How Pavel Tretyakov competed with the emperor to create the most famous art gallery in Moscow
Before the revolution, patronage of the arts was considered not only charitable, but also beneficial for the donor himself, and the point here was not taxes at all. According to…

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High Renaissance Titans: Who They Are and What Their Contribution to Art History
The Renaissance refers to the rediscovery of ideals from classical antiquity. Artists no longer thought about the art of antiquity. Now they had the tools, technology, knowledge and confidence to…

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Skillful fakes that museums took for originals
Artistic fakes are a very real threat that museums constantly have to contend with. Fake artifacts appear in many museums from time to time, which can be displayed for several…

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symbol of power

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 smooth road, without bumps and sharp turns. Konstantin Fedorovich Yuon is one of such minions of fate. He was lucky in his work, he was lucky in marriage … And what else does a creative person need? Today in the review is an amazing story of the artist’s tremulous love.

Konstantin Fedorovich Yuon (1875-1958) – Russian painter, landscape master, theater artist, art theorist, with the title of academician of the Academy of Arts of the USSR, national artist, Stalin Prize laureate. And if in a nutshell to characterize his artistic work, then Konstantin Yuon was an excellent master of urban landscapes and theatrical scenery. He painted portraits, portrayed Russian nature and monuments of ancient architecture, painted ancient provincial Russian cities and small villages. Well, of course, he devoted the lion’s share of his heritage to Moscow, where he was born, lived his whole life and loved immensely.

Yuon began his work with the golden shining domes of Russian churches, the place of which after the revolutionary events was taken by large-scale canvases depicting parades on Red Square. Continue reading

What butterflies meant in the paintings of world famous artists

Butterfly and moth are one of the main symbols in art and a significant number of major artists include this image in their canvases. It is noteworthy that the butterfly in most allegorical phenomena is considered a symbol of the soul, immortality, rebirth and resurrection. Traditionally, people saw in this insect the ability to transform, transform as they were born, and transform from worldly caterpillars to a winged celestial being. In addition, the butterfly is a type of the Mother of God.

Winslow Homer

When an illustration or painting is intended to convey a fabulous or heavenly quality, artists usually include several butterflies in their work. This is what the American artist and graphic artist Winslow Homer did, actively using butterflies in his paintings, for example, on the canvas Girl with Butterflies, Fish and Butterflies, etc. Continue reading

“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 woman plays a much more significant symbolic role. What does the letter contain? And what does the lute matter in the picture?

Genre painting
The paintings, which allow the observer to look at the everyday life of the depicted people, were especially popular in the XVII and XVIII centuries. They are called genre paintings, and Dutch genre art occupies an undeniable place at this stage in the history of art. A particularly popular topic was symbolism. Pictures depicting love letters can be attributed to a separate category of genre painting. Artists such as Jan Vermeer, Gabriel Metsu and Samuel van Hoogstrate have contributed to the world of art with canvases of this plot. Continue reading

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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What butterflies meant in the paintings of world famous artists
Butterfly and moth are one of the main symbols in art and a significant number of major artists include this image in their canvases. It is noteworthy that the butterfly…

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As in the Sistine Chapel, the shame was also painted over other cases of strange censorship in the history of art
Censorship is sometimes unpredictable. For example, Facebook has been seen more than once in censorship scandals ... naked antique sculptures, once during an advertising campaign for an international exhibition of…

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