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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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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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…

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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 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

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

What is special about the landscapes that are called the most Italian: Veduta and Capriccio
History did not preserve the name of the tourist that the first one wanted to take away from Italy a picturesque "postcard" in memory of the trip and thereby laid…

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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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Two seasons of love by Paul Gauguin: Virtuous Danish and passionate Tahitian
Paul Gauguin was passionate and enthusiastic, he could instantly be inflamed with passion, but his feelings passed as quickly as they appeared. Only two women left a deep mark on…

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