: they told their stories through the characters in the paintings. Especially relevant were these picturesque stories during the time of religious persecution and the Inquisition.

Libra is a symbol of weighing the soul, its actions, a metaphor for the choice between good and evil. (“Woman Holding the Scale”). Continue reading

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

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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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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10 years of happiness and 28 years of grief in the life of the artist Vasily Surikov
The personal life of prominent people always attracts the attention of readers, especially if it is full of piquant details, incredible stories, secrets and mysteries. But today we will talk…

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