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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 – Pyotr Petrovich Konchalovsky. In those terrible years, the artist managed to remain a “pure” painter who avoided the embodiment of socialist reality and portraits of its leaders in his creations. Moreover, to take as a basis for his work the direction of the hostile Western art, which is why he was named in his time – the Soviet Cezanne.
It should be noted that the great merit of Anatoly Lunacharsky, the first People’s Commissar of Education of the RSFSR, was that Pyotr Petrovich was allowed to create freely, despite the attacks of critics who longed for the proletarian coup and the ecstasy of socialist work in the artist’s works. Anatoly Vasilievich convinced the guardians of the dogmas of socialist realism that Konchalovsky in his modern day “sings the poetry of our everyday life” and, apparently, the People’s Commissar did quite well. Continue reading
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 a muse-inspirer, and a guardian angel. She was an integral part of Boris himself, who, by the will of fate, ended up in a wheelchair. It was her courageous decision, when the question arose of what to keep her husband for life – arms or legs, allowed to extend for another 10 years the creative fate of the artist. And it was during this time that he created his best works, which were included in the golden fund of world art.
The talented painter fell not only great love, but also a difficult fate. Yes, and not only on himself, but also on the woman who walked a life path with him, despite the trials and troubles.
And today, in continuation of the theme of the wives of the great and famous masters of Russian painting – an amazing and heart-rending love story of the Kustodievs.
Fateful meeting 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
